Baozi Xishi's Struggle

It was nearly three quarters past noon and time to close the stall. Monks had come to distribute Buddhist scriptures today, and the guests had taken the scriptures and had no time to eat breakfast. They all went home with the scriptures in their hands. For the first time ever, Shen Yu's buns were not sold out today, with about ten buns left in the winnowing basket.

Li's mind was full of burning incense and praying to Buddha, and she acted as if she didn't even notice the ten or so buns. She was busy trying to close the stall quickly.

As Shen Yu picked up the buns from the winnowing basket and put them back into the steamer, he asked Li: "Mother, what day is today? Why are you suddenly selling scriptures?"

Upon hearing this, Li slapped Shen Yu on the arm so hard that the bamboo clip was almost knocked off Shen Yu's hand.

After taking the photo, Li clasped his hands together and murmured, "Buddha has mercy on me. Children speak without restraint. Please don't blame me if I'm wrong. Please don't blame me if I'm wrong."

Shen Yu knew that he had said the wrong thing and didn't know what taboo he had violated. He could only smile bitterly and rubbed his arm which was a little painful from being hit by Li. However, he didn't dare to speak carelessly again.

Yutao and Yucheng, who were standing by, saw their eldest sister being beaten by their mother, and they didn't dare to say a word. They just worked silently.

After putting away the utensils and pulling the cart back home, Li did not, contrary to her usual practice, pick up the money box first. Instead, she quickly washed her hands, placed the scriptures and Buddhist beads on the small table, then went to her bedroom and moved the narrow table that she usually used to store miscellaneous items. She wiped it clean with a rag, and placed it against the south wall of the room. She then respectfully placed the scriptures and Buddhist beads on it.

When moving, Li had wrapped Shen Xiucai's tablet in cloth and kept it in a small box. After moving here, she placed the box on a small cabinet in her room and wiped it every day. Because the house was small, she had never taken it out. At this time, she also brought the box over, took out the tablet and placed it in the middle, and bowed three times, with a serious and pious expression on her face.

The three siblings watched Li's smooth movements, and fearing that they would say something wrong again, they did not dare to go up to help.

The three of them looked at each other, Shen Yu waved silently, and led Yutao and Yucheng to unload the equipment still on the car.

In order to see if there were any buns sold out today, Shen Yu asked Yutao to light the small stove next to it, put the steamer containing the buns on the pot, and reheat them for breakfast.

Yutao was in charge of lighting the fire, while Shen Yu added half a pot of cold water into the pot, preparing to make a hot and sour soup to go with the buns.

I looked through the ready-made ingredients in the kitchen. There was some tofu I bought yesterday that had not been eaten up, and there was still a piece left in clean water.

He picked up the tofu and cut it into thin strips with a knife. He also took a handful of dried black fungus and rinsed it with clean water to remove the dust. After draining, he put it in a large bowl. At this time, the boiling water in the pot began to bubble. Shen Yu scooped a large spoonful of it into the large bowl, put a plate on the bowl, and soaked it in hot water to make the black fungus swell faster.

There is no shortage of broth, which is always cooked every day for use in stuffing. I scoop some into a large pot, pour the tofu shreds into the pot, and slowly spread them out with the back of a spoon.

He took out five or six pieces of ribs from the clay pot, tore the meat into shreds and put them into the pot to cook together. As for the bones without meat, Shen Yu used a knife to remove the crispy bones and put them into the pot to cook together.

After putting in the shredded pork and crispy bones, and waiting for the soup in the pot to boil, I lifted the plate and saw that the black fungus had swelled. I took it out and cut it into thin strips, and put it into the pot. I asked Yutao to turn down the heat under the stove, and poured three teaspoons of starch mixed with water into the pot. Suddenly, the soup in the pot became much thicker and was bubbling.

He took two eggs, held the bowl in one hand, and knocked the eggs against the edge of the stove with the other hand. With a quick push of his fingers, the eggs cracked perfectly into the bowl, then he stirred them with chopsticks and put them aside.

Add some balsamic vinegar, pepper and fine salt to the pot and stir well. At this time, the sour smell of hot and sour soup wafts out. Yu Tao is burning the fire beside her and says with a smile: "Sister, it smells so good. What kind of soup is this? It smells so sour that it makes me drool."

Shen Yu pushed the soup in the pot and said, "This is called hot and sour soup. It's comfortable and warms the stomach in winter. It's a bit spicy in summer, but adding more vinegar will whet your appetite. It's not bad to drink it occasionally."

As he said this, he asked Yutao to turn off the fire at the bottom of the pot, and slowly poured the egg liquid in circles along the edge of the pot. After waiting for a while, the beautiful egg flowers, soft and fragrant, filled the pot.

Yutao had only eaten boiled eggs and fried eggs. She first ate fried eggs when her sister made fried egg noodles after she came to the county town.

The one my sister is making now is made by pouring egg liquid on it. After a while, the egg flowers float up, just like the silk material my sister used to get back when she did embroidery work. It is tender yellow, like flowers, but soft and smooth.

Shen Yu smiled, poured some sesame oil into the pot, sprinkled in a handful of chopped green coriander, and called Yu Cheng, who was standing outside the door, to tell him to tell his mother to wash her hands and eat.

After the four of them sat down at the dinner table, Mrs. Li returned to her usual self and asked the children to eat quickly.

Shen Yu learned her lesson this time. Since Li didn't say anything, she simply stopped asking. Unexpectedly, Li ate very quickly and eagerly, gulping down the hot and sour soup with a loud slurping sound, as if there was something waiting for her to do right away.

Shen Yu didn't want to ask, but she was a straightforward person. While eating buns and drinking soup, she glanced at Li from time to time, trying to find out the reason for Li's abnormal behavior today.

Li drank a big bowl of hot and sour soup at an unexpected speed, ate two vegetable buns, wiped her mouth and said, "Yuzhi, Yutao, I won't steam the buns with you for lunch after dinner. Since I came to the county town, I have been getting up at three o'clock every morning. I have been so busy that I actually forgot such an important day. I am really sorry for your father."

When Shen Yu heard her mention the past, he knew it was better not to say anything, so he ate his meal while listening to Li's continued conversation.

Li continued, "Today is July 14th, and tomorrow is the Ghost Festival. Although we have left Dongxi Village, we still have to worship the ancestors of the Shen family. I have been so busy these days that I didn't remember it until I saw the master distributing the "Zunsheng Mulian Sutra" this morning. No wonder I always felt that something was on my mind these days and I couldn't remember it for a while."

Then, he urged Yu Cheng, "Eat quickly. After you finish, come with me to buy some vegetarian chicken, vegetarian duck, rice cakes, fruits, and some paper money and gold ingots."

When Shen Yu heard about the Ghost Festival, Mr. Shen, the ancestors of the Shen family, and paper money and gold ingots, she vaguely guessed about 70% of the facts. She thought that the Ghost Festival here must include ancestor worship. As a modern person, she grew up alone in the city. She had never seen any of these traditional festival customs, so she was completely confused and could not understand what Li was busy with.

Shen Yu was thinking about all this in secret, but heard Yu Tao say in confusion: "Mom, we used to worship our ancestors at home, and we didn't buy so many offerings. We just steamed some rice cakes and put two cantaloupes on the table. Why do we have to buy so much this year?"