Farmhouse wife: Selling steamed buns to support her younger brother-in-law and sister-in-law

"Here it comes~".

Qianqian returned looking slightly disappointed. Wei Yuyan hadn't cooked rice today; the main dish was red bean rolls.

Wei Yuyan only ate a small steamed bun for lunch, and the rest was vegetables.

After finishing her meal, Wei Yuyan soaked half of the glutinous rice, planning to make jujube rice dumplings in the afternoon.

I'll make pork belly rolls when I buy the pork belly tomorrow.

"Sister-in-law, I don't want to sleep, I want to go catch butterflies."

Qianqian has probably been getting enough sleep lately, and she doesn't want to take a nap at noon anymore.

"Then go ahead. If you need anything, call your sister-in-law. She's not sleeping either."

Wei Yuyan doesn't plan to sleep today either; she wants to clean the house.

The house hasn't been thoroughly cleaned in a long time.

"Sister-in-law, I see Qianqian catching butterflies at the door."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua came over again in the afternoon.

"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, have you made any zongzi yet? I'm planning to make some this afternoon."

Wei Yuyan found the bamboo leaves she had picked earlier, and decided to boil them before wrapping the jujube rice dumplings.

"I just finished wrapping them all. You haven't wrapped any yet? Let me help you."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua originally came to check if Wei Yuyan had wrapped the food, and if not, she would help her wrap it, as she was worried that Wei Yuyan might not know how.

"Then I'll have to trouble you. I'm not very good at wrapping them, so you can teach me."

Wei Yuyan watched her family wrap zongzi every year, but she never wrapped any herself.

I was worried that the package would fail, but luckily a skilled craftsman came along.

"Sister-in-law, we need thread to wrap zongzi, have you prepared it?"

Sister-in-law Xiuhua watched her wash the bamboo leaves but didn't see the string.

"Oh dear, I forgot. I probably don't have it at home. Let me look for it."

Wei Yuyan thought for a moment and realized that the string for making the rice dumpling was too thin, which definitely wouldn't work.

"Use the thick thread used for sewing shoe soles; you should have some at home."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua took the bamboo leaves from her, washed them clean, and put them in a pot to boil.

"There really is."

Wei Yuyan searched around and finally found a thick thread in Xiao Lei's room. It looked quite old and was covered in a layer of dust.

"Wash it and put it in to cook together."

Fifteen minutes later, Sister-in-law Xiuhua and Wei Yuyan started wrapping jujube rice dumplings.

"You don't have much glutinous rice, you can't make more than twenty."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua was stunned when she saw the glutinous rice. How come there was only this little bit of glutinous rice?

"I'll only wrap half of the dates; I'll wrap the pork belly ones tomorrow after I buy the meat."

Wei Yuyan explained.

"We can wrap those dozen or so zongzi in less than 15 minutes."

As Xiuhua wrapped the package, she explained the details to Wei Yuyan, including how to wrap it tightly.

"Sister-in-law Xiuhua, don't rush off. Take two jujube-filled rice dumplings back with you."

Wei Yuyan boiled the water and started cooking the zongzi.

"No need. When I arrived, your Brother Zhang was cooking zongzi at home. I guess they're done by now. I'll go back and eat them later."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua also makes dumplings with jujubes, peanuts, and vegetarian fillings.

"Brother Zhang is truly a good man."

Wei Yuyan joked.

"It's alright, I'm already quite satisfied."

Xiuhua's sister-in-law looked very happy.

"Sister-in-law, I'm back."

Xiao Lei returned looking disheveled; it was clear he had come all the way from the mountain.

"Go wash your face, there will be zongzi to eat later."

Wei Yuyan said helplessly, "Boys are still naughty."

"Sister-in-law, there are eight bird eggs. I've put them here."

Xiao Lei's tone was somewhat smug.

"Good, not bad, did Little Fatty find the bird eggs too?"

Wei Yuyan was curious about what they had been doing all day.

“He found it, but he couldn’t climb it, so I climbed the tree, and we each took half.”

Xiuhua's sister-in-law laughed heartily as Xiaolei spoke.

"There's nothing we can do, that's just how chubby he is."

Wei Yuyan suppressed a laugh.

"Sister-in-law, I caught a butterfly."

Qianqian suddenly ran in quickly, showing off the butterfly in her hand to everyone.

"Wow, it looks so good, Qianqian, you're amazing."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua couldn't help but praise her.

"Sister-in-law, how can we stop it from running away?"

Qianqian wants to keep this butterfly as her pet, just like a chick or a rabbit.

"Put it in your room and close the door."

After thinking for a moment, Wei Yuyan decided that putting it in the room was the most suitable option.

"OK".

Qianqian happily put the yellow butterfly into the room.

"Sister-in-law, I'm going back now, it's almost dark."

Sister-in-law Xiuhua noticed that the sun had set and it was time to go back and eat zongzi (sticky rice dumplings).

"Okay, take care, Xiao Lei, lock the door."

Wei Yuyan went back to the kitchen to add fuel to the fire; the zongzi would take a while to cook.

"Sister-in-law, it smells so good, what is this?"

Qianqian returned to the kitchen and saw the pot covered with a lid, steaming and smelling delicious.

"Zongzi, with jujube filling, you'll definitely like it."

Wei Yuyan hadn't eaten zongzi in a long time and was starting to crave it.

Fifteen minutes later, it got dark, and the Wu family finally had their dinner.

"Here, I'll peel one for each of you."

Wei Yuyan peeled three jujube-filled rice dumplings; one shouldn't eat too many of these at night.

Besides, there are still vegetables and red bean rolls to eat, and leftovers aren't good in this weather.

"Sister-in-law, it's so sweet."

Qianqian quickly blew on it to cool it down and took a bite.

"Okay, I won't eat much tonight, just one is enough. I'll eat more tomorrow morning."

Wei Yuyan also took a big bite, and it was indeed very sweet. Wei Yuyan liked this kind of sweetness, but she didn't like the sweetness of red bean paste.

The next morning, Brother Zhang bought the meat, red beans, and white sugar. Wei Yuyan then marinated the pork belly in preparation for making pork belly rice dumplings.

Soak the red beans too, we'll be selling red bean rolls tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Wei Yuyan's pork belly rice dumplings were ready.

"Xiao Lei, Qian Qian, have you ever eaten meat-filled rice dumplings?"

Wei Yuyan seduces the two children.

"no".

Xiao Lei replied, while Qianqian shook her head wistfully.

"Then give it a try."

A pound of pork belly isn't much, but Wei Yuyan made fourteen pork dumplings and three vegetarian ones.

"It's salty."

Xiao Lei was a little surprised, because the jujube rice dumplings from yesterday were sweet.

"Yes, it depends on whether you prefer sweet or savory."

Wei Yuyan treated both flavors equally, without any particular preference.

"I like sweet things."

Qianqian took two bites and then didn't want to eat anymore.

"I like it salty."

Xiao Lei, on the other hand, ate with great relish.

"Here, have some, brother."

Qianqian looked to Xiaolei for help, saying she really didn't want to eat it anymore; she hadn't expected the meat-filled rice dumpling to be so unpalatable.

"All right".

After finishing another meat-filled rice dumpling, Xiao Lei said he didn't need to eat lunch.

Afternoon~

Sister-in-law Xiuhua and Brother Zhang came over to help.

"Brother Zhang, please help me chop the meat. Sister-in-law Xiuhua, I have to tell you, there's no time to soak the red beans."

We boil it for about an hour, which has the same effect as soaking it. After boiling, we just sieve the red bean skins.

Soaking is better if you have time, as boiling uses more firewood.

We're almost out of firewood, but I haven't had time to chop any lately. I'll wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival.