country bumpkin

The kitchen table was covered with various ingredients.

They have cucumbers, tomatoes, bok choy, and spinach that they grow in their own yard.

There were also Tibetan cured meats and dried fish stored at home. Mu Shuyun also took some time to go to the grocery store and bought spare ribs, pig ears, and her youngest son's favorite pig intestines.

Several dried red chilies were fried in the hot oil of a wok, along with scallions, ginger, and garlic. The aroma, along with the pungent spiciness, filled the entire kitchen.

Finally, add the chopped pig intestines, flip them over, add a little soy sauce, flip them a few more times, and they're ready to serve.

Kong Xiangyao loves this dish the most, and Kong Tongming also enjoys it. Eating this salty, spicy stir-fried pork intestines, along with a little wine, makes life simply wonderful.

And people who enjoy drinking also like this dish. Even Yunya likes it. However, she always prepares cooled boiled water before eating it, so she can drink water to relieve the spiciness at any time.

Mu Shuyun suggested to Yunya that she rinse the food with water from a small bowl before eating it, so it wouldn't be so spicy.

Yunya shook her head, "No, Grandma, it won't be salty then, and it won't smell as good either."

Mu Shuyun said, "Then I'll just put less chili next time."

Yunya continued to shake her head: "No, Grandma, you should still cook it the way you normally would, otherwise it won't have that aroma."

Sure enough, the next time I stir-fried the large intestine, it was still salty and spicy, but people who ate there liked it that way.

Everyone was sweating from the spiciness, and even Kong Tongming, who was drinking baijiu, was sweating from the spiciness, but he still praised the dish as delicious and flavorful.

Except for the stir-fried large intestine, which was the last dish to be prepared, all the other dishes on the table were cooked in advance.

There was stir-fried sausage with green peppers, meatballs stewed with spinach, pork ribs with bok choy, tomatoes with sugar, and cucumber salad with pig's ears. The fish wasn't cooked; we'll save it for tomorrow.

While Yunya finished chopping the filling, Mu Shuyun had already prepared the dough. She quickly mixed the filling, and Yunya and Kong Xiangyao helped wrap the dumplings.

Mu Shuyun rolled out the dough, and the two worked together seamlessly, quickly filling a tray with dumplings.

When Kong Tongming came home from get off work in the evening, dinner was ready. The family sat around the table and began to eat.

Mu Shuyun ate a few bites of food, then got up and went to the kitchen to make dumplings. A large log was burning under a big pot in the kitchen, and a large pot of boiling water was steaming.

Mu Shuyun poured half of the dumplings from the lid onto the large pot, and the boiling water immediately stopped bubbling.

Mu Shuyun stirred the water quickly to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the pot. After two or three minutes, the water started bubbling and boiling again.

The boiling water was happily cooking the dumplings, and the bubbling sound from the big pot began again.

After 10 minutes, the dumplings slowly puffed up, looking like little white boats gently floating in the pot.

Mu Shuyun added cold water twice more, and by the time the water boiled for the third time, the dumplings were cooked through. She used a slotted spoon to scoop out the dumplings and put them into several large bowls.

She called out, "The dumplings are ready, come out and get the plates."

Hearing the shouts, Yunya ran to the kitchen to fetch dumplings. Kong Xiangyao also got up to help fetch the dumplings.

Once the dumplings were placed on the table, everyone's attention was drawn to them.

Kong Xiangyao couldn't wait to pick up a dumpling, take a bite, and the soup burst out, the meat filling was fresh and fragrant. He mumbled, "It's so delicious!"

Yunya quickly ate one too, her tongue burning and numb from the heat, but she couldn't bear to spit it out. After finishing the whole dumpling, her eyes narrowed into slits from the aroma, she was very satisfied.

Kong Tongming put down his wine glass and started eating dumplings, saying as he ate, "These dumplings are so delicious. Home-cooked meals are always the most satisfying."

Mu Shuyun smiled and said, "I'm happy as long as you like it. I'll make it anytime you want." The family sat together, eating steaming dumplings and chatting about everyday things. A warm atmosphere filled the room, and the night outside the window seemed to become even softer.

As expected, Yunya ate too much again. Kong Xiangyao laughed and joked, "She lives up to her nickname 'glutton,' she can still eat so much."

Yunya looked up at her uncle and said, "Grandma's filling was so delicious, I couldn't resist eating too much again."

Mu Shuyun asked Kong Xiangyao to take Yunya for a walk in the yard to help her digest her food. She then went to clean up the mess herself.

After finishing his meal, Kong Tongming sat in the courtyard smoking. He rolled a cigarette as usual, licked the end to seal it, and then lit it.

He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and looked so relaxed and content that many people envied him.

Yunya followed Kong Xiangyao around the courtyard. Sometimes she ran to the front gate, sometimes she walked back. Sometimes she circled the main room, and sometimes she went back to the back of the main room to look at the vegetable garden.

Yunya proudly patted her chest and said, "Uncle, uncle, look, I'm the one who watered all these vegetables, otherwise they wouldn't have produced so many fruits."

Kong Xiangyao smiled and praised, "Oh, it's all thanks to our Yunya for being so diligent. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to eat so much delicious food."

Yun Ya smiled happily: "That's right, of course. Don't you know who I am?"

After finishing her work in the kitchen, Mu Shuyun came out and looked at the warm scene in the yard. She was overjoyed, feeling sweeter than if she had eaten honey.

She also went into the yard, took a stool, and sat down to rest for a while. Just then, Granny Zhang from across the street came over for a visit. When Kong Xiangyao saw her, he greeted her politely as usual.

Granny Zhang smiled and praised, "Oh my, Xiangyao has grown into a grown man."

Kong Xiangyao casually moved a stool from the entrance of the main room and handed it to Granny Zhang, asking her to sit down and talk.

Granny Zhang accepted the gift without ceremony, and sat down with a big smile to chat with Mu Shuyun.

Yunya was very affectionate towards Granny Zhang and came over to greet her, "Hello, Granny Zhang!"

After replying, Granny Zhang praised Yunya for her sweet talk and politeness. Yunya knew that Granny Zhang's arrival meant there would be some juicy gossip to hear, so she quickly squatted down to listen attentively.

Granny Zhang said, "Oh dear, you don't know, the village chief's house is in complete chaos! His daughter-in-law and mother-in-law are arguing."

Granny Zhang lowered her voice mysteriously and said, "I don't know what happened, but this noon, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started yelling at each other in the yard. The village chief's daughter-in-law said her mother-in-law was biased, always giving the best things to her younger daughter, while her son's family got nothing. She also said that she was trying to curry favor with her son-in-law's family because they were from the city and had connections. The village chief's daughter-in-law didn't back down either, saying that she was immature and unfilial, and that her own daughter was more filial. The two argued more and more fiercely, and the insults they hurled were so awful that the neighbors could hear them."

Yunya's eyes widened, and she asked curiously, "Grandma Zhang, what happened next?"

Granny Zhang slapped her thigh and continued, "Later, the village chief came back and scolded them both, and that finally calmed things down. But the feud between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is now set in stone, and they might fight again in the future."

Mu Shuyun sighed, "Sigh, a family should always try to stay harmonious. Arguing only hurts feelings."

Kong Xiangyao nodded in agreement, "Yes, harmony in the family brings prosperity in all things."

Yunya nodded as if she understood, thinking to herself that this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law quarrel was really lively, and she wondered if there would be any new gossip in the future.