Sweet Nostalgia of the 80s

Chapter 168: Chapter 167: Wild Vegetable Dumplings

An Ping had bought a pound of meat from the grocery store and had a remainder of one and a half yuan, so he also bought some essentials for the home such as salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.

By the time he got home, An Hao had already cleaned all the wild greens, blanched them in boiling water, and chopped them into stuffing.

The meat An Ping had brought back was pork belly, which he minced into stuffing. An Hao marinated the pork for a while with soy sauce and a water mixture with Sichuan peppercorns and star anise, then she mixed the wild greens with the meat, adding chopped green onions, minced ginger, and a small spoonful of vegetable oil.

The delicious aroma of the stuffing came out immediately, and just by smelling it, An Ping was salivating.

An Hao decided to mix a piece of white dough with warm water, kneaded it into small pieces, and rolled out thin wrappers. She filled them with the fragrant stuffing and pinched them into dumplings with thin skins and generous fillings.

Her movements were so skilled and pleasing to watch that in less than half an hour, she had finished wrapping all of the dough in front of her.

She counted the dumplings, almost a hundred in total, before she finally stopped to pour water into the big iron pot to boil.

An Ping helped with the fire and seeing that she had put all the dumplings into the pot, he couldn’t help but curiously ask her, ”Sister, you made so many dumplings. Are you planning not to cook for the next two or three days by cooking them all at once?”

Besides, it was so hot these days, the dumplings wouldn’t last that long before spoiling.

An Hao smiled slightly, ”What are you talking about, can I be that lazy?”

As she spoke, she stirred the pot, adding cold water, and in no time, the dumplings were floating belly-up on the surface.

Then, she ladled the dumplings into bowls, filling three large bowls to the brim, plus a large enamel basin.

Seeing the dumplings coming out of the pot, An Ping felt so tempted to eat them.

”Don’t eat them yet. You run an errand for me.” An Hao handed the large enamel basin to An Ping, ”Take these dumplings to Brother Qin’s house.”

An Ping took the dumplings, tilted his head, and looked at An Hao, ”Sister, you really fancy that commander, huh!”

An Hao was a bit shy as An Ping saw through her thoughts, ”Don’t ask so many questions, kid. Just hurry up and go, will you?”

An Ping reflected seriously before responding to An Hao, ”Sis, it makes sense that an engineer is an educated person, quite sought-after these days, and I heard the salary is pretty high too! Plus, he’s eating the government’s food, which means a job for life, so the conditions are indeed quite good. But, don’t forget he’s so much older than you—I’m most dissatisfied with that.”

”I know, just stop worrying about it. Go, deliver the food.” An Hao, not wanting to discuss the topic with her brother, pushed him out of the kitchen.

An Ping sighed, ”No wonder they always say a grown woman can’t be kept at home—it’s not at all wrong.”

Leaving the house, An Ping hurried toward Qin Jian’s place. Just as he entered the courtyard, Li Junping happened to be setting the table and serving the meal.

”Auntie, my sister asked me to bring some dumplings for Brother Qin!” An Ping said.

”Your sister? Who is your sister?” Li Junping, who hadn’t seen An Ping much, was a bit confused by her statement.

”My sister is An Hao.”

Li Junping remembered An Hao when she heard her name, the girl who had come to her house to deliver candied haws last time. She had a favorable impression of her.

”Alright, thank my sister for me.” Li Junping laughed cheerfully as she accepted the dumplings and called out to Qin Jian inside, ”Jianzi, come out quickly! An Hao had her brother bring you dumplings.”

Qin Jian was drying himself with a towel, and upon hearing that An Hao’s brother had come with dumplings, he quickly pulled on his shirt and came out.

Jian Ying and Tian Niu exchanged glances and both smiled knowingly without saying a word.