80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches

Chapter 415 - 413: Idle

"I have," Wu Shufen said with a smile. "Your grandma and I were sitting in a teahouse in Dashiqiao. The matchmaker let me have one look at him, and the matter was settled."

Lin Lan smiled. "But you and Dad have had a good life all these years!"

Wu Shufen said, "It wasn’t like it is for you girls now. Back then, we were happy as long as our mothers-in-law didn’t torment us and our husbands didn’t beat us."

Lin Lan thought for a moment and asked, "I’ve heard that sometimes people would stand in for a disabled man at a matchmaking session. Is that true?"

Wu Shufen sighed. "Of course it happened. A good friend of mine went through that. During the matchmaking session, the man she saw was tall, well-built, and handsome. Only after she was married did she realize her actual husband was blind. The one who stood in for him was a relative’s son."

"Oh my god! So what did she do?"

"What could she do? She was already married, and her parents had accepted the bride price and refused to return it. All she could do was grin and bear it, just trying to get by."

Wu Shufen sighed and patted Lin Lan. "You have to appreciate your blessings. Xiangyang is good to you, so don’t be willful. Be more considerate of him. Mom’s telling you, once a heart grows cold, it’s very hard to warm it up again."

"Don’t worry, Mom, I know," Lin Lan promised solemnly.

Lin Jun put down his comic book and ran out from the main room. "Grandma, we want to go play at our uncle’s house!"

Wu Shufen raised a hand and swatted the back of his head. "You can’t sit still for a second, can you? You got ants in your pants?"

Lin Jun rubbed the back of his head, which didn’t hurt at all. "There’s no TV to watch at home. We want to go to Uncle’s house to watch TV."

"Can’t keep still, huh? Your dirty clothes are still soaking in that basin." Wu Shufen pointed to the wooden tub. "Go on, bring it here and wash them yourselves."

Lin Jun glanced over. ’I’ve just shot myself in the foot,’ he thought, shaking his head repeatedly. "I can’t get them clean."

Wu Shufen thought for a moment, her gaze sweeping over the other children in the room before landing back on Lin Jun. "If you’re not washing clothes, then you can help clean the duck. Pick one. Otherwise, you can just wait for a good spanking."

Lin Jun looked at Lin Qing and the others in the room and said, "We’ll clean the duck!"

Wu Shufen got up and went to the kitchen to get a bowl, preparing to kill the duck. Lin Jun and the others exchanged a look, then sat down, dejected and silent.

Seeing this, Lin Lan burst out laughing. "It’s just one duck. Between the few of you, you’ll have it plucked clean in no time. Is there really any need to be so dejected?"

Little Jun sighed, shaking his head sagely. "Auntie, you don’t understand, you just don’t understand..."

Little Douzi put down his comic book, came out, and snuggled up to Lin Lan, whispering, "Mommy, Cousin Jun and the others wanted to go catch fish in the ditch below their uncle’s house."

Lin Jun stepped forward, cupped Little Douzi’s face in his hands, and squished his cheeks. "You little traitor. When the sky clears, we won’t take you with us to catch fish."

Little Douzi looked at him, completely unconcerned. "Fine, don’t take me. I’ll go fishing by the river with Uncle Xiangyang."

Lin Jun was left speechless. "I’m not talking to you anymore. You’re a little traitor."

"I’m not a little traitor!" Little Douzi said, annoyed. "Grandma hadn’t agreed to let you go. I only said something after you agreed to help her with the duck."

"Exactly," Lin Hong nodded. "Little Douzi only told Auntie just now, so it doesn’t count as being a traitor. I told you Grandma wouldn’t agree, but you just had to try."

Lin Lan watched them, smiling. "Be good and clean that duck properly, and Auntie will make spring rolls for you." With nothing to do on a rainy day, she figured she might as well pass the time by making a treat for the kids.

Lin Jun and the others jumped up happily. "Okay, okay! We promise we’ll clean the duck so well there won’t be a single pinfeather left."

Wu Shufen, who had just come out holding the duck, looked at Lin Lan reproachfully. "You just fried shrimp for them, and now you’re making them spring rolls? Who spoils their children like you do?"

Lin Hong tugged on Wu Shufen’s arm. "Grandma, we want to eat spring rolls! Please let Auntie make them!"

Wu Shufen looked at her and deliberately put on a stern face. "If you want to eat good food, you have to help with the work."

"I know! I’ll go help boil water for scalding the duck," Lin Hong said, heading for the kitchen.

Lin Jun said with a grin, "I’ll go help carry some firewood to the kitchen."

Watching the children run off in different directions, Wu Shufen raised the knife. "Heaven kills you, Earth kills you, it is not I who kills you..." After chanting this a few times, she slit the duck’s throat...

Lin Lan said to her, "Mom, can you go to Third Auntie’s house and buy a few pounds of peanuts? If she has carrots, get a few. If not, then get some of those red-skinned radishes."

"Alright!" Wu Shufen drained the duck’s blood into a large bowl and set the still-twitching bird in a corner. She then grabbed the bamboo hat from the wall, picked up her basket, and headed out toward Granny Lin’s house.

Lin Lan went to the kitchen and scooped some flour into a porcelain basin. She added a spoonful of salt, then gradually added water while stirring clockwise until the mixture formed flaky clumps. Next, she kneaded it into a ball of dough. She began to work the dough, repeatedly dipping it in water and pressing it... Finally, she added more water and set it aside to rest for an hour...

By this time, the water in the pot was boiling. Lin Lan had Lin Jun place the large wooden tub under the eaves. She put the dead duck inside and poured the boiling water over it, turning the bird to scald it evenly...

Lin Jun and the others took over and started plucking the feathers. Little Douzi squatted down to help too.

More than half an hour later, Wu Shufen returned with her basket. "She didn’t have any carrots, so I pulled up some red-skinned radishes. I also got a bunch of scallions. Your auntie knew you were making spring rolls, so she gave me some mung bean sprouts, too."

Lin Lan laughed. "I completely forgot about the scallions."

Wu Shufen put down the basket and took out the red-skinned peanuts. "I’ll roast the peanuts and make the wrappers. You can peel the celtuce and radishes."

"While there’s still boiling water in the wok, you should blanch the mung bean sprouts and boil a few shiitake mushrooms first."

"There are a few pounds here, so a couple of handfuls should be enough."

"Mhm!" Lin Lan grabbed a bamboo strainer and took a few handfuls of mung bean sprouts. She rinsed them twice, then tipped them into the wok. She gave them a quick stir with chopsticks to blanch them, then scooped them back into the strainer to drain. Next, she grabbed a handful of shiitake mushrooms, boiled them in the wok, and scooped them out to drain as well.

Wu Shufen ladled the water out of the wok. She checked the dough Lin Lan had set aside to rest, poured off the excess liquid, and grabbed a piece of the soft dough. She swirled the dough ball in a small circle against the hot bottom of the wok. When she lifted her hand, a paper-thin wrapper was left behind. As soon as its edges began to curl, she peeled it off and placed it on a plate.

Lin Lan peeled the celtuce, then washed and julienned the radishes. She salted the finely shredded celtuce and radish, let them sit for a bit, then squeezed out the excess moisture. After shredding the shiitake mushrooms, she tossed them into the bowl of drained mung bean sprouts along with the celtuce and radish. Finally, she seasoned the filling with salt, soy sauce, crushed peanuts, chili oil, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and Sichuan peppercorn oil, mixing it all together.

The white parts of the scallions were shredded and placed on a plate. Those who liked them could add a few strands; those who didn’t found them pungent and sharp, enough to make their eyes water.

Wu Shufen looked at the mixed filling on the stove and smiled. "If it wasn’t raining, it would be even tastier if we could’ve dug up some fish mint to mix in."

Lin Lan nodded. "Shredded kelp would be good too."

Wu Shufen’s eyes crinkled with laughter as she looked at her daughter. "You’ve been a little gourmand ever since you were a child. Your grandma was always fussing, ’A girl with such an appetite! What will become of her?’"