Chapter 49: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 49 Father-Daughter Conflict
On the way home, the faces of several people weren't looking too good.
Li Zhong glanced at the furrowed brows of Mo Qingze and the cold expression on Mo Yan's face, thinking of speaking up to advise them not to create conflict over those upsetting matters. However, as an outsider, he felt it wasn't appropriate to meddle in the father-daughter relationship, so he just patted his granddaughter's head silently and sighed.
Xin'er and Zhen'er were at an age where they could distinguish right from wrong, and they didn't conceal their emotions. One on each side, they leaned closely against their sister, glaring at their father with dissatisfaction written all over their little faces.
Why did Second Grandma and Second Grandpa come to bully them again? Big sister didn't do anything wrong. Why did Dad have to scold her? After finally living a good life, were they going to let those bad people take everything away from their family again?
During those years in the old village, if it weren't for big sister protecting them, they would have been bullied to death by the rascals from Second Uncle's family long ago. Dad always seemed to favor Second Uncle's family. Hmph!
Being stared at by his daughter and son like they were watching a bad person, Mo Qingze felt very uncomfortable. When he looked at his daughter, who had no expression on her face, he felt a twinge of regret, but then he remembered the disappointed and saddened look in Second Uncle's eyes before leaving, and he felt that his daughter shouldn't have been so aggressive.
He knew that Second Auntie wasn't very kind to the children, but Second Uncle was the only elder he was close to. He had been treated well by Second Uncle when he was young. Just as Second Auntie said, if it weren't for them, it would have been difficult to protect the family property left by his parents. Even whether he could grow up safely would have been a problem. Moreover, Second Uncle had followed his father's last wishes and sent him to school, and he eventually achieved academic success.
Although after getting married, Second Uncle's family didn't return those fields and houses to him, he felt grateful for their care. Seeing his daughter mentioning those dirty things in front of so many people, wasn't it hurting Second Uncle's feelings?
Mo Yan couldn't ignore her father's conflicted gaze, but she didn't want to explain anything for the time being.
At first, her father's reprimand indeed made her uncomfortable, but now that she had calmed down, she thought carefully from her father's perspective and understood why he would scold her.
But understanding aside, even if time were to rewind and repeat, she would still take the opportunity to expose their true colors while Second Grandma's family's foundation in Liuyang Village wasn't stable. She couldn't bear to endure those scoundrels, especially considering how they had bullied her mercilessly in the old village. Even the death of the original owner was not unrelated to that family of scoundrels. She couldn't bear to suppress herself for those scoundrels.
When they returned home, it was already dark.
Even though everyone's mood wasn't great, dinner still had to be eaten.
When Mo Yan was in a bad mood, she liked to cook delicious food to ease her mind. So tonight, she didn't care about the rule of eating less and avoiding salty food. She decided to make a delicious meal to forget about the unhappy things.
There was pork, chicken, and plenty of pig offal that had been braised a few days ago at home. In addition, there were various vegetables and fruits in the space, so Mo Yan took out some seasonal radishes and Chinese cabbage and planned to make three meat and two vegetarian dishes.
Considering that heavy, greasy food was not suitable for the evening, Mo Yan decided to make a steamed dish that she had loved in her previous life — pearl tofu meatballs.
The ingredients for pearl tofu meatballs were very simple. The main ingredients were glutinous rice, tofu, and pork. The seasonings were just green onions, ginger, cooking wine, soy sauce, salt, and sesame oil.
The glutinous rice needed to be soaked in water for at least an hour and a half so that it would be soft and sticky when steamed. Fortunately, Mo Yan liked to make nutritious and delicious Yin Rice Lean Meat Egg Soup Pancakes. She had made quite a few Yin Rice and stored them, making it very convenient to use.
Yin Rice was processed from glutinous rice and had a similar texture to glutinous rice after steaming and cooking. It was perfect for making pearl tofu meatballs.
Mo Yan minced the meat, mixed it with tofu in a two-to-one ratio, added chopped green onions and ginger, soy sauce, cooking wine, oil, and salt, and used chopsticks to mix it vigorously in the same direction repeatedly. After letting it marinate for a while, she started to shape it into balls half the size of an egg. Then, she rolled them in the Yin Rice, making sure they were evenly coated before they were ready.
Xin'er and Zhen'er didn't want to talk to their father, so they also went into the kitchen to help. Seeing their big sister shaping the meatballs with interest, they also washed their hands and helped to shape them.
Li Yan couldn't help, so she went to the well to fetch water and wash the vegetables. The water she just fetched from the well was warm and wouldn't freeze her hands. It was just right for washing vegetables.
After making the pearl tofu meatballs, Mo Yan added water to the pot and placed two layers of steaming baskets on top. The first layer was for steaming rice, and the second layer held two large plates of meatballs. Then, she covered the pot and let Xin'er make the fire below while she cooked the other dishes outside.
In less than half an hour, Mo Yan had made potato braised chicken, dry-fried pork intestines, stir-fried radishes, and stomach-settling stewed Chinese cabbage. At this point, the aroma of rice and meat filled the whole kitchen, drifting into the hall.
Li Zhong couldn't help but walk into the kitchen and saw the meatballs coming out of the pot. When he learned that the dish was called pearl tofu meatballs, he couldn't help but clap and laugh, "The glutinous rice is plump and shiny, just like pearls, isn't it? Hearing tofu, you know what's inside. This name is great, both elegant and common!"
Mo Yan listened with a black line on her face. Wasn't it just a common steamed dish? Aren't all dishes meant to be eaten? Why did it have to be related to elegance or vulgarity?
"Grandpa, please stop talking. I already thought this dish looked good. If you keep talking, we'll all feel embarrassed to eat it!" Li Yan interrupted hastily. She genuinely thought the dish looked beautiful and was already drooling just by looking at it.
The newly made meatballs were particularly popular, especially among the three little ones who loved to eat them. Even Li Zhong, who had a heavy taste, ate quite a few. Mo Qingze, who originally had a poor appetite, also ate heartily and ended up having two bowls of rice.
After dinner, everyone's mood improved. Mo Yan looked at her father, whose complexion had softened considerably, and felt it necessary to explain what had happened in the afternoon. She didn't want there to be a rift between her and her father because of these things, especially since she had another important matter to discuss.
Mo Qingze also had this intention, so father and daughter each put on an extra layer of clothing and went to the courtyard together.
Under the moonlight, Mo Yan looked at her father, who was becoming more and more like her father in her previous life, and her eyes couldn't help but well up with tears. Her voice trembled as she said, "Dad, I know Second Grandpa is an elder, and I shouldn't have said those things in front of so many people. But have you ever thought, if these things weren't exposed in front of everyone, with Second Grandma's words, how could we establish ourselves in Liuyang Village in the future?"
As she spoke, Mo Yan remembered the disgusting things Mo Hongshi had done, and her tone became even worse. "Back then, Dad taught in the town, earning one or two silver coins a month. Our family had no land, and we had to buy everything. This one or two silver coins barely sustained our family's livelihood. But what did Second Grandma do?"
I think it's out of order?
ReplyDeletemy apologies, I forgot to include the link
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