Chapter 23: Delicious Food
When the three arrived at the market, Ding Yuejun first bought flour and eggs, then sugar, oil, biscuits, and a big slab of pork belly, "When we get home, I’ll make some meat buns for you to eat."
"Okay."
Little Mo Shan couldn’t help but swallow, full of anticipation.
Even Yiyi couldn’t help but press her lips together; it really had been a very long time since she’d had fragrant meat buns, and the ones her mother made would burst with juice with every bite; the taste...
Swallowing her saliva, Yiyi decided not to think too much about it, lest she get hungrier.
"Alright, next we’ll go buy some cloth."
After the three had bought their items, they happily returned home.
"Mom, once we get home, let’s directly return to our place to put the things away so Grandma and the others don’t see them,"
Upon hearing her daughter’s words, Ding Yuejun naturally nodded, and even Mo Shan sensibly said, "Aunt is right, if Grandma Zeng and the others see it, they might take the stuff away, and we won’t get to eat it." At the end, the little one held the biscuits tightly to her chest.
Seeing Mo Shan like this, Ding Yuejun couldn’t help but stroke her head and said, "Shanshan, don’t worry. Tonight I’ll definitely let you eat egg pancakes and meat buns; these things won’t be taken away."
Originally, she never fought or argued, and had never had a falling out with her mother-in-law or husband, always living a life of silent endurance. But the incident where Yiyi got hurt made her see some things clearly. In the past, she had been wrong, thinking that being gentle and obedient would make life comfortable for her and her daughter, but it actually caused her daughter to suffer along with her.
Thinking of this, Ding Yuejun’s eyes were resolute.
Yiyi was her reverse scale; even Yiyi used to be gentle like her, never complaining about anything, so she never saw everything clearly, even thinking doing more was good. Thinking back, how laughable she was then. Fortunately, it wasn’t too late, she couldn’t let her daughter be wronged anymore.
When the three got home, they went straight to their big house’s room.
"Yiyi, take Shanshan to rest for a while. Mom will prepare the meat filling first."
Hearing this, Yiyi smiled and nodded.
Then Ding Yuejun started working; she first chopped the pork belly into pieces, then took an appropriate amount of meat filling, added some chopped green onions, ginger, took a bowl of water, added soy sauce, five-spice powder, salt, and a little MSG, and mixed by hand in one direction, adding water until the filling was sticky.
This step took Ding Yuejun about half an hour, during which the meat filling became very sticky. Finally, she dribbled a little sesame oil and mixed it evenly.
After the meat filling was ready, she began kneading dough, cutting it into pieces, rolling out skins, and finally making buns.
Once the meat buns were steamed, Ding Yuejun started making egg pancakes, putting chopped scallions into a bowl, then cracking eggs into the bowl and stirring them evenly. Then she added flour, water, and salt, continued stirring, added cooking oil to a pan, and poured the egg mixture into the pan to fry.
"Yiyi, Shanshan, the egg pancakes are ready to eat."
Seeing the golden hot egg pancakes before her, Ding Yuejun felt a great sense of achievement, calling out with a big smile.
Yiyi and Mo Shan came over and took a deep breath.
"Mom, it smells so good."
Hearing her daughter’s words, Ding Yuejun was full of happiness and quickly handed them chopsticks, "Alright, hurry and eat. The meat buns will be ready soon, and then you can eat those too."
Yiyi and Mo Shan took the chopsticks and started eating eagerly.
But after two bites, Yiyi noticed her mother wasn’t eating and frowned, saying, "Mom, why aren’t you eating?"
"It’s fine for you to eat, Mom’s not hungry."
Without another word, Yiyi stuffed the chopsticks into Ding Yuejun’s hands and said, "Mom, if you don’t eat, we won’t eat either."
Seeing this, Mo Shan quickly put down her chopsticks and nodded, saying, "Grandma, you eat too, if you don’t, Shanshan won’t eat either."
Looking at her daughter and granddaughter, Ding Yuejun shook her head helplessly and began eating, but only took one piece. She still wanted Yiyi and them to eat more.
But Yiyi saw through her mother’s intentions and kept giving her egg pancakes. Only after seeing Ding Yuejun eat two pieces was she somewhat satisfied.
Seeing her daughter’s filial appearance, Ding Yuejun’s eyes brimmed with tears.
Her daughter had been sensible from a young age, and it was her fault, always being too soft and causing her daughter to be gentle too, doing too much. "Yiyi, it’s all Mom’s fault. From now on, I’ll make sure you get to eat these often, so you won’t envy Mo Meina anymore."
Hearing this, Yiyi hurriedly said, "Mom, I’m not envious of Mo Meina, so you don’t have to make these often; it would be too tiring."
Hearing her daughter’s soft tone, Ding Yuejun felt filled with energy.
"Making such small amounts isn’t tiring."
Mo Shan stood to the side, her eyes bright as she looked at her grandma and aunt, just feeling happy, and wishing this life could continue.
Just then, while they talked and laughed, Mo Guowei entered.
"What are you doing?" he said, sniffing, "Are you making meat buns?"
Seeing Mo Guowei come in, the three stopped talking and turned to look at him, but no one responded.
Recently, Mo Guowei felt that everything was going wrong. His elder daughter divorced, his granddaughter entered the Mo family’s registry, even his wife and younger daughter stopped listening. Now he asks questions, but no one answers.
"Are you all deaf? I’m asking you a question."
Seeing Mo Guowei like this, Ding Yuejun’s face turned cold, and she flatly said, "Yes, we’re making meat buns."
"Where did you get the money?"
He remembered there were none of these ingredients at home, so they must have been newly bought. He gave all his money to his mother, so how could Ding Yuejun have money?
Seeing Mo Guowei questioning aggressively, Ding Yuejun’s face grew steadily colder.
"This money was earned by Yiyi herself, so what’s wrong with us making some meat buns to eat? Yiyi and Shanshan haven’t eaten meat in a long time."
Mo Guowei grew even angrier, "Who are you lying to? What money could a little girl like Yiyi earn?"
Just then, Mo Meina peeked in, and upon hearing her uncle’s question, quickly caught on, "Is it from selling that orchid? How much did you get?"
Hearing Mo Meina, Mo Guowei was momentarily stunned, then turned to his niece and asked, "Meina, what’s going on?"
Mo Meina, taking this chance, exaggeratedly recounted the events of that day, concluding by saying, "Uncle, we hand over the money we earn to Grandma, but that day, Mo Yiyi said her things were hers, and it had nothing to do with us." At the end, she took a deep breath. "Uncle, your family is making meat buns."