Dead Dough Mantou

Qin Anming looked as if he were taking an oath. Xiaoguo started to frown as she watched him.

“So you sprained your back not long after we left?”

“Actually… um…”

Qin Anming wanted to say no, but when he saw Xiaoguo looking straight into his eyes, he nodded honestly.

“I’m really fine. I just sprained my back. It’s not that bad. The main reason I came back was to take care of the house. I was worried about you being away for so long. Since I have twisted my waist, Ruyi asked me to stay here for a while longer.”

Qin Anming didn’t want Xiaoguo to worry, so he quickly explained to her.

“Really?”

“Really!” Qin Anming nodded frantically to show that he wasn’t hiding anything. He even deliberately moved his waist for her to see. “See, it’s fine.”

Seeing that he was really fine, Xiaoguo believed him.

“How did it happen?”

“It was a busy day at the shop when it happened. I didn’t rest well a few days in a row. While trying to stretch, I twisted my waist.”

Qin Anming didn’t want to tell her about this because he was feeling embarrassed. He had sprained his back because of a stretch. He was too ashamed to admit it.

“Are you all right now?”

Xiaoguo was still worried. How could a sprained waist recover so quickly?

“I’m really fine now. I got better after resting for a few days. I still feed the animals with melon seedlings every day.” At this point, Qin Anming looked rather proud. He smiled and said, “Didn’t you notice that they’ve gained a lot of weight?”

“I did, but I thought it was just my imagination.”

Hearing his words, Xiaoguo understood. It turned out that Qin Anming had given them special treatment. Otherwise, why would they suddenly gain so much weight?

“Where did you get the melon seedlings?”

“When I was at Qin Manor, I didn’t have much to do. I remembered that there were melon farmers there, so I brought back a lot of seedlings using the donkey cart.”

The pride in Qin Anming’s tone had spread beyond the room. Even Zhuang Zhuang, who was seriously washing the kelp, could sense it.

Xiaoguo was sincerely impressed. She gave him a thumbs-up. “Impressive!”

She had been raising the animals for so long, but her achievements could not compare to his efforts in a month. She really had to hand it to him.

“Mother… kelp.”

Zhuang Zhuang came in from outside and handed the washed kelp to Xiaoguo.

At this moment, the porridge in the pot was almost done. After the fire was extinguished, the lid of the pot was lifted to allow the contents to cool down. In this weather, it’s hard to ingest piping hot food.

Xiaoguo took the kelp and placed it on a board. Rolling it into a ball, she cut it into shreds. These were then placed in a basin and mixed with smashed cucumbers.

Just as Xiaoguo was crushing the garlic, Qin Anming pointed at a pot that was emitting steam and asked, “What is this?”

“Pork cheeks.”

Xiaoguo replied without looking. With a big knife in her hand, she swiftly and accurately smashed the garlic, one clove at a time. In the blink of an eye, one head of garlic had turned into garlic paste.

“Help me bring the meat over.”

She had thought for a long time about what to eat in this weather. In the end, she decided to make a cold dish. It was convenient and easy to make, and it’s tasty too.

Although Qin Anming didn’t know where she got the pork cheeks from, he didn’t ask. He felt that this wasn’t important. He didn’t mind as long as there was food.

“Be careful. It’s too hot.”

Qin Anming took the pork cheeks out of the bowl and placed it beside the board. He reminded her worriedly, afraid that she would burn herself.

Xiaoguo responded by cutting the meat into pieces and putting them together with the cucumber kelp. She poured in the vinegar and sesame oil and stirred them evenly.

Zhuang Zhuang and Qin Anming brought out the cold dish and the porridge respectively, while Xiaoguo brought out the steamed buns that Qin Anming had made with unleavened dough. Bringing everything into the house, they started to eat.

Zhuang Zhuang took a long time to take a bite of the steamed bun. He chewed with difficulty and said incoherently, “This steamed bun is so chewy.”

Qin Anming blushed when he heard this. He swallowed the kelp in his mouth in embarrassment and said, “I just found out that steamed buns have to be made with yeast.”

“…”

“…”

Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang paused for a moment. Worried about hurting his pride, the two of them pretended that it was quite delicious and took two big bites in a row.

Qin Anming looked helpless. He knew his own standards. There was no need to comfort him.

He had always thought that steamed buns were made the same way as noodles. After adding water to flour and kneading it into a dough, a fluffy white bun would be ready after steaming.

On that fateful day, he had steamed a large pot of solid dough with confidence. It was a little far-fetched to call them steamed buns, and it was a little exaggerated to call them noodles. It was hard to label it as anything.

After speaking with Mrs. Yang, he realized that there was something called yeast. But there was nothing he could do. Since he had already made them, he could not let everything go to waste. From that day till now, he had been eating them everyday with tears in his eyes. Even so, he was unable to finish them.

“Think of it as training for your jaws.”

Zhuang Zhuang was changing his teeth. Chewing was beneficial for him.

As soon as Xiaoguo said that, Zhuang Zhuang couldn’t hold it in anymore. He immediately burst out laughing. A hard piece of steamed bun spewed out from between his front teeth and into Qin Anming’s bowl.

In slow motion, it flew in a perfect parabolic arc, right in front of their eyes.

“…” Seeing this scene, Xiaoguo couldn’t hold it in anymore. As soon as the piece of bun landed, her laughter rang out.

“Hahahahahaha…”

Qin Anming couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

To be honest, he was quite speechless about these steamed buns. In winter, they could probably be used as bricks to build a house.

The three of them kept laughing until they became out of breath.

—-

At night, Qin Anming brought Zhuang Zhuang back to the house, leaving Xiaoguo alone in the kitchen.

The seafood had been divided into equal portions, but it could only be sent out the next day. The storage was going to be an issue.

After chasing the two of them away, Xiaoguo closed the kitchen door and flashed into the other space to take out some ice cubes from the fridge.

She had stored the ice cubes when she was on the island. Firstly, she was worried about the heat at home when they got back. Secondly, she was keeping them for the seafood.

At that time, she was thinking of using ice to keep the seafood fresh after catching it. By the time it was delivered to others, it would still be fresh.

At first, Xiaoguo wanted to keep the seafood in the fridge, but it was already filled with all kinds of seafood. She had caught them on the island when she was feeling bored. Whenever she couldn’t finish any of her catches, she would keep them in the fridge.

Unknowingly, a lot of space in the fridge was already taken up.

After moving out a few pieces of crushed ice, she placed them in each basin and poured cold water on them. This would help to keep the seafood fresh.

“I’ll set off early in the morning.”

—-

The next day, Xiaoguo woke up alone on the big bed and stretched comfortably.

Zhuang Zhuang insisted on sleeping with Qin Anming last night. He wanted to tell him about life on the island. After Xiaoguo woke up in the middle of the night, she could still vaguely hear voices on the other side of the house.

When Xiaoguo was done making breakfast, there was still no sign of them getting out of bed. As expected, the two of them had stayed up late last night.

After bringing breakfast to the table, Xiaoguo did not wake them up. Instead, she brought a basin of seafood to Mrs. Yang’s house.

Yang Jia was the one who opened the door. When he saw Xiaoguo, he immediately took the basin from her and looked inside curiously. “What is this?”

“Seafood for you.”

As she spoke, the two of them went into the house. Mrs. Yang and the others were eating. This was the first time they had seen seafood, so they spent a lot of time checking it out.

Xiaoguo didn’t want to interrupt their meal. After telling them to finish the seafood as soon as possible, she left with an empty basin.

Just as she reached the door, Mrs. Yang chased after her and said, “Are you free today?”

“I’m going to deliver seafood in the morning. I should be free in the afternoon.”

“Then I’ll look for you later. Hehe.” Mrs. Yang was overjoyed when she heard that. “I wanted to look for you after dinner last night, but Yang Feng wouldn’t let me. He said that you must be very tired, having just returned from your trip. So you would need a lot of rest.”

“I’m fine. I’m not tired. You can come whenever you want.”

After Xiaoguo finished speaking with a smile, Mrs. Yang was overjoyed and she quickly nodded.

When Xiaoguo returned, Qin Anming and Zhuang Zhuang were washing up. When they saw her coming back, they were not curious at all. They knew where she had gone.

“Are you going to the county later?”

“Yes, yes.”

Qin Anming took a sip of porridge and said, “Then I’ll go with you. I have no worries now that you’re back. It must have been a busy period at the noodle shop while I was away.”

“Why don’t you rest for a few more days…?”

Zhuang Zhuang looked at Qin Anming reluctantly.