"She must have gone to someone’s house to visit," Lady Zhang whispered.

Back in the West Wing Room, Lian Shouxin and Wu Lang were already stoking the fire and cooking.

"What are we eating for lunch?" Xiao Qi asked.

"Still the Sanhe flour buns, pickled vegetable frozen tofu, and we’ll stir-fry some hot and sour bean sprouts, how about that?" Lian Shouxin discussed with Lady Zhang.

"Alright, let’s have a good lunch and then just eat buns for dinner, who knows when that will be," Lady Zhang said.

"I was thinking the same," Lian Shouxin said with a smile.

The so-called Sanhe flour buns were steamed from a mixture of millet flour, legume flour, and a small amount of white flour. The addition of white flour greatly improved the texture, making them more satisfying to eat. The family loved the bean sprouts, which were stir-fried with dry chili peppers and specially seasoned with vinegar before serving, giving it a refreshing, sour, and spicy taste.

Pickled vegetable frozen tofu was a common dish in the winter there. The pickled vegetables were shredded, and the white tofu was frozen solid outside. Before eating, it was thawed inside the house, cut into small pieces, and then stewed in the pickled vegetable soup.

The temperature outside was already down to minus ten degrees or so at night. The white tofu outside, frozen solid overnight, was harder than rocks and could kill with a blow. Yet, when stewed in the pickled vegetable soup, it was delicious.

Lian Manman especially loved the frozen tofu.

"Dad, can you add an extra piece of frozen tofu?" Lian Manman asked with a smile.

"We know Manman loves it; how could we add less?" Lian Shouxin replied.

After lunch, Lady Zhang took two large bunches of leaves tied together from a basket in the corner of the room and soaked them in water.

"These are the fragrant leaves your grandma brought last time. We’ll use them as a base for tonight’s buns," Lady Zhang explained.

In the evening, Lian Xiuxiu came over and called Lady Zhang to cook the beans. To make good bean paste without any additives relied entirely on controlling the heat. In past years, making bean paste was solely Lady Zhang’s responsibility.

By this time, Lian Manman was beginning to understand.

"I was wondering why when grandpa said we’d make buns together, grandma didn’t object at all!"

"Doing more work won’t kill anyone," Lady Zhang repeated her old saying, "Even if we didn’t make them together, we’d still have to cook the bean paste ourselves. It’s no big deal to do it for them as well."

Lian Manman looked outside. The firewood at the gate hadn’t changed since noon. She wondered if Lady He had had lunch yet. Then, looking at Lady Zhang bent over the fire, Lian Manman sighed to herself.

If it weren’t for those things that happened, Lady Zhou would never have let them split up and live separately. Lady Zhang, now helping Lady Zhou with work and maintaining such a good mindset, naturally had her personality to thank. Having tasted the sweetness of running her own household, she was even less concerned about the occasional troubles and difficulties. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Once the bean paste was ready and the millet flour rose, the volume had almost doubled, lifting the lid of the flour jar.

Old Master Lian inspected the millet flour and bean paste, nodding repeatedly and expressing satisfaction. Lady Zhou had also checked and, still wearing a stern face, found nothing to criticize.

In the Upper Room East Room, oil lamps had been lit, and three dining tables were lined up on the kang bed. The women of the family were all sitting around the tables. Making buns was women’s work. The men were responsible for taking out the dough from the jars, kneading it some more, and then passing it to the tables.

Seeing that Lady He was sitting at the table, Lian Manman became more attentive and, pulling Lady Zhang and Lian Zhizhi, seated themselves far from Lady He.

Lady Zhang demonstrated to Lian Zhizhi and Lian Manman how to make the buns. She showed them the right amount of dough and bean paste filling for each bun.

Lian Manman followed the example, scooping up a piece of dough, and kneading it, though it was sticky. When the dough became smooth, she pressed the middle with her fingers, shaping it into a cone, then filled it with the right amount of bean paste using a spoon, pressed it down, and pinched the opening shut. The seal had to be tight, or it would leak during steaming. Then she rolled it into a round shape, placed a leaf underneath, set it on the steamer tray, and a bun was completed.

Xiao Qi sat behind Lian Manman, eagerly watching. He also wanted to make buns, but Lady Zhou wouldn’t allow it, fearing he would waste the ingredients.

As soon as a tray of buns was ready, it was taken to the outer room to steam. Once the buns were steamed, they were to be carried out to the yard. It was very cold outside, and the steaming hot buns quickly froze. This was why Old Master Lian chose to make buns at night when the temperature was lower and the buns would freeze even more firmly.

The frozen buns would be put into clay jars and stored under the eaves, where they could be preserved for the whole winter.

Lian Shouxin, Lian Shouyi, Lian Shouli, Erlang, Sanlang, Si Lang, and Wu Lang were in charge of transporting the buns back and forth and of steaming the buns. Old Master did not have to work, but he was not idle either; he often went out to check, helping to monitor the fire for steaming the buns and to see how the buns were freezing.

As trays of buns were sent out to be steamed, Lian Manman wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at the two flour jars and the several unattended pots of bean paste.

It wasn’t that she was exhausted; the fire in the outer room was getting more intense, and the room was heating up. She now fully understood why Lady Zhou was willing to let them make buns together.

To make several hundred pounds of buns, including the provisions for Lian Shouren’s family, and considering that Lian Shouren’s family wasn’t there, the only ones in the second family who could make buns were Lady He and Lian Yaya. They made buns as if embroidering, which was very slow. Lady Zhang alone was worth two people, and Lian Zhizhi and she together were as good as two adults. Without the three of them, Lady Zhou and her people could keep making buns until tomorrow and still not finish.

Moreover, she was getting hungry. Smelling the scent of the buns outside, without Old Master Lian and Lady Zhou speaking, no one dared mention wanting to eat. And some things, they should start planning for themselves.

"Mom," Lian Manman nudged Lady Zhang with her elbow.

******

Second update, begging for pink (to be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)