Chapter 6
Pork and Scallions Wontons
The next day, right after dawn, Xiaoguo was woken by the crowing of chickens outside the house. She opened her eyes and saw Zhuang Zhuang still fast asleep. She got out of bed softly, closed the door, and walked to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
She took out the pork from last night and started to mince it. She searched the kitchen but was not able to find any spring onions or condiments for the wonton filling. Xiaoguo used the ring to transmigrate again and fetched the ingredients she needed from the other kitchen. When she got what she needed, she returned to the current kitchen using the ring again. Xiaoguo sorted the condiments into small containers and she began to chop the ginger and spring onions. She placed them into a basin and added various ingredients like salt, MSG, soy sauce and flavored spices. She also made a separate paste out of the chopped ginger and green onions and added it in parts to the minced meat. Xiaoguo began stirring the mixture vigorously before heating up some pepper oil and drizzling it on the filling. By doing this, the fragrance of the meat would be locked in and the wontons would turn out juicy and firm.
After the filling was done, Xiaoguo went on to make the dough. When the flour had been kneaded into a smooth dough, the sun had risen higher up into the sky. She added water into a pot and lit the fire.
In the other room, Zhuang Zhuang had woken and did not see his mother. He panicked and rushed out looking for his mother. Guided by the sounds coming from the kitchen, Zhuang Zhuang ran in and shouted, “Mother!”
Xiaoguo heard him and turned around. She saw that Zhuang Zhuang had woken up. “You’re up early. I thought that I would wake you up when the food was ready.”
Zhuang Zhuang thought that his mother had gone out to look for food again. When he saw that his mother was making breakfast, he was instantly relieved. “Mother, I’ll go out with you after dinner.”
“Go out?” Xiaoguo asked. She then remembered that they used to leave the house to look for food on a daily basis in the past. “No, Mother has already found something to eat. We don’t have to go looking for food all the time anymore.”
“Really?” Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo with sparkling eyes, and she smiled at him.
“Of course it is.”
“That’s wonderful. I’ll help Mother with the fire.” With that, he moved the little stool to sit in front of the stove.
Xiaoguo nodded and said, “In that case, you help to boil the water. When it is ready, we’ll cook the wontons.”
Zhuang Zhuang looked up to see what was on the table. “Wontons? It’s really wontons!”
Zhuang Zhuang looked at the small wontons on the table with sparkling eyes. It had been a long time since he had eaten that. He picked up the firewood in small bundles and energetically fed them to the fire.
Xiaoguo was almost done with wrapping the wontons. She told Zhuang Zhuang to move away from the stove so that he would not get scalded. Xiaoguo then started adding wontons to the pot, stirring continuously to prevent them from sticking.
As the contents in the pot began to boil, the rich aroma of wontons filled the entire kitchen. Zhuang Zhuang was dying from anticipation— he couldn’t stop asking Xiaoguo if she was done cooking. Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang could wait no longer, she said to Zhuang Zhuang, “Help me bring out the bowls and chopsticks.”
Zhuang Zhuang turned around instantly. “Mother, is it cooked?”
Xiaoguo nodded. “Go fill the bowls with rice.”
There were two bowls—one big and one small. Xiaoguo placed some seaweed and dried shrimps at the bottom of the bowls and added a few drops of sesame oil. Zhuang Zhuang looked at the bottles of condiments curiously. They looked completely foreign to him. Before he could ask about them, he was distracted by Xiaoguo scooping wontons out of the pot. The fragrance was delectable. Once Xiaoguo had filled the bowls, Zhuang Zhuang fought to help his mother carry the bowls. Not wanting to fight with him, Xiaoguo let him hold the chopsticks instead. They quickly walked to the dining table and sat down. While the wonton soup was still piping hot, Zhuang Zhuang hastily scooped a spoonful and gulped it down.
Seeing this, Xiaoguo quickly said to Zhuang Zhuang, “Eat slowly, don’t burn yourself.”
Zhuang Zhuang nodded and continued munching on his food. He was thoroughly enjoying his meal.
Xiaoguo was very happy to see Zhuang Zhuang eating with so much joy. As she watched him eat, she felt her appetite building up. She filled two large bowls of wonton soup and ate them all up. In no time, they had finished the whole pot of soup.
Feeling completely stuffed, Xiaoguo and Zhuang Zhuang collapsed into their chairs. Their stomachs were round and taut from the abundant meal. Xiaoguo began rubbing Zhuang Zhuang’s stomach to help with digestion. After burping three or four times, Zhuang Zhuang felt much better.
The young boy would not have his mother wash the dishes, so he cleared the table and walked to the kitchen. Xiaoguo followed closely behind him. The stove was too high for Zhuang Zhuang to reach, so Xiaoguo had to take over the washing instead. Zhuang Zhuang told Xiaoguo, “Mother, I promise to grow up quickly and take good care of you in the future.”
A wave of emotions washed over Xiaoguo. She had been single and never had a boyfriend before. Her life plan was to remain single and to go for IVF when she was of the right age. To think that out of nowhere, she managed to get such a thoughtful son—without the need for a husband at that. She felt a great sense of gratitude towards the dead previous owner and her dead husband.