Chapter 101.1

Zhang Hongtu hugged his wife’s shoulder and said to Xiao Fantuan and Zhuzi, “Xiao Fantuan, don’t worry, Zhuzi is our son, we will definitely treat him well. I would also like to say thank you. Everyone, thank you for being so kind to Xiao Zhuzi.”

Xiao Fantuan pouted, struggling to get down. “We don’t need your thanks! Zhuzi is our family. Xiao Zhuzi and I will go out! We will feed the chickens.”

After the two little cubs left, Zhang Hongtu and his wife bowed to Han Cheng and Su Xiaoxiao.

Yali said: “Thank you, thank you. I know ‘thank you’ is too shallow, but besides ‘thank you,’ I don’t know how to repay you for teaching Zhuzi so well.”

Han Cheng walked over, straightened Zhang Hongtu’s shoulders, and said: “Between us, there’s no need to say that. The old leader is doing well too. I went to the capital to see him before the New Year.”

Speaking of his old father, Zhang Hongtu’s eyes became even redder: “We involved him.” 

Han Cheng said, “When you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext; it’s all just an excuse. Anyway, it’s all in the past. In the future, let’s live as a family and move forward together.”

Zhang Hongtu nodded. “I know. Anyway, thank you, and please thank Old Zhao for me.”

Han Cheng said, “Tomorrow morning, I’ll bring Fantuan and Zhuzi for morning exercises. Zhao Xianfeng will bring his son, Xiao Yu, as well. You can come too. Zhuzi is sensitive, and he has a strong ability to perceive people’s character. When he gets to know all of you, it will be better. Don’t pressure him too much.”

Zhang Hongtu was worried about how to build a relationship with his son. Han Cheng’s words hit home for him. “Okay, okay. I’ll come over early tomorrow and meet with all of you.”

Zhang Hongtu and his wife only truly felt how good this family’s bonds were and how well the children were raised during dinner. Regardless of whether they were adults or children, they all ate their own portion of food calmly, as if it had been allocated in advance. Fantuan had a big appetite and added two bowls of food. When he felt it wasn’t enough, he didn’t take food from others.

Li Yufeng would serve him more, and he would say, “Grandma, you should eat that. I’ve eaten a lot.” After that, he would finish a full bowl of whole-grain rice with some dried radishes and soup.

Zhuzi was just as humble as Fantuan and Xiao Doubao. He ate as he pleased, without the hesitation of a guest. He truly regarded himself as part of this family. After the meal, he and Fantuan would voluntarily clean up the dishes and help Grandma with the washing.

The family is so harmonious that outsiders wouldn’t be able to intervene. They treated Zhuzi, Fantuan, and Xiao Doubao equally, just like their own children, with no difference at all. It’s no wonder Zhuzi loved this place so much.

After dinner, Yali and her husband didn’t stay long, as they still had the neighboring courtyard to tidy up. They needed to hurry back and prepare when Zhuzi moved back.

The state of mind of Zhuzi is now quite calm. He doesn’t particularly like them, but he doesn’t reject them either. He’s also trying to gradually accept them.

The next day was the Dragon Boat Festival. In the early morning, Hancheng went to the market to buy a piece of good pork belly. Li Yufen had already cut it early in the morning and marinated it with salt, five-spice powder, soy sauce, and white wine. The washed bamboo leaves were first scalded with boiling water, and then soaked with glutinous rice and mung beans.

Su Xiaoxiao remembered that in the city, zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) until the 21st century still had only these three ingredients, without adding anything else. They preserved the most traditional and simple taste. In many other places, zongzi has become more diverse, with ingredients like mushrooms, seafood, and salted duck eggs, but Su Xiaoxiao’s favorite is still this most traditional old flavor.

After the lunch break, Li Yufeng and Su Xiaoxiao began to make Zongzi.

The method and flavor of making zongzi in Su’s village are different from other places. In other places, zongzi is either cone-shaped, pyramid-shaped, or square, but in Su’s village, zongzi is a standard rectangular shape. In the middle, a unique, fragrant leaf, similar to banana leaves, is placed. Not only does it have a unique and fragrant aroma, but it also dyes the contact surface of the glutinous rice green, giving it a distinctive flavor.

Su Xiaoxiao hasn’t made zongzi for a long time. She first placed three bamboo leaves stacked at the bottom, placed a zongzi leaf brought from Su’s village by Li Yufeng in the middle, then added a thin layer of glutinous rice, a spoonful of mung beans, and a piece of pork belly coated with five-spice powder. Then, she covered it with another layer of mung beans and a layer of glutinous rice, folded the sides towards the center, folded the front and back in opposite directions, and finally inserted a bamboo leaf into the folded seam and tied it up. A beautiful rectangular zongzi was completed.

It might look simple, but making it takes a lot of time and a bit of skill.

“Mom, why did you cut the meat so thin? “This piece of five-spice salted pork belly is the soul of the entire salted meat zongzi. Such a thin slice, almost the size of a fingernail, how can you taste the flavor?

Li Yufeng looked at her daughter angrily and said: “Have you forgotten how we used to make zongzi at home? It’s already good to have a piece of meat the size of a fingernail. Sometimes, when we didn’t have money to buy meat, we would add some pork fat scraps. Even without pork fat scraps, it would still be delicious. Now, with such a big piece of meat, you’re still complaining.”

‘Okay, I am wrong.’

Li Yufeng felt sorry for her daughter, so she specially made some Zongzi with more mung beans and two or three pieces of meat, marked them, and prepared to let her daughter eat them when the time came.

Zongzi needs to be boiled in a large iron pot with a strong fire for several hours to cook through. Zongzi cooked over a wood fire has a particularly fragrant flavor.

After boiling over high heat for a few hours, the flavor of the five-spice powder melts into the melt-in-your-mouth pork belly, and the oil from the pork belly mixes with the glutinous rice and mung beans. A bite leaves a lingering fragrance.

For dinner, the whole family ate zongzi and cucumbers. Li Yufeng also cooked some sweet potato millet porridge.

Su Xiaoxiao bit into several pieces of meat and only realized how much her mother cared for her when she saw that others didn’t have as much meat. With such a good mother, she was truly lucky.

Both Han Cheng and the little cubs like eating zongzi very much. Su Xiaoxiao was worried that the children’s digestive systems might not handle glutinous rice well, so she didn’t let them eat too much. Each of the two older children had one, and the youngest could only eat half. Han Cheng, on the other hand, ate two in one go.

With some smashed cucumbers and a bowl of millet porridge, it was another satisfying meal for the Han Family.