Chapter 664: They Are Ours
Tan Mo sent him a text message asking what he was up to.
Wei Zhiqian sent her a picture of his trunk full of firecrackers.
Although it was forbidden to set off firecrackers in B City, some small-scale fireworks could still be set off.
“I just went to buy these,” said Wei Zhiqian. “What are you doing at home?”
Since they could not see each other, they actually had problems getting used to it.
Wei Zhiqian could only take the initiative to do more work so that he could distract himself from thinking about Tan Mo.
Tan Mo had just finished was.h.i.+ng her hands when she ran to the kitchen with her phone.
The dumplings were sorted based on type.
The ones with normal fillings were placed together while the ones with special fillings for good fortune which she had made were placed on a separate plate.
In addition, the way she made the dumplings were different, so she could easily find the dumplings she made.
Their fillings aside, her dumplings looked plump and delectable enough to pa.s.s off as the real deal.
Tan Mo put the dumplings she had wrapped in her palm and took a photo before sending it to Wei Zhiqian.
Wei Zhiqian saw the photo. The dumplings were wrapped in thin white skin and they looked plump and adorable.
The edges of the dumplings looked braided.
Tan Mo made no mention of their fillings.
Wei Zhiqian really thought they looked good.
He didn’t even know that Tan Mo knew how to make dumplings.
Each time it was the eve of Chinese New Year, Wei Zhiqian couldn’t even spend time with Tan Mo.
Wei Zhiqian felt it must be because of this that he didn’t know Tan Mo actually knew how to make dumplings.
Actually, it wasn’t that Wei Zhiqian didn’t pay enough attention to Tan Mo.
It was that Tan Mo only joined the ranks of making dumplings two years ago.
Previously, Xu Mingzhen had refused to let her do anything because of her young age.
Two years ago, Tan Mo said she refused to idle around.
The whole family was busy preparing for the Chinese New Year, while she was the only one who did nothing. It simply felt unbearable for her.
Only then did Xu Mingzhen let her make dumplings.
Tan Mo only had to prepare dumplings.
Tan Wenci was responsible for making dumpling skin.
Although it could be bought off-the-shelf, the processed dumpling skin was bound to contain starch, so it would not taste as good as handmade dumpling skin.
The texture was definitely different from that of dumpling skin made of pure flour.
During some important festivals in the north, dumplings were always served.
In addition to eating dumplings during the spring festival, dumplings were eaten during the beginning of winter, and also during the winter solstice.
Auntie Guo usually prepared the dumpling skin by herself.
Since it was the spring festival, they wanted to ensure the atmosphere was festive.
Now that the taste of festivities was disappearing each year, they could only try their best to preserve it a little in their own home.
During the spring festival, the entire family helped to prepare.
Xu Mingzhen felt Tan Mo probably inherited the fact that she didn’t know how to make dumplings from Tan Wenci.
Tan Wenci couldn’t learn how to make dumplings no matter how hard he tried.
He could only be given the task of preparing dumpling skin.
Tan Mo would sit by the side and just help a little.
She did not have to work quickly and just needed a little sense of partic.i.p.ation.
Tan Mo didn’t expect that she was so bad at making dumplings.
Naturally, she didn’t want to tell Wei Zhiqian about such a shameful thing, so Wei Zhiqian was clueless Tan Mo didn’t know how to make dumplings.
Just looking at the photos, he thought that Tan Mo did well.
He even wanted to try the dumplings Tan Mo had made for himself.
In the evening, the Tan family also set some fireworks in the yard.
Then, the three brothers and Tan Mo played video games.
Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen watched the spring festival gala to pa.s.s time.
After Auntie Guo finished her work in the afternoon, she went home to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
Tan Mo and her three brothers were playing video games, so they didn’t feel sleepy.
Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen could hear the voices of the four siblings.
Tan Mo said, “There are people on the hill in the 8’o clock direction.”
Tan Jinqi replied, “I see them.”
Tan Jinsheng said, “Do you want to go after them?”
Tan Jinyi said, “There are only three people on the hill, so we can go after them.”
Tan Mo said, “Let’s go, let’s go! They are ours!”
Xu Mingzhen smiled as she listened to the lively sounds of the kids gaming. Although the spring festival gala was boring, it helped to enliven the atmosphere.
Xu Mingzhen saw that it was about time, so she got up and went to the kitchen to cook dumplings.
Just then, the clock on the television rang midnight, and the dumplings were ready.
Xu Mingzhen scooped the dumplings into a plate.
Tan Wenci served the plates of dumplings.
Tan Mo and her brothers exited the game.
Xu Mingzhen brought out the last plate of dumplings and said, “I mixed the dumplings with Momo’s dumplings and cooked them together. Let’s see who is lucky enough to eat Momo’s dumplings.”
The moment the Tan brothers heard this, they were all eager to try.
Xu Mingzhen reminded them, “The appearance of Momo’s dumplings is different from the others. You can tell without eating the fillings inside. However, you can’t specifically search the plates just to eat Momo’s dumplings. Let’s see who is lucky enough to find them. It would be boring if you specifically look for them.”
Tan Wenci took a plate of dumplings.
The Tan brothers also picked a plate of dumplings each and were eager to start.
Tan Wenci said with a smile, “I still remember when I was young, I used to wrap coins in dumplings. After making normal dumplings, we made eight dumplings with coins. Eight coins symbolized good fortune. Then the whole family ate the dumplings together. Whoever ate the most number of coins would be rich the following year.”
“People later felt that the coins were unhygienic, so we stopped,” said Tan Wenci nostalgically.
He was the only son in the family and didn’t have any siblings.
When he was young, he could still go to his grandparents’ home for the Chinese New Year.
Along with his uncles’ families, the whole family felt lively.
When his grandparents pa.s.sed away, without the ties of the elders in the family, he had less contact with his extended family.
Later, when Tan Jinqi was three years old, his parents pa.s.sed away one after another.
Before Tan Jinsheng was born, there were only him, Xu Mingzhen, and Tan Jinqi spending Chinese New Year as a family.
It was not very lively, but now it was better since there were more children in the family.
Their Chinese New Year celebrations could also bustle with activity.
Xu Mingzhen thought that she and Tan Wenci didn’t have much family.
On Tan Wenci’s side, her in-laws had pa.s.sed away young.
On her side, Old Madam Xu was difficult to handle.
Back then, she fell out with Old Madam Xu and took turns with the Yuan family to provide for Old Madam Xu’s living expenses.
In the first few years, although she didn’t allow Tan Wenci and the children to go over and get bullied, she still went to see Old Madam Xu herself.
In the end, Old Madam Xu became more and more difficult, so even she could not be bothered to visit.
She simply stayed with her own family.
Xu Mingzhen collected her thoughts and said with a smile, “Although we don’t wrap coins now, these dumplings made by Momo can replace the ones with coins. Whoever eats them will stand to have good luck this year.”
“Oh my. I got the one with rice cake,” said Tan Wenci as he chewed on the half-eaten dumpling.
Tan Wenci had taken a bite of the soft dumpling skin, pulling out a long string of rice cake, making it look extremely soft and sticky.
“The company will definitely do well this year,” said Xu Mingzhen with a smile.
Tan Jinqi suddenly laughed. “I’ve eaten one of Momo’s dumplings too. The one with jujubes.”
Although rice cakes and jujubes were sweet, the skin itself had no taste, so the dumplings took the taste of their respective fillings..