Dao Of The Salted Fish

89. Mother and son, grandma and grandchildren

Sun Fuyu lowered the cart outside one of the larger towns’ markets. After placing the flying cart safely in his spatial ring, he accompanied Aunty Liu to buy all the ingredients they needed, including many more mooncake moulds.

“Xiao Fuyu, take this for me,” Aunty Liu said, handing over some newly purchased items.

“En,” Sun Fuyu placed it into his spatial ring.

“What a filial son!” one old granny said, her eyes wrinkled and curved, pleased to see such a good son who would even accompany his mother despite becoming a cultivator! “Little master cultivator, have a pear!”

“My family’s Xiao Fuyu is very good,” Liu Jing agreed warmly. She knew that this old woman said such words in part to draw them to her stall like this, but Liu Jing couldn’t help but straighten with pride.

Sun Fuyu immediately shook his head. “No need, I can’t accept,” he demurred.

“Ah, are those dried mango?” Liu Jing spotted.

“Yes, dried mangoes from the south!” the old granny agreed. “They’re carefully dried by my own granddaughter! Just chop up and add on top of desserts, or soak in water for a softer treat! Very sweet, very delicious!”

“I’ll buy a catty of them,” Liu Jing said. “Xiao Fuyu, you have an empty food box, don’t you? These dried mangoes are for you.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Liu Jing rubbed Xiao Fuyu’s head.

The old granny deftly weighed a catty of dried mangoes for them. After filling the empty food box that Sun Fuyu took out, she received a handful of copper coins as payment.

“Have a good day,” the old granny said warmly.

“Have a good day,” Liu Jing returned. “Xiao Fuyu, this way next.”

Sun Fuyu bowed politely to the old granny and followed Aunty Liu to the next part of the market. Looking at Aunty Liu’s back, he wondered….Is this what having a mother feels like?

 

 

Eventually, Wen Zhihao was able to make some time-speeding talismans by carefully following a manual’s instructions. He gathered Xiao Bai and Ah-Yi to help him test whether they worked by comparing the drying times of wet pieces of paper, one under a time-speeding talisman and one left alone as a control.

So two little ones and one big one crouched down under the shade of a tree, watching.

Xiao Bai kept his eyes wide open, not wanting to miss a thing, even though they started to water. “Uncle, this part is drying faster!”

“This part too!” Ah-Yi piped up. “Wow! So fast!”

Wen Zhihao ruffled Xiao Bai’s hair. “Blink, or else your eyes will go red! Xiao Bai and Ah-Yi are right, the paper under the talisman is now dry!”

A feeling in Wen Zhihao’s heart then made him look up into the distance. What an exceptionally clear day—he could see the flying cart from far away!

Wen Zhihao patted both Xiao Bai and Ah-Yi. “Your Little Uncle and your grandma are going to be back soon. So neaten up your clothes, wipe your faces…”

The children giggled and jumped to their feet to complete the instructions.

When Sun Fuyu and Aunty Liu landed, Wen Zhihao wanted to go over to greet them, but the children beat him to it.

“Now, now,” Liu Jing ushered the children ahead of her. “Wash your hands, and we can begin.”

“Okay!”

“The first thing we will make are the salted duck eggs. Xiao Wen?”

Wen Zhihao gave a thumbs-up. At Aunty Liu’s confused look, Wen Zhihao sheepishly dropped his hand and said, “Yes, I have the time-speeding talismans.”

Ruan Lanxi tried to make a thumbs-up. “Uncle, what does this mean?”

“It means good, yes, understood.”

“En!” Ruan Lanxi said. She made two thumbs-up. “Good!”

“That’s right.” Wen Zhihao suddenly wondered if he should teach the children to stick their tongues out cheekily, but thoughts of mischief flew away when Aunty Liu called him over to help.

In order to make the round, moon-like salted egg yolks for the mooncakes, the duck eggs needed to be salted. Older children helped to wash the eggs before playing them in jars topped with a salty brine made by Aunty Liu. Wen Zhihao then stuck time-speeding talismans on the jars, to turn a four week curing process down to less than four hours. Hopefully. Wen Zhihao stuck two talismans on each jar, just in case.

While waiting for the yolks to become salted, Aunty Liu corralled other kitchen staff and split everyone into different groups, each making a different type of filling.

Wen Zhihao found it surprisingly fun to actually ‘cook’. He cut up some durian, mashed it in a mortar and pestle, and then mixed it with some glutinous rice flour over a heating talisman in order to thicken the durian into a paste.

After the fillings came the dough making: mixing and kneading. Wen Zhihao also tried to vaguely tell Aunty Liu how to make the snowskin mooncake dough. Thankfully, Liu Jing realised that Wen Zhihao meant gao fen, a cooked glutinous rice flour.

The dough then needed to rest. The rest time was the perfect opportunity to clean off the flour on multiple little round faces and hands and have a little snack.

Wen Zhihao took the opportunity to check on the salting-eggs, squatting down next to the jars and squinting at them suspiciously.

A shadow cast on the ground next to him; a moment later, Sun Fuyu crouched down next to him.

“Wen-ge,” Sun Fuyu said softly.

“Hm?” Wen Zhihao looked over.

“Aunty said…that Wen-ge is going to marry me.”

“Mn,” Wen Zhihao affirmed, eyes smiling.

Sun Fuyu leaned against Wen Zhihao, a low hum in his throat.

Wen Zhihao tilted his head so that it rested against Sun Fuyu, nuzzling him. It was good that Sun Fuyu was happy.

In the end, Wen Zhihao ripped the talismans off like a bandaid. He cracked an egg into a bowl, sighing in relief as a firm orange-reddish round yolk emerged with the still-clear liquid whites. After telling Aunty Liu the good news, he and some others cracked every salted egg. The yolks were then all baked; the whites would be cooked later as part of dinner.

Then, construction of the mooncakes began! The dough had to be rolled out, fillings inserted and enclosed, and the entire ball pressed into an intricately patterned mooncake mould.

While Aunty Liu Jing’s ones were perfect and came out neatly from the mould, the others…had mixed results.

Wen Zhihao was still proud as he placed his one down, despite having to pinch the outer casing together again after it split apart.

“It will still taste good, and it has all been made with love and fun,” he said, giving the mooncake a little pat. He patted Xiao Bai with the less dirty hand. “So don’t worry so much, okay?”

Xiao Bai pressed his lips together, eyes continuing to redden as he looked at his own failed mooncake.

Wen Zhihao froze. That didn’t reassure him? What should he say next? No, don’t cry, Xiao Bai—

“Aiya, let Grandma help,” Liu Jing cut in. “Xiao Bai, come stand next to Grandma, and I’ll show you again.”

Xiao Bai nodded silently and moved over to Grandma Liu’s side, sticking close and seriously.

Wen Zhihao gave a mental sigh of relief.

Under Grandma Liu’s tutelage, Xiao Bai was able to make mooncakes that he was happy with. When it was time to bake the moon cakes, he was smiling and took the initiative to carry a tray of them to the oven.

As for the snow skin mooncakes, they could be consumed immediately—but Aunty Liu put her foot down and said they could only have a piece after dinner. “—And the Mid-Autumn Festival is tomorrow, so you can all have more later, understood?”

Small faces looked reverently up at her. “Yes, Grandma!”

Liu Jing gave them a warm, indulgent look. “Very good.” Her head turned to one Wen Zhihao.

Wen Zhihao smartly stepped away from the covered trays of mooncakes, hands innocently behind his back.

Sun Fuyu hid a smile behind his hand. Typical Wen-ge!

As promised, Aunty Liu Jing allowed everyone to try a snowskin mooncake after dinner. Adults and children alike sat obediently by the rows of tables outside the kitchens, with talismans lighting the area.

Mooncakes were dense and quite sweet, and the snowskin ones were no exception. Liu Jing made the decision to pick a couple different flavours and cut them all in half, then again into thirds.

Old Tang helpfully brewed a light tea to accompany the mooncakes for the older ones, and made cups of soymilk for the younger ones.

“Grandma, it’s not a full moon anymore!” Ah-Yi said, holding his taro-filling mooncake slice with its cut egg yolk ‘moon’.

“That’s right,” Liu Jing said warmly. “Don’t spill your soymilk.”

“En!” Ah-Yi took a bite. His eyes squinted in enjoyment. “Good! Bai Bai, good too?”

Xiao Bai copied his Little Uncle, nibbling on his mooncake slice—with a mango filling, no egg yolk—and sipping some milk. He nodded decisively.

Wen Zhihao was going to put the entire little slice into his mouth, but decided to savour it because he suspected Aunty Liu wouldn’t give him a second slice, even though he was twice as big as the children. He had a slice with green tea-flavoured white lotus paste and some salted egg yolk. Sweet, grassy green tea, and with a little savoury treat of the salted yolk…! It was 100% worth studying the time-speeding talismans for this!

“Thank you, Aunty Liu, for making this with us,” he praised. “This is very delicious.”

The children raised their heads. “Thank you, Grandma! It’s so yummy!”

Sun Fuyu also looked up. “Thank you, M...Aunty.” He suddenly felt flustered. Maybe next time...

Liu Jing's heart went all soft. She patted the grandchildren within reach, and then walked over to pat Sun Fuyu too. “Don’t be so polite. Eat up, and I bet you all have homework to do!”

Old Tang hid a smile, lest Liu Jing attempt to show that she was stern by whacking him on the head.

89. Mother and son, grandma and grandchildren

Sun Fuyu lowered the cart outside one of the larger towns’ markets. After placing the flying cart safely in his spatial ring, he accompanied Aunty Liu to buy all the ingredients they needed, including many more mooncake moulds.

“Xiao Fuyu, take this for me,” Aunty Liu said, handing over some newly purchased items.

“En,” Sun Fuyu placed it into his spatial ring.

“What a filial son!” one old granny said, her eyes wrinkled and curved, pleased to see such a good son who would even accompany his mother despite becoming a cultivator! “Little master cultivator, have a pear!”

“My family’s Xiao Fuyu is very good,” Liu Jing agreed warmly. She knew that this old woman said such words in part to draw them to her stall like this, but Liu Jing couldn’t help but straighten with pride.

Sun Fuyu immediately shook his head. “No need, I can’t accept,” he demurred.

“Ah, are those dried mango?” Liu Jing spotted.

“Yes, dried mangoes from the south!” the old granny agreed. “They’re carefully dried by my own granddaughter! Just chop up and add on top of desserts, or soak in water for a softer treat! Very sweet, very delicious!”

“I’ll buy a catty of them,” Liu Jing said. “Xiao Fuyu, you have an empty food box, don’t you? These dried mangoes are for you.”

“But—”

“No buts.” Liu Jing rubbed Xiao Fuyu’s head.

The old granny deftly weighed a catty of dried mangoes for them. After filling the empty food box that Sun Fuyu took out, she received a handful of copper coins as payment.

“Have a good day,” the old granny said warmly.

“Have a good day,” Liu Jing returned. “Xiao Fuyu, this way next.”

Sun Fuyu bowed politely to the old granny and followed Aunty Liu to the next part of the market. Looking at Aunty Liu’s back, he wondered….Is this what having a mother feels like?

 

 

Eventually, Wen Zhihao was able to make some time-speeding talismans by carefully following a manual’s instructions. He gathered Xiao Bai and Ah-Yi to help him test whether they worked by comparing the drying times of wet pieces of paper, one under a time-speeding talisman and one left alone as a control.

So two little ones and one big one crouched down under the shade of a tree, watching.

Xiao Bai kept his eyes wide open, not wanting to miss a thing, even though they started to water. “Uncle, this part is drying faster!”

“This part too!” Ah-Yi piped up. “Wow! So fast!”

Wen Zhihao ruffled Xiao Bai’s hair. “Blink, or else your eyes will go red! Xiao Bai and Ah-Yi are right, the paper under the talisman is now dry!”

A feeling in Wen Zhihao’s heart then made him look up into the distance. What an exceptionally clear day—he could see the flying cart from far away!

Wen Zhihao patted both Xiao Bai and Ah-Yi. “Your Little Uncle and your grandma are going to be back soon. So neaten up your clothes, wipe your faces…”

The children giggled and jumped to their feet to complete the instructions.

When Sun Fuyu and Aunty Liu landed, Wen Zhihao wanted to go over to greet them, but the children beat him to it.

“Now, now,” Liu Jing ushered the children ahead of her. “Wash your hands, and we can begin.”

“Okay!”

“The first thing we will make are the salted duck eggs. Xiao Wen?”

Wen Zhihao gave a thumbs-up. At Aunty Liu’s confused look, Wen Zhihao sheepishly dropped his hand and said, “Yes, I have the time-speeding talismans.”

Ruan Lanxi tried to make a thumbs-up. “Uncle, what does this mean?”

“It means good, yes, understood.”

“En!” Ruan Lanxi said. She made two thumbs-up. “Good!”

“That’s right.” Wen Zhihao suddenly wondered if he should teach the children to stick their tongues out cheekily, but thoughts of mischief flew away when Aunty Liu called him over to help.

In order to make the round, moon-like salted egg yolks for the mooncakes, the duck eggs needed to be salted. Older children helped to wash the eggs before playing them in jars topped with a salty brine made by Aunty Liu. Wen Zhihao then stuck time-speeding talismans on the jars, to turn a four week curing process down to less than four hours. Hopefully. Wen Zhihao stuck two talismans on each jar, just in case.

While waiting for the yolks to become salted, Aunty Liu corralled other kitchen staff and split everyone into different groups, each making a different type of filling.

Wen Zhihao found it surprisingly fun to actually ‘cook’. He cut up some durian, mashed it in a mortar and pestle, and then mixed it with some glutinous rice flour over a heating talisman in order to thicken the durian into a paste.

After the fillings came the dough making: mixing and kneading. Wen Zhihao also tried to vaguely tell Aunty Liu how to make the snowskin mooncake dough. Thankfully, Liu Jing realised that Wen Zhihao meant gao fen, a cooked glutinous rice flour.

The dough then needed to rest. The rest time was the perfect opportunity to clean off the flour on multiple little round faces and hands and have a little snack.

Wen Zhihao took the opportunity to check on the salting-eggs, squatting down next to the jars and squinting at them suspiciously.

A shadow cast on the ground next to him; a moment later, Sun Fuyu crouched down next to him.

“Wen-ge,” Sun Fuyu said softly.

“Hm?” Wen Zhihao looked over.

“Aunty said…that Wen-ge is going to marry me.”

“Mn,” Wen Zhihao affirmed, eyes smiling.

Sun Fuyu leaned against Wen Zhihao, a low hum in his throat.

Wen Zhihao tilted his head so that it rested against Sun Fuyu, nuzzling him. It was good that Sun Fuyu was happy.

In the end, Wen Zhihao ripped the talismans off like a bandaid. He cracked an egg into a bowl, sighing in relief as a firm orange-reddish round yolk emerged with the still-clear liquid whites. After telling Aunty Liu the good news, he and some others cracked every salted egg. The yolks were then all baked; the whites would be cooked later as part of dinner.

Then, construction of the mooncakes began! The dough had to be rolled out, fillings inserted and enclosed, and the entire ball pressed into an intricately patterned mooncake mould.

While Aunty Liu Jing’s ones were perfect and came out neatly from the mould, the others…had mixed results.

Wen Zhihao was still proud as he placed his one down, despite having to pinch the outer casing together again after it split apart.

“It will still taste good, and it has all been made with love and fun,” he said, giving the mooncake a little pat. He patted Xiao Bai with the less dirty hand. “So don’t worry so much, okay?”

Xiao Bai pressed his lips together, eyes continuing to redden as he looked at his own failed mooncake.

Wen Zhihao froze. That didn’t reassure him? What should he say next? No, don’t cry, Xiao Bai—

“Aiya, let Grandma help,” Liu Jing cut in. “Xiao Bai, come stand next to Grandma, and I’ll show you again.”

Xiao Bai nodded silently and moved over to Grandma Liu’s side, sticking close and seriously.

Wen Zhihao gave a mental sigh of relief.

Under Grandma Liu’s tutelage, Xiao Bai was able to make mooncakes that he was happy with. When it was time to bake the moon cakes, he was smiling and took the initiative to carry a tray of them to the oven.

As for the snow skin mooncakes, they could be consumed immediately—but Aunty Liu put her foot down and said they could only have a piece after dinner. “—And the Mid-Autumn Festival is tomorrow, so you can all have more later, understood?”

Small faces looked reverently up at her. “Yes, Grandma!”

Liu Jing gave them a warm, indulgent look. “Very good.” Her head turned to one Wen Zhihao.

Wen Zhihao smartly stepped away from the covered trays of mooncakes, hands innocently behind his back.

Sun Fuyu hid a smile behind his hand. Typical Wen-ge!

As promised, Aunty Liu Jing allowed everyone to try a snowskin mooncake after dinner. Adults and children alike sat obediently by the rows of tables outside the kitchens, with talismans lighting the area.

Mooncakes were dense and quite sweet, and the snowskin ones were no exception. Liu Jing made the decision to pick a couple different flavours and cut them all in half, then again into thirds.

Old Tang helpfully brewed a light tea to accompany the mooncakes for the older ones, and made cups of soymilk for the younger ones.

“Grandma, it’s not a full moon anymore!” Ah-Yi said, holding his taro-filling mooncake slice with its cut egg yolk ‘moon’.

“That’s right,” Liu Jing said warmly. “Don’t spill your soymilk.”

“En!” Ah-Yi took a bite. His eyes squinted in enjoyment. “Good! Bai Bai, good too?”

Xiao Bai copied his Little Uncle, nibbling on his mooncake slice—with a mango filling, no egg yolk—and sipping some milk. He nodded decisively.

Wen Zhihao was going to put the entire little slice into his mouth, but decided to savour it because he suspected Aunty Liu wouldn’t give him a second slice, even though he was twice as big as the children. He had a slice with green tea-flavoured white lotus paste and some salted egg yolk. Sweet, grassy green tea, and with a little savoury treat of the salted yolk…! It was 100% worth studying the time-speeding talismans for this!

“Thank you, Aunty Liu, for making this with us,” he praised. “This is very delicious.”

The children raised their heads. “Thank you, Grandma! It’s so yummy!”

Sun Fuyu also looked up. “Thank you, M...Aunty.” He suddenly felt flustered. Maybe next time...

Liu Jing's heart went all soft. She patted the grandchildren within reach, and then walked over to pat Sun Fuyu too. “Don’t be so polite. Eat up, and I bet you all have homework to do!”

Old Tang hid a smile, lest Liu Jing attempt to show that she was stern by whacking him on the head.