Chapter 131: Alluring

Chapter 131: Alluring

"Aunt Lin, the filling is ready; we can start wrapping now," Lin Shu announced. Aunt Lin, with her remarkable strength, had mixed the filling perfectly.

"A Shu, how do we wrap these wild vegetable dumplings?" Lin Zhaodi inquired.

In Sweetwater Village, flour-based foods were uncommon. When they did eat them, it was usually noodles, flatbreads, or steamed buns. Stuffed dumplings or buns were rare; some village women didn't even know how to make leavened dough, only how to mix it. Lin Zhaodi was considered quite skilled with flour, but the Zhao family mostly ate steamed buns, and she knew little else.

Lin Shu demonstrated as she wrapped, teaching both women.

Once they had the hang of it, she took over rolling the dough from He Guixiang.

Lin Shu immediately recognized He Guixiang's dough-rolling technique as that of a complete novice. At this pace, they wouldn't keep up with the wrapping—they needed to make forty or fifty dumplings today.

Lin Shu swiftly divided the remaining dough into five portions, rolling each into a long strip. They didn’t need to be perfectly uniform; each strip would be cut into eight pieces with a kitchen knife, ensuring the wild vegetable dumplings were roughly the same size.

For the last portion of dough, she planned to cut it into fourteen smaller pieces to make mini wild vegetable dumplings.

These smaller ones could be given to Wang Yingen and the other children.

She cut one strip at a time to prevent the dough from drying out too quickly.

Watching Lin Shu deftly use the kitchen knife to cut the dough into portions, Lin Zhaodi paused, impressed, and praised, "A Shu, you're really good with that knife!"

It was more than just good knife handling; her knife skills were clearly exceptional.

Lin Shu smiled and replied, "I told Aunt Lin earlier that I could help, but you kept telling me not to touch this or that."

After cutting the dough into portions, Lin Shu flattened each one with her palm. Using only one end of the rolling pin, she rolled with one hand while rapidly rotating the dough with the other. In a few blinks, she had rolled out a wrapper.

The wrapper was large and round, slightly thicker in the center, and thin and even around the edges.

This time, not only Lin Zhaodi but also He Guixiang was mesmerized.

A Shu's technique was incredible—she could probably be a head chef at a town restaurant!

"Mom, Aunt Lin, I'll roll out all the wrappers. Once they’re ready, the three of us can wrap them together. If it's just the two of you, who knows how long it'll take."

He Guixiang chuckled and said to Lin Zhaodi, "Listen to that—she's saying we're too slow."

Lin Zhaodi also laughed, "Not just that—A Shu also thinks you roll too slowly, Sister-in-law He."

But this time, she didn't tell A Shu to rest. Wrapping wild vegetable dumplings wasn't strenuous work, and A Shu was clearly skilled. With her help, the first batch of wild vegetable dumplings could be steamed soon, and by the time the first batch was done, the second would likely be ready.

Wang Yingen and the other children were still young. After watching the filling being mixed, they grew restless during the wrapping process, but they didn't want to leave for fear of missing out on the wild vegetable dumplings.

Lin Xiaopu pondered for a moment, then called out to them. The group quickly found an empty spot in the yard and arranged small sticks in a line.

"Wang Yingen and Sun Laifu have their own slingshots—they can use those. The rest of you can use mine. But you have to play by my rules."

The children without slingshots quickly agreed.

"Ten standing sticks will be the targets. Each person gets ten shots. The six of you will take turns. For every target you hit, I’ll give you a bean. We’ll do ten rounds, and whoever has the most beans at the end wins."

Wang Yingen immediately boasted, "Why even compete? I can't beat you, but beating them is no problem!"

Lin Xiaopu scoffed, "Your aim is good because you’ve practiced more. Once the others get more practice, someone might surpass you. Like Sun Laifu—I have high hopes for him, which is why I gave him a bamboo slingshot. Everyone else, listen up—we’ll have a competition like this every day. Those without slingshots can use mine. You’ll get at least ten shots a day. Whoever improves the most will get a bamboo slingshot from me!"

The children without slingshots were thrilled, eager to prove themselves.

Lin Xiaopu added, "Today, I’ll add an extra prize—the winner gets an extra wild vegetable dumpling!"

Wang Yingen was delighted. Lin Xiaopu was being generous—it was practically giving him an extra dumpling.

The others, however, didn’t see it that way. Each believed they had a chance to outperform Wang Yingen, especially since they’d be playing ten rounds. The more they handled the bamboo slingshots, the better they’d get, and their bean count might even surpass Wang Yingen’s.

The children enthusiastically began playing with the bamboo slingshots.

Watching them, Lin Shu smiled and said to He Guixiang, "Mom, don’t you think our Xiao Pu is developing more of a leader's presence?"

He Guixiang was also amused. Who would have thought that just a short while ago, Xiao Pu would avoid Wang Yingen, but now she was ordering him around. These past few days, she’d even started to find Wang Yingen somewhat tolerable.

But despite her thoughts, He Guixiang said modestly, "Xiao Pu is older than them, so she should act like an older sister."

Lin Shu wasn't one for false modesty when someone was clearly talented and gave Lin Xiaopu full credit, "Sun Laifu is the oldest, then our Xiao Pu. And she’s only a few months older than Wang Yingen and the others. Our Xiao Pu is like uncut jade—with a little polishing, she becomes a gem. She’s not just good at playing; she’s also a quick learner. You have no idea how many characters she knows now or how many idioms and stories she’s learned. Just wait—with me guiding her, she’ll only get better."

He Guixiang laughed, "Are you praising Xiao Pu or yourself?"

Lin Shu grinned, "Mom, can’t I praise both?"

Lin Zhaodi chimed in, "A Shu is right. Your Xiao Pu is completely different from before!"

Lin Shu had an idea and glanced mischievously at the two older women, "If you want, Mom and Aunt Lin, I can help you two make a big change too."

Lin Zhaodi waved her hands in alarm, "No, no. I’m too old, and my memory is poor. Even if you taught me to read, I wouldn’t remember."

She thought Lin Shu meant teaching her to read.

Lin Shu laughed, "I would love to teach you and Mom to read, but only if you have the time. I wasn’t talking about reading—I meant improving your complexion and skin tone. Mom’s complexion has already improved a lot lately because she’s been eating well and is in good spirits, but it can get even better."

"Take mugwort, for example—it’s common in the mountains and fields. Most villagers use it to rub on mosquito bites to reduce itching and swelling, but they don’t know that boiling mugwort in water is great for the face, feet, or even baths."

"Aunt Lin, I noticed your skin is somewhat dull. If you use mugwort water on your face, over time, it will brighten your complexion!"

"And Mom, your face is fairer than Aunt Lin’s, but you’re prone to breakouts. Using mugwort water on your face can help with that."

"Using mugwort water for foot baths has even more benefits—it can ward off cold and dampness and improve sleep. For things like joint pain, abdominal cold pain, or those with cold and damp constitutions, it’s definitely helpful."

Here, Lin Shu asked casually, "Aunt Lin, do you have uterine coldness? If you have a cold constitution, you should definitely use mugwort water."

Lin Zhaodi was taken aback, reminded of the first few years of her marriage to Zhao San. Because she hadn’t gotten pregnant, her in-laws had Zhao San take her to see a Chinese medicine doctor in town. The doctor felt her pulse and said there wasn’t a major issue with her body, but she had a slight deficiency of Yang energy and an accumulation of cold and dampness. He advised her to warm and nourish her body, ward off cold, eat more red dates and longan, and avoid cold and raw foods, especially during her period when she shouldn’t touch cold water.

She told her mother-in-law what the doctor said, but her mother-in-law dismissed it, saying all village women did the same work and ate the same food. Red dates and longan were for rich people—they were too poor to afford such things.

As for not touching cold water—how was that possible? Her period lasted five or six days—could she really avoid water for that long?

Cooking, washing rice, cleaning vegetables, washing dishes after meals, and doing laundry by the river—all required cold water. She couldn’t possibly heat water for washing vegetables or dishes—who was that fussy?

Lin Zhaodi thought it made sense and gave up, continuing as usual.

But her sisters-in-law did the same work and touched cold water, yet they had children one after another. Only she remained childless.

Lin Zhaodi thought she and Zhao San simply weren’t destined to have children, so no matter what she did, it wouldn’t work. But hearing A Shu’s words now and recalling what the doctor had said, she felt like trying again.

"A Shu, the doctor in town did say years ago that I have uterine coldness. Will using mugwort water for foot baths cure it?" Lin Zhaodi asked.

Lin Shu replied, "How could it be that easy? If it were, what would we need doctors for? But using mugwort water for foot baths long-term will definitely help somewhat. Since you have uterine coldness, Aunt Lin, try to avoid cold water during your period. In summer, it’s fine as long as you don’t use icy mountain spring water—avoid drinking it too. Use stream or river water at room temperature for work. But after autumn, when the weather turns cooler, it’s best to use warm water. Actually, heating a little water doesn’t use much firewood. Mix hot water with cold—it doesn’t need to be scalding, just not cold. As for foot baths, slightly hotter water is better..."

With time to kill, Lin Shu chatted a bit more.

Since Aunt Lin had visited a doctor in town before, it indicated that there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with her health. While a cold uterus did have some effect, it wasn’t significant enough to be the main issue. Lin Shu felt that Aunt Lin’s anxiety over her inability to conceive, coupled with her not getting along with her sisters-in-law in the Zhao family and the constant pressure from her in-laws about having children, contributed more to her stress.

Of course, it was also possible that the issue lay with Zhao San. Just because a man appeared strong and healthy didn’t necessarily mean there were no underlying problems—there were plenty of examples in modern times of muscular men with poor sperm quality.

Lin Shu didn’t claim that soaking her feet in mugwort water would make it easier to conceive. She only emphasized its benefits, such as dispelling cold and dampness, and encouraged Aunt Lin to keep up with the routine consistently.

Lin Zhaodi listened attentively, committing it to memory. To her, Lin Shu’s words meant more than those of the town doctor.

She had always preferred drinking cold water, but from that day on, she made an effort to avoid it, opting for warm water instead. She no longer chilled her porridge before eating.

As for the mugwort water, mugwort grew plentifully outside. Once their house was finished and she and Zhao San moved in, she planned to soak her feet in mugwort water every day.

"After talking about mugwort, let’s move on to mulberry leaves. Mulberry leaves, you see..."

Lin Zhaodi and He Guixiang listened, occasionally chiming in, making for a warm, friendly atmosphere.

With Lin Shu around, Lin Zhaodi didn’t have to work to come up with things to talk about. It was much more relaxed and enjoyable than when she was alone with He Guixiang.

It wasn’t that Sister-in-law He was unpleasant—it was just that sometimes she didn’t know what to talk about with her. Sister-in-law He likely felt the same way. When the two of them were alone, they often found themselves suddenly falling silent after a brief exchange.

Once twenty wild vegetable dumplings were wrapped, they were immediately placed in the steamer.

Although the steamer at home was large, the wild vegetable dumplings were made with yeast-raised dough, which would expand during steaming, so they needed to be spaced apart.

Each layer of the steamer held ten large wild vegetable dumplings. With two layers, only twenty large dumplings could be steamed at a time.

Lin Shu didn’t fill the second layer entirely with large dumplings. Instead, she steamed all the dozen or so smaller ones as well.

Lin Zhaodi said with a chuckle, "Looks like we’ll need three batches to finish them all."

He Guixiang added, "That’s not a problem. By the time the third batch is steaming, we can call everyone over for dinner. The third batch will be ready just as they’re finishing up."

"Sister-in-law He is right!"

Once the water in the pot came to a boil, the fire under the stove was turned from high to medium heat, and the dumplings were steamed for another quarter of an hour. By then, each wild vegetable dumpling had swelled up nicely, looking plump and round.

Lin Shu yelled out back, "Xiao Pu, call everyone over to eat the wild vegetable dumplings—"

Earlier, the group of children who had been laughing and playing in the courtyard had moved to the fishpond behind the house after their bamboo slingshot competition.

The children visiting Lin Xiaopu’s home for the first time were all amazed by the fishpond, and their admiration quickly turned to envy.

Lin Xiaopu was so lucky! Not only did she have bamboo water guns and bamboo slingshots to play with, and brand-new bamboo stools to sit on, but they now discovered she also had such a large fishpond at home!

And it was filled with so many big fish—didn’t that mean Lin Xiaopu could eat fish every day?

By the time Lin Shu called out, Lin Xiaopu was leading the children in skipping stones across the water, having the time of her life.

"Let’s go, let’s go! The wild vegetable dumplings are ready!!" Wang Yingen immediately raced ahead.

Earlier, during the bamboo slingshot competition, he won himself two dumplings!

"Wang Yingen, wash your hands first! You have to wash your hands before eating!" Lin Xiaopu called after him.

"And the rest of you, you all have to wash your hands clean before getting dumplings from my sister."

They all answered casually but ran faster than anyone, like little rascals.

The freshly steamed wild vegetable dumplings, along with the steamer, were brought to the table. Lin Shu used chopsticks to pick out the dozen or so smaller dumplings separately, placing them on two plates.

"These wild vegetable dumplings just came out of the steamer and are very hot. Go pick a few Tung leaves."

This was an easy task. Wang Yingen and the others, being used to running wild, scampered out pell-mell and soon returned, each holding several Tung leaves. They were then led by Lin Xiaopu to the bamboo water spout to wash their hands and rinse the leaves, shaking off the excess water. Afterward, they lined up like good little kids to receive the wild vegetable dumplings from Lin Shu.

Wang Yingen was first in line and said with a grin, "Sister A-Shu, I won at slingshot shooting today. Sister Xiao Pu said I could have an extra one."

Lin Shu glanced at Lin Xiaopu and smiled, giving him two dumplings. "You deserve a reward. Here, two wild vegetable dumplings. Hold them carefully so you don’t drop them. Eat slowly and be careful—they’re hot."

Wang Yingen took the two dumplings on a Tung leaf, taking Lin Shu’s words with a grain of salt. He eagerly took a bite, but the heat made him toss it from cheek to cheek. Yet, the delicious flavor of the wild vegetable dumplings had already spread, and he couldn’t resist swallowing it despite the burn. After blowing on it a couple of times, he immediately took another bite.

Once all the rascally kids had received their dumplings, they wolfed them down.

They never expected that dandelion greens, which they had always regarded as mere weeds, could taste so delicious when made into dumplings!

Lin Xiaopu also ate a wild vegetable dumpling slowly, feeling utterly satisfied.

Aunt Lin’s dough had risen perfectly, making the dumpling skins incredibly soft. With each bite, the fresh fragrance of dandelion greens blended with the savory aroma of lard, complemented by bits of egg and mushroom, made your taste buds sing. She felt she could easily eat three more!

If Lin Xiaopu felt this way, it was even more so for Wang Yingen and the other strapping young lads. After finishing their portions, they still felt unsatisfied, eyeing wistfully the remaining dumplings on the plates.

But no matter how much they wanted more, they were too embarrassed to ask. The one dumpling they had eaten was their rightful reward for helping dig and wash the wild vegetables. Asking for more would be inappropriate.

In times like these, no household had surplus food. If even their own families didn’t have enough to eat, why should they feed others for free?

"Sister A-Shu, if you ever want to make wild vegetable dumplings again, remember to call us!" Wang Yingen said, puffing out his chest, though he struggled to tear his eyes away from the plates.

It didn’t matter. The next time they helped dig dandelion greens, they would get to eat these dumplings again.

Lin Shu replied with a smile, "Sure, and thank you for today. By the way, there’s more work here than just digging wild vegetables. Would you be willing to do other tasks?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Yingen and the others brightened up instantly, all nodding in agreement.

If they could get a free wild vegetable dumpling just for helping dig weeds, surely helping Sister A-Shu with other tasks would be just as rewarding!

"When I need your help, I’ll have Xiao Pu pass the message."

Wang Yingen and the others all nodded in agreement.

Even after leaving the Lin family’s yard, the children chattered excitedly about the taste of the wild vegetable dumplings and how gentle and beautiful Sister A-Shu was when she smiled...

Back in the yard, the wild vegetable dumplings were steamed batch after batch. When the second batch was ready and the third was steaming, Lin Shu immediately took Lin Xiaopu to call the men who were working.

Apart from breakfast time, she hadn’t seen A Ye all day and missed him something fierce.

Lin Xiaopu knew what she was thinking but didn't call her on it, only secretly laughing to herself.

When the sisters arrived, the men were already digging the foundation. Because of the hot weather, they had all taken off their shirts and were working shirtless. Lin Shu’s eyes immediately fell on the most strapping and muscular of the bunch.

Zhou Ye was hefting a thick log, his solid arms and eight-pack abs caught Lin Shu’s eye immediately, making it hard for her to look away.

After a day’s work, Zhou Ye’s bronze skin had bronzed to a reddish tint by the sun and glistened with a thin layer of sweat, as if waxed, giving off a healthy sheen that looked exceptionally alluring.