Chapter Forty-Six: Peanuts and Crystal Pouch

  Open the bag and take a look, it's peanuts. Wang was so embarrassed that he had never been to the warehouse before, and if he hadn't asked with a glimmer of hope just now, he wouldn't have known when he would see the peanuts.

  Now that he sees the peanuts, Wang Kuang can be sure that peanuts are indeed native to China and were later introduced to the Americas. If they had been introduced from the Americas to China, it would have happened in recent years, so the yield should be very small, and Master Wang wouldn't have known about them immediately, nor could he have easily pulled out a bag of them.

  "Can peanuts be used to season?" Wang Shifu and Kuang Da had never heard of using peanuts for seasoning before. Peanuts were usually only eaten as a dried fruit during festivals in wealthy families.

  "Alright." Wang Kuang immediately grabbed a handful of peanuts and started peeling them. Guan Da and Master Wang also wanted to see what it was like, so they helped peel too. The three of them peeled quickly, and before long, they had peeled a whole plateful. Wang Kuang took the plate of peanut kernels, poured some oil into the wok, heated it up, and then added the peanuts. In no time at all, the peanuts were slightly browned, so he removed from heat and let them simmer in the hot oil for a while before scooping them out to cool. He grabbed a handful, crushed them with a rolling pin, sprinkled them over the plate of noodles, mixed it well, clapped his hands: "Done! You try some."

  The two of them were suspicious, yet couldn't wait to pick up their chopsticks and each took a bite. After chewing for a few mouthfuls, they stretched out their chopsticks again to take more. Wang Kuang hastily covered his hand: "Don't be greedy, being too greedy will get you struck by lightning, if you want to eat, make it yourself."

  "Haha, that's right, Xiaodong's family, what we made can't compare to yours in terms of taste. Besides, didn't we just help out earlier? Qiang, you tell me, isn't that so?" Master Wang smiled awkwardly and tried to please him, "Just one more bite, just one."

  Wang Kuang Hu looked at the two of them, Wang Shifu and Keng Da, these two were clearly not good-hearted, saying one thing but meaning another. When the chopsticks came down, it would definitely be a fatal blow, so he decided to play it safe and took out another plate, divided some food onto it, and handed it over to them.

  Seeing that they couldn't finish, the two guys looked dejected, each eating a mouthful, and when they finished, Wang Shifu nudged Kuang Da: "I'm telling you, Kuang Da, you're better at cooking than me, why don't we make some more?"

  They rolled up their sleeves and got busy right away.

  Actually, Wang Kuang himself couldn't possibly eat more than a catty of noodles alone, and there were still Sun Zhanggui and the others in the hall who hadn't eaten yet. He also had to save some for Sun Mingqian and Wang Rong, because he had already used up all the last bits of chili peppers, and any future dishes would taste different. With so many people, they could only have one mouthful each, which was why he was being so protective.

  The two of them got busy, earlier when Wang Kuang was doing it, the two of them were distracted by the spiciness and didn't notice some details. Seeing the two getting busy, Wang Kuang pointed out a couple more things, then left some noodles for Wang Yan, and took the remaining ones to the main hall.

  The next morning, Deng Eleven got up early and asked Wang Shifu for the tools. He took the precipitated starch to dry it, then he didn't go anywhere else, just staying in front of the hall, from time to time running to take a look, as if hoping that the starch would dry immediately. When Wang Kuang woke up, he happened to see this and thought to himself, "He's really worried." Without saying anything, he walked over to take a look and saw that the starch was already half-dry, so he directly scooped it up and started kneading it. Deng Eleven saw this and frowned: "Young master, isn't this dough supposed to be dried before being ground?"

  Wang Kuang burst out laughing: "Master Deng, is there really a difference between grinding it after it's dry and adding water to mix it now?"

  Deng Eleven thought for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses, and slapped his forehead. His thin black face actually turned red: "Look at me, I'm really worried about being confused." After finishing speaking, he quickly came over to take the dough from Wang Kuang's hand: "How can we let the young master do it himself? This is better for me to do, I'll do it myself."

  Actually, the dough is because it has gluten, and it's not like ordinary noodles. The longer you knead, the more elastic it becomes. As long as it's evenly mixed, that's enough. This Deng Shi looks like he's done this before, taking over the dough and casually kneading it a few times before putting it down. "Next, I'll have to trouble the two masters of your esteemed shop for help again. Please ask Young Master to convey my request."

  They were talking, and Kuang Da had already come out of the kitchen to watch. For this cooking enthusiast, he couldn't bear to give up a learning opportunity easily. Yesterday, he ran out because he really couldn't stand the taste of chili oil. Hearing Deng Shi speak, with such a ready-made opportunity, he certainly wouldn't let it go. He directly took the dough and said: "You just watch well. I'll take care of this matter, but trouble Xiao Dongjia to help me keep an eye on it, lest something goes wrong."

  Into the kitchen, Kuang cut a piece of mutton with fat and minced it into mud, also chopped some ginger and scallions, and then put salt to mix well. Then he pinched the dough into small balls, flattened them by hand and rolled them thin with a rolling pin, ready to be wrapped.

  Wang Kuang saw and quickly stopped him: "Wait, we need to add some more things." He had seen someone selling burdock outside yesterday, and Sun Zhanggui had bought two catties of it and put it on the counter, saying he liked eating this. He ran to the front hall and saw that Sun Zhanggui had already peeled a few and was preparing to stuff them all into his mouth at once, which he called "eating with gusto". It was a bit like when Wang Kuang was young and liked to crack open a handful of melon seeds and then toss the whole handful into his mouth.

  "Grandpa Sun, give me these." Wang Kuang said, and snatched the ones in Grandpa Sun's hand, then ran away. Grandpa Sun stomped his feet behind him: "If you want to eat them, just tell me! How am I supposed to know if you don't say anything? If you told me you wanted some, I would have peeled more for you. It's not like I wouldn't give them to you, and yet you come and snatch mine. If you had asked, I would have given them to you too."

  Wang Kuang ran while laughing, and couldn't help but wonder if Sun Zhanggui was the reincarnation of Tang Seng, as their tone was exactly the same.

  Ran to the kitchen, crushed those few taros and mixed them in, scooped a spoonful of bone broth into it, dripped some sesame oil, and stirred everything together. Only then did Kuang Da take action.

  What Kuang Dabao made was called a steamed bun, which is the same as the baozi of later generations. Wang Kuang saw that he had made big ones and also took action to make several small steamer buns. What Wang Kuang had just made was the filling for soup dumplings. After the bone soup had frozen, it was wrapped inside and when heated up would melt, and with one bite the soup would flow out in all directions.

  They were all wrapped up, steamed to perfection in the steamer basket, and when they came out, they were indeed crystal-clear water dumplings. Deng Shiyi knelt down again with a thud, tears streaming down his face, choking back sobs for half the day without being able to say a word, then kowtowed several times before turning around and leaving without looking back.

  "What's wrong with this guy?" Kuang Da was very dissatisfied, got up and wanted to chase after him, but Wang Kuang pulled him back: "Don't go, he's in a state of mind like a sword right now, let him go, saving people is urgent." After finishing, he pointed to the freshly steamed buns: "Just in time, hurry up and eat while it's hot. I'll take two over to Grandpa Sun, earlier when he snatched his taro, he was so angry that he jumped straight up."

  Division

  The sparrow is very entangled today. This chapter has been written and rewritten since this morning, but only got these words. Headache! What do you guys think?

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