I sold grilled fish in the 70s!

Chapter 187 Guanyin Chapter

Then Zhuzhu rolled up her sleeves and was about to put her little hands into the basin to knead the taro paste skin that had already been mixed when Longzhen stopped her.

Seeing that Zhuzhu had completely forgotten all the rules she had taught him, Longzhen gently pointed to Zhuzhu's waist with his finger.

Zhuzhu then remembered that Yiyao had often taught us to always tie our aprons before doing anything. Otherwise, we would easily get our clothes dirty while we were doing things.

Thinking of this, Zhuzhu immediately ran to the back of the kitchen door, intending to take off the apron and put it on. But when Zhuzhu opened the kitchen door, she found nothing behind it.

Zhu Zhu then realized that she was now in the Yang residence, not in her home in Xiawei! Naturally, there wouldn't be an apron hanging behind the kitchen door.

Shake your apron around your waist. Do you have any extras? Do you know where Uncle Fu hangs all his aprons?

It's probably near this stove! Look carefully first! Oh, right, didn't your grandma just tie an apron around her neck?

"Look where she put the apron after she took it off," Zhuzhu thought for a moment after hearing Longzhen say this.

"Long'er, are you going to give Xiao Furong a bath again? I remember the last time I bathed the little one was the day before we went to Longsheng Grand Hotel." Yuqin said as she walked to Mulong's side. After standing there for a while, the two of them went to Mulong's room together.

As for the apron tied around Yuqin's body, it seemed she hadn't taken it off. Only then did Zhuzhu realize why she couldn't find the apron.

But Zhuzhu thought to herself that there were so many mothers-in-law working in the Yang family, surely they couldn't only have one or two aprons? With that in mind, Zhuzhu searched around the kitchen.

Zhuzhu, didn't you say you'd help me knead the dough? Why are you just walking around in the kitchen?! Hurry up, we need to make almost a hundred taro dumplings tonight. We need to take them to the temple first thing tomorrow morning!

Ah! Why are we in such a rush? And why are we taking so many taro dumplings to the temple tomorrow? I remember Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday is still a few days away.

Hey! Did you go crazy playing with your dad and grandpa on Shenglong Street? You've completely forgotten when Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday is!

Hmm! Let me think about what day Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday is! I had previously told my grandma that I wanted to make some delicious vegetarian buns on Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday and take them to the temple to share with everyone.

Haha! It's tomorrow! I can't believe you forgot something so important. Do you even know that Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday is our Thanksgiving Day?

Of course I know that! The story goes that one year our hometown suffered a famine, and the compassionate Bodhisattva Guanyin saw that the people of Jiang Le were about to starve to death. So Guanyin transformed into a spring maiden and descended to our hometown. She even taught us to find a kind of grass that only grows in spring—the Nan mushroom.

The name "Nan Gu" comes from a fairy maiden from the South China Sea. Guanyin Bodhisattva taught us to pick the dark green Nan Gu from the fields, dry them, grind them into powder using a stone mill, and then mix them with glutinous rice flour. We added a little water, and to prevent it from sticking to our hands, we poured in some cooking oil.

Then, use chopsticks to stir it until it resembles cotton wool. When you can no longer stir it with chopsticks, use your hands to knead it vigorously until the surface is smooth. I remember one of my favorite things to do as a child was help Yiyao make mushroom balls.

The following steps are as simple as making steamed buns. The filling is usually fresh bamboo shoots, dried mushrooms, and cured meat made by the adults before the Lunar New Year. This is a savory flavor, but if someone in the family likes spicy food, they can add some chili peppers.

Nan mushroom buns come in both savory and sweet varieties. The sweet ones are filled with mashed red rice beans that have been crushed with a spatula and a large amount of sugar. However, the red rice beans inside are not completely crushed; some whole red rice bean pieces remain in the dough.

The purpose was to make the sweet mushroom buns more chewy, and to better distinguish between the two flavors. So people wrapped the savory mushroom buns into the shape of steamed buns, and shaped the sweet ones into small hills.

Once the first batch of mushroom dumplings is steamed, the first thing people do is use a pair of clean chopsticks to transfer them to a bowl. Then, they place the bowl of mushroom dumplings on the stove to offer to the Kitchen God. Only after this offering is finished can people eat the mushroom dumplings from the steamer.

We have a funny saying here: "Pick some southern mushrooms and give them to your brother-in-law! My sister can't have babies, and my brother-in-law doesn't have time." When you hear me say this, do you think the people of Jiangle are a little lewd?

Haha! Let me tell you, you've got the wrong idea. Actually, this sentence means that the herb *Nan Gu* can treat infertility. This also verifies the saying about Guanyin granting children.

Is what you said true or not? I don't know! But Nan mushrooms are indeed very effective for treating diarrhea in children! This is recorded in medical books.

Zhuzhu! Didn't you always say you'd help me make taro dumplings? Why are you spacing out all day? Are you feeling unwell?

No! I just heard you mention that tomorrow is Guanyin Bodhisattva's birthday, and I've been craving the mushroom buns you make!

Hehe! You little glutton, have you forgotten? It's not mushroom season yet! And didn't you get to eat any delicious mushroom balls during the Guanyin Festival this year?

No! Because at that time I was in the modern world taking care of you, who was about to become bedridden! You really had been getting weaker day by day since the Guanyin Festival. The food you ate was also decreasing day by day!

Seeing you grow thinner and thinner every day, how could we, your children, have the heart to celebrate the Guanyin Festival? We were all busy taking care of you, and during that time, everyone's mood was always closely related to whether you had eaten that day and how much you had eaten.

During that time, the question Rosa and the others asked most often was whether Grandma had eaten anything that day, and how much she had eaten. When they learned that she hadn't eaten anything from morning until noon, everyone's spirits began to sink.