Chapter 769: The Miracle of Living
Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon
Looking at the two bottles, Monkey asked curiously, “Master, what are these for?”
Fangzheng smiled. “For eating dumplings!”
“Uh? Don’t we eat them directly? I tried a bit directly just now, and it was delicious, if maybe just a little bland.” Squirrel wiped his oily mouth as he comnted happily.
Fangzheng smiled. “Jingkuan, the difference between humans and animals is that the forr are quite particular when it cos to eating. Animals do not choose their food or the way they eat it, eating once they have it. However, humans are particular about how they eat their food, when they eat it, and what matches with it…”
“Master, don’t they find it troubleso? Can they resist their appetite when the food is in front of them?” Squirrel asked.
Fangzheng shook his head. “At tis, trouble sets the mood. This is culture and also a type of tradition. It’s just like praying to Buddha. In fact, when praying to Buddha, as long as one is respectful towards Buddha, chanting scriptures or saying Amitabha from ti to ti should be sufficient. With the heart in the right place, Buddha will be there. However, people often like to scale tall mountains in search for ancient monasteries, change into clean clothes, offer incense, and donate incense money as a way to show respect to Buddha. So people even travel thousands of kiloters, kowtowing every step they take so as to show their sincerity. Do you know why?”
“Because they have long lives. They are silly!” Squirrel said boldly.
Fangzheng rapped him on the head with his chopsticks and laughed. “Nonsense!” Then Fangzheng said in all seriousness, “That’s a form of expressing faith. From a certain point of view, faith is full of silly actions, but it’s precisely because of such silly actions that faith, which is an ethereal thing, turns into sothing actual. Those actions can be mimicked, emulated, and handed down. This results in a heritage. The aning behind such rituals and acts then beco heritage as well.”
When Fangzheng said this, he felt pleased when he saw his disciples looking deep in thought.
At that mont, Squirrel raised his head and asked, “Master, having said so much, it sounds right. But what does this have to do with adding soy sauce and vinegar when eating dumplings?”
Fangzheng smiled and said in all seriousness, “It matters a lot!”
“How?” his disciples pressed.
Fangzheng said, “Because eating them like that—is delicious!”
Lone Wolf, Monkey, Squirrel, and Red Boy were instantly stunned. Speechlessness overwheld them. So after all that had been said, it was just bullsh*t! It being delicious was the key point.
Fangzheng laughed loudly when he saw this. “It being delicious is key. Of course, this is also a form of particularity. Southerners like soup dumplings. They have clear and thick soup, and I’m not too sure about the details. But for us Northeasterners, eating dumplings is relatively more troubleso. From the beginning, the fillings cannot be too salty, and not too much at can be stuffed in. If it’s too salty, it won’t match with the condints later. If there’s too much at, one will not be able to eat too many dumplings as it will stuff you. Of course, we are all eating vegetarian dumplings and have nothing to do with at. In short, northeastern dumplings typically have more vegetables than at. Of course, so families prefer at and aren’t afraid of feeling stuffed because of aty dumplings. So they put in more at. As for dumplings with only at fillings… Such dumplings easily clump and turn hard due to the excessive at. After cooking them, they won’t make for a nice sight.”
“Master, there’s sothing strange inside the dumplings.” By that mont, Squirrel had finished his first dumpling, and his mouth was lathered in oil. His tiny face was beaming with bliss as his eyes were narrowed. He pointed at sothing that looked like a wheat head in the dumpling plate.
Fangzheng smiled. “That isn’t anything strange. It’s also a dumpling. There’s so history to making dumplings. The northeast is different from the south. The southern winter still has fresh flowers and green trees, so there’s plenty of things and food that children can amuse themselves with. For us, we don’t make dumplings until winter, but when we begin making dumplings, we often face a conundrum.”
“What’s the conundrum?” Red Boy asked.
Fangzheng squinted his eyes as he looked at Red Boy. “Brats!”
Red Boy said, “Uh… Master, can we not launch personal attacks at such tis?”
Fangzheng roared with laughter. “I’m not launching personal attacks but stating the truth. When the village makes dumplings, they aren’t just limited to about fifty. Once they start, they will make hundreds, if not thousands of them. With so many dumplings, all handmade, to go from making the dough, to adding the fillings, and finally taking care of the wrapping, that’s a lot of work. It’s impossible to finish all of that in a short period of ti. Therefore, the entire family goes at it in full force. At this ti, brats beco troubleso. No one can watch over them, so they cause trouble. In order to coax the children, the elders ca up with all sorts of dumplings. They co in the shape of mice, wheat heads, pigs, flowers, etc. They’re like toys made of dough. The elders place them in front of the children, letting them watch and protect them. That way, the brats are quelled.
“Similarly, brats don’t eat their als peacefully. They often make a fuss while eating. After a few mouthfuls to fill their stomachs, they start being hyperactive and seek to have fun everywhere. By using such strange, attractive, and fun dumplings, elders can attract the attention of these fellows to stay by the dinner table and eat quietly. Since these dumplings are hard to wrap, there is usually only one portion per pot. But children really like it. As long as the elders say, ‘If you continue running, these dumplings might be eaten by soone else,’ all of them return obediently to watch over their dumplings.”
“Uh, to have to resort to so many tricks for a al. You adults sure don’t have it easy,” Red Boy said as he smacked his lips.
Fangzheng shot a glance at Red Boy. “Oh? How did your mother deal with you when you didn’t eat your als?”
Red Boy thought for a mont and said, “What a joke. How can I not have eaten my als when I was young?”
Fangzheng rapped him on the head. “Speak the truth. No lies!”
Red Boy thought of the outco from their lying yesterday and imdiately turned honest. He said with tears streaming down his cheeks. “If I didn’t want to eat, my dad would cast a spell, making my mouth impossible to close. My mom would then stuff food into it and even stick the chopsticks in to press the food down… Sigh.”
Fangzheng, Lone Wolf, Monkey, and Squirrel imdiately gave him a look of pity. Indeed, a demons’ child had it in for him.
Fangzheng patted Red Boy on the shoulder. “Good child, it’s a miracle you are alive.”
“Master, you haven’t told us what the two bottles are for yet,” Monkey asked, displeased.
Fangzheng smacked himself in the head, having nearly forgotten about it. “This is a dipping sauce. Although our dumplings have a variety of fillings, such as chives with eggs, pickled vegetables, cabbage, celery, mushrooms, and at, but these dumplings all have a unique point. Their taste isn’t particularly strong! Northeasterners like their food to taste strong, so they match it with dips. Dips can be different according to a person’s taste. Every dipping sauce is mixed differently. Soy sauce is the main ingredient, and one can match it with so vinegar, spicy oil, sesa oil, minced garlic, chives, fernted beans, and other condints to one’s taste. If you then dip one of the dumplings into your sauce and eat it, you will instantly find that the bland dumplings gain all sorts of new flavors with the sauce acting as a catalyst! The taste is truly delicious. Hehe…”
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