After tidying up the mess made by the dragon-phoenix twins, their mother told Chen Lan not to help wrap dumplings anymore. She instructed Chen Lan to keep an eye on the twins, Hu Tou, and Xiao Shi Tou, and prevent them from causing more trouble. Chen Lan, afraid of making things worse instead of helping, didn't dare to offer her assistance again.
Since they were making dumplings to eat, wrapping too few would surely not be enough. Besides, it was a considerable undertaking to make dumplings for twenty-three or twenty-four adults, many of whom were strong laborers.
Chen Lan noticed that the four children couldn't help. Lin Mai was preparing the pheasant and ginseng stew for the next morning; it couldn't wait, as the weather was too hot and delaying would risk the pheasant spoiling. Cui Qiao was pickling rabbits, while Hu Yuzhen and Zhao Xiaoyue were processing the vegetables they had gathered from the vegetable patch. Everyone was busy. Chen Lan wanted to help wrap dumplings but feared the twins would cause more chaos.
Only her mother and Xiao Shan's mother were left to handle the task. Fortunately, before long, her mother, who had gone to the valley to plant vegetables, returned with a large group. Upon seeing the baskets of dried mushrooms and wood ear fungi spread out to dry and basins of pheasant and rabbit, exclamations of surprise erupted. Her mother's characteristic exclamation was the loudest, "My goodness! There are so many good things on the mountain again! Tomorrow, we'll go to the valley early to quickly finish planting the remaining few plots of land. Before the autumn harvest, we should all go into the mountains to pick more mushrooms and wood ear fungi. We'll dry them for winter. Changbai Mountain has a long winter, lasting four to five months, nearly half a year without fresh vegetables. We need to stock up on mountain goods and dried vegetables."
Her mother said this as she walked towards Chen Lan and the others in the cart. As she entered the cart, she exclaimed again, this time with great delight, "We're having dumplings today? Wonderful! Dumplings today, we haven't had them in months. I must say, I've really been craving them."
When her mother saw the dumpling filling clearly and smelled it, she let out her signature exclamation once more, "My goodness, we're having dumplings with elm mushroom and meat filling today! Elm mushrooms are a rare sight. I heard they only grow once a year. Xiao Lan, you're so lucky to have encountered elm mushrooms on your trip to the mountains."
After talking to herself for a moment, her mother immediately issued instructions to those outside, "Ming Wei, Hong Xiu, Chun Mei, hurry into the cart! Go to the washroom, wash your hands, and come help wrap dumplings."
Ming Zhe, Wen Kai, and Wen Qi, who were walking behind, also let out shouts of excitement upon hearing they were having dumplings for dinner, "We're having dumplings!"
The three also wanted to join the fun, heading to the washroom to wash their hands and help with the dumplings. Her mother shooed them aside, saying, "Go on, go on, what do you know about wrapping dumplings? Don't waste good ingredients. Go play, don't cause trouble. You can just eat them later."
Chen Lan quickly pulled the three aside, giving each of them a cup of plain water, a bottle of yogurt, and their favorite snacks. She asked Ming Zhe to take Hu Tou and Xiao Shi Tou to the washroom, wash their hands, and then come back for snacks and yogurt.
She went to the kitchen to prepare two small bowls of rice paste for the dragon-phoenix twins. Jia Hui and Jia Yao each got a bowl. When they started feeding them, they were probably hungry from playing and ate mouthful after mouthful. After eating more than half a bowl and having something in their stomachs, they stopped eating properly.
Jia Hui, with rice paste in her mouth, pointed her chubby finger at Wen Kai and the others, making "Mm! Mm!" sounds. Chen Lan was confused, not knowing what she wanted.
Wen Kai, Wen Qi, and Ming Zhe noticed and walked over with yogurt to talk to Jia Hui. While Wen Qi was talking to her, Jia Hui quickly reached out her small, fleshy hand and grabbed the yogurt bottle, refusing to let go. Wen Qi was startled. Chen Lan saw this and quickly took the yogurt from Jia Hui, returning it to Wen Qi.
Wen Qi said, "Big sister, if Jia Hui wants some, let her have it. I just drank plain water, I'm not thirsty now."
Chen Lan patted Wen Qi's head and explained, "Wen Qi, Jia Hui and Jia Yao are still too young. They can't drink anything other than goat milk. If they drink it, their stomachs might not be able to handle it, and they'll get diarrhea, which would be troublesome."
Wen Qi looked disappointed and said, "What a shame! Jia Hui and Jia Yao can't drink such delicious yogurt, and they can't eat many good things either. How pitiful!"
Chen Lan smiled and said, "When they're as old as you, they'll be able to eat and drink everything. What's so pitiful about that?"
Wen Qi nodded happily and said to Jia Hui and Jia Yao, "That's great! When you grow up, you'll be able to eat too. You can't eat now! Be good! Be good!"
With the addition of four people, the dumpling wrapping speed increased significantly. After more than an hour, all the dumplings were finally wrapped. A large pot of boiling water was prepared outside to cook them.
Chen Lan habitually checked the system time. It was already 5:30 PM. The male laborers working in the valley would be back soon. The first pot of dumplings was emitting a tantalizing aroma, truly fragrant for miles around! Ming Zhe, Wen Kai, and Wen Qi were already impatient, gathered around the pot, waiting to eat. Her mother was scolding them to stay away from the pot to avoid being scalded by the boiling water.
Disturbed footsteps could be heard in the distance. It was the male laborers returning from work in the valley for dinner. The footsteps grew louder and closer, quickly reaching the temporary settlement. Then, the collective exclamations of surprise were heard, "We're having dumplings today! What kind of dumplings are they! They smell so good!"
Her mother smiled and said, "What food do you eat that doesn't smell good? It's just that we haven't had dumplings in a long time!"
Xiang Xi said, "Cousin-in-law, no, what we mean is, today's dumplings aren't just ordinarily fragrant. Don't you agree?" He then turned to those beside him and said, "Don't you agree? Today's dumplings are truly fragrant!"
Everyone said in unison, "That's right, they are really fragrant. We could smell the aroma of the dumplings from a long way off on our way back."
Her mother explained with a smile, "The reason you think today's dumplings are fragrant is twofold: first, we haven't had dumplings in several months; second, today's dumpling filling is made with fresh elm mushrooms picked by Xiao Lan from the mountains today, mixed with meat. Elm mushrooms are already known for their delicate fragrance and rarity, only growing once a year. You're in for a treat today!"
At this moment, Uncle Fu and Uncle De also walked over. Uncle De said, "Elm mushrooms are indeed rare. We're lucky to have them today!"
Seeing Uncle De approach, Chen Lan quickly asked, "Uncle De, you're an experienced farmer. I'd like to ask you, our peanuts in the field must be bearing pods by now, right? Do they need fertilizer to increase yield?"
Uncle De quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes, they do need fertilizer to increase yield. If you hadn't reminded me today, I would have almost forgotten! I remembered about fertilizing a few days ago and wanted to mention it to you, but since you've been going out early and coming back late, and everything's been so busy, I forgot."
Chen Lan said, "Uncle De, the peanuts are in the pod-setting stage now. I'll prepare the fertilizer and water mixture tomorrow morning and put it directly into the sprayer. You can just find someone to help spray it tomorrow."
Uncle De smiled and said, "No need. They're all busy. This little task, I can do it myself."
The next day, Chen Lan woke up early to prepare the water-fertilizer mixture for the peanuts. "The foliage needs to be sprayed with compound fertilizer, 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate and 1% urea solution, plus a little laundry detergent, sprayed on the leaves once or twice." This can prevent premature aging of the peanuts, promote plumpness of the peanut pods, and increase yield.