The next day, December 22, was the winter solstice in 1980.
As one of the twenty-four solar terms, the winter solstice is an important festival.
During the winter solstice in the north, people drink mutton soup and eat dumplings and wontons.
In the south, glutinous rice balls, rice noodles and long noodles are popular.
Zuo Li climbed out of bed at six o'clock, earlier than Gu Feichen who always got up at seven o'clock.
"You haven't gotten up yet, have you?" Zuo Li washed up and went to the kitchen with Aunt Liu.
"It's not even yet, it's only six o'clock, I can't get up so early." Aunt Liu smiled brightly.
Because today is the Winter Solstice, Zuo Li has to cook and prepare breakfast herself.
In fact, Zuo Li didn't cook often, so she would bring lunch to Gu Feichen before the kidnapping incident.
Apart from that, I don’t cook often.
No one thought there was anything wrong with this.
Zuo Li is Mrs. Gu, so naturally she doesn't have to cook often.
On the contrary, she cooks herself, which is rare and worthy of praise.
For example, today, Zuo Li said that he would make breakfast himself. In Aunt Liu's opinion, this was Zuo Li's intention.
This is normal, it is a typical rare thing that makes it more valuable.
If only Zuo Li had worked hard every day to cook for this big family from the beginning.
Then if she stops doing something one day, people will naturally think that she is lazy.
Another example is Aunt Liu's current attitude change, which also has psychological reasons.
Think about it, she ate, slept, and got up at noon every day.
Compare this to the fact that now I go to bed early and get up early, and I still cook occasionally.
Isn’t it a great progress?
Therefore, in Zuo Li's view, the change in attitude of Aunt Liu and other servants was not unusual, but a natural change.
"The dough has been made, now it's up to my wife."
Zuo Li nodded, entered the kitchen and got busy.
She did more today.
After all, the winter solstice is really different between the north and the south.
The Gu family is now considered a northern city in the capital, and although Sunshine City is adjacent to the north, it is still considered a southern city.
Hong Kong Island, the Gu family's hometown, can also be considered the south.
To sum it up, this family has to take into account the customs of both the north and the south.
So Zuo Li made northern dumplings and wontons.
Because there is a proverb: If you don’t serve dumpling bowls during the winter solstice, your ears will freeze off and no one will care.
I also made a mutton soup that symbolizes success and peace, with white radish added to it.
There are other stews that have almost no odor and make you drool just by smelling them.
Taking a sip during this winter solstice will simply warm your heart.
Because Zuoli doesn't like the taste of coriander, she plans to pack two portions later.
One with coriander and one without coriander.
Zuo Li almost vomited when she smelled the coriander.
If she gets rich in the future, she will tell everyone in the world not to grow this coriander.
How could anyone like the taste of coriander? Besides, you can’t leave the roots of the ears alone!
I can’t stand the taste of these two things!
Unfortunately, except for her and the eldest Gu Yuanzheng, who don't eat coriander, the other three in the family like it.
In addition to the food for the winter solstice in the north, we also prepare glutinous rice balls, rice noodles and longevity noodles from the south.
Perfection and longevity have good meanings.
In addition, southerners will steam rice cakes on this day, and this rice cake is also what Zuo Li likes to eat.
If it is steamed well, it will taste soft, glutinous and chewy when you take one bite. It is truly a delicacy in the world.
If you can't finish it in one meal, you can also fry it.
Sweet, salty, spicy, whatever tastes good.
As for Zuo Li, he likes spicy food such as tofu curd, rice dumplings and rice cakes.
Hey, she doesn't participate in the dispute between the sweet party and the salty party.
Even Zuo Li knew that glutinous rice balls are not necessarily sweet.
It can also be made salty and spicy, but few people make it delicious.
There is also something special about eating rice cakes during the Winter Solstice.
The rice cakes come in three colors: red, white and yellow, symbolizing gold and silver.
Nian Gao, also known as Nian Nian Gao, is homophonic with Nian Nian Gao, which means that children are improving year by year.
There is a poem from the ancients that says: New Year cakes symbolize the deep clouds of Shaoguan, and their white color is like silver and yellow gold. I hope for good times and good fortune as the years go by, and I pray silently and sincerely for the coming of wealth.
Because the servants had already prepared the ingredients, at 7:30, when everyone went downstairs after washing, they saw a table full of delicious food.
Gu Suiyang was the first to rush to the table in an exaggerated manner, lowering his head and sniffing the delicious food on the table like a large dog:
"Grandma Liu, why did you cook so many delicious things today?"
Aunt Liu laughed twice: "Today is the winter solstice, and these are not made by me, but by my wife who has been busy for more than an hour."
She said, pointing to Zuo Li, who had just changed his clothes and was coming downstairs.
Today is a holiday after all, so Zuo Li wore a bright red sweater with a Mickey Mouse embroidered on it, and the warm pants he was wearing were also red.
Even the slippers have been changed to red. If you look carefully, you can see that the rubber band that ties her hair and other hairpins in her hair are red.
Fortunately, the several paper bags she was carrying were not red.
When Gu Suiyang saw it, the corner of his mouth twitched: "Little stepmother, your appearance makes people think you are celebrating the New Year. Also, little stepmother, you can actually cook, won't it taste bad?"
Zuo Li sat in his seat and glanced at Gu Feichen, who was silent next to him: "Ask your dad if it tastes good."
Gu Suiyang glanced at the two of them suspiciously: "What do you mean? My dad has eaten the food you cooked?"
Gu Fei said nothing, and his eyes turned around Zuo Li.
Probably Zuo Li was dressed festively today, which gave him a sense of festival.
He didn't answer, and Aunt Liu said from the side: "Hey, Third Young Master, my husband had a stomachache before, so my wife made some food for him to send to the factory. By the way, I remember one time I made too much, and the eldest young master even tasted it.
Pass."
"Forehead……"
Gu Suiyang suddenly felt overwhelmed. There was no concept of "eating dog food" in his mind for future generations.
But somehow I felt a little full.
Gu Suiyang looked at Gu Yuanzheng and asked his elder brother if he had eaten it.
Gu Yuanzheng was looking at the table of steaming food——
The three-color rice cakes are packed in a steamer. The square shape and color and aroma are definitely complete.
The steamed dumpling skin is very thin and you can see the golden corn kernels inside.
Wontons are very small and come in at least five shapes: lotus, ingot, money bag, and swallow.
Maybe there are other shapes that you can only notice when you eat them.
As for the fillings on the rice noodles, they are appetizing at first glance, including haggis, two green vegetable leaves, and a poached egg nestled next to it.
The longevity noodles are similar, just looking at them makes you want to eat them.
Finally, there are two pots of mutton soup, the smell of which will make people salivate.
While observing these delicacies, Gu Yuanzheng still had something to think about.
It turns out that the reason he was able to eat Zuo Li's cooking last time was simply because she cooked too much.
After a few days, probably after the first day, she knew how much she should do.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed and funny.
It seems that from such a small incident, we can vaguely get a glimpse of this stepmother's character of not willing to suffer.
He also pretended not to see the expression on his third brother Gu Suiyang's face. He took a small bowl of noodles that really only had three chopsticks and started eating.
Well, it tastes just like the last time I ate it.
Gu Suiyang's eyes widened and he quickly sat down. The friction between the chair and the ground made an unpleasant noise: "Brother, are you going to eat now?"
Zuo Li feels that it is indeed a happy thing to occasionally watch other people eat the food she made.
She said to Gu Suiyang: "You should eat quickly. Eat the noodles and rice noodles early to avoid them becoming lumpy and affecting the taste."
Gu Jixing put on the mask again today, with a gentle smile on his face, took a mouthful of rice noodles and said, "Aunt Zuo is really thoughtful, but our family doesn't celebrate the winter solstice."
The word "our family" excluded Zuo Li.
And the sentence "not until the winter solstice" made Zuo Li busy preparing for more than an hour this morning, which seemed a bit ridiculous.
Zuo Lixin said that I am not angry with this pitiful boy, but the smile on her face could hardly be kept.
At this time, Gu Suiyang had already taken a steamed dumpling and put it into his mouth, and suddenly felt his index finger moving.
Just one bite leaves a fragrant aroma in your mouth, leaving you with endless aftertaste.
I was so grateful that I didn't say anything and started to eat.
After Gu Jixing said this, he didn't even hear the meaning of finding fault in it, and hurriedly said: "I'll pass it! I'll pass all the twenty-four solar terms from now on! Little stepmother, your craftsmanship is so good! Why don't you do it during the holidays?"
Come on, cook more often with this kind of skill!"
Before Zuo Li could answer, Gu Feishen's calm voice came: "The other Gu family members will not be able to celebrate the winter solstice, but our family will not be able to do so in the future."
Zuo Li suddenly felt relieved. She used serving chopsticks to pick up a steamed dumpling for Gu Feichen, and scooped up a bowl of mutton soup with coriander for Gu Suiyang.
"Why, do you still want to be my cook? That won't work."
She looked at Gu Jixing out of the corner of her eye and found that the expression on his face had not changed, except that his eyes had become darker.
Zuo Li sighed inwardly and encouraged himself to take his time and everything would be fine.
Gu Suiyang groaned, with a look of regret on his face: "But it's really delicious! Little stepmother, I don't want you to cook every day, just cook more occasionally, and don't be partial to the old man."
Gu Feichen's lips curled up slightly, and he said calmly to his third son: "If you don't favor me, how can you be partial to you?"
Hearing this, Zuo Li blushed for some reason and took a piece of rice cake with serving chopsticks to Gu Suiyang: "Eat quickly."
Stop talking!
You can always stop this third child’s mouth with food!
Gu Suiyang curled his lips and stared at his father unhappily while eating.
Tsk tsk tsk, virtue!
This possessiveness is really strong!
Sure enough, an old man is easily confused by love.
Gu Yuanzheng was silently paying attention to the interaction between the three of them. Unlike Gu Jixing, who was silent with his head down and minding his own food, there was confusion in his eyes.
It seems that this dining table scene is the real home.
He also noticed that Zuo Li occasionally picked up things for his third brother and father, but would not consider picking up things for him and his second oldest brother.
Naturally, Gu Yuanzheng didn't care whether Zuo Li would pick up food for him.
But in such a dining table scene, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable.
It was as if he was rejected by her.
Of course Gu Yuanzheng knew that this was not the fault of his stepmother.
It was because he was unwilling to get close to her that he was treated differently.
But I know I know, but at this time my heart is still somewhat blocked.