Chapter 617: Chapter 601: They’re So Cute, Don’t Eat Them
Huang Tao divided the remaining bit of white dough into evenly sized pieces.
Rolled them into balls.
Made a dent, added red bean paste, then pushed upwards with the thumb and index finger.
Sealed the edges.
Shaped it into a tangyuan.
Rolled the red dough into thin sheets, cut out circles, made small holes for the nose with a bamboo stick, dabbed a bit of water, attached it to the white dough, and split the red circle into two halves.
Xuanxuan, curiously peeking over with her little head, couldn’t help but ask, "Daddy, what are you making?"
Huang Tao chuckled, "Tangyuan!"
Xuanxuan was even more curious, "What kind of tangyuan?"
Huang Tao acted mysterious, "You’ll see soon enough."
Xuanxuan tilted her head, pondering.
Couldn’t quite figure it out!
Just then, she saw Dad sticking the halved red circles onto the white dough ball, resembling two little ears, and decorated below with black sesame seeds, lightly pressing them down with a bamboo stick, seemingly turning them into shining black eyes.
Oh?
This tangyuan shape looks like...
Xuanxuan’s eyes lit up, hastily asked, "Daddy, this tangyuan looks like a little piggy..."
"Oh~"
Huang Tao feigned surprise, "How did you know?"
Xuanxuan proudly said, "I figured it out!"
Huang Tao raised his thumb and said with a smile, "Impressive!"
"Indeed, it’s a little piggy red bean paste tangyuan."
"Daddy will make some tangyuan shaped like little ducklings for you, okay?"
"Wow... Daddy you’re amazing! Not only can you make little piggy tangyuan, but also little duckling tangyuan..."
Xuanxuan exclaimed, her little mouth wide open, her heart brimming with admiration for her dad.
Huang Tao smiled gently, he hadn’t really practiced these fancy tangyuan shapes before, just saw online tutorial videos in the past, but given his current pastry skills, improvising wasn’t too difficult!
Besides, being able to delight his precious daughter filled Huang Tao with a sense of accomplishment.
He shaped a small pumpkin dough into an oval form for the duck’s body.
Lightly pressed it flat.
Pinched one end sharp to make the duck’s tail.
Rolled a small ball for the duck’s head, placing it at the front of the body.
Took the red dough, shaped it into a rounded triangle to make the duck’s beak.
Applied a bit of water to secure the duck’s body parts.
Used black sesame seeds to create the duck’s eyes.
"Ta-da~"
He gently placed a super cute little yellow duckling onto Xuanxuan’s palm.
"Wow..."
Xuanxuan was thrilled, unable to let go.
But thinking that these cute little piggy and duckling tangyuan would soon be eaten, she felt a bit conflicted.
She lifted her small head, looking hesitantly at Dad, "Daddy, can we not eat the little piggy and duckling tangyuan? They’re so cute..."
Huang Tao laughed lightly!
He tapped her little nose, "My silly daughter, even if we don’t eat them, they’ll still go bad!"
"Ah..."
Xuanxuan instinctively widened her eyes, murmuring, "If they go bad, it would be a shame..."
"How about... Maybe we should... eat them then..."
Xuanxuan hesitated for a while, thinking if they go bad, it’s better to eat them.
But still felt a bit unwilling in her heart.
Seeing this, Huang Tao smiled and suggested, "Xuanxuan, how about this, Daddy will let you keep one piggy and one duckling tangyuan to play, the rest we’ll cook in the pot and eat, okay?"
"Okay!"
Xuanxuan gladly agreed.
"Boss, let me do the cooking!" Old Qian volunteered.
Huang Tao didn’t refuse, entrusting this important task to the experienced Old Qian.
In the pot, the white, yellow, red, green, and purple round dumplings rolled in the boiling water, with a large amount of steam rising, mixing with a sweet aroma that floated lightly in the back kitchen.
This is the sweet and rich taste.
"Time to eat the dumplings~"
Huang Tao used a ladle to scoop the colorful dumplings from the pot into bowls.
The cooked colorful dumplings were placed on the dining table, prompting Li Chengzhan, Lin Qiuyu, and others waiting at the table to eagerly pick up their ladles, scoop up a dumpling, blow on it, and put it into their mouths.
"These colorful dumplings have different flavors, boss, how did you make them?"
"Oh, there are even savory ones!"
Huang Tao smiled and said, "These are called colorful dumplings. The white ones are made of glutinous rice flour with sesame filling inside, the pink ones are made of carrot puree with red bean paste inside, the yellow ones are made of pumpkin puree with date paste inside, the green ones are made with spinach juice with savory meat filling inside, and the purple ones are made of purple sweet potato puree with peanut walnut filling inside."
He didn’t forget to ask at the end, "How’s the taste?"
"Good, delicious..."
Li Chengzhan kept exhaling dramatically, like he got burnt by the dumplings, murmuring a compliment with a face caught between pain and delight.
"Daddy..."
Xuanxuan’s beautiful eyes were fixed without blinking on the pink, tender, large, and round dumpling on the ladle in Huang Tao’s hand. The glossy surface shimmered under the light like pink jade.
It looked so tempting!
She wanted to gobble it down immediately!
She wanted to eat it!
She really wanted to eat it!
"Be careful..."
Huang Tao brought the ladle to her mouth and warned, "The red bean paste inside is very hot; blow on it a bit more."
Xuanxuan immediately puckered her pink little lips and blew at the high-value dumpling, "whoosh whoosh", trying to blow away all the heat, almost blowing away the little bit of broth in the ladle as well.
Huang Tao gave her the ladle and let her hold it herself.
Xuanxuan lightly bit a small piece off the dumpling skin, then licked the sweet red bean paste, finally biting the whole thing into her mouth, closing her eyes in contentment.
So sweet!
And so delicious!
Beside her, Li Chengzhan had already slurped down half a bowl of colorful dumplings, eating happily, apparently adopting the mindset that as long as he ate quickly, the sweetness wouldn’t overwhelm him.
Mimi squatted at the edge of the dining table, looking up with her cat head, gazing longingly at her little owner enjoying the delicious treat, looking quite pitiful.
"..."
Feeling the pressure from being watched, Xuanxuan felt flustered and stressed!
Helpless, she directed, "Mimi, go bring your food plate over here!"
Xuanxuan pointed her small hand towards Mimi’s cat bed one by one.
Mimi instantly got it.
She immediately got up, ran to her cat bed, and brought back her food bowl, placing it attentively at Xuanxuan’s feet, showing a fawning expression.
Xuanxuan, having no time to eat for herself, again blew on a hot dumpling, cooling it then placing it into the cat’s bowl: "Here’s a savory one for you, just this one because it’s made of glutinous rice which isn’t good for your stomach, so you shouldn’t eat too much of it."
Cats shouldn’t eat too much glutinous rice, as it’s not good for their digestive systems, nor should they eat too much sweet food, as her dad had told her.
And Mimi loved all the delicacies in the shop, including the sweet sesame dumplings she used to eat a lot, but since knowing it wasn’t healthy for Mimi, Xuanxuan no longer fed her dumplings.
Mimi didn’t care to listen to her words, grabbing the savory dumpling with her mouth and swallowing it almost instantly!
A typical case of swallowing without chewing!
After consuming the dumpling, Mimi looked at Xuanxuan pitifully again, as if to say: Little owner, this isn’t even enough to fill the gap between my teeth! Give me a little more, just a tiny bit more!
But Xuanxuan firmly refused.
One was for Mimi’s health.
Another was that she herself didn’t have enough.
The unpampered Mimi could only whimper "meow meow meow" and silently shed metaphorical tears.
This sight prompted Li Chengzhan and the other employees to smile wryly, which in turn made the dumplings in their bowls taste even better.
A moment later.
Old Qian brought over the cooked pig-shaped and duck-shaped dumplings.
Looking at the ducklings and piglets in the bowl, Xuanxuan demonstrated perfectly what it means to have eyes bigger than her stomach, and ate a few more.
Then, at Huang Tao’s insistence, she reluctantly put down her spoon, still clamoring for more the next day.
For his sweet daughter’s little request, Huang Tao naturally nodded in agreement.
Eating dumplings also signified the end of the Lantern Festival night’s must-complete ritual. But instead of taking Xuanxuan home to digest, Huang Tao took her, his employees, and parents to the temple fair near Old Street to see the lantern exhibits.
