Transmigrated into the Scumbag Ex-Wife of the Prime Minister - Chapter 59

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival, the tradition in Binhe County is for every household to eat yuanxiao (glutinous rice balls) and then, after sunset, go to the river bank to release Kongming lanterns to pray for good fortune.

In the afternoon, Lu Sheng picked up Tangtang from school. On the way back, she stopped by a grain store to buy the ingredients for making yuanxiao that evening: black sesame seeds, peanuts, glutinous rice flour, and pork fat.

The black sesame seeds and peanuts were stir-fried in advance and set aside. The pork fat was cut into cubes and rendered into lard, which was then left to cool. The outdoor temperature was low, and soon a white film floated up on top of the lard.

Lu Sheng arranged the prepared ingredients on the table and took out a mortar and pestle, ready to crush the black sesame seeds.

Tangtang had been running after Lu Sheng for a long time and finally found a task she could do. She actively stretched out her hand, tugging at Lu Sheng’s trousers.

“A-Niang, A-Niang, I can do this, let me smash it.”

“Alright, then the important task of pounding the sesame seeds is entrusted to you.”

Lu Sheng brought a small square stool, placed the mortar containing the sesame seeds on it, and had the little one stand next to it to help.

The little one took the stone pestle and pounded it twice, which resulted in quite a few shattered sesame seeds flying out.

“Oh no, they fell out, they fell out.”

Tangtang furrowed her little eyebrows and reached out her small, fleshy hands to try and gather the stuck sesame fragments, wanting to put them back into the mortar.

Lu Sheng quickly reached out to stop her, wiped away the sesame fragments with a handkerchief, and said gently, “Let’s not worry about the ones that fell out, okay?”

She reached out and held her daughter’s little hand, guiding her to pound it twice. “Beibei, move a little slower, and the fragments won’t fall out.”

“Mm.”

The little one nodded obediently, imitating Lu Sheng’s previous movements. When she saw no more sesame fragments falling out, she looked up happily and said, “Done, done.”

Lu Sheng touched her little head and said with a smile, “Beibei is so capable.”

The little one chuckled and called out “Māmā” toward the person behind her.

Lu Sheng turned her head and saw Qi Zhenshu walking through the door, holding a copper kettle.

She blinked, a smile playing on her lips, and invited Qi Zhenshu, “Would you like to make yuanxiao together?”

Qi Zhenshu paused, glanced sideways at the table, then looked at her daughter who was gazing up at her, and gently shook her head.

“Come on.” Lu Sheng took the copper kettle from her hand, pulled her arm, and said softly, “Come make yuanxiao with us.”

Making yuanxiao together was such a family-oriented activity that would help their interaction, so naturally, she had to invite Qi Zhenshu to join.

Lu Sheng’s eyes were clear and bright, full of anticipation, making it hard to refuse.

Qi Zhenshu glanced at her daughter, whose face was filled with curiosity, lowered her head, leaned closer to Lu Sheng, pursed her lips, and whispered in embarrassment, “I don’t know how.”

The yuanxiao the family ate before were always store-bought. Qi Zhenshu had never made them and had only heard they were not easy to make, as they could crack if not rolled properly.

Lu Sheng followed her gaze back to the little one behind her, and then she understood.

So she shook her head because she was afraid she wouldn’t know how and her little one would laugh at her?

When the little one saw the two of them speaking in low voices, she widened her eyes and tilted her head to look at her A-Niang and Māmā.

Yu Jie-jie said that her maternal aunt and her mother’s sister often secretly whispered things they wouldn’t let her hear.

Are Māmā and A-Niang also talking about secrets that children can’t hear now?

Lu Sheng’s beautiful eyes curved, she stood on her toes, leaned close to Qi Zhenshu’s ear, and mimicking her, she whispered, “I’ll teach you. Rolling yuanxiao is very simple. You are so smart, you’ll definitely learn it in one go.”

After speaking, Lu Sheng gently shook her arm. Qi Zhenshu felt her heart gently sway along with the movement of her sleeve.

“Mm.” Qi Zhenshu swallowed, turned her head to look at the table again, and said gently, “Then what should I do?”

Seeing her agree, Lu Sheng let go of her sleeve, found a rolling pin and a cutting board, placed them on the table, and said with a smile, “Help me crush the peanuts.”

Qi Zhenshu lightly nodded, rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a handful of peanuts, placed them on the cutting board, flattened them with the rolling pin, and then slowly crushed them.

After crushing for a while, Qi Zhenshu stopped and turned her head to look at Lu Sheng, who was smashing brown sugar. “Is this coarseness alright?”

Lu Sheng looked up at the uniformly granular peanut fragments and praised with a smile, “These are the most neat and delicate peanut fragments I’ve ever seen.”

Qi Zhenshu lowered her head and looked at them. “But are they too fine?”

“No, no, the finer ones taste better.” Lu Sheng placed the smashed sugar crumbs into a small bowl.

“A-Niang, A-Niang, look, is the sesame Tangtang pounded ready?”

The little one stood between the two of them, holding up the mortar for Lu Sheng to see.

“Beibei is great.” Lu Sheng took the mortar, looked at the unevenly crushed sesame seeds, and rubbed her little head with a smile.

“Hehe.” The little one smiled happily, looking up. “What do we do next?”

“Next, we make the yuanxiao filling.”

Lu Sheng held the little one and sat on a long bench. Then she mixed the sesame filling and the peanut filling together and divided them into two small bowls.

“A-Niang, why two bowls?” the little one asked, tilting her head.

“Beibei likes things sweet.”

Lu Sheng didn’t directly say why. She handed the little one a spoon and held her little hand to scoop two spoonfuls of sugar into one bowl.

“Mm-hmm.” Tangtang nodded happily.

Then, Lu Sheng scooped half a spoonful into the other bowl. “Māmā doesn’t like sweet things, so we’ll just add a tiny bit of sugar for her.”

As she spoke, she winked at Qi Zhenshu, then lowered her head, held her daughter’s hand, and scooped a spoonful of lard into each of the two bowls.

Qi Zhenshu’s heart felt warm, as if a warm current was flowing through her.

So she divided it into two portions because she remembered that she didn’t like sweet things.

“What’s next?” the little one asked again.

“Next, we need to wash our little hands clean,” Lu Sheng said, hooking her little nose.

After the three of them washed their hands, Lu Sheng first mixed the fillings well. Then she pinched a small piece and, to the great interest of the one large and one small person watching intently beside her, she smiled and said, “Gently roll it into a ball like this.”

Her fair palm was open, and a round ball of filling rested on it.

Upon seeing this, the little one couldn’t wait to pinch a small piece of filling and rub it in her palm, but she couldn’t roll it into a perfect sphere.

Lu Sheng reshaped the filling in her hand, held her little hand, and helped her roll out a ball that was somewhat round.

She looked up at Qi Zhenshu and saw that she was rolling the balls extremely carefully, her palms clasped together, her slender, round fingers gently curved.

She had already rolled out several evenly sized small balls in front of her.

Her hands are very clever.

Not only is her handwriting beautiful, but she can roll a yuanxiao filling so perfectly round.

Lu Sheng was lost in thought, looking at those nimble and beautiful hands. For some unknown reason, her cheeks vaguely felt hot.

“A-Niang, A-Niang, look, is this one round?”

The childish voice brought Lu Sheng’s wandering thoughts back. She cleared her throat, turned her head sideways, and smiled, “Very round.”

With the fillings rolled, only the last step remained.

Rolling the yuanxiao.

Lu Sheng got a basin of clear water and placed it nearby, then poured glutinous rice flour onto a round bamboo winnowing basket. She placed several filling balls inside and began to shake the basket.

The filling balls rolled in the glutinous rice flour, picking up a thin layer of flour.

Next, she placed the rolled filling balls on a colander, quickly dipped them in the water basin, and then poured them back onto the winnowing basket to roll again.

“Wow.” The little one was very supportive, letting out a gasp of admiration. “A-Niang, give it to me, I want to shake it too.”

“The winnowing basket is too big, Beibei can’t handle it.”

As Lu Sheng spoke, she took a large wooden bowl, poured glutinous rice flour into it, and dropped a filling ball inside. “This is for Beibei.”

“Mm.” The little one cheerfully held the bowl and shook it. Then, imitating Lu Sheng, she dipped the filling ball in water, held the bowl again, and continued to roll it.

The little one was enjoying herself. Lu Sheng turned to Qi Zhenshu, gestured with her actions, and said, “I’ll dip it in water again, and the two of us will shake it together. This way, it will be faster. About seven or eight dips in water should be enough.”

Qi Zhenshu nodded. When Lu Sheng placed the filling balls, which had been dipped in water for the second time, onto the glutinous rice flour, she cooperated with her to shake the winnowing basket.

Working together as a family, they finished rolling all the yuanxiao in no time.

After marking the little one’s sweet yuanxiao with a red dot, Lu Sheng moved the sealed stove cover aside and added two new pieces of firewood.

As the soup boiled, she put the yuanxiao into the pot one by one. She turned to Qi Zhenshu, who was holding a colander nearby, winked, and smiled, “I told you it wasn’t hard.”

“Mm.” Qi Zhenshu looked at her and responded, her gaze lingering on her smiling face.

Seeing her staring intently at herself, Lu Sheng’s face unexpectedly flushed. Qi Zhenshu took another step forward.

Twilight was hazy. The sun had secretly sunk below the mountainside without anyone noticing, leaving only a thin wisp of red light in the sky.

The distance between the two instantly closed. The light in front of Lu Sheng dimmed, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. She abruptly tightened her grip on the bamboo skimmer.

What was Qi Zhenshu going to do?

Her heart uncontrollably beat a couple of times faster. A quick glance at the small figure behind them, eagerly watching, instantly pulled Lu Sheng’s wavering focus back.

Er.

Although the atmosphere was great now, our precious daughter is right there watching, isn’t she?

Lu Sheng quickly raised her hand and placed it on Qi Zhenshu’s shoulder, gently pushing her and whispering, “The child is still…”

A warmth brushed across her cheek, and the light in front of her immediately returned.

Qi Zhenshu held up her hand, looked down at her, and said in a normal tone, “You had filling on your face.”

“Oh.” Lu Sheng quickly replied, pretended as if nothing had happened, and turned around to look at the yuanxiao in the pot.

Seeing the slightly stiff back of the person, Qi Zhenshu suddenly understood the meaning of her words just now. A faint smile slowly bloomed on her lips.

This person is truly interesting, and exceptionally thin-skinned.

Even though only half a spoonful of sugar was added, Qi Zhenshu still found today’s yuanxiao extraordinarily sweet. But she didn’t find this sweetness cloying at all; she quite liked it.

Her gaze swept over the person across from her, whose cheek was puffed out and whose brows were raised high. In her heart, she found the reason for this fondness.

Binhe County, riverbank.

The full moon, like a silver disk, hung in the sky. Countless Kongming lanterns, high and low, adorned the pitch-black night sky, with scattered sparks and a sky full of shimmering light.

“So beautiful,” Tangtang clapped her hands and said.

Seeing her delight, Lu Sheng bought one from a street vendor as well.

“Would the young lady like me to write a prayer or blessing?” the vendor happily took the copper coin.

“You can write words too?” Lu Sheng asked with a smile. “Could you lend me your brush, Little Brother?”

“Ai, please help yourself, young lady.” The vendor pointed to the brush nearby.

“Thank you, Little Brother.” After thanking him, Lu Sheng turned to Qi Zhenshu. “Your handwriting is lovely, you should write it.”

Qi Zhenshu handed the child she was holding back to her, took the Kongming lantern, and asked, “What do you want to write?”

“What is your wish, Beibei?” Lu Sheng asked the little one.

Tangtang tilted her little head, thought for a moment, and said, “Tangtang wants to grow up quickly.”

When Tangtang grows up, she can talk secrets with A-Niang and Māmā too.

“Then let’s write: May our little Beibei, Lu Qi, grow up quickly, safe and happy,” Lu Sheng said to Qi Zhenshu with a smile.

Qi Zhenshu finished writing her daughter’s wish and then asked Lu Sheng, “Do you have a wish?”

Lu Sheng had several wishes, but some of them she was too embarrassed to say in front of Qi Zhenshu. She only chose one she could express: “I hope everything goes smoothly in the new year.”

Qi Zhenshu finished writing her wish. While Lu Sheng was occupied talking to the child, she picked up the brush again and wrote on the other side: May Lu Sheng’s wishes come true, and may she have what her heart desires.

At the same time, in Sanxiang Hutong.

Liu Yun put down the needlework in her hands, looked at the already cold food on the table, and sighed deeply.

Knock, knock, knock.

The courtyard gate was knocked.

“Yun’er, Yun…” a muffled, indistinct sound came from outside the courtyard.

Liu Yun’s face lit up with joy. She quickly put down her embroidery, hurried to the courtyard, and pulled the door bolt.

The moment she opened the door, a heavy scent of alcohol rushed over her, followed by Lu Yu’s swaying figure leaning against her shoulder.

“Why did you drink so much?” Liu Yun asked with a worried heart, supporting the person who kept slipping down.

“Yun’er, Yun’er.” Lu Yu, her face covered in intoxication, murmured, “From now on, from now on, I will never, never let you suffer again.”

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