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墨書 Inktalez
As the time approached, Wang Zhaodi and Zhang Man prepared to head home to make dumplings.
"Alright, we're off to make dumplings. You all keep chatting," Zhang Man said as she put on her shoes and stepped down.
"It's about time. With so many people in our family, we need to make a lot of dumplings. If we get back too late, we won't have enough time," Wang Zhaodi added, following suit and putting on her shoes.
Wang Zhaodi and Zhang Man were particularly good at this. No matter what conflicts they had at home, they never let it show outside. They always appeared harmonious, which made those families with in-law disputes quite envious.
"It's time to make dumplings; I should head back too."
"I'll go back as well. If I stay out too late, my mother-in-law will get angry and start scolding me."
"Let's go together."
Seeing Wang Zhaodi and Zhang Man getting ready to leave, several others sitting on the kang also decided to head home to cook.
Once they arrived home, the two didn’t go to their own rooms but headed straight into Old Lady Tang's room.
The kitchen cupboard keys were managed by the old lady; every day, whatever food was needed had to be taken out in advance by her.
Old Lady Tang was resting on the kang when Wang Zhaodi and Zhang Man entered, waking her up.
"Mother, what kind of filling are we making for the dumplings tonight?" Wang Zhaodi asked.
Old Lady Tang sat up. "Today we’ll make two kinds of filling: some with pork and cabbage, and some with pork and sauerkraut."
She then went to the kitchen, took out the keys to unlock the cupboard, retrieving some white flour and scooping out a few bowls of cornmeal.
With so many people in the family, it was impossible to eat pure white flour; they had to mix it with cornmeal. However, today they decided to use a bit more white flour than usual.
"Let’s add more white flour today," Old Lady Tang said as she scooped out two more bowls of it.
"I'll knead the dough. Eldest daughter-in-law, you chop two heads of cabbage. Second daughter-in-law, you chop the meat," she assigned tasks.
"Okay."
"Got it."
Wang Zhaodi and Zhang Man didn’t hesitate; they responded affirmatively and began their work.
When Ye Fangfei woke up and came out, they had already started wrapping dumplings.
"I'm sorry, I'm late," Ye Fangfei said apologetically as she saw that they had already wrapped a whole tray of dumplings.
"It's fine, it's not too late now," Zhang Man replied.
Without wasting any more words, Ye Fangfei quickly washed her hands and joined them in wrapping dumplings.
"Third Sister-in-law, why don't you tell us about the department store?" Wang Zhaodi asked. "I've never been to a department store in my life!"
"Don't even mention the department store in the capital; I've never been to the one in the county either," Wang Zhaodi continued while rolling out dumpling wrappers. "I usually stay in the back building and don't go to the front much."
"But the department store is quite lively, and there are many things for sale. The busiest section is the clothing and fabric counters; if there’s a new shipment, it gets really crowded. Right now, cotton and corduroy are popular, and as soon as they hit the shelves, they're snatched up."
"There are also counters selling larger items like watches, bicycles, sewing machines, and radios," Ye Fangfei added. "They also have electric fans and televisions. The fans are okay, but televisions are quite expensive, so not many people buy them."
"What’s a television?" Wang Zhaodi asked curiously.
She knew about bicycles and sewing machines, but she had never heard of a television before.
Not only was Wang Zhaodi curious, but even Old Lady Tang and Zhang Man were intrigued.
"The principle of a television is similar to that of a movie; you need a cinema to watch movies, but with a television, you can watch from home," Ye Fangfei explained, unsure of how to clarify further for them.
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