Dumplings
Bai Wu was severely injured and unable to fly.
Ta and An had to rush him back to the tribe and fetch medicinal powder to bandage his wounds.
An was extremely worried; after bandaging his wounds, he insisted on putting him back in his nest to rest.
Bai Wu wasn’t particularly sleepy at first, but after tossing and turning, he lay down in his warm, soft nest and gradually fell asleep.
He woke up in the evening, vaguely feeling someone sitting beside him. Opening his eyes, he saw it was his dad.
It was already dusk. The sky was a mix of yellow and purple clouds, the air filled with the smell of cooking smoke.
Bai Wu sniffed, becoming more awake.
“Dad,” Bai Wu said, pulling himself up from his feathered blanket.
Chuan reached out and supported his shoulder. “Does your body still hurt?”
How could such a large wound not hurt?
Bai Wu was in excruciating pain, but he couldn’t voice it in front of his dad.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and said nonchalantly, “It’s alright.”
As he spoke, Bai Wu lowered his head and lifted a corner of the dried leaf to examine his wound.
A thin scab had formed on the wound; the edges were neither red nor swollen, and it looked like it was healing very well.
Bai Wu breathed a sigh of relief.
If the wound had become infected, in this era of scarce medical resources, it would have been terrible.
Chuan examined the wound with him, and touched his forehead. “It’s alright, it’s not too serious. Rest well for a couple of days. What do you want to eat tonight? Your dad will make it for you.”
“I want meat soup, just a little meat and some of the herbs we brought back, is that alright?”
“Scallions? Scallions are only for applying to wounds; it tastes very bitter and spicy.”
“It won’t be after it’s cooked. Just add a little more after the soup is served. Oh, and dad, blanch the meat in the broth first.”
“What a strange way to eat it,” Chuan said helplessly. “Alright, what else do you want me to cook?”
“Dad, put some noodles in the soup, nothing else. It tastes best clean and simple.”
Chuan tucked him in with the feather blanket and went to cook the soup.
Bai Wu watched his dad walk to the hearth before lying down in his bed to continue sleeping.
That evening, they had meat and noodle soup. The broth was very flavorful, the meat was rich, and the noodles were fragrant. A few drops of oil floated on top, and with the garnish of scallions, everything was just right.
Bai Wu didn’t leave his nest, and drank the meat soup his dad had brought, his face full of satisfaction.
An, standing beside him, drank his soup, his face full of surprise. “There’s nothing particularly good in the soup, but it tastes exceptionally good.”
“Of course,” An replied. “This kind of fresh meat, after being blanched to remove any impurities, and then with some scallions to remove any gamey smell and enhance the aroma, tastes wonderful.”
“Scallions?”
“Oh, you mean the spicy herb you mentioned.”
An heard strange things from him almost every day. He shrugged as he was used to it, and went to ladle out another bowl of meat soup.
The whole family stayed in their nest, eating with Bai Wu.
Mo said, “I just got some meat back. You like meat soup, I’ll cook some more for you tomorrow.”
Bai Wu, holding the meat soup, thought for a moment, “Tomorrow, depending on how my wound is, if it’s better, I’ll cook something special for you.”
An’s eyes were full of curiosity, “What special thing?”
“A secret.”
“You have too many secrets, aren’t you afraid of overeating?”
“I’m not full yet, I can’t overeat. I’ll give you a surprise tomorrow.”
Chuan, seeing the two brothers arguing again, tapped each of them on the head, “Go to sleep early, don’t argue.”
Bai Wu, having his bowl taken away by Mo, said urgently, “Father, wait a minute, I need to brush my teeth.”
An scoffed, “Still being fussy at a time like this?”
“Of course, there’s no dentist here if your teeth are rotten.”
The family still took their dental hygiene sticks to the river to brush their teeth.
In the tribe, this family was now the most hygienic, and the tribespeople were no longer surprised to see them standing in a row.
Bai Wu was injured and didn’t need to go out to gather resources, so he slept in until he naturally woke up the next day.
When he woke up, he was the only one left in his house; most of the able-bodied men in the tribe had already gone hunting.
Bai Wu first checked his wound and, seeing that it had scabbed over and showed no signs of infection, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He got up, washed himself by the river, and then returned to the hearth to drink the meat soup his family had left for him.
The meat soup was much tastier than the stew; it was fragrant, fresh, and rich, full of meaty flavor. Bai Wu drank two large bowls and patted his stomach contentedly.
After finishing the soup and washing the earthenware pot and bowls, he sat down by the hearth.
Beside the hearth, the meat that Mo had brought back the night before was still smoking.
It was a piece of poultry, looking very tender and soft, still moist.
Bai Wu smelled it; the meat didn’t have much of a smoky smell yet.
He simply took it down, washed it in a wooden bucket, added salt and a little bit of sour fruit jam. Then he chopped some mushrooms and scallions from the basket and added them in, stirring it in one direction and setting it aside to marinate.
He took out the green root powder, added water and eggs, and hummed a song as he began to knead the dough.
While kneading the dough, he deliberately divided it up, planning to make one hundred dumplings. Twenty dumplings each for his family of four plus the priest, just enough for one meal.
This month, their clan was to offer sacrifices to the priest. His father, a warrior, went to the priest’s place every day. Since the family made dumplings, his father would definitely send some to the priest.
Rather than reducing the amount for the family later, it was better to make a larger batch from the start.
The medicine powder the family used to bandage his wound yesterday was given to him by the priest, so he could thank him.
Green root powder was quite different from wheat flour; it wasn’t very elastic, and the texture wasn’t very fine. However, after many trials, Bai Wu successfully turned it into dumpling wrappers.
Green root powder was even rarer than meat. Bai Wu was very careful when making the dumplings, and the final dumplings were all thin-skinned, generously filled, and incredibly beautiful.
Bai Wu looked at the dumplings, drooling. Seeing that the sun was high in the sky and it was still far from dinner time, he had to suppress his craving and go do other things first.
The green roots and scallions they brought back yesterday were still in the basket, looking fairly fresh.
Bai Wu circled the area around his hut, finally choosing a spot near the hearth at the foot of the mountain. He pulled up the weeds, cleared a small plot of land with a stone hoe, planted the green roots and scallions, and watered them.
Bai Wu toiled until the sun was setting. His back was aching, utterly exhausted.
He drank some water, wiped himself with a leaf dipped in water, and went back to his hut to rest.
“What’s this?!”
Bai Wu was sound asleep when he was awakened by his brother’s loud voice.
He sat up in his hut and saw that the evening glow had appeared outside; his brother and both fathers had already returned.
His fathers were sorting through the day’s harvest when his brother lifted the lid of the winnowing basket and shouted excitedly at the plump, gray dumplings inside.
Bai Wu yawned and said lazily, “A pleasant surprise.”
“That’s it?” An looked suspicious, picked up a dumpling, and smelled it. “This doesn’t even look appetizing; it doesn’t smell very appetizing.”
“Who told you to eat it now? It needs to be cooked thoroughly.”
Chuan asked, “Wu, are you feeling better today? Let me see your wound.”
“Much better. I think new flesh is starting to grow. It’s a little itchy.” Bai Wu lifted a large leaf to show Chuan. “Dad, I can go out tomorrow.”
“Let it rest for a couple more days. It’s very humid today; I don’t know if it will rain tomorrow.” Chuan’s eyes were filled with worry. “Your wound absolutely mustn’t get wet in the rain.”
Bai Wu sniffed hard, staring at the sunset outside. He saw no sign of rain.
His eyes showed confusion.
Mo said, “I’ll go cut some leaves to reinforce the roof of the nest later. Chuan, you stay in the tribe tomorrow to take care of Wu.”
“Wait! Father, Dad, it can’t be that bad, can it? How heavy can it rain?”
“You’ll see today,” Chuan said. “Even if it doesn’t rain much tomorrow, there’s a lot of heavy rain in summer, so we still need to cut some leaves to repair the roof, otherwise it’ll leak sooner or later.”
Bai Wu didn’t remember much about last year. Seeing their nervous expressions, he didn’t say anything and could only nod.
An scratched his face beside him. “Why don’t you go after dinner? Wu, what did you make? How do you cook it?”
“Dumplings. Just boil water and put them in to cook. I’ll cook the one you’re waiting for. Oh, Father, I made a little extra. Will you take some to the priest later?”
Mo said, “I’ll try it first when it’s cooked.”
Bai Wu was full of questions: “Father, don’t you trust my cooking?”
An chuckled beside him.
A hint of a smile flickered in Mo’s eyes. “I’m afraid he won’t like it.”
Bai Wu snorted. “I’ll cook it for you right away!”
Chuan had already filled the earthenware pot with clean water. Bai Wu lit the fire and boiled the water, then added the dumplings.
Bai Wu fanned away the rising steam as he looked down at the plump, grayish dumplings that resembled little ducks, floating in the water.
As the grayish-blue dumplings cooked, they became translucent, revealing the filling inside.
The dumpling wrappers weren’t sticking together very well, and a few broke during cooking, releasing a rich aroma of dumplings.
An sniffed. “It smells so good!”
Bai Wu waved his hand. “Wash the dishes, wash the dishes! The dumplings have floated to the surface; we can eat now.”
“Is that all?”
“Mm.” Bai Wu added some salt to the dumpling soup and gestured for An to bring the bowl.
Bai Wu placed a small handful of chopped scallions and a small piece of rendered animal fat in each bowl, then ladled in dumplings, and finally added two spoonfuls of dumpling soup.
White steam billowed up, the dumpling soup dispersing the animal fat and scallions, releasing a rich aroma.
A sweet, wheaty fragrance rose, different from the noodle soup of that day; Bai Wu knew at a glance it couldn’t be bad.
Bai Wu picked up the bowl, blew on it, picked up a dumpling with his chopsticks, blew on it again, brought it to his lips, and took a small bite.
The dumpling wrapper made by green roots, was somewhat like a shrimp dumpling wrapper, soft and sweet. Biting through the wrapper revealed a smooth, juicy mushroom and meat filling. It was exceptionally delicious.
Bai Wu drank a sip of the soup, and a warm feeling rose from his stomach. Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead and nose, and his cheeks flushed slightly.
So delicious.
Bai Wu felt as if he had returned to his past life. His family sat around the dining table, laughter filling the air, and the aroma of various dishes whetting his appetite.
He used to think it was nonsense to say that food tasted like home. It was just a dish; could home-cooked food really be that different from restaurant food?
He looked at his smiling brother beside him, then at his two fathers gazing at each other, and suddenly truly felt the taste of home.
He had a new family now, and he was determined to live this life well.