"Children, don't be greedy, after Laba it's Chinese New Year. Drink Laba porridge for a few days..."
As we enter the twelfth lunar month, time seems to pass quickly, and in the blink of an eye it is Laba Festival.
Feng Yifan had naturally made preparations in advance and had purchased some ingredients for cooking Laba porridge in advance. Some of the ingredients were even prepared by him in advance.
For example, some of the candied fruits in Laba porridge are made in advance by Feng Yifan and everyone in the kitchen, who collect fruits from different seasons.
So this morning, when Feng Ruoruo got up and slipped into her parents' room, she found that her father was no longer in bed.
Seeing that her father was not in bed, Feng Ruoruo hurried out of the room and ran to the kitchen.
Sure enough, Dad was busy in the kitchen.
Feng Ruoruo quietly entered the kitchen, crouched down and carefully came behind her father. Suddenly, she pushed her father from behind, then shouted with a smile: "Hey, good morning, Dad."
In fact, when Feng Yifan heard the sound of his daughter's room door, he had already started paying attention to his daughter's movements.
So he already knew that his daughter had sneaked into his room, then came out of the room, and approached him quietly from behind.
Feng Yifan, who had been prepared, was naturally not scared by his daughter.
But he still pretended to be startled.
"Oh, why is it Ruoruo?"
Feng Ruoruo saw that her father looked frightened, and immediately said with a smile: "Yes, it's Ruoruo, Dad, don't be afraid."
Feng Yifan turned around and smiled at his daughter, "Okay, if it's Ruoruo, Daddy won't be afraid."
Feng Ruoruo quickly turned around and took the small stool in the corner of the kitchen.
A small stool was placed next to her father, and Feng Ruoruo stood on it.
Standing on a small stool, Feng Ruoruo suddenly moved higher up the kitchen stove so that she could see her father's hand movements and what he was cutting on the chopping board.
However, what Feng Ruoruo was curious about was still what was in the pot on the stove.
She stretched her head to look, wanting to see what was in the pot.
However, there was her father between Feng Ruoruo and the stove, so the little girl stretched her head but could not see clearly.
Finally, Feng Ruoruo couldn't help asking, "Dad, what are you cooking?"
Feng Yifan smiled, lowered his head and said to his daughter: "Dad is cooking Laba porridge."
Feng Ruoruo asked curiously: "Laba porridge? What is that?"
Feng Yifan continued to explain: "Today is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so we have to eat Laba porridge today."
Then, Feng Yifan introduced the various ingredients of Laba porridge to his daughter.
Add red beans, mung beans, red kidney beans, white kidney beans, chicken head rice, millet, glutinous rice, sorghum rice, rice, peanuts, longan, lotus seeds, small red dates, walnut kernels, pumpkin seeds, quinoa, chestnuts, and raisins.
After listening to her father's recitation, Feng Ruoruo counted on her fingers as she listened.
But as she counted, the little girl discovered that there seemed to be more than eight.
Feng Ruoruo quickly asked: "Dad, Dad, this is not right."
Feng Yifan asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Feng Ruoruo raised her two little hands and said, "Dad, look at how many there are. Ruoruo has counted them with both hands. Isn't it 88 porridge? Why are there so many things? It shouldn't be 8."
Feng Yifan couldn't help laughing when he saw his daughter raising her little hands with a strange expression on her face.
"Hahaha, our Ruoruo got it wrong. It's Laba porridge, not the porridge with eight ingredients. The reason why it's called Laba porridge is because today is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, so it's called Laba porridge."
Feng Ruoruo realized at this time that she had made a mistake. The little girl then asked, "Dad, why is today the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month? What is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month?"
Feng Yifan was stunned for a moment, and then he realized that he had not explained this to his daughter.
He then explained it carefully to his daughter.
"The twelfth month is the last month of our previous calendar. Our previous calendar calculated time based on the moon, so it is different from the current calendar that uses the sun to calculate time. The twelfth month is equivalent to December."
Feng Ruoruo immediately interrupted: "Dad, December is over."
Feng Yifan smiled and nodded: "Yes, December has passed, but if we use the moon to calculate time, December has not passed yet. We are just entering the moon's December now."
Then, Feng Yifan opened the lid of the pot and poured a small bowl of cold water into it.
As he poured the water, he said to his daughter, "The eighth day of the month is the eighth day of the month."
Feng Ruoruo watched her father pouring cold water into the pot, and asked curiously, "Dad, why did you pour cold water into the pot? It's already cooked, if you pour cold water on it, won't it make it inedible?"
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Because it's not cooked yet, pour in some cold water. Use the cold and hot water to collide, which will make it easier to cook the beans."
Feng Ruoruo watched her father add cold water to the pot every once in a while.
Only when Dad scooped up the beans in the pot with a spoon and saw that they had bloomed did he put the other ingredients in batches.
First, put the chicken head rice in, and then put the kidney beans in.
Then various things were put into the pot one after another.
Until the pot is filled to the brim with all kinds of things.
"Yeah, Dad, there are so many."
Feng Yifan smiled and said, "Yes, there are a lot of things. We need to cook them for everyone to eat together. Ruoruo wants to eat, grandpa and grandma want to eat, and mom wants to eat too."
Feng Ruoruo immediately added: "And Dad, he wants to eat with us too."
Feng Yifan said: "Yes, Dad wants to eat with us too."
Because the Laba porridge was already very rich, Feng Yifan did not prepare other staple foods this morning. Instead, he prepared some side dishes and some chopped candied fruits for his family to eat with the porridge.
When the porridge was almost cooked, the family members got up one after another.
Finally, Su Ruoxi got up and saw the father and daughter in the kitchen. Then she saw her daughter with disheveled hair and still wearing pajamas.
Su Ruoxi asked tentatively: "Ruoruo, you didn't get up and haven't brushed your teeth or washed your face yet, right?"
After hearing what her mother said, Feng Ruoruo suddenly came to her senses.
"Oh, I forgot all about that."
Su Ruoxi said with a smile: "Why are you still hanging out with your dad over there? Come over here quickly, brush your teeth, wash your face, and comb your hair. You're like a little lunatic so early in the morning."
Grandma still felt more sorry for her granddaughter, so she took the initiative to walk to the kitchen door and said, "Okay, come on, grandma will take Ruoruo away."
Feng Ruoruo came out of the kitchen and said to her grandmother with a smile, "It's okay, Ruoruo can go by herself."
After saying that, Feng Ruoruo quickly went to brush her teeth and wash her face.
Seeing Feng Ruoruo brushing her teeth and washing her face by herself, the whole family was full of smiles.
At this time, Su Jinrong, who was standing outside the restaurant, smelled the fragrance coming from the kitchen and said, "Oh? Are we having porridge this morning?"
Feng Ruoruo was brushing her teeth in the bathroom in the living room. When she heard her grandfather's words, she immediately poked her little head out of the bathroom.
"Grandpa, Dad said it's Laba Festival, so we should eat Laba porridge."
Seeing her daughter come out to answer with foam in her mouth, Su Ruoxi said helplessly: "Feng Ruoruo, can you brush your teeth properly? Don't always rush to answer."
After being scolded by her mother, Feng Ruoruo quickly retreated to the bathroom to brush her teeth seriously.
This time, the little girl was very serious. She brushed her teeth quickly, then asked her grandmother to help her wash her face. After coming out, she asked her grandmother to braid her hair.
By the time Feng Ruoruo had packed everything, Feng Yifan had also prepared the Laba porridge, various side dishes and candied fruits.
"Okay, it's time to eat."
Feng Ruoruo immediately waved her hands and called out to her grandparents, grandpa and mother, saying, "Hurry up, let's go eat. Daddy cooked Laba porridge with lots of food."
At Feng Ruoruo's invitation, everyone went into the restaurant together and watched Feng Yifan bring out the food.
First, various side dishes and candied fruits were laid out in plates.
The side dishes and candied fruits were specially pickled by Feng Yifan and his father-in-law.
Especially for candied fruits, Feng Yifan specially bought the best honey and pickled the osmanthus flowers he had picked before in it, and then made various candied fruits with the honey.
This will give the candied fruit a light osmanthus scent.
Just these small dishes are enough to make everyone in the family salivate.
Finally, Feng Yifan brought out the highlight of the day, which was Laba porridge.
"Here it comes, sticky Laba porridge."
Feng Ruoruo couldn't wait any longer, waving her hands and cheering: "Great, Laba porridge is here, Laba porridge is here."
Seeing Feng Yifan put it down, the whole family looked over.
Smelling the fragrance and seeing the Laba porridge in the big bowl, the whole family felt very happy.
Su Jinrong smiled and said, "It's really good. Yifan cooked this porridge very well today. It's sticky and the ingredients inside are also very solid."
Feng Yifan said: "This version was specially made by an old chef at a Chinese restaurant when I was abroad. During the Laba Festival, it was distributed in Chinatown to many Chinese people who were abroad and could not go home."
Lu Cuiling looked at it and said, "Oh, the things in here are really solid, it seems that there are more than eight kinds."
When Feng Ruoruo heard what her grandmother said, she immediately explained to her.
"Grandma, grandma, please listen to what Ruoruo is telling you."
Lu Cuiling also turned and looked at her granddaughter.
Feng Ruoruo took her grandmother's hand and said seriously, "Grandma, Laba porridge is not eight things. It's called Laba porridge because it's eaten on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. And grandma, do you know? The twelfth lunar month is the twelfth month based on the moon, and the eighth day is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month."
Lu Cuiling listened to her granddaughter very seriously. She told her everything one by one and explained it to her for a long time like a little teacher.
That little look was really funny, making Lu Cuiling laugh non-stop.
"Oh, our Ruoruo knows a lot."
Feng Ruoruo said with a smile: "Dad told Ruoruo."
Feng Yifan had already served the porridge to everyone and said to them, "Okay, let's start eating quickly. Let's try it and see how it tastes. If you think it's not sweet enough, you can add sugar yourself. If you think it tastes good, we'll make a pot at Su Ji's today and serve it to the guests."
Feng Ruoruo listened to her father and immediately said, "Dad, then Ruoruo needs to put sugar in it."
Su Ruoxi said to her daughter: "Try it first. If it's not sweet enough, we can add more sugar."
Feng Ruoruo pouted and said, "Mom, you have to put sugar in the porridge."
Su Ruoxi said: "How could that be? Didn't dad make preserved egg and lean meat porridge without sugar?"
Feng Ruoruo said: "That one is different. This one has a lot of stuff and needs sugar."
Su Ruoxi added: "Then try it and add more if it's not sweet enough."
Feng Ruoruo still refused to give in: "No, give Ruoruo some sugar first."
As a result, the mother and daughter were struggling for a long time, and it was finally the grandmother who stepped in to resolve the issue.
"Oh, okay, don't argue with mom. Let me put some candied fruit in it. It will be sweet. Let's try it first."
With the help of her grandmother's coordination, Feng Ruoruo finally agreed.
Then, grandma put some candied fruit in a small bowl and mixed it for her granddaughter.
Feng Ruoruo then started to eat with a small spoon.
After eating it, Feng Ruoruo immediately said, "Oh, it's so sweet."
Su Ruoxi said, "Look, mom told you to try it first, but you insisted on adding sugar. Isn't it very sweet when it's unfolded?"
Feng Ruoruo said with a smile: "That's because grandma put honey in it."
Su Ruoxi was also a little helpless when she saw her daughter's look: "You little thing, you are getting more and more noisy with your mother now, right?"
Grandma quickly said, "Hurry up and apologize to mom, otherwise she will be angry."
As a result, Feng Ruoruo said, "Mom is a stingy person."
When Su Ruoxi heard her daughter say this, she was so angry that she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Lu Cuiling said to her granddaughter, "You can't say that about your mother. I'm angry. I won't play with Ruoruo anymore."
Su Ruoxi smiled and stared at her daughter and said, "You said mom is stingy, well, today mom won't let you go to distribute snacks to everyone, you just stay by mom's side obediently."
Sure enough, this trick was very useful to Feng Ruoruo.
The little girl quickly apologized to her mother.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I'm not a stingy person. Ruoruo is the stingy person. Mom, please don't stop Ruoruo from giving out snacks. I'm sorry."
Su Ruoxi felt very satisfied when she saw her daughter's pleading look.
She didn't respond to her daughter, but ate the porridge proudly spoonful by spoonful.
This naturally made Feng Ruoruo very anxious, and the little girl began to beg her mother non-stop.
On such a morning, the little bickering between mother and daughter made the whole family feel happy.
Su Ruoxi also endured for a while, but soon she couldn't hold it anymore, so she could only smile and say to her daughter: "Hahaha, okay, okay, Mommy is not angry, you should eat quickly, otherwise it will not taste good if it gets cold."
Seeing her mother smiling at her, Feng Ruoruo knew that her mother was not angry, and she ate the porridge seriously with a spoon.
This morning, the whole family felt warm after eating a bowl of Laba porridge.
After breakfast, everyone packed up and left home for Su Ji.