Shenhao: Gold Medal Investor

After finishing the midnight snack and chatting for a while, the time has already reached eleven o'clock in the evening.

Gao Si suddenly asked: "Zu Qin, do you know what day it is today?"

Zhuang Zuqin searched his memory and couldn't recall any special meaning, so he replied: "I don't know."

"Today is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, or it can be said to be the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. It's hard to say because we are flying all the way east on a plane, which makes us all look a day younger."

Zhuang Zuqin had a dark look on his face and said, "Hey, Gao Si, can you speak human language?"

Gao Si surrendered with a smile: "Okay, let me speak in human terms. Because when we took the plane, we crossed the international date line eastward, so we must count one day less when calculating the date. Hawaii time is later than the capital time.

Eighteen hours. When we got on the plane today, it was the 24th of the twelfth lunar month. But when we got off the plane, it was the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month."

Zhuang Zuqin barely understood Gao Si's tongue twister and said, "Why are you talking about the lunar calendar? I have no idea about the lunar calendar."

"A girl from an intellectual family like you probably doesn't pay much attention to the lunar calendar. My mother is a farmer, so she is particularly sensitive to the lunar calendar. She remembers all the solar terms on the first and fifteenth day of the lunar month. She has to eat different foods in different solar terms.

East and West. The 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month is the small year in the north, and the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is the small year in the south."

"What should we eat during the Chinese New Year?" Zhuang Zuqin asked.

Gao Si grabbed his backpack and started rummaging through it.

"Eat rice dumpling candy." Gao Si said and threw an individually wrapped candy over: "My mother brought it yesterday, so I grabbed a handful and put it in my bag. Oops, I forgot to give it to Xingyu.

The couple ate."

"Couple?" Zhuang Zuqin's heart moved.

She quickly tore open the package to divert her attention. The package was torn open, revealing the candy inside. It was a piece of soft caramel, made into a tetrahedral rice dumpling shape. The whole piece of candy was reddish-brown and translucent, and the caramel was

Sesame seeds are evenly distributed inside, looking like rice grains on a rice dumpling.

"Hey? It really looks like a rice dumpling. No wonder it's called Zongzi Candy. Is there any special way to eat Zongzi Candy?"

"Hey, are you a serious Modu person? Even if a serious Modu person has never eaten rice dumpling candy, he should know this thing at least. Are you from an alien planet?" Gao Si teased.

"I must be from Modu. I was born here. However, my parents are not from Modu. They came to Modu because of job transfers. Both of them are from the north."

Gao Si suddenly said: "No wonder Uncle Zhuang doesn't speak with a Magic City accent at all. The Little New Year in the north is not today, it is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, it was yesterday. No, for us it is today. Do you know what we eat during the Little New Year in the north?

?”

Zhuang Zuqin said: "Eating dumplings?"

"Correct answer. Then do you know what to eat during the winter solstice in the north?"

Zhuang Zuqin rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "I don't know."

"Eat dumplings."

Zhuang Zuqin laughed heartily.

Gao Si asked again: "I'll give you another question, what do you eat at the beginning of winter in the north?"

"Then I don't know even more."

"Eat dumplings."

"Ah? Hahahahaha. Really?" Zhuang Zuqin smiled happily.

"Really, some places eat amaranth dumplings, and some places eat dog meat dumplings. Anyway, they are all dumplings. Let me ask you a particularly difficult question, what do you eat when the frost comes in the north?"

"Eat...dumplings?"

"Congratulations, you got the answer right!"

This time the two of them laughed together. Zhuang Zuqin laughed so hard that his branches trembled and fell backwards on the bed. Gao Si hugged her.

The two people laughed for a while, then suddenly looked at each other, they both stopped laughing, and the atmosphere suddenly became strange.

Gao Si looked at Zhuang Zuqin's big eyes and gradually moved his face closer.

Zhuang Zuqin repeated his old trick, kissing Gao Si on the face very quickly and leaving immediately. Taking advantage of Gao Si's daze, she had already left Gao Si's arms.

Zhuang Zuqin asked with a smile: "Why do they love eating dumplings so much? It seems like they are deliberately looking for opportunities to eat dumplings all year round."

Gao Si didn't want to accept Zhuang Zuqin's interruption. He pretended to be angry and said: "Don't interrupt. We were having a good chat. Why did you kiss me suddenly? You have to let me kiss you back."

Zhuang Zuqin said: "How could I interrupt? We were just talking about eating dumplings. Tell us why northerners love dumplings so much?"

Gao Si couldn't entangle Zhuang Zuqin, so he had to raise his hands and surrender. He thought for a moment and replied seriously: "Many scholars of folklore and history have studied this matter. In fact, there is no truth about history. However, Deng Yu

He gave me a guess, and I think it makes sense."

"Then tell me?"

"In 1990, an archaeological team excavated an ancient tomb from the Wei and Jin Dynasties 1,700 years ago in Zs County, TLF, Western Xinjiang. Although Zs County at that time was within the territory of Wei State on the map

, but according to historical records, Wei State’s control over the area west of the Hexi Corridor is relatively weak. Judging from the style of this tomb, it is indeed not a classic Han Dynasty tomb. The owner of the tomb should be a noble from a foreign country in the Western Regions.

"

Zhuang Zuqin held his chin in his hands and listened very carefully, his big eyes flashing beautifully.

Gao Si continued: "In the tomb pit, the archaeologists found two dumpling-shaped objects. They thought it was very strange, so they sent them for identification. Once the identification was carried out, it was amazing. The two objects were really dumplings. The dumpling skins

The material is wheat flour, and the filling of the dumplings is most likely mutton."

"Two dumplings stuffed with mutton from 1,700 years ago? Are they from Fanbang? So, dumplings were invented by foreigners?" Zhuang Zuqin's big eyes were filled with surprise.

Gao Si touched her head and said: "Haha, there are indeed scholars who hold this view. Because this is indeed the oldest archaeological evidence about dumplings we have found so far. However, are dumplings introduced from the Western Regions? In fact, we are not sure yet. Because wheat has been cultivated in my country for more than four thousand years, and there are records of eating noodles in the Han Dynasty documents. The oldest stone mill appeared in the Warring States Period. No matter how you look at it, the Han people have long been Mastered the technique of making pasta. So..."

"So those two dumplings may have been passed down from Central Plains, right?" Zhuang Zuqin asked.

"Yes, that's what I mean. It is only because of the dry air in the Western Regions that it is possible to preserve the dumplings intact for 1,700 years. In the humid Central Plains, even if the dumplings are buried in tombs, it is impossible to preserve them."

"Huh? Gao Si, you are off topic. Aren't you going to talk about why the north loves dumplings?"

"Yes, yes, I digress. According to Deng Yu's research, using one ingredient to wrap another ingredient to make food can provide a richer taste. For example, steamed buns, dumplings, glutinous rice balls, and spring rolls all belong to this type of food. The ancients

I also like to hollow out various ingredients and stuff them with fillings, which is called stuffing. Stuffed tofu, stuffed pumpkin, stuffed eggplant, and stuffed bean sprouts with ham. All in order to pursue the fresh taste of the food."

"I understand, the Hawaiian milk-flavored oatmeal onion rolls you made for me are also the same routine. But, what does this have to do with northerners' love of eating dumplings?"

"What I want to say is that stuffed foods are very common. Southerners are not keen on dumplings. It's just because the ingredients in the south are very abundant, but flour is relatively scarce, which makes dumplings less popular.

Popular. There is a town in Yunnan called Damaidi. The climate there is particularly suitable for growing wheat. People there have the custom of eating dumplings, which is very different from the living habits in towns not far away. Because except for Damaidi, other places in Yunnan

Rice is grown everywhere.”

Zhuang Zuqin lay on the bed, holding his chin in his hands, listening very attentively: "You know so much."

Gao Si sighed. He was particularly eager to talk now. He wanted to tell Zhuang Zuqin everything and tell her that he had the ability to directly follow digital clues to query information. But now, he couldn't say it.

"Why are you sighing? Is it because I'm stupid?" Zhuang Zuqin asked with a smile while swinging his white feet.

"No. I was thinking that it would be better if I cooked this meal for you earlier. The problem that Uncle Zhuang gave me to reverse predict the production process of a certain material, I'm afraid I will solve it tonight."

"Did...Hawaiian Creamy Oatmeal Onion Rolls inspire you?"

"Yes, food is also a special material. Zu Qin, please lend me your notebook, and I will strike while the iron is hot."