Cover: Mountains in the Rain, with a Sense of Immortality
10.2 ~ 10.8
I went home for four days during the double holiday. When I got home, all I did was eat and sleep. Pumpkin cakes, hairy crabs, ducks, reed corn, water chestnuts, peanuts... I could eat a lot every day. Now, I realize that I may not have such a comfortable holiday in the future. This time, I brought my bicycle back to school. I haven't ridden a bike for over two months, and I've become out of shape again. Coupled with a severe cold last month, my physical condition has deteriorated significantly. I'm planning to exercise more and slowly recover.
This week, there is still no sunny weather. It's either raining or cloudy, occasionally with a bit of sunshine. As the saying goes, "a rain in autumn brings coldness." The temperature has indeed dropped a lot, especially after the rain. I have to wear a thick coat when I go out.
It's still an ordinary week, just like three meals a day.
Dumplings🥟#
The day before I returned to school, my mom bought minced meat and Chinese cabbage for me and my sister to make dumplings.
In the past, I only participated in the wrapping process of making dumplings, but I had never done the preparation work for the filling. This time, I experienced the whole process completely.
Step 1: Washing and blanching the vegetables
When cooking at home, cleanliness and hygiene come first. So I washed every leaf of the vegetables, then boiled water in a pot. When the water boiled, I added the vegetable leaves. I could add more at once because the leaves would release water. I blanched them until the root part of the leaves became semi-transparent, then I took them out and let them cool for later use. There is a debate about whether to cut the vegetable leaves into small pieces before or after blanching. It seems that most people blanch them first and then cut them into small pieces.
Step 2: Chopping the filling
This step sounds simple, but it's actually time-consuming and labor-intensive. After blanching, the vegetable leaves become tough, especially the stem part. It requires more strength to cut through them. So I chose to cut the leaves into strips first, and then cut the strips into small cubes. Cutting a single leaf is easier, but the efficiency is greatly reduced, so it's not cost-effective. Later, I thought of the method my mom used to chop the filling. She would gather several leaves together, then cut them horizontally and vertically, and finally chop them finely. I tried it, and indeed, the efficiency improved. The wisdom of the working people👍.
Step 3: Draining the excess water
After cutting all the vegetable leaves, I needed to squeeze out the excess water, which was not an easy task. After blanching the Chinese cabbage, a lot of water came out. After chopping it, more water came out. I grabbed a handful of filling with both hands and squeezed out the water forcefully, while also preventing the filling from leaking through my fingers. There was also a problem that no matter how hard I squeezed, I couldn't completely dry out the water in the filling. So I could only do my best to make the filling as dry as possible.
Step 4: Mixing the filling
Prepare some chopped scallions and ginger (if you're not good at cutting, I recommend using ginger juice), add them to the minced meat, and then add an appropriate amount of cooking wine and salt for seasoning. Then let the meat marinate. Don't mix the vegetable filling with the meat filling at the beginning, because the vegetable filling will release water when it encounters salt, so it shouldn't be added too early. After the meat filling is marinated for a while, you can add the vegetable filling, mix them together, and then add a little cooking oil (we used sesame oil at home). The purpose of adding oil is to lock in the moisture. Then you can start wrapping the dumplings.
Step 5: Wrapping the dumplings
This step should be the easiest, and I believe most people know how to do it. But there are still some things to pay attention to, such as preventing the dumpling wrappers from drying out. It's best to cover both the unwrapped dumpling wrappers and the wrapped dumplings with plastic wrap.
After going through these steps, you can enjoy a bowl of fresh and delicious dumplings. Making dumplings may seem simple, but it's not easy. My sister and I were busy for a whole afternoon, and we made a large quantity.
Dumplings are a popular food in different regions of China (although they may be called different names, such as jiaozi, chaoshou, wonton...). In my memory, they have always been deeply rooted. I have been eating them since I was a child. However, they don't hold the same status as staple food like rice. They are more of a way to adjust the diet and add fun to meals and life. They can involve the whole family.
Taking the Bicycle on the High-Speed Train🚲#
During the summer vacation, I sent my bicycle back home and didn't bring it to school when the new semester started. I thought I could bring it back during this holiday. If I chose to ship it by express delivery, it would be more troublesome. I would have to disassemble the bike, pack it, and then unpack and assemble it after receiving it. Besides, the shipping fee is not cheap. So I decided to take it with me on the train. I bought a bike bag in advance, but it's actually just a cover. I removed the front wheel and fixed the bike frame using three points. I also fixed the handlebars to the frame and put on the bag. Then I could take it with me. Under normal circumstances, the security check machine at the train station should be able to pass through. However, when I went through the security check, the bike got stuck inside. I had to take it out by hand, but it didn't cause any major problems. The security officer just asked me to put my backpack through the machine again because it wasn't scanned properly.
After getting on the train, the best place to put the bike is behind the last row of seats in each carriage. There is usually more space there (I took the CRH2A second-class seat), and one bike can fit in perfectly, leaving room for other passengers to put their luggage.
After getting off the train, I packed up the bike bag and put the front wheel back on. Then I could ride away, which is very convenient. If you want to go cycling in other places, taking the train is a good choice. However, recently I heard from my cycling friends that China Railway Express is also very convenient. You don't need to disassemble the bike; you can just take it on the train. The price seems reasonable too. I can try it next time.
Seborrheic Dermatitis#
This skin condition has been bothering me for almost a year. I first went to the hospital to see a doctor in November last year, and I have been there many times since then. The main symptoms are scales, flakes, itching, and redness on the face and scalp. The most unbearable symptom is the itching, and scratching only makes it worse, but I can't help it. I searched online and found that it is a chronic and recurrent dermatitis, so it may be difficult to cure. After the first visit to the doctor, the symptoms improved significantly with the use of ointments and medications. The symptoms disappeared after a little over a week. However, I couldn't stick to the treatment for long. It relapsed in less than a month. So later on, I gradually stopped caring about it and stopped using the ointments. It was like giving up on treatment. But during certain periods, the symptoms were particularly severe, so I went to see a doctor again. It was the same as before, they prescribed some ointments and pills. Maybe they changed some medications that I hadn't used before, but the effect still didn't last long. So it kept repeating like this.
At the beginning of this semester, the symptoms worsened again, so I went to a different hospital. I paid a lot of money to see a specialist, hoping for a better result. However, the doctor didn't say much, just prescribed some different medications. After using them for a while, I found that they were effective. I wanted to stick with it and see if it wouldn't relapse. But after I went home for the National Day holiday, the symptoms immediately came back. It was unbearable at home, and it was probably related to my diet because I ate a lot of things at home that I wouldn't eat at school.
After returning to school, I continued to use the medication. There has been some improvement this week. Recently, I have been sticking to a light diet, although there are not many choices at school. I try to reduce the intake of greasy and irritating food, hoping to gradually get better🙏🏼
Share#
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Setting up a Git Server
Setting up a Git server on a VPS, using private repositories. The book "Pro Git" on the Git official website has detailed explanations in the chapter "Git on the Server." -
Cleaning Toilets and Being a Painter at the Same Time (Bilibili video link)
This is a podcast I listened to on Xiaoyuzhou. It's a self-narration and sharing of a cleaner who escaped from the countryside and painted in a 3-square-meter storage room next to the toilet in a high-rise building in Beijing. -
A One-Person Operated Late-Night Canteen
This video records the operation of a late-night canteen in Fukuoka, Japan, for a whole day. The small shop, which is busy until 3 a.m., is run by one person. The owner treats food and customers with care, which is truly admirable.
Sesame#
Films📽️
My Neighbor Totoro: I haven't watched it, but it's supposed to be heartwarming and healing.
Cycling🚴