CHAPTER 176: CHAPTER 151: I HOPE EVERYONE WON’T RANDOMLY HUG BIG OR SMALL IN THE FUTURE

Wrap the filling in the dough skin, then coat the surface with dry flour to prevent sticking, and press into shape with a mold.

Next, it can be put in the microwave.

Lin Li hasn’t put the "Health Building Pill" in yet. He’s worried that once it’s heated in the microwave, the pill might undergo some unexpected change or transformation.

Anyway, since it’s a homemade mooncake, if it looks a bit off, mom probably won’t think it’s strange. After baking, he can cut it open and stuff it in.

"Let’s go, brother, let’s put it in the microwave," Lin Li said.

"Okay."

There’s only one microwave in the activity room, so many of the other elderly ladies and gentlemen waiting to bake gathered here to chat and queue.

"Brother, how many minutes do you think would be suitable for baking?" There are so many online guides, so Lin Li decided to ask Zeng Ziang.

"I don’t know much about microwaves, the only thing I know is not to easily believe online information, especially the one about microwaving durian and it suddenly smells like chestnuts." Zeng Ziang waved his hands and backed away repeatedly.

"Two years ago, the rumor about someone cooking something nasty in the neighborhood was your house, right?" Lin Li suddenly remembered, "That day, the guy who got stopped at the door, wasn’t that you?"

Zeng Ziang: "..."

Silence is the best answer.

Lin Li didn’t dare ask Zeng Ziang any further, so he chose to ask Zhang Fang, who was not far away.

"It depends on the thickness of your pastry. I suggest you bake it for three minutes first. If it’s not done, bake it more. Microwave heating can dry things out, making them hard, resulting in a bad texture. So, it’s better to do short times more often than to overdo it."

Zhang Fang gave a rational suggestion.

Can anything in the microwave become hard with long heating?

Lin Li had a bold idea. He wasn’t willing to risk it with his own; next time, he’d try it with Bai Bufan’s.

So, Lin Li followed Zhang Fang’s guidance and put his and Zeng Ziang’s mooncakes in the oven.

"Is this Wu Min’s kid, Lin Li, right?" As they entered the group of elderly, the scene Zeng Ziang described of being surrounded by elders immediately began to play out.

"It’s me, Grandma," Lin Li politely responded.

"I even held you when you were little, remember me?" the other person said with a smile.

Lin Li: "..."

Why do adults like to randomly hold kids?!

Do they know how much distress this causes kids?!

Thankfully, Zhang Fang saved the day, introducing the other person as also surnamed Wu and related through a few generations up with Lin Li’s mom.

"How’s your studying going?" followed by the usual questions like visiting family.

"It’s okay."

"Are you dating anyone?"

"Grandma, I’m just in high school, not yet. I’m still single at the moment. For questions like this, you should ask Brother Ziang. He’s definitely more worried than I am." Lin Li pointed to Zeng Ziang, who was trying to hide in the corner.

Zeng Ziang: "?"

Openly diverting the issue?

He thought he and Lin Li were good friends, but apparently not!

"Ziang, you know, I also held you when you were little."

Zeng Ziang: "...Hello, Grandma Wu."

Grandma Wu nodded with a smile: "About to graduate from college, have you found a job?"

"It’s okay."

"Are you dating anyone?"

"Currently still single." Zeng Ziang smiled and nodded.

"Being single and not being wanted are two different things, don’t mix them up," an aunt said with a sneer.

Zeng Ziang: "..."

"Mom, your words are a bit hurtful."

...

"Mom, your words are a bit hurtful."

"Let me emphasize again, this is a mooncake. I spent an entire morning working hard to make it for you.

You shouldn’t have just described it as ’this lump of a mess.’ That really makes me feel sad." Lin Li, back at home, was very upset while showing Wu Min the results of his mooncake, which was attacked.

Wu Min couldn’t hide the smile at the corners of her mouth. She pointed to the ’lump of a mess’ in front of her and the pile of crumbs beside it, saying:

"But it’s really hard for mom to believe this lump is a mooncake."

"It still has some shape. I already ate one earlier, and the taste is fine." Lin Li argued with reason.

Although the technique wasn’t very good, resulting in a bit of an explosion (physically), it wasn’t that bad. The basic mooncake form was still recognizable.

"Alright, alright, mom will eat it, okay." Still with a smile in her breath, Wu Min reached out, and Lin Li carefully selected a mooncake and placed it in her hand.

"Made especially for you, the flavor is absolutely unique. It’s a taste you haven’t tried before, Sister Min." Lin Li said.

"Alright, mom is really looking forward to it."

No matter what, since it was a mooncake made by her own son with his own hands, Wu Min was truly touched.

If it weren’t for the lesson from delivering takeout the day before yesterday, Wu Min would have already written an essay for her social media and shared it with her siblings.

With one bite, the crust was quite crispy.

The filling tasted sweet at first, seemed like date paste, then dry, then bitter, and then... huh?

Wu Min frowned. If this wasn’t made by her son, she probably would have spat it out. With difficulty, she swallowed and examined the mooncake she just bit into, asking suspiciously, "What kind of filling is this, why is it so dark?"

"Herbal ingredients." Lin Li answered quite honestly.

"So it’s herbal filling. No wonder it’s so bitter. This can be under... No! I can’t understand it! Why would there be herbal ingredient mooncakes?!!" Wu Min, who had forced herself to nod as if understanding, suddenly questioned.

"Would you say it’s a brand new version you’ve never tried before?" Lin Li replied quite straightforwardly.

Wu Min: "..."

"Is this edible?"

Thank goodness, at least she hadn’t written an essay on social media or shared it with her siblings.

Her face was saved once less.

Seeing Wu Min planning to put the rest of the mooncake back, Lin Li quickly explained, "Mom, rest assured, it is absolutely edible, harmless to the human body, and quite healthy. How could I ever harm you?"

Wu Min gave Lin Li a doubtful glance, "I trust my son."

"Trust is good."

"No, I believe you can do such heinous things." Wu Min added.

Lin Li: "..."

My mom, her words really hurt.

"Mom, if you keep talking like this, I’m really going to get angry. I wouldn’t do such things, I’m still relying on you to support me. You are my spiritual and physical double pillars to survive. If I did, it wouldn’t be until you got old... hehehe." Lin Li started chuckling.

Wu Min: "..."

Laughter erupted.

None of the spankings Lin Li received growing up were in vain; being cheeky, it’s normal to pay a price.

"Is it really edible?" However, Wu Min knew Lin Li was joking but raised the ’traditional new-style mooncake’ again, still a bit skeptical.

"It’s really edible, mom, and truly good for health. I’ll eat it and show you." Lin Li grabbed one piece of the mooncake and took a big bite.

Wu Min sighed and eventually managed to eat the bitter herbal mooncake.

Lin Li was very satisfied.

This way, mom’s health is expected to remain quite well for a long time.

But Wu Min noticed sharply, suddenly reached out to take the piece of mooncake Lin Li had just bitten, and squinted her eyes to inquire, "Lin Li, this mooncake you ate doesn’t seem like the herbal one."

"I only made the herbal mooncake for you to eat, mom. I didn’t say I was eating that," Lin Li nonchalantly waved his hand. "I ate the lotus seed paste with salted egg yolk. It’s not bad. Want to try it? These are all the same."

Wu Min: "..."

"Lin Li, your wings have really hardened, I can truly no longer control you!" Wu Min took a deep breath.

Lin Li flexed his arms and patted his significantly larger biceps with pride, "That’s right, look at your son’s wings, they’re strong now."

Wu Min: "..."

...

The feather duster broke.

It’s not that it was used forcefully, but rather for too long, so when it was used on Lin Li’s voluntarily sticking-out bottom, it snapped after only a few hits.

At the moment it broke, both Lin Li and Wu Min paused, then began laughing.

"You’re really not a kid anymore; you’re so fast, about to turn eighteen." Wu Min looked at the broken feather duster, spoke with a gentle expression revealing memories.

"According to our national laws, the mother-son relationship lasts a lifetime, not dissolved after eighteen. So, I’m always your child. What, mom, are you planning to abandon me?

That’s illegal. If I tell Grandma you have this idea, you’re finished! Heh, I can’t control you, but Grandma can’t either?" Lin Li sneered.

Wu Min raised her hand as if to slap Lin Li.

Lin Li certainly didn’t dodge.

So the hand aimed at his face landed on Lin Li’s head, rubbing his not-so-short hair, Wu Min smiled.

Lin Li picked up the old friend of his bottom and found it hard to repair, then looked up saying, "Mom, in the afternoon I’ll buy a bigger, more suitable feather duster for spanking the current me."

"Get mom a whip. With barbed ones, too."

"That won’t do, my wings aren’t hard enough yet for that, need to wait until I’m stronger to consider it."

"Mom won’t whip your wings, just your bottom."

"My bottom isn’t as hard as my wings yet, that’s even less okay, you’ll have to wait until I practice the Iron Butt Cultivation Technique."

"Is there such a cultivation technique?"

"Of course, mom, there’s a lot you don’t understand..."

"..."

"..."

Such vacuous conversations continued between mother and son.