Since she had so many guests, Lin Yuelan had to make more dumplings. Liu Jiaying’s eyes immediately lit up, and she exclaimed, “Really? Yuelan, that’s great. ”
Lin Yuelan looked at Liu Jiaying’s excited expression and couldn’t refuse. She nodded and said, “yes.”
Lin Yuelan saw that it was getting late, so she got up and went to prepare.
Liu Jiaying followed behind her, and she asked, “Sister Yuelan, what are dumplings made of? Do we need to make any preparations?”
Lin Yuelan was very patient with Liu Jiaying. She said, “you don’t have to prepare anything. You can just follow me. Little twelve, prepare the wild vegetables!” The last sentence was directed to little twelve.
“Alright!” Little twelve immediately responded. He put down the chopsticks and bowed out of the food fight. After all, Miss Lin would make more dumplings. He wouldn’t need to fight for the leftovers.
Liu Jiaying watched Lin Yuelan pour out the flour and mix it with water. She asked curiously, “Sister Yuelan, what are you doing?”
“I’m making the dough,” Lin Yuelan explained, “To make dumplings, we have to roll out the skin and add the filling.”
Liu Jiaying was intrigued. She asked, “Can I try?”
Lin Yuelan shook her head and said, “No. Your strength is too small, and the skin will come out uneven.”
Liu Jiaying looked a little disappointed, but when she heard Lin Yuelan’s next sentence, she immediately rejoiced.
Lin Yuelan said, “but you can learn how to fill the dumplings later.”
After Lin Yuelan had finished pouring out the correct of water and flour, she shouted, “Brother Little Three, you’ll make the dough!” She added, “Little Guo and Little Six, you’ll roll out the skin!”
The work was done quicker, with many people contributing. Then, people were assigned to roll out the dough, make the stuffing, and so on.
“Miss Lin, how much meat do you want to use this time?” Little twelve asked.
“Two catties of fatty meat and one catty of lean meat!”
“Alright!” After he replied, he walked towards the cellar excitedly and came out with three catties of meat. After washing it, he chopped it into pieces and stirred it with the wild vegetables in the basin.
Jiang Zhennan sat there in a daze, while Zhou Wencai was dumbfounded.
He believed that a man should stay away from the kitchen. But now, a group of men was squeezed into this small room to cook.
What surprised him, even more, was that Little Twelve was making the fillings with weeds on the roadside.
‘Damn! Can weeds be eaten?’
After Doctor Zhang finished preparing the herbs, he sat at the stone table and sipped his tea. Then, he said to Zhou Wencai with a smile, “young master Zhou, Lan ‘Er is an impatient person. Please don’t take offense. Oh, right, I’ll give you a suggestion. When the meal is served, you better fill up your bowl fast!”
‘I don’t even know what dumplings are!’ Zhou Wencai was confused.
“Wow, Yuelan, these things look like Yunbao. They’re so beautiful!” From the moment Lin Yuelan made the first dumpling, Liu Jiaying exclaimed non-stop. Then, she wanted to make a dumpling herself, but it didn’t seem to take shape. The dumpling was either exposed or crumpled into a ball. Liu Jiaying grumbled with some annoyance, “why can’t I do it?”
However, she was not one to give up so easily. As the failed dumplings piled up, she became more determined.
Zhou Wencai watched from outside as Lin Yuelan’s nimble fingers transformed the fillings and skin into white and chubby Yunbao. He was very curious. However, he was still of the belief that a scholar shouldn’t step into the kitchen.
Therefore, he hesitated. He was just too curious.
Jiang Zhennan looked at the time. Then, he put down the teacup and walked toward the kitchen. He rolled up his sleeves, bent down, and started the fire.
He first added water into the pot, then closed the lid and skillfully added firewood to the stove.
Zhou Wencai was stunned!
He became more and more suspicious in his heart. ‘Is this really that person? That person is of high status and is extremely noble. He wouldn’t be bending over in a small kitchen to start a fire.’
This time, they used less time than the day before to finish preparing the dumplings.
In a short while, the first pot of dumplings was ready.
Doctor Zhang unceremoniously picked up his own bowl, filled it, and began to eat.
