Chapter 9

He Shaochuan completely ignored Yang Guoqiang’s call from behind.

He stepped into the yard and strode towards the kitchen.

“Ning He, what are you doing…” He Shaochuan pushed open the door, and before he could finish his words, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

What he thought did not happen.

There was a fragrance wafting in the kitchen, with steaming mist floating above. It was the white mist that came out when Ning He opened the wooden pot lid.

In the pot are boiled dumplings, the white and plump dumplings floating on the water, looking very appetizing.

Hearing the noise at the door, Ning He and Qian Lin raised their heads and looked towards the door.

Qianlin’s eyes lit up, and he ran towards He Shaochuan and said to him excitedly, “Dad, let’s have dumplings tonight! Mom and I made them together!”

When Ning He saw He Shaochuan, he was slightly stunned and didn’t even know when He Shaochuan came back.

And what was he trying to say by not finishing what he just said?

Ning He didn’t think about it too much. Since he was back, he decided to prepare dinner!

She raised the iron spoon in her hand towards He Shaochuan, her eyebrows curved like a crescent moon.

“Are you back? Shall we have dinner?”

Qianlin saw that his mother had finally spoken to his father, and he danced with joy: “That’s great!”

Ning He said, “Go wash your hands, both of you!”

He Shaochuan was still standing there without moving, staring at Ning He without blinking.

He was puzzled by Ning He’s transformation.

Ning He winked at him and said, “You should wash your hands before eating, Captain He. Didn’t the Party and the leadership teach you this basic etiquette?”

He Shaochuan’s brows became increasingly furrowed.

What Ning He used to despise the most were soldiers. In her eyes, soldiers were just peasants.

He is not presentable, just a reckless man brandishing swords and guns.

How could she know this? And how could she say such a thing?

“Did you make all this?” Of course, what surprised He Shaochuan even more was the pot of steaming dumplings.

Ning He added: “Lin Bao and I did this together.”

“Linbao?” He Shaochuan looked at Ning He in confusion.

After hearing He Shaochuan’s doubts, Ning He realized that he had spoken too quickly and said the wrong thing.

“This is the name I gave to Lin Bao…” She cleared her throat and quickly explained, “No, this is the nickname I gave to Qian Lin. It’s more intimate to call him this way.”

Ning He gave him so many different feelings today.

He Shaochuan looked at Ning He for a long time, so long that Ning He felt the atmosphere was a little awkward.

She took a step forward and was about to go out to wash her hands.

Then I heard He Shaochuan finally speak.

“Qianlin is a boy after all, don’t let him be too squeamish. It’s okay to call him that at home, but just call him by his name outside.”

He Shaochuan is a traditional Chinese man, with the idea that a man should be upright and self-reliant ingrained in his bones.

He didn’t want Qianlin to be overprotected and develop a spoiled personality.

Ning He disagreed with He Shaochuan’s statement: “What do you mean by spoiled? Does my name being Lin Bao mean I am spoiled? Lin Bao is my son, so what’s wrong with calling him that outside? I only have Lin Bao as my child, so I must treat him as my sweetheart and love him.”

He Shaochuan looked a little unnatural. How could Ning He say such a thing before?

But compared to her previous indifference to Qianlin, it is a good thing that she cares about Qianlin.

“What you said makes sense. As long as you are truly kind to Qianlin, I have no objection.” After thinking for a long time, He Shaochuan nodded.

Ning He’s smile became even more wanton: “Then let’s go wash our hands?”

He Shaochuan watched Ning He turn around and pick up three porcelain bowls, scooping the steaming dumplings from the pot into the bowls with natural and neat movements.

It was not until Ning He finished scooping that he looked up and found that He Shaochuan was still there, staring at him without blinking.

Ning He asked in confusion: “Why don’t you wash your hands?”

He Shaochuan’s eyes moved slightly, and he turned and walked out of the house.

Ning He watched the man’s upright figure leave, and muttered to herself, “Why is he so strange? Did he find out?”

After Ning He scooped out the dumplings, he was about to bring the bowls to the table one by one, but the dumplings were so hot that even the porcelain bowls became hot.

Just as Ning He was about to raise his hands to drink the bowl, a dark shadow appeared in front of him. A pair of strong arms came into view and quickly took the bowl in front of him.

Ning He raised her head and looked in surprise at He Shaochuan who was standing beside her.

He Shaochuan didn’t even frown as he quickly brought three bowls of dumplings to the table.

Qianlin came in and called Ninghe: “Mom, it’s time to eat dumplings!”

Ning He responded with a smile, took Qian Lin’s hand and walked to the main room.

As soon as I entered, I saw He Shaochuan had already set the table.

Three bowls of steaming dumplings were placed on a small square table. He Shaochuan sat next to them, and Ning He also sat down next to them, leaving the middle seat for Qianlin.

Qianlin looked at his father, then turned to look at his mother, feeling very happy, as this was the first reunion dinner for their family of three.

Qianlin still had a smile on his face, but before he started eating, he saw his mother suddenly stand up. Qianlin looked at Ninghe in confusion, with a bad feeling in his heart.

But he didn’t dare to ask, he just stared at Ning He blankly.

He Shaochuan also looked at her, his brows unconsciously furrowed.

Ning He turned around, took out a small bowl from the locker behind him and placed it in front of Qian Lin.

“The dumplings are very hot right out of the pot. Scoop one out and put it in a small bowl to cool before eating.”

As he spoke, Ning He stood behind Qianlin, bent down slightly, reached out and picked up the spoon to scoop a dumpling from Qianlin’s bowl into a small bowl.

After doing all this, Ning He patted his head and finally remembered the most important thing.

“Oops, I was just wondering what was missing. I forgot the dipping sauce!”

“Mom, what are you going to do?” Qianlin looked at Ninghe’s back in confusion.

“Wait a moment, I’ll be ready soon!” Ning He ran to the kitchen without looking back.

The father and son in the main room could hear the clanging sounds coming from the kitchen.

The father and son looked at each other, and Qianlin asked in a low voice: “Dad, what is Mom doing in the kitchen?”

He Shaochuan thought of the dipping sauce that Ning He had mentioned just now, and guessed what Ning He was busy with.

“You’ll find out when you wait.”

As soon as He Shaochuan finished speaking, footsteps were heard outside the door.

Ning He walked in with two plates of dipping sauces in his hands.

With a ‘pop’ sound, the dipping sauce was placed in front of them.

Two plates of dipping sauce, one is not spicy and one is with chili.

One dish of dipping sauce contains soy sauce, minced garlic and coriander, while the other dish has more ginger and chili segments.

“We don’t have chili oil at home, so we’ll have to keep it simple. I’ll make some chili oil and chili sauce tomorrow.”

Qianlin looked at the two small plates of dipping sauce in front of him and understood the function of the dipping sauce.

“Mom, do you want to dip the dumplings in this?”

“Yes.” Ning He picked up the dumplings from the small bowl with chopsticks, dipped them in the non-spicy sauce, and handed them to Qianlin’s mouth.

“Try it, Linbao. Is it delicious?”

Qianlin opened his mouth and took a bite of the dumpling. In an instant, the aroma of the meat filling filled his entire mouth.

The dipping sauce adds a rich taste to the meat filling in the dumplings. The aroma of the filling and the chewy dumpling skin instantly elevate the taste of the entire dumpling.

These are the most delicious dumplings Qianlin has ever eaten!

He bit the remaining half of the dumpling into his mouth and nodded affirmatively to Ning He.

Before he even swallowed the food in his mouth, he said in a vague voice: “Delicious! Really delicious!”