[edited]

Jiang Ning went home to cut leeks, pick some chives, and pull some celery. She also soaked some fungus and shiitake mushrooms. She’s planning on making dumplings with pork and leek stuffing, pork and shiitake mushrooms and celery stuffing, with fungus, chives and egg stuffing. 

Ten kilograms of flour is a lot, she felt like they wouldn’t be able to finish it for most of the day. 

Huo Yishen was washing vegetables nearby, while Jiang Ning used the hand-operated meat grinder from the space to mix the filling. 

When the dough rises, she’ll teach him how to roll out the dumpling wrappers. 

There’s no doubt that Huo Yishen is really good at it, but he’s a bit obsessive-compulsive and he always feels that the dumpling wrappers he rolls out are not round enough. 

He got a circular copper piece from somewhere and cut the dough into round shapes. 

Jiang Ning, “…”, He’s quite particular! 

After mixing the filling, they started wrapping dumplings. Doudou ran over excitedly, “Sister, I want to wrap dumplings too.” 

Children are playful, but Jiang Ning didn’t refuse, she taught Doudou step by step. 

At first, Doudou’s dumplings were very ugly, she’s either breaking the dough or poking holes through the skin, but Jiang Ning didn’t deny her, “Doudou, you’re great! You’re getting better and better. When they’re cooked, we’ll give some to your brother.” 

Huo Yishen, “…” 

Coke was anxiously waiting on the side, “Woof.” 

Doudou’s dumplings are really ugly. It would be cuter if it could make them, but unfortunately, it doesn’t have hands. 

Practice makes perfect, and Doudou is not just playing around. 

Her brother said, ‘You only get to eat if you work,’ and she’s here to help. 

Slowly, she mastered some skills and finally wrapped a complete dumpling. ‘This one is for sister.’ 

Huo Yishen asked, ‘Why not give it to brother?’ 

‘Sister taught me how to wrap it. I’ll give the second one to brother, then to Coke, and finally to myself.’ 

With two people wrapping up, the speed was still quite fast. 

By now, it was already past mealtime. Jiang Ning cooked the dumplings that Doudou had wrapped poorly and boiled two large plates of fresh ones. ‘Let’s eat dumplings first, and we’ll finish the rest in the afternoon.’ 

The boiled dumplings were quickly ready. They were seasoned with vinegar and soy sauce. The three humans and one dog began to eat. 

The dough was well kneaded, chewy, and the filling was incredibly fresh, with hot juices bursting with each bite. 

Doudou was ecstatic even though she almost burns her mouth, ‘Brother, sister, the dumplings are so delicious.’ 

Seeing her satisfied expression, Huo Yishen smiled knowingly, ‘I’ll make them for you more often in the future.’ 

‘Thank you, brother. Thank you, sister.’ 

The dog ate really fast, it quickly finished half a basin and then pushed the food bowl over; poop scooper, more please! 

Jiang Ning noticed that the dog’s eating skills were getting better and better. 

If it weren’t for her large supplies, she would be eaten into poverty sooner or later. 

Huo Yishen seemed to enjoy it as well, he eats a big bowl with vinegar and soy sauce. 

He also didn’t hesitate to eat the steamed dumplings, adding some spicy sauce, which made them even more delicious. 

Men indeed have big appetites, which made Jiang Ning suspect whether the two of them were eating from the same pot of dumplings? 

After eating their fill, they continued working. 

The dough was quickly rolled out, and Huo Yishen helped to wrap the dumplings. 

Hmm, his skills were even worse than Doudou’s. 

Seeing his proficiency with the nail gun, Jiang Ning was especially patient. ‘No, your fingers need to be more flexible, like this.’ 

With fingers that couldn’t bend well, Huo Yishen asked, ‘Like this? 

“Uh, even with hands on teaching, he still couldn’t do it right. 

He pinched one successfully but ruined the other. Jiang Ning felt so helpless, she wished she could take her brain out and put it on his. 

He could hit a bullseye from a hundred steps away with a gun but couldn’t even wrap a dumpling properly. 

Even in such a mess, he didn’t seem the least embarrassed. 

Finally, even Doudou couldn’t stand it anymore and expressed her disgust, ‘Brother, the dumplings you made are so ugly.’ 

Afraid of hurting his feelings, she quickly added, ‘Sister, let me teach brother.’ 

Huo Yishen crouched down, letting Doudou teach him. ‘Is brother stupid?’ 

Doudou kissed him and said in a sweet and adorable voice, ‘Not at all! Brother is the best.’ 

Surprisingly, under the guidance of the little cotton padded jacket childish words, Huo Yishen actually learned. 

Jiang Ning, whose confidence was shattered, “…” 

Hmm, she wasn’t qualified to be his teacher after all. 

But surprisingly, once Huo Yishen found his rhythm, he improved rapidly, and the dumpling wrappers visibly decreased in quantity. 

There was a sound coming from the hallway, and Zheng Weili and the others came back. 

Not finding Jiang Ning in 1802, they knocked on the door of 1801. 

Seeing the two making dumplings, they became interested and came over to help after washing their hands.” 

“Doudou smoothly retired to the living room to play with Coke. 

Using one kilogram of flour mixed with water produces one and a half kilograms of dumpling wrappers, and each kilogram of dough can make 70 dumplings. 

With the help of 1803, they finally finished making 1000 dumplings. 

Jiang Ning wanted to take 300 of them and exchange an equal amount of flour and meat for Huo Yishen. 

1803 also wanted to help wrap dumplings, but Jiang Ning was too tired to assist. Instead, she lent the hand operated meat grinder to Zheng Weili and cut a large piece of frozen pork they had stored in her house. 

After catching up on an hour’s sleep, she heard a voice from the walkie talkie, ‘Jiang Ning, are you up for practice today?’ 

‘Yes.’ 

‘If you want to practice archery, you can come over earlier.’ 

A chance like this is too good to pass up. Jiang Ning quickly got up and put on her shoes. ‘I’m coming right away.’ 

He might not be skilled in cooking, but he excelled in other areas, including archery. 

Jiang Ning had been part of the school’s archery club, so she had a bit of experience. 

Afraid the dog would cause trouble again, she isolated it in 1803, and Doudou chased after it, saying, ‘Coke, wait for me.’ 

Entering 1801 again, there was now a wooden circular target on the living room wall, and Huo Yishen brought out the crossbow. 

It looked a bit odd, but its power was unquestionable. Jiang Ning asked curiously, ‘Did you make this yourself?’ 

This was a dangerous weapon that ordinary people couldn’t buy. 

Huo Yishen replied succinctly, ‘I modified it.’ 

He didn’t want to say more. Jiang Ning didn’t want to be bothersome, so she didn’t pursue it further. 

Huo Yishen brought bamboo arrows and explained the structure, aiming, and shooting of the crossbow to her. 

With her foundation, she quickly grasped the concepts. 

The living room wasn’t spacious enough, so Huo Yishen led her to the corridor outside his room, adjusted the range, loaded the bamboo arrow, and stood behind Jiang Ning. ‘Hold the bow with your right hand and aim…’ 

There was a height difference between them, so he leaned forward, aligning his line of sight parallel to Jiang Ning’s. 

As a result, they were very close to each other. 

Especially when he was focusing on the aim, his warm breath sprayed on Jiang Ning’s fair neck. 

She felt a tingle throughout her body and immediately tensed up. 

Her heart raced, and she could smell the faint scent of soap coming from him. 

Ah, is this… too close for her comfort? 

Jiang Ning was extremely uncomfortable, subconsciously she wanted to create some distance. 

Huo Yishen noticed her stiffness. ‘Focus.’ 

Only then did Jiang Ning regain her senses, pushing aside her messy thoughts and focusing on aiming. 

His warm hand gently guided her arm holding the crossbow. ‘Slightly higher.’ 

She aimed and pulled the trigger. 

With a swish, the bamboo arrow flew out and firmly hit the target. 

It landed in the seventh ring, a bit far from the bullseye. 

‘Being able to hit the seventh ring at the beginning is very good,’ Huo Yishen encouraged her. ‘Much better than Doudou.'” 

“Um, thank you. 

Huo Yishen gave her a few close up pointers several times. Seeing her improve from hitting the seventh ring to the eighth and a half, he felt she had grasped the essentials and let her practice more to gain experience. 

He was sitting on the sofa and scrolling through his phone, with a cold and serious look on his face, not knowing what he was looking at. 

At first glance, his profile was almost perfect. 

Jiang Ning regained her focus and calmly continued practicing. 

She shot over twenty arrows, and one of them hit the bullseye. 

There was nothing to be proud of, as the range was too close. The farther the distance, the lower the accuracy. 

She had to quickly catch up to his level, like that day when he stood on the bow of the boat and hit the heart with a single arrow. 

Half an hour later, Huo Yishen reminded her, ‘Don’t exert too much force. Just come on time for an hour every day.’ 

With the boss’s orders, Jiang Ning put away the crossbow. 

Her own room didn’t have the width of 1801 and she couldn’t stretch out freely, so she didn’t show any pretense. 
 

Next was sparring time, close combat techniques. 

Jiang Ning helped lay out the non-slip mats. When she turned around, she accidentally bumped into him. ‘Sorry.’ 

‘It’s okay.’ Huo Yishen continued with his movements. 

Without Coke interfering and facing a skilled sparring opponent, Jiang Ning found it quite challenging. She was pushed down heavily several times. 

Frustrated from being continuously suppressed, Jiang Ning, driven by a strong desire to win, she instinctively feinted with the move of Stealing Peach again .”