Chapter 6

Yan Xi spent more than two hours making hundreds of dumplings. She made two kinds of fillings for the dumplings: pork and green onion, and pork and cabbage.

The reason why she made so many dumplings at once was that she wanted to leave some for Fu Caihe and Nuannuan to cook when they were hungry, and she also left some for her seven sisters-in-law.

These seven sisters-in-law were the ones that the original owner often went to for free food and drinks.

She put twenty dumplings on each of the seven plates.

“Xiao He, take your sister and deliver these seven plates of dumplings to…” Yan Xi called out the names of the seven sisters-in-law in one breath.

She didn’t have to worry about Fu Caihe not remembering it.

Because the original owner often used Fu Caihe and Nuannuan as an excuse to go to these seven homes for free food and drinks, all the children in the compound knew about it. This often made Fu Caihe unable to hold his head up in front of his friends, and his friends often made fun of him and Nuannuan for this.

Fu Caihe was shocked.

Usually Yan Xi took them to other sisters-in-law’s homes to eat and drink, but this was the first time Yan Xi gave gifts to these sisters-in-law.

“After sending the girl off, come back and eat dumplings with my sister.” Yan Xi said again.

Fu Caihe then came to his senses and went to serve the dumplings without saying a word.

Nuannuan also wanted to help and serve the dumplings.

Yan Xi saw it and said, “Nuan Nuan, let your brother carry it. Be careful not to get burned.”

Fu Caihe also said: “I’ll carry it, just follow me.”

Nuannuan nodded obediently.

Fu Caihe didn’t want to knock over the dumplings, so he only took out one plate at a time.

He first went to Feng Lingling’s house, which was nearby.

Feng Lingling came to open the door, and when she saw Fu Caihe and Nuannuan standing outside, she panicked for a moment, worried that Yan Xi had brought the two children to her house for free meals again.

But she didn’t see Yan Xi, so she stretched her neck and looked around.

Seeing her like this, Fu Caihe said, “Aunt Feng, my aunt asked us to come over and bring you some dumplings stuffed with meat.”

“Pork and green onions and pork and cabbage!” Nuannuan added in a baby voice.

The two children’s words carried a sense of pride that they themselves were not aware of.

Seeing Feng Lingling stunned, Fu Caihe straightened his back even more.

“Aunt Feng, hurry up and pack the dumplings. We still have to deliver them to the next family.” Fu Caihe urged.

“Yes!” Nuannuan nodded heavily in agreement.

Feng Lingling finally came to her senses and hurried to get a bowl to put the dumplings in.

While packing the dumplings, she asked, “How many families are you going to deliver to?”

“Seven families. Give it to all those who have fed us before.” said Fu Caihe.

“Yes!” Nuannuan nodded again in agreement.

“Yan Xi made so many dumplings?” Feng Lingling saw that there were at least a dozen dumplings in the bowl, and couldn’t help but express her doubts aloud: “Doesn’t she know how to cook?”

“She can make dumplings.” Fu Caihe seemed to have answered, but also seemed not to have answered.

“Yes!” Nuan Nuan nodded again and added: “She can also cook noodles, and they are delicious!”

When the two children trotted back, Feng Lingling was still standing at the door in disbelief, her face disheveled in the wind.

The two children quickly ran home, picked up the dumplings on the table and went to the next house.

Yan Xi smiled when she saw how busy they were, especially how relaxed they both looked.

The two children delivered all the dumplings as quickly as possible.

Every time they delivered dumplings to a house, Fu Caihe would emphasize that it was Yan Xi who asked them to deliver the dumplings, while Nuannuan would emphasize that they were dumplings stuffed with pork and green onions or pork and cabbage.

Seeing the surprised expressions of their sisters-in-law, they felt particularly satisfied and even a little proud.

The last family they sent their gifts to was Yuan Jingui’s. Yuan Jingui had just made some meat buns and asked them to take a few back.

Fu Caihe carried a plate of meat buns and walked home with Nuannuan in high spirits.

Shuai Shuai was playing in the mud in his yard. When he saw them, he shouted, “Your stepmother is taking you to someone else’s house to eat again!”

After saying that, he burst into laughter.

Nuan Nuan hated Shuai Shuai the most. Shuai Shuai often laughed at her and her brother, and would not let other kids play with her and her brother.

She shouted angrily, “We didn’t eat for free! We went to deliver dumplings! The meat buns were given to us by Aunt Yuan because we delivered twenty meat dumplings to her family!”

Nuannuan stretched out her thin right hand and made the number two.

She felt that one two could not represent twenty, so she stretched out her thin left hand and made the number two as well.

Shuai Shuai was so surprised that he forgot to laugh at Nuan Nuan. Even if he used two hands to count two, it didn’t mean twenty.

“You are lying! Your stepmother doesn’t know how to make dumplings!” Shuai Shuai argued loudly.

Nuan Nuan was about to retort angrily, but Fu Caihe patted her on the shoulder and said to Shuai Shuai with a cold face, “We didn’t lie. We gave meat dumplings to all seven aunts.”

After saying that, he took Nuannuan’s hand and walked home without looking away, no longer paying any attention to Shuai Shuai.

Nuannuan snorted at Shuai Shuai, raised her little head, and followed her brother with a heroic and confident look.

“Shuai Shuai, come in and have dinner.” Fan Fuying called Shuai Shuai from inside the house.

“Mom, Xiaohe and Nuannuan just said that their stepmother made dumplings. They gave meat-filled dumplings to all seven aunts. I want to eat meat-filled dumplings too!” Shuai Shuai shouted unhappily.

Fan Fuying was stunned.

Yan Xi actually knows how to make dumplings. She even gave dumplings to several of her sisters-in-law, and they were filled with meat?!

Impossible?!

Fan Fuying let Shuai Shuai and her husband eat first, and she went to find Feng Lingling.

Feng Lingling and her husband were eating dumplings. Seeing Fan Fuying coming to her to ask about Yan Xi’s sending dumplings, Feng Lingling seemed to have finally found the object of gossip and hurriedly said:

“Yes! Xiao He and Nuan Nuan did come to my house to deliver dumplings. I also saw them delivering dumplings to other sisters-in-law’s houses! I always thought Yan Xi couldn’t cook, but today I ate the dumplings she made, and they were quite delicious.”

“Are they really dumplings filled with meat?” Fan Fuying asked in disbelief.

“Yes! Pork and green onion and pork and cabbage! She put a lot of meat in it. She really is generous. Who else would put so much meat in their dumplings?”

In this era, although people eat meat more often, they are still very restrained. After all, meat is still expensive and wages have not increased much.

Fan Fuying felt uncomfortable and snorted, “When did she become so generous?”

“Who knows?” Feng Lingling said, “I discovered it today. She seems to have become a different person. The way she speaks and acts is different from before.”

“She must be trying to put on some pretense before Captain Fu comes back, for she’s afraid that Captain Fu will divorce her.” Fan Fuying said firmly.

Feng Lingling felt that even if it was just for show, there was no need to send so many meat-filled dumplings.

But now she just wanted to go back and eat dumplings quickly, and didn’t want to argue with Fan Fuying any more, so she agreed, “Yes, definitely.”

“Where are the dumplings?” Fan Fuying looked at Feng Lingling and said, “Give me some. My son wants to eat some.”