Chapter 16

Ning Haocheng couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

He carefully looked at the bottom of the bowl.

Only then did he notice the small bits of lard scattered inside, which were so tiny that one could easily overlook them.

It was at that moment that he suddenly understood and couldn’t help but silently praise: “So meticulous!”

Although he could tell that this family lived a more refined life than most, Ning Haocheng didn’t think too much about it.

After all, it was the end of the year, and it was normal for the family to get some pork.

Although it was rare to see someone so particular even when cooking pickled vegetables, it wasn’t unacceptable.

So he refrained from making any comments and instead reached for the pickled mustard greens with his chopsticks.

Before eating, Ning Haocheng even took a careful look. Apart from a little bit of crispy fried shallots, he didn’t see anything else.

But as soon as he put the food in his mouth, he was completely stunned!

This taste—

It had been so many years since he had tasted something like this, except for at the old restaurants in Capital City!

“Girl, what did you put in this dish?”

Ning Haocheng tried to hold back but finally couldn’t resist. He turned to Yin Xiaoman and asked aloud.

Yin Xiaoman barely furrowed her brow.

She regretted not holding out earlier and inviting this elderly man to eat with them.

He looked like someone who had seen the world, someone who had probably tasted more than the average person.

It was expected that he would be able to distinguish the differences.

This was just going to cause a big trouble for her!

How was she supposed to explain that she had added brown sugar and fish sauce from the warehouse to the pickled mustard greens?

The mustard greens had been brought by her mother-in-law, Zhang Jinfeng.

They were pickled too dry and tough, and extremely salty.

Yin Xiaoman felt it would be impossible to swallow them without doing something to improve the taste.

But of course, she couldn’t possibly tell anyone this.

“Sister-in-law, these pickled mustard greens were made by Aunt, right? I heard the captain at the Military Unit say that Aunt is especially good at making pickled vegetables, and they’re so delicious! Oh my, I haven’t had pickled vegetables this good in ages—I’d never trade them for meat!”

Before Yin Xiaoman could respond, Gao Chong excitedly chimed in.

He didn’t forget to grab another bite and put it in his mouth as he spoke.

With someone backing her up, why not take advantage of it?

Yin Xiaoman just smiled faintly, subtly steering the conversation away from the topic.

“Deep family tradition, deep family tradition!” Ning Haocheng couldn’t help but silently admire.

By the time they had eaten most of the food, Liu Chuang finally returned with the meals.

Sweat was visible on the tip of his nose, clearly showing that there had been quite a few people buying food.

Looking at the nearly empty cornmeal buns and the two and a half bottles of pickled vegetables left on the table, Liu Chuang couldn’t help but wear a proud expression.

He exaggeratedly placed the meal boxes on the cleared part of the table and began to open them one by one.

Loudly, he said to Ning Haocheng: “Engineer Ning, we’ve got braised pork today! Hurry up and eat, I really had to work hard to get this.”

Ning Haocheng glanced at the meal box and saw that it indeed contained almost half a spoonful of potato braised pork.

Although the potato chunks were bigger and there were more of them, there was still a decent amount of braised pork.

In addition to the braised pork, there was also half a spoonful of braised tofu with scallions.

These days, not to mention braised pork, even tofu had to be bought with ration coupons.

It wasn’t surprising that Liu Chuang was showing off; this box of food wasn’t something you could just buy whenever you felt like it.

Ning Haocheng picked up the public chopsticks and served some of the food from the meal box into the two children’s small bowls.

Especially the braised pork—he gave them all of it.

“No need, we have some!” 

Da Bao, for once, spoke so much in front of others.

As he spoke, he stood up and tried to return the food in his bowl back to Ning Haocheng.

“You eat, Grandpa couldn’t finish. Besides, Grandpa ate your food earlier, didn’t he?”

Ning Haocheng lovingly waved his hand at Da Bao and smiled gently: “You eat.”

Da Bao and Erniu’s gazes instinctively shifted toward Yin Xiaoman.

Yin Xiaoman hesitated for a moment before gently nodding.

In her opinion, the food had already been served into the children’s bowls, and taking it back now would clearly be inappropriate.

However, taking advantage of the situation over something so small… that wasn’t necessary.

Glancing at the braised pork in the children’s bowls, Yin Xiaoman quietly turned around, took out a covered clay pot from her bundle, opened it, and used the public chopsticks to take out a wild vegetable dumpling from inside.

“Grandpa, here, have this. ” she said, handing the wild vegetable dumpling to Ning Haocheng.

Although it was just the most ordinary kind, made from wild vegetables that had been dried and then rehydrated before being processed into a dumpling.

But upon closer inspection, it was clear that the person who made it was quite skilled and had put a lot of thought into it.

Not only was it smooth and delicate, with no roughness at all, but it also lacked the typical bitterness of wild vegetables. Instead, it appeared glossy and inviting, refined and tempting.

Ning Haocheng was momentarily stunned, then realized that she was trying to return the favor!

It was obvious that this woman didn’t want to take advantage of him since he had given her children meat.

He smiled and waved his hand at Yin Xiaoman, saying: “Really, it’s not necessary. I’m already full. Girl, thank you for the cornmeal buns and the pickled vegetables. They were really well made. This is the best food I’ve had in years!”

Yin Xiaoman wasn’t the type to engage in polite refusals. Seeing that Ning Haocheng didn’t want it, she was ready to return the favor in another way and started to take back the vegetable dumpling.

But then—she met Gao Chong and the two children’s eager gazes.

Yin Xiaoman hesitated for a moment before turning and offering the dumpling to Gao Chong. “Would you like to eat this?”

“Thank you, Sister-in-law!” Gao Chong took it without hesitation, not even bothering to be polite.

“Mama, I want one too!” Erniu nearly lifted her bowl up to her head in her eagerness.

The two children had already eaten quite a few cornmeal buns, and there was nowhere to move around on the train.

Yin Xiaoman was worried they might get indigestion, so she thought for a moment and broke one of the dumplings in half, placing the two pieces into their bowls.

As soon as she split it—

Ning Haocheng’s eyes were once again fixed on it, unable to look away!

He never expected that an ordinary wild vegetable dumpling would contain such a surprise!

From Ning Haocheng’s perspective, he could clearly see the half dumpling in Erniu’s bowl.

He could see the filling inside the dumpling.

The small, white, crumbled bits seemed to be bamboo shoots, and the deep red ones that had been pickled were probably salted pork. But what were those golden, sandy granules? And the black bits, scattered in tiny pieces?

Ning Haocheng felt a gnawing discomfort in his chest.

It was the kind of feeling he would get when he spent days examining a piece of equipment on a ship, only to still be unable to find the problem.

He felt that if he didn’t take a closer look, he might not sleep well for the next few days.

“Uh…” Ning Haocheng hesitated as he spoke.

He was over sixty years old and had never felt so embarrassed.

He thought that if his wife were still alive and saw this scene, she would surely poke him on the forehead and scold him, saying: “At your age, you’re still losing your dignity over food?”

Thinking of his wife, his eyes grew a little warm.

Ning Haocheng cleared his throat and continued: “Uh…”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a dumpling was already placed into the bowl in front of him.

“This dumpling doesn’t last long; if we wait too long, it won’t taste good. Grandpa, you should have one too. Let’s finish it together.”

Yin Xiaoman withdrew the public chopsticks, curved her lips into a gentle smile, and spoke in a calm tone.

Ning Haocheng was momentarily unsure how to respond.

At his age, he could easily tell that the girl was trying to avoid embarrassing him and was giving him a way out. She was being considerate and helping him save face!

Touched by the little girl’s considerate action, he grinned, and nodded repeatedly.

He didn’t try to hide his awkwardness and openly said: “Thank you, girl. If you hadn’t given it to me, I’d have asked for one myself. Looking at this dumpling, it’s making my mouth water!”

Apart from Liu Chuang, who was still confused, everyone else laughed.

As for Yin Xiaoman, she simply curved her lips, showing no other reaction.

Her demeanor and grace—Ning Haocheng had traveled all over, meeting aristocratic ladies from both the old and new generations. He could count on one hand how many of them could compare to her.

This left Ning Haocheng both shocked and even more curious about Yin Xiaoman’s background.