In the south, dumpling wrappers are usually bought from the market in bulk. They are very neat and thin, and when you stick them to your palm, you sprinkle flour on the surface to prevent them from sticking together. When you want to make dumplings, you need to apply water to the joints to help them stick together.
Wen Mubai imitated Xu's mother's actions, smearing water on the edges of the dumpling wrappers.
“Yes, then fold it in half.” Wen Mubai did this step very well, but Xu’s mother’s next move was too dazzling and confused her. “Pinch two pleats on each side to fix it in place.”
Wen Mubai folded the dumpling wrapper twice, and it turned into a rag, with messy, asymmetrical folds and filling leaking everywhere.
Xu's mother chuckled dryly, "Hahaha... Just practice a few more times and you'll be fine. It's not bad for the first time."
Xu Chacha leaned closer and rested her chin on her shoulder. "But I wrapped it up very well the first time. She's a kitchen killer, Mom, don't praise her too much."
Xu's mother patted her face, "Shh, don't talk about Mu Bai like that."
Xu Chacha got flour on her face and wrinkled her nose to wipe it off. "Well, I can't just close my eyes and brag. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."
"..."
Wen Mubai's expression wasn't too good, while Xu Yanshu was holding Jian Xi, trying not to laugh.
The group made about a hundred dumplings, divided them into two batches, and steamed them. When the first batch of dumplings came out of the steamer, Wen's parents, Wen Shiyu, finally arrived late.
Mr. and Mrs. Xu wiped their hands to greet them. Adults and children chatted in their own groups, and soon the dishes were all ready, and they began to eat the New Year's Eve dinner.
"Who made these dumplings? They're horribly ugly," Wen Shiyu said softly, frowning.
She sat next to Xu Chacha, speaking in a deliberately low voice, so the parents couldn't hear her, but she could hear her perfectly clearly.
Although she was the one who had just criticized Wen Mubai's cooking skills, Xu Chacha was still unhappy that her wife's homemade dumplings were being talked about like that.
So she reached out with her chopsticks, picked it up, dipped it in vinegar, and put it in her mouth, deliberately eating with a look of pure bliss.
Xu Yanshu glanced at her sideways, "Delicious?"
"Don't let its plain appearance fool you, it tastes amazing inside, like the fragrance of a beautiful woman's hands."
Wen Mubai paused with his chopsticks, glancing at the boy with a puzzled look, wondering what this little brat was up to today.
After hearing this, Xu Yanshu let out a soft "heh".
Xu Chacha keenly noticed this, picked up another tattered dumpling with her chopsticks, stuffed it into her mouth, and said with a smile as Xu Yanshu stared wide-eyed, about to spit it out, "My wife made this herself, sister, have a taste, isn't it super delicious?"
These words also drew the attention of Xu's parents. Xu Yanshu could only swallow her words with a livid face, forcing out a comment through her teeth: "Delicious."
Mother Xu also picked one up with a smile, "Hmm, it's not bad."
"Right, right?" Xu Chacha also put two on her father's plate, "Dad, try some too."
There's no reason not to eat food that your sweet daughter has put on your plate. Mr. Xu quickly ate the dumplings with a smile, saying, "Delicious, delicious."
Wen Mubai only packed less than ten, and Xu Chacha was the first to sell them all, so she didn't get to eat a single one herself.
After dinner, they ate some fruit, and then firecrackers started going off outside. Xu Chacha was drawn to them and tugged at Wen Mubai's sleeve, "Are they setting off firecrackers?"
"I'll go get the lighter." Wen Mubai stood up.
The reason Xu Chacha wanted to drag her along was because she wanted to set off fireworks herself but was too scared. Every time, she would hold a sparkler and direct her to set off the big ones.
"Sister Jianxi, shall we come together?" With so many people around, Xu Chacha pulled Jianxi along as well.
Jian Xi was watching TV quietly. Hearing her words, she nodded and stood up. Xu Yanshu, who always followed her around, also came out.
Seeing this, Wen's mother said to Wen Shiyu, who was still sitting, "Why don't you go and have some fun too? It's so boring for an old person to stay alone."
Wen Shiyu: "..."
Should she say that her mother is naive?
She participated in a dating reality show with Jian Xi and Xu Yanshu. She sent Jian Xi a text message expressing her feelings, but Jian Xi ended up getting off the car hand in hand with Xu Yanshu.
What her mother just said was like pushing her next to her love rival to be fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection).
Do you think those girls can happily hold hands and set off fireworks together? Xu Chacha would be lucky if she didn't set her hair on fire!
Outside, Xu Chacha and Jian Xi each had a sparkler in their hand. While other people light them one by one and hold them to play with, Xu Chacha lit the whole bunch like torches. As a result, the fire burned brighter than fireworks, which startled her.
"Help! Help! Help..." She jumped up and down, wanting to get rid of this hot potato as soon as possible.
As luck would have it, Wen Shiyu passed by her and stuffed a bouquet of sparkling fireworks into her hand.
?
Wen Shiyu stared at Xu Chacha with a look that seemed to want to devour her.
Xu Chacha felt a little embarrassed, clapped her hands, and said to her, "Wishing you... a prosperous and successful new year?"
Jian Xi and Wen Mubai had already lit a pair of Earth Red cigarettes and were walking quickly toward her. Wen Mubai grabbed Xu Chacha's arm and pulled her inside, saying, "Go inside and hide."
The long string of red firecrackers exploded with a loud and rapid sound, and countless small firecrackers flew everywhere. These large ones could probably fly seven or eight meters.
Xu Chacha was a little nervous. She slammed the door shut as she entered and leaned against the wall to catch her breath.
"Next time you release something like this, please discuss it with me first, okay?"
Jian Xi held up a lighter, looking innocent. "Didn't you say that sparklers were boring and you wanted me to set off a big one?"
Xu Chacha: ...
She meant to get a longer sparkler.
There was a crackling sound outside, and a flash of red light. Xu Yanshu, who had been silent, seemed to remember something.
"Have we forgotten someone outside?"
Xu Chacha: "Really? Who is it?"
Jian Xi glanced at the number of people and looked at Wen Mubai, "Your sister is still outside."
Having witnessed Xu Yanshu's various acts of care for Xu Chacha, she thought that Wen Mubai, who was also her older sister, would immediately open the door with affection and welcome her in. But to her surprise, she changed into slippers with an indifferent expression.
"It's alright, she's brave."
...
At 10 p.m., Xu Chacha started a live stream. The adults were watching the Spring Festival Gala downstairs, but she wasn't interested.
I casually mentioned that Jianxi was also at home, and the comments section was filled with people begging her to show her face.
Xu Chacha could only call out to Wen Mubai, who had come to deliver fruit, "Please call Sister Jian Xi for me."
Jianxi is downstairs watching the Spring Festival Gala with me.
Wen Mubai stood behind her, only half of his shoulder and one hand visible in the camera's view, his voice indifferent, "So clingy to her?"
She's jealous! She's jealous!
[Wait, didn't Cha just say that the two families were celebrating the New Year together? That means it wasn't just the four of them; Shiyu was there too!]
Let me see! Let me see!
Five beautiful women tonight, not one less!
Wen Mubai frowned as he looked at the comments. "Why are there so many demands?"
[Waaah...so fierce]
[QAQ Teacher Wen, please don't force me to beg you while crying!]
The website has a new emoji barrage feature; now, if you fly over, you'll see a barrage of crying emojis.
Xu Chacha wanted to laugh, "It's okay, if Teacher Wen won't call for you, I will."
After saying that, she put on her slippers and went downstairs, while Wen Mubai was pressed down in front of the computer.
She had already removed her makeup and was wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. Her eyes behind the lenses were expressionless, and she didn't respond to the comments. Her face seemed to have a few words written all over it.
"Leave me alone"
[Teacher Wen is so beautiful, waaaaah, I'm crying because I'm a fan of pretty faces!]
[She was so beautiful that when she stood next to the models during her curtain call, she was even more captivating than them!]
Xu Chacha somehow managed to get everyone to come up. Wen Shiyu usually has a grumpy face, but as soon as she's in front of the camera, she immediately starts smiling.
Xu Yanshu leaned against Xu Chacha and whispered, "I'm afraid she'll develop a mental illness."
[It's rare to get five people together; perfect for starting the game!]
[Yeah, yeah, Teacher Xu hasn't streamed games in a long time.]
[Those who let Teacher Xu stream games, I'll call them all fake fans!]
If Wen Mubai is a kitchen disaster, then Xu Chacha is a gaming idiot. For example, she spent a week learning to play PUBG but still got motion sickness in 3D, and after a month of figuring out how to play Honor of Kings, she still couldn't figure out the item builds.
She tried live streaming a few times at first, but her skills were too poor, so she eventually gave up.
It wasn't that Xu Chacha gave up voluntarily; it was her fans who cried and begged her to stop playing the game. They couldn't win the arguments against the casual viewers who were criticizing Xu Chacha, and they were afraid.
It was rare for this topic to be brought up again, and Xu Chacha started getting itchy to play. "Let me tell you, my sister is really good at this game."
[Why does this sound like a primary school student showing off?]
[Nonsense! What do you mean by "similar"? This is it!]
At Xu Chacha's suggestion, the five of them downloaded the game and logged in. Because their ranks were too different, they could only play matchmaking.
In the five-player match, the opposing team also had five teammates. Xu Chacha chose Xiao Ming as support, Xu Yanshu chose Xuan Ce as jungler, Wen Shiyu chose Xiao Qiao as mage in the mid lane, Jian Xi chose Lu Bu in the top lane, and Wen Mubai chose Mark in the bottom lane.
[It would be easier to win if we replaced the support character with a tankier one—]
[Long-time fan chuckles: Please don't have too high expectations for Teacher Xu's abilities.]
[Tea: When I play games, I don't look at what you lack, I look at what I'm good at!]
Xu Chacha really likes the hero Xiaoming. After being linked with the chain, she only needs to follow her teammates around and doesn't need to press any skills. She even has time to eat dried sweet potatoes while playing.
Perhaps it's a matter of practice makes perfect, but Xu Chacha plays this hero quite well, at least she always manages to use her ultimate skill on Wen Mubai when he's low on health.
"Even if I die a hundred times, I won't let my wife die!"
[Please type your gratitude in the comments!]
[Please type "dog food" in the chat!]
The top and bottom lane towers were taken down almost simultaneously. Wen Mubai returned to base to recover, while Xu Chacha controlled the character on the screen and slowly ran towards the middle lane.
"wait--"
Before Wen Shiyu could finish speaking, a Zhuge Liang suddenly jumped out from the bushes in the middle lane and used his skill to hit Xu Chacha at close range. His passive skill refreshed, and the balls surrounding him started hitting her with a series of thuds.