The four children were awake, and someone had to watch them. Chen Lan had to stay in the car to look after them until all four had eaten and drunk their fill.
Chen Lan bought two more new toys from the system, two jumping frogs, to distract Hutou and Xiao Shitong, the two children, while they played.
The twin boy and girl, however, clung to Chen Lan and wouldn't let go. Chen Lan indulged them. For over a month, she had been busy in the valley, leaving early and returning late. When they woke up in the morning, she was already off to work in the valley. By the time she returned in the evening, after dinner and washing up, they were already asleep! She hadn't really spent much time with them recently.
Chen Lan pinched their chubby, tender, snow-white little arms, like lotus roots, and stroked Jia Hui's rosy, chubby little cheeks. She chatted with the two little ones, coaxing them, "Mama!" Chen Lan decided to start with the twin siblings, teaching them not to call her "mother" but "Mama."
The two little ones didn't echo her words, playing with their own things. They would occasionally look at Chen Lan, who tirelessly repeated "Mama," regardless of their reaction, to subtly let them know that "Mama is Mother."
Wenrou Niang and Xiaoshan Niang walked in from the car door. Wenrou Niang, alone, carried a basin of dumpling filling with both hands, while Xiaoshan Niang, alone, carried the kneaded dough. Judging by their demeanor, they were preparing to make dumplings inside the car.
Chen Lan quickly scooped up the two little ones from the middle of the bed, folded up the folding bed, and quickly assembled the sofas on either side of the car, with the middle partition serving as a table. Su Dan Novel Network.
Wenrou Niang placed the basin of dumpling filling on the table, went to the kitchen to get a kneading board and a winnowing basket, and placed them on the table. She and Xiaoshan Niang then began to prepare to make dumplings. Xiaoshan Niang kneaded the dough and cut it into portions, then rolled out the dumpling wrappers with nimble, swift movements. Old Niang was also fast at wrapping dumplings. The two cooperated with remarkable tacit understanding. In a short while, the winnowing basket was filled with white, plump, yuanbao-shaped dumplings.
Chen Lan watched as the twin siblings sat obediently, watching Wenrou Niang make dumplings. She then got up to wash her hands in the washroom and came out to help with the dumpling making.
The three of them chatted as they made dumplings. Xiaoshan Niang said, "Xiao Lan, it's all thanks to you and the master of the house that Xiaoshan and I have what we have today! Thinking back to almost two years ago, I couldn't see well and couldn't do embroidery. Xiaoshan was less than fifteen years old then, thin and small, and couldn't find any work. My son and I were almost starving. It was also thanks to Uncle Fu's agreement to let Xiaoshan work in the shop. He saw how pitiful my son and I were and even advanced his wages, so we didn't starve. Now, coming here with you all is like falling into a nest of good fortune. In the past, we could only dream of eating dumplings, let alone having enough to eat. And now, these are dumplings with the rare elming mushroom filling! Back then, if we could eat our fill for a day, we would have been content."
Wenrou Niang chimed in, "Don't just praise her. Your son is also accomplished. Xiaoshan is smart and eager to learn, diligent in his work, never shirking his duties, and upright in his dealings. You raised him well! Besides, it's truly not easy for a woman to support herself and her child with her own hands in those times. We had the capacity then, and we did need to hire a young man at the time. Chen Fu saw that although Xiaoshan was thin and small, he was still a child, likely from a poor family. He saw that Xiaoshan was quite clever, and although his clothes had patches, they were still clean and tidy, so he kept him. It can be said that we were destined to meet."
The two mothers were praising each other's children and discussing family matters. The three of them were engrossed in idle chatter while working. None of them noticed the twin siblings. Perhaps the twin boy and girl thought it was fun. At some point, Jia Hui crawled to the edge of the table and quickly grabbed a handful of dough with her chubby little hands.
Suddenly, the three who were chatting animatedly were startled. They saw that her chubby little hands were already stuck and she was shaking them vigorously. Her other chubby hand was also pulling hard at the dough, and both of her chubby hands were instantly covered in sticky dough, which she couldn't shake off. Seeing this amusing scene, the three of them couldn't help but burst into laughter. Jia Yao and Jia Hui, who were impatiently shaking their hands, also started to giggle foolishly when they saw everyone laughing. Chen Lan and the other two mothers laughed even more heartily at the sight of the twins giggling foolishly! The carriage was instantly filled with joyful laughter.
Chen Lan, suppressing her laughter, quickly helped Jia Hui rub the sticky dough off her hands. However, the dough was too sticky, and Chen Lan's hands were soon covered in dough as well. With no other choice, she grabbed a handful of flour and rubbed her hands together. Chen Lan cleaned her own hands. She then took Jia Hui's two chubby little hands and rubbed them with flour. Jia Hui thought she was playing and exclaimed joyfully, "Ah! Ah!" her mouth wide open, drool hanging long. Jia Yao and Jia Hui had been drooling a lot recently. Old Niang said that the twin siblings were probably teething, which was why they were drooling so much.
After the laughter subsided, Wenrou Niang and Xiaoshan Niang continued their work, one rolling dough, the other wrapping dumplings, with perfect tacit understanding. Chen Lan was still struggling with the sticky dough on Jia Hui's hands. She didn't notice what the normally well-behaved Jia Yao was doing. For some reason, even the usually well-behaved and sensible Jia Yao was up to mischief.
No one knew when he had climbed onto the table and gone to the winnowing basket where the dumplings were placed. He had used his two chubby little hands to give the dumplings a massage, ruining all the dumplings within his reach. When Old Niang went to place the dumplings, she discovered the pathetic state of the dumplings in the winnowing basket and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, my darling, Grandma's precious grandson, you've done something naughty, how could you do something naughty?" Jia Yao thought his grandma was teasing him, his mouth wide open, and drool hanging long. He still held dumplings in his two chubby hands, extending them towards his grandma, offering her dumplings. Old Niang's face instantly shifted from gloomy to sunny, her face blooming with joy as she happily said, "Our Yao is so thoughtful, knowing to care for his grandma. My darling grandson, these are for Grandma to eat, knowing Grandma is craving dumplings."
Chen Lan couldn't help but chuckle at Old Niang's monologue, thinking, "Old Niang can really stretch the truth. He clearly did something naughty, but she made it sound like a good deed!"
Helpless, Chen Lan resigned herself to cleaning up after the chubby Jia Yao. She took dry flour and rubbed his two chubby hands. Her hands were cleaned, but the dumplings he had grabbed were beyond saving!
Old Niang looked at the dumplings that had been mangled by Jia Yao, her mouth twitching. She said, "It doesn't matter. Let's roll these dumplings into flatbreads and pan-fry them in oil. They'll surely be delicious!"
Chen Lan thought to herself, "How could they not be delicious? It's both meat dumpling filling and pan-fried in oil!"