Chapter 166: Dumplings, Dumplings

Chapter 166: Chapter 166: Dumplings, Dumplings

"No way!"

Fu Chao refused, his tone final.

Everyone’s expressions turned a little strange.

Then they heard Fu Chao say with the utmost gravity:

"What if the paparazzi catch the two of you? You’d never be able to clear your names, even if you jumped into the Yellow River!"

He actually had a point.

Even Xie Yu changed his tune.

"Let’s have the assistant go buy it."

Nan Zhi nodded in agreement.

"But what does everyone want to eat tonight?"

As soon as she asked, she got a series of similar responses—

"Anything simple is fine."

"Yeah, nothing too complicated."

"How about we make dumplings? All together?"

Although they all said they wanted to eat Nan Zhi’s cooking, when it came down to it, they were considerate of how tired she must be after so many days and didn’t want to overwork her.

In the end, everyone unanimously agreed on dumplings.

Fu Chao’s assistant was waiting nearby. He made a call, and in less than twenty minutes, the assistant was knocking on the door, carrying bags of all sizes filled with ingredients.

Nan Zhi had given the shopping list to Fu Chao’s assistant herself, so quickly that even Fu Chao hadn’t caught it all.

When they suddenly saw the mountain of ingredients, everyone was stunned.

"This is so much!"

"You can’t be casual about food,"

Nan Zhi said nonchalantly.

Everyone’s intention was to not trouble Nan Zhi too much, but it seemed she didn’t see it that way.

For the dumpling fillings alone, she had prepared three types—

The most classic and popular pork and cabbage;

Pork and shepherd’s purse, perfect for spring;

And fresh shrimp, which was best for pan-frying.

Qi Pei’er, who was helping take out the ingredients, asked curiously,

"Why aren’t there any dumpling wrappers?"

"The store-bought ones have too much lye. They’re no good, not elastic enough."

Nan Zhi shook her head, unwilling to compromise on this point.

The other three looked at each other, at a loss.

’Hmm, so much for letting Nan Zhi take it easy, huh?’

Fortunately, they had all been working together at Nan Family’s Small Restaurant for days. With their help, the prep work wasn’t too troublesome.

Fu Chao and Qi Pei’er were in charge of washing the vegetables, Xie Yu was on chopping duty, and Nan Zhi took on the task of making the dough herself.

Everyone got busy, and the sounds of CLANGING and CHOPPING rose and fell.

It was like a reenactment of the scene in the kitchen of Nan Family’s Small Restaurant.

Except this time, there were no cameras.

The kids, who had slipped into Nan Yi’s room to play right after arriving, heard the noise and all came rushing out with a WHOOSH.

"What are you guys doing?"

they asked, their big eyes wide with curiosity.

Qi Pei’er told them they were getting ready to make dumplings.

The kids’ reaction wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. Instead, their gazes were fixed on the dough basin in front of Nan Zhi.

SWISH!

The little ones’ faces instantly lit up with excitement!

They rushed over to Nan Zhi’s side again, with Nan Yi getting the closest.

Xie An’an was second and asked curiously,

"Auntie Zhizhi, are you playing with flour?"

Nan Zhi was about to deny it.

But on second thought, it was actually a rather interesting idea.

So she nodded with mock seriousness.

"Yeah, something like that."

Qing Xi: "Whoa! That sounds fun!"

Qi Zhang: "We want to play too!"

Nan Yi, however, wasn’t so pleased.

"Don’t bother my mommy while she’s cooking!"

Qing Xi threw an arm around Nan Yi.

"Yiyi, let’s play together!"

Nan Yi pressed his lips together, looking very reluctant.

But Nan Zhi thought it was a great idea.

The dough she had just kneaded needed to rest anyway, and the time in between was more than enough to play with the children for a bit.

So she brought out more flour, cleared the coffee table for the kids, and wiped the surface until it was spotless.

Then, she gave each of the kids a small mixing bowl.

Nan Yi and Xie An’an were on one side, and Qing Xi and Qi Zhang were on the other.

Even Nan Yi, who had been so reluctant just moments ago, now had a tight expression on his little face, his eyes full of intense concentration.

Given his personality, he probably didn’t want to do a poor job and embarrass his mother.

"Alright."

Nan Zhi stood in the middle, like a teacher in a classroom.

She poured flour into each of their little bowls.

The kids all did the same thing: first, they looked at the flour in their own bowls, then they glanced at everyone else’s, and were satisfied.

’Yep, the amounts are about the same!’

It was thanks to Nan Zhi’s precise touch that a squabble over who got more was avoided.

Just then, Xie Yu and the others came over to watch the fun.

Nan Zhi continued to direct the children to add water to their bowls, telling them to stop when she said so. It was basically hands-on instruction.

But the kids weren’t that quick to react. They started fumbling right from this step. They either added too much water or spilled it, and the table quickly became a mess.

Fu Chao, one of the onlookers, was the first to break his silence. He said to Qing Xi,

"Keep your hand steady! Don’t shake! Don’t shake! Yes, add it just like that!"

Qing Xi was not happy about it.

"You don’t get it, Uncle!"

"Hey! How dare you say I don’t get it?"

Fu Chao rolled up his sleeves and gestured grandly.

"I want a bowl too! I’m going to knead some dough!"

’Heh heh, he’d been wanting to play for a while now!’

And just like that, with Fu Chao leading the charge, Qi Pei’er and Xie Yu decided to join in as well.

Everyone was given a bowl and began to mix and knead the dough under Teacher Nan Zhi’s guidance.

Some were calm and methodical, performing excellently, like Xie Yu and Nan Yi.

Others were exceptionally terrible, a fumbling mess, like Fu Chao and Qing Xi.

Looking around, the room was filled with bustling energy. Everyone was working with all their might.

It was just that the mess was a bit excessive. There was flour on the table, the floor, and on everyone’s clothes.

But everyone was laughing happily.

Nan Zhi felt both exasperated and amused.

She wasn’t idle either. While everyone was absorbed with their dough bowls, she brought over the ingredients and started chopping the filling.

The pork was a whole, unprocessed cut, thirty percent fat and seventy percent lean, with beautiful marbling.

Nan Zhi first sliced the meat diagonally, then cut it into strips horizontally, before using a cleaver to mince it into a fine paste.

It had to be minced finely, yet still retain a slight bit of texture.

The cabbage, however, couldn’t be chopped too finely, or it would lose its juices and have a poor texture.

Instead, she had to separate the leaves first, drain them, and then chop them.

Worried the kids wouldn’t like minced scallion and ginger, Nan Zhi used scallion-ginger water instead.

Then she added fine salt, peanut oil, pepper, and other seasonings.

She held a pair of chopsticks and stirred clockwise, not only to distribute the flavors evenly but also to work the filling until it became springy, which would give it a better, more resilient texture after being cooked.

Nan Zhi’s series of movements were nimble and swift.

By the time the others had finally finished their "battle" with the dough, she had already finished preparing the fillings and was just waiting to wrap them.

Rolling the wrappers was also a skill. Too thin and they’d have no doughy flavor; too thick and they’d be tough to eat. So, they had to be slightly thicker in the middle and thinner at the edges.

Nan Zhi instructed everyone to roll their dough into long logs, then pinch off pieces of equal size.

At this stage, the kids, who had been on the verge of losing patience during the dough battle, found a new source of fun.

Qing Xi exclaimed,

"Whoa! Play-Doh!"

"Xiao Xi, this is food, not a toy. We can’t waste it!"

Fu Chao warned him sternly.

Qing Xi looked down and saw that the dough in Fu Chao’s hands was a gooey mess that wasn’t holding its shape at all.

"Hmph!"

Qing Xi snorted disdainfully and ignored him.

Fu Chao broke out in a sweat, flustered. ’There’s no way I can’t do this!’