Chapter 529 - 528: Let’s Call Them Dumplings for Now

Let’s call them dumplings, I guess. But if they were sitting on their own and no one said what they were, Huo Yue Lan thought she would just assume they were lumps of dough.

"Haha, I’m from the south. We don’t eat dumplings for the holidays."

In the south, dumplings are considered just another dish; the staple food is always rice.

Strictly speaking, however, Yun Zijin had northern blood but southern habits.

"That’s true. Southerners usually slaughter chickens and ducks for the holidays. It’s rare to see them eating dumplings."

Hearing Yun Zijin say this, everyone present understood.

You can’t expect a kid who doesn’t even have the custom of eating dumplings during the holidays to pull off a perfect drift when she hasn’t even learned how to drive yet.

"It’s okay. You’ll definitely get the hang of it with a little practice."

Huo Yue Lan and the others stopped insisting that Yun Zijin’s dumplings look pretty. As long as she could wrap all the filling inside and they didn’t burst open when boiled, it was good enough.

Yun Zijin stood by Lu Yunque’s side, occasionally stealing glances at his technique, learning from him bit by bit.

After a while, the dumplings Yun Zijin made started to actually look like dumplings, no longer the strange, misshapen things they were before.

Lu Yunque knew Yun Zijin was watching him to learn. Whenever she snuck a peek, he would deliberately slow his movements so she could see more clearly.

’What can you do? She’s the girlfriend I chose, so of course I have to spoil her.’

By the time the sun had completely set, they had finally finished making all the dumplings.

"Alright, have Mrs. Wang arrange for someone to take these dumplings down to be cooked."

The ones Yun Zijin had made were placed on a separate plate, and everyone who saw them couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Yun Zijin’s face turned beet red. "I... I’m going to wash my hands first."

"I’ll go with you."

Lu Yunque followed behind Yun Zijin, catching up to her in two large strides.

In the washroom, Lu Yunque took Yun Zijin’s hands and helped her rub off all the flour caked on them.

He didn’t stop until he had washed them again with hand soap.

At first, Yun Zijin felt a little embarrassed, but then she realized being pampered felt quite nice, so she decided to just enjoy it, relaxing completely as Lu Yunque washed her hands for her.

When the two of them came out of the washroom, the others had already washed their hands and were sitting on the living room sofa again.

"Zijin, come quickly! The dumplings will take a while. The kitchen just cut up some fruit, have some to tide you over."

Several plates of cut fruit were arranged on the living room table.

Next to the fruit were clean forks.

"We have you to thank for this. The chef said that you southerners always eat your fruit cut into small pieces."

"It’s only because you’re here today. We don’t usually get such thoughtful treatment."

They did get cut fruit, but it was never cut so meticulously into perfect, bite-sized pieces like today.

"Oh, that can’t be true. Auntie, you shouldn’t say that."

’There are differences between the north and south, but surely it’s not enough to make the chef change his work habits just for me.’

Huo Yue Lan pulled Yun Zijin down to sit beside her, and Lu Yunque moved with lightning speed to snatch the seat on Yun Zijin’s other side.

The grandmother, who had just been about to move over, glared at Lu Yunque. "You have no respect for your elders!"

"Grandma, you’re not sitting with Grandpa. Does that mean you can’t stand him?"

The Lu Yunque of this moment was completely different from the Lu Yunque who faced his employees and business partners at work.

The contrast gave Yun Zijin the thrilling sense of discovering a whole new world.

However, since there were other people around, Yun Zijin didn’t let her fascination show too obviously.

But Lu Yunque, whose attention was always on Yun Zijin, noticed the brief moment her eyes had lit up.

A glint flashed in his eyes. ’Looks like I’ve found a new way to get to her,’ he thought.

Just then, phones vibrated in both Yun Zijin’s and Lu Yunque’s hands.

They both picked up their phones to check the messages. As expected, Fu Ze was spamming their group chat, which had grown from five members to six.

Judging from Fu Ze’s messages, he wanted everyone to get together again after dinner.

The extra person was Qin Sitong, who Fu Ze had added to the group. His fine-sounding excuse was that it had originally been a group of four, which became five after Lu Yunque and Yun Zijin got together. Now that he had a girlfriend too, it was only right to add Qin Sitong.

Yun Zijin, of course, had no objection. Besides, the girls had their own separate group chat.

—Sitong_Not_The_Other_One: I’m at home right now, not at school.

Qin Sitong’s home was in the outer ring of the city. The distance from the outer ring to the inner ring was not short.

Yun Zijin was definitely worried about Qin Sitong traveling alone by subway from the outer ring to the inner ring so late at night.

—Qingqing Zijing: Your place is too far away. Don’t you dare leave the house!

—Qingqing Zijing: @Fu Ze Let’s be responsible and call it off for tonight. We can find another time during the holiday.

Yun Zijin guessed that Fu Ze must have been desperate to see Qin Sitong but was too shy to ask her directly, so he was using a get-together as an excuse in the group chat.

Sheng Hao had just treated them to a gathering not long ago. Wanting to get together again so soon was purely a sign of being bored and restless.

When Fu Ze saw Qin Sitong say she was at home, he dropped the idea.

Qin Sitong had told Fu Ze before that her family lived in the outer ring. Although they were from Dijing, they weren’t at all like typical residents of the Imperial City.

They were just an ordinary working-class family, and there was a natural barrier between them and the locals from the Imperial City’s urban core.

However, Fu Ze didn’t care about Qin Sitong’s family background. A family of the Fu Family’s status, much like the Lu Family, no longer needed to use marriage alliances to consolidate their position.

As long as their families were open-minded, they were completely free to date and marry whomever they chose.

It was just that Fu Ze’s mother, He Wanru, held firm to her views, which was why Fu Ze felt like he was walking on thin ice.

The relationship between a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has been the most difficult to manage since ancient times. Fu Ze had to lay the groundwork with his mother before he could even consider a future with Qin Sitong.

Otherwise, if he married her only for her to be tormented by his own mother, Fu Ze would curse himself for not being a real man.

"Really not going? If you’re worried about your friend, why not just have Fu Ze go pick his girlfriend up himself?"

’If you want to see someone, you have to at least make that much effort.’

"Today is New Year’s Day. Every family is supposed to be having a reunion. Who thinks of going out to a party at a time like this?"

If Fu Ze’s mother found out he went out just to see Qin Sitong, that would really put Qin Sitong on He Wanru’s bad side.

"Alright, I’ll tell him we’re not going either."

Of course, Lu Yunque would listen to Yun Zijin.

"The dumplings are ready!"

From the kitchen, Mrs. Wang’s voice boomed, full of energy.

Hearing that the dumplings were ready, Yun Zijin’s eyes lit up.

Aside from celebrating New Year’s with everyone at the orphanage, this was the first time Yun Zijin had ever experienced such a lively New Year’s Day.

"I’ve hidden three coins in these dumplings! Let’s see who’s going to have the best luck this year."

"Whoa! Grandma, when did you hide them? I didn’t even notice."

"Hmph! It wouldn’t be any fun if you did!"

The old lady huffed smugly.

Yun Zijin smiled. ’They always say people become like playful children in their old age. It’s true; the older you get, the more childish you become.’