"Thud thud thud~"

Wu Wenyue wielded twin knives, her eyes unblinking, chopping at the slices of meat laid on the cutting board. She chopped from east to west, giving it a hundred and eight chops, then from south to north, another hundred and eight chops, crisscrossing the minced meat. The gleam of the knives was fierce yet graceful, and the small pile of meat slices gradually turned into minced meat...

Zhao Qingge watched with a cold eye: "Nice knife skills, but don’t you have a meat grinder?"

"Nope." Wu Wenyue replied cheerfully, stopping her knives. With a clang, she struck the knives together, flinging the sticky meat off the blades back onto the cutting board. Then she picked up the knives to continue chopping.

The sound of the knife hitting the board had a rhythm, prompting Wu Wenyue to hum a tune.

She had heard the conversation of the three people in the restaurant just now, about not daring to dream, about surrendering with a white flag... Good news, good news!

The fool finally hit the south wall, battered and bruised, dazed and confused, and finally realized to turn back. I’m gonna enjoy a few more dumplings today!

"Is the meat too sticky?"

Huang Tianxuan looked at her phone, hesitantly said: "I read online that when mincing meat, you should add water while chopping. This way the texture will be elastic and smooth, and it won’t stick to the knife."

"Really?"

Wu Wenyue had no trust whatsoever in the culinary skills of this rich girl, but hearing that it was something found online made her a bit uncertain. Since it was her first time making dumpling filling, she called out loudly: "Xiaofeng, should I add water when mincing meat?"

"Yes!" Li Peifeng, who was kneading dough in the restaurant, responded: "Add cold water, but not too much. Add two or three times, when it feels dry during chopping, add a little bit. Too much water will affect the texture."

"Oh." Wu Wenyue nudged her mouth toward Huang Tianxuan beside her: "Get me a bowl to fetch some water."

Huang Tianxuan immediately brought over a bowl of water and poured half of it onto the meat filling.

Wu Wenyue quickly stopped her: "That’s enough, less is better than more."

Zhao Qingge looked at the stack of fatty meat on the cutting board, picked it up, and headed towards the stove: "I’ll render it."

"You know how?"

"I can learn by watching videos."

After Zhao Qingge replied, she put down the platter and pulled out her phone to open the browser.

But Wu Wenyue instructed her: "You don’t need to watch; start by adding water, put the fatty meat in cold water in the pot, boil it then drain the water, add oil to the pot and put in the fatty meat, low heat is fine."

"Blanch it first?"

"Yeah, you know about blanching?"

"Wenyue, stop talking and keep chopping!"

"Sister Xuan, don’t just supervise me, I haven’t dealt with the napa cabbage yet. Why don’t you grab a knife and chop it?"

"Okay!"

’Thud thud thud’ The sound of knives clashing, the sound of the stove and the range hood working, occasionally mingled with the chatter of the three girls, all these sounds blended together, forming the ultimate human bustling sound.

Hearing these sounds, Li Peifeng continued kneading the dough slowly. Although there was a strong feeling of impending "separation" in his heart, he was also enjoying the warm moment of this final gathering of the four.

Next time, let alone days like these living together with four people, even just sitting together for a meal would be difficult.

The lockdown lifts tomorrow morning. Unless something unexpected happens, the girls will leave with their luggage without even having breakfast, making these dumplings perhaps the last meal of their cohabitation life.

"I know this world is as fleeting as dew, but, but."

Li Peifeng paused his kneading hands slightly, poured some water into the flour from a bowl, continued kneading, trying to turn the flour flakes into a whole dough, also kneading all the distractions in his heart!

He indeed wanted to raise the white flag and give up. Whatever five-in-one or four-in-one, he, Wu Wenyue, and Xu Manning, the three being together was very good. They had work and life among them, harmonious feelings, and were inseparable. Like the director, ultimately reality was too harsh, and Huang Tianxuan was just a fleeting guest... 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"I’ve heard that nine out of ten times love ends in sorrow, feelings always let me suffer... suffer what, suffer dumplings! I’m gonna have some drinks today, white liquor, nine glasses!"

The gloomy mood didn’t last long, as Li Peifeng thought of a way to make himself happy.

Ever since going through[Liver of Stone · Courage of a Fighter]and the remodeling of other internal organs, he felt his mood never got too bad, no matter what terrible things happened he could face them, even in front of unsolvable difficulties, Li Peifeng was confident: "I allow myself to take a step back, temporarily stop making progress, become a big loser for a short while!"

After more than half an hour, Li Peifeng had finished kneading the dough, and the dumpling filling was completed through the concerted efforts of the three girls.

"Let me tell you, making dumplings is very simple. First, fill the dough, then fold it like this..."

Before officially starting, Li Peifeng picked up a piece of dough, stuffed some filling, and while wrapping, explained, trying to teach the other three.

None of them were slow-witted, and indeed it wasn’t hard, and the three girls successively learned it, everyone worked together and finished early.

"Is it time yet?"

"Twelve minutes... that’s enough, the meat filling is pre-cooked."

"Open the pot!"

"Bring up the soy sauce and vinegar."

"Do cabbage dumplings need vinegar?"

"These dumplings are being made all for a bit of vinegar!"

Before five o’clock, the first batch of steaming cabbage, pork, and pork crackling dumplings came out.

Some gathered utensils, some served dumplings, and Li Peifeng also stir-fried a dish, paired with a tomato egg drop soup, and finally the four of them sat down formally.

A few of the dumplings on the plate looked oddly shaped—some long, some round, and two with exposed filling—which were the price of three girls transitioning from dumpling-making novices to experts.

"Who made this?" Wu Wenyue picked up a doughy dumpling and laughed, "Is there no filling in this one? How did it get wrapped like this?"

Zhao Qingge calmly said, "Tianxuan made it."

Huang Tianxuan looked unconcerned, "The filling leaked, so I had to take it all out and knead it again... If you’re not eating it, give it to me!"

"Here you go, don’t throw it away."

"Oh right, we forgot to put in the coin!"

"The coin tradition is for the New Year; it’s unnecessary for the Winter Solstice. I’m starting!"

The three girls each started eating, except for Li Peifeng who gazed out the window. Winter nights arrived particularly fast, and by five, it was already dark. The snow outside hadn’t stopped since morning, and it seemed to have gotten heavier. Under the indoor lighting, the outside snowflakes flew by like feathers, meeting briefly before parting again, as if the whole world was melting away.

"I’m going to have some wine."

After saying this, Li Peifeng quickly got up and rummaged through the cabinet, finally finding a bottle of osmanthus wine he had specifically brought when moving. He grabbed a wine glass, returned to the table, and poured himself a glass, drinking silently. Although he appeared to be enjoying it, there was an undeniable trace of melancholy in his eyes.

"What’s up with you?"

Wu Wenyue grinned, "The neighborhood lockdown is lifted; tomorrow everyone goes home. You can go back and sleep in your own master bedroom bed. Why are you feeling down and drinking alone?"

"My unhappiness has nothing to do with that."

"What?"

Li Peifeng ate a dumpling, took a sip of wine, and sighed with even more sorrow, "Wenyue, didn’t you guys mix the dumpling filling properly?"

"?"

Zhao Qingge dryly coughed, "I just ate a very salty one."

"Mine was quite bland..."

Huang Tianxuan, not one to accept defeat, picked up a new one, took a bite, and nodded slightly, "It’s not mixed well."

Wu Wenyue looked a bit guilty, "That’s not right; I remember mixing it."

"You did mix it, but not thoroughly," Huang Tianxuan emphasized, "I saw you stirred it just twice and stopped."

"Why didn’t you remind me?"

"How was I supposed to know you hadn’t mixed it well? You should have tasted it yourself at the time."

Li Peifeng tried to smooth things over, "Alright, just eat. It’s like this this time, remember for next time—if there’s a next time."

Wu Wenyue nodded in agreement, "Once Manning’s quarantine is over, the three of us will make them again, with lamb filling—she likes that."

At the table, aside from the clashing of bowls and chopsticks, there was no sound until three or four seconds later when a man’s steady voice added, "Sure."

By seven o’clock, dinner was over, and Li Peifeng had drunk a bottle of white wine, used the restroom twice, and returned to the attic with a slight alcohol scent.

Lying on the bed for a couple of minutes, he broke away from other thoughts and began to outline a novel. Once he had an idea, he was about to sit in front of the computer to start typing when there was a knock on the door.

"Click~"

"Are you writing?"

It was Wu Wenyue who came in, not wearing her usual pajamas but draped in a short black trench coat, without skirt or pants, her long legs wrapped only in black stockings, sporting a ’no pants’ style...

"I was just about to start."

Wu Wenyue sat on the edge of the bed, her hands slightly awkwardly placed on her legs, but her face remained calm, "Chatting won’t take up your time, right?"

Li Peifeng sighed softly, "Chatting will take time. Prolonged chatting takes up time—anything else can be done in under half an hour."

Wu Wenyue held back a laugh, deliberately asking, "...But I just want to chat. What else are you talking about??"

Dumplings, New Year money.

Li Peifeng actually already knew during dinner what Wu Wenyue wanted to do next—after eating dumplings for dinner, naturally, the evening would follow with New Year money!