At the second watch of the night, they beseeched for a touch of pink.

*****

Making hand-pulled noodles seemed simple, but to make them truly delicious was not easy. Lian Manman secretly thought her own skills were inadequate, thus she observed Lian Shouxin’s movements with great attention.

Lian Shouxin divided a large dough into several portions evenly. He then flattened each portion with his hand, sprinkled a bit of flour on the board, and began to roll it out with a rolling pin until the circular dough turned into an even, oval-shaped sheet.

"Hand-pulled noodles are different from making dumplings; the dough needs to be a bit harder," Lian Shouxin explained to Lian Manman while rolling up the sheet of dough from both sides. "Otherwise, it would all stick together when rolling, and you need to sprinkle more flour to prevent that. Otherwise, the noodle soup would become cloudy and it would be a waste of flour."

"Mm-hmm," Lian Manman responded, indicating she took note.

Lian Shouxin then picked up a kitchen knife and started cutting the rolled-up dough from one side, slicing it into pieces as thick as chopsticks. His knife skills were also good; each piece of dough was evenly cut.

Once the sliced rolls were shaken out, they turned into individual strands of noodles.

"Let me do it, let me do it," Xiao Qi insisted, hands ready. To him, shaking out the noodles seemed like a simple and fun game.

"There’s more after this; you and your second sister can take care of it," Lian Shouxin said indulgently as he watched Lian Manman and Xiao Qi. In his eyes, although Lian Manman was older than Xiao Qi, she was still just a child.

Lian Manman also found the task enjoyable. Since both she and Xiao Qi had washed their hands, she eagerly approached and grabbed a stack of the dough sheets with both hands.

"Right, you have to grab the middle part," Lian Shouxin instructed from the side.

Lian Manman grasped the dough, lifted it high, shook it forcefully, and the sheets indeed separated one by one. Only a few stuck together; after being tossed onto the board, all the sheets opened up into noodles and were significantly lengthened as well.

The noodles Lian Shouxin rolled were incredibly springy and not a single one had broken. The slightly yellowed noodles, although uncooked, were already emitting a faint scent of wheat.

Xiao Qi giggled gleefully, somewhat like a little hen that had just laid an egg.

Lian Manman also started to laugh, feeling an indescribable, happy sensation in her heart.

In this way, Lian Shouxin, with Lian Manman and Xiao Qi’s help, quickly finished rolling out the noodles. Outside, Lian Zhizhi and Wu Lang had already prepared the bone broth, and Lady Zhang brought a large sieve to collect the noodles and took them out to be boiled in the bubbling broth.

"Mother, blanch some leafy greens," Lian Manman suggested to Lady Zhang.

"Alright," Lady Zhang replied as she stirred the noodles with chopsticks to prevent them from sticking together.

Lian Zhizhi stood up from near the stove, washed a couple handfuls of cabbage leaves, and, waiting for the soup to boil again, threw them into the pot.

"Let it boil one more time, and the noodles will be ready," Lady Zhang said, then turned to prepare the sauce for the noodles.

Lady Zhang prepared a simple egg sauce, needing only a couple of eggs and some chopped green onions. To make the egg sauce a bit tastier, she soaked some wood ear mushrooms, tore them into pieces, ready to add to the egg sauce.

In a short while, the noodles were cooked. Lian Zhizhi scooped the noodles and soup together into a large basin. With the fire under the stove not extinguished, Lady Zhang quickly rinsed out the pot and began to heat oil to make the egg sauce.

"Dad, let’s cut up that half roast chicken to eat," Lian Manman said.

Lian Shouxin agreed and went to cut the roast chicken.

Lian Manman also came down from the kang bed, took some bean sprouts from the jar, blanched them in boiling water until they were half-cooked, and then mixed them with soy sauce, salt, sesame oil, and chili paste that they always had at home, preparing a plate of seasoned bean sprout salad.

In the meantime, Lady Zhang finished making the egg sauce.

Wu Lang and Xiao Qi set up the dining table on the kang bed and arranged the bowls and chopsticks. Lian Zhizhi gave each person a bowl of noodles, while the egg sauce was placed in the center of the table, allowing everyone to add it to their own taste.

Lian Manman first tasted the noodles and nodded to herself. The noodles were very aromatic and firm, the bite of seasoned bean sprouts was refreshing, and then she took a piece of roast chicken which was tender and thoroughly flavored. Cai’s Roast Chicken, a well-established store for several decades, lived up to its reputation indeed.

Lady Zhang carried the noodles without immediately eating; she smiled warmly as she watched the children.

"Today, we all benefited from the little blessing of our Xiao Qi," Lady Zhang said with a laugh.

Xiao Qi lifted his head from his bowl, his plump, rosy-cheeked face beaming and steaming warmly.