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Chapter 686: Chapter 691: Loving Dinner_1
ChunTao and Duo’er only felt a tingling in their scalps, having never seen such a method of making dumplings.
But since Chen Yiling was a young lady, and now a pregnant woman, ChunTao could only comply with her words.
So Chen Yiling happily wrapped up a gigantic dumpling, but since the dough hadn’t been leavened, it just turned out to be tough and its shape wasn’t at all appetizing.
Qiao Duo’er had a stroke of genius and quickly fetched a sieve.
"You can cook yours separately—a pot of love-filled dinner for Lord Qin."
"Mrs. Tan really thinks of everything."
ChunTao gave a thumbs up, her face full of sly smiles.
She guessed that Lord Qin’s expression would be quite a sight when he saw it.
Chen Yiling pouted and said, "Don’t think I don’t know you are turning your noses up at the dumplings I made. Lord Qin certainly won’t feel the same way."
"Yes, yes, the son-in-law will definitely find the young lady’s dumplings the most beautiful."
ChunTao chuckled heartily, in the son-in-law’s eyes, his young lady was always the best.
Chen Yiling rolled her eyes, "You’re the chatty one, now get me another dumpling wrapper."
Qiao Duo’er and ChunTao couldn’t help but laugh out loud, but they still indulged Chen Yiling’s messy work because having a happy life was what mattered most.
The most important thing was that Lord Qin was coming, and it wouldn’t be them who would suffer.
After taking care of the animals in the backyard, Tan Zhenghong entered the kitchen.
"Wife, I’ll cook a few dumplings first for the God of Stove. Eh, why are you making steamed buns?"
Tan Zhenghong asked in confusion, remembering that his wife had steamed many buns just the day before, which should have lasted until New Year’s Eve.
Qiao Duo’er and ChunTao burst into laughter; they truly resembled steamed buns.
Chen Yiling explained with a dark face: "These are the dumplings I wrapped. You take those they made for the Gods."
She feared the Gods might get indigestion from her dumplings and then come to settle the score with her.
Tan Zhenghong left with an embarrassed look, taking six dumplings with him in a hurry.
Chen Yiling decided to ignore Tan Zhenghong, but soon his actions caught her attention again.
"What are you doing melting the sugar?"
"It’s said that the God of Stove goes up to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor on Little Year, and everyone smears sugar on the God of Stove’s mouth so that he can only speak good of them,"
Tan Zhenghong explained, and the more sugar glued on, the better.
So everyone would melt sugar in a pot over low heat until it turned into a thick syrup.
Chen Yiling found it fascinating and wanted to go over to see, but ChunTao held her back.
"Miss, women shouldn’t go during the offering to the God of Stove."
Chen Yiling complained discontentedly, "Men are people, and so are women; why can men go but women can’t?"
ChunTao couldn’t quite articulate the reason—it was just a tradition passed down through generations.
Seeing ChunTao’s troubled expression, Chen Yiling gave up. She was a guest in someone else’s home and shouldn’t offend their deity.
What if she brought bad luck to Duo’er’s house? Wouldn’t she feel guilty?
"If you want to watch, just go with us; customs are set by people, don’t worry about it."
Qiao Duo’er persuaded, hoping to prevent Chen Yiling from creating more oddly-shaped dumplings here.
Chen Yiling shook her head: "Lord Qin has a big appetite; these few won’t be enough."
"I’ll go mix some more dough. Otherwise, there will definitely be leftover filling," ChunTao said helplessly.
Her lady would use at least three wrappers for one dumpling because if one layer tore, she would just add another.
She even suspected that her young lady was doing it on purpose to tease the son-in-law.
By the time Lord Qin arrived, it had already turned dark.
"You’re finally here; I’m starving," Chen Yiling said with a pout.
