The trio returned to their seats with a pile of dishes. He Zhilan smelled the delicious food from far away, her stomach grumbling loudly in hunger. Her eyes shone as they landed on He Teng’s dishes - her favorite foods!
In recent times, she had been eating at the restaurant, which solely served dishes favoured by foreigners. Frankly, He Zhilan was tired of it. Now, seeing dumplings, she was truly delighted.
"Sister-in-law likes dumplings?" Kang Xing guessed, watching He Zhilan’s expression. "Then Sister-in-law should eat more. Who knows, the ones you’re eating might have been wrapped by me, Kang Xing. They’re bound to be tasty!"
Niu Rang, on the other hand, kept a respectful distance from the dumplings. He didn’t eat pork, and the dumplings were filled with it. During the festive season, while everyone else enjoyed their dumplings, he happily ate his white rice.
"Dumpling soup, blow on it before eating, I’ve poured some vinegar in there for you," He Teng placed Zhilan’s bowl in front of her. Remembering how clumsy Zhilan had been at lunch, he warned her, "You’re injured, you can’t eat spicy food."
Zhilan pouted. Although she didn’t dare to eat spicy food, she liked to add a bit of vinegar and chili to her soup. A hint of sour and spicy was her favorite flavor.
He Teng handed He Zhilan a spoon. Although her hand was bandaged, a spoon was different from chopsticks. Using her fingers, she could grip the spoon. Even if her movements were a bit awkward and lacked fluency.
Watching He Zhilan trembling with the spoon, Kang Xing and Niu Rang broke into laughter from across the table.
"Eat your food!" He Teng scolded the two of them. He didn’t have the heart to watch Zhilan struggle and wanted to feed her, but with all their comrades and their families around, he couldn’t bring himself to do so in front of everyone.
Thankfully, once Zhilan adjusted for a bit, she found the knack and started happily devouring the plump, white dumplings, her eyes half-closed in satisfaction.
"Eat some vegetables." When He Zhilan’s spoon was empty, He Teng put a pair of chopsticks full of vegetables on her spoon.
"Longevity noodles! Right? At home, during the New Year, Dad would always make them," Zhilan started, "My Dad said it’s a custom. Eating longevity noodles at the New Year grants you a long life." Although Zhilan didn’t particularly enjoy these longevity noodles, she still swallowed them under He Teng’s watchful gaze. Afterwards, she pointed at the braised pork and flashed a grin at He Teng.
"Squad leader, sister-in-law is telling you she wants braised pork," Kang Xing translated helpfully but incurred a cold stare and a scornful glance from Niu Rang, "What she means, wouldn’t the squad leader know? You’re butting in unnecessarily. Eat your food, or else, no sleep for you on Lunar New Year’s Eve, and you’ll get extra night training instead!"
He Teng glanced at the two men bantering across from him and didn’t say anything. Of course, he knew what Zhilan meant. He picked out the lean pieces from the braised pork and put them on Zhilan’s spoon. He remembered that Zhilan was a bit picky and wouldn’t touch a bit of fat.
New Year’s Eve was a major holiday for the people of the country. Someone on the other side started drinking alcohol and soon called He Teng over. Before He Teng stood up, he put all of Zhilan’s favourite dishes into his bowl for her to spoon out. This was much cleaner and more convenient than her using the dumpling soup spoon to serve food from the main dishes, given that Niu Rang and Kang Xing still had to eat from those plates.