Everyone laughed and Lin Lan was busy reminding them not to choke and to swallow before speaking.
After that, Lin Lan smiled and said, “Let’s make a fortune in the New Year, wang wang wang isn’t a bad idea.”
Wangwang, who was seated below, responded to the situation with a few barks as a response.
Dawang gave it a lucky dumpling to eat and Wangwang immediately licked the child’s feet after eating it.
The children’s bellies were so full after eating that they all leaned on the kang, holding their bellies in their hands. Listening to the New Year’s celebration announcements coming from the radio, they all felt that they were really having a great time this year.
Han Qingsong saw that the children were full and had stopped eating, so he started eating.
Lin Lan saw him picking up the dumpling skins and eating them, so she quickly stopped him, “Eat these whole ones first. We can save the zhong(2) ones for frying later on.”
(T/N: Zhong referred to the dumplings as ‘on point’. They like to think of the splitting as an incident that occurs because the dumpling was made so perfectly that it couldn’t handle itself, causing it to break)
There was a tradition of using auspicious words during the Chinese New Year. If the dumplings were split or broken, the villagers would often refer to them as zhong instead of broken. When the dumplings were being served, they would ask, “Are the dumplings zhong?”
Han Qingsong suddenly looked at her, picked up the wine bottle and said, “Have a drink.”
Lin Lan, “You can drink but I don’t drink. I don’t like drinking.”
Han Qingsong leaned slightly closer to her and said, “You are not a good drinker.”
Lin Lan quickly lowered her head and pretended to drink her dumpling soup.
Han Qingsong echoed, “Then again, you aren’t bad, unlike the child who goes crazy after a drink.”
Lin Lan cleared her throat and pretended not to know, “I don’t even know what you are talking about.”
Han Qingsong saw that her ears and half of her neck were reddening, so he said nothing.
Lin Lan quickly picked up a bowl of cabbage and pork stuffing before giving it to him, intending to stuff his mouth full with dumplings.
Han Qingsong basically grew up in the military. He exercised a lot and had a fast metabolism, so he ate a lot.
Normally, he would make sure that he ate to the point where he was 70% full. After all, there were many children at home, so the kids wouldn’t be full if he had more of his portion.
However, during the New Year meal, one must be content, which would indicate a good harvest in the coming year. Lin Lan made many dumplings and had enough to spare, so he ate them.
As he ate slowly and not rudely, there was a formal sense of beauty in the rising and falling of his chopsticks.
She smiled and said, “Don’t you guys in the army fight for food?” It was interesting to her that he could actually maintain this posture.
Han Qingsong paused for a moment, “In the first two years, I grabbed food with my hands.”
Chopsticks just weren’t able to keep up.
“Later on, no one could keep up with my speed,” There was a glint of a smile in his eyes.
Lin Lan smiled at him and served him another bowl, “Don’t be anxious, chew a little for better digestion.”
She talked to him again as if she was coaxing a child and her eyes were as soft as honey, almost like it was capable of drowning him in sweetness.