After leaving Xu Shanshan's room, Li Yifei went straight to the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Auntie, let me do the chopping."
Xu Yingying's mother immediately responded with a smile, "No need, no need. You go play."
"I've just played for half the day. I'm all stiff from sitting; it's a good time to move about." Li Yifei took the kitchen knife without further ado, his wrist flicked, and he began to chop the filling.
At this moment, Xu Yingying's mother watched Li Yifei with even greater fondness. In the eyes of the older generation, having money and ability was certainly important, but Xu Yingying was now the head of a company. Having a daughter who could earn money was enough. A man like Li Yifei, who could cook so well and take care of the home, was what they valued even more.
"Auntie, you should take a rest. You've also worked hard all year, and you deserve a break. Tonight, leave everything to me." Li Yifei went on as Xu Yingying's mother still stood behind him, turning around with a radiant smile.
"Alright, for so many years, it's always been me bustling about, while the three of them lazed around. Today, it's my turn to relax."
"From now on, Auntie, you can relax every New Year when I'm here."
"Good child, Yingying really has a sharp eye in finding you."
Xu Yingying's mother returned to the living room and said to her husband, who was pruning the family's bonsai, "Old man, I'm growing fonder and fonder of Little Li. Our Yingying's life will be blessed with him by her side."
Xu Zhenguo chuckled and said, "Yes, even you, the old mother-in-law, have been liberated. How can it not be good?"
"Eh, Mom, weren't you chopping the filling?" asked Xu Shanshan as she ran out and saw her mother sitting on the sofa, cracking melon seeds and watching TV, and immediately called out in surprise.
"Your brother-in-law snatched the job from me, so I just retired."
Xu Shanshan immediately exclaimed dramatically, "Wow, you're treating my brother-in-law like a laborer?"
Xu Shanshan's mother glared at her and said, "What nonsense are you talking about, child?"
Xu Shanshan stuck out her tongue, then giggled and ran to the kitchen, where she stopped at the doorway. Her eyes widened as she watched Li Yifei now holding a kitchen knife in each hand, the knives moving swiftly up and down, making rapid noises. All the while, he continuously flipped the filling without slowing down or making a single sound of contact between the knives.
After watching for a good half a minute, Xu Shanshan stuttered, "Brother-in-law... are you performing some kind of juggling act here?"
Li Yifei didn't stop his hands and looked toward Xu Shanshan with a smile, "What kind of juggling?"
"This... it's just too fast, isn't it?" Xu Shanshan pointed at Li Yifei.
Li Yifei's knives danced in his hands, scooping up the already chopped filling into a bowl nearby, leaving not a single trace of minced meat on the cutting board.
Xu Shanshan rushed over to hug Li Yifei's arm, exclaiming excitedly, "Wow, brother-in-law, are you chopping filling or performing? This is the first time I've seen someone turn such a tedious task into something so pleasing. Brother-in-law, you're really cool."
Li Yifei slapped his two knives down on the cutting board and laughed heartily, saying, "This is the first time I've been called handsome for chopping filling."
"It's really handsome, this is practically an art; those commoners definitely can't see it, only I can appreciate it."
Li Yifei couldn't help but smile and said, "Are you praising me, or are you praising yourself?"
"Both, both, we're kindred spirits, giggle." Xu Shanshan laughed cheerily.
With the beautiful Xu Shanshan watching by his side, Li Yifei felt an urge to show off. He made the cleaver dance even more impressively, causing Xu Shanshan to scream and shout in amazement.
"What are you yelling for?" Xu Yingying came out from the bedroom at this moment, frowning as she entered the kitchen. But as soon as she saw Li Yifei's dancing cleaver, she was startled and quickly pulled Xu Shanshan away, scolding Li Yifei, "What are you doing, chopping filling or performing tricks? What if you accidentally hurt someone?"
The same phrase "performing tricks", but coming from the mouths of sisters Xu Yingying and Xu Shanshan, had completely different meanings. Xu Shanshan's words were filled with admiration and praise, whereas Xu Yingying's were critical.
Xu Shanshan, very dissatisfied with her sister pulling her away, leaned forward and said, "Stop causing a fuss here; you're disturbing my view of brother-in-law chopping the filling."
Xu Yingying immediately put on her older sister's air, glared, and said, "What's there to watch about chopping filling? You've grown so big and I've never seen you in the kitchen, so what are you mixing in here for now?"
By this time, Li Yifei had finished chopping the filling and had also put it into the filling bowl. He said, "Alright, it's done. Shanshan, you and your sister should go out, or else your sister might take it out on me later."
Xu Shanshan, still not having had her fill of watching, immediately directed her dissatisfaction at her sister, pouting and saying, "Brother-in-law, I really don't understand how you can tolerate my sister, she's such a killjoy."
Xu Yingying immediately got annoyed and snapped, "What did you say?"
Xu Shanshan unyieldingly responded, "I said you're a killjoy. Something that's clearly fun, in your eyes, becomes dangerous. Being with you is just boring, utterly boring!"
Seeing the sisters about to quarrel again, Li Yifei hastily tried to smooth things over and pulled Xu Yingying, saying, "Yingying, don't be angry, I shouldn't have shown off. If anyone's to blame, it's me, not Shanshan."
Xu Shanshan immediately pouted, saying, "See that? That's how magnanimous my brother-in-law is."
Xu Yingying then remembered Li Yifei's identity and her expression softened, but she still glared at her sister and said, "He can be thoughtless, and you join in the chaos. What if you get hurt by mistake? I'm doing this for your own good."
Xu Shanshan was ungrateful, snorted, and said, "Spare me your 'for your own good' routine. You always like to impose your will on me, why? I am me, you are you; what you like doesn't mean I like it, and what you don't like doesn't mean I don't."
"You..." Xu Yingying's chest heaved, clearly quite angry.
"It's the New Year, let's all speak nicely. You're the older sister, give in to your younger sister a bit." Li Yifei pulled Xu Yingying again.
Xu Yingying huffed and turned to walk out. Xu Shanshan stuck her tongue out at Xu Yingying's back, then turned to Li Yifei with a mischievous smile and asked, "Brother-in-law, aren't you going to continue?"
Li Yifei shrugged his shoulders and said, "The filling is all chopped up; now we just have to wait for the dumplings to be wrapped."
Xu Shanshan pouted unhappily and said, "It's all my sister's fault, she ruined my fun."