The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

Xu Nian's hometown is famous for its noodles. Whether it's dumplings, steamed buns, hand-pulled noodles, or steamed bread, they are all local delicacies.

Although Xu Nian was brought to Yuncheng Abandoned City, where rice is the staple food, at a young age, his ingrained genes still gave him a unique skill in making noodles.

I think back to the last time I made dumplings, it was many years ago.

Xu Nian smacked her tongue and stirred the bowl of food evenly with chopsticks.

"Dumplings? Why do you need to knead dough?"

Xu Xi blinked her big, bright eyes, somewhat puzzled.

In her mind, dumplings were just frozen dumplings bought from the supermarket.

Even if they make them themselves, they buy ready-made dumpling wrappers from the market, and at most buy some meat and vegetables to make the filling.

Xu Nian smiled and gently touched Xu Xi's nose with her flour-covered fingers.

"Silly child, how will you make dumpling wrappers if you don't knead the dough?"

"You can just buy it directly, that would be so convenient."

Xu Nian shook her head.

"The dumpling wrappers sold in the market are made by machine."

"Only dumplings made with dough I knead myself taste the best."

Xu Xi nodded blankly.

Having grown up eating rice, Xu Xi had never seen how noodles were made.

She stood next to Xu Nian, watching his movements carefully.

Xu Nian stirred the flour and water until it solidified, then put down her chopsticks, reached into the bowl, and kneaded the dough vigorously.

Xu Xi opened her eyes wide with curiosity.

It's like playing with playdough when we were kids.

"Brother, let me try."

"Then you'd better study hard."

As she spoke, Xu Nian laid the dough horizontally and kneaded it vigorously twice.

Then, I stood the dough upright and repeated the same action.

He demonstrated to Xu Xi.

"You need to rub in different directions, not stick to one direction, just like a massage."

"Imagine this dough is a piece of clothing that needs to be hand-washed; you have to knead it evenly in every part to get it clean."

Xu Xi nodded obediently, thinking that it was just kneading clay, what could be so difficult about it?

She took the mixing bowl, stretched out her slender little hand, and grasped the dough.

It felt soft to the touch, like holding a sticky cloud.

The warmth of her brother's body still lingered on it.

Xu Xi recalled her brother's actions and imitated him by kneading the dough.

The dough kept changing shape under Xu Xi's skillful little hands.

So making noodles is really that simple?

Xu Xi was somewhat smug, having learned another way to cook food.

However, she soon began to feel the strain.

Kneading dough may look like playing with playdough, but it is actually much more resilient than playdough.

The greater the force applied to it, the greater its rebound force.

With continuous and forceful kneading, Xu Xi's strength was quickly exhausted.

She put down the dough and gasped for breath.

"That's far from enough."

Xu Nian ruffled her hair and chuckled softly.

"It takes at least 20 minutes of kneading to ensure that the flour and water are fully mixed."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xi felt a sudden dizziness.

She was already panting after kneading the dough for only two minutes.

20 minutes, that's going to be the death of me.

However, Xu Xi still showed a defiant expression.

"Leave it to me, brother."

Seeing that Xu Xi still wanted to insist, Xu Nian smiled and went to prepare the dumpling filling.

After resting for a while, Xu Xi stood in front of the washbasin again.

She mustered all her strength, ready to completely conquer this lump of dough.

But as soon as Xu Xi kneaded it a couple of times, she realized something was wrong.

The dough was stuck to the bottom of the bowl, and no matter how hard I tried, I could only tear off a portion of it.

"Brother, the dough is stuck to the bowl and I can't get it off..."

Xu Nian came over upon hearing the noise and, seeing Xu Xi's helpless expression, quickly took the basin from her hands.

"Kneading dough is a continuous process; you can't stop kneading until the dough has taken shape."

"Otherwise, it would end up like this, stuck to the bottom."

Xu Xi wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.

I thought kneading dough would be easy, but I ruined the whole dough as soon as I started.

"Fortunately, it wasn't too badly soiled, so it can still be salvaged."

Xu Nian grabbed a handful of flour, spread it on the bottom of the bowl, and slowly peeled off the part that was stuck to the bottom.

"Kneading dough is hard work, but there are techniques involved."

He took a small stool, placed it under his feet, and stepped onto it.

"You see, if you stand a little higher, you can use your body weight to press down, and you'll have to use less of your own strength."

Xu Xi suddenly realized.

No wonder my brother seems to knead dough much more easily than I do; it's because he's taller than me.

Xu Nian smiled and continued kneading the dough.

"Alright, you usually cook, but today we've encountered something you're not good at, so let your older brother do it."

Seeing this, Xu Xi pouted and nodded somewhat unhappily.

Xu Nian skillfully kneaded the dough, and the pits and bumps on the dough gradually decreased, making its appearance smoother.

Even though I haven't made noodles for many years, the water-to-flour ratio I use when kneading the dough is still perfect.

Xu Nian felt the force of the dough returning to her palm, and she could already predict that the dumpling wrappers would be very chewy this time.

Xu Nian breathed a sigh of relief when the surface of the dough was completely smooth and there was no unevenness in it. She then spread a layer of flour on the bottom of the bowl and covered the bowl and the bowl tightly with a pot lid.

"Brother, is that all?"

Xu Xi asked, puzzled.

Although the dough has become quite beautiful, it is still a far cry from the dumpling wrappers I remember.

"Of course not."

Xu Nian shook her head.

"This is called resting the dough. After kneading the dough, you need to let it rest for a while so that it can relax from its tense state. This will make the texture softer and more glutinous."

Xu Xi nodded thoughtfully.

"Perfect timing, I'll use this time to prepare the dumpling filling."

Xu Nian took out carrots and pork from the refrigerator, first slicing them, then shredding them, and finally dicing them.

Xu Xi felt deeply ashamed of his own inferiority over that knife skill.

After some practice, she was able to cut vegetables into even shreds.

However, Xu Xi simply cannot cut such a tender ingredient as pork in this way.

She recalled that when buying meat at the market, some meat stalls would have meat grinders on display.

At the time, she didn't understand what the purpose of mincing meat was.

Now Xu Xi finally understood; it was used to make dumpling filling.

But since we don't have a meat grinder at home, we have to cut it by hand.

After chopping the carrots and pork, Xu Nian took out the celery that Xu Xi had washed and the shiitake mushrooms that had been soaked earlier, and chopped them into small pieces just like before.

Finally, put all the ingredients into a large bowl, add various seasonings, and mix well by hand.

Xu Nian sniffed the filling and nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, we can start making dumplings now."