Everything I bought on online shopping platforms was genuine.

Before dark, Lin Mo drove Lao Wan home, then drove back to his apartment complex. The day before the Lunar New Year was over peacefully.

However, I heard that his cousin is still stuck in traffic on the highway. It's so pitiful. It would be good if she could get home before 9 pm tonight.

Fortunately, most people have mobile phones nowadays, so they can watch the Spring Festival Gala online even on the highway, so they don't feel lonely.

As for young people not watching the Spring Festival Gala now? That's under normal circumstances. But if you're stuck in traffic on the highway, being able to watch the Spring Festival Gala is already quite good. It's just a pity that the Spring Festival Gala doesn't have that man anymore, so there's no anticipation at all.

As soon as Lin Mo went upstairs, he saw his mother sitting on the sofa, eating sunflower seeds and idly looking at her phone.

"I'm home?"

"Um, where's my dad?" Lin Mo asked after changing his clothes.

Mom Zhou Min chuckled and said, "What did your dad say? He's still out playing cards."

"By the way, son, now that you own a restaurant, do you know how to make dumplings?"

Lin Mo: "Uh, I'm not familiar with this!"

"What? You can't even make dumplings, yet you dare to open a restaurant? How dare you?" Zhou Min, the mother, exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Lin Mo:
It has to be said that this thing really touched on his blind spot. The key point is that he was at the restaurant on Wednesday, and no one ordered dumplings for him.
He had never tried cooking before, so naturally he had no idea how to learn.

"Mom, that's a restaurant, not a dumpling shop. Of course, if you can accept chicken dumplings, I might give it a try!" Lin Mo said helplessly.

If the culinary master can't help on Wednesday, then we can only rely on someone who's been making chicken for 30 years. Chicken dumplings aren't common, but they can definitely make them.

"Go away, go away, chicken dumplings? What are those? We only have two kinds of fillings tonight: pork and scallion, and chives, eggs and shrimp. I've already prepared the fillings, and we're just waiting to wrap them."

"If your dad comes home late today, you'll have to learn from me. We're even opening a restaurant!" Mom Zhou Min rolled her eyes at him and said.

Lin Mo had no choice but to accept this. "If you're so capable, wait until tomorrow when I'll show you what I've got."

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, the first day of the Lunar New Year, which happens to be a Wednesday. He needs to let his parents know his capabilities.

As for making dumplings, his mother is really good at it. Although his father usually cooks at home, he sometimes had to work during the Chinese New Year and couldn't help, so his mother learned how to make them herself.

But just hearing the name of this so-called chive, egg and shrimp dumpling reminded him of Liu Ruyan's blind box dumplings, which were truly amazing!

The mother and son rested in the living room for a while and chatted about what happened that afternoon. At 6:30 p.m., his mother started kneading dough.

At 7:30, his mother turned on the TV on time and started watching the Spring Festival Gala. Although her attention wasn't on it, she still had to turn on the TV to make some noise in the house.

This is probably the most important function of his TV throughout the year.

"Mom, I want to ask you something. Why do you watch a comedy sketch about making dumplings while you're making them?" Lin Mo asked while clumsily helping to roll out the dumpling wrappers.

There's a guy on TV who's a dumpling-making expert. He doesn't even need to watch it to know that the final theme will definitely be making dumplings. It's so unoriginal.

Hearing this, Zhou Min, the mother, gave him a speechless look and said, "Because there are no other sketches to watch, if my daughter-in-law comes over, I'll watch her, won't I? Why would I need to watch this crappy TV? You tell me, should I watch it or not?"

"Of course, of course, of course. Look, I'll turn the TV volume up for you," Lin Mo quickly stopped talking, not wanting to ask any more questions.

"Has your cousin Xiaohe arrived home yet?"

"No, I heard she's still on the highway. But she just sent a message saying she'll be back soon. Don't worry, she'll definitely be back," Lin Mo said.

In response, Mom couldn't help but shake her head and complain, "What kind of lousy company is this? Giving us holidays so late, and she's not even looking for a boyfriend. This girl is driving me crazy!"

This time, Lin Mo learned his lesson and simply didn't respond. What if he got himself into trouble?
A moment of silence fell over the room, the atmosphere somewhat oppressive. Just as Lin Mo was pondering how to break the deadlock, the next second:
"What are you yelling about? Hurry up and roll out the dough!"

Lin Mo:
He discovered that in situations where women might feel awkward, their behavior of framing others and refusing to admit wrongdoing is often subconscious and instinctive; it just comes out of their mouths.

Lin Mo sped up the rolling of the dough, almost causing sparks to fly from the rolling pin, but the mother and daughter finally finished wrapping the dumplings a little after nine o'clock in the evening.

Just then, with a click, Lin Junmin, the father who had disappeared all day, returned to his hometown with a smug look on his face. "Oh~~~ isn't this Mr. Lin? You've done well playing cards, haven't you? You've finished all the work and only just come back. Come on, sit down, let your son give you a shoulder massage!" His mother's distinctive voice came over.

"Ahem, of course you deserve credit. You won 210 today. How about that?" As he spoke, he pulled out two red bills and placed them on the coffee table. Old Lin said with a smug look on his face.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Min, the mother, rolled her eyes at him and said, "Then the rest of the work is yours. My son and I are going to rest!"

After saying that, he casually shoved the two hundred yuan into his pocket.

Seeing this, Comrade Lin opened his mouth, somewhat angry but not daring to speak out. He wished he had said less.

Although Lin Mo gave Comrade Lao Lin one million, it was money for repairing the old house, and it was for this purpose only. If it was discovered that he had embezzled it, Lao Lin would be severely punished.

"Son, tell me that at 12 o'clock in a little while, Yanyan will send me a video. Which clothes should I wear?"

Will my future in-laws appear?

Faced with his mother's nagging, Lin Mo felt helpless. He would definitely call to say hello, but a video meeting between the two sets of parents was probably out of the question, unless it was to discuss the engagement. Otherwise, it would be better for the parents not to meet.

Soon, as time went by, the sounds of fireworks and firecrackers outside became more frequent, and flashes of light from fireworks would occasionally appear outside the window.

Since starting university two years ago, he has noticed a phenomenon: every year around the Chinese New Year, the national illiteracy rate rises sharply, and many people say they cannot read.

For example, when the state stipulated a complete ban on setting off fireworks and firecrackers, it seemed that no one understood it. When the police asked them, they said they didn't know, that they didn't understand the law, and that they were illiterate.

Jiangning has also issued a notice saying that fireworks are prohibited throughout the entire Jiangning area, but there is no place in Jiangning that is called the "entire area".

Jiangning City is one thing, their management is extremely strict, but from the prefecture-level cities down, no one listens.

Take the southern part of the city, for example. You can't see a single fireworks vendor on the streets and alleys most of the time, but there are always fireworks at the end of the year.

In severe cases, they would release the animals and then flee. The city organized a manpower to catch them for a period of time, but found that they couldn't catch them all, so they had to assign people to watch over them and release them.
This was especially rampant in rural areas, where village chiefs would wave their hands and buy from each household at will, doing whatever they pleased.

If the police come into the village, it's because: "My grandpa set it off," "He's 96 this year," "You're not going to arrest him, are you?" "I didn't buy it, it was handmade," "I used to make it by hand when I was little," "My old man was a soldier when he was young."

In county towns and above, at least there are police officers keeping an eye on things, but in townships and rural areas, they really don't pay any attention to you.

Young people in rural areas have many different identities. Outside, I'm a college student, but in the village, I'm a farmer because I can't read!

As the night wore on, the fireworks outside grew more and more intense. Finally, at 11 p.m., Dad brought the dumplings to the table: "Come on, come on, dinner's ready!"

Lin Mo had just gotten up to eat when his mother pulled him into the kitchen and stuffed a bucket of soybean oil into his arms.

Lin Mo: ? ? ?
"What's wrong?"

"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and carry me downstairs for a run!" Mom Zhou Min said.

Lin Mo's eyes widened: "A jar of meat oil? But where's the jar? Why are you stuffing a whole bucket of soybean oil into my hands?"

"Oh dear, we didn't prepare any jars at home. I just remembered, you'll have to make do with these!" Mom said, pushing him towards the door.

Seeing this, Lin Mo quickly said, "No, it's not true. We don't even have a jar of lard, so it definitely won't work. How about you buy a jar tomorrow and I'll carry it?"

"No, it won't work after midnight. Hurry up, don't worry, they're all for storing oil, so they're about the same!" Mom said.

Upon hearing this, Lin Mo used his heel to brake: "Mom, Mom, this is soybean oil, not lard, it won't work, it's too cold outside!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a piece of fatty meat was stuffed into his mouth.

"Hey, this is lard, don't swallow it! Get lost!"

As he spoke, Lin Mo was pushed out. With a bang, the door closed, and Lin Mo, holding a bucket of soybean oil and with a piece of fatty meat in his mouth, stood alone and disheveled outside the door.

(End of this chapter)