Reborn in the 60s, I hunt to support my family and even seduce the village beauty.

Chang Kun, as the head chef, flipped the wok with lightning speed.

After stir-frying the deer meat, add oil, scallions, and ginger, then stir-fry the pheasant meat briefly, add water, cover, and simmer to make soup.

With two pots running simultaneously on the stove—one for stewing soup and steaming fish, and the other for stir-frying vegetables—he managed to keep up all the work by himself.

Liu Meifen handed out seasonings, Chang Mei helped arrange the plates, and Liu Meiling assisted in washing vegetables; the kitchen was bustling with activity.

"Xiao Kun's cooking skills are much better than your father's," Liu Meifen muttered as she added a spoonful of water to the pot.

Chang Dashan heard this from inside the courtyard and poked his head in: "What's wrong with me cooking? Back when you married into this family, didn't you eat my cooking every day?"

"You still have the nerve to say that? You can burn even a simple stir-fried cabbage! You still have the nerve to bring it up!" Liu Meifen retorted without even turning her head.

Chang Dashan snorted, turned back, and continued setting the table.

This old woman, she'll remember burning a cabbage once when she was young for the rest of her life...

At this moment, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and Sun Xiulan and Cheng Rongjiang walked in, followed by Cheng Min, who was carrying two bags of pastries.

Liu Meifen quickly went out to greet her, wiping her hands on her apron and taking Sun Xiulan's hand: "My dear in-law, you're here? Come in and sit down."

Sun Xiulan smiled and agreed, glancing towards the kitchen. She smelled the delicious aroma filling the yard and thought to herself that her in-laws were really good, treating her family to such a grand welcome.

My aunt had just returned from the state-run restaurant. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she rolled up her sleeves and shouted, "I'll help."

Liu Meifen pulled Sun Xiulan to sit down in the courtyard, and then invited her aunt and Liu Meiling. The women sat down around the stone table, making dumplings and chatting.

Xiuer and Zixia stopped making a fuss and squatted down to watch them pack. One of them reached out and pinched off a piece of dough, trying to shape it into a little rabbit, but Liu Meifen slapped it away.

Cheng Min moved a small stool and sat next to Sun Xiulan, and started making dumplings as well, pinching the dumpling wrappers with her fingers, her movements very nimble.

The kitchen was suddenly empty, leaving only Chang Kun, Chang Dashan, and Cheng Rongjiang.

Chang Dashan stood there for a while, unable to get involved, then moved a stool to sit by the stove and took out a cigarette.

Cheng Rongjiang also moved a stool and sat down. Chang Dashan handed him a cigarette, which he took and lit with a match for two cigarettes.

The two sat side by side, watching Chang Kun busy himself at the stove, the spatula flying and the smoke rising.

"It's a glorious tradition of the Chang family: women just can't cook as well as men," Chang Dashan said slowly, exhaling a puff of smoke.

Cheng Rongjiang nodded, deeply agreeing: "It's absolutely true that all the head chefs are men... None of the head chefs I know are women."

Chang Dashan chuckled twice: "That's right! Look at Xiao Kun's skills, he's no worse than the head chef of a state-run restaurant."

Cheng Rongjiang watched Chang Kun flipping the wok and laughed, "With this skill, this son-in-law is truly impeccable."

The three little girls came home from school together. Before they even put their schoolbags down, they saw a group of people gathered around a table in the yard making dumplings.

Xiao Qing's eyes lit up. She threw her schoolbag on the stool and pulled Xiao Mu and Xiao Shui to wash their hands.

While washing her hands, Xiao Mu muttered, "I want to make one too. The ones you made last time were so pretty."

She forgot about the dumplings she made, and they all burst open after being put into the pot...

Xiao Shui nodded in agreement, her sleeves rolled up high.

Liu Meifen frowned when she saw the way the three of them were making dumplings: "You're making dumplings? What you're making is supposed to be dumplings? You made a pot of sliced ​​noodle soup last time, forgot?"

"That was last time! This time it'll definitely be wrapped better!"

Xiao Qing was unconvinced and had already started grabbing dough balls from the basin.

Liu Meifen couldn't stop them, and Xiao Mu and Xiao Shui joined in as well.

The girls pinched dough, rolled out wrappers, and scooped filling. They were quite fast, but the dumplings they made were crooked and uneven, some with their openings open and others with filling spilling out.

The one from Xiaoqingbao was even more outrageous; the filling squeezed out completely and stuck to my hand.

Liu Meiling laughed first, then Sun Xiulan laughed too, and the aunt laughed so hard she slapped her thigh.

Liu Meifen, furious, picked up the dumpling that had leaked filling and waved it in front of Xiaoqing: "This is what you made?"

Xiao Qing, her face still covered in flour, stubbornly insisted, "It won't leak! It's just that there's a bit too much filling."

The people around them laughed even harder.

Xiao Mu and Xiao Shui Bao weren't much better off; Xiao Mu's was flat and looked like an ear.

The small one didn't leak, but its shape was crooked and it drooped down after being placed on the canopy for a while.

Liu Meifen picked them up one by one to look at them, and the more she looked, the angrier she became. She sent them aside to wash their hands and told them to come back and obediently roll out the dough, and not to wrap any more.

At this moment, the courtyard gate was pushed open again, and Liu Meilin, the younger brother-in-law, and Yang Lijun, the brother-in-law, walked in together.

The two, unaware that they had met on the road, chatted and laughed together.

Upon entering and seeing the people in the courtyard, he first called out to them. He then noticed that only Chang Kun was busy in the kitchen, while Chang Dashan and Cheng Rongjiang sat side by side by the stove smoking. Both of them were amused.

"These two dads just sit there smoking and don't do any work," Liu Meilin said with a laugh.

Chang Dashan turned around and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke: "The chef is here, we can't get involved."

Cheng Rongjiang smiled and nodded, without even lifting his buttocks.

Having been fathers for half their lives, isn't this the time to enjoy the blessings of their children and grandchildren? The two old men are quite content.

Yang Lijun rolled up his sleeves and walked into the kitchen: "Brother-in-law, let me help you."

Liu Meilin followed in, washed her hands, and took the spatula from Chang Kun.

Chang Kun was happy to have some peace and quiet, so he stepped aside and lit a cigarette.

The remaining stir-fried broccoli is quite simple; there's no need to worry about my uncle burning it.

My uncle and Hongxia were the last to arrive.

My uncle greeted me with a smile as he entered the yard, saying, "I'm late, I'm late," with a friendly expression.

Hongxia followed behind him, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle, not even lifting her eyelids, clearly unhappy.

Liu Meifen went up to Hongxia, took her hand, and looked her up and down: "Hongxia, what's wrong? Who upset you?"

Before Hongxia could speak, her uncle snorted and his face darkened.

"Ask her! The blind date we found for her last time was such a great guy, but she stood him up!"

I ran into that family today, and they asked me, "What does your daughter look like? I've never even seen my son..." How am I supposed to put my face like that?

Hongxia lowered her head, pouted even more, and shuffled her toes on the ground.

My uncle got angrier and angrier, and his voice rose a little: "Look at you, how old are you? Running around all day, not doing anything productive! You don't go on blind dates, you won't meet the matchmakers, how long are you going to keep putting it off?"

The courtyard was quiet for a moment.

Liu Meifen patted Hongxia's hand and winked at her brother-in-law, saying, "Alright, alright, the child is grown up and has her own ideas. You should say less."

Then he turned to Hongxia and said, "Don't take your dad's words to heart. Come on, let's go make dumplings with your aunt."

Hongxia was pulled by Liu Meifen towards the stone table. Halfway there, she turned back and glared at her uncle.

Uncle was about to say something more when Chang Dashan stopped him: "Alright, alright, we're happy today, let's not talk about this."

Cheng Rongjiang also stood up and gestured for him to sit down. The uncle sighed, took the cigarette Chang Dashan offered, lit it, and took a silent puff.