Chapter 915: Celebrating the New Year

Lin Dingding was not stupid; how could she possibly pick a fight with Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi? Even if there were conflicts, they would absolutely never surface in public. After all, Hao Shuwen's father was a Corps Commander; although her own family background was decent, it was ultimately not as good as Hao Shuwen's. Since Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi were on the same side, she naturally wouldn't pick a fight with them.

When Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi returned to the dormitory, they had certainly intended to expose Lin Dingding's ugly true colors. As it turned out, Lin Dingding didn't say anything at all and remained as she always was, showing absolutely nothing. It was as if they had punched a cotton ball—like the Seven Injuries Fist, where you beat yourself up first, only to find you had no opponent left to strike when the time came...

Lin Dingding smiled and glanced at Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi. "Oh, Wang Yan, there's something I need to tell you."

"Go ahead."

"It's quite embarrassing to say, but when you came back from performing, you distributed canned goods to Liu Feng and the others. Liu Feng gave his can to me. That night, after I went back, I originally wanted to tease the girls, so I didn't mention Liu Feng. Later, when their guesses became more and more outrageous, I simply said it was a can you had given me."

"They started spreading rumors everywhere about us, and the situation spiraled out of control. I was too embarrassed to speak up, so I just let the mistake continue. I'm really sorry to you, and even more sorry for Liu Feng's good intentions."

She spoke with great caution, carrying a hint of pitifulness.

These words caused the female soldiers at the table to fall silent for a moment. Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi had the question, "Can she really be this shameless?" flash in their eyes, their mouths slightly agape.

He Xiaoping, who had been eating happily, also stopped. Her eyes carefully darted back and forth between them, finally glancing at Liu Feng, who was eating heartily across from her, before lowering her head again, continuing to eat as if she hadn't heard a thing.

As for Little Ballet, Zhuoma, and the others at the table, flashes of surprise, disdain, and other messy thoughts crossed their eyes, but none of them spoke.

Wang Yan asked with a chuckle, "Then why are you embarrassed now?"

"I can hide it for a while, but not forever. If people found out later, I'd be even more embarrassed. Better a short pain than a long one, right? You won't blame me, will you?"

"How could I? You're so beautiful and so popular; it was just a harmless joke. Why would I blame you?"

"I think you're just lustful, you stinky hooligan. Sooner or later, you'll be dragged out to be shot." Hao Shuwen squinted at Wang Yan, seemingly joking casually. But in reality, her hand was already pinching Wang Yan's waist, and quite hard at that.

Wang Yan tilted his head and raised an eyebrow at her, but before he could speak, Lin Dingding smiled. "Wang Yan, you really know how to talk. Thank you."

"Don't be so polite; we're all comrades-in-arms."

"Actually, come to think of it, you gave the can to Liu Feng, and Liu Feng gave it to me—it's not much of a difference. Wang Yan, the troupe leaders everywhere are so good to you, giving you so many cans, and cigarettes too, right?" Lin Dingding looked at Wang Yan, her eyes full of hope and expectation.

"It's all the leaders' kindness, all saved from their own mouths. I truly feel unworthy of it. If I don't serve the soldiers well in the future and can't make them happy, I'd really be letting down the leaders' painstaking efforts."

"Look at that, Wang Yan's awareness is so high. He's worthy of being a great writer—he can write articles and compose songs. He's truly amazing."

"Alright, Lin Dingding, if you keep praising him, you'll have him up in the clouds."

Xiao Suizi spoke up. Lin Dingding had truly opened her eyes; she had never realized before that Lin Dingding had such skills. No wonder a bunch of men swarmed around her. In Hao Shuwen's words, she was a little slut—that was the evaluation Hao Shuwen had previously given Lin Dingding...

"Lin Dingding, you really are something. If it wasn't a can Liu Feng gave you, you should have said so earlier. You had to play such a joke—how boring. Fortunately, Wang Yan is a shameless hooligan; otherwise, the impact would have been terrible."

"Look at you, Wang Yan is so good. But it's true, there have been too many idle rumors. Wang Yan, you don't know, but when there were rumors about you, Hao Shuwen, and Suizi before, I was just watching the fun, asking questions every day."

"I didn't expect that because I made a joke, people would start talking about us too. I remember you said last time that you had to be with Hao Shuwen for two months and then with Suizi—is it my turn yet?"

"We should still pay attention to the impact. If this gets out, people who don't know the truth will really think I've become a landlord. The troupe would have to discipline me." Wang Yan waved his hands repeatedly with a smile. "Hurry up and eat; everyone is tired. Go back and get some good rest."

This table was impossible to stay at. Three women make a play, and Lin Dingding alone was a play in herself. Hao Shuwen was pinching him on one side, Xiao Suizi was staring with resentment on the other, and Lin Dingding was making small talk, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest.

Of course, Wang Yan wasn't embarrassed either, but he still had to take care of Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi's emotions.

Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi were, of course, reasonable. Although they looked down on Lin Dingding in every way, they cared about their reputations and didn't want to stir up conflict. Because that would look like a "three women fighting for a husband" drama, which wasn't appropriate and would have a terrible impact. Lin Dingding was indeed more uninhibited than Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi, so in the hazy ambiguity of not breaking things open, she, the outsider, naturally took some advantage.

If it weren't for this kind of thing, would Hao Shuwen's arrogance as a cadre's child be a joke? If she got angry, she could really slap someone across the face.

Perhaps Lin Dingding had discovered this, which was why she acted this way...

Lin Dingding didn't linger; she said she couldn't eat anymore halfway through and left with her mess kit. Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi waited until Wang Yan finished his meal and washed his mess kit before they left.

Hao Shuwen asked, "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Can I enjoy this? You were too ruthless; I bet you pinched me black and blue."

"I didn't see you grimace."

Wang Yan shook his head. "You still don't understand my painstaking efforts. I was afraid of the bad impact. If people saw, they'd think you were jealous."

"Alright, stop with the cheap talk." Xiao Suizi said, "Wang Yan, you don't really have your eye on Lin Dingding, do you?"

"Not at all. It's just that even a good man fears a woman's pestering. Hey, don't glare at me. I've said it so many times—I can't live with her. She's too dramatic; I wouldn't have a day of peace, and I'd lose years of my life."

Hao Shuwen said, "You know that, yet you chat with her so happily."

"What else can I do? I can't just curse at her."

"I won't sit at your table to eat anymore. Stay away from her; I really can't handle it. I'll definitely have to go out to perform after the New Year. I'll be gone for over a month. Once time passes and she feels it's boring, it'll be fine. Oh right, the cans are in the cabinet in the utility room. If you want to eat them, take them yourselves. Alright, we're here. Go back and get some good rest."

Wang Yan waved his hand and walked gracefully up to the dormitory building.

Seeing him go upstairs, Hao Shuwen let out a long breath. "What do we do?"

Xiao Suizi rolled her eyes. "What can we do? Lin Dingding is shameless, you're not, and I'm not. She acts like nothing happened; if we keep harping on it, it'll look like we're petty. Besides, if word gets out that we're fighting because of Wang Yan, does that sound good? The impact would be terrible. Let's just leave it at that."

"How come I never noticed before that Lin Dingding was like this?"

"Wang Yan is right. If she weren't like this, how could she have so many men swarming around her? None of the girls in our dance troupe are bad—look at anyone else, are they like her? She just saw Wang Yan getting ahead and crowded up to him."

Xiao Suizi grasped the essence and caught the main contradiction.

The two of them tacitly agreed not to discuss their feelings for Wang Yan and condemned Lin Dingding in solidarity...

Wang Yan indeed stopped sitting at the female soldiers' table. Lin Dingding's enthusiasm remained; she didn't care about others' gazes at all, calling Wang Yan over to sit and joking about the rumors between them. Even though Wang Yan dissolved it with a laugh, she wasn't the least bit unhappy and continued to chat happily with the other female soldiers. Especially toward Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi, she was no different.

This was a true master...

The most important time of the year is naturally the New Year. It is a festival of reunion, but of course, there are always many who cannot reunite; there are always some happy and some sad. The soldiers in the army, even the art troupe soldiers, basically cannot go home for the reunion. Those with home leave are, in the end, a minority.

Wang Yan had the treatment of a regular platoon-level cadre, so he naturally had home leave, but he had no home in this world to visit. The art troupe was his home.

On the morning of the 30th, the art troupe blew the reveille, but there was no drill. People had a rare chance to sleep in. It wasn't until breakfast time that everyone straggled to the canteen to eat. Today was millet porridge, white flour steamed buns, and a rare white egg for everyone.

Wang Yan and Liu Feng didn't need to wait for anyone to call them; they finished their breakfast quickly. Wang Yan was now sitting back-to-back with Hao Shuwen again. After finishing his meal, he put his mess kit in front of Hao Shuwen. "Going to slaughter the pigs; wash this for me."

Xiao Suizi said, "They're looking for you and Liu Feng to slaughter pigs?"

"I'm quite a good hand at slaughtering pigs. You two come over later too, help stuff the blood sausages or something." Wang Yan responded with a smile.

"It's too smelly; we're not going."

"Give me your mess kit; I'll wash it for you." On the other side, He Xiaoping said this to Liu Feng.

Under everyone's gaze, Liu Feng shook his head. "No need, I can wash it myself. It's not hard work; Wang Yan is just being lazy."

"Give it to me!" He Xiaoping's voice was a bit louder, very firm.

"Oh~" A group of people started to jeer.

"Comrades helping each other, what's wrong with that? Hao Shuwen washes Wang Yan's mess kit too, so why jeer at me?" Liu Feng wasn't annoyed; he defended himself and still gave the mess kit to He Xiaoping. "Thank you, Comrade He Xiaoping."

He only glanced at Lin Dingding, whose expression was slightly complicated but still showed a smile, and didn't look at her again...

"Coming, Old Zhang, let's go." Wang Yan and Liu Feng went to find the quartermaster.

"Let's go, let's go, we were just waiting for you two." The quartermaster was also straightforward, leading Wang Yan and the other two toward the pigsty in the corner of the art troupe.

At a distance from the pigsty, one could see several large tables, a pile of large basins, and several stoves set up, boiling with hot water. On the ground were several bundles of rope.

Inside the pigsty were the fat pigs, already sprayed white and plump by water, looking exceptionally cute. Of course, to say how fat they were would be an exaggeration; pig-raising technology today certainly wasn't as good as it would be decades later.

The art troupe didn't raise many pigs, only sixteen. The quartermaster had carefully calculated and scraped together some grain to feed them for a year. These few pigs were certainly not enough for the hundreds of people in the art troupe to eat their fill, and they couldn't really finish them all in one meal. They still had to save some to eat for a while, to get through the first month of the lunar year. Today was New Year's Eve, and they had to prepare for tomorrow, so they were going to slaughter eight pigs.

The cooking squad only had eleven people, so they naturally couldn't handle eight pigs. The quartermaster hadn't just found Wang Yan and Liu Feng; there were others. And in the subsequent cleaning process, more people would come to help—to make meat dishes, to wrap meat dumplings—it was all work. That was the one good thing about the army: there was never a shortage of people to work.

The main force for slaughtering the pigs, who had been waiting here a step early, smoking and chatting, all greeted Wang Yan with smiles.

Wang Yan responded politely, rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we get started?"

"Catch the pigs, catch the pigs." People were very excited; they were all waiting to eat meat.

Wang Yan wasn't shy; instead, he took the initiative. He was the first to act, going in and grabbing a pig by its two hooves, dragging it out. "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up!"

"You really have strength."

People praised the strength Wang Yan displayed and quickly divided into six people. Four grabbed the pig's hooves and headed toward the table far from the pigsty, while the other two ran to prepare the ropes to fix the pig's limbs to the table. They worked in cooperation.

Slaughtering a pig is a serious job. In terms of the process, there is catching the pig, binding the pig, slaughtering the pig, removing the hair, and disassembling it. Afterward, there is further processing of the pig, such as cleaning the offal, heart, liver, lungs, etc.

The catching process is not simple. Usually, a few burly men might not be able to control it, and it's easy for the pig to escape, leading to a group of men cursing while playing a game of chasing the pig. So the quartermaster had found relatively strong male soldiers who were quick at working.

But accidents always happen. Wang Yan found it easy to catch pigs in the pigsty; let alone dragging a pig, even if it were a pig weighing several hundred pounds, he could kick it like a ball. But others couldn't, and accidents always happened.

When catching the third pig, the four people receiving the pig lost their grip, causing the fat pig to run toward freedom, grunting. The art troupe became lively, with a group of people yelling and chasing the pig everywhere...

The pig's running didn't stop. It didn't know it was a pig, nor did it know its fate was to be on the dining table. It only felt danger, felt malice, and instinctively chased after the freedom of life.

Until it was caught, its four hooves bound to the table, it still struggled, until a long, sharp slaughtering knife was thrust into its neck artery. Its blood poured into the large basin on the ground like a spring, and it also struggled and hissed with all its might, until it lost its breath due to excessive blood loss.

But the comrades of the art troupe were not sad for its death; not a single person said the pig died miserably. At most, they just said the pig's squealing was too unbearable and felt creepy.

On a row of eight large tables, eight fat pigs lay there neatly. Some had already bled to death, some were still struggling, and some, although the knife hadn't been used yet, saw the fate of their companions and pulled their throats to howl, which was heartbreaking.

But people thought of pork when they saw the pigs, and felt happy when they thought of pork.

Generally speaking, pigs are not slaughtered on the 30th. In some places, women and children are not allowed to watch the slaughter. But obviously, this was the army, and there were no messy rules. So there were still quite a few people surrounding the area, watching the fun, completely ignoring the fishy smell that permeated the air.

Slaughtering a pig still requires skill, which is to be crisp and neat. One knife breaks the throat directly to the heart, and a flip of the knife allows the blood to spray out, trying to ensure the windpipe is not broken so the blood doesn't flow backward. Wang Yan rudely pressed the pig's head with his hand, without any hesitation, and the sharp knife was inserted directly into the pig's neck. With a splash, the blood flowed into the basin Liu Feng had brought.

After washing his hands and sharing a cigarette with Liu Feng, Wang Yan lit one himself and squatted on the ground to smoke, watching the first pig that had been killed in the distance, which had already begun to have its hair removed with hot water.

"Didn't notice, you're quite ruthless." Hao Shuwen stood with her hands behind her back, chest out, like a leader inspecting.

"Slaughtering pigs, what matters is being crisp."

Xiao Suizi looked at the pig on the table whose squealing was getting quieter and quieter. "It's crying too miserably, it's heartbreaking."

"Just tell me if you're going to eat it or not." Hao Shuwen imitated Wang Yan's tone.

"Nonsense, of course I'll eat it. I'm just expressing my feelings."

"Normal. Even if it's a pig's life, it's still a life. But don't be sad; it died with a contribution, letting us eat meat. I heard that foreigners have to pray to their God before eating; maybe it's to hope for forgiveness for the sin of killing for the sake of being full.

Xiao Suizi thought for a moment and said, "I heard it's to thank God for giving them food."

"Isn't that the same? Since it's given by God, then the cows, sheep, and pigs they kill before eating aren't sins, right? Foreigners are just hypocritical." Hao Shuwen looked disdainful.

"Didn't notice, you understand it quite thoroughly."

"That's right, my dad participated in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea and fought foreigners; he told me all this."

Wang Yan smiled and waved his hands. "Alright, go do what you need to do, don't crowd here. What's so good about watching pig slaughtering?"

Xiao Suizi said, "Didn't you ask us to stuff the blood sausages?"

"Are you going to clean the intestines?"

"I'm not cleaning them; they're all poop, dirty and smelly." Hao Shuwen looked disgusted, then sighed. "Don't talk, I'll definitely eat it when it's done. If you clean them, we can stuff the blood sausages, otherwise, I really can't stand it."

Wang Yan shook his head with amusement. "You don't need to. The quartermaster is arranging it; my word doesn't count. Go, go, it's all smelly. Pork is delicious, but it doesn't smell good."

"Then you stay here and get smoked."

This was obviously not a good place for nonsense and chatting. Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi wisely left. As for Lin Dingding, she didn't crowd over at all. Only when Wang Yan's gaze swept over and the two met eyes did she return a brilliant, beautiful smile, her eyes still filled with admiration. Her eyes really could speak; as soon as one saw them, one knew she was saying, "You're so amazing"...

Hao Shuwen said the army was the world of Northerners, and the revolutionary landscape was fought by Northerners. This statement is definitely wrong. But in the art troupe, Northern cuisine was indeed prevalent. It was mainly because Northern dishes generally had heavy oil and salt, which were more suitable than Southern dishes. After all, the quartermaster was from the Northeast, the cooking squad leader was from Shandong, and the rest were also Northerners. Otherwise, they wouldn't talk about making blood sausages.

Very quickly, the pig blood was released, and the cooking squad took it away to process. They had to add green onion, ginger, salt, etc., and also add flour, before stuffing it into the pig intestines.

Wang Yan, together with Liu Feng and others, poured hot water while using a scraper to clean the pig hair. Afterward, naturally, they opened the belly, removed the organs and offal, and divided the pork.

In this regard, Wang Yan was a professional. He was very familiar with animals like chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, and pigs; "Pao Ding disassembling an ox" was about the same. Of course, if he were to talk about what he was most familiar with, that would undoubtedly be humans...

They were busy like this, dividing the meat; every part of the pig would not be wasted. The pork was braised to become pig head meat; the pig trotters didn't have much meat and were all given to the cadres in the troupe. The organs and offal were all cooked today. The bones were used to boil bone soup to increase the flavor of dishes in the future; at least there was oil and meat flavor. The meat was cooked in various ways, but it was mainly saved for dumpling fillings.

Before the New Year, logistics supplies had already begun to be supplied—chickens, ducks, fish, and even beer and liquor were all available. It was impossible to want enough, but it was no problem to eat and drink to one's fill today.

So there was no lunch today; whoever was hungry would drink some of the porridge left over from the morning and eat some steamed buns to cope, just waiting for everyone to eat dumplings in the afternoon...

Other male and female soldiers were naturally not idle, busily pasting couplets, hanging lanterns, cleaning thoroughly, chopping dumpling fillings, and so on. It wasn't just the people in the troupe; the leaders' family members and the family members of cadres at all levels, as long as they were with the army, almost all came.

Those who really had no work to do just wandered around, looking here and there. By the afternoon, a group of people started wrapping dumplings—those who kneaded the dough kneaded the dough, those who rolled the wrappers rolled the wrappers, those who wrapped the dumplings wrapped the dumplings. The aroma of meat had already begun to drift in the kitchen, noisy and full of aroma.

To summarize, it was lively.

Of course, there were always some people who were not lively amidst the liveliness. Either they missed home, or their relatives were undergoing labor reform, or even worse, there was hatred. For example, Chen Can and Zhu Ke watched Wang Yan chatting happily with the political commissar; even the liveliness of the New Year could not make them happy.

Zhu Ke was a little better; whenever the thought of hating Wang Yan arose, the suffocation that woke him up in the middle of the night countless times would well up in his heart, making him sober.

But Chen Can was different; he had been beaten too lightly. Although he always heard Zhu Ke talk about his feelings at the time, he couldn't empathize. But as long as he looked at Xiao Suizi, who was wrapping dumplings over there and turning her head to look at Wang Yan from time to time, and then thought about the humiliation Wang Yan had brought him at the time, his hatred deepened by another point.

"Your schedule after the New Year has already been set. The leaders of the 11th Corps specifically called me and asked you to go to the 11th Corps to perform after the New Year. Still the old rules: two shows per regiment, which is three months. After returning to the regiment to rest for half a month, go to the 14th Corps for three months. Then run another trip separately, and this year will pass.

You have strong ability, and this program of yours cannot be replaced. After all, this kind of program that relies on speaking is not easy to grasp; no one can guarantee whether they will say the wrong thing, which is not a small matter. You are different; you kid are more sensitive than me and can grasp it. Now that you've made a name for yourself, the soldiers love to listen even more, so I have to trouble you. Don't worry, there will definitely be benefits for you."

"Hey, Political Commissar, your awareness is low. What benefits? Isn't it all to serve the soldiers?"

"You're disrespectful, get out of here."

After receiving a light little whip kick, Wang Yan said with a smile, "Political Commissar, there's something you need to arrange."

"Tell me."

"Liu Feng, such a good comrade, shouldn't he be promoted to cadre?"

"Did he ask you to say that?"

"How could that be? Political Commissar, you know what kind of person he is. It's just that he's been close to He Xiaoping recently—that girl, it was Liu Feng who went to Beijing to pick her up, and Liu Feng ran the political review too.

I have a good relationship with Liu Feng. He's such a good person, wholeheartedly doing good deeds, dirty work, bitter work, tiring work—what isn't him? Didn't you see this, Political Commissar, and rate him as a pacesetter every year? Now, who knows when the two of them will break through that layer of window paper and get together? Revolutionary love of free love cannot be delayed, right?"

Hearing Wang Yan say this, Ning Shan's furrowed brows relaxed. He smiled and said, "I said, isn't Liu Feng that kind of person? This kid is upright, steady, and stable; I just like soldiers like this. Do you think I'm appointing people by favoritism? Not doing things without gifts? I was already planning to promote him to cadre this year; do you need to run out and sell favors?"

"Otherwise, why say the Political Commissar is wise? Look at our art troupe, harmonious from top to bottom; it's all the Political Commissar's wise leadership."

"Alright, stop the flattery. Let Liu Feng rest assured; the troupe won't forget him, this pacesetter."

"Alright."

"Get out."

Ning Shan ignored Wang Yan and turned to chat with others. Now everyone was busy wrapping dumplings, and people were all there. He, the head of the art troupe, also took the opportunity to chat with the comrades, exchange feelings, and also recognize people.

People in the art troupe came quickly and in large numbers. Those transferred from lower-level art troupes, those specially recruited locally, those who joined through normal enlistment processes, and so on.

At this time, the army had as many as six million personnel; it was the strongest land army on the surface and also the largest military organization on the surface. So one could imagine how heavy the task of the art troupe was...

Wang Yan said goodbye to Ning Shan with a smile and beckoned to Liu Feng, who was wrapping dumplings there.

"What's the matter? We're wrapping dumplings here."

"Go out and smoke a cigarette." Wang Yan walked away as he spoke.

Liu Feng had no choice but to pat the flour on his hands, feeling a bit pained—this was all white flour. Yes, the New Year's dumplings were naturally pure white flour dumplings with meat filling.

After leaving the canteen and arriving at the corner, each lit a cigarette. Liu Feng said, "I saw you talking to the Political Commissar just now?"

"Look, you're concerned about it too, right? The Political Commissar said you're an upright, steady, and stable kid, and he just likes soldiers like this."

Liu Feng turned his brain and asked, "Promotion?"

Wang Yan nodded and exhaled smoke lightly. "He said he was already planning to promote you to cadre this year, so let you rest assured. I even mentioned He Xiaoping—I just used the matter between you and He Xiaoping as an opening. I saw He Xiaoping take the initiative to wash your mess kit today; that's good, keep it up, strive to get things done this year. When the time comes, take home leave and take her home to see. When people see, 'Whoa, the daughter-in-law of the Liu family is really beautiful'..."

"Go, go, go, what are you talking about? It's not even a shadow yet."

"What did I tell you before? He Xiaoping just can't stand others being good to her. Anyway, I'll say it again: as long as you take one-tenth of the effort you put into being attentive to Lin Dingding, this matter between you and He Xiaoping will be done. He Xiaoping doesn't look any worse than Lin Dingding; be content, it's all cheap for you."

"That's not right. If you say so, He Xiaoping should have a good impression of you. I remember it all: you were concerned about whether she was adapting, concerned about her father's health, and even prescribed medicine..."

"If you say so, it's also right. Blame my damn charm; Lin Dingding is even throwing flirtatious glances at me every day."

"No, are you finished yet?"

"It's hard in this life. Even after retirement, when we old comrades-in-arms have a gathering, I'll have to bring it up and mention it a couple of times."

Liu Feng looked like he wanted to die, but what could he do? Fight? He couldn't beat him. Curse? He couldn't open his mouth. Just endure it...

After smoking a cigarette while laughing and joking, the two washed their hands again and went to wrap dumplings with the people.

To be honest, Wang Yan really wasn't idle today—catching pigs, slaughtering pigs, disassembling pigs, helping the cooking squad chop vegetables and prepare ingredients, and now he had joined the team wrapping dumplings.

Mainly, he was also curious; this was a different New Year experience. Even if he was a great general in ancient times, celebrating the New Year lively with his subordinates was never this New Year. No matter what these people in the art troupe were like, he felt it was quite good to be lively with them.

"Just watching you wander around, work." Hao Shuwen scolded Wang Yan.

Shaking his head with amusement, Wang Yan went over and took the rolling pin from Xiao Suizi's hand. "You wrap the dumplings, I'll roll the wrappers."

"Good!" Xiao Suizi smiled brightly and made room for Wang Yan. She liked these seven words Wang Yan said very much; there was a sense of destiny of a lifetime.

"You can even roll wrappers?" Looking at Wang Yan's look of caring for the mentally disabled, Hao Shuwen curled her lips.

"Not only can I roll wrappers, I can roll more than ten at a time. Watch closely, I'll show you a hand."

Hao Shuwen and Xiao Suizi were on the left and right, Wang Yan stood, and with a "ka ka ka," he patted the small dough balls into cakes one by one, dipped them in flour, and then both hands started working, seven or eight dough cakes in one hand...

Lin Dingding, who was wrapping dumplings slowly at a table, calling it exquisite and leak-proof, was admiring again: "Wang Yan, you're really amazing, you roll dumpling wrappers so well..."

Hao Shuwen...

Xiao Suizi...

Wang Yan... ===== CHAPTER 916 =====