New Year's Eve.
Wang Chen made dumplings at home.
The dumpling wrappers were made from flour ground from Cloud Wheat.
Cloud Wheat grew only on high mountains rich in spiritual energy, and its yield was quite low, making it rather expensive.
It was only for these New Year's Eve dumplings that he had bought ten jin of it in Yunlong City.
He truly could not afford to eat it on ordinary days.
As for the filling, he used premium spotted pig tenderloin, winter bamboo shoots from his own bamboo grove, yellow mushrooms picked from the orchard, fish and shrimp scooped from the creek and dried in the sun, green cabbage, and more.
Wang Chen prepared three different flavors.
They filled a large basin to the brim.
As he made the dumplings, Yuan Yuan squatted on the tabletop and watched, its dark, glistening eyes brimming with curiosity.
Wang Chen smiled and reached out, dipping a finger in flour before lightly dotting its little red nose.
Yuan Yuan twitched its nose. "Yiyi~"
The little fellow had recently entered its voice-changing phase, and its cries no longer sounded the same as before.
But it was just as adorable.
"Don't worry."
Wang Chen reassured it, "You'll be able to eat soon."
Today, he would spend his second New Year since crossing over into this world.
To reward himself for the hardship and effort of the past year, Wang Chen put together a lavish New Year's Eve dinner for himself and little Yuan Yuan.
Besides dumplings, there were braised pork bones, braised lion's head meatballs, steamed White Creek fish, a trio of seasonal vegetables, charcoal-roasted beggar's chicken, stir-fried river shrimp with scallions, and more.
He pulled out all the stops and exhausted every bit of his culinary skill.
Yuan Yuan was utterly delighted.
Several dishes