What creep could resist a temptation like this!

Lin Zhe stayed on duty at the front desk until ten thirty that night.

He couldn't be bothered to go home, so he went straight to the vacant guest room across from Dan Teng's.

As soon as he stepped inside, he received a message from Lin Xiaomeng on WeChat.

The message was a shared video link.

Lin Zhe opened it and took a look. It was a tutorial on making three-delicacy dumplings by an elderly content creator on BL Station who went by "Old Northeastern Cuisine."

If it had been a pretty cook like "Melbourne Treasure" or "Zhang Yuanyuan," Lin Zhe would have watched from beginning to end and thrown in a one-click like, coin, and favorite.

But an old fellow like this? Forget it. He closed the video after just three seconds.

After closing the video, Lin Zhe replied directly to Lin Xiaomeng: Do what you want to do. Be bold and give it a try. I'll always support you!

Lin Xiaomeng's home, Lin Family Village.

"Yes!"

After seeing Lin Zhe's reply, Lin Xiaomeng spun around excitedly in her room several times!

"I knew Zhe would support me! See? Hehe!"

Lin Xiaomeng looked at his reply on her phone, an innocent, goofy smile spreading across her face.

"This mission has to succeed. Failure isn't an option! I can't let Zhe down."

"Most, most, most importantly, I can't waste the eggs when we already have so few."

"No, no, I'd better try it at home first. Watch it a few more times and practice a few more times!"

"Otherwise, if the aunties in the kitchen notice how rusty I am tomorrow, that'll be so embarrassing!"

"I'm the head chef at Fortunate Appetite now. I can't let people look down on me!"

At that thought, Lin Xiaomeng instantly stopped feeling sleepy.

Wearing only a pale pink tank top and matching shorts, she slipped on a pair of sandals and left her room.

Seeing that her grandmother's light was already off, Lin Xiaomeng tiptoed outside like a thief and went into the little kitchen in the courtyard.

The kitchen light was a little dim, but she could just about see.

They had eggs at home, as well as fresh Chinese chives cut from their own vegetable patch.

She opened the video on her phone and played it over and over, picking up the key points it explained.

As a "young veteran cook" with more than ten years of hands-on kitchen experience, Lin Xiaomeng naturally knew how to make dumplings. She already had the basics down.

She soaked the wood ear mushrooms, kneaded the dough, fried the eggs, chopped the chives, and mixed the filling ingredients together.

After practically one viewing, she had grasped every key point in the tutorial. Her ability to learn was beyond question.

In just over half an hour, Lin Xiaomeng filled a round tray about forty centimeters across with dumplings.

She had also used up exactly all the dough and filling, without wasting a single bit.

Her dumplings were as pretty as she was, each with thin wrappers, generous filling, and an exquisitely neat shape. They looked almost machine-made.

There was no refrigerator at home to store food, and raw dumplings wouldn't keep, so once the water boiled, Lin Xiaomeng put them all into the pot.

Before long, the dumplings floated to the surface like little gold ingots.

"Not bad, not bad. A complete success!"

Seeing that none of her dumplings had split open or leaked their filling, Lin Xiaomeng couldn't help praising herself a little.

As the saying went, dumplings needed three boils and noodles two. The rules of cooking couldn't change.

When the water came to a boil for the third time, Lin Xiaomeng scooped all the dumplings out with a slotted spoon.

None had split or leaked during cooking, either. Only a few tiny droplets of oil floated in the cooking water.

"Whoo, whoo, whoo!"

Lin Xiaomeng picked up a dumpling with her chopsticks, blew on it to cool it, and gently took a bite.

The fragrance of the eggs, the distinctive aroma of the chives, and the scent of the wood ear mushrooms blended perfectly. So fresh, so delicious!

No wonder they were called three-delicacy dumplings. Combining these three seemingly simple ingredients produced an absolutely incredible flavor!

"Perfect! Success!"

"If I used the canteen's eggs instead, they'd definitely taste even better!"

"Now the canteen can add another staple to our menu, which is so simple it's almost embarrassingly sparse."

After finishing one dumpling, Lin Xiaomeng felt these three-delicacy dumplings deserved a place on the Good Fortune Canteen's menu.

"Zhe was still awake so late. He must be hungry too, right?"

Looking at the stainless steel basin filled with dumplings, Lin Xiaomeng thought of Lin Zhe, who was on duty at the inn.

They had eaten dinner at the Good Fortune Canteen sometime after seven, more than four hours ago.

"It's so hot. If they spoil after sitting in the kitchen all night, that'd be such a waste."

"Zhe is always so good to me, and he thinks so highly of me. He promoted me to manager and gave me a raise."

"It's only right that I bring him some dumplings I made, isn't it?"

"Then it's happily settled!"

Lin Xiaomeng quickly found herself plenty of reasons to bring Lin Zhe some food.

First, she took out a large bowl and left a serving for her grandmother. Then she packed up the rest, hopped on her little electric scooter, and headed out.

Although Lin Family Village was only a small village, its proximity to the Mount Sanqing scenic area meant it benefited quite a bit from the tourist trade.

Many villagers had converted unused rooms in their homes into guest accommodations to earn rental income.

There were also quite a few restaurants and fruit shops along the roadside, and these businesses earned their money from the scenic area's visitors too.

Outside Lin Family Village, a two-lane asphalt road led straight to the scenic area, with cycling lanes on either side. Traveling it at night wasn't particularly dangerous.

Lin Xiaomeng and the other girls normally took this road to and from work, so they knew it well.

After an eight-minute ride, Lin Xiaomeng arrived at the inn with the dumplings still warm.

She crossed the inn's courtyard and entered the lobby, feeling a surge of fond familiarity at the sight of the front desk where she used to work.

Lin Zhe wasn't at the front desk, but the light was on in the guest room at the corner of the corridor.

Guessing that he hadn't gone to bed yet, Lin Xiaomeng took out her phone and started a voice call.

"Zhe, I made some dumplings and couldn't finish them, so I brought you some..."

Creak.

Before Lin Xiaomeng could finish, Lin Zhe opened the guest room door and came out in his slippers.

"Running around alone this late? Aren't you putting a little too much faith in how safe the area around here is?"

Seeing that Lin Xiaomeng had dared to ride to the scenic area alone so late at night, Lin Zhe couldn't help worrying about her.

There were plenty of transient visitors around the scenic area, with all sorts of people mixed together.

For a young woman, especially one as pretty and shapely as Lin Xiaomeng...

Going out alone late at night was far too dangerous!

And Lin Xiaomeng was rather lightly dressed tonight.

Her pale pink tank top and shorts highlighted her figure while making her skin look even fairer and softer.

What creep could resist a temptation like this!

"Hehe, it's fine, isn't it? There were still plenty of cars going back and forth. It's okay."

Lin Xiaomeng could hear the concern in his words, and warmth immediately filled her heart, as sweet as a big mouthful of cream.

"Don't do it again. I'll take you home later."

Since she was already here, Lin Zhe didn't scold her much. There was little point in saying all that now.

"Mm-hmm! Sorry for the trouble, Zhe!"

"These are the three-delicacy dumplings I just made. Try them, Zhe, and see how they taste. Are they good enough for our menu?"

Lin Xiaomeng lifted the food container in her hand and looked at Lin Zhe expectantly.