The 30th day of the twelfth lunar month, Lunar New Year's Eve.

At 3 p.m., in the employee canteen of the discount supermarket, four tables were put together. Xia Jianguo and Xiao Wu specially moved a TV and VCD player to the employee canteen. The employees gathered around the tables to make dumplings and watch movies. In the kitchen, the chef was also preparing for today's New Year's Eve dinner.

Xia Jianguo, while making dumplings, said, "Today we are all gathered in the canteen to make dumplings because we can't go home due to overtime work. But we have prepared a very sumptuous reunion dinner for everyone, with everything that flies in the sky, walks on the ground, and swims in the water."

Hearing Xia Jianguo's words, the employees felt much more comforted. They would regret not being able to go home for the Spring Festival, but it was worth it because they were paid four times their usual wage for half a month and had to eat big meals. They could send the money they earned home to improve their family's life and ensure that their children would not have to drop out of school.

"Thank you, boss!"

“Yesterday I ran into the head chef coming back from outings; the vegetables were being hauled away in a small trailer.”

"The boss is generous."

As the atmosphere grew increasingly lively, Li Chunmei said, "Eat as much as you want today, don't be shy, but don't overeat."

"Okay, thank you, ma'am."

Xia Minmin's dumpling-making skills were just as clumsy as Xia Jianguo's; the dumplings made by the father and daughter either broke or had filling spilling out.

"Boss, young boss, the dumplings you made turn into dumpling soup when you put them in water."

Unaware of what was happening, some employees came over to look at the dumplings the two of them were making, and eventually left trying not to laugh.

Although no one looked down on the dumplings they made, it didn't dampen the father and daughter's enthusiasm at all. Once they became more skilled, fewer dumplings broke open and leaked filling.

Four of the employees are from the north, and they are all top-notch at making dumplings and preparing fillings, as if it were an innate ability.

Today's fillings were prepared by them; each person prepared a different flavor. The most classic is pork and cabbage, while Shenzhen has a lot of seafood from the coast, so shrimp and corn are indispensable, as are chives and vermicelli, and beef and carrots.

"These dumplings are even more plentiful than what we eat at home."

"Yes, yes, I've never eaten so many flavors of dumplings before."

Xia Minmin had never eaten dumplings before; dumplings are not commonly eaten in the South, and the flavors are rather limited.

"You're amazing!"

A group of unsophisticated southerners stared at one of their northern colleagues as he rolled out dumpling wrappers, exclaiming in surprise.

The colleague laughed nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? My mom's record is rolling out fifty dumpling wrappers at once, but I can only manage twenty now."

The other three colleagues from the north were not to be outdone. They each picked up more than twenty dough balls, pressed them down, and rolled them out. In less than a minute, they had rolled out more than twenty dumpling wrappers.

Xia Minmin thought to herself that without these people holding her back, her colleagues in the north could have been much faster.

Many hands make light work; twenty-five people made more than eight hundred dumplings in just one hour.

The four colleagues from the north made the biggest contribution; they were incredibly fast, rolling and wrapping the dough without any hesitation.

Xia Minmin tugged at Li Chunmei's sleeve, "Mom, I want to send some dumplings to the police station gatekeeper."

Last night, during the family reunion dinner, Li Chunmei heard her daughter mention this security guard.

"Okay, I'll go to the kitchen on the fifth floor and cook some dumplings for you. Pack them in a lunchbox and I'll ride my bike over there."

While Li Chunmei was making dumplings, she said to her employees, "Xiaomin, if you want to give some dumplings to the security guard at the police station, I'll take some from here. If it's not enough, you can make some more."

It's surprising that someone actually knows about this police station gatekeeper.

“When I went to apply for a temporary residence permit before, I heard from them that the security guard had his hand amputated by a cannon. He looked very old, but he was actually only in his early forties.”

Everyone who had been to the police station had a deep impression of him and felt sorry for him. He looked to be in his fifties or sixties, and they wondered what he had been through.

"Boss lady, please cook some extra for the young boss and take it with him."

"Yes, if the proprietress brings him another roast goose, we can eat one less without any problem."

I agree!

It must be said that the discount supermarket has a group of kind and responsible employees.

Li Chunmei cooked the dumplings, packed them in a lunchbox, and also had Xia Minmin deliver the roast goose requested by the employees by bicycle.

Standing beside the bicycle, Li Chunmei repeatedly reminded her daughter, "Be careful, come home early, and if anyone asks you for directions on the way, don't talk to them. Or should I go with you?"

Xia Minmin pushed her bicycle, "No need, I can manage by myself. It's such a short distance, it takes at most ten minutes to go back and forth."

Xia Minmin rode away on her bicycle, while Li Chunmei stood there, watching her daughter's figure gradually disappear before returning to the staff canteen.

The bicycle was a bit old, and it made a creaking sound when you rode it.

Upon arriving at the police station, the guard was eating a steamed bun, with a water cup on his left.

thump thump thump…

The guard put down the steamed bun in his left hand, opened the window of the guard booth, and looked at Xia Minmin. "Little girl, did you leave something at the police station yesterday?"

Xia Minmin shook her head and stuffed the lunchbox she was carrying, along with the roast goose, into it.

"Uncle, Happy New Year." After saying that, Xia Minmin rode away on her bicycle.

Yesterday, when Xiao Wu was registering his information, Xia Minmin looked around the room and saw a half-eaten steamed bun on his table. When she left that evening, he was eating the steamed bun.

The police station guard hurriedly chased after her with his belongings, but Xia Minmin had already ridden away on her bicycle. He had no choice but to return to the guard post with his things.

Officer Qian parked his motorcycle next to the guard post, picked up his lunchbox, and went into the post. There was a large lunchbox and a roast goose on the desk.

"Old Xie, it's rare to see you actually taking care of yourself now. You've finally decided to buy something hot to eat. Look what I brought you! Your favorite steamed pork ribs."

Officer Qian found a stool and sat down, opened the large lunchbox on the table, and estimated that there were forty or fifty dumplings inside. He picked up a dumpling with his hand and put it in his mouth; it was a shrimp and corn dumpling.

“I didn’t buy it myself. It was delivered by the little girl who was the victim in your case yesterday. Do you know her address? I’ll buy some things and deliver them to her tomorrow.”

Seeing that Officer Qian was eating dumplings without replying, Lao Xie tapped the table.

"Take this to the discount supermarket; she's the owner's daughter. Old Xie, these pork and cabbage dumplings are exactly the same filling that little Jilin from your class makes..."

After saying this, Officer Qian wished he could slap himself for bringing it up.

Old Xie put a dumpling in his mouth; it was the same kind of dumpling Xiao Jilin had. Old Xie stared at his mutilated right arm; twenty years had passed in the blink of an eye.

Officer Qian pondered for a moment, “Old Xie, we’ve known each other for over thirty years. We went to school together, joined the army together, and were assigned to the same company. I know you can’t let go of the sacrifice of your comrades, but twenty years have passed. You should let it go and live a good life. Over the years, you’ve been frugal, eating only three steamed buns a day, and using all your remaining salary to support your comrades’ families. Their youngest child is twenty years old. You should also think about yourself.”

After finishing his sentence, Officer Qian ignored his friend who was lost in thought, picked up a dumpling with his fingers and put it in his mouth. After eating a few dumplings, he untied the roast goose bag, took out a goose leg and ate it.