Zhuang Fangtao placed the wrapped dumplings on the curtain and said, "Her son has become successful now and is the editor-in-chief of a newspaper."

He wiped his fingers on his apron and said, "I've been so busy. This time I finally found time to take Mom out for a walk."

Zhuang Fangtao spread a spoonful of filling evenly on the skin: "Fengzhi, this is the end of the stew."

She suddenly remembered something, looked up and smiled, "By the way, Guifang, you said in your last letter that you opened a pastry shop? How's business going? When can you take us to see it?"

"We're closed for the Lunar New Year these days. You all have to come when we open on the eighth day of the Lunar New Year!" She deftly placed the wrapped dumplings on the curtain. "My new red bean paste buns are so delicious, everyone in the neighborhood says they're even softer than the old-fashioned ones."

Aunt Zhuang Fangtao rolled out the dough and smiled, "That's a deal! I'll take these greedy cats of ours with me."

The kitchen was filled with steam, and the women's laughter mixed with the sound of rolling pins.

Zhuang Fangtao remembered something and lowered her voice: "Guifang, I heard that the daughter of the Zhang family next door..."

"Divorced." Li Guifang sighed. "That man got drunk and started hitting me. It's better to get divorced, but I feel sorry for the kids. Now their mom is gone, their dad doesn't care, and their grandparents are always thinking about finding a stepmother. It's pitiful!"

Gao Xiuhong deftly pinched the edge of the dumpling and said, "Now that the policies are good, women can hold up half the sky. In the past..."

Before he could finish his words, a loud bang suddenly came from the outer room.

Li Mingyuan and his brothers were fiddling with the semiconductor radio that Li Xingsheng brought back.

Li Xingsheng held up the battery cover in frustration: "This is a bad connection..."

"Let you show off!" Zhuang Fangtao laughed and scolded through the curtain.

Li Guifang looked at her tall and strong nephew and asked, "Sister-in-law, how is Xingsheng's relationship going?"

"I introduced him to a female textile factory worker." Zhuang Fangtao wiped her hands on her apron. "She doesn't mind his frequent business trips, but she thinks he's too rigid..."

"If you ask me, when looking for a partner, you have to find someone you know well." Gao Xiuhong's eyes suddenly lit up. "Our tenant on the second floor, the second daughter of the Zhou family, is pretty, but her hometown is in Chuan City, which is too far..."

"Chuanshi, isn't Mingyuan's wife Chuanshi?" He just remembered something and quickly said "Pooh, Pooh, Pooh" and said, "Look at my memory... It's my ex-wife!"

The kitchen suddenly became quiet.

Aunt Zhuang Fangtao glanced at Li Mingyuan, who was helping the children repair toys in the outer room, and leaned closer to Li Guifang: "If you ask me, it won't be difficult to find someone with Mingyuan's qualifications."

She suddenly lowered her voice. "Didn't he tell you anything?"

Third aunt Luo Meixiang got excited and said, "Wait!"

Her hands were still stained with flour as she gestured excitedly, "My niece from my mother's side works as a nurse in our city hospital. She was just assigned to the staff dormitory last month."

She counted on her fingers and said, "Twenty-four years old, graduated from a medical school, can knit, would you like to meet me..."

Li Guifang turned the dumpling wrapper in her hand twice and couldn't help rolling her eyes. "With her conditions, you introduce her to a divorced woman with two kids. Aren't you afraid that she won't be able to go back to her parents' home next time?"

With someone like Mingyuan, he doesn't deserve it! "

When my third aunt Luo Meixiang heard this, she immediately became unhappy and shook off some of the flour on her hands: "Oh, Guifang, what are you saying! What's wrong with Mingyuan?

A legitimate government official, earning a salary, with a house and a job, and looking energetic..."

She pointed toward the outer room and said, "Look at that physique, he works so skillfully!"

Zhuang Fangtao, who was kneading noodles on the side, couldn't help but interrupt: "That's right! What's the big deal about divorce now? Back in Haicheng, there are so many people getting married today and divorced tomorrow!"

Li Guifang dumped the wrapped dumplings on the curtain and sighed, "You don't understand... those two kids are still young, and now they've got a stepmother. I'm afraid they'll think too much!"

She lowered her voice, "Besides, Mingyuan is cuckolded, how could he have such thoughts..."

Luo Meixiang suddenly came over and lowered her voice mysteriously: "Guifang, I'm telling you the truth, my niece...is also a miserable person."

She was making dumplings in her hands, but her eyes were glancing out the door. "We got engaged two years ago, but the guy went abroad to study and I haven't heard from him since..."

The kitchen suddenly became quiet, with only the gurgling sound of water on the stove.

Zhuang Fangtao stopped kneading the dough and exchanged glances with Li Guifang.

"If you ask me," Zhuang Fangtao broke the silence, "let the two children meet first, just as if they were friends. Don't young people nowadays value free love?"

Luo Meixiang nodded repeatedly: "That's right! My niece can cook, and the dumplings she makes are even prettier than those made by an old hand like me..."

Li Guifang looked at her sisters-in-law's starry eyes and waved to them: "Alright, alright, let's talk about this after the New Year."

The kitchen door curtain was suddenly lifted, and Li Mingyuan leaned in halfway: "Mom, do you have enough dumplings? Xiaoyuan is clamoring to cook..."

Before he could finish his words, he was frightened by the burning gazes of the three elders. "What, what's wrong?"

In the mist of steam, the three women exchanged glances.

Li Guifang lowered her head and quickly pinched the folds of her dumplings: "It's okay... well, your third aunt's workplace..."

The words on the tip of his tongue changed direction, "...we didn't make enough dumplings, wait a little longer."

When the door curtain fell, Zhuang Fangtao poked Li Guifang in the back: "What a coward! Where's the fierceness you had when you were seeing Feng Zhi?"

The three of them burst into laughter again, and the water on the stove was bubbling!

——

Light snow was falling outside the house, and Li Guifang looked at the plump white dumplings tumbling in the water.

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