In room number eight, Chunbao's mother and her daughter Chunbao were sitting at the table folding paper boxes.

Chunbao, with pointed nose, heard the conversation outside and looked at his mother curiously and asked, "Mom, do you think Aunt Li from Room 1 can sell dumplings at the stall?"

Chun Bao's mother Qin Rong continued talking, smiling and saying, "Those people out there are just sour grapes because they can't eat them. They hesitate before spending a dime. I think everyone is the same as them. I see that the tea egg business at the entrance of the alley is quite good, and they can sell out every day. As long as your Aunt Li's dumplings are delicious, they will definitely sell well."

Chunbao's eyes lit up, "Since setting up a stall can make money, let's set up a stall too."

Qin Rong looked at her daughter and sighed, "It doesn't cost money to set up a stall? Your dad gets 20 yuan a month, and he has to give 10 yuan to your grandma, and he keeps 10 yuan for himself. He gives us 10 yuan every month, and we have to pay the rent. If it weren't for the fact that my mother and I could do some labor, we wouldn't even have enough money for vegetables, let alone money to run a business."

She wanted to go to the countryside to get some eggs and vegetables and sell them on the black market, but she was afraid of being caught. If something happened to her, what would happen to her Chunbao?

Going to the countryside to buy eggs and vegetables, and then selling them to the city to make a profit is considered speculation and profiteering, and if caught, there will be punishment.

"Dad hasn't been home for two weeks." Chunbao said with his head down.

Thinking of her own man, Chunbao's mother frowned. He came back to this house less and less in the past six months. She felt that this man might have other thoughts.

My daughter Chunbao was born in spring. She was like a kitten from birth, with insufficient fat. Many parents said they couldn't raise her.

Seeing Chunbao's condition, her parents-in-law asked her and Chunbao's father to give up Chunbao and have another child. How could they give up the daughter she had carried for ten months in pregnancy?

She raised and cared for the child meticulously, but when the child was four years old, he was still sickly and would always get sick and take medicine when the seasons changed.

The doctor said that children need to eat nutritious food, but in that family, Chunbao would be scolded by his mother-in-law if he ate an egg, and Chunbao would also be bullied by his cousins.

She had to let her daughter live, so she asked the man to go to her house and move out with Chunbao.

Her husband's job was bought by his family, so even if he was away from home, he still had to pay ten yuan to the family.

At first, her boyfriend was on the same page with her, but over the years he urged her to give birth to a son many times, but she never got pregnant, so things gradually changed.

I go back to this home less and less, and even when I do come back, I'm never in a good mood.

"Your dad is busy. He will definitely be back this week." Qin Rong didn't want to make her daughter sad.

Chunbao lowered her head and said nothing. She knew in her heart that her father didn't come back because he was busy, but because he didn't want to see her sickly daughter.

It was because of her that Mom asked Dad to leave home and move her out with her, and that’s why Mom had such a hard time every day.

Li Shuping rode her bike to the entrance of the alley, "Sister Li." Zhou Cuilan called her.

Li Shuping smiled at her from outside the car and stopped opposite her.

Zhou Cuilan ignored her stall and walked around the tricycle, "Sister Li, you are very active. It looks like you are going to sell dumplings."

Li Shuping walked over to the car and nodded, saying, "Yes, when I set up my stall, I'll treat you to a bowl of rice."

Zhou Cuilan's eyes lit up, "Really? Then you're welcome."

"Don't be polite with me." Li Shuping smiled and moved the things in the car to the outside, and wanted to get the folding table and stools at the back first.

Since they were all going to eat the dumplings made by their parents, Zhou Cuilan didn't just stand there and watch, she also wanted to help.

After the table and stools were set up, Li Shuping began to light the stove. After it was lit, she put an aluminum pot filled with half a pot of water on top and waited for the water to boil.

Then she put a stool in the bed of the truck, put the chopping board on the stool, washed her hands, lifted the gauze covering the basin of dough, pulled out a large lump of dough, grabbed some flour from the jar next to it, sprinkled it on the chopping board, and began to knead the dough.

Knead the dough into strips, pinch them into small pieces, and then press them into pancakes with your palms. Stack all the pancakes together and turn two hands on the chopping board while pinching them to make round dumpling skins of uniform size.

"Sister Li, you're really fast." It only took her two minutes to make a stack of dumpling wrappers.

Li Shuping smiled. "I was an orphan when I was little. I grew up eating at many people's homes. A neighbor who ran a dumpling shop took pity on me and always asked me to go eat dumplings there. I helped roll out the dumpling wrappers and make dumplings in the shop. I learned all this from the master chef in the shop."

Zhou Cuilan gave her a thumbs up.

Li Shuping lifted the gauze covering the bowl of stuffing, picked up the stuffing with chopsticks, and started wrapping it up again.

"This leek and egg filling smells so delicious." Zhou Cuilan swallowed her saliva.

Li Shuping said confidently: "I'm not exaggerating, the dumplings I make are so good. If you taste the flavor of my dumplings, you won't like other dumplings."

Zhou Cuilan smiled and said, "Then I'll have to taste it later."

It was not yet mealtime, but people coming out of the alley or passing by the alley entrance would look at the extra stall curiously, and no one would ask the price in front of them.

Li Shuping was not in a hurry. It was not time for dinner yet, so it was normal that she didn't come to eat.

Zhou Cuilan did sell three boiled eggs.

The water in the pot was boiling, and it was eleven o'clock. Li Shuping made twenty dumplings, and she and Zhou Cuilan made ten each.

The dumplings are put into the pot. The pot is quiet for half an hour, and then it starts to boil. As the water boils, the aroma of leek and egg dumplings spreads.

"This smells so good." Zhou Cuilan licked her lips.

After a while, the dumplings with bulging bellies floated up.

Li Shuping first scooped water for Zhou Cuilan, and then handed her a pair of chopsticks.

Zhou Cuilan took it, picked up a dumpling, blew on it twice and took a bite. The leek was fragrant and the egg was tender. The combination was fresh, fragrant and tender. She would not trade it for a bowl of stewed meat.

"Sister Li, I'm eating your dumplings. I don't like other dumplings. They all have the same fillings, but your dumplings taste so good."

Li Shuping smiled without saying anything, and for two days she stood in front of the tricycle eating dumplings.

A young man walked past the stall, walked about a meter away, and then came back.

"What are you selling?"

"Dumplings stuffed with leeks and eggs." Li Shuping replied.

Zhou Cuilan quickly recommended it to her, "The wrapper is big and filling, and it's very delicious. You won't regret it if you eat it."

The young man touched his hungry stomach and asked, "How much is a bowl?"

Li Shuping: "30 cents a bowl, 10 pieces a bowl, I guarantee you'll be full."

"It's so expensive. A bowl of noodles only costs ten cents." The young man frowned.

"There's no egg in the noodles, and they're not as delicious as my dumplings," said Li Shuping with a smile.

"Give me a bowl, then."

"You sit down first, the dumplings will be ready soon." Li Shuping put down the bowl and put ten dumplings into the pot.