Coincidentally, Cheng Chao entered at that very moment.

He opened the outer door and then briefly opened the west room door. For a moment, both of them were stunned.

"Brother Cheng Chao!"

The little girl peeked out from behind Jian Dan, and her eyes lit up when she saw him.

After quickly regaining her composure, she moved aside to clear the space in front of the west room.

Why are you here?

She thought everyone was hibernating during the winter.

As soon as Cheng Chao entered, a gust of cold wind rushed into the room. The little girl even sneezed delicately, which startled Cheng Chao. He quickly turned around and pulled on the door to check if it was closed properly.

He asked nervously as soon as he got back.

"Are you alright? Are you cold? Have you caught a cold?"

With a simple backhand, I shoved him aside.

"Go warm up over there. You're all chilly, why are you standing so close?"

The little girl covered her mouth and giggled.

"Brother Cheng Chao, I don't have a cold, I'm fine."

She simply went to the kitchen and brought in a bowl of ginger water, placing it directly next to Cheng Chao.

"Drink it quickly, you're covered in cold air, don't give it to her."

Cheng Chao was very bold; he picked up the bowl and drank it all in one gulp, even licking his lips at the end.

"Why so much sugar?"

The spicy smell traveled through his body, and Cheng Chao soon felt warm. He took off his coat and rubbed his hands before daring to get close to the child.

"Isn't it cold now? What are you guys doing?"

Oh, potato chips! I'm in for a treat!

Looking at the condiments beside him, he simply gave up the simple one.

"You two go sit down, I'll do it, I'll do it,"

Jian Dan didn't stand on ceremony; after all, he had done it before, so he got up and gave him the small stool.

"By the way, have you eaten?"

It's almost 11 a.m. now, so even simple questions are hard to answer.

When they're not working, people in the countryside usually eat two meals a day, one around 8 or 9 in the morning and the other around 2 or 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

But the military certainly wouldn't do that; their schedules are almost unaffected by the seasons, and they still eat three meals a day.

This time is before lunch for the garrison and after breakfast for the villagers.

I'd guess they'd had breakfast, since it would take the troops some time to get here.

Cheng Chao was simple and straightforward.

"I haven't eaten yet, I came on an empty stomach."

I was speechless for a moment, but the little girl immediately burst into laughter, chattering like a lark.

"Brother Cheng Chao, I can make dumplings now! My sister taught me."

I made dumplings for you. Shall I have your sister cook them for you?

Cheng Chao understood instantly from those big, blinking eyes.

"Wow, Xin Xin is so amazing!"

Of course, he didn't expect to receive this treatment. After all, Jian Wenxiu was his uncle, and he was just an older brother. It was specially reserved for him.

He immediately pulled the little girl into his arms.

"Xin Xin, I'm so touched, sob sob, you still remembered to save it for me."

The child's eyes were blurry and dazed from being squeezed by the big head. It took him a while to struggle free and get far away from Cheng Chao.

A simple sneer.

"Show off!"

Cheng Chao didn't mind and went back to focusing on the potato slices, sprinkling on the seasoning. The little girl also poked her head out, her little nose twitching, clearly wanting to come over, still a little scared of what had just happened.

Cheng Chao transformed into a gentle older brother again, placing a small stool beside him and patting it.

"Any kids want some tasty potato chips?"

Without waiting for her to come over, he picked up a piece and ate it by himself, quite dramatically.

"Oh my, it smells so good!"

"It's so delicious! It's just too little. There's not enough for me!"

In the kitchen, hearing the exaggerated noise, Jian Dan laughed. To appease the child, she really had no shame.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, when she brought a child's masterpiece into the house, the two of them were already being affectionate again.

"cough!"

She coughed loudly, and the two of them quickly turned around. Seeing what she was holding, the little girl remembered her dumplings and pulled Cheng Chao to her feet.

"Brother Cheng Chao, hurry up and get the bowls and chopsticks, the dumplings are here!"

As he spoke, he climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) first.

That manner was just as eager as when he was rushing to eat dumplings that day.

Cheng Chao quickly tidied up the things on the stove lid, put the kang table in place as the little girl had asked, and went back to the kitchen to get the things.

The dumplings were served on large enamel plates, two full plates in total. One plate was filled with the little girl's creations, and some were left for Jian Wenxiu. This was definitely not enough for Cheng Chao's big appetite, so more were cooked.

The little girl leaned over the table and examined the dishes. She seemed quite familiar with her own cooking skills, pointing to one of the plates.

"These, these, these are all wrapped by me, come and try them."

This simple dish was deliberately placed near Cheng Chao, which suited the little girl's taste perfectly.

Seeing the little girl's excited and expectant expression, Cheng Chao felt immense pressure.

But thinking about it, with so many dumplings and the child being so young, I couldn't possibly make the dough and filling especially for her, so I just made them all simply, which put my mind at ease.

I picked one up and put it in my mouth despite the intense stares. Is there anything wrong with it?

After swallowing the dumpling, I suddenly remembered, "Hey? Isn't this a dumpling?"

Where's the filling?

Now what's there to not understand? These are the little girl's practice dumplings. Except for the small amount of filling, which is negligible, everything else is fine.

Yes, I looked closely this time, and it is indeed white flour.

He ate heartily while giving the little girl a thumbs-up.

"That's great, you're much better than Brother Cheng Chao."

Brother Cheng Chao is so old and you still can't do it? You're amazing!

Oh, I'm so lucky! I get to eat dumplings made by Xin Xin. Has your uncle ever had any? I'm definitely going to tease him when I see him, hmph!

I didn't pay attention to anything else, but I heard the praise. The little girl was beautiful, her face was flushed, and she watched Cheng Chao finish the whole plate of dumplings before turning around to look at the toys Cheng Chao had brought.

Cheng Chao took a bite of the second plate of dumplings and let out a comfortable sigh.

"Ah, this is the taste!"

The filling was so thick and meaty that Cheng Chao had to hold his stomach to stand up after eating it.

"I just wanted to come here for a free meal, but look at this food... it's like Chinese New Year!"

"You know how to be on time! We just made these a few days ago. She was thinking of you all, so she made them herself and even saved some for her uncle."

Cheng Chao was even a little jealous of Jian Wenxiu.

"If you can't keep him, then don't. He might not even come back for a while."

"Okay, I know what I'm doing. We can't waste it."

The little girl didn't have many toys; she came empty-handed. The simple base had everything she needed, including children's toys, but none of them were from this era.

The toys she played with were from Liu Guangming's shop, and some were gifts from Hu Zi. The ones Cheng Chao brought this time made the little girl very happy, and she played with them happily on the kang (heated brick bed).