While Jewel was at the restaurant, she would often help one of the aunts in the kitchen to prepare dumplings. Jewel had eventually developed the skill to produce dumplings in at swift and smooth manner. Olivia found Jewel’s way of making dumplings much easier than the way that Eugene had taught her.
Eugene, however, felt the urge to laugh when he saw how Olivia was prepared to tackle a harder way of making dumplings before she even learned the basics. It looked easy when others were making them, but it turned ten times harder once the dumpling skin was in her own hands. He didn’t want to extinguish the enthusiasm Olivia felt at that moment, as he was afraid that she would give up halfway, so he approached her with a patient tone. “Come here, Olivia. I’ll teach you how to do it.”
She gave him a disdainful glance. “Forget it. The method you taught me is too troublesome. I want Jewel to teach me instead.” He stared at her speechlessly while Jewel let out a laugh. before she picked up a piece of dumpling skin to give Olivia a slow-motion tutorial.
Olivia got the idea of it almost immediately, but her hands didn’t seem to agree with her brain. Her brain could comprehend Jewel’s motions, yet her hands couldn’t do the same thing. Olivia tried her best to copy Jewel’s actions by pinching the top of the dumpling skin after rolling it up. However, it didn’t seem to work- she would end up either tearing her dumpling skin or having the filling drop out of the dumplings. She tried it a few times, but it didn’t seem to work at all.
On top of that, the smart child, North, seemed to be there only to further annoy Olivia. North copied Jewel’s way of making dumplings for a few rounds, and he got the hang of it almost immediately. His dumplings might not be aesthetically pleasing, but at least he could do it without having its filling fall out of it. In comparison, he was much better than Olivia.
Olivia scrunched her face up while feeling sorry for herself. She sneakily threw a few of her spoiled dumplings into the bin. Eugene noticed this, and he felt his heart melting for the woman. How could someone be as adorable as my girlfriend? He reached out to hold her hand.
“I know this method of making dumplings too. Let me teach you.” This time, Olivia was much more obedient. “My dumplings keep tearing!” she whined humbly. He picked up a dumpling skin and taught her how to do it. “You have to pull it in a gentler manner, and you can’t apply strength here. The skin would tear if you used too much force, right? You can start off by putting a little less filling,” he suggested.
She worked according to his methods, and she copied his actions step by step, ending with a final pinch on the top. Eventually, she managed. to make a dumpling. It didn’t look too appetizing, but at least there wasn’t any filling falling out of it.
Oliva was exhilarated to see her product. “Woah! I did it! Look! Look!” She showed her dumpling to Eugene while pinching its sides to make it look better. He beamed. “Yeah. If you continue practicing, you’re going to make some fine dumplings.” This gave Olivia a confidence boost, and she picked up another piece of the dumpling skin.
When Ellen heard Olivia’s cheers from the kitchen, she turned around in the direction of the voices. Brian smiled as he explained the situation. “Olivia can’t cook, and she can’t make dumplings. When I first made dumplings at her place, she was just as excited as she is now. I bet she found a new way of making dumplings.”
Brian headed to the kitchen from the dining area. “What is it?” he asked. Olivia immediately produced her distorted, messy-looking dumpling. ‘Look! I made this!” Brian wanted to laugh, but he knew that both his brother and Olivia would beat him up if he did so. Brian had no choice but to contain his laughter as he questioned Olivia in a serious tone. “Did you make this?”
Olivia was proud of herself. “Yeah. I’m a fast learner, aren’t I?” Brian chuckled. “You are pretty fast. I don’t even know how to make dumplings with the new method you learned.”
She was more than pleased to hear what he said. “I’m going to make a lucky dumpling,” she announced as she stuffed a clean coin into the dumpling. I’ll put two into the dumplings to see who the lucky winners are!” “You should make a mark so that it’s easier for you to find it later,” Brian suggested.
