Chapter 722: This is called Single, Alone, Dog!

By the time everyone finished their New Year’s Eve Dinner, it was already past 9 o’clock at night.

Aunt Evans was not at home, and the other employees had also gone on leave for the New Year.

Only family members were in the family mansion, but they couldn’t just leave the many leftover plates and bowls on the dining table without cleaning up.

Some dishes with a lot of leftovers could be kept overnight.

Some dishes with fewer leftovers that couldn’t be kept overnight had to be thrown away.

Fortunately, the family mansion had a dishwasher and sterilizer, so even when Aunt Evans was at home, she didn’t need to wash dishes herself.

So, after tidying up, Cindy Clarke put the empty plates and pots into the dishwasher, and there was nothing left to do.

Everyone gathered in the living room.

The elderly, being more traditional, were watching the Spring Festival Gala intently.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Adrian Zhekova opened his Whatsapp and saw that the Eighty-Eight Sixty-Four group had become lively.

Unexpectedly, the chat was not about blessings but complaints about the Spring Festival Gala.

Adrian Zhekova: “Have you all entered middle age now? Even seriously watching the Spring Festival Gala.”

Bertrand York: “Now that fireworks and firecrackers are banned, there’s nothing to do with the family gathering at night. As for playing games, the elderly can’t participate, so it’s better to watch the Spring Festival Gala.”

Clifford Wells: “You all can watch the Spring Festival Gala, but what about the children? Aren’t they bored?”

Zane Hamilton: “Apart from Adrian, our families have multiple children. The kids have gone to play by themselves and don’t need our company. But what about you going home for the New Year, will your family let you in without a partner?”

Clifford Wells: “…”

Clifford Wells: “What are you talking about? I’m not like you, being barred from entering the house without a partner. Old Madam Wells is not so cold-hearted towards me.”

Zane Hamilton: “Heh heh!”

He just didn’t believe it.

Clifford Wells wouldn’t tell him that his New Year’s Eve Dinner tonight was quite eventful.

He was curious about how Old Madam Wells came up with those dish names.

For the fish roe salad, Old Madam Wells called it “Many Children, Many Grandchildren.”

For the peony shrimp sashimi, she actually called it “Phoenix Coronet and Scarlet Robe.”

What the hell! How did she even come up with that?

And for the ‘Buddha Jumps over the Wall’ dish from Quire, it had a proper name already.

But Old Madam Wells insisted on calling it “House Full of Descendants.”

What on earth was all this about!

Clifford Wells wondered where Old Madam Wells got the imagination to come up with these names!

However, he didn’t plan on sharing this misery with his buddies.

It wasn’t a good idea to build their happiness on his own suffering during the holiday.

As Clifford was chatting in the group, Mrs. Wells brought over a fruit plate and nuts.

Upon closer inspection, there was also a pug-shaped cake on the coffee table.

Old Madam Wells chuckled and asked Clifford, “Sonny, do you know what this cake is called?”

Clifford’s mouth twitched, and he tentatively said, “Congratulations on making a fortune, entering the ranks of the wealthy every day?”

He had tried his best, saying something very auspicious.

Moreover, he was quite clever, incorporating both “Fa” (the cake) and “Dou” (ranks) characters in it.

Although it was a different way of “Fa,” having the same pronunciation as “Fa” still counted.

Old Madam Wells sneered, pointing at the cake: “It’s called ‘Single’ ‘Dog’!”

Clifford Wells: “…”

“Grandmother, come on! Let’s not talk about these sad things during the New Year? I promise I’ll work hard this year!” Clifford hugged Old Madam Wells’s hand.

Old Madam Wells snorted, not believing his nonsense.

He had tried for 30 years, and she hadn’t seen him successfully finding a partner yet!

“Look at Adrian Zhekova, he’s so fulfilled this year, even having a wife and child to accompany him during the New Year! Look at you! Lonely and alone, don’t you feel lonely?” Old Madam Wells waved her spoon, “If you don’t find a partner this year, don’t blame me for being rude!”

Clifford Wells shuddered: “How … how rude?”

“Just like this single dog!” Old Madam Wells spoke, and with a wave, the spoon chopped off the dog cake’s head.

Clifford Wells: “…”

***

Because they were staying up late for the New Year, everyone couldn’t sleep.

However, the little one couldn’t stay up that long, so he took a nap first.

When it was past 12 o’clock and time for eating dumplings, they woke him up. As the bell rang on the Spring Festival Gala, Cindy Clarke went to cook dumplings. Old Mrs. Zhekova shook the little one and held him in her arms: “Darling, wake up, it’s time to eat dumplings!”

Rubbing his eyes, the little one was sleepy and didn’t want to wake up for a while.

Victoria Wheeler said, “There are 8 coins wrapped in the dumplings tonight. Let’s see who eats the most. Whoever eats the most coins will have an especially good luck next year.”

Morgan Zhekova immediately woke up. Even without the idea of eating more to get more good luck, it was fun to eat something with so few coins.

So the little one eagerly waited for Cindy Clarke to cook all the dumplings.

The squid, mackerel, and regular meat-filled dumplings were cooked separately and placed in different-shaped plates to distinguish them so that people could choose whatever flavor of dumpling they wanted.

The chestnut-filled dumplings were fried, just like fried dumplings.

Adrian Zhekova helped and brought the dumplings out.

If the little one didn’t know about the coins, it would be alright. But now that he knew, he had a hesitation about where to start.

He didn’t know which one had a coin.

Seeing his eager gaze, Adrian Zhekova reminded, “Eat as you wish, you can’t poke every dumpling that you pick up to see if there’s a coin inside.”

The small one-yuan coin was wrapped in the dumpling, and it was invisible.

The little one nodded and said, “I know.”

He scooped two of each type of dumpling into the empty bowl in front of himself.

Cindy Clarke reminded, “The chestnut-flavored dumplings don’t have coins, just eat them as desserts. There may be coins in the rest of the dumplings with different flavors.”

The little one thought for a moment, feeling that he should save his appetite for the dumplings with coins and just taste the chestnut flavor.

So, he only ate one of the chestnut-flavored dumplings.

The soft and dense texture of the chestnut filling was subtly sweet, and the dumpling skin was fried golden and crispy on three sides, making it taste like a chestnut pastry, especially fragrant and sweet.

The little one wanted to eat a second one but resisted it. He had to concentrate on eating his coins.

Once he had eaten all the coins, he would go back to eat the chestnut-filled dumplings.

Though the little one’s plan was good, he didn’t find any coins in the dumplings he put in his bowl.

At this moment, they heard a “Ouch.”

The little one immediately looked at the Old Master.

He saw the Old Master holding a half-bitten dumpling in his chopsticks.