"Brother Dog, Brother Dog~~" When he got home, the first person Li Zitao looked for was Wang Dagou.

Who knows that they are the only two alone in America? Other families gather together for the holidays, so they are the only ones left.

"Here it is!" Wearing a Tang suit with red edges and black bottoms, brand new white trousers, white socks, and black cloth shoes, Wang Dagou was beaming with joy and had a bright smile.

There were two little people standing next to him, one male and one female, one black and one white. They were also dressed in the same way. Looking at the awkward expressions on their faces, it was obvious that they were very awkward.

"Whose family do these two children belong to?" Li Zitao asked curiously.

"Didn't you ask Ben to bring this? What kind of boarding do you mean?" Wang Dagou said in surprise.

"Yes, I almost forgot." Li Zitao scratched his head, squatted down and said with a friendly smile: "Hi, hello, can you introduce yourself?"

"Who are you?" The little black boy was very vigilant and looked at him defensively.

"My name is Charlie, Charlie Lee. According to the law, I am your temporary supervisor." Li Zitao explained.

"..." In silence, after knowing his identity, the two little guys just looked at him with curiosity and resistance, with no intention of getting close.

"Okay! Today is the Chinese New Year. Can you think of it as Thanksgiving and celebrate it together?" Li Zitao asked.

"I don't want to." The little boy shook his head.

"...Yeah." The little girl nodded.

Then the two looked at each other with hostility in their eyes, as if they were communicating silently.

"How can you betray our agreement? Hey, we are in the same group."

"Whoever wants to be with you, I am with myself."

"We made this clear, traitor."

"Idiot, get out of here."

"..." Li Zitao was speechless. He knew it would be troublesome when Ben suggested it, and now it is just as he expected.

Children who have been thrown into orphanages since childhood and lack the love of their father and mother will have more or less emotional defects in their hearts.

Because of uneasiness, fear, frustration and past hurt.

This makes them more defensive than adults, and their hearts are fragile and sensitive.

Maybe a small detail would cause them great shock and harm. Li Zitao didn't want to be a pervert who destroyed the seedlings.

"As the owner of this family and your temporary supervisor, I need to make a few statements." Li Zitao clapped his hands to attract their attention.

"First, I want to see you get along in harmony, even if it's just for a short time."

"Second, during the boarding period, you can treat me as your elder brother. If you have any needs that are reasonable and legal, I will try my best to satisfy you."

"Third, no fighting, no swearing, no skipping classes, and no making trouble here, do you understand?"

Looking at Li Zitao's serious face, although the two of them were reluctant, they still nodded in agreement.

"Now, tell me your names first." Li Zitao said with a satisfied smile.

"Norma." The little blond girl couldn't wait, her big eyes sparkling with anticipation, but more of a fear.

"Eric." There was no expectation in the little boy's eyes, only resistance and anxiety.

"Very good, Eric, let me introduce again, my name is Charlie Li, you can call me Li, or Charlie." Li Zitao stretched out his hand.

Norma's eyes lit up, and she stretched out her hand tentatively like a fledgling. When her fingers touched the warm palm, she retracted as if frightened.

She was afraid, very afraid, very afraid.

Afraid of being abandoned again, afraid of receiving not warmth but heart-breaking slaps and curses like before, afraid of being displaced from family to family again.

Li Zitao didn't move, kept smiling, and waited for her to approach again.

It wasn't until Norma put her trembling little hand in his palm that she stopped dodging, and then Li Zitao gently squeezed it and said, "Welcome."

"Thank you, thank you." Norma's eyes were shining brightly, and tears kept rolling down like bead curtains. Li Zitao didn't know what she had experienced.

But judging from her performance, her past memory is undoubtedly very bad.

It was Norma's performance that made the little boy no longer resist and remain hostile. He just hesitated a little and stretched out his hand, "You are also welcome, Eric."

"You still have a way." Wang Dagou gave a thumbs up and smiled.

"That goes without saying." Li Zitao stood up very timidly, put his broad and thick palms on the heads of the two little guys, and rubbed them hard, regardless of whether they wanted to or not.

"Are the dumpling fillings ready?" Li Zitao and Wang Dagou pulled the two little ones to let go and walked side by side toward home.

"It has been prepared for a long time. It was prepared by Lao Huang's wife." Wang Dagou opened the door and pointed to the porcelain basin covered with cloth on the table.

"Then what are you waiting for? Wrap it up!" It was almost getting dark. This was his first New Year's Eve since he came to this world, so he couldn't miss it.

Nothing tastes better than dumplings, hehehe...

"Eric, you can play games or listen to programs in the room." Li Zitao picked up the radio placed on the high platform.

"I...I want to help!" Norma's eyes turned wildly as she asked for help, but she was as worried as a frightened deer.

"What about you?" Li Zitao put his hand on her head, soothing her anxious heart, and turned to Eric.

"That's what women should do." Eric said disgustedly.

"There are no women here, only girls and men." Li Zitao spread his hands innocently.

"Okay!" Eric still couldn't resist the pressure in Li Zitao's eyes.

"I can't cure you, little one." He proudly pulled Norma to the table, and the two adults and two children began to prepare dinner.

When he saw that the dumplings made by Norma and Eric could not even be squeezed tightly, Li Zitao began to teach them step by step again.

"No, no, pinch it hard, like this." Pinch the two ends of the dumpling with both hands, cross the thumb and index finger of both hands, and then release it to form a dumpling.

There are beautiful pleated corners on the top, and the skin below is fully stuffed with dumpling filling. It is thin but not rotten, and looks like a small crystal.

Even though the steps were demonstrated many times, Norma and Eric still couldn't learn it.

Li Zitao could only attribute this to the fact that Westerners are not naturally suitable for the job of making dumplings, and asked the two of them to use another method.

"Pinch it tightly from left to right." Li Zitao holds the dumpling in one hand, and pinches the dumpling wrapper tightly from left to right with his thumb and index finger.

The finished dumplings are like a crescent moon. Seeing the small crescent moons being completed in her hands, Norma's beautiful eyes turned into crescent moons when she smiled.

Eric lowered his head seriously, studying awkwardly but hard. His serious look was like completing a rigorous scientific experiment.

"Finally, it's all done." Li Zitao clapped his hands, stretched his waist and said with a smile, "Brother Dog, I'll leave it to you. I'll go change clothes first."

"Go ahead, they are all kept in your room!" Wang Dagou put the pot on the gas stove and lit it with a match to boil the water.

"You two go wash your hands first and clean the table by the way." Li Zitao pointed to the peeling table in the living room and said.

"Yeah." Norma was very happy to be able to help.

Going upstairs to the room, a brand new Tang suit was placed on the bed, folded neatly and squarely.

Most of Li Zitao's clothes were prepared by Lao Huang, so there was no mistaking his size, and the clothes fit him perfectly.

I don't know if it was a psychological effect, but just changing his clothes gave Li Zitao a sense of belonging, "This feeling... is very good."

Li Zitao reached out and touched the silky satin material, then walked downstairs with a bright smile.

"Taozi, mix the dipping sauce." Wang Dagou pointed to the bottles and jars on the table, turned around and poured another ladle of cold water into the pot.

The coffee table had been cleared, and Li Zitao brought over bottles and small bowls: "Do you need some dipping sauce?"

"What are these?" Eric looked curious as he looked at the white or black liquid in the bottle, as well as the red and pungent smell of spicy oil.

"Vinegar, the same as lemon juice, soy sauce, a very delicious dipping sauce, chili, very spicy and fragrant, very delicious." The corners of Li Zitao's mouth slightly curled up as he spoke and scooped another spoonful into the bowl.

"Can I?" Norma held the small bowl in both hands and looked at him timidly.

"Of course, do you need help?" Li Zitao raised the vinegar bottle and smiled.

"Yeah." Norma nodded her head hurriedly.

After pouring some vinegar and soy sauce, and adding less chili pepper, Li Zitao thought for a while and added some white water to it, fearing that the taste would be too overwhelming.

"Try it." Li Zitao handed the bowl to Norma.

Li Zitao swore that he just wanted Norma to use chopsticks to taste it, but he forgot that Norma and Eric didn't know how to use chopsticks.

So after little Norma took the bowl, she looked at the liquid in it tangledly, and finally closed her eyes and did it cleanly and neatly...

"Gudong~~cough cough cough..." Norma choked on the spicy noodles and coughed painfully while holding her throat.

"Quick, drink water." Li Zitao put the water glass to her mouth, dumbfounded, and Norma drank the water cleanly.

Eric next to him moved his saliva calmly with palpitations, fearing that Li Zitao would also let him drink those terrible 'witch medicines.'

"What's wrong, what's wrong?" Wang Dagou came over carrying a dumpling.

"I asked her to taste the dipping sauce, and the little girl drank it all in one bite." Li Zitao said with a wry smile.

"Haha, it's okay. When I was a kid, after eating dumplings during the Chinese New Year, I had to drink the dipping sauce with dumpling soup. It was not easy to get the seasoning at that time."

Wang Dagou said with reminiscing eyes, remembering what happened when he was a child. At that time, his parents were still there and his grandparents lived in the next village.

Life was very hard at that time. Wang Dagou remembered that before he was 14 years old, he had never worn pants, so he only wore a tattered coat and ran around the village barefoot every day.
To be continued...