Lin Lan woke up and fumbled for the watch under her pillow. A glance at the time had her sitting bolt upright. She mumbled to herself as she dressed, "It's almost nine. No wonder it's so quiet."
Dressed, she went to the kitchen. She saw white beans steaming in the pot and noticed the charcoal fire in the stove was about to burn out.
Lin Lan added two shovelfuls of coal briquettes to the stove, poured some hot water to wash up, and came back. She saw a lid on the table. Lifting it, she found a steamer rack filled with wontons. She went to the backyard to snip a few green onions, then ladled two scoops of water into a clay pot and set it on the stove to boil for the wontons.
Just then, Wangcai's friendly barks came from outside.
'Li Xiangyang must be here,' Lin Lan thought. She went and pulled open the kitchen door just in time to see him wheeling his bicycle into the courtyard. "You're here! Have you eaten? I'm about to make some wontons."
