Overcooked

Getting the dough ready took way too long. The pot of water boiled again. The eggs and tomatoes were being overcooked. Wang Jingyuan raced against time as she kneaded the dough to what she thought was an okay consistency and yanked off small chunks to stretch out into strips. Strictly speaking, handmade noodles should be rolled out with a rolling pin. However, there was no time for that now.

The fire decreased in intensity as no more branches were added. Wang Jingyuan kicked a few more branches into the fire to get it going again as she dropped the irregular strips of dough into the pot of water. How much should she make? Did she have enough dough? As these questions swirled in her brain, a burnt smell reached her nose. Her eggs and tomatoes!