The Fluff (7) - Rapid Update 2

Lin Kang coughed due to the blast of white flour that rained down on his face.

"I'm sorry, are you alright?" Xiu Ling asked urgently as she reached over to wet a hand towel and handed it to Lin Kang.

Lin Kang accepted it and used it to clean his face as his coughing died down. "Thank you."

"Didn't I tell you to lean back earlier because I was going to douse our working station with flour so the dough wouldn't stick? Were you even listening?" Xiu Ling questioned.

Lin Kang chuckled awkwardly, he didn't expect to get caught so soon.

"Yes, I swear I was listening." But of course he wouldn't come clean so easily. "You simply moved too fast."

Lin Kang could have said he had something on his mind but he was afraid his wife might press and ask, 'what was on your mind then?'

'You,' he would say and then... 'Wait, that was perfect! Why didn't I do that?!'

Lin Kang was brought back to reality when he felt someone's touch on his face. He realized Xiu Ling was using her finger to touch the tip of his nose. "Wait, you still have something there," she was saying.

Then, she turned away to wash her hands, ignoring the wave of emotion that she had just incited in the man beside her.

Xiu Ling turned back to smile at him. "Moving on... Now would you pay more attention this time?" Xiu Ling said with mock warning in her voice.

It was all Lin Kang could do just to nod dumbly. His heart still had not recovered from that swift moment of intimacy they just shared. His mind told himself to stop over-reacting, 'it was just a touch, you two had done more intimate thing than that!'

However, somehow things were different. The touch earlier set his heart aflutter. He felt the urge to lower his head to hide the shyness that he was afraid would show on his face like those characters in romantic teen dramas. In a way, this description would not be so far away from the truth because Lin Kang was almost similar to those young teens who had just tasted the sweet nectar of love for the first time. He simply did not envision the feelings would be so intense.

Oblivious to what her husband was experiencing, Xiu Ling had promptly moved on.

"Alright now back to our dough..." Xiu Ling added the starter to the dough and she turned to Lin Kang. "Here, I'll need your help."

Lin Kang snapped out of it and turned his attention to his wife.

Xiu Ling pushed dough to Lin Kang and told him, "I'll need you to pinch the dough for me."

"What?" Lin Kang was confused.

Xiu Ling formed her fingers into pincers not unlike that of crabs. Then, she started to pinch the dough. It was a pinch and pull motion. "Just do it like this. This is to help the starter mix into the dough."

Lin Kang followed her example and Xiu Ling left the task to the man as she turned to grab something else. Xiu Ling sprinkled the dust of white substance over the dough and she explained, "This is salt. It can help inhibit the starter and so you'll soon notice the change in the texture of the dough."

As expected of the master baker, Xiu Ling was right. The dough stopped being so... for the lack of a better term, gooey and it became more elastic.

"Now comes the fun part." Xiu Ling found a plastic scrapper and handed it to Lin Kang. "Here, scoop the dough up in one fell swoop and slam it down on the table."

Lin Kang did as he was told. The dough splattered on the counter.

Perhaps the kitchen was her territory, Xiu Ling dared to do things that she normally wouldn't when she was around Lin Kang, like critiquing the man. "Okay, but next time put some elbow grease into it. Now you fold the dough back and repeat the process."

Lin Kang followed his wife's instruction but for some reason, he could sense Xiu Ling's dissatisfaction just radiating off her.

Several seconds later, Xiu Ling moved him out of the way and complained, "You're being too soft. This is not some porcelain china. It's a bread dough. Let me."

Xiu Ling took over and showed him how it was done. She picked up the dough and whacked it heavily on the table. It created a satisfying plopping sound.

Instead of being offended, Lin Kang was impressed and slightly aroused. 'Indeed, the woman does need to take charge more often. It suits her.'

Lin Kang admired his wife at work, and Xiu Ling was soon done. "You only needed to work with the dough for about 5 minutes. Lin Kang, help me grab that box on your side."

Xiu Ling was referring to a square, clear, plastic box. It was heat-resistant because it was going to go inside the oven.

Lin Kang passed it to her and she said thank you. Xiu Ling then proceeded to douse the inside of the box with a generous amount of vegetable oil. She laid the dough inside the box and explained to Lin Kang, "This a process called proofing. When my mum and I used to do this, we left the dough out in the warm temperature but since your kitchen's oven has the setting for bread-proofing, we're going to use that instead. Technology makes things so much more convenient."

Lin Kang took the box away from Xiu Ling, trying his best to make himself useful. He was going to help her move the box into the oven.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Xiu Ling asked hurriedly as the box was whipped away from under her eyes.

"Moving it into the oven," answered Lin Kang innocently.

"It isn't ready yet. I still have to do something." In her hurry, Xiu Ling knocked over the bottle of vegetable oil.