Chapter 147：The Fluff (9) - Rapid Update 4

"Perfect timing." In his attempt to usher things along, Lin Kang walked to the oven to retrieve the box of dough. In his hurry to do so, it did not enter Lin Kang's mind to put on the oven mitts.

Even though the box was made from plastic and thus not a good conductor of heat, it was still hot enough to singe his bare fingers. Lin Kang immediately pulled his hands back the moment his skin made contact with the hot surface.

A hiss escaped from his lips as he waved his hands in the air rapidly.

This attracted Xiu Ling's attention. She took account of what had happened almost immediately and rushed forward to help Lin Kang. She took his arms in hers and dragged him to the sink. She placed his hands under the faucet and quickly twisted the water open.

The water felt like a balm on his fingers but something else proved to be even more effective at assuaging his pain. Xiu Ling was examining his fingers one by one to see whether there was serious sign of injury. There was obviously none, the temperature set for bread proofing wasn't that high in the first place.

Lin Kang could feel Xiu Ling's touch all over his hands and it pulled him away from the pain more than the water did. He realized he could lose himself in this sensation. As hard as he tried not to, Lin Kang could not help but wonder how it would feel should Xiu Ling's touch wonder to other parts of his body.

Lin Kang then knew he needed to stop himself or else he was going to need another cold shower. Therefore, he quickly pulled his hands away from his wife, saying in a hurry, "Thank you but I'm fine now. Let's move on."

Then Lin Kang grabbed the oven mitts off the table and finished what he had started.

Xiu Ling eyed him suspiciously but since the man was so adamant on moving forward and since the man wasn't seriously injured, that was what she did.

Xiu Ling peeled back the wrap and explained to Lin Kang what to do next, "As you can see, the dough is now more bubbly on the surface, this means that it's aerated. The next step is to fold the dough.

"I want you to reach under the middle of the dough and pull it up to create a fold. That's why this is called the folding process.

"Before that, please extend both of your hands. I'm going to drizzle your hands with oil so the dough doesn't stick to your skin."

Xiu Ling turned to grab a new bottle of oil. She had cleaned up the spill from earlier when Lin Kang was upstairs in the shower.

Lin Kang did as he was told. "Oil me," the man said. Even though the procedure was rather standard during baking, for some reason, when Lin Kang said so, it sounded weirdly suggestive. Xiu Ling could not help but blush as she drenched the man's large hands in oil. This time it was her who hurried things along before the atmosphere could turn awkward.

They repeated the folding process for a few more times and finally it was time for the shaping step.

Xiu Ling took out two baskets that were covered with well-dusted cloth.

Xiu Ling dumped the dough out of the box. She worked with it slightly and she did not realize Lin Kang was eyeing her out of the corner of his eyes. The man was actually thinking about moving behind her to hold her hands and work on the dough together like how it was in the movie Ghost with pottery.

However, he doubted Xiu Ling would allow him to do something as cheesy as that, also he soon lost the reason to do so anymore because Xiu Ling picked up the scrapper to cut the dough into two portions, one for him and one for herself.

"Alright now just follow what I'm doing. It shouldn't be too complicated," Xiu Ling instructed. She dusted their working surface with flour and then flipped the dough away from her. She folded the bottom of dough upwards, pulled in the sides and then tugged the top out slightly before folding it back on top of the dough, essentially wrapping the dough upon itself.

"Now, we're doing something called stitching." Xiu Ling knitted the ends of the dough before turning it over, seam-side down for it to rest. Xiu Ling turned to check on how Lin Kang was doing.

Xiu Ling hated to say that she expected it but the man had practically ruined everything. Apparently, he lost track about halfway through the process and he just decided to wing it, which was understandably not that good of an idea for a process as precise as baking.

An embarrassed Lin Kang chuckled when he caught Xiu Ling looking at him.

Xiu Ling smiled patiently before reaching over to hold Lin Kang's hands to guide him through the process. "Here, let me help you."

Lin Kang found himself to be weirdly excited because they were doing the thing that he thought he had lost the chance of doing. Xiu Ling's hands were as soft as the dough that they were working with. To be perfectly honest, the man wasn't paying much attention to what Xiu Ling was trying to teach him because he was too caught in this sensation of them holding hands.

It was a sweet moment, one that unfortunately he did not have the chance to savor for long because Xiu Ling soon took her hands away from him. "Done," she said proudly.

Looking at the finished dough, Lin Kang had half a mind to flatten it with his hands just so he could get his wife to repeat the whole process with him.

Xiu Ling grabbed the baskets and showed him how to flip the dough into it. This Lin Kang did without difficulty,