The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Gu’er woke up early the next day, got ready, and went into the city.

This time, she didn’t bring her cart, just a back basket with some green onions. She had wanted to sell some vegetables on the side—even an extra dime would be nice—but she really didn’t have the time.

When she arrived at the spot where she was supposed to meet Aunt Wang, Gu’er looked around. Aunt Wang hadn’t arrived yet.

She didn’t have a watch, so she didn’t know what time it was, but she figured it had to be close.

Gu’er wasn’t worried. If the person wasn’t there, she would just wait.

Before long, Gu’er saw Aunt Wang hurrying over.

"Gu’er, you’re here! Did you bring the green onions for me?"

Aunt Wang had learned Gu’er’s name yesterday.

"I brought them, Auntie. Take a look and see if this is enough."

Gu’er held out the back basket for Aunt Wang to see.

"It’s enough, more than enough. Come on, follow me home."

Aunt Wang took a look, saw it was roughly enough, and nodded, leading Gu’er toward her house.

Gu’er knew the area where Aunt Wang lived. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. The homes were single-story bungalows, each about twenty to thirty square meters.

Gu’er sized up the place. Aunt Wang’s family had two houses. They probably bought the second one when their son got married. It seemed the family was doing quite well.

Gu’er heard a commotion coming from one of the rooms. The voices inside were loud and speaking the Henan dialect. It must be Aunt Wang’s daughter-in-law’s family.

But Gu’er didn’t ask any questions and followed Aunt Wang into the kitchen.

"Gu’er, put the green onions down for now. Let’s not worry about the jujube cakes just yet. Why don’t you make a bowl of noodles for me first, so I can see what you can do?"

Aunt Wang said to Gu’er. Fearing Gu’er might take it the wrong way, she quickly added, "Gu’er, it’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that you’re so young, and this flour is precious. I’m just afraid of it going to waste. Please don’t overthink it."

Aunt Wang’s worries weren’t unfounded. She had borrowed a lot of grain ration coupons this month, which she would have to pay back. If the flour was ruined, it would break her heart.

"Alright. Just a moment, Auntie. I’ll knead the dough and roll out some noodles right now."

Gu’er nodded. It was perfectly normal for them to want to test her skills. She didn’t find it strange at all.

Gu’er washed her hands, took the basin Aunt Wang handed her, and scooped some white flour out of the sack.

The flour back then wasn’t as white or as fine as it would be in later years. It looked a bit dark, but it had a strong, wheaty aroma.

"What kind of noodles would you like me to make, Auntie? Noodle soup, drained noodles, braised noodles, mixed noodles, saozi noodles, or noodles with fried bean sauce?"

Gu’er asked Aunt Wang as she started kneading the dough, rattling off a long list of noodle dishes.

"There are so many different ways to make noodles? I... I have no idea. Wait here, I’ll go ask."

Aunt Wang was stumped. How was she supposed to know what kind of noodles they wanted? She had no choice but to go out and ask her guests.

"Okay, you go ahead and ask, Auntie."

Gu’er nodded and continued kneading the dough.

There was a technique to kneading dough. You couldn’t add too much water, especially since the weather was hot. If the dough wasn’t kneaded firm enough, it would turn out very soft, and the resulting noodles wouldn’t be chewy. The texture would be all wrong.

Of course, adding a little oil while kneading would make the noodles very smooth, but there was no way Aunt Wang would give her any oil.

Gu’er kneaded the dough very firm. That way, after it rested for a while, it would reach the perfect consistency, and the noodles would turn out smooth and delicious.

But kneading firm dough required strength. It took a lot of wrist power and was more tiring than kneading soft dough.

"Gu’er, I’ve brought Aunt Cheng over. You can talk to her."

Aunt Wang came back in, this time followed by a woman about her age.

"Ni Ni, I hear you know how to make our kind of noodles?"

Aunt Cheng asked, looking at Gu’er.

She was speaking in the Henan dialect. Without the experiences of her past life, Gu’er wouldn’t have understood a word.

"Your auntie is asking what kind of noodles you know how to make."

Aunt Wang, afraid Gu’er wouldn’t understand, translated for her. It had taken her a lot of effort to communicate with her daughter-in-law at first, too. But her daughter-in-law was much better now. If it weren’t for having a daughter-in-law from inside the Pass, she wouldn’t have understood either.

Gu’er smiled and repeated the list of noodles she could make.

"Well, Ni Ni, you’re quite capable! Even I can’t make that many kinds. How about you make some noodle soup for me first, alright? I haven’t had it in so long, I’m really craving it."

Aunt Cheng had requested noodle soup.

"Alright."

Gu’er replied with a smile, using a word from the Henan dialect.

"Oh? Ni Ni, you can speak our Henan dialect? It sounds quite authentic! Well then, I’ll be waiting for your noodle soup."

Aunt Cheng hadn’t expected Gu’er to speak the dialect. Her eyes lit up, and she felt a sense of closeness to the girl.

Aunt Wang gave Gu’er a puzzled look, then thought to herself, ’No wonder this girl said she could make noodles and steam jujube cakes. She must have relatives from inside the Pass.’

In fact, Aunt Wang was mistaken. Gu’er didn’t have any relatives from inside the Pass. However, in her past life, many people from that region had come here. Gu’er had heard it so often that she could understand it and had picked up a few phrases, but she couldn’t say much beyond a few simple sentences.

Gu’er saw that the dough had finished resting and began to roll it out. Since it was for noodle soup, Gu’er cut the noodles to just the right thickness.

Watching Gu’er’s movements, Aunt Cheng nodded to herself. ’This girl’s technique is very authentic. You can tell she knows what she’s doing.’

After cutting the noodles, Gu’er sprinkled them with a light dusting of flour, then gathered them up with her hands, separating the strands and spreading them out evenly.

The pot of water on the stove was already boiling. Gu’er dropped the noodles into the pot and gave them a couple of stirs with chopsticks.

She then washed some greens and bean sprouts, and chopped some green onions into a bowl. She added light soy sauce, salt, oil, and a pinch of ground Sichuan peppercorn.

When the noodles came to a boil, Gu’er added the greens and bean sprouts. When they were just about done, she poured in the bowl of green onions and seasonings, rinsed the bowl with a splash of the noodle water, and let the pot come to a rolling boil one more time before turning to Aunt Cheng with a smile.

"Ni Ni, you must have grown up in Henan. The way you cook these noodles is really spot-on."

Aunt Cheng understood Gu’er’s silent signal: the noodles were ready.

As she spoke, Aunt Cheng ladled two bowls of noodles to take out for everyone to taste. In truth, she knew they would be good even without tasting them.

She often made noodle soup; it was a common, everyday dish. But precisely because it was so common, it wasn’t easy to make well. Making it delicious was a true test of skill.

She had seen that Gu’er’s technique was solid and her use of seasonings was perfect, so she knew the flavor couldn’t possibly be bad.

Aunt Wang followed her out. She needed to hear the verdict.

"Ni Ni, my husband said your noodle soup really hits the spot. You’ve got real skill! We’ll have noodle soup for lunch today. Tomorrow, let’s have drained noodles, alright?"

Aunt Cheng said upon returning, giving Gu’er her approval.

Gu’er nodded. Noodle soup and drained noodles were not difficult to make.

A smile finally appeared on Aunt Wang’s face. Hosting this group of in-laws had been stressing her out for days. Now that they were satisfied with the food, she could finally relax a little.