The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

At noon, Gu’er made two large pots of noodles. With so many people, she had no choice—one pot wouldn’t have been nearly enough. Even so, both pots were devoured, with not a drop left.

When Aunt Wang came over to tell Gu’er that everyone had eaten their fill and was very satisfied, Gu’er was rubbing her arms.

Rolling out noodles was no easy job. Her wrists were a little sore, and her arms ached.

"Oh, Gu’er, you must be exhausted. I had no idea rolling out dough was so tiring."

Aunt Wang felt rather bad about it.

"It’s alright, Aunt. It’s only natural for young people to get a little tired from work."

Gu’er smiled, showing she didn’t mind. ’If you take someone’s money, you do the work.’

"You’re a hard worker, Gu’er. This afternoon, we still have the jujube cakes to steam. What do you think, should we do the large one first, or the small ones?"

Aunt Wang asked Gu’er this because they had already agreed on the plan: noodles for lunch, followed by steaming jujube cakes in the afternoon. The cakes were to be made over two days—the large one today, and the small ones tomorrow.

"Let’s steam the large one today and the small ones tomorrow."

Gu’er had already thought it through, so she answered as soon as Aunt Wang asked.

"Alright. In that case, Gu’er, do you need me to help with anything?"

Aunt Wang deferred to Gu’er’s judgment.

"No need, Aunt. Everything I need is here, so I can handle it myself. You should go get some rest. I’ll call you when it’s ready."

Gu’er shook her head. She had already checked when she arrived, and all the ingredients for the jujube cakes were prepared. ’The bride’s family must have told her exactly what to buy.’

"Okay then. I’ll get out of your way. You get to it."

Aunt Wang was just making a polite offer, and with that, she left.

Gu’er began making the jujube cake.

She had already kneaded the dough and set it aside to rise before she made the noodles. The weather was warm, so it rose quickly.

Gu’er kneaded the dough repeatedly, pressing out the air bubbles that had formed during rising.

Once that was done, she rolled the dough into a large, flat circle.

The circle was huge, even larger than a common pot lid.

She placed the circle of dough onto a steamer basket lined with a cloth, then began to shape the decorations.

She cut off small pieces of dough, rolled them into long strips, and flattened them. Then, she folded each strip in half, wrapped it around a jujube, cut it into a decorative piece, and arranged it on the large dough base.

Gu’er made them one by one, arranging them carefully. It looked as if she were fanning out a peacock’s tail across the dough. It was a beautiful sight, except a peacock’s tail is green, while this was white interspersed with red.

She arranged them in concentric circles, leaving a finger’s width of space between each piece. The dough would expand as it steamed, and without that gap, they would all press together and look ugly.

Gu’er filled the empty space in the center with more red jujubes, then covered them with another, smaller sheet of thinly rolled dough.

After placing the small sheet on top, Gu’er continued to roll out more dough. She folded these new pieces in half; this time, she was making flowers.

The flowers had five petals. Once she formed a basic shape, she pinched the center, squeezing it tightly to create the blossom form. She then used a chopstick to fix any imperfect areas.

After refining the shape, she used a knife to make small cuts in the petals, creating a beautiful, layered look.

She placed the flowers on the smaller dough circle in the center, added a red jujube to each, and gave it all a final, decorative touch.

After steaming for about fifteen minutes, Gu’er lowered the heat and steamed it for another five. Then she pulled the firewood out, let the cake sit in the residual steam for about three minutes, and finally opened the lid.

A fragrant steam billowed out, a mix of cooked dough and the fresh, sweet scent of jujubes. It was enough to make anyone’s nose twitch.

’The shape turned out well.’ Gu’er smiled with satisfaction. At the same time, her stomach let out a RUMBLE. She wanted to eat some herself.

She had eaten lunch here, but it was only one bowl of noodles. Even though it tasted good, she was hungry again.

"I could smell it all the way from the doorway! Is it ready?"

Aunt Wang came in just then.

"It’s ready. Come have a look, Aunt."

Gu’er lifted the steamer basket and set the jujube cake out on the work table.

"Oh! Is this the jujube cake Ni Ni steamed? It’s surprisingly pretty! This Ni Ni is truly capable."

Aunt Cheng had followed her in. Seeing the jujube cake on the table, her eyes lit up, and she praised Gu’er.

She knew how to steam jujube cakes herself, but she certainly couldn’t when she was as young as Gu’er. Because of this, she felt Gu’er was quite skilled.

"It’s really beautiful. Such a large jujube cake, and it even has flowers in the center."

Aunt Wang marveled as well. This was the first time she had ever seen a jujube cake.

Gu’er just smiled. ’This one isn’t even that big; I’ve seen much larger ones. Besides, this design is actually quite simple. There are far more complex ones, but I didn’t choose those. First, they’re too much trouble, and second, there’s no need.’

"Aunt Cheng," Aunt Wang asked, "what do you think of the cake Gu’er steamed? Is it good enough? Will the bride’s family approve?"

Aunt Cheng looked at the jujube cake, then back at Gu’er.

’To be honest, there wasn’t even a custom of steaming jujube cakes here. They never really expected Aunt Wang to produce one.’

’So why ask for it?’

’It was a way to make things a little difficult for the groom’s family, to ensure they wouldn’t look down on the bride. It was to let them know that their daughter had her own family to back her up.’

’If the groom’s family really couldn’t produce one, that would have been that. It wasn’t as if they would call off the wedding.’

’But in that case, the groom’s family would always remember that they failed to fulfill a request from the bride’s family. They would always feel a little indebted to her, and then they wouldn’t dare bully her for the rest of her life. The goal was simply to ensure their daughter would be treated well in her new home.’

’But now, Aunt Wang had hired someone to make the noodles and steam the jujube cake. What did that show?’

’It showed that the groom’s family respected them. And why did they respect them? Because they respected the bride. That’s why they went to such lengths.’

’Since the groom’s family showed such respect, they certainly wouldn’t treat the bride poorly in the future. So, the bride’s family had already discussed it inside earlier. As long as the jujube cake wasn’t a total eyesore, they would say it was acceptable and not deliberately make things difficult.’

’However, the jujube cake was meant to be displayed in the main room on the wedding day. It was for people to look at, not to eat. So if it was truly ugly, that wouldn’t do either, as they’d be a laughingstock.’

’When Aunt Cheng came to look, she had already made up her mind. If it was a complete disaster, they would just eat it for dinner, and she would teach Gu’er how to steam a new one. The groom’s family had shown them respect, so the bride’s family couldn’t be too unreasonable.’

’But what she hadn’t expected was that Gu’er’s cake was exceptionally well-made—even better than her own. She honestly couldn’t find a single fault with it.’

"Of course it’s good enough! It’s perfect!" Aunt Cheng nodded, praising Gu’er, which signified her approval. "This Ni Ni is really capable. She steamed it beautifully."

"So you’re saying it’s a success!"

Aunt Wang was overjoyed to hear this.

"Gu’er, hurry and set the cake out nicely. We’ll cut it up properly once it cools."

Aunt Wang called to Gu’er, her voice filled with excitement. Only now did she finally feel a sense of relief. She had definitely hired the right person.

Before Gu’er could even respond, Aunt Cheng exclaimed, "Whoa, you can’t cut that! This jujube cake is for display in the main hall on the wedding day. The large one is placed in the center with nine smaller ones around it for guests to see. How could you cut it? Let me tell you, the small cakes can be shared, but not this big one. It has to be kept as a display—for at least a year. Where we come from, some families keep it for as long as three years! You only take it down once my Hua’er Ni Ni—your daughter-in-law—is expecting a child."