Chapter 57: Making Glutinous Rice Cakes

Jiang Cuihua said with some frustration, “We do have a son, but I was just asking casually. Nothing’s set in stone yet, so don’t spread the word, or people might misunderstand.”

“Hah, I’ve got no reason to tell anyone about this.” Huang Damao’s wife, who was somewhat related to Jiang Cuihua, spoke honestly, “But if you’re thinking about matchmaking with the Huang family, you’d better think carefully.”

“What’s the matter?” Jiang Cuihua’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly asked, “Is there a problem?”

Huang Damao’s wife said, “Hongxia is a good girl, hardworking, and knows how to handle things, but her parents…”

She paused for a moment, and under Jiang Cuihua’s anxious gaze, continued, “Let me put it this way. If you want to marry their daughter, first of all, you’ll need a substantial bride price. At least one hundred to two hundred yuan, just like what they asked for their other two daughters.”

“Secondly, for holidays and festivals, you can’t avoid giving them a few gifts, and some of those need to be nice things. Otherwise, they won’t be happy.”

Jiang Cuihua felt cold in her heart upon hearing this, and clicked her tongue. “That’s a bit unreasonable.”

With such high demands, there weren’t many families in the countryside who could meet them. Even if some did, they might not be willing to comply.

After all, you can’t empty out your entire savings just to get a daughter-in-law.

While the bride price and gifts were part of rural customs, it had to depend on the situation. If you had the money, give more; if not, give less. The most important thing was to show your sincerity.

But if they insisted on such high demands… it would be a bit too much.

“You’re right.” Huang Damao’s wife clicked her tongue. “Anyway, most regular families won’t be able to meet their expectations.”

Huang Damao’s wife had once tried to introduce a match for her second daughter, but they were turned down because they were considered too poor. The other party even said behind her back that she had ulterior motives.

After leaving Huang Damao’s house, Jiang Cuihua felt completely deflated.

Liu Yinyin knew that her mother had given up.

Great, it seemed all her worries were for nothing.

They hurried back home on the bicycle, and the house was very quiet.

Liu Yinyin tiptoed over to peek into the room. Both father and son were asleep, with Gu Yan Yan lying on his father’s chest, sleeping soundly like a little piglet.

Liu Yinyin didn’t want to disturb them, so she grabbed a small stool and sat outside, peeling persimmons.

Making persimmon cakes wasn’t difficult. She peeled the skins clean, hung them on a rack to dry, and kneaded them.

Once dried, she would pack them up and cover them with powdered sugar. After a while, they would be ready to eat.

The persimmons she bought were a firmer variety that could last longer. Liu Yinyin’s mind wandered for a moment, and she secretly took out another two pounds from the system.

She realized that Gu Cheng was sometimes a bit careless. He never paid attention to the things in the kitchen.

Sometimes, when she poured oil into the oil jar or added salt to the salt jar, Gu Cheng never suspected a thing.

She used half of the persimmons for the cakes and left the other half for eating.

When Gu Cheng came out holding the child, Liu Yinyin had just finished peeling the persimmons.

“You go feed the baby,” Gu Cheng said, handing over the hungry Gu Yan Yan, “I’ll make dinner. What do you want to eat?”

Liu Yinyin smiled, her eyes narrowing with delight. “Anything, I love whatever you make.”

Gu Cheng’s lips curled into a slight smile. “By the way, I baked a sweet potato in the stove for you, don’t forget to eat it.”

The room had a fireplace, and it was quite convenient to roast things. Liu Yinyin loved sweet potatoes and ate one or two every day.

After feeding the baby, Liu Yinyin sat down with a sweet, warm sweet potato in her hands. Suddenly, she had a craving to make some glutinous rice cakes.

The thought of them sizzling in the stove made her mouth water. Just looking at them would be satisfying.

On such a cold day, eating a bite of chewy glutinous rice cake would be pure bliss.

Liu Yinyin could also buy glutinous rice cakes from the system.

But she didn’t want to enjoy it alone—she wanted to make them herself so everyone could taste them.

The only problem was that her family didn’t have glutinous rice. She would need to buy some.

Although Liu Jia Village didn’t grow glutinous rice, other nearby villages did.

There was always someone in the village who had connections to get glutinous rice.

After some effort, Liu Yinyin managed to buy ten pounds of glutinous rice, along with an additional ten pounds she had secretly obtained from the system.

A total of twenty pounds of glutinous rice were used to make glutinous rice cakes.

When Jiang Cuihua heard that she was going to make rice cakes, her brows furrowed so much she could have squashed a mosquito: “I don’t understand you. We have white flour and white rice to eat, isn’t that enough? Why do you have to go and make rice cakes?”

Actually, in the village, some families with better conditions would indeed make rice cakes or rice pudding for the New Year.

But that was only a small portion of the people.

“If I want to eat it, I’ll just make it. Anyway, there’s nothing else to do.” Liu Yinyin said nonchalantly.

During the cold winter, life was peaceful. Though it was comfortable, it was also a bit boring.

She had to find something to do. Liu Yinyin was even thinking about asking Gu Cheng to bring more yarn so she could knit some sweaters to pass the time.

On New Year’s Eve, Gu Cheng started his holiday, taking three days off in a row.

Liu Mingyuan also returned home for the New Year.

Both families had nothing particularly pressing to do, so they all got up early to start working.

The men made tofu and glutinous rice cakes.

The women made dumplings, as it was customary to eat dumplings during the New Year.

Liu Yinyin’s family had plenty of flour, several pounds of pork, and shrimp.

So, she planned to make a large batch of dumplings at once.

It was cold, and they could freeze them outside to eat slowly.

She made three types of fillings: cabbage and pork, shrimp and radish, and chives and eggs.

Liu Yinyin made about one hundred of each kind of dumpling! Her hands were sore from all the work.

The men finished their tasks too.

The tofu was made jointly by both families, and they made three trays in total.

Liu Yinyin’s family made one tray of tofu, while the Liu family made two.

The twenty pounds of glutinous rice yielded fifty-five glutinous rice cakes, each the size of a palm.

Liu Yinyin gave ten to the Liu family and kept the rest for her own household.

The glutinous rice cakes could be stored in water and would last quite a while.

For the New Year’s Eve dinner, Liu Yinyin boiled a pot of dumplings and also made a pot of sauerkraut tofu soup.

Liu Yinyin found making dumplings troublesome, so they rarely ate them at home.

But having them for a special meal like this was quite nice.

As winter turned to spring, the weather got warmer every day.

Last year, there hadn’t been much snow, and usually, wild vegetables on the mountain wouldn’t start growing until early March.

But this year, by mid-February, wild vegetables were already being harvested.

At this time, Gu Yan Yan, the little one, had just passed his hundred-day mark.

A child who was three months old was even harder to take care of than before. Before, as long as she stayed by his side, that was enough, but now, she not only had to stay with him but also had to talk to him.

The little one would whimper and make noises whenever he didn’t hear any sound.

He was practically a little emperor!

There was no choice, so Liu Yinyin bought a few books and would read to him whenever she had the time.

Later, she found it too troublesome and simply asked her little niece, Liu Zhizhi, to come and talk to him.

Liu Zhizhi was turning eight after the New Year. A girl her age in the village could easily help look after her younger siblings.

Of course, Liu Yinyin didn’t dare to leave the child completely to her; she only asked her to talk to Gu Yan Yan.

After all, they were both children and had more in common than she, as the mother, did.