Everyone knew she wasn’t truly unhappy with her daughter-in-law, but they wouldn’t call her out on it.
"What’s the big deal? Who cares where her family is from, as long as she’s here now, that’s all that matters."
The woman chatting with Aunt Wang sounded sowhat dismissive.
"That’s right. As long as she’s a good person, that’s what counts."
Soone else nearby agreed.
Gu’er listened intently. ’After all, won love to gossip, and I’m no exception.’
"It’s not that I look down on her family for being from out of town. Sigh... let just be honest with you. With the wedding coming up, a whole crowd of her relatives has arrived. They’re all staying here, eating and sleeping, waiting for the wedding in three days. The problem is, my daughter-in-law’s family doesn’t like rice. They want noodles, they want stead buns, and I have no idea how to make them! They also want large green onions, but they eat them plain, with no dipping sauce! And that’s not all. They’re also asking to steam so kind of jujube cake. They say it’s a custom for the groom’s family to present a large jujube cake and nine small ones. I an, when have I ever stead sothing like that before? Aren’t they just making things difficult? I’m so worried my hair is turning white."
Aunt Wang explained the whole story to the crowd.
Aunt Wang’s words were a bit of an exaggeration—it’s human nature to embellish when speaking—but everyone could still see how anxious she was.
"Sigh, that really is a headache. We all eat rice around here; we don’t know how to make dishes with flour. They say you have to be humble when taking a bride. If you don’t take good care of her family, they’re bound to stir up trouble in the future."
Soone in the crowd lanted.
"That’s right. We don’t have that many particular customs around here, but it’s different where they’re from. They have so many traditions. Just listening to her family go on about all their customs is giving a headache."
Aunt Wang’s frustration wasn’t an act. She was very satisfied with her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. The girl was pretty, had a decent personality, and most importantly, had a good job. Who in her neighborhood wouldn’t envy her?
She had been walking on air, even smiling in her sleep. But for the past two days, she couldn’t bring herself to smile. Her daughter-in-law wasn’t from this city; she was from over in Qiqihar. Qi City was already bigger than this city, so her daughter-in-law was soone who had seen a bit of the world. But now that she was getting married, all her relatives had rushed over. So ca from Qi City, others from Harbin. All at once, several dozen people had arrived.
The bride-to-be only had one family of relatives here, and there was no way they could house so many people. So her son stepped up and arranged for all the relatives to stay with them. Now that they were here, not only did she have to provide food, drink, and lodging, but the real problem was, their tastes in food were completely different.
She wanted to serve rice, but they wanted noodles and stead buns. She had never even heard of the latter before her daughter-in-law explained what they were. But she still had no idea how to make them.
Even though she went all out, borrowing so grain coupons to trade for a lot of flour, the flour wouldn’t magically turn into the food they wanted. It still had to be made.
She wasn’t good at it, and a couple of the bride’s sisters-in-law started making nasty comnts. She suggested they make it themselves, but they refused, saying they were the bride’s family and would naturally follow the arrangents of the groom’s family. What kind of logic was it for the bride’s family to lift a finger? If they did, their girl wouldn’t be able to hold her head high here in the future.
Aunt Wang was unhappy, but she could only treat her daughter-in-law’s relatives with respect. She had to swallow her anger.
Yesterday, she had seen Gu’er selling vegetables and bought so to make a dish with dipping sauce. Unexpectedly, those relatives said it was acceptable. They also said the scallions she brought back were tasty, just a bit small, and told her to buy so bigger ones the next day.
She also thought that Gu’er’s scallions were better than the ones she usually ate, which is why she ca over today.
"You’re hosting a banquet for your son’s wedding, and her family cos to your house to eat and drink and expects a seat at the feast, too? I’ve never heard of a custom like that."
Soone else voiced a different opinion.
"Around here, the bride’s family and the groom’s family host their guests separately. But where they’re from, the bride’s family has to be seated at the wedding banquet. The groom’s family has to make sure they’re well taken care of; it won’t do if the arrangents are poor. My daughter-in-law’s relatives couldn’t all fit at their place, so my son arranged for them to stay here. On the wedding day, they’ll go straight to the banquet, and then they’ll head back after they eat."
Aunt Wang explained to the others. They say customs change every few miles. The two families weren’t even from the sa province, so of course their customs would be different. You only get a daughter-in-law once in a lifeti; she had to do it right.
"Sigh, that’s not easy."
Soone sighed upon hearing this, sympathizing with Aunt Wang.
"Yeah, but I’d say Aunt Wang is still doing pretty well. My son is already twenty-five and hasn’t even found a wife yet. I’m even more anxious."
Another woman started talking about her own son.
Listening to the discussion, an idea sparked in Gu’er’s mind. For the past two days, she had been worrying about what to do next, since the season for wild vegetables was ending. Now, hearing what Aunt Wang said, she realized she could go to her house and help with the cooking. ’Didn’t she ntion needing jujube cakes stead? I know how to do that! And I’m very good at it.’ The reason she knew how was because she had worked in a restaurant run by soone from Shandong in her past life.
However, that Shandong restaurant didn’t sell these things. She had only been a dishwasher there, washing plates, bowls, and tablecloths.
There was an old woman who worked with her, almost seventy years old. She was also from out of town. Gu’er heard that the old woman’s daughter-in-law was a nasty piece of work who refused to support her, so she had to work to support herself at such an old age.
Gu’er felt sorry for the old woman. Although she herself was in a pitiable state, she took great care of the old woman. After finishing her own chores, she would always help the old woman with her share of the work and showed her great concern.
After about two months, the old woman began to teach Gu’er how to make the food from her hotown.
At the ti, Gu’er didn’t think much of it. The woman kindly offered to teach her, so she learned. ’Learning another skill might help find another job soday,’ she had thought.
Back then, although Gu’er’s life wasn’t easy, it wasn’t like her current situation; she could still afford to buy flour.
She started by learning the simplest things, like making leavened dough and steaming buns, then moved on to steaming jujube cakes. Finally, the old woman even taught her how to make dough figurines. These figurines were no simple matter; they could be shaped into all sorts of forms. Whatever the old woman sculpted, it looked just like the real thing. It was just that her eyesight wasn’t very good, so she didn’t teach Gu’er much about making them. But Gu’er had heard the old woman say that she could sculpt anything—not to ntion things like oxen, sheep, pigs, rabbits, cats, chickens, ducks, flowers, and fruits. There were also animal shapes like mandarin ducks, lions, tigers, and deer. For human figures, there were chubby babies and the Longevity God. They looked incredibly lifelike when finished.
Because the old woman’s eyesight and energy weren’t what they used to be back then, she only taught Gu’er the simple techniques. Gu’er never learned the complex ones, but what she did learn was already very impressive.
After the old woman passed away, Gu’er, relying on the skills she had been taught, was highly valued by a pastry shop and even worked there for two years.
’Thinking about it now,’ she mused, ’all the skills I learned and the hardships I endured in my past life must have been for the sake of this one.’
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