Reborn as a Tough Army Wife-Chapter 106 - 101 Exhausted

After lunch, Fang Pingying rested in her own room for a while.

When she came out to the yard and saw no one around, she went to Hong Lan’s room and called her over to continue the work they had not finished in the morning.

Fang Pingying felt that the red dates cake they made in the morning tasted quite good, so she used the same method to make some, letting them cool in the room.

In the afternoon, Fang Pingying decided to try making jujube flower cakes.

Making jujube flower cakes was much more troublesome than red dates cake. Just like before, she had to cook the dates until soft and mash them into a paste. Then she added water and constantly stirred by hand until the date paste was smooth and even. After that, vegetable oil was added, and the mixture was fried in a pan until all the water was evaporated, and the date paste filling was ready.

This process might look simple, but it was actually the most difficult step because the fire needed to be precisely controlled. If the fire was too strong, the date paste would get scorched and the resulting jujube flower cakes would taste off.

Fortunately, Luo Honglan had spent many years in the Luo Family kitchen and had become very adept at controlling the heat.

After the date paste filling was ready, they started making the dough for the outside of the jujube flower cakes.

Since Fang Pingying was experimenting, she made just enough dough for about twenty portions and made small dough balls. Then she wrapped the fried date paste in each little dough ball. After that, she flattened the filled dough with the closed side down and rolled them out into round shapes.

Finally, she cut the rounds into 12 petals with scissors, and then pinched each petal by hand. Once they were baked in the pan, they took the shape of jujube flower cakes.

Jujube flower cakes were not only delicious but also extremely beautiful. The outer white dough enclosed the black date paste filling, resembling petals.

Luo Honglan was amazed when she saw them, her eyes wide with astonishment.

If she hadn’t watched Fang Pingying make them herself, she would never have guessed how these beautiful jujube flower cakes were made.

Seeing her in a daze, Fang Pingying handed her a jujube flower cake and said, "Stop spacing out. Try this and see if it’s good. If it is, we’ll need to make a large batch soon."

Luo Honglan came to her senses, smiled foolishly, and accepted the jujube flower cake from Fang Pingying.

With a light bite, the taste was unforgettable for Luo Honglan.

After finishing one, she smacked her lips and said to Fang Pingying, "Sis-in-law, I think we could sell these for two yuan per jin."

"What are you saying, child? Even if it’s delicious, we can’t price it too high, or else fewer people will buy it. Let’s stick with the initial price of one yuan and sixty cents," Fang Pingying said with a smile. "Besides, our cost of making these isn’t much. Earning a bit is good enough."

"It’s complicated to make, so selling it at a higher price wouldn’t be unreasonable," Luo Honglan felt that these looked much nicer than the red dates cake, thinking just the appearance alone could fetch a good price.

Actually, Fang Pingying didn’t find it that troublesome. It was only because they were currently limited by conditions. If they had an oven or similar equipment, jujube flower cakes and many other pastries would be easy to make.

Fang Pingying thought about buying an oven when they got to the provincial city, unconcerned with brands, as long as it was functional.

The two sisters-in-law worked all afternoon and finally made three jin of jujube flower cakes.

Fang Pingying thought that tomorrow she and Luo Honglan could get up early and make some more red dates cake in the morning, and then focus on making jujube flower cakes in the afternoon, aiming for ten jin in total.

In the evening, when they returned home, it was not yet dark.

The whole family sat in the courtyard, waiting for dinner. Luo Cuilan, who had not come back at noon, was also home now. However, her complexion seemed off, and she kept frowning as though troubled by something difficult.

When Fang Pingying and the others returned, they exchanged a few casual words and then remained silent in the yard.

Luo Honglan had been the one intending to prepare dinner tonight.

But because Fang Xiu and Zhou Yunmei had argued over Luo Cuilan’s matter at noon, Zhou Yunmei turned on Fang Xiu, demanding that she cook dinner, or else the whole family would go without.

In truth, it was Fang Xiu’s turn to cook, so she had no room to object.

Evening meals were easy to prepare, as there was usually a good amount of leftovers from lunch. Fang Xiu simply needed to make some staple food or stir-fry a casual dish of green vegetables or squash, and that would suffice.

But Fang Xiu was just too lazy; she just steamed some rice and reheated the leftover dishes from noon, making the family make do with what they had.

The family did not get enough to eat, and there were complaints from Luo Cuilan and the others.

As a result, Zhou Yunmei burst out, "I wonder on which day you will die of laziness. As a daughter-in-law, you can’t even cook a decent meal. Now you’re talking about eating with the family. When you have to live by yourself, are you going to hire a maid to cook for you?"

Fang Xiu scoffed and retorted with scorn, "Mom, don’t make it seem like you’re any more capable. If it weren’t for my sister doing all the chores before and after, do you really think you wouldn’t be complained about by the family? I bet you’re just good at talking. When you were younger, you were pretty much like me."

"Me? Like you?" The thing Zhou Yunmei could least tolerate was others saying she was incompetent. She immediately started yelling at Fang Xiu, "You don’t even come close to comparing with me. When I was young, I was recognized in the village as an excellent worker both inside and outside the house..."

In reality, Zhou Yunmei was not a capable person, but she fancied herself as highly competent. Having her façade pierced by Fang Xiu’s words, she completely blew her top.

She began to drivel on about how much she had done when she was young, the hardships she had faced, and how she struggled and suffered to raise her children and take good care of Luo Dashan.

Such nagging was insufferable for anyone – like endless chanting. It all ended up with Luo Zhiming having to coax both sides.

Ever since the first "war" between Fang Xiu and Zhou Yunmei, Luo Zhiming had become exhausted from the heart out, his days at home spent either pacifying his wife or his mother, or showing affection to his wife in the bed.

All these were draining, and Luo Zhiming felt that if this continued for the long term, he would likely collapse and die.

Thus, what he most wished for now was news from Luo Zhiyong that he had found a job for him in the city, so he could leave this home sooner.

Then let this mother-in-law and daughter-in-law fight it out at home to their heart’s content – out of sight, out of mind for him.

As for everything else, it could be discussed later. He was truly fed up.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never been this exhausted.

After dinner, Fang Pingying went back to her own room.

Before, when Luo Zhiyong was home, they could talk and occasionally have playful banters; it didn’t feel boring.

Now alone, Fang Pingying realized for the first time how spacious the room provided by the Luo family for her and Luo Zhiyong, while simple, was quite large. During the quiet of the late night, the room felt emptier than ever.

With nothing else to do, Fang Pingying rummaged through the cabinet, pulling out not only her things but also the clothes Luo Zhiyong used to wear at home.

Thinking of sorting some out, to see if any could be altered for Luo Zhiyong to wear.(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)