Chapter 346: Making Pastries
Chapter 346: Chapter 346: Making Pastries
"I save my goodwill for reasonable people. As for someone like you, who fakes an illness to take advantage of others... sorry, but I’ve got none to spare." Su Qing sneered at Song Yufang.
Song Yufang’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"I’m saying you’re faking an illness to deliberately take advantage of people," Li Huan said loudly. "What? You got a problem with that? If so, let’s go to the hospital right now for a check-up. We’ll see if that diagnosis of yours is real or not."
Li Huan had unconditional faith in Su Qing. ’If Su Qing said this person wasn’t sick, then she definitely wasn’t.’
And while Sun Xiaowen didn’t know if Su Qing was telling the truth, she couldn’t stand Song Yufang either, so she naturally sided with Su Qing. She immediately chimed in, "That’s right. Let’s go to the hospital and find out."
There was no way Song Yufang would dare to go. Her aunt, who worked at the hospital, had written the medical certificate for her. It was a complete fake. ’If I go to the hospital for a check-up, won’t the whole charade be exposed?’
At that, Song Yufang couldn’t even be bothered to pack her things. She stomped her foot hard. "You’re bullying me!"
Then, without a single look back, Song Yufang ran out of the dorm.
"Tch. Obviously guilty," Li Huan said, spitting in the direction Song Yufang had fled before letting out a cold snort.
"Seriously, how did someone like that end up in our dorm? Lying just to get an advantage. So shameless." Sun Xiaowen was also clearly disgusted by Song Yufang’s behavior.
She glanced at the quilt and pillow Su Qing had placed on the lower bunk, then walked over, picked them up, and moved them to Su Qing’s bed. "There. It’s best to just ignore people like that. We’re not cut from the same cloth."
"Exactly." One of the two girls who had blocked Song Yufang earlier smiled at Su Qing and her friends. "I haven’t introduced myself yet. My name is Liu Juan, and I’m from Jiang Province."
The other girl quickly smiled as well. "I’m Chen Meizhen, from Hai City."
Su Qing and her friends introduced themselves as well. All five girls were keen on becoming friends, and they chatted happily.
Liu Juan then said, "Aside from that Song Yufang, everyone in our dorm seems pretty nice. There are two other girls you haven’t met. They went out shopping after they made their beds. I expect they’ll be back later."
Not long after Liu Juan spoke, two girls walked into the dorm carrying shopping bags. After exchanging some pleasantries, Su Qing learned that one of them, Niu Wenying, was from Liao Province. The other, named Ye Qingqing, was from Yun Province, making her and Sun Xiaowen fellow provincials.
And with that, Su Qing had met all eight girls in the dorm. Aside from an oddball like Song Yufang, the others were thankfully normal and seemed to have fairly easy-going personalities. All in all, it was a good group. As for Song Yufang, if she kept to herself, Su Qing would leave her be. But if she came looking for trouble, Su Qing certainly wouldn’t indulge her.
The school assigned dorms by department and class, so all eight girls in Su Qing’s dorm were classmates in the economics department. This meant they all had the same schedule. They still had the next day off, so after waking up early, Su Qing had Li Huan return to their courtyard house first while she went out on her own.
The purpose of her trip was to create a plausible excuse for the items she was about to reveal.
Previously, while in Xiangcheng, Su Qing had taken the time to buy quite a few things. These included pastry-making supplies like flour, molds, cream, chopped nuts, powdered sugar, chocolate, and shredded coconut. She had essentially bought every baking ingredient she could find in Xiangcheng, since they were nearly impossible to find on the mainland.
Su Qing had originally bought these things to make treats for herself whenever she had a craving. She had purchased a large quantity back in Xiangcheng, and now they would come in handy.
"AHHHH!" Li Huan’s eyes lit up when she saw the ingredients Su Qing brought back. "Qingqing, what delicious things are you going to make?"
Li Huan wasn’t the least bit suspicious about how Su Qing had obtained these items. There were plenty of black markets in Beijing, and besides, private businesses were now permitted. She figured that with Su Qing’s skills and connections, getting these things was a piece of cake. Yes, Li Huan had that kind of inexplicable, unwavering faith in Su Qing.
Li Huan was also very familiar with Su Qing’s culinary skills, which she absolutely adored. She examined the ingredients Su Qing had brought back and asked, puzzled, "Qingqing, you’re not planning to make pastries, are you?"
"I am," Su Qing nodded.
"What kind are you going to make?" Li Huan asked eagerly.
"I’m planning to make dorayaki and snowflake cakes," Su Qing replied with a smile. ’I don’t have an oven or a refrigerator right now, and both of these can be made with just a pot. The recipes are pretty simple, too.’
"What’s dorayaki? And isn’t it getting a little chilly to be eating snowflake cakes?" Li Huan blinked. The reality was that the variety of sweets available in this era was extremely limited. There were only a few traditional types, like old-fashioned sponge cakes, sweet rice sticks, and mung bean pastries. Furthermore, in those days, "snowflake cake" was considered a cold, summery treat.
"The snowflake cake I’m making is a pastry. As for the dorayaki, you’ll see once it’s done." Su Qing smiled, putting all the ingredients in the kitchen. She planned to make the snowflake cakes first.
’My recipe is simple,’ she thought. ’Unlike the ones from later generations that require gelatin powder, I just need glutinous rice flour, sugar, and shredded coconut. Oh, and my exclusive secret ingredient: the vine’s leaves!’
’However, I won’t add any vine leaves to the pastries I’m making for Li Huan today. The number of leaves on that vine is limited, after all. I need to be frugal with them.’
Su Qing added water to the glutinous rice flour and sugar, stirring until it was thoroughly mixed. She poured the batter into a mold, steamed it for twenty minutes, then took it out to cool. Once cool, she cut it into cubes and rolled them in shredded coconut. Just like that, the snowflake cakes were done. Su Qing casually popped a piece into her mouth and raised an eyebrow slightly. ’Not bad. My skills haven’t gotten too rusty.’
Su Qing casually fed a piece to Li Huan, who had been hovering restlessly beside her. Li Huan’s eyes immediately lit up. She had never tasted shredded coconut before, and she fell in love at first bite. "Qingqing, this snowflake cake is amazing!"
"If you like it, have some more. There’s plenty," Su Qing said with a smile. "When we go home next weekend, we can bring some back for Grandma and Grandpa."
"Okay, okay!" Li Huan nodded eagerly. "Grandpa and Grandma will definitely love it too."
Next, Su Qing made a simple version of dorayaki. While they didn’t look as perfect as modern ones, the taste was superb. Li Huan couldn’t stop nodding as she ate. "Qingqing, you’re incredible! You’re an amazing cook, and your pastries are so delicious too. Where did you learn to make these? I’ve never seen anything like them in Beijing."
"In Xiangcheng." With Xiangcheng as the perfect cover story, Su Qing could explain everything away.