Chapter 55 - 51: Sugar Cake

Chapter 55: Chapter 51: Sugar Cake

Knight and a few friends lined up outside Ning He’s window, their mouths watering at the aroma wafting from inside.

"Here you go. Have a taste."

Ning He handed each of them a small plate holding two golden-brown, square-shaped cakes. A cross-section revealed a filling that was black on top and white on the bottom.

Ning He then placed several bowls of sweet fermented rice with glutinous rice balls on the windowsill.

"Try eating them together."

The children could no longer hold back. They snatched up the treats from their plates and took a big bite.

The outer layer was pan-fried to a crisp, fragrant perfection. Inside, the black part was a sweet red bean paste, and the white part was a soft, chewy mochi that stretched. A few of the children, who were in the middle of losing their baby teeth, couldn’t bite through the mochi. With a tug of their little hands, they ended up stretching a long, white "noodle" into the air, their faces frozen in bewilderment.

Knight, who had just lost his two canine teeth, managed to bite through the middle of the mochi, but the sides stretched out into thin strands. He was so surprised that he froze, forgetting to chew.

Watching this scene unfold, Ning He couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"Go on, kids, keep biting! Just bite it off."

Her reminder snapped the children back to their senses, and they used their other teeth to finally bite through the mochi. Savoring the three distinct textures—crisp, chewy, and dense—along with the fragrant notes of rice, flour, and sugar, they were quickly won over by the new snack.

Finishing one cake and then taking a sip of the sweet fermented rice soup was the perfect combination.

"Is it good?" Ning He asked, a wide smile on her face.

Several little heads bobbed up and down in a flurry of nods, their mouths too full to speak, unwilling to waste a moment of chewing.

’At least, given the limited ingredients, a snack with this combination of texture and flavor should pass muster.’ Ning He had already tasted it herself and was quite satisfied with her new creation.

Once the children had nearly finished, she brought out a plate of small, round cakes and gave one to each of them.

"These are sugar cakes. Be careful, they’re hot."

The sugar cakes were essentially flatbreads with a white sugar filling. For convenience, Ning He had made them with a hot-water dough and deep-fried them instead of baking.

The puffy little cakes were hollow inside. A gentle bite released a gush of hot steam, making one instinctively puff out a breath. Then, a wave of pure sweetness washed over the tongue.

The white sugar, mixed with a little flour, melted into a thick syrup that didn’t run. It spread across the tongue, sweet without being cloying. Paired with the dough that was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, it was a treat one could eat forever.

The twenty-odd cakes on Ning He’s plate were gone in an instant.

"Sister, can I take this home for my mom to eat?" the youngest, Jasmine, asked cautiously, cradling a sugar cake in her hands.

"Jasmine, we promised Sister we wouldn’t tell anyone about this. Did you forget?" Knight reminded her with a frown.

Jasmine’s head drooped, her voice tinged with sadness. "I know, but... but my mom works so hard, and she loves sweet things. I think she would really, really like this sugar cake."

Knight’s lips twitched. He looked down at the half-eaten sugar cake in his hand and suddenly regretted taking that last bite.

’His mom and dad worked really hard, too. He wanted them to be able to eat these delicious sugar cakes as well.’

The other children had the same look on their faces.

Ning He sighed.

"You can’t take the sugar cakes home, but I’ll be setting up a stall in a couple of days. Your parents will be able to have some then. They won’t be expensive; everyone will be able to afford them."

Hearing this, the children’s gloomy expressions instantly brightened.

"Thank you, Sister!"

After they finished eating, Ning He sat by her door and chatted with the little ones for a while.

"...The cold snap arrives in two days. Are you all ready for it?"

"Yep! We’re all going to the shelter. It’s not cold there, and we can play with lots of other kids. When it snows, we can even build snowmen and have snowball fights!"

Ning He scratched her head. ’She hadn’t expected these kids to be so full of anticipation, without a hint of fear for the coming disaster.’

’Finding joy in the midst of hardship... That’s not so bad, I suppose.’

"There’s going to be a market at the entrance to the shelter. Will you set up a stall there, Sister? Then we can buy all your delicious food!"

Jasmine looked at Ning He, her eyes twinkling brightly.

Ning He patted her on the head. "Of course. I’ll definitely be there."

After sending off her seven little dwarves, Ning He went online to look up the market stall application for the Fourth Ring.

Sure enough, a few new options had appeared under the "Temporary Market Locations" category.

She picked the one closest to her, submitted the application, and took a moment to check her vendor registration rating.

The last food festival must have added a good chunk of experience points; her progress bar to the next level was nearly halfway full, but her rank was still E-level.