Chapter 82: Making a living【1】

Chapter 82 Making a living【1】

Gu Dewang and Gu Defa called people one by one. After calling, they stared eagerly at the bean dregs cakes in their hands and swallowed hard.

Although the third grandma didn’t like Mr. Chen, she couldn’t bear to let the two children watch. She gave them each a bean dregs cake and said, “Eat it.”

Gu Dewang and Gu Defa took it with a smile, took a big bite, and said inarticulately while chewing: "It smells so fragrant and delicious."

Mrs. Chen was quick with her hands. While the third grandma was getting the bean dreg cakes for the two children, she quickly took two of them, stacked the two bean dreg cakes together, and took two bites in succession. The aroma of spices, several aromas mixed together to form an excellent delicacy, made Mr. Chen's eyes widen as he ate the cake crumbs and said: "It's fragrant, it's so fragrant!"

The third grandma was afraid that her cake crumbs would spray into the pottery bowl, so she hurriedly blocked it with her hands, glared at Mrs. Chen, and cursed: "Ms. Chen, are you a starving ghost and reincarnated? Turn aside and eat something and spray it everywhere." Yes, do you want to bury Tai or not?"

Ms. Chen was eating happily and didn't care at all that the third grandma scolded her, but she still turned her back and didn't dare to eat in front of the third grandma.

Mrs. Chen saw the wooden boxes in the yard. The wooden boxes were placed on mud bricks, with big stones weighing them down. There was water seeping from the bottom of the boxes. She walked over curiously, wanting to remove the stone and see what was pressed inside.

The third grandma kept staring at her and scolded her: "Ms. Chen, you are a weakling, stop it quickly. This is tofu made by Xiaoyu. It needs to be pressed with stones. It will not open until enough time has passed. How dare you remove the stones?" Move away, you won’t be able to make the tofu that harms Xiaoyu, and the old lady will tear you apart.”

Mr. Chen was still afraid of the third grandma. When she heard this, she didn't dare to move the stone on it anymore and just walked around the wooden box: "Is this the tofu that Xiaoyu said? Is it delicious?"

She turned back to Mrs. Cui and said, "Sister-in-law Dashan, let's come to your house for dinner tonight. What does this tofu taste like?"

The third grandma was so angry that she cursed: "Ms. Chen, you haven't taken enough advantage, have you?"

Still eating? They just had a meat meal at Dashan's house the night before yesterday, and now they are still eating Dashan's bean dregs cakes in their mouths. They still want to eat it tonight, so they might as well let Dashan's family raise their family.

Mrs. Chen licked her smile and said, "We have been eating together for several months after fleeing the famine, and then we are separated all of a sudden. You are not used to it."

After a while, Mrs. Chen finished the two bean dregs cakes in her hand. When she saw that there were no more bean dregs cakes in the pottery bowl, she called her two sons and took them to the kitchen of Gu Dashan's house.

Unfortunately, before they reached the kitchen, Gu Jinli slammed the kitchen door and bolted it.

Ms. Chen's face stiffened. Although she was angry, she knew that Gu Jinli was a fierce person and did not dare to offend her. She was afraid that she would not get the tofu, so she could only take her two sons back to the yard and wait for Gu Jinli's tofu to be pressed.

Half an hour later, Gu Jinli finally finished frying four kilograms of bean dregs cake, enough to fill a large clay pot.

 After frying the bean dregs cake, she and Luo Huiniang went to the yard to see her tofu.

“Xiaoyu, have you pressed the tofu?” Third Grandma asked her.

Gu Jinli nodded: "It should be ready." It takes two-quarters of an hour to press the bean curd into tofu, and she had already pressed it for more than half an hour.

As soon as she heard that her tofu was ready, everyone gathered around. Gu Dashan removed the stones from the wooden box for her and took off the wooden board covering the tofu.

Gu Jinli opened the burlap cloth covering the tofu, and a large piece of complete snow-white tofu appeared in front of everyone. She pressed the surface of the tofu with her hand, and it was firm and elastic: "It's done."

 The tofu is neither old nor tender, and the pressing time is just right.

“Hey, this white thing is tofu?” Mrs. Chen was really surprised when she saw the tofu being made. She had never seen such a thing in her half-life, and couldn't help but poke it, but the third grandma slapped her hand away in time and glared at her: "Your hands are not important, you broke the tofu, you can't afford to pay for it." ?"

This is a rare thing that they have never seen before, and they cannot let it be wasted by Chen.

Chen didn't poke the tofu, and felt very itchy. He asked Gu Jinli again: "Xiaoyu, did you really learn how to make tofu by someone on the road to escape from the wilderness?"

Gu Jinli nodded: "Yes."

Chen didn’t quite believe it: “How come I haven’t met a strange person with such ability?”

Gu Jinli didn't even look at her, just stared at Doufu and said: "There are so many strange people in the wilderness, and you didn't help them. Why should others tell you the craftsmanship passed down from their ancestors?"

She didn’t want to be burned as a monster by others, so she pushed all her skills onto the victims she met while fleeing the famine. Anyway, there are so many people fleeing the famine, and now they are scattered all over the place. There is no way to check them even if they want to. This is an excellent excuse.

The third grandma said: "Xiaoyu is right, you are a selfish person, even if you meet someone who has the ability, you still don't have the ability to let people pass on their skills to you."

The third grandma didn’t want to listen to Chen’s chatter, so she said to her, “If you want tofu, go home and get a bowl. We don’t have an empty bowl for you.”

"Hey, I'll go back and get it right now." That's what Mrs. Chen wanted, and she happily went back to get the bowl.

By the time Chen came back, Gu Jinli had already cut the tofu into palm-sized tofu pieces.

The third grandma made the decision and gave each family two pieces of tofu, plus a bean dreg cake per person.

The Chen family was not divided. They took advantage of Gu Dafu and his son, and got two pieces of tofu and four bean dregs cakes.

Mrs. Chen was very happy. She took back the four bean dregs cakes and divided one into two halves. She could eat another half.

Third Grandpa was afraid that Mrs. Chen would have a loud mouth, so he reminded her: "This fresh food is made by small fish. Don't tell her everywhere."

Mrs. Chen is a shrewd person and immediately promised: "Don't worry, Third Uncle, my nephew and wife know about it and will definitely not tell anyone about it." This is a rare thing, and the method of it must be in the hands of their family. She would only tell anyone if she was stupid.

Luo Huiniang took her and Tian’s share back. Gu Jinli gave her two packs of ground spices and asked her to add some when making tofu. He also told her several ways to make tofu.

Gu Jinan took one portion and sent it to Gu Damu and Gu Dalin's family, while Gu Jinli took one and sent it to the Qin family.

 That night, Gu Jinli made pan-fried five-spice tofu, braised tofu, and spicy and sour tofu.

 Pan-fried five-spice tofu is fresh and crispy, braised tofu is delicious, and spicy and sour tofu is an appetizer. The family of eight ate tofu with soy milk and bean dregs cakes, and everyone's stomach was full.

Third Grandpa said with emotion: "I used to eat stewed beans, and it felt like taking medicine every time I ate. It was unpalatable. Now when I eat this tofu and bean dregs cake, no matter how much I eat, I still feel it's not enough."

 The meal they ate consisted of just over a pound of beans.

Third Grandpa suddenly realized something and asked Gu Jinli: "Xiaoyu, how much tofu can be made from one pound of beans?" Why do you think five pounds of beans can make so much tofu and bean dregs cakes?

Gu Jinli said: "One pound of beans yields three and a half pounds of tofu, and five pounds of soybeans yields four pounds of bean dregs."

The third grandfather was really shocked: "Then these five kilograms of beans produced nearly twenty kilograms of tofu! There are also bean dregs. How come there are more soybeans?" After the grain is ground, there are less soybeans, but these soybeans are More.

Gu Jinli smiled and said: "Because the soybeans have been soaked in water. Originally only five kilograms of soybeans, after soaking in water, can increase to more than twenty kilograms. The soy milk used to make tofu is actually the water absorbed by the beans, so the soybeans have increased. .”

“God bless us, we won’t have to go hungry in the future.” The third grandmother clasped her hands together and bowed toward the door.

Third Grandpa also said: "We have no land and no way to make a living. We will have to buy food for most of the next six months. Xiaoyu made this tofu and bean dregs cake, which really saved our lives."

 Gu Jinli heard Third Grandpa say the word "making a living" and took the opportunity to ask: "Third Grandpa, what do you think of tonight's pan-fried five-spice tofu?"

Third Grandpa: “Of course it’s good.”

Gu Jinli: "Then let's go to the market to sell pan-fried five-spice tofu. What do you think?"

Gu Jinan's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he hurriedly said: "Third Grandpa, this is a good business. We are the only family in this town, and we will definitely make a lot of money."

 (End of this chapter)