Chen Miao still asked, "If I go to the county bookstore the day after tomorrow, can the bookstore be open?"
"It should be after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, right? I haven't been to a bookstore in the county for several years."
Chen Miao nodded, it was okay anyway, I would go there on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year and ask if Chen Jiang and the others had left.
To be honest, there won't be much danger if you stay here all the time, but if you go out, you really don't know.
Anyway, the little devils surrendered this year, but it will take several years before they can truly win.
After we went out, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were already chopping vegetables. Although there were ten kilograms of meat and water left behind, they were reluctant to just eat the meat.
"Have you finished studying?" Zhao Xiaoyun asked.
"Have you finished studying? I only learned thirty characters, and there is a long way to go before I finish studying."
"Thirty words? I haven't learned a single word."
It's almost five o'clock now. Since I'm inviting someone to dinner, I'd better go early.
"Fifth Aunt, I don't want to eat fat meat. You eat it, but don't pick it up for me." Chen Miao quickly picked it up and put it into Shen Wufu's bowl.
"The bit of brine in the bowl is enough for you to use for a while. There are pharmacies in town that sell brine. You can buy some and save it. But don't let your children touch it.
"Fifth Aunt, what are you serving?"
In fact, what they said yesterday was right. Life is hard now and there may not be many people buying tofu.
Chen Miao just nodded. In fact, she felt that the technical content was that when making soy milk, it should not burn the pot, and when ordering brine, she just relied on feeling.
"Fifth Aunt, I'm not short of meat. I really like stewed sauerkraut."
Chen Miao nodded on the side, "Fifth Aunt, I understand."
Shen Wufu nodded, "I can do it. When do you want to do it? I'll do it for you."
"It's time to eat later."
Chen Miao understood. I had heard of making tofu with brine before. So this is what brine is like?
"Now you can still eat it at noon. After grinding the soy milk on this stone mill, you have to rinse it well. It will freeze in the winter."
"Fifth Aunt, I've marinated it and it's ready to eat."
After dinner, Shen Jianchun and his wife insisted on seeing their mother off, but Chen Miao did not refuse in the end.
"Fifth Aunt, wouldn't it be good for you to work during the first lunar month?"
"It's almost done. Just wait until all the water is pressed out and the tofu will take shape."
"This kind of cloth is not good for making baggage because it is too dense. If you have the opportunity to buy cloth in the future, just ask them if they have gauze. That will be easier to use and the tofu will be formed quickly."
Pushing the stone mill is not too tiring, mainly because there are few soybeans. Although her stone mill is small, it is enough.
Yunshan and Yunxin ate two pieces of blood sausage, and Chen Miao also thought it tasted good.
There is a widow in my natal family who really can’t survive her life. She drank brine and it’s hopeless.”
"This is brine."
"Uncle Wu, don't worry, let's try it tomorrow."
Chen Miao smiled and sat down to light the fire.
"The Xiaofeng family eats meat." The Shen Wufu family married Chen Miao with a large piece of braised pork, which was actually the stewed pork neck meat.
The first thing I did when I got home was to light a fire, which I had already done in the afternoon. In fact, they only burned so many fires at home, and ordinary people only used them for three meals a day.
"Okay, I guess it will take about an hour, let's go back first."
Making tofu is really hard, and there is water all over the floor. If you want to make tofu, you need to get a side room.
Let’s talk about it later. I may not have time, so I’d better take care of my two children.
Soak a liter of soybeans first. Let your fifth uncle make a tofu plate for you tomorrow, otherwise you won’t be able to press it.
Shen Wufu smiled, "I'm not a good carpenter, but I can make a tofu plate. I'll make it for you tomorrow before you use it."
"Fifth Aunt, is this okay?"
This is hard to figure out. How much does it feel like?
"What if I could learn to sell tofu in the future?"
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, I was too embarrassed to leave people here. After a while, I went to give them a pot of tofu after it was formed.
"At Xiaofeng's house, let's stir-fry cabbage, and I've stewed blood sausage and vermicelli with sauerkraut."
Chen Miao turned on the fire to bring the soy milk to a boil, and let it sit for a while until it cooled down a bit before ordering the tofu, and then scooping it onto the white cloth on the tofu plate.
The dinner was quite sumptuous nowadays. We also steamed egg custard for the children. We didn’t divide the table, we just ate on the same table.
Wrap the water tofu in a cloth and press a wooden board on top. Put two basins of water on it and you can see water seeping from the outside of the tofu plate.
I woke up the next day and washed the soybeans with warm water. The cloth I washed last night was also dry, and I was waiting for someone to come over and help me.
"Why am I embarrassed? By the way, Fifth Aunt, you can make tofu, right? I have a stone mill at home and a lot of soybeans. I originally wanted to make it years ago, but Fifth Uncle and the others were out, and I was not in the mood to do it. Anyway, Even if you eat it at home, it’s not too late to make it even during the first month of the year.”
The soy milk was poured into the bucket, and Shen Jianchun also brought a tofu plate.
You can do it yourself, and you can do it whenever you want.
Your fifth uncle's carpentry skills are not good, but if your father is fine, he can finish it in less than an hour."
Light candles in the room and play them stories so that they can stay calm.
"It's okay. It's better than your farming. You can make money by selling tofu, and you can raise pigs with the remaining tofu residue. It's actually a good job, but with the current war and chaos and people's panic, it may not work. You can try it.
"Okay, why not? That's what life is like now."
"Silly girl, how can country people like us be so particular? It's okay."
"You're such a girl."
"Don't be embarrassed, come to my house to eat and eat more." Zhao Xiaoyun said with a smile.
"I'll try it myself tomorrow. I want to know how much brine I need to put in it."
After everything was packed up, Shen Wufu's family and Zhao Xiaoyun came over with their two children.
"You don't have pickled sauerkraut? Take some back later."
"Fifth Aunt, I can eat anything." This is the first time I have eaten out in the two years since I came here. Even my parents' family has never eaten before.
"Okay, let's soak the beans, right? I'll soak them tonight. Tomorrow my two sisters will come to pay New Year's greetings to my parents. We're going over for dinner. What can we bring them? A few pieces of tofu for the family should be fine too."
I made shrimp dumpling soup for two children, topped with egg drop, and they were very satisfied.
After cleaning up, we started to light the fire. If we don't eat at home at noon, there will be less fire and the house will not be so warm. After the spring planting, we will find someone to dismantle the kang and build it again.
The two children were following behind. Chen Miao was afraid that they would fall. The ground was not dry yet. The sweet potatoes were steaming in the pot. After chopping firewood, Chen Miao accompanied the two of them inside to play.
Now they are given educational toys to play with. I am really grateful to my sister’s supermarket.
She was flipping through the dictionary. There were still many traditional Chinese characters she didn't recognize, so she had better read more.
