There is nothing important for the farm family, except for farming, harvesting grain, and weddings and funerals.
The fields have been planted recently, and nothing major has happened except weeding and weeding every day. The men who had promised to help the Qin family build the coffin kept their promise and went to the mountains for several days to cut down the trees and drag them back to the village, where they were quickly done.
What a thin coffin.
The village chief was also very conscientious. Seeing that the Qin family was orphaned and widowed, and that the brothers and their parents who were separated were not in good shape and were really pitiful, he discussed with the elders in the village to help buy some simple funeral paper money.
"Girl from the banker, no matter how bad your father was during his lifetime, he was still from Erlizi Village, and he died in such a stupid and useless way, but death is like a lamp going out, so don't forget about it." The little old man on crutches raised his hand and said,
The helper put down his things and looked at the girl in front of him again.
Mrs. Qin took care of Aman at home. Since she was still in confinement, it was inconvenient to go out, so she left everything to Zhuang Keqing to handle.
At this time, Zhuang Keqing was thinking about his own affairs and did not hear what the village chief said.
"Banker's girl!" Seeing that the little girl didn't speak, the village chief said in a serious tone.
Zhuang Keqing, who had his head lowered and said nothing, suddenly raised his head and asked something incomprehensible: "Grandpa, village chief, I heard that you have a small stone mill at home, right?".
"Yes, what do you want?" The little old man frowned, feeling a little worried.
"Can you lend me the stone mill?"
"I'm talking to you about your father, why do you always change the subject!" The village chief was really annoyed. He was about to lecture the child, but he choked on his saliva and coughed in excitement.
Zhuang Keqing hurriedly stepped forward and patted the old man's back. After he calmed down, he explained with a sad look on his face: "Don't be angry. It's just that my father will be buried tomorrow. The people in the village are as kind-hearted as you. Can't you help me?"
I’m not very busy, and although my family is poor, I still want to try my best to make drinks to reward everyone.”
After hearing this, the village chief finally came to his senses. Also, the living are always more important than the dead.
That's it! He thought to himself, it's not the girl's fault. This Zhuang Dayi has been gambling for so many years and has suffered for his wife and children. If this person is gone, it will be clean, and he will save the kids in the village from getting addicted to gambling together in the future.
, then wouldn’t Erlizi Village be doomed?
In acquiescence to Zhuang Keqing's words, the village chief nodded and agreed to borrow money and asked her to go back with him later to get it.
This made Zhuang Keqing so happy that he could no longer pretend to be sad. With a smile on his face, he put the funeral rites in the yard into the house and followed the village chief.
The little old man looked at the girl's look and knew that she didn't take his words to heart at all, but what the child just said made some sense, and he was a good person. This time the villagers and neighbors helped her so much, I think they will remember it in the future.
The ones in the village are good.
So Zhuang Keqing borrowed a small stone mill from the village chief's house while pushing a wooden cart borrowed from Aunt Li's house next door.
The big items were all ready, Zhuang Keqing wiped the sweat from his forehead and rolled his eyes with a smile.
Now we can finally start work!
In the past few days, she had gone through several ways to make money in her mind, such as tea eggs, braised food, salted chicken and duck, dessert Shaqima cakes, etc. However, the conditions at home were really poor, so she didn’t think about it.
It's talking about chicken, duck and fish, but it doesn't even have sugar.
Moreover, even if there are conditions to make these things, given the consumption level of the village residents, it is impossible to say how many times they will be able to eat meat this year, let alone desserts. During the New Year, you can prepare some candy canes to sweeten your children.
Sweet mouth, adults are determined not to eat it.
Therefore, based on the limited conditions and environment in front of her, she could only choose to make soy milk and tofu.
It is also a way to promote it by thanking everyone.
Of course, before this, she had talked to her mother and confirmed that in this world, beans were mostly boiled and salted to make sauce, and there was no such thing as soy milk and tofu before she dared to implement this plan.
Yesterday, she had sifted through the soybeans collected from the farm at home, picked out the dry ones, and left the plump and round ones, which she had soaked in well water. Now they are fat and cute, and can be separated with just a pinch.
Here are two pieces of Douban.
Zhuang Keqing didn't want to hide it from anyone, so she placed the small stone mill in the yard, set up a large basin underneath, poured the wet beans in little by little, and ground them into a thick white pulp.
This time she only tried to grind a pot of beans and planned to boil the soy milk. She first made some tofu with rice vinegar and experimented with the proportions.
Grinding beans is not an easy job. It takes more than two hours to grind a pot of beans. During this period, Aunt Li came out to cut vegetables and saw Zhuang Keqing grinding things in the yard. She came over curiously to have a look and chatted for a while.
Aunt Li knew that the child was going to the village chief's house to borrow a small stone mill when borrowing the trolley with her family. But she still couldn't figure out what the small stone mill could be used for. On weekdays, when everyone wanted to grind wheat and millet, they all used it for public use in the village.
There is a big mill there, and there are two big plum trees there to protect it from wind and rain. It is not as trouble-free and convenient as having a small mill at home.
But when I thought about it again, there was no man in the banker's house, so Da Mo couldn't move a widow and a baby girl. I felt sad for a while that the three members of the family were suffering, so I didn't think much about it.
Now that she saw the girl grinding something from a distance, her curiosity suddenly aroused. Because she often helped the farmer, Aunt Li was not shy. She was still holding vegetables cut from the field in her hand.
Yangzi asked outside the fence: "Big girl, what are you doing?"
Seeing that it was Aunt Li, Zhuang Keqing immediately stopped what he was doing, wiped his hands on his apron, and opened the courtyard door to invite people in.
"I'm grinding soy milk."
"Soy milk?"
After entering the yard, Aunt Li could see clearly that the small stone mill was several times smaller than the big mill in the village, but at least the little girl could turn it alone. At this time, she saw Zhuang Keqing put a handful of soybeans on the grinding hole and turned it.
After a few turns, white fine slurry flowed out along the gap and fell into the large basin below.
"How can beans do this?!" Aunt Li was so surprised that she moved forward and dipped her fingers into some of the syrup and put it in her mouth.
Although there is some residue, it is generally fine and thick, with a faint fragrance of raw beans.
Every household grows some soybeans to make their own sauce and add flavor to their dishes all year round. But they never expected that after grinding wet beans like this, they could produce something so fragrant.
Zhuang Keqing was not angry when she saw Aunt Li just taking the raw soy milk into her mouth. She wished she would ask more questions after she ate it.
"Aunt Li, this pulp is still alive. When it's ready, I'll bring it to you." After saying that, she smiled and continued to put the soybean paste without saying anything.
Aunt Li didn't come here to beg for anything, but Zhuang Keqing said she would give it away, and she was very happy.
"My love for you is not in vain!" After saying this, she didn't stay much longer. It was almost late and she had to cook on the stove at home.
After sending Aunt Li away, Zhuang Keqing ground all the remaining beans and got a basin full of coarse pulp.
After that, it is time to filter the slurry, light the fire, and cook the soy milk.
After finishing all the work, it was almost dark. Everyone had finished their dinner long ago, but Zhuang Keqing's stomach was still flat. Qin Manzhi had just come to help filter the pulp and light the fire. After all the work, he had not eaten a grain of rice. He had not had time to take a bite of her.
After making bean dregs cake, the crying Aman called me back to the house.
After all, because he felt sorry for his mother, Zhuang Keqing poured a bowl of soy milk and left it to dry. He also picked up several bean dregs and vegetable cakes and sent them to the house so that his mother could eat them before coaxing his brother. After that, he took a bite of the cakes and hit him again.
I went out to deliver a pot of soy milk to Aunt Li.
Aunt Li's family has a simple population. The man is an honest farmer, and he also has some weaving skills. He often makes rattan baskets and other items in exchange for money during the off-season. The family is considered to be well off.
Because she gave birth to three daughters and one son, she had special sympathy for Widow Qin. She had been unable to give birth to a son earlier, but fortunately her husband was a good man and he didn't learn how to go out to gamble. Now her daughters have long been married to people from other villages.
, I only have a son who is only six or seven years old, and I am planning to send him to the scholar in the next village to receive enlightenment.
"Aunt Li, are you at home?"
"Hey~ here we come!" Aunt Li came out of the house and opened the door, followed by a little boy with a tiger-like head and a brain, who looked very smart.
"Hello, silly boy. My sister will treat you to some soy milk." Zhuang Keqing smiled and handed the jar he was carrying to Aunt Li's hand, "I just made it and it's still a little hot. You can drink it directly after it cools down, or
It tastes better with some sugar."
There was only a wooden lid on the clay pot, and the strong aroma of beans wafted out, making the silly boy salivate.
