The moonlight shines softly and lingeringly on the fields. The night in Erlizi Village is calm and peaceful, with only a few dogs barking occasionally.
The night was still deep, but Qin Manzhi's mother and daughter had already gotten up, lit the stove, and started grinding beans and making pulp.
Today is the day when they invite the villagers to dinner.
Zhuang Keqing had prepared the menu a few days ago, and she had made up her mind that soy products would play the leading role this time. And she had sent some tofu out yesterday, so some villagers must have been curious and fresh. Now they are waiting for today.
Xiao Xi Noodles became a blockbuster, taking the banner of its own soy products.
Qin Manzhi was lighting the fire. She felt a little distressed when she saw that her daughter was sweating from the busy cooking process. She wanted to take over but was rejected by Zhuang Keqing.
"Mom, just keep an eye on the fire. The sauce will be cooked in a while. The work of exerting your strength is still behind, so you have to save some energy."
Knowing that her daughter felt sorry for her, Qin Manzhi's heart warmed and she couldn't help but think of the past.
When the child was five years old, he got seriously ill. After taking two sets of medicine, all the money he had left was gambled away by Zhuang Da. He had no choice but to take the dregs of the medicine and endure it over and over again. In the end, he almost finished it.
She was given water to drink. Fortunately, the child survived and survived, but now she is still very thin and cannot compare with her peers.
Thinking that this was all her fault as a mother, her eyes became wet and her heart felt like there was a stone blocking it.
But as soon as she raised her head, she could see her daughter's red and sweaty cheeks steamed by the heat and her sparkling black eyes through the stove, as well as the fragrance of beans filling her nose, and she suddenly felt some hope in life.
Nowadays, the price of a liter of beans is cheaper than rice. If they are harvested by farmers, they are even cheaper. Now that such a humble thing can be used to make such a variety of food, she never dared to think about it before.
think.
Qin Manzhi has never heard of this thing called tofu, and she doesn't want to go into details about how her daughter got this method. She only needs to know that everything her daughter does is for this family, and as a mother, she just needs to give her full support.
.
The soy milk was boiled quickly, and two large pots were filled in large wooden barrels filled with hot water. In addition, a lot of oily bean skins were peeled off and hung on bamboo poles in the yard.
The next step is to order some soybean products, such as pressed tofu, dried tofu, qianzhang, etc.
It wasn't until the early morning light began to fade that the roosters at Aunt Li's house next door began to crow, that the mother and daughter finally prepared the ingredients for the banquet.
It was early in the morning, the sun was just right, and many villagers were weeding in the contiguous paddy fields of Erlizi Village. This was an easy job, and everyone could chat for a while when they were close to each other in the working room.
Village chief Li Shu walked slowly on the path beside the fields with a cane. When he saw someone, he straightened up and said hello.
"Village chief, where are you going?"
The little old man didn't reply to the man's words. When he saw that the other man was doing a rough job, he scolded him with a straight face, "Er Gouzi, you are not good at this job. You are not as sharp as your father." Er Gouzi was offended.
My nose is so boring.
In fact, the village chief is in a very good mood today. He was very satisfied with the tofu meal yesterday. Since he got old and had bad teeth, everything he eats is tasteless, and everything he bites has no flavor. Many things he cannot chew thoroughly can only be chewed.
I swallowed it in my stomach, which made my stomach feel uncomfortable after eating. But the tofu was so good. It was cooked with the sauce. It had a rich flavor, was smooth and tender, and could be broken into pieces when I crumbled it with my tongue. I was still very full after eating it.
, comfortable.
The wrinkles on the little old man's face softened as he considered whether this dish would be on the table today.
Not far ahead was the banker. From a distance, he could see two tables set up in the small courtyard, and some people were already sitting on the tables.
"Village Chief, you're here!" Zhuang Keqing was pouring soy milk for Aunt Li when she saw the village chief coming from the path. She put down the pottery pot in her hand and went up to him without thinking.
Zhuang Keqing knew very well that the village chief looked serious, but he actually had a good heart. If the tofu could get through to him this time, it would be easier for him to do some business in the future.
Helping the village chief to take his seat, Zhuang Keqing first took a porcelain bowl and poured a small bowl of soy milk into it.
"Grandpa, village chief, are you thirsty after coming all the way? Let's drink some soy milk first to moisten your throat."
"Soy milk?"
The contents in this bowl are milky white and warm. They look no different from milk, but they smell like fresh beans.
Aunt Li on the side helped to explain: "Girl Zhuang gave it to me before, and it was delicious. This one has some sugar added to make it taste even better."
The village chief picked it up and took a sip. As expected, the taste was refreshing and slightly sweet. His hungry stomach after the early morning journey was wonderfully soothed.
"Well, it's indeed a good thing." The little old man nodded, then drank two gulps of the soy milk and asked Zhuang Keqing to go about his business and leave him alone.
While my mother was busy hitting her on the back of the head, Zhuang Keqing was not polite and told her to take a rest first before getting into the kitchen.
More and more people came to the small courtyard, but with Aunt Li helping to take care of it, there was no problem. However, more people came than expected later, so we had to borrow a set of tables and chairs to have enough space to sit.
The two brothers from the Liu family, the boy from the Huang family and other men sat at a table, the village chief and elders sat at a table, and some aunts who helped sat at a table.
It was already close to noon, and the dishes were all on the table, but no one had touched their chopsticks. The villager now only had a widow, and it was difficult for her to speak out. Her daughter was too young, so in the end Zhuang Keqing had to ask the village chief to speak to the elders.
After a few words of thanks, the table was opened.
Speaking of banquets, there is no one in the village who has never had a banquet or held a banquet. No matter how good or bad the conditions at home are, the banquet noodles will always have some meat on them, not to mention big happy events such as marriages. If the conditions are good,
, it’s not surprising to kill a pig.
But what is on the table now? Except for some dishes that look like the tofu that the girl sent yesterday, but I have never seen the others?
If you look carefully, you can't even see any meat foam. It's too shabby!
The people who come to eat at the banquet know the situation of the banker clearly, otherwise why would they be willing to help this orphan and widowed mother in the first place. We are all from the same village, and we don’t ask for anything in return, but since you want to treat everyone to a meal
If you want to have a banquet, you have to show some sincerity, otherwise you might as well not invite me.
Look at this table, what's on it? There are cheap leeks and celery everywhere in the field, fried together with unknown things, white and green, and although it looks refreshing, no one has seen it before.
Dare to use chopsticks?
The other dishes looked ordinary, just some soy sauce-roasted tofu, green onion tofu, and a bowl of soup I had never seen before, with layers of thin skin-like things floating in it. It looked like I didn’t know how to eat it!
Some people were somewhat dissatisfied, but they had already come, and the village chief and elders were still sitting at the main table. They didn't say anything, so it was better not to talk too much, lest others look at you and say you are a petty person.
The two brothers of the Liu family like to try new things. Yesterday they tasted the tofu sent by Zhuang Daya, and they were thinking about it. Today, they were whetted by the soy milk, and their curiosity aroused. Liu Er is not as curious as his elder brother.
Being steady, seeing that no one was using chopsticks, I couldn't care less, so I picked up the sauce-roasted tofu and put it in my mouth.
Well, it's much more delicious than the home-cooked version! It's probably due to the addition of fried shallots, which gives a faint aroma of green onions, and it is cooked with miso, and the taste is really rich.
Try another piece of this stir-fried white shredded leek.
Leeks in the fields are like weeds. Once you cut them, they will grow again. They are the most willing to grow. Usually if you don’t have this dish on the table, you will feel tired of eating it. But today’s plate of leeks has a slightly spicy taste.
It has been neutralized, and the slightly chewy texture of the unknown white strands provides a rich taste, and also reveals some bean flavor.
Liu Er tasted all the dishes in succession, raised his head with bright eyes, and sighed in the direction of Zhuang Keqing: "Girl Zhuang, isn't your table full of tofu?"
Before the little girl could answer, the villagers sitting together were a little curious. They were all tofu? But isn't the tofu soft?
They were a little dissatisfied, but when Liu Er said this, they all became curious. They raised their chopsticks in unison and picked at the food they had never seen on the plate.
As soon as they entered the mouth, they were amazed. If beans can be used to make tofu, they believed it after tasting it yesterday. However, after all, this thing is too soft and difficult to preserve. And because some people prefer hard things, they really can't say they like it.
.
But the ones we eat now are elastic, soft, chewy, and some even taste almost like meat. This is a taste that can’t be compared to pickled melons and vegetables every day.
Everyone was immersed in eating, and the doubts and disdain in their hearts had long been lost. Zhuang Keqing had finished the brown rice and now added it to everyone, which made everyone feel satisfied.
