The big market held once a month is really lively, and there are many people who come here. People who are short of something at home are willing to come here to have a look.
The residents in the town usually buy some firewood and eggs, and they are happy to buy them at this time, because there are many people coming from the village below and the prices are cheaper.
Liu Zhuzhu was good at craftsmanship. The rattan baskets he wove were strong and could be packed, and he sold the best. The remaining small radish and rattan sieves used by women were sold more slowly, but people kept asking about them.
"Uncle, what's in this vine?"
It was almost noon, and most of the rattan weavings sold at home were sold, but not a single piece of Zhuang Keqing's dried tofu was sold. Customers came and went, most of them just looked at it and left without asking or being curious.
At this time, someone suddenly asked, but he didn't react for a moment.
Liu Zhuzi raised his head blankly, and saw a young husband dressed as a Confucian scholar standing in front of him, pointing to the piece of dried tofu placed outside that was about to be blown dry, with a novel look on his face.
"Ah, this is dried bean curd." He stammered the answer to the other party. He was afraid that the customer who finally came to the door would run away, so he hurriedly opened the lotus leaf covering the dried bean curd to let the other party see clearly.
It was square and square, milky white with a slight yellowish tint, and it looked a lot like the Daigo (cheese) that my uncle brought from the north before. However, it was salty and sour, which really didn't suit his appetite as a Central Plains person.
Just now, the uncle said what is this called? Dried tofu?
Could it be made of beans?
Thinking of this, Zhao Changsheng became completely interested.
The ancients said that a gentleman cooks far away, but he, a newly promoted Confucian scholar in the county school, does not care so much. In his spare time, he does not like to enjoy flowers or play the piano, but prefers to study food.
Because of this unattractive hobby, he was lectured many times by his father.
"Uncle, how do you sell this dried tofu?"
"One, one penny per dollar." Liu Zhuzhu answered awkwardly, looking a little uncomfortable.
The place he chose was all selling farm tools and vegetables, but no scholar had ever come there. The young husband spoke to him very politely, without any airs, which made him a little uncomfortable.
A penny is a small square the size of a palm, about a finger thick, so the price is not expensive.
"Give me three dollars."
"Hey, okay!" Seeing that the other party asked for three yuan at once, he was happy to pay. Liu Zhuzhu asked tentatively: "My dear husband, do you want some of these bean curds? It's 4 cents a piece."
As he spoke, he opened another cloth bag, which contained neatly folded oil bean skins, light yellow and as thin as paper.
"Bean skin? Why is this so much more expensive than the dried tofu?" After weighing the pile of bean skins, Zhao Changsheng asked, "Could it be made by peeling off the skins of beans?"
Liu Zhuzhu doesn't know how to make tofu skin. This is someone else's secret recipe for buying and selling. How can he ask about it himself?
"This... little husband, I actually sell it for my neighbor. I only know how to make it delicious, but I don't know anything else."
"Then please tell me how to make it delicious. If it's good, I'll buy a few!"
This stumped Liu Zhuzhu. He really knew that the tofu skin should be served cold or made into soup, and that the dried tofu could be stir-fried or stewed. But how to make it was not his wife's job, so he only had to eat it.
He hesitated and couldn't speak, and he was afraid of missing Zhuang Keqing's business, so he broke out in a sweat.
Fortunately, Aunt Li came back with the silly boy at this time, and Liu Zhuzi hurriedly asked his wife to tell her how to make the tofu skin.
Aunt Li is very agile, so she opened her mouth and said: "This tofu skin, you can soak it in water when you go back, soften it and squeeze it dry. Then cut the gourd (garlic) into cubes and mix it with shredded radish, celery and sesame oil.
, add salt and vinegar and it’s ready.”
"What about dried tofu?"
"Dried tofu is even simpler. You can stir-fry it with celery, or stew it with mushrooms. I see there is no shortage of meat in your house, little lady. If you put the two together and stew them with sauce, they must taste good."
."
Just hearing this made Zhao Changsheng feel his mouth watering and his index fingers twitching. He immediately asked for four more bean curds and gave them to Liu Zhuzhu together, totaling 16 coins.
Liu Zhuzi carefully folded the dried tofu and bean skin, wrapped it in fresh lotus leaves, tied it with a straw rope and handed it over.
"It's delicious, please come again~" Aunt Li did not forget to say hello at the end.
Zhao Changsheng carried his things and left. Liu Zhuzhu and his wife collected the 19 coins they had just received and sat down again to wait for the business.
Hanwa was holding the candy he just bought in his hand and looked at it in fascination, without making any noise for a while.
This Zhao Changsheng came to Songling Town just to follow his father back to visit his grandfather.
The uncle wrote a letter saying that my grandfather was in poor health. My father was very filial and worried, so he asked him to take a leave of absence from the county school and come back together to visit.
Fortunately, Nanzi County was not too far away from Songling Town, and it only took them two days to arrive.
After arriving, I met with my grandfather. He found out that the old man had indeed been feeling unwell recently. He asked a doctor to take medicine for a while and he felt better. However, he just had a bad appetite and couldn't eat anything.
Zhao Changsheng is a filial person, and he also has some knowledge about food. Because of his grandfather's relationship, his father has recently stopped restraining him. He only thinks about whether his son can make some novel things to whet the old man's appetite.
good.
Therefore, he could go out and walk around the town today to see if he could find some new things.
As a result, he was asked to find the dried tofu and the tofu skin.
With these things in his hand, Zhao Changsheng was not in the mood to go shopping anymore, so he turned around and went back to his uncle's house. He went into the small kitchen in his courtyard, and according to the aunt's instructions, he cooked a lot and made two plates.
The food arrived just in time for lunch.
Recently, his second son and his grandson came back to see him. The old man was in a good mood. He was not in the side room today, but sat in the main hall to have dinner with his family.
The family was sitting around the large carved table, facing the table full of dishes but not using their chopsticks.
Uncle Zhao Zhiwen saw that his nephew was still missing at meal time, dragging his old father and the whole family here to wait for him. It was really outrageous, so he frowned and wanted to ask his second brother.
"Zhili, where did this kid Chang Sheng go? He hasn't stayed at home well since he came back. He runs around all day long. He is already a scholar. Why is he still so unstable?"
Zhao Changsheng's father was about to answer when he saw his son carrying two plates in his hand and carefully crossing the threshold and walking in.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, my grandson is late!"
The little scholar had a round face and fair face, and a pair of dark and bright eyes. At this time, he walked around the others with a smile, came to the old man's side, and placed two plates of food in front of his grandfather without pretending to be others.
"Try it."
He had tried these two dishes a long time ago and knew the taste, and his expression was very confident.
The old man Zhao Qian had always loved Zhao Changsheng, and now he did not care about his late arrival. Instead, he was a little curious about the two plates of dishes served by his grandson.
A plate of brightly colored red and white radish shreds mixed with green celery and some light yellow stuff, dotted with some gourd seeds and coriander, drizzled with sesame oil, probably with a little vinegar, and smelled.
It tastes very sour and refreshing.
The other plate was red and shiny in color. If you look closely, it was mixed with different types of mountain mushrooms. It seemed that the taste was quite rich.
The weather has been getting hotter these days, and as I was recovering from a serious illness, I felt bad about my appetite. Without thinking, the old man directly took the mixed vegetable and put it in his mouth.
