Chapter 23: Couldn’t help but feel envious
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The next morning, Shi Qingluo brought Mother Xiao and others to make tofu again.
On the way to the grinding site, many continued to ask about tofu.
Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “When the tofu is done later, I’ll ask Xiao Erlang to shout it out in the village.”
“If you want to try it, you can exchange it with soybeans, grains, eggs, or vegetable meat.”
Yesterday’s free gift was originally an exchange of favours and publicity to those who had helped the Xiao family before.
Now, if people want it, they need to use something to exchange for it.
If they directly asked the villagers to buy it with money, they would either be reluctant or feel that they were too money minded.
But if they were to exchange something, many people would be willing and even feel that they were kind.
The Xiao family was currently short of grain and vegetables.
Using these things to exchange could solve their livelihood problems.
The key was that Shi Qingluo wanted to win over the villagers in Xiaxi village, so she didn’t insist that they had to use money to buy it.
In ancient times, clans were still very powerful.
With some profits involved, they could help each other.
With fame, others wouldn’t dare to touch you.
Shi Qingluo threw out the tofu production so as to lay the foundation for herself and the Xiao family.
Sure enough, the villagers heard from Shi Qingluo that they could exchange food for tofu.
All of them smiled and said, “That’s great. We’ll also exchange some food for tofu later to try what it tastes like.”
After returning from grinding the beans, Shi Qingluo sat in the kitchen and watched over the boiled soybean milk.
Xiao Hanzheng walked in slowly. He didn’t need to use a crutch to walk today.
In his previous life, he had woken up in the bed for a day or two before he could take a few steps with the crutch.
Although he had woken up a few days earlier this time, he was certain that the so-called sugar water that Shi Qingluo had given him was the reason why he had recovered so quickly after experiencing that kind of weakness.
His little wife also had a lot of secrets, but he just had to pretend that he didn’t know.
Shi Qingluo was thinking about something with her chin in her hand.
When she saw Xiao Hanzheng enter, she raised her head and asked, “Are you here to watch us make tofu?”
Didn’t he just watch it yesterday?
There was an empty chair in the kitchen. Xiao Hanzheng walked over and sat down.
“I have nothing else to do. I want to discuss the cultivation storyline that we mentioned earlier.”
He added, “I feel that my body will be able to pick up the brush and write after another one or two days.”
He had tried just now, but his hand still felt a little weak when he picked up the brush to write.
So, he discussed the plot with Shi Qingluo first. He sorted it out in his mind and wrote it down two days laters.
He knew that there were many things he couldn’t use now.
His family was in debt, and copying books was indeed slow.
He had to support his family as soon as possible.
For the sake of letting his family enjoy a good life, not only did he not feel tired, but he was also full of energy.
In his previous life, he felt as if he was the only person left in the world.
It was too lonely and uncomfortable.
Especially after he had a little wife, he felt his life was a little more fun.
Shi Qingluo knew that he wanted to write books to earn money as soon as possible, so she didn’t persuade him to take it slow.
As a man, it was good to have a sense of responsibility.
“Okay, let’s start the discussion today.”
So, the two of them sat in the kitchen and discussed the plot.
Mother Xiao and the younger siblings were also engrossed in the story.
This story sounded really interesting.
Were there really immortals in this world?
A few hours later, Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng had almost finished discussing the plot.
The tofu was also ready.
Shi Qingluo asked Xiao Erlang to go to the village to shout for those who wanted to exchange for the tofu to come over.
She moved the dining table to the entrance of the courtyard, and moved the tofu up.
Very soon, someone in the village brought something to exchange for tofu.
Someone asked, “Dalang’s wife, how do you want to exchange this tofu?”
When Shi Qingluo was making tofu, she had already calculated the cost with Xiao Hanzheng.
The two of them had also set the price and the amount of things to exchange for.
“One catty of soybeans can be exchanged for one catty of tofu.
“For other things, we can use the price of tofu as a reference to exchange for them.
“For example, the price of soybeans is five wen per catty, so you can exchange as many eggs as you want for one catty of tofu. The same goes for other things as well.”
“Of course, you can directly use money to buy them. Five wen per catty.”
One catty of beans could roughly make two to four catties of tofu, so they are doubling their earnings.
Shi Qingluo was going to hire others to make tofu for sale, so putting aside the ingredients and labour costs, the price couldn’t be too cheap.
Everyone felt that the price was reasonable.
There weren’t many families that used soybeans as their main source of staple food, so they were willing to exchange it for tofu to try.
Those who had tried tofu yesterday found it delicious, so the price was acceptable.
Thus, an auntie smiled and said, “I’ll exchange it for a catty of tofu. I took the advice from you yesterday to use tofu to stew pickled vegetables. Not to mention the taste, it’s really superb.”
Shi Qingluo let Mother Xiao weigh the soybeans while she cut a piece of tofu with a knife and weighed it as well. “Auntie, here’s your one catty of tofu.”
“Other than stewing, there are many other ways to eat this tofu. I’ll tell you while we are exchanging.”
There were many ways to eat the home-cooked tofu.
She elaborated on them to whet everyone’s appetite.
Those who had not eaten tofu before joined the crowd. “Then I’ll try to exchange it for a catty of tofu.”
“I’ll try a catty too. We don’t have any soybeans at home. I’ll use cabbage to exchange for it.”
“I’ll use eggs to exchange and try for a catty of tofu.”
Shopping was like this.
As long as someone led the way, the onlookers who were originally watching could not help but join in the crowd.
Very quickly, the tofu made today was all exchanged for other food.
Most people used soybeans to exchange for tofu.
There were also eggs, vegetables, and coarse grains, but no one used money to buy them directly.
This was also how Shi Qingluo grasped everyone’s psychology.
She was reluctant to spend money, but if she used what she had at home to exchange for tofu, she wouldn’t feel much heartache.
Those who didn’t exchange tofu or came late still felt a little regretful and asked them to make more tofu tomorrow.
Shi Qingluo smiled and agreed, “No problem.”
Xiao Hanzheng did not come out.
When someone asked, both Mother Xiao and Shi Qingluo had worried looks on their faces.
They said that he was still weak and was resting in bed.
This was mainly because they did not want to alert their enemy and make that doctor in town think that Xiao Hanzheng was still drinking the medicine that he had prescribed.
After she finished exchanging the tofu and closed the courtyard door, Shi Qingluo was exhausted and sat on the chair.
She used to work with her brain. Even if she did agricultural experiments and went to the fields to fiddle with it, it wouldn’t be as tiring as making tofu.
“We can hire someone to do it in two more days.”
Mother Xiao, Xiao Baili and Xiao Erlang also felt tired, but they were very happy.
Although no one spent money to buy it today, they exchanged it for several times the amount of beans and many grains and vegetables.
It was enough for the family to eat for a few days.
It was just tiring, but they weren’t afraid of hard labour.
Mother Xiao said, “We won’t be afraid even if we work for a few more days. This tofu is indeed a long-term solution.”
Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “It’s too tiring for us to do it ourselves. Baili and Erlang are still growing. It’s not good to be too tired.”
Xiao Hanzheng also walked out at this time. “After we settle the medicine matter in two days, let’s get someone to do it.”
He didn’t want his mother, wife and younger siblings to work so hard.
When Mother Xiao heard the two of them say this, she didn’t want to force her. “Alright, you have the final say.”
Today, many people in the village had bought tofu, and Shi Qingluo had told them many common ways to cook tofu.
They tried it after returning home. Apart from a few people who really didn’t like tofu, most people found it delicious.
Those who were quick-witted also thought about whether they could sell tofu from the Xiao family to outsiders.
After all, there was no such thing outside of their village. It was a rare item.
Therefore, the next day, more people came to exchange for tofu.
The people from the Xiao family’s old residence also heard about this. The eldest and third son’s families couldn’t help it.
Eldest Son Xiao’s wife and Third Son Xiao’s wife came to the Xiao family together.
They couldn’t help but feel envious when they saw many people surrounding their door to exchange for tofu.