Chapter 13: Going to the Market

At night, Big Brother Liu and Third Brother Liu would come home to help make “Immortal Tofu.”

Naturally, Liu Yinyin had to keep them for dinner. This one pound and four ounces of small miscellaneous fish would be saved to add another dish.

As the sun set, Liu Yinyin leisurely watered the two plots of land.

By the time Liu Mingcheng and Liu Mingyuan arrived after finishing work, she had already finished watering.

“Little sister, didn’t we agree that you’d leave these tasks for me to do?” Liu Mingyuan nagged the moment he stepped through the door.

Liu Yinyin had long realized that this third brother of hers was quite a chatterbox. Not wanting to argue, she simply grinned and said, “Well, there’s still work left for you to do.”

Liu Mingcheng, having been dragged over by his younger brother in confusion, scratched his head and asked, “Little sister, what exactly do you need help with?”

On the way over, he had asked Liu Mingyuan, but that guy couldn’t give him a clear answer.

Liu Yinyin unceremoniously instructed them, “You’ll find out soon enough. Big Brother, Third Brother, first help me crush these leaves.”

The first step in making “Immortal Tofu” was to repeatedly rub the Fubi leaves with water.

Liu Mingyuan was puzzled. “Little sister, these are just tree leaves. Why are we crushing them?”

“They can be turned into delicious food,” Liu Yinyin finally revealed.

Hearing this, Liu Mingyuan looked shocked. “What? Seriously?”

These leaves were everywhere in the mountains, but he had never seen anyone use them for food before.

Not wanting to make any guarantees, Liu Yinyin vaguely replied, “I overheard someone mentioning it in the county. They said you could make ‘Immortal Tofu’ with these, so it should be true. Let’s try it and see.”

With the bait set, the two brothers were now clearly interested in making “Immortal Tofu.” Without another word, they focused on their work.

Making “Immortal Tofu” wasn’t difficult. The process was similar to making real tofu, only simpler.

First, the Fubi leaves were placed into a bamboo sieve set over a wooden basin. Then, water was poured over them while they were rubbed repeatedly…

Gradually, the water turned green—getting darker until it matched the color of the leaves. That’s when they stopped.

Liu Yinyin then brought over the gauze she had prepared in advance.

The Fubi leaf water was poured into the gauze for filtration…

But that wasn’t the end yet. The most crucial step remained.

For the Fubi leaf water to solidify, it needed an alkaline solution.

That wasn’t difficult either—a bit of plant ash would do the trick.

Now, all that was left was to wait for the Fubi leaf water to coagulate

Liu Mingyuan asked skeptically, “Little sister, is that really all?”

“Yes, we just need to wait about half an hour, and it’ll be ready,” Liu Yinyin replied.

They had just made two large basins of “Immortal Tofu,” using only half of the Fubi leaves. The other half still needed to be processed.

Since she had already taught Liu Mingyuan and Liu Mingcheng how to do it once, Liu Yinyin didn’t hover over them. Instead, she let them continue on their own while she went to prepare dinner.

She cooked braised small fish, stir-fried eggs with green peppers, and a cold salad with water spinach. The staple food was still wild vegetable buns, and she steamed a total of ten.

By the time she finished making dinner, Liu Mingyuan and Liu Mingcheng had also just completed the Immortal Tofu.

Liu Yinyin called them to eat first.

Seeing the same dishes as the previous day, Liu Mingyuan had already given up on complaining. His mind was completely preoccupied with the Immortal Tofu that Liu Yinyin had mentioned.

Liu Mingcheng was also surprised, but he was more reserved by nature. Instead of directly criticizing his sister, he simply made a mental note to talk to Jiang Cuihua when he got home and remind Liu Yinyin to be more frugal.

After eating and drinking their fill, the Immortal Tofu had fully solidified.

Liu Yinyin took a knife and made a few cuts on the surface, shaping it into tofu-like blocks.

“It really turned into tofu!” Liu Mingyuan let out a chuckle, his face full of astonishment.

For some reason, Liu Yinyin also felt a bit excited. It had been a long time since she had eaten this.

She took two large pieces and one small piece of Immortal Tofu, cut them into smaller chunks, placed them in a bowl, and added a spoonful of sugar to mix.

“Big Brother, Third Brother, hurry up and try it!” Liu Yinyin eagerly took a bowl for herself, scooping up a spoonful and tasting it immediately.

The Immortal Tofu was silky and delicate, melting in her mouth…

Yet, when bitten, it had a springy and chewy texture. Made from pure, natural, and pollution-free Fubi leaves, it was absolutely delicious!

“This is actually really good!” Liu Mingyuan exclaimed in amazement. The Immortal Tofu was cool and slightly sweet, instantly refreshing his whole body.

Liu Mingcheng didn’t say anything—he simply held up his bowl and gulped down half of the Immortal Tofu in a few mouthfuls.

Liu Yinyin also found it quite enjoyable. Eating Immortal Tofu on a hot day was incredibly refreshing.

Unfortunately, there was no refrigerator. Otherwise, if it were chilled in one, it would taste even better.

“Little sister, should we take the leftover Immortal Tofu to the market tomorrow and sell it?” Liu Mingyuan was still craving more but reluctantly stopped himself. His mind was already thinking about making money.

He was quick-witted and immediately figured out that Liu Yinyin’s money-making idea from yesterday must have been selling Immortal Tofu.

Liu Yinyin smiled and admitted, “That’s right. A bowl like this will sell for two cents tomorrow, or we can trade it for an egg.”

Of course, other food items could be exchanged too—bartering was even more convenient.

“I think this will work,” Liu Mingyuan said with excitement. The tofu was made entirely from mountain leaves, and aside from a spoonful of sugar, there were no other costs. This kind of business was definitely profitable.

He was already looking forward to tomorrow’s market day.

Even if they couldn’t sell it, it didn’t matter—they could just eat it themselves.

When the two brothers were about to leave, Liu Yinyin scooped some Immortal Tofu into a small basin for them to take home. “Let everyone else try it too. Add some sugar. If you hang it in the well for a few hours, it’ll taste even cooler.”

Liu Mingyuan hesitated. “Shouldn’t we save it to sell tomorrow instead?”

“How much money could just a few pieces make? No matter what, we shouldn’t be stingy with our own food,” Liu Yinyin urged him to leave.

Pregnant women needed more sleep, and she still had to clean up before going to bed.

Since market days started early, the next morning, before dawn, Liu Yinyin was woken up by Jiang Cuihua’s loud voice.

Jiang Cuihua was beaming with joy today—she looked absolutely delighted. Last night, she had eaten the Immortal Tofu that Liu Mingyuan and Liu Mingcheng had brought home.

She had never expected that those unremarkable green leaves from the mountain could actually be turned into food.

At this moment, Jiang Cuihua couldn’t be happier. In times of food scarcity, anything edible was a big deal!

Immortal Tofu wasn’t exactly grain, but it was still food. Anything that could fill one’s stomach was valuable.

Only Jiang Cuihua and Liu Mingyuan came along; the others still had to go to work as usual.

Liu Mingyuan secured the four wooden basins of Immortal Tofu onto a cart and tied them down. There was also a basket of eggs on the cart—Jiang Cuihua had been saving them to trade for household necessities at the market.

Liu Yinyin didn’t even eat breakfast. After tidying up, she grabbed a jar of sugar and left with them.

Liujia Village was quite far from the town’s market—about the same distance as going to the county, which meant they had to walk for roughly an hour.

Besides them, several other villagers were also pulling carts or carrying baskets, all hurrying toward the market.

On the way, Jiang Cuihua took out an oiled paper packet from her basket and handed it to Liu Yinyin.