By the time Wen Jiajia finally arrived with half a bag of winter bamboo shoots, he said sarcastically, “I thought you were going to wait until the water in the tub cooled before coming back.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and replied, “I was chatting with Teacher Shen for a while.”

She then ran to the bedroom to get clothes. When she came out wearing only a thin autumn coat, Wei Dai was very dissatisfied.

The winter bamboo shoots were sweet, and their aroma lingered in the house for a long time.

Time passed swiftly, and soon all the leaves on the two trees in the yard had disappeared, leaving only bare branches.

In the vegetable garden, only the garlic sprouts and leeks covered with straw were still growing, with no other vegetables in sight.

The vegetable fields on the back hill of the staff housing complex were abandoned, awaiting tilling and sowing for the next spring.

On that day, Wen Jiajia brought back the stone mill she had asked Hao Qingying’s father to buy. After considering the best place, she positioned it next to the door by the kitchen.

She moved the wooden frame that Wei Dai had built earlier to the door and instructed the comrades helping with the move, “Put it here.”

The stone mill was too heavy for her to carry back, so it was transported with the logistics vehicle.

Comrade Xiao Wang, a kind person, had brought his comrades to help her move it.

The two of them installed the stone mill efficiently.

Wen Jiajia quickly went to the cupboard in the room to get apples and, after they finished, handed two apples to each helper.

“Hey, hey, hey, sister-in-law, what are you doing?” Xiao Wang quickly refused. “Save them for Chun’er and Xuanxuan.”

Wen Jiajia insisted, “There are more at home, really! Please take them. Otherwise, how can I have the nerve to ask for your help in the future?”

She insisted they take the apples, so they accepted them. In winter, fresh vegetables and fruits are scarce, and apples are a rare treat.

Wen Jiajia felt a sense of relief only after the two men left.

She hadn’t lied to them—there were indeed a lot of apples at home. She had bought a whole box the day before yesterday.

It’s worth noting how affluent pharmaceutical companies can be.

The apples were purchased by the pharmaceutical factory, which had hired a transport team to bring them from Hebei Province. It’s said that more than ten truckloads of apples were shipped back.

So everyone knew that this year’s New Year’s gift was apples.

But the box at Wen Jiajia’s house was something she bought herself. She was familiar with the finance department and knew that the factory had overstocked on apples. She asked them to buy a box to help reduce the burden on the factory.

The finance department had a good laugh at her request.

The term “buy more” often involved an unspoken gray area^[1]is a situation where things are unclear or ambiguous, but no one openly talks about it., where the excess was typically distributed to some leaders.

However, a single box was no problem, so they accommodated her request. After making the connection, Wen Jiajia paid for it, and the purchasing department delivered the apples. The transaction was kept discreet, and the family’s New Year’s supplies were finally settled.

With the stone mill now in place, Wen Jiajia soaked the soybeans. Since the next two days were rest days, it was perfect timing to make tofu.

The next day, the soaked soybeans had expanded and lost some of their yellow color, indicating they were ready to be ground. Wei Dai, who was rarely at home, had to handle this heavy task.

Wei Dai didn’t return until two in the morning and slept until half past ten.

Just after finishing breakfast, Wen Jiajia pulled him over to grind the tofu.

“Planning to do it today?” Wei Dai glanced at the calendar on the wall. It was only the 24th.

Wen Jiajia replied, “I have to go to work the day after tomorrow, so if we don’t do it today, we’ll only have time tomorrow. But I need to go to the city tomorrow.”

“What are you going to do?” Wei Dai moved the basin containing the soybeans to the table next to the stone mill, then used a large wooden spoon to scoop out the soybeans.

“I’m picking up the cured meat!” Wen Jiajia said eagerly. “I asked someone to cure some meat a while ago. It’s supposed to be amazing. I’ve been to the Hao family several times. The meat cured by their professional chefs is exceptional. It smells so good that I could eat two bowls of rice just from the aroma.”

“Really? Does it smell that good?”

Wen Jiajia’s eyes lit up. “Absolutely! You’ll see when I bring it back. We’ll keep some and send the rest home and to my big sister.”

She felt embarrassed to keep eating the brown sugar her elder sister sent every day.

Wei Dai smiled and began turning the grinding handle.

The new stone mill was not as easy to use as the old one. Grinding felt a bit rough.

The more coarse the grinding, the greater the effort required.

If Wen Jiajia were grinding, she would need to rest for five minutes after grinding for three minutes.

Even Wei Dai took nearly an hour to grind all the beans.

Wen Jiajia went over to massage his arm, then peeled an apple and handed it to him. “Okay, you’re done. Go rest.”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Wei Dai was taken aback by her sudden attentiveness and thought it was strange.

Wen Jiajia genuinely had no ulterior motives. She simply felt Wei Dai must be tired from his recent activities, so she wanted him to rest.

Normally, if he stayed home, they would argue two or three nights a week. But recently, he fell asleep as soon as he touched the bed, obviously due to exhaustion.

The coarse soy milk from grinding needed to be soaked.

To prepare soy milk, you pour boiling water into the ground soybeans and stir with a spoon.

After the foam is removed, place a steaming rack and bamboo sieve on top of the pot, spread gauze over the sieve, and ladle the soy milk into the sieve, one spoonful at a time.

The actual soy milk flows into the pot through the fine holes in the gauze, while the bean dregs are left behind in the gauze.

Soon, the pot was filled with the rich aroma of soy milk.

Wen Jiajia asked, “The soy milk is ready. Do you want it sweet or salty?”

Wei Dai set down the newspaper, stood up, and took the bowl. “Sweet, of course. Oh, and where are the two children?”

The soy milk smelled so strong that it was unusual for them not to be around.

Wen Jiajia replied unhappily, “They’re out playing.”

The Yuhong class had been suspended again because the teachers were busy preparing New Year’s goods.

So after breakfast, the two children ran outside to play and hadn’t returned even to drink a sip of water.

Wei Dai said, “I’ll go call them.”

Wen Jiajia waved him off, letting him go.

It was sunny outside. The winter sun was bright, and if it weren’t for the warmth it provided, you would have thought there was just a round ice ball hanging in the sky.

There was no snow on the ground, but the soil remained moist.

A stubborn little grass had sprouted buds as small as rice grains, but when the next cold wave came, the green buds would wither again.

They bloomed and fell, blooming and falling once more. They could only take a break when spring arrived.

Wei Dai, skilled at finding people, quickly located the two sisters playing jump rope in the open space of the family building.

“Time to go home.” He grabbed one child by each hand.

Wen Chun looked up, startled. Seeing it was her uncle, she smiled and said, “Uncle, can you be our stake for the jump rope?”

Wei Dai teased, “Sure, but only if you don’t drink the soy milk.”

Wen Xuan’s eyes lit up. “Soy milk?”

Wen Chun exclaimed, “Auntie’s making tofu, right?”

Wei Dai nodded. “Yes, so are you going to jump rope here or go home and drink soy milk?”

Of course, they chose to go home! They could jump rope anytime, but soy milk was a rare treat.

The two children dashed home, eager to get their share.

When Wen Jiajia heard the commotion, she scooped out the soy milk.

She filled four bowls with soy milk, adding sugar to each.

The soy milk was fragrant and had a completely different taste from the powdered soy milk sold in bun shops decades later.

“Aunt—”

The two children kept shouting until they were hoarse, but Wen Jiajia didn’t even glance their way. She merely huffed and said, “You finally remember to come back.”

They knew they were in the wrong and just laughed.

Wei Dai, who had lagged behind the children, said to Wen Jiajia, “They must be sweating again. We need to clean them up.”

Wen Jiajia shot them a stern look, making the children tiptoe around nervously, though they didn’t forget to sip the soy milk from their bowls.

“You two had better not get your autumn clothes wet! We just changed them yesterday, and the washed autumn clothes are still not dry.” As she spoke, she added charcoal to the brazier and took a piece of burning firewood from the stove to place in the brazier.

Once the brazier was burning brightly, she covered it with a drying basket and placed the autumn clothes washed yesterday on top to dry.

“Drink up quickly, and then dry your clothes yourselves when you’re done,” Wen Jiajia instructed.

The children laughed again, happy just to have the soy milk.

After the couple finished drinking, one went to order some brine while the other washed the tofu mold.

The mold was also made by Wei Dai some time ago. He had crafted molds for four tables, enough to make 100 blocks of tofu.

The sun moved westward, and it was afternoon.

“Are you done yet?”

After ordering the marinade in the kitchen and the tofu had solidified into tender cubes, Wen Jiajia poked her head out and asked.

Wei Dai touched the half-dried mold and moved it to the kitchen. “It’s done!”

Wen Jiajia scooped the tofu pudding into the mold, then paused and asked Wei Dai, “Do you want to have some tofu pudding? Let’s make some dipping sauce for it later.”

She had recently fried some chili oil at home. She planned to pour it over the tofu pudding and add chopped radish and green onions. It was bound to be delicious.

It was rare for her to be so enthusiastic about cooking, so Wei Dai naturally went along with it and suggested, “It would be great to add some crushed peanuts.”

“Yes!” Wen Jiajia’s appetite grew the more she thought about it, so she hurried her movements. After pressing the tofu from the four tables, she started crushing the peanuts. She needed to work quickly, as homemade tofu pudding tends to harden quickly.

The white and tender tofu pudding was drizzled with chili oil and topped with pickled radish, fragrant peanuts, and chopped green onions… The couple enjoyed their delicious meal by the door with satisfied slurps.