Chapter 10: Sales Are Going Well  

As dawn approached, the city gate area was bustling with activity. The calls of vendors rang out one after another, and the morning breeze carried the delicious aroma of food in all directions, making the stomachs of those who had not yet eaten breakfast protest.  

People from remote villages often woke up early and didn’t have time for breakfast, so they usually bought food at the city gate.  

Small food stalls were surrounded by customers. Just as Qin Jin set up his stall and was about to pick up a plate to start calling for customers, two people arrived at his stand.  

“Little brother, give me two pieces of pea cake.”  

Hearing the voice, Qin Jin looked up and couldn’t help but smile. The customer was none other than the young ger who had bought two pieces of pea cake in one go on Qin Jin’s first day selling.  

At the moment, the young ger was holding the hand of a five- or six-year-old child while using his other hand to retrieve some copper coins from his pocket.  

“Alright, please wait a moment.” Qin Jin responded, quickly wrapping two pieces of pea cake in corn husks. He also added a few extra small pieces for tasting.  

Seeing this, the young ger smiled.  

As he bent down to place the copper coins into Qin Jin’s basket, he noticed the tofu sheets beside the ceramic basin and became curious.  

He couldn’t quite tell what it was.  

“This is made from soybeans. Since it comes in thin sheets, I call it tofu sheet. It can be eaten cold, stir-fried, or stewed. Would you like to try some?”  

As Qin Jin handed over the pea cake, he explained.

“Then give me some,” the young ger immediately nodded.  

So, Qin Jin took a wooden knife, cut a piece, and handed it over. The youmg ger took it and put it in his mouth to taste carefully.  

It didn’t have much flavor, but it had a slightly chewy texture. It wasn’t particularly delicious, but it seemed like something that would pair well with alcohol—an interesting novelty.  

“How much does this cost?” he asked.  

“One copper coin per sheet, six sheets per jīn (about 500g),” Qin Jin replied.  

Glancing at the ceramic basin, the fūláng said, “Wrap them all up for me.”  

He was visiting his maternal home today. If his family didn’t like it, he could take it back to his husband’s house. It was a new food he had never seen before, so he wanted to try it.  

Qin Jin hadn’t expected this young ger to buy everything, and he was both surprised and delighted. He had been worried that the tofu sheets might be too expensive to sell.  

He carefully wrapped them in corn husks—thirteen sheets in total. After handing them over, he cut a small piece of pea cake with the wooden knife and handed it to the child beside the ger. “Little one, try this.”  

The child didn’t take it immediately. Instead, he lifted his small head and looked at his uncle. The young ger smiled and patted his head. “Take it and say thank you to Uncle.”  

“Thank you, Uncle,” the child said sweetly before extending his little hand to accept the pea cake.  

“Such a good kid,” Qin Jin said with a smile.  

The young ger smiled as well, then led the child away.  

With such a good start to the day, sales went smoothly. By noon, everything was sold out. After packing up, Qin Jin didn’t rush home but instead went to buy two jīn of fried dough sticks.  

When he got home, he sent half to the old courtyard. Wang Xiuqin, seeing the dough sticks, felt a bit comforted. Getting married really changes a person. In the past, her fourth son only cared about eating and drinking himself, never thinking of his family.  

But if he wanted dough sticks, why not let her fry them? She knew how to make them, so why waste money?  

Qin Jin laughed and explained, “I’m happy about my new food invention. If I can’t afford meat to celebrate, I can at least afford dough sticks, right?”  

His words made Wang Xiuqin laugh. The tofu sheets that Miao-ge (ger) had brought over this morning did taste quite good.  

“Work hard. You’ll have meat to eat in the future,” she advised.  

Qin Jin nodded. Indeed, to gain “meat freedom,” he needed to work hard for a few months.  

Hmm… maybe he should make fermented tofu (dòufǔrǔ). Like tofu sheets, it wouldn’t bring in huge profits, but little by little, the earnings would add up.  

It would also be easy to sell, requiring no cooking.  

In his past life, to keep his family’s bookstore running, he had created accounts on various platforms. After watching countless food-related videos, many of these recipes had stuck in his mind.  

He also loved cooking, and his skills weren’t bad.  

Pea cake and tofu sheets were easy to make—he had never done them before, but he still dared to try. Fried dough sticks, however, were different. It required more techniques and seasonings, so he had to be cautious.  

After lunch, he took seventy copper coins and went to Zhang’s tofu shop.  

Sixty coins were for tomorrow’s batch of tofu curd and the remaining ten were for buying tofu.  

When Zhang Qi saw Qin Jin return so soon—and bringing seventy coins of business—he was both happy and worried. What kind of new food requires so much tofu curd?  

Was Qin Jin really planning to make tofu from it?  

Zhang Qi was a shy man. His mind was racing like a cat scratching at his heart, but he didn’t ask a single question.  

It was his ger, Shen Yucheng, who was more straightforward. “Qin Jin, what new food are you making? Is it good? If it tastes good, you better save some for us.”  

“I’m making tofu sheets. The taste is decent. I’ll bring some over tomorrow for you to try.” Qin Jin had no idea what the couple was thinking and simply smiled. “Brother Zhang, if I start buying more tofu curd and tofu from you in the future, shouldn’t you give me a discount?”  

“Of course!” Zhang Qi immediately nodded.  

Bulk buyers always got a discount. For example, a few days ago, when the Qin family held a wedding banquet and bought two slabs of tofu from him, the price was a little cheaper than buying them individually.  

“Tomorrow, I’ll give you two extra jīn of tofu curd,” Zhang Qi added.  

“That’s great! Then I’ll bring some tofu sheets for you tomorrow,” Qin Jin grinned. He enjoyed dealing with straightforward people.  

After finishing the business, Qin Jin took five jīn of tofu home.  

As soon as he left, Zhang Qi and Shen Yucheng started wondering what exactly tofu sheet was.  

Back home, Qin Jin divided the five jīn of tofu into two portions: three jīn for one use and two jīn for another.  

The two jīn would be used to make stinky tofu.  

But the kind of stinky tofu he wanted to make was different from the well-known black stinky tofu. His method required no additional seasonings and only one simple step:  

Leave it in a bowl.  

After sitting for ten days to half a month, the surface of the tofu would become sticky and start emitting a pungent yet fragrant aroma—then it would be ready to eat.  

This method was very common. Even in his past memories, it was something people in the countryside did. Right now, his family was surviving on wild vegetable buns every day—he wanted to change things up a bit.  

As for the fermented tofu, that required more care.  

He didn’t have a fermentation starter, so he had to rely on natural fermentation. First, he cut the tofu into small cubes and placed them in a bamboo sieve to ferment.  

This process would take several days. He planned to buy some spices in a few days to experiment with different flavors.  

During this time, Ye Miao quietly observed from the side, carefully memorizing each step.  

But today’s process was so simple that even a child could learn it!  

Seeing how much effort Qin Jin was putting into their household, Ye Miao decided to pick up needlework again. He couldn’t let Qin Jin bear all the debts alone.  

That afternoon, after Qin Jin and his father went to work in the fields, Ye Miao went next door and retrieved his old sewing basket.  

He hadn’t embroidered in a few days, but as he picked it up again, he felt a sense of joy. While embroidering, he became fully absorbed and focused.  

Before he knew it, the entire afternoon had passed. He looked at the finished handkerchief with satisfaction. Surprisingly, he had worked even faster than before. At this pace, he could finish four handkerchiefs a day.  

After putting away his sewing basket, he went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.  

There was only a small amount of lard left at the bottom of the oil jar, so he decided not to stir-fry anything.  

That morning, his dad had gathered some tender grayback grass while collecting firewood. He planned to steam them for dinner.

Washing the grayback grass wild vegetables thoroughly, he mixed them with corn flour. Once the water boiled, he placed them in the steamer. Wild vegetables cook quickly, so a short steaming time was enough. After they were done, he mixed them with garlic sauce, sesame oil, and salt. And just like that, the dish was ready.  

It could be considered both a dish and a staple food.  

But it was just too plain… Standing in front of the stove, his head drooped in frustration.  

On the second day of their marriage, Qin Jin had sweet-talked him into giving up embroidery. If he had continued these past few days, he could have earned at least three pounds of pork by now.  

He had been too complacent lately!  

Tomorrow, he had to be more diligent.  

The night passed without incident. At dawn, Ye Miao got up on time to make pea cake. At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), he woke Qin Jin. Today, they had to carry sixty pounds of tofu curd, which needed to be stored in two buckets. He wanted his dad and Qin Jin to go together to Zhang’s house.  

Qin Jin found it both amusing and exasperating—only sixty pounds? He shook his head and refused. Grabbing two buckets, he quickly stepped out the door.  

After bringing back the tofu curd, he and Ye Miao divided the work and rushed to make the thin tofu sheets, so as not to delay setting up the stall.  

Zhang Qi had given them two extra pounds of tofu curd. Those two pounds were kept for their own household, while the remaining sixty pounds were turned into thirteen pounds of thin tofu sheets.  

They kept three pounds—one for Zhang Qi and the other two for Qin Wen and Qin Li’s families.  

After sorting everything, Qin Jin headed to the city gate to set up his stall.  

The young ger from yesterday didn’t show up today. So Qin Jin cut the tofu sheets into small pieces and let passersby sample them along with the pea cake.  

Pea cake was a snack, costing one copper coin per small piece—just two bites, and it was gone.  

But the thin tofu sheets were different. For one copper coin(wen), a person could get a palm-sized piece. Cut into strips and mixed with cucumber, it could become a proper dish.  

He never mentioned that it cost six wen per pound. Instead, he emphasized that for just one wen, they could add a new dish to their family meal.  

This strategy of selling by sheets rather than by weight worked.  

If he had told people that the thin tofu sheets were made from soybeans and cost six wen per pound, then aside from that young ger from yesterday, probably no one would have paid that much.  

After all, one pound of tofu only cost two wen.  

But selling it sheet by sheet, and with each sheet as big as a palm, made it seem much cheaper.  

Most of the passersby were rural farmers, hesitant to spend a wen on snacks but willing to pay for something that could be a new addition to their meals.  

Especially since this new dish wasn’t bad—it was edible even without any seasoning.  

As a result, out of every ten people who tried it, three ended up buying it.  

This outcome greatly exceeded Qin Jin’s expectations. Compared to the purchase rate of pea cakes, the thin tofu sheets performed surprisingly well.  

Sixty sheets sold out just as the day was breaking.  

Much faster than the pea cakes.  

And the foot traffic brought in by the tofu sheets slightly boosted the sales of pea cakes as well. After all, humans are naturally drawn to lively scenes—when people saw a crowd gathering around his stall, they wanted to check it out.  

A quick look led to a sample taste, and that in turn led some to make a purchase.  

This turn of events was unexpected. Yesterday, he had been too preoccupied with selling by weight, which had caused him unnecessary concern.  

He still lacked experience.  

Today’s closing time was about the same as yesterday’s. Seeing the great potential in selling tofu sheets, he weighed the copper coins in his hand and went into town to buy raw ingredients.  

But apart from the ingredients, he didn’t buy anything else.  

The method for making tofu sheets wouldn’t remain a secret from Zhang Qi and his husband for long.  

After returning home, he had a meal first. After eating, he took one pound of tofu sheets and 120 copper coins to Zhang Qi’s house.  

Leaving the tofu sheets with them, he also asked if anyone in the nearby villages grew peas. The ones in the grain shop were too expensive, so he wanted to buy directly from farmers.  

Zhang Qi hadn’t paid attention to that before, but now that Qin Jin asked, he would keep an eye out.  

After seeing Qin Jin off, Zhang Qi eagerly rushed into the kitchen.  

Inside, Shen Yucheng was holding a sheet of tofu, examining it closely. Seeing Zhang Qi enter, he shook the tofu sheet and said, “This is just thin tofu.”  

Tofu was made by pressing tofu curd.  

This tofu sheet was clearly made using the same method.