Chapter 54 1/3

Mrs. Zhou looked utterly bewildered. “What Li Qi?”

Following Mrs. Zhou’s gaze to what he was holding with chopsticks, Mrs. Zhou clarified, “What Li Qi? This is tofu.”

“Tofu?”

“Yes, tofu. I bought it at the market today.” Mrs. Zhou’s excitement was palpable. “You can’t guess who sold this.”

“Who sold it?” The family members exchanged curious glances. The youngest son of the Zhou family urged, “Mom, don’t keep us in suspense.”

Mrs. Zhou had been holding back a lot of things she wanted to tell her family. Now that her son urged her, she didn’t keep them in suspense. She smiled and said, “It’s from our own village, the Sang family from the Shen family’s main house.”

The jaws of the entire family almost dropped.

“Who?”

“The girl who came from the famine?”

Mrs. Zhou nodded. “That’s her.”

She recounted her encounter with Sang Lou at the market in the morning and Sang Lou’s reactions. She said, “I saw that her business was doing quite well. When I arrived, it was already noon, and she had sold almost everything. There were about sixteen pieces of tofu on each board, and there were three boards stacked there. The other bucket of fairy tofu was almost sold out too.”

“What fairy tofu?”

At this moment, the Zhou family looked into the basket and found that there were still a few bowls covered. Mrs. Zhou uncovered one of them, revealing the jade-green substance inside, cut into neat squares, one piece at a time.

“This is it,” Mrs. Zhou said. “Originally, I was going to mix it with salt for you. But then Sang Lou gave me a small piece, so I mixed it with sugar water for the children at home to eat. It felt very refreshing to eat, and since we have plenty of vegetables at home, I decided to mix it with sugar water as well. I hung it in the well to cool down. After you finish your meal, each of you can try a bit.”

With so many people, each person only had a spoonful or two, and it was gone.

“Why wait until after the meal? On such a hot day, just a bite of this fairy tofu makes you feel refreshed from the bottom of your heart.” The youngest son, who didn’t have any rice, saw his father enjoying it so much and decided not to have any rice either. He went to get some fairy tofu to eat.

Mr. Zhou looked at the fairy tofu but didn’t go over. Instead, he brought the tofu to his mouth and took a bite. Yes, it was the taste from his memory.

Seeing him like this, Mrs. Zhou asked, “What did you just say, Li Qi?”

Mr. Zhou pointed to the tofu and said, “This thing I know is called Li Qi. Five years ago, when Zhang County Magistrate had just taken office, he hosted a banquet for the village elders. Uncle Liu took me with him. Do you remember?”

How could she not remember? Originally, she wanted her husband to take over as village head in the next term, but their family background was not as good as others’, so there was nothing they could do about being outcompeted. Mrs. Zhou didn’t say anything; she just nodded. “We had this at the banquet?”

Mr. Zhou nodded. “That dish was indeed served at the banquet. We were seated at the lowest table and only tasted it briefly. But the patriarch of the Wang family was there at the table above us. I overheard their conversation, and it seems this dish is quite rare. How could the Sang family make this? And calling it tofu?”

“Things vary from place to place. The Sang family came from the north to escape the famine. What’s so surprising if the terminology they use for food is different from ours?” Mrs. Zhou dismissed it, but she was more interested in the lively atmosphere in the Shen family’s two houses. “The Shen family’s third and second families have struck gold this time.”

Mr. Zhou remained silent for a moment. “Indeed.”

He felt that he couldn’t meddle in the Shen family’s separation affairs. Despite being a village head, his position was merely nominal. He didn’t handle any paperwork or household registrations, and nobody really considered him influential.

“Let’s eat. Have you eaten?”

“No, I haven’t. I sent it over first to make sure you all wouldn’t go hungry. I’ll eat after you’re done.”

Mr. Zhou paused with his chopsticks and looked at the basket. There were no spare bowls or chopsticks left. “You can send it over next time after we’ve eaten. It’s not urgent now.”

Mrs. Zhou’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Go ahead and eat yours.”

After finishing the meal, she tidied up to take the basket back. Mr. Zhou wanted to say something, but he stopped her, waving his hand. “Forget it, it’s nothing. You can go back.”

Originally, he wanted to ask if the house in the Shen family’s main house had been built and, if so, inquire about the date for the housewarming ceremony. He wanted to bring a liter of rice as a gift for good luck.

But considering that he hadn’t intervened when the Shen family split, and now they were doing well, it was unnecessary. It was like offering coal in the snow and unnecessary embellishment on silk.

…

In the small courtyard on the mountain, Shen Jin had already left after helping with plucking the feathers and went home for lunch.

Shen An went to ask Sang Luo how to deal with the chicken and duck feathers. After examining them, Sang Luo instructed him to pick out the good chicken feathers, soak them in water with wood ash to degrease them, wash them with clean water, and then dry them. They could be used to make a feather duster.

As for the rest, mix them with some wood ash and use them to ferment fertilizer in the outhouse.

“Chicken and duck feathers can also be used for fertilizer?”

Sang Luo nodded. “Yes, not only can they be used, but they are also very effective fertilizer materials.”

Chicken and duck feathers, combined with wood ash and manure, could greatly improve soil quality. On the other side of the mountain, Sang Luo was preparing to clear some land and would be able to use it soon.

After cleaning the giblets, Shen An and Shen Ning helped prepare the kitchen. After a simple meal, Sang Luo took out three little ducks and took them to a small ditch not far from the spring pool to let them swim.

This was a routine activity that had been arranged twice a day since they bought the ducklings.

These small ducks couldn’t be left without water, but they couldn’t stay in the water for too long either, or they would easily drown. Also, their bellies couldn’t touch the water at this time; they could only wet their feet.

Sang Luo silently calculated the time. After about four or five minutes, she took several little ducks back to the backyard.

After finishing the morning’s work, Sang Luo took a break, closed the courtyard door, and went back to the house with the two children for a nap.

In the afternoon, she rendered lard, followed by stewing chicken, braising duck, and making braised dishes. Then, there was braised pork belly. These were all main dishes that could be prepared in advance. By evening, the braised dishes could be sliced and arranged on plates, while the braised pork belly and stewed chicken could be steamed. The braised duck could be kept in the pot after being cooked, and with a fire lit in the evening, it would be ready to serve after simmering with green onions and garlic.

After being busy with all this, when Grandma Chen and Grandma Lu, carrying their own bowls and chopsticks, came together, they hadn’t reached the small courtyard yet, but they could already smell the rich aroma of meat at the foot of the mountain.

It seemed like braised pork belly, stewed chicken, and another incredibly fragrant aroma. It was difficult to discern at once.

The two of them exchanged glances and couldn’t help but quicken their pace.

Shen An and Shen Ning were squatting by the mountain spring pool, washing vegetables in clay pots. When they saw the two elderly ladies, they stood up. “Grandma Chen, Grandma Lu, you’re here.”

They quickly went over to help carry the baskets.

“Is your sister-in-law cooking so early?” 

Both of the younger ones nodded. Shen Ning said, “Sister-in-law made some cold dishes and meat dishes that could be prepared in advance.”

As they spoke, they entered the courtyard. Sang Luo, who was in the kitchen, saw the visitors through the window and hurriedly put down her work to greet them, exchanging pleasantries.

Grandma Chen sniffed. “I could smell the fragrance at the foot of the mountain. Is that chicken, duck, and meat prepared?”