Chapter 80: Why Didn’t You Call Us?

What is salt brine?

This substance, also known as bitter brine or alkali brine, is the byproduct formed after the evaporation and cooling of the residual liquid left in salt ponds after salt production.

In simpler terms, it’s a byproduct made from the waste of traditional salt-making methods.

In the Great Qian Dynasty, or in Sang Luo’s original timeline, it wasn’t uncommon to find families so impoverished that they couldn’t afford salt. Especially during times of war or when life was particularly difficult due to heavy labor and taxes, the demand for salt brine among the poorest people would skyrocket.

Salt is essential for human survival, so what did people eat when they couldn’t afford salt?

There were three substitutes: saltpeter, potash, and salt brine.

To survive, common people came up with various methods to obtain substitutes. The first method, saltpeter, was quite disgusting and likely only used as a last resort—it was extracted from ancient dry toilets or the stones used to surround them.

The second method, potash, was relatively better. Potash could be obtained by soaking wood ash in water and then boiling it in a pot, resulting in a substance similar in taste to sodium salt.

The most common alternative was salt brine.

There were two ways to obtain salt brine. One was to search in the mountains for stones licked by animals. These stones typically contained salt, and boiling them would yield brine. Sang Luo had never seen this method, as she dared not venture into the deep mountains. The only animals she encountered in her usual travels were small creatures like rabbits, mountain chickens, snakes, and insects, which would flee at the sight of humans. She had never seen large animals, let alone stones licked by animals.

The other method was to buy it. Salt shops often secretly stored some salt brine made from the waste of salt production, which they sold at a low price.

Compared to table salt, salt brine was much cheaper. A few coins could buy two large pieces. However, excessive consumption of this substance could be harmful to health, so moderation was key.

Sang Luo was not so poor that she couldn’t afford salt. As the saying goes, “Brine makes tofu, and one thing overcomes another.” The brine was diluted to obtain this excellent tofu coagulant, requiring only a tiny amount for a large pot of tofu.

Tofu could be categorized as tender tofu and old tofu, also known as southern tofu and northern tofu. Previously, Sang Luo had made tender tofu using gypsum water, which was southern tofu. The tofu made from the salt brine she bought today was old tofu, also known as northern tofu.

Shen An had been worried for a long time about the decrease in business at home after the disappearance of the “Fairy Tofu.”

Indeed, although there were more customers buying tofu without the “Fairy Tofu,” the sales volume of a single product could not compare to the combined sales of two products. In recent days, the amount of tofu sold by the three shops had decreased significantly compared to before, by more than ten pieces.

When they were picking leaves from the “Fairy Tree” in the mountains, Sang Luo had mentioned to Shen An that she had a solution. This solution wasn’t the rare “abducted jujube” they hadn’t discovered yet, but rather increasing the variety of tofu.

With two large pieces of salt brine, she had enough to last a long time.

Sang Luo then went to the pharmacy. There were three medical halls and pharmacies in the county town, and she bought several herbs for making brine pickles from each of them. With today’s tasks in the county town completed, she headed back home.

…

Shen An and Shen Ning were particularly anxious today. Now that there were no more “Fairy Tree” leaves to pick and no need to search for wild vegetables to sell, there were yams to dig up in the mountains a little further away, and sour jujubes to collect, but without Sang Luo leading the way, neither of the siblings would venture into the mountains. Besides, one of them had to stay home to look after the house.

After Sang Luo left, Shen An could only find some work for himself. For example, he grabbed the third harvest of nettles and went around the village cutting down unowned wild hemp, carrying bundle after bundle back home. Shen Ning stayed at home to strip the hemp.

After half a morning of carrying, there was enough piled up. Shen An stopped, returned home, and sat with his sister, stripping the hemp. Occasionally, they would glance at the mountain road that their sister-in-law usually took when returning from the county town.

So much abducted jujube candy has been made, I wonder if Mrs. Chen will be able to sell it all today?

That look of anticipation.

Sang Luo appeared in the siblings’ sight while carrying the baskets, and Shen An and Shen Ning jumped up, rushing over to help when they saw their sister-in-law carrying what seemed to be two full baskets of something.

As they approached, they heard Sang Luo say that it was all cotton!

All cotton!!!

“Mrs. Chen, did you sell all the candy?”

That was the only thing Shen An and Shen Ning could think of. Only if all the candy was sold could Mrs. Chen buy so much cotton.

Sang Luo smiled, “All sold out! If we save a little more, we’ll be able to make a quilt soon.”

Shen An and Shen Ning cheered and jumped in place. With a quilt, they could have a warm winter this year.

The siblings wanted to help Sang Luo, but they found that the bags containing the cotton were securely tied to the baskets and couldn’t be helped. So, they happily walked on either side of Sang Luo, escorting her home.

As Sang Luo carried the baskets to their home, she noticed several bundles of nettles piled up on the stone path outside the courtyard.

She looked at the siblings in surprise. “Did you go to cut these?”

Shen Ning smiled and pointed to Shen An. “Second brother brought them back.”

Shen An praised his sister, “An Ning stayed at home to strip the nettles and look after the house.”

Every aspect of household life required money. Although they were young and weak, they tried to save some money for the family wherever they could.

Sang Luo couldn’t help but smile and ruffle Shen Ning’s hair, “You’re both doing great!”

She carried the things into the courtyard, and the two kids followed, chattering away and asking questions. Of course, their first question was how the candy sold so quickly.

Sang Luo didn’t keep secrets from the two kids about the family business. She briefly explained about selling the candy to Yongfeng Pavilion, saying, “From now on, we’ll send our crystal sweets and brown sugar there.”

Shen An and Shen Ning were still young and didn’t understand how a sugar-making recipe could attract so many people. They only knew that before their own things were made, there were people waiting to buy them. As long as they could be made, they could be exchanged for money, and Mrs. Chen didn’t need to work so hard, going out early and coming back late, they were both very happy.

Shen An even wished for Mrs. Chen to take a break and then take him back into the mountains to pick sour jujubes and abducted jujubes.

But Sang Luo shook her head and refused, saying with a smile, “Let’s not go into the mountains now. We need to make some preparations. We’re going to make a new kind of food.”

The siblings looked puzzled, “What new food?”

Sang Luo smiled, “It’s also tofu. You’ll find out later. I’ll go to Mrs. Chen’s house first.”

…

To make dried tofu and old tofu, the frames and tofu pressing boards used to make tofu were not enough. Sang Luo couldn’t handle this slightly more sophisticated woodworking task herself, so she went to Mrs. Chen’s house to ask Chen Youtian for help.

When they heard that she wanted to make tofu in a new style and flavor, both Mr. and Mrs. Chen were very pleased. Being able to offer new food, especially something like tofu, meant that Sang Luo would almost certainly have them sell it together with their three families. This meant they would earn more money in a day.

Mrs. Chen smiled so much that her eyes wrinkled, telling Chen Youtian to bring his tools and help Sang Luo with the work.

Got it, here’s the corrected translation:

To make old tofu, the tofu frames and pressing boards used are no different from those used to make tender tofu. However, for making dried tofu, frames are not needed; it just requires a lot of boards.

So when Chen Youtian heard about the amount of work Sang Luo wanted to do, he went to the Shi and Lu families, calling for Shi Erlang, Lu Dalang, and Lu Sanlang to join him in cutting trees in the mountains.

The rest of the process wasn’t something Sang Luo needed to worry about because she was always making things at home. To avoid suspicion, Chen Youtian didn’t plan to make these things at Sang Luo’s house but rather at his own, and then deliver them to her once they were ready. Since everything was already prepared, Sang Luo didn’t need to keep an eye on things like dimensions.

Since they needed to cut trees, Sang Luo cheekily asked Chen Youtian to make two sets of shelves for the kitchen to store some items.

The dried yam slices needed to be sealed in jars for preservation. Sang Luo always kept some extra soybeans from the daily deliveries, storing them in empty grain bags, accumulating quite a lot over time.

Because soybeans are prone to pests, Sang Luo didn’t dare store them together with grains. So, the soybeans and yam slices were neatly piled against the wall in the kitchen farthest from the two large stoves. However, this method of storage wasn’t sustainable with more items accumulating over time.

Chen Youtian readily agreed to Sang Luo’s request. Besides, with the daily tofu orders from Dongfu Pavilion, this was Sang Luo’s gift to their family, so helping out was a given.

Following Sang Luo’s request, the first thing made was fifteen square wooden boards, essential for making dried tofu. Each dried tofu block required one bottom board and four pressing boards of the same size. These fifteen boards were barely enough to make three blocks of dried tofu.

While Sang Luo and Chen Youtian were discussing their work, Shen Ning also followed to Chen’s house, intending to bring her little friend over to her house to drink syrup.

The sugar left on the walls of the jars Sang Luo brought back today was scraped off by the siblings without wasting any. They even poured hot water into the remaining jars and swirled it around, resulting in two and a half jars of syrup.

Syrup, a precious beverage not only in rural areas but also in cities, was now plentiful in their home. There was so much that the family of three couldn’t finish drinking it today. How could they not think of inviting their friends over?

Should they inform Chen Ershan?

Well, Chen Ershan was older now and didn’t join the group of children anymore, so Shen Ning called, but he didn’t come.

Then they needed to inform Huzi and Erniu, who were good friends with her brother. Huzi and Erniu also had younger siblings, so they couldn’t leave them out.

Although they didn’t know the term “playing favorites,” Shen Ning understood that these were all friends who often helped their family, and fairness was essential.

So while Chen Youtian and Sang Luo were busy running between the families, getting help from the adults to cut trees, Shen Ning took her little friend and visited several families to invite the children over to their house for syrup.

She didn’t mention that the syrup was homemade, just said that her sister-in-law bought some for her and her older brother to eat. She thought since everyone helped pave the road last time, she would invite everyone over for a drink.

Living close by, Shen Ning couldn’t help but pass by her third uncle’s house while going back and forth. Although the children didn’t shout it out loud, their excited whispers were enough to spread the news. This kind of situation was very familiar to children.

For example, Shen Jin, Shen Yin, and Shen Tie.

The three brothers could tell from Shen Ning’s demeanor that she must have something to eat.

Shen Jin glanced at Shen Ning’s direction, but after passing several houses, he didn’t even look towards his own house.

Not seeing their parents in their house, Shen Yin asked softly, “Brother, didn’t you bring some pig fat scraps to Second Brother and Sister-in-law last time? Didn’t you say if Second Brother had something to eat in the future, he would invite us too?”

Then why didn’t he invite them?

Shen Tie pondered, “Should we wait outside?”

It seemed like Second Brother and Sister-in-law hadn’t stepped into their house for a long time.

Shen Jin bit his lip, looked for a while, and suddenly said, “Let’s not wait, let’s go back inside.”

Shen Yin and Shen Tie: ???

Shen Yin said, “Wouldn’t that mean we won’t get anything to eat?”

But ever since their family divided, they usually followed their elder brother around. Whatever Shen Jin said, they had to follow. So, obediently, they followed Shen Jin back into the house.

Shen Ning either didn’t see Shen Jin, or she was avoiding him.

Last time, Third Aunt scolded her, thinking she didn’t hear.

A group of children ran towards the hill where Shen’s main house was located, shouting and yelling loudly.

Shen Yin and Shen Tie were a bit confused.

The two brothers sat on a small stool, looking at each other, then at their elder brother. Finally, they all looked at Shen Jin together. Seeing Shen Jin spinning a spinning top with his head down, completely ignoring them, the two brothers lowered their heads in silence, feeling envious as they watched the group of people run far away.