Chapter 198 Soy Milk in the Morning

It was lunchtime, and the state-run restaurant was still quite crowded. Following the direction the waiter pointed, Sister Tu looked over and saw several tables full of women. She couldn't quite make out which tables they were, but it didn't matter.

She looked at the man beside her: "How about we find someone else?"

The man nodded and looked at the menu again.

"Sui Sui, what exactly are we hiding from?" Su Yunyi asked, puzzled.

Qin Suisui was a little embarrassed: "I don't know, I just instinctively dodged."

Finally, Su Yunyi went to the window to help get the food.

When Su Yunyi went to pick up her meal, Aunt Tu seemed to be checking the contents of her basket and didn't notice her. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Qin Suisui quickly wrapped a headscarf around her head and then hurried out of the state-run restaurant.

They had bought everything they needed yesterday, so they didn't need to buy anything else today. They went straight to the entrance of town and found the oxcart of the Guangmingding Brigade. It was just two people short of being full. After the two people got on, the oxcart swayed and headed towards the brigade.

When Qin Suisui arrived at her doorstep, she saw her neighbor, Aunt Tang, who was heavily pregnant, drying sweet potatoes in her yard. When she saw Qin Suisui return, she greeted her with a smile: "Suisui, come and have a taste. My sweet potatoes are almost done drying."

Qin Suisui strolled over, picked up one, and tasted it: "Wow! It's delicious, sweet and chewy!"

Sister-in-law Tang nodded: "I've dried a lot. You can take some home to eat when they're done tonight!"

Qin Suisui didn't stand on ceremony with her: "Okay, sister-in-law, I'll come and get it tonight. Oh, by the way, I bought some fish maw yesterday. I'll stew it and bring you a bowl later. It's good for the baby."

Aunt Tang is already more than eight months pregnant and will give birth in about a month. In this era of poor conditions, pregnant women don't usually gain much weight, so there are no requirements to control their weight.

Sister-in-law Tang was a little embarrassed: "Then I've taken advantage of you again."

Qin Suisui waved her hand: "Then pack me some more dried sweet potatoes later."

From the moment she arrived on Qiongtan Island, Sister Tang treated her very well, helping her gradually adapt to life in the family compound. Moreover, in the past few years, when Pei Jiuyan and the others were away, it was Sister Tang who helped take care of Zanzan, so there was no question of her taking advantage of anyone; the relationship between the two families was mutual.

As Qin Suisui chewed on dried sweet potato, she walked home when she suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, sister-in-law, shouldn't we be drying radishes? When I came back, I saw a lot of people cutting radishes in the family compound!"

Sister-in-law Tang nodded: "Okay, let's start working on it this afternoon."

The radishes in Qin Suisui's vegetable garden are growing very fast. She and Sister Tang pickled two jars of radish kimchi a couple of days ago.

Back home, the fish maw she had taken out in the morning was already soaked and ready. Qin Suisui was making fish maw chicken soup today. The chicken was slaughtered directly in her space, and the meat was very chewy, making the soup exceptionally fragrant.

When the weather turns cool, Qin Suisui especially loves to drink all kinds of stewed soups.

Zan Zan ate lunch at the daycare, and Pei Jiu Yan wasn't coming back for lunch either, so Qin Sui Sui simply took her rice bowl and went to eat with Aunt Tang. After lunch, they got right to work, pulling up radishes and drying them.

"By the way, sister-in-law, have you seen Sister Tu recently?"

"No, she hasn't been out much since she went back to her hometown. I'm also pregnant, so I haven't been going out much either. What's wrong?"

Qin Suisui shook her head: "Do you know if Sister-in-law Tu has any brothers or anything like that?"

Sister-in-law Tang thought for a moment and said, "No, she has three younger sisters on her mother's side, and her husband, Shen Shen, also has a younger brother and a younger sister. I've never heard of her having an older brother."

Qin Suisui nodded, then added, "Sister-in-law, don't tell anyone about what I asked you today!"

Aunt Tang's expression also became more serious. Through their time together, she knew that Qin Suisui was not the kind of person who would cause trouble for no reason. Could it be that Tu Meizi was acting strangely? She didn't dare to ask, but she made up her mind to pretend that today's conversation had never happened.

After spending the afternoon chopping radishes and drying them on several nets, Su Yunyi arrived on her bicycle around 4 p.m.

"Sui Sui, how many kilograms of tofu do you want to order? I've already talked to Aunt Zhao, and she asked me to ask you so we can make it together tomorrow morning."

Qin Suisui thought for a moment. They should all be on Qiongtan Island during the Spring Festival. Chi Donglin and Song Yunlai were also there. Those two really liked to eat this.

"Let's make forty catties!" Twenty catties will be used to make fermented bean curd, and twenty catties will be stored in the space to eat fresh. When the weather gets cold, tofu stewed with fish or meat will taste delicious.

Tofu is heavy, so forty pounds isn't a lot. But for the average family, that's definitely a lot.

Aunt Tang and Su Yunyi both widened their eyes at the same time: "Forty pounds?! You made so much?"

Qin Suisui scratched her head, a little embarrassed: "Is it too much? Should I add some money?"

Su Yunyi waved her hand: "No, no, can you finish all of this?"

“I want to make more fermented bean curd. My family loves it. I guess Donglin and Yunlai won’t be going back to Beijing, and they love it too. I also want to send some to my master and the others, and keep some fresh tofu to stew with fish.”

As soon as she said that, the two men understood. Indeed, the three men had big appetites, and with the food to deliver, it wouldn't hurt to cook a little more. Besides, the weather on Qiongtan Island was hot, and it was only cool for a short period of the year. If they didn't cook more now, they would have to wait until next year.

"Make me ten jin too!" Aunt Tang hurriedly said from the side.

Su Yunyi nodded: "Okay, sister-in-law, give me the soybeans later, I'll help take them over, they start work early in the morning!"

The next morning, not long after dawn, Qin Suisui got up and, without even having breakfast, rode her bicycle to the Bright Peak Brigade.

Su Yunyi was already at Aunt Zhao's house, waiting for her at the door. As soon as she saw her, she quickly pulled her inside: "Quick, Sui Sui, it's already started. The soy milk is ready now. I made half a bucket of soy milk for you in advance, but I didn't take it out because I was afraid it would get cold. You should take it back first for Zan Zan to drink."

Yesterday afternoon, Qin Suisui asked Su Yunyi to help deliver soybeans to Aunt Zhao. In order not to delay her work, Aunt Zhao's family always starts making tofu around four in the morning.

Inside the tofu shop, Aunt Zhao and her family were busy. They only worked during this time of year to make tofu for the villagers in exchange for goods or money. This had been tacitly approved by the brigade for many years, and the brigade leader would turn a blind eye as long as it wasn't too outrageous.

Because it's a small family workshop, they don't produce much each day. Today, they mainly helped Qin Suisui, Su Yunyi, and Tang's family, which together weighed only about 60 jin (30 kg), with Qin Suisui making up the majority of the batch.

Qin Suisui knew Aunt Zhao. When she went to Grandma Mai's house, she would greet her from time to time.

Aunt Zhao was checking the coagulation of the tofu in front of the large pot. She had finished adding the coagulant a while ago and was about to press the tofu.

Qin Suisui walked over and greeted her with a smile, "Auntie, you must be busy. Thank you for your help today." As she spoke, she quietly took out two yuan from her pocket and stuffed it into Aunt Zhao's pocket.

The more than 40 jin of soybeans I brought yesterday are for making tofu, but I still have to pay the processing fee. Otherwise, why would they take the risk to make it for me?

Aunt Zhao paused for a moment, then discreetly felt the money in her pocket. She could tell it was two yuan. Her smile widened: "Comrade Qin, you're too kind. You've done a lot today, so take some more home later."

Qin Suisui was the "god of wealth" of Guangmingding Brigade. Aunt Zhao already respected her, and in addition, the girl was beautiful and polite. Whenever she went to the Mai family next door, she would always greet her. Last time, when she brought chestnuts, she even shared a handful with the Mai family's grandson! Aunt Zhao remembered this favor.

So at this moment, Aunt Zhao scooped several more large spoonfuls from another pot of soy milk that was still boiling into her wooden bucket: "There's a lot of soy milk here, take some back and drink it. If you want to drink soy milk these days, you can come to my house in the morning to get some to take back. My house will be making tofu every morning these days!"

Qin Suisui didn't stand on ceremony: "Thank you, Auntie! I'll take the soy milk back while it's still hot! It'll be perfect for the kids at home to drink before they go to school!"

"Okay! Go quickly! The tofu will take a while, no rush!"

Qin Suisui told Su Yunyi, then hung the wooden bucket on the back of her bicycle and rode home. She had put several large hooks on the back of the bicycle beforehand, just in time to haul the tofu back later.

Su Yunyi had already filled almost half a bucket for her, and Aunt Zhao had just scooped in several more large spoonfuls with a coconut shell ladle, making it almost a full bucket. There was so much soy milk that even if they didn't eat anything else today, they couldn't finish it all.

Qin Suisui went to a secluded spot, poured half a bucket into her spatial storage, where food could be preserved and wouldn't spoil no matter how long it was kept. Then she covered the bucket opening with thick clothes and hurried home.

Zan Zan had just gotten up, and Pei Jiuyan had just come out of the kitchen. Peeking out the kitchen window, he saw her carrying a large bucket back and quickly went to help: "Why did you get up so early today? Why didn't you tell me you were going to get the soy milk? I could have just gone to get it."

Qin Suisui waved her hand: "It's okay, I want to go and take a look too. By the way, pour out half of this soy milk and take it to Aunt Tang next door. She's pregnant, so it's good for her to drink more soy milk."

"Okay. You eat first, I'll take care of the rest."

Pei Jiuyan poured the soy milk from the bucket into his own kettle. There was still a little ember on the coal stove, so the soy milk would stay warm. He then poured out three more bowls, which they drank for breakfast.

The soy milk was piping hot from the pot, and Qin Suisui, who had been wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat the whole way, had barely felt cold. As soon as it was poured into the bowl, the sugar at the bottom of the bowl melted in the boiling soy milk. The milky white liquid swirled in the bowl, and a few milky white bubbles rose to the surface. In the cool morning air, this bowl of soy milk tasted especially delicious.