Chapter 3: Finding ways to make money

Before noon, the two arrived home.

Just as Chen Yao put down the heavy backpack, she saw Yang Wenying, who was following behind her, sitting down at her feet. "Don't you mind that the ground is dirty?"

Yang Wenying was too tired to move, but she kept on talking: "I followed you to clear the land and pan for sand. Do you think there's any clean part on my body?"

"Work is always dirty, and I see you're kind and clean!" Chen Yao reached out to her, "Don't sit there anymore, go change your clothes, it's not good to catch a cold."

Although the first sentence was a teasing one, Yang Wenying still found the latter one to be quite helpful. She stood up with the hand extended to her. The warm palm covered with calluses made her unable to continue to be stubborn. "I'll change my clothes and go to the kitchen to light a fire."

"Okay, go ahead." Chen Yao put the farm tools away and put them back in their original places, then greeted Shen Qingshan who was inside.

The door of the main house was always open, and Shen Qingshan saw everything the two children did in the yard clearly: "You must be tired, go back to the house and rest for a while, there's no need to rush to cook, mom and dad are not hungry."

"Yes, Mom is not hungry. Good boy, go back to the house and rest." Huang Xing's voice sounded.

Chen Yao moved a low stool and sat outside the door. While drying the sand, she reported the morning's achievements to her parents and praised Yang Wenying again. "She doesn't understand the work in the fields, but she works very hard. Today, thanks to her help pulling the plow, we were able to reclaim the wasteland."

"That child is also pitiful. It's all my fault that I'm useless and have dragged you and your daughter down!" Huang Xing's face was full of misery, and she started coughing after she finished speaking.

Shen Qingshan patted his wife's back and comforted her, "Don't say such depressing words. The doctor told you not to worry too much and just rest and you'll be fine. As long as we don't lose heart, things will get better."

"Cough, but I, cough cough..." Huang Xing leaned on her husband's shoulder and coughed continuously.

Chen Yao got up and went into the house, poured half a bowl of warm water and gave it to her to drink. Seeing that she was getting better, she said, "How could mother be a burden to us? The clothes that my daughter and father wear, from the inside out, are all made by you."

Huang Xing looked up at her daughter's patched linen clothes and couldn't stop crying: "But after I got sick, everyone at home and outside relied on you. I couldn't even make you a new dress!"

"So, in order to keep our family warm in winter, Mom has to get better soon and make winter clothes for Dad and me. Mom knows me well. I only know rough work and can sew like a centipede!"

Huang Xing was amused by her witty words and laughed and cried: "Okay, Mom promises you."

"Then, mother, can you please make me a fishing net out of hemp rope? It doesn't have to be too big, just this size will do." Chen Yao said, gesturing. "Today, I was panning for sand by the Yan River, and I saw quite a few finger-long fish hiding in the grass nearby. Let's catch them and dry them for dinner."

"Dad can weave it. Bring us the hemp rope and I can weave it for you before dark." As soon as Shen Qingshan opened his mouth, Huang Xing pinched his lower back. The force was not strong, but it hurt a lot.

"My daughter wants my help. Why are you fighting with me for it?" Huang Xing frowned at her husband.

"How about mom and dad come together, but dad has to keep an eye on mom and don't let her get tired." After Chen Yao said that, she stood up, got the hemp rope for her parents, and went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen.

Yang Wenying squatted at the entrance of the stove, puffed out her cheeks and blew hard into it, hoping to make the flames burn more vigorously, but the firewood seemed to always be against her and the sparks could not be ignited at all.

Chen Yao walked over and took a look. Wow, the stove was full of wood. It would be a wonder if it could burn.

"First, use dry leaves to ignite it, then put in a few thin sticks, and wait until the flames form a cluster, then slowly add more firewood. This way, the fire will not be easy to extinguish." Chen Yao taught while asking Yang Wenying to pull out the firewood.

As expected, she is a master who has no stupid disciples!

"Are you still making soy milk for lunch?" The brown rice porridge must be left for Chen Yao's parents to recuperate.

Chen Yao shook her head: "The rest will have to be some tofu, but we can each keep a bowl to drink with the bean dregs."

Yang Wenying could understand every word Chen Yao said, but everything was very new to her. Chen Yao could even make tofu, which aroused her curiosity.

"No need to add more firewood, just use a low heat." Chen Yao took the soybean residue that had been filtered out of the bucket, and when the pot was hot, poured the soybean residue into it, stirring it back and forth continuously to prevent the pot from getting stuck, until the soybean residue was cooked and then served.

The aroma of the steaming bean dregs made people hungry. The two of them kept working, pouring the remaining slurry into the pot and stirring it slowly, bringing the slurry to a boil and skimming off the foam.

"Pull out all the firewood and let it dry for a while, then I'll make some tofu." Chen Yao filled Yang Wenying with a bowl of soy milk and half a bowl of bean dregs, then took her parents' portion to the main house.

When she returned, she found Yang Wenying waiting for her. Her heart suddenly warmed: "Eat."

The fried bean dregs taste mellow and have no bean smell. It may be a bit choking if eaten dry. But a sip of hot soy milk is not only delicious but also filling, which is much better than the fishy bean rice I used to eat.

Chen Yao finished her lunch in a few bites, put down the bowl, looked at the brine stone in the broken bowl in the corner of the stove and sighed.

"Why, you don't know how to make tofu?" Yang Wenying heard her sigh and stood up to collect the bowls and spoons, intending to wash them together after she was done. "It's a pity that I've only eaten it before, otherwise I could help you."

Chen Yao sighed not because she didn't know how to make tofu, but because the salt consumed by every household here was brine, and eating too much of this stuff would cause cancer.

But if people don’t eat salt, they will get goiter. Ultimately, it’s all because of poverty!

Make money, you must make money to buy fine salt and eat proper food!

Chen Yao crushed the cut pieces of brine into powder, and turned it into brine in a ratio of 1:3. She picked out the bean skins condensed on the surface of the soy milk in the pot, and added the brine into the pot while stirring slowly.

Yang Wenying watched the soy milk in the pot gradually turn into flocs, her almond-shaped eyes widened, and she moved closer and closer to Chen Yao.

Chen Yao looked at the thoughtful expression on the little girl's face and handed her the spoon: "Do you want to try it?"

"Just give it a try, but first, I have to say you can't blame me if it goes wrong!"

"I don't blame you. Just stir it slowly in one direction." Chen Yao said and turned away from the stove.

As soon as she left, Yang Wenying seemed to have lost her backbone. She was extremely anxious, but she didn't dare to drop the spoon in her hand. She kept shouting, "Hey, don't go!"

"I'm not leaving. Don't panic. You've done a great job!" Chen Yao placed the steamed linen cloth in the wooden basin and watched as the flocs in the pot were almost gone. She said, "Scoop it up."

Before Yang Wenying had scooped out half of the water, the wooden basin was full. She watched Chen Yao pick up the linen cloth and filter out the water. Her face turned red, and she tried her best to skim off the water in the pot before pouring it into the pot.

After the two of them worked together, the wooden basin was still not full.

Chen Yao shook it vigorously, wrapped it with a wet cloth, and placed it in a half-pottery pot with water to press it down to set it in shape.

"Is this all right?" Yang Wenying was very shocked when she saw that the tofu had already taken shape when she wrapped it. She didn't expect that she could really make it for Chen Yao.

"Well, wait another quarter of an hour." Chen Yao went to the main house to get back the empty bowl and spoon, and told her parents that they would have tofu in the evening. She watched the net bag that her parents were weaving together gradually take shape, and her eyebrows and eyes curved into crescents.

"Ayao, can you send some of the prepared tofu to your uncle and aunt's house?" Shen Qingshan asked his daughter while rubbing the hemp rope.

As for how their daughter learned to make tofu, they, as parents, did not ask, but only guessed that it was because Yang Wenying came from a good family and had a well-educated daughter.

After all, Yang Wenying also promised to teach her daughter to read using a sand table every day in the future.

"Send it. I'll send it this afternoon, and then ask my uncle to make some wooden baskets for me to put the tofu in. Mom and Dad, I plan to finish plowing the land we've rented, and then Wenying and I will pick up the tofu and sell it in the neighboring village. Do you think it's okay?"

Shen Qingshan and his wife looked at each other. They didn't want to pour cold water on their daughter. The real problem was that the villages around Qingfeng Town were not only poor, but also the mountain roads were difficult to travel and overgrown with weeds. What would they do if something happened?

Chen Yao heard her parents' worries and sat down beside the bed. "I want to do this tofu business with my cousin Dongsheng's family. This year, my aunt's family won't get the official ox, and the whole family has to plow the land. It will definitely be very busy. With my cousin Dongsheng joining us, my parents don't have to worry."

Chen Yao has been planning these things in her mind for a long time.

Huang Xing didn't understand why her daughter wanted to do a business that would make her lose money. They were all tenant farmers and could hardly save a few copper coins throughout the year, so how could they be willing to spend money on tofu?

"Ayao, don't go. You won't be able to sell this tofu."

"Mom, I have to go, and my cousin Dongsheng has to go too. Even if we can't sell the tofu for money, we can exchange it for hemp rope, soybeans, needles and thread, and vegetable seeds. Our family must find a way to make money." Chen Yao looked determined and held Huang Xing's hand tightly.

"It's mom who is a burden to you and this family!" Tears fell from Huang Xing's cloudy eyes and she suddenly burst into tears. The noise was so loud that Yang Wenying ran over from the kitchen.

But when she reached the door, she stopped and stood outside, not daring to rush in.

"Mom, I earn money not only for you and Dad, we also have to find a way to redeem my uncle and Yang Jizong from the eastern suburbs ahead of time. But right now, our family only has soybeans, so I have to pick tofu and sell it in various villages. It's just a little more work, I can do it."

Chen Yao raised her hand to wipe away Huang Xing's tears, but the more she wiped, the more tears fell, falling on the back of her hand, burning her heart and making her feel uncomfortable.

"If you are worried, Shen Yao and I will go together. I will pick the tofu and will never let her get tired again." Yang Wenying rushed in with red eyes. Since this concerned her brother, she couldn't just sit back and watch.

Shen Qingshan put his wife behind him and looked at the two children who were determined to do this, his face gloomy.

Just when Shen Yao and Yang Wenying thought he would scold them, Shen Qingshan spoke.

"Ayao, this is the first time you've made a decision since you grew up. Since you've decided to do it, Dad supports you. I just hope you'll be careful when you go out."

Chen Yao nodded and promised the couple that no matter how the tofu sales went, she would return home before dark so as not to worry her parents.

"Okay, go and invite your aunt and uncle over now."

As soon as Chen Yao and Yang Wenying left, Huang Xing fell into Shen Qingshan's arms and fainted from crying.

The evening mist is heavy and the birds in the mountains are returning to their nests.

When everyone gathered in the main house of the Shen family, Chen Yao held their first family meeting in the lingering sunset light outside.

Meeting topic: Go to various villages to sell tofu and exchange it for various things needed at home.

Those who have the final say in the meeting: Chen Yao and Shen Qingshan.

Meeting participants: Shen family, Yang Wenying, aunt and cousin, and aunt's family.

The ultimate goal of the meeting: to make money, redeem people, and live a good life.

Seeing that his daughter had explained everything clearly, Shen Qingshan suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed to a camphorwood box by the wall. "There's a tiger bone knife in there. It was left by my father's ancestors. I'm giving it to you now."

What this tiger bone knife represents is self-evident to everyone.

Chen Yao will be the one in charge of the Shen family from now on!

Chen Yao put the tiger bone knife on her waist and saluted everyone: "Ayao, I can't guarantee you how much we can earn from this business, but we can't just sit there and wait for death. We can't see tomorrow by guarding the crops in the fields. We have to think of some way to make a living."

Putting aside what the heads of the families think about this matter, people of Chen Yao's generation are already excited after hearing it.

"Cousin, I'll work with you and carry the load for you after I finish plowing the land at home." As soon as Tian Baolai expressed his opinion, the youngest Huang Dongsheng could no longer sit still.

"Mom, for Dad, I have to go with my cousin. Even if you think I'm messing around, it's better than staying in an empty house and living a life as stagnant as water."

Miao looked at her son crying, then smiled at the bowl of tofu on the table: "For your father, mother has to support you!"

"Thank you, Dad!" Chen Yao turned around to express his gratitude.

She knew that no matter what era, it was very difficult for women to achieve success in their careers, but now that she had the support of Shen Qingshan and her relatives, this first step was undoubtedly a success.