Chapter 3, this one probably won't sell well, right? The original owner married her cheap husband...
Jiang Mai sat down again in front of the stove.
Ye Li overheard the brothers' conversation, but he didn't say anything. He grabbed the cut tofu pieces and went to the pot, preparing to continue frying tofu puffs.
He wanted to fry some more samples to show Jiang Fuzheng.
We're running low on lard. After frying these tofu puffs, we won't have any oil left for next time.
The original owner only had eight coins left!
He wanted to borrow some lard from Jiang Fuzheng using the tofu puffs.
Making tofu is such a hard job, he wants to sell tofu puffs as soon as possible.
Tofu puffs can be prepared in many ways, including hot pot, spicy hot pot, stewing, and stir-frying.
Soon, he fried another pound or so of tofu puffs.
He poured most of the oil from the pot into an earthenware jar, leaving only a small spoonful, to stir-fry garlic sprouts and tofu.
The aroma of garlic sprouts is extremely strong; with just a few stirs, the entire kitchen is filled with their fragrance.
Moreover, Ye Li herself is quite a good cook.
In his past life, his family ran a farm stay business, and he helped his parents from a young age.
After graduating from university, he originally wanted to stay in the city to find a job—he was gay and it would be difficult to find a partner if he went back to the village.
As a result, his parents died in a car accident, so he returned to the village to inherit the family business.
His culinary skills would have been enough to keep his family business afloat in his previous life, let alone here.
However, recalling his past life, he pursed his lips, feeling a tightness in his chest.
Just as he was feeling unwell, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a small head peeking out of the kitchen doorway. He looked up and met Jiang Ya's slightly startled eyes.
Jiang Ya ate the tofu puffs and wanted to return the chopsticks to the kitchen.
But he didn't dare go in directly; he only dared to peek into the kitchen from the door frame.
Ye Li turned her head without warning, startling him so much that he quickly pulled his little head back.
"..."
Ye Li took a deep breath and continued to stir the garlic sprouts and tofu in the pan.
That's all.
Anyway, my parents are gone.
Everything starts anew.
“Xiaomai, we don’t need you here anymore. Go out and play with Ya Ge’er. I’ll call you when dinner is ready,” he said to Jiang Mai.
Jiang Mai was quite surprised to hear this, but he remained seated and didn't move: "I'll start the fire."
“Okay, you start the fire and cook dinner, I’m going out to play with Ya Ge’er,” Ye Li said.
"!"
Jiang Mai jumped up and said, "I'm going to play with Ya Ge'er."
Ye Li smiled: "Then don't go too far, dinner will be ready soon."
"……good."
Jiang Mai scratched his head and walked away with a puzzled look on his face.
What evil is that good-for-nothing up to...?
Ye Li ignored Jiang Mai's doubts. He put the stir-fried garlic sprouts and tofu into a bowl, then poured water into the iron pot to prepare dinner.
The Jiang family was poor, and their staple food was mainly cornmeal.
He steamed a pot of cornbread at noon, and now he just needs to put it in the pot to steam it briefly.
Add some cornmeal porridge, and dinner will be ready.
Jiang Mai came out of the kitchen and looked to her left. She saw Jiang Ya holding a chopstick and standing against the wall of the kitchen.
Jiang Ya saw him and waved her little hand at him: "Brother."
He walked over and pointed to the chopstick in Jiang Ya's hand: "Where's the other one?"
“I didn’t finish the tofu on that piece, I saved it for you.” Jiang Ya smiled and tugged at his sleeve: “Brother, let’s go back inside, you can eat it.”
Jiang Mai rubbed his little head and went back into the house with him.
There were two tofu puffs left, one for each of the brothers.
Jiang Ya sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), eating carefully, one small bite at a time.
Her little face was full of satisfaction.
Jiangmai, on the other hand, threw the whole thing into his mouth and chewed it heartily.
"Brother, eat slowly, there won't be any left after you finish," Jiang Ya couldn't help but say.
Jiang Mai paused in his chewing motion.
They recalled the strange behavior of their "brother-in-law" today.
This guy just said he'd call him and Ya Ge'er when dinner was ready.
If we really invite them to dinner, we might have a chance to eat this strange fried tofu again.
At this moment, Jiang Ya, swinging her short legs that barely touched the ground, said with a smile, "Brother, I ate so much good food today, I'm not afraid of getting beaten up anymore."
Jiang Mai: "..."
Not bad, he and Ya Ge'er haven't been beaten up yet today.
Give up your illusions!
Amid Jiang Mai's doubts and trepidation, Ye Li actually called them to dinner.
When the two nervously entered the kitchen, they saw that the food was already laid out on the table under the dim light of the oil lamp.
"Eat up, the stir-fried tofu is getting cold," Ye Li said, gesturing for them to sit down and eat.
This gentle attitude left both brothers completely bewildered.
But thinking that they couldn't lose out by eating, the two of them sat down and picked up cornbread to eat.
"We'll have stir-fried tofu and tofu puffs," Ye Li said.
Upon hearing this, the two brothers exchanged a glance, picked up their chopsticks, and began eating stir-fried tofu and salted tofu puffs while keeping an eye on Ye Li's expression.
Ye Li also started eating heartily.
He was starving after working so hard all this time.
Although Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya drank a bowl of tofu pudding at midday, the tofu pudding did not satisfy their hunger. The two brothers and Ye Li worked together to finish six cornbreads the size of an adult's palm and a large plate of stir-fried tofu with garlic sprouts.
I also ate quite a lot of tofu puffs.
Ye Li finished with a bowl of corn porridge to fill the gaps.
But the two brothers were so full that they couldn't drink any more.
"There's warm water in the pot. Go get some warm water, wash up, and go to bed."
Ye Li held the bowl and drank as she spoke.
After ladling the cornmeal porridge out of the pot, he boiled some more water.
Jiang Mai was taken aback by these words.
Instead of letting him wash the pots and pans, they urged him to go to sleep with Ya Ge'er?
And surprisingly, they really didn't intend to beat him and Ya-ge'er up...
That's wonderful.
He and Ya Ge'er had to run quickly, lest that idiot change his mind.
He responded and quickly helped Jiang Ya up to wash up.
Ye Li sat at the table, still leisurely drinking her corn grits.
After he finished drinking, Jiang Mai had already led Jiang Ya back to the house.
The courtyard was eerily quiet.
He got up and, by the dim light of the oil lamp, cleaned the kitchen.
He soaked the ten jin of soybeans he had brought back from Jiang Fuzheng's house before fetching water to wash up.
The original owner was quite particular, possessing everything from a pig bristle toothbrush and tooth powder to bath soap.
He brushed his teeth, washed his hands and feet, and then went back inside.
In fact, the Jiang family also lived in a house with blue bricks and tiles.
Twenty years ago, the Jiang family was wealthy.
Back then, the two southern provinces suffered a severe drought, resulting in poor harvests. Some displaced people gradually developed into bandits and flocked to the surrounding areas that were not affected by the disaster.
One of the streams traveled north along the Nantong Canal and occupied Baxian Town, which was twenty miles away.
Baxian Town is the starting point of the Nantong Canal and has an important geographical location.
The magistrate of Beiyang County summoned local people familiar with the terrain of Baxian Town, intending to infiltrate the town and burn the bandits' supplies.
Of the villagers of Yezaopo Village, only Jiang's father and Jiang Fuzheng signed up. A total of twenty brave men entered the town, but only three survived.
Fortunately, Jiang's father and Jiang Fuzheng were two of them.
Jiang Fuzheng even killed several bandits.
After the bandits were suppressed, the county magistrate rewarded those who had contributed to the victory. Jiang's father received fifty taels of silver, and Jiang Fuzheng became the village head.
After receiving the silver, Jiang's father not only built three brick houses but also married Jiang's mother.
When her husband turned seven, she sent him to a private school.
The family had lived a prosperous and harmonious life, but five years ago, in the summer, Jiang's mother had a difficult childbirth and unfortunately passed away.
That autumn, when Jiang's father was carrying heavy loads in Baxian Town, his coworker Ye Daji—who was also the original owner's father—accidentally fell into the water.
Jiang's father died trying to save Ye Daji.
The Jiang family is now left with only the thirteen-year-old husband, two-year-old Jiang Mai, and three-month-old Jiang Ya.
Fortunately, Jiang's father's younger brother, Jiang Dahe, was kind and took Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya into his home to raise them.
However, the Ye family was not wealthy and could not afford to pay the thanks, so Ye Daji discussed with Jiang Dahe the idea of arranging a marriage between the original owner of this body and her cheap husband.
In this way, the Ye family can do their best to help the three brothers in the future.
At that time, the thirteen-year-old husband had already passed the county examination and was handsome. The twelve-year-old original owner wanted to be the husband of a scholar or even a successful candidate in the imperial examination, so she happily agreed to the marriage.
After the engagement, the Ye family would pay half of the groom's annual tuition fee, which was three taels of silver.
Regardless of whether it's the busy or slack season for farming, they often come over to help with farm work.
But this made life even harder for the Ye family.
The original owner, who had been pampered since childhood, was forced to work in the fields frequently and was also forced to learn needlework. As a result, she regretted her actions and began to hate her cheap husband and the two burdens, Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya.
Two years ago, my husband passed the prefectural examination.
With a scholar/graduate husband as a catch, the original owner finally chose to get married twenty days ago.
However, the original owner vented all the anger she had accumulated over the years on Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya, and took advantage of Jiang Ji's absence to beat the two brothers every day under various pretexts.
Three days ago, the cheap husband came home and bumped into the original owner of Hu Jiangya's head, and had a big fight with the original owner.
The two parted on bad terms.
Yesterday, Ye Daji came over to help the Jiang family with their work and tried to persuade the original owner of this body to change her temperament and live a good life.
The original owner was already angry and annoyed by Ye Daji's nagging, so in a fit of rage, she decided to sell Jiang Ya this morning.
Unexpectedly, Ye Li transmigrated.
At this point, Ye Li was too lazy to comment on the original owner of the body anymore; after all, it was his turn to live the rest of the life.
The main house has three tiled rooms. The east room was originally the room of Jiang's father and mother, but the original owner thought the east room was unlucky, and Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya were too old, so they moved back from Jiang Dahe's house last winter.
Therefore, the original owner sent Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya to live in the east room.
The west wing was his new home with his cheap husband.
The room wasn't small, but because of its age, you could immediately feel the unique coolness of an old house as soon as you entered.
On the left, against the wall, stands a newly made double-door wardrobe and a five-drawer chest.
Opposite is a heated kang bed.
A brand-new, tall poplar wood square table sits under the window.
There was no other furniture besides that.
He placed the oil lamp on the square table, took off his shoes, and climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed).
Lost in thought, I don't know how much time passed before finally falling into a deep sleep.
He woke up when the rooster crowed for the first time.
What came into view was a dark room and a hard, solid kang (a heated brick bed) beneath him.
He was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses.
Hearing the rooster crowing outside, he turned over, intending to continue sleeping.
Based on his experience, it should be around three in the morning.
It's still early.
When I woke up again, it was already daylight.
The sound of Jiang Mai, Jiang Ya, and Jiang Fuzheng talking could be heard from the courtyard.
Ye Li: "..."
Did people in ancient times really have to get up so early...?
He just said yesterday that he wanted to turn over a new leaf!
He quickly got dressed and got out of bed.
As he stepped out of the main room, he was about to awkwardly greet Jiang Fuzheng with a smile.
Unexpectedly, Jiang Fuzheng spoke first: "Young Master Ji, I heard from Xiaomai that you fried tofu yesterday?"
"...Um, yes, that's called tofu puffs."
Ye Li blinked and walked towards the three people standing at the kitchen door: "Xiaomai, quickly take out the tofu puffs and let Grandpa Village Chief have a taste."
Jiang Mai went into the kitchen upon hearing the sound.
Jiang Ya hid behind Jiang Fuzheng before cautiously peeking out and saying, "Brother Li, Second Brother has made breakfast."
"So capable!"
Ye Li praised him with a smile, and said to Jiang Fuzheng, "Uncle Jiang, have you eaten yet? If not, why don't you eat with us?"
"I've already eaten. I'm here to supervise you in making tofu."
Jiang Fuzheng stated his purpose frankly.
He greeted the villagers yesterday.
The villagers will definitely give him face and come to buy tofu.
But whether Ye Li can make tofu on time is another matter.
So after having breakfast, he came over.
Sure enough, that kid from Ji's family hadn't gotten up yet.
But the candied hawthorn tofu that Jiang Mai and Jiang Ya mentioned piqued his interest.
Can tofu be fried to be both chewy and soft?
Soon, Jiang Mai brought out a bowl of tofu puffs.
The tofu puffs had been sitting overnight and weren't as round and puffy as when they were freshly fried, but they were noticeably different from regular fried tofu.
Villagers also fry some tofu during the Lunar New Year to make cold tofu shreds, but the tofu they fry becomes hard and firm after being left overnight.
It's nothing like these tofu blocks in front of us.
If Jiang Fuzheng hadn't known beforehand that these were fried tofu blocks, he really wouldn't have been able to associate what he was looking at with tofu.
As for the taste, it's soft yet has a slightly chewy texture.
It has a very unique taste.
"Uncle Jiang, this isn't something you can eat plain. You can stir-fry it or stew it. It's only delicious when it's soaked up all the broth."
Ye Lidao.
Soaked up with broth?
Jiang Fuzheng couldn't help but imagine what it would taste like if stewed with meat...
After swallowing the tofu puff, he asked, "You made this on purpose, is it to sell this dish? But it probably won't sell well, will it?"
Tofu itself is not expensive.
But this tofu puff was fried in lard.
If it's sold at too high a price, the villagers feel it's not worth it.
If you sell it too cheaply, you won't make much profit.
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