Yu Rujia: "Okay, we'll make tofu tomorrow, and Auntie will cook a variety of different kinds for you to eat."
The family's stone mill was small, so Yu Rujia put the beans in the mill while Gao Guojing ground them, and the children watched curiously from the side.
Gao Guojing kept his hands busy, asking, "Sister Rujia, how come you do so many things?"
Yu Rujia calmly said, "Everyone in the team can do these things. It's like cooking. Just remember them and practice a few more times and you'll get it."
As they were talking, Doroo's adventurous spirit was reignited. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he stretched out his little chubby finger and smacked the tofu pulp that had just flowed out of the stone mill, then put it in his mouth.
But his brows furrowed quickly. "It doesn't taste good," Dorje said.
Hearing the sound, several people looked into his mouth, and seeing the white residue, they knew without a doubt what kind of trouble this kid had gotten into this time.
Yu Rujia put down the beans in her hand, and Gao Guojing stopped the stone mill accordingly.
Yu Rujia pulled the little guy to the stone mill: "Does Duolu want to be ground in the stone mill? If you are ground, you will turn into this white tofu. Are you scared?"
Duofu, with a quick wit, deliberately asked, "Auntie, if Duolu is ground up, will it turn into tofu and be eaten?"
Upon hearing this, Duolu was immediately terrified and burst into tears, crying out, "Duolu, don't turn into tofu! Don't be eaten!"
Yu Rujia pointed at his fingers, which still had bits of tofu on them, and said, "Then do you still dare to reach out your hands recklessly?"
Duolu gripped Yu Rujia's hand tightly: "I won't move anymore, Duolu will never move again, Auntie, please don't turn me into tofu."
Yu Rujia tapped his head and said irritably, "If you move around like that again, you'll know what pain is. Go play somewhere else. If you don't want to turn into tofu, don't go near the millstone."
After warning Duolu, Yu Rujia released him.
Once the little guy was free, he immediately ran far away, afraid that if he touched the millstone, he would turn into tofu and be eaten.
Yu Rujia: "Duofu, take your younger brothers and go play somewhere further away, or go play near the hand pump."
The stone mill was also in the backyard, a few meters away from the hand pump.
The wellheads over there are sealed off, so there's no need to worry about children falling into them while playing there.
The area around the hand pump well was paved with stone slabs, and it was often used for washing, so it was kept clean. The children could play there without getting their clothes dirty.
Good boy Duofu got the task and dragged his younger brothers over there to play.
After the tofu is ground and boiled, the residue is filtered out, and a bowl of soy milk is poured out. A little white sugar is added, and the rich and fragrant soy milk immediately wins over everyone's stomach.
Originally, Duolu Warrior was extremely resistant to tofu, but after being tempted by the rich aroma of soy milk, he couldn't resist taking a bite. He immediately removed tofu from his little black book and became a loyal soy milk fan.
Yu Rujia and Gao Guojing were busy all day, using half of the soy milk to make tofu and the other half to make dried bean curd sticks.
For lunch, we had tofu pudding and steamed sweet potatoes. The kids tasted the soft, tender, and fragrant tofu pudding for the first time and wanted more than a few bowls. They didn't realize that it was just a quick meal for Rujia.
I had a casual lunch, so I ate a little earlier in the afternoon. As for Gao Shujing, I gave him some food and kept it warm in a pot.
Mapo tofu, three-delicacy tofu, pan-fried tofu, stuffed tofu, fish head tofu soup—all sorts of tofu were served, and the family ate until they were stuffed.
Gao Guojing, clutching his stomach, said, "Sister Rujia, I don't want to go back to Jiangcheng. Can I stay here?"
There are all kinds of delicious food here, and Gao Guojing said he never wants to go back to Jiangcheng where there was only one meat dish every day.
Yu Rujia: "You'll have to ask your brother. If he agrees to let you stay, I naturally have no objection."
Gao Guojing deflated. Gao Shujing seemed to be gentle, but having lived with him for over a decade, he knew that Gao Shujing was a man of his word. Even his own mother's words didn't carry any weight with him, let alone his younger brother's.
Today I made a lot of tofu. After Gao Shujing came back and had dinner, he and Gao Guojing delivered a bunch of tofu to the cowshed. Now we have less than half of the tofu at home.
Judging from their family's consumption of tofu, they definitely wouldn't have enough for the New Year, so Yu Rujia decided to make tofu again on the 29th of the lunar year.
They produce a large quantity, and since they do it at home, outsiders don't know about it. Otherwise, producing such a large quantity would have caused gossip.
On the 26th of the year, the pig for the New Year was slaughtered.
Early in the morning, a lively cheering sound came from outside, waking Yu Rujia and the little ones up. She wanted to stay in bed a little longer, but the little ones were not happy and got up to get dressed.
The temperature in the courtyard was only in the teens in the morning. Yu Rujia was worried that they would get cold, so she had no choice but to get up and tidy up for them.
Duofu: "Auntie, there are a lot of people talking outside. What are they doing?"
Their house is more than 100 meters away from the nearest house, and it is usually quiet with almost no sound coming from it.
Today, as I was excited about slaughtering the pig for the New Year, I naturally spoke loudly, so much so that they could hear me from my side.
Being able to hear their voices was one thing, but due to the distance, apart from Yu Rujia, the other children couldn't understand what they were saying.
Yu Rujia: "Today is the 26th of the lunar year. They slaughtered the pig for the New Year, and soon the pork will be distributed. They are happy."
We distributed pork once in December, and we've saved two pigs to slaughter today.
They have pork at home every day, and while they aren't particularly sensitive about eating pork, they are quite interested in slaughtering pigs.
Duolu hugged Yu Rujia's arm and shook it: "Auntie, shall we go watch the slaughter of the New Year pig?"
Duoxi's chubby little body pounced over, pressing down on Yu Rujia like a big lump: "Auntie, piggy."
Duofu and Duoshou looked at them expectantly. They had never seen what a live pig looked like before, and the little ones all wanted to see it for themselves.
Yu Rujia patted the two meat buns wrapped around her body: "You guys got up late. The pigs have all been slaughtered. You'll have to wait until next time to see the slaughtering."
The little ones looked disappointed. Duoshou asked, "Auntie, when is the next time we'll slaughter a pig?"
Yu Rujia: "This aunt doesn't know."
After getting the little darlings up, Gao Shujing and Gao Guojing had already prepared breakfast.
These days he goes to work at the Tongfeng Brigade. He is used to getting up early to exercise, so he still makes breakfast. Gao Guojing only needs to be responsible for lunch and dinner. Yu Rujia only makes breakfast two or three times at the request of the little ones.
It was a rare occasion for Yu Rujia to bring several children over for breakfast before Gao Shujing left the house.
Gao Shujing thought of the noise outside and realized something: "It won't be so noisy after the meat is divided. Rujia can go and catch up on some sleep then."
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