Chapter 60 (Stinky Tofu)

February

The turmoil of the marriage proposal passed quickly, and after Yan Qiushu clearly refused, no one she disliked appeared in front of her anymore.

She continued to eat and drink with the child. Princess Chang came to see Zhou Zhaoqin every three days, and would also bring Zhou Zhaoheng with her so that the children could play together for a while.

Sometimes I would stay for lunch.

However, most of the time she is very busy and has no time to eat lunch, but this attitude is shown, which is enough for the outside world to see something.

It's just that no one has much energy to pay attention.

Because from the first day of February to the eighth day of February are the days of the imperial examination, which is held every three years. The imperial examination is the last hurdle to determine whether students can become government officials, so it is extremely important.

There have been traffic restrictions in Kyoto these days, and noisy noises are allowed.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, everything is over. We only need to wait for the results of the examination. Then the new school year begins. This year, Dongdong and his classmates will be promoted to the yellow class. However, we have to go on February 12th, so there are still a few days to play.

Just at this time, Shui Xuan came over and said, "Girl, we made the tofu stink before!"

Yan Qiushu, who was bored, was shocked when she heard this: "Is it really smelly?"

"It stinks!" Shui Yu frowned.

Yan Qiushu walked towards the small storage room and asked, "Do you smell something sour?"

Shui Yu thought about it and shook her head: "No."

Yan Qiushu felt relieved. When she arrived at the storage room, she smelled a bad odor. As soon as she smelled it, Yan Qiushu silently took a step back. She hadn't smelled it for a long time and she felt a little uncomfortable.

After taking several breaths of fresh air, she dived in, quickly extracted the tofu inside, and then quickly ran to the yard to breathe in as little stench as possible.

Taking into account other people's acceptance and complexity, Yan Qiushu did not make the stinky tofu black, and the color still looks similar to ordinary tofu.

It's just that it's already ugly!

After such a long time of marinating, the tofu is ready. The next step is simple. Yan Qiushu first stir-fries the sauce. Heat the oil over high heat, add a lot of minced garlic when the oil is hot, and after the aroma comes out, add the pepper, chili oil, salt, sugar and other condiments that have been prepared.

After the sauce is fried, pour it into a bowl. After washing the pot, add enough oil again. When the oil is hot, put the stinky tofu in one by one. As soon as they are put in, the tofu starts to sizzle. They sink to the bottom as soon as they enter the oil pot, and after frying for a while, they start to expand and then float up.

The stench had already disappeared a lot during the frying process, and as time went by, the pure stench turned into a smell that was both stinky and fragrant. Yan Qiushu said without even turning her head, "Shui Xuan, smell it again. Doesn't it smell better?"

After waiting for a while, she found that no one replied. She was stunned and turned around. She didn't know when she was the only one left in the kitchen!

In the past, whenever she cooked, Aunt Xu and Shui Yan would be at the stove, one helping her at the same time. Now, they were all gone, desperately trying to breathe the fresh air outside.

She took a furtive glance and could still see the two men whispering to each other, gesticulating with their hands, and with exaggerated expressions on their faces, expressing their fear of the stench.

Yan Qiushu was embarrassed.

Stinky tofu can’t be more unacceptable than pig offal, right?!

Main Courtyard

The four children were here playing with Mrs. Xiao. They were too annoying, so Yan Qiushu chased them out.

They had nowhere to go. The only place they could go that would not bother them and where they were willing to stay was with Madam Xiao in the main courtyard.

Although Mrs. Xiao was serious in her daily life, she was soft-hearted and very tolerant of her children. Therefore, even if the four of them made noises, she could remain calm.

At this time Dongdong pulled Wan'er and Zhou Zhaoqin to play hopscotch together. Xiao Pingsong, the older child, acted as the referee to ensure that the game could go on and there would be no quarrels due to cutting corners in the game.

Just like now, Dongdong pointed at the place where Wan'er just jumped and said loudly: "You just stepped on the line!"

Wan'er shook her head in disbelief: "No! I danced very steadily."

"He really stepped on the line. If you don't believe me, ask him!" Dong Dong pointed at Zhou Zhaoqin and said, "Did he step on the line?"

Zhou Zhaoqin nodded obediently, and Wan'er turned her eyes to Xiao Pingsong with doubt, letting him make the final judgment.

Xiao Pingsong nodded in the affirmative.

Wan'er gave up with regret, picked up the stone and walked aside to wait for the next person to come up. The voice of a child is clear and loud, but it will easily become shrill when he or she is a little older.

Dongdong alone is a loud speaker, and his voice has become louder with Wan'er recently. Now there is also Zhou Zhaoqin. Although he looks much calmer, he is not a truly quiet person by nature, and sometimes he will lose his composure when he goes crazy.

The combination of these voices, plus Xiao Pingsong's occasional loud voice to maintain order, was a disaster.

Even Mrs. Xiao couldn't stand the noise. She looked at the children and muttered to Madam Huang, "No wonder Ah Shu wanted to kick them out. They are getting more and more noisy!"

Huang Ma smiled and said, "Isn't it? But Wan'er is getting more and more cheerful, all thanks to Dongdong. It's better to make a fuss than to keep silent. Otherwise, you won't know what to say when you are bullied."

Mrs. Xiao still remembered her second daughter-in-law and nodded, "Yes, you can't learn from the second daughter-in-law. I don't know how her mother taught her. She didn't say anything when she was bullied."

This was not something that Nanny Huang could interrupt. She smiled and was about to change the subject when she suddenly smelled a foul odor and frowned.

Soon, the others also smelled it. Among the four children playing, Wan'er was the first to stop. She had a very sensitive nose and noticed something was wrong. She sniffed and asked, "Do you smell a strange smell?"

Dongdong was about to shake his head when he suddenly said, "I smell it! It stinks..."

Zhou Zhaoqin frowned as well, and wanted to find a place without that smell in disgust, but he found that it was everywhere, so his brows knitted even tighter.

Xiao Pingsong said: "It seems to be... Aunt Yan's place?"

He hesitated and couldn't believe it.

But Dong Dong said: "Go and have a look!"

He ran over first, Xiao Pingsong followed behind, Wan'er hesitated for a moment and then followed, Zhou Zhaoqin was a step slower, but still caught up, and Li Ma had no choice but to follow quickly.

Mrs. Xiao looked at the group of children running away and said in a daze, "Let's go and see what they are doing."

This stinks!

Could it be that the servant who was pouring the night incense spilled something? ? ?

This was one of the few reasons Mrs. Xiao could think of. However, when she followed the child to Yan Qiushu's yard and looked at the fried tofu with a stinky smell being eaten with relish by the lively girl, she fell silent.

It’s actually this thing?

"Sister Shu, this is too stinky, isn't it?!" Dongdong pinched his nose, unable to believe that someone who was always good at cooking not only made something so smelly, but also tasted so delicious.

The remaining three children nodded with lingering fear.

Yan Qiushu felt a little embarrassed being stared at by so many eyes. She hadn't eaten much yet, just after she had eaten the second piece, they came. The fried tofu had bulging sides, and the stinky tofu had a hole in the middle, and the sauce she had prepared was poured into it spoonful by spoonful, making the stinky tofu crispy on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside.

She hasn't finished the second bite yet. The stinky tofu, which is slightly smaller than the palm of her hand, was fried so crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. It was drizzled with the sauce she made, which had a strong garlic and spicy flavor. Although it didn't smell that good, it tasted really good!

As a result, when this group of people came and looked at her like that, Yan Qiushu felt a little embarrassed. She quickly gobbled the remaining half into her mouth, and when she took another bite, the juice almost overflowed.

She quickly turned around, covered her mouth, and tried to eat it.

Dong Dong ran over and asked with sympathy, "Sister Shu, are you sick?"

Yan Qiushu: “…”

She chewed hard and finally swallowed it. Then she said, "No! It's really delicious!"

However, when she turned around, she saw four children and several adults were all in disbelief, and they all said to her silently: Stop joking!

Yan Qiushu felt a bit suffocated in her heart. At least the pig offal smelled bad at first, but after being processed, the saline aroma overwhelmed everything and was attractive enough. But now, even though her sauce was delicious, it... smelled bad.

These two words seemed to block its path to ascension, making her feel anxious as if she had come across something delicious but couldn't recommend it to others.

Yan Qiushu held her forehead with her hand, picked up a piece of stinky tofu, and looked at Dongdong with a smile: "Come and try it, I promise you will like it!"

The only kid who has the same strong taste as her is Dongdong, and he is the one she is sure will like stinky tofu.

But this time... Dongdong shook his head in resistance: "Sister Shu, we have other food, can we not eat this?"

Yan Qiushu raised a finger: "A cake roll!"

Dongdong was a little tempted and looked tentatively at the stinky tofu on the chopsticks. It was still dripping juice and smelled stinky, but it was spicy and spicy, and fragrant. It didn't seem that bad, right?

But he didn't show it immediately. Instead, his eyes rolled around and moved to another place.

Yan Qiushu had no choice but to add: "Two cake rolls, do you want to eat them or not? If not, I'll let Pingsong eat them."

"I'll eat!" Dongdong nodded quickly, opened his mouth resignedly, closed his eyes, and pinched his nose with his chubby hands.

Yan Qiushu was both angry and amused, and stuffed the tofu into his mouth: "Eat it."

Dongdong nodded, loosened his hand that was pinching his nose, closed his mouth, and the salty, spicy, and garlicky soup spread between his lips and teeth. Before he could take a bite, his eyes opened in surprise: "Hmm!"

It seems to be really delicious!

"Crunch, crunch..." The crispy shell is bitten open, and the sauce is more abundant. At this time, you can also taste the inside of the tofu. Although it has expanded a lot due to frying, it is still tender inside. The whole piece of stinky tofu tastes so delicious!

As Dongdong was eating, his expression became strange.

It feels like a surprise and also like a distress.

Wan'er was getting anxious, pinching her nose and asking, "Is it delicious?"

Mrs. Xiao also looked at it curiously.

Dongdong swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded vigorously: "Delicious!!! Very delicious!!!"

"real?"

"No?"

“…Then I’ll try it too?”

Yan Qiushu quickly went to get the chopsticks: "Aunt, Pingsong, come and taste it, Second Prince, this is for you, it's really delicious."

Nanny Li took two steps forward, hesitating whether to stop it, but she saw Yan Qiushu, who had always disliked her, took the initiative to hand her a pair of chopsticks, but she stepped back instead. This person had bad intentions!

She can't be fooled!

As for testing poison, Yan Qiushu and Dongdong have both eaten it, so they must have eaten something poisonous.

If she doesn't have to worry about it, there's no need to take risks.

She returned to her seat. Yan Qiushu was very regretful and turned to stare at Madam Xiao and the others: "Try it? It's really delicious. Look at Dongdong, he's already eating the second piece."

As she spoke, she continued to eat. After such a delay, the stinky tofu was no longer so hot and she could eat it in one bite.

Mrs. Xiao saw that they were eating so happily. As a person with strong taste, although she didn't like smelly things, the smelly and mixed taste was exactly what she liked, so she took a deep breath and picked up a piece.

After eating this, she was stunned.

She sniffed it again and confirmed that it was smelly, but when she tasted the flavor, she found it novel and delicious!

It’s really delicious!

It even lacks the excessive stimulation of spicy strips, which make her sweat.

There's nothing wrong with it except that it smells a bit.

It’s fried, but not greasy at all, the taste is not bland, and the sauce fully satisfies the taste. After the tofu expands, there is a lot of space in the tofu, which can hold more sauce, and naturally it is more... likable!

Seeing Mrs. Xiao picking up the second piece, Yan Qiushu smiled with satisfaction.

Conquer the second one!

She looked at Xiao Pingsong again. The young man was also eating very contentedly. Wan'er ate delicately with her brows furrowed, but she ate one bite after another without hesitation. Zhou Zhaoqin ate much more politely, but also took big bites with bright eyes, revealing his satisfaction with the food!

Everyone enjoyed the meal very much, and the happy result was that they finished the whole pot fried by Yan Qiushu!

Madam Xiao wiped her mouth and said, "Please, Ah Shu, fry some more for me. I'll give them to the boss and the others to try."

Yan Qiushu understood and went into the kitchen happily. She didn't even put in the oil, so she just fried it. It couldn't be simpler and it was done in a cup of tea. She took it out and was about to hand it to Madam Huang when there was a burst of firecrackers outside, followed by the butler shouting, "Madam! Good news! Victory has been reported. The general has captured three enemy cities in a row!!!"

Mrs. Xiao was shocked and ran out immediately. She happily grabbed the housekeeper who had not yet entered the yard and asked, "Did you win?"

The butler was also excited, saying repeatedly: "We won, we won! The victory report just came, and the messenger went to see His Majesty. Now the whole city is cheering. The general won and should be back soon!"