Zhou Huilan then placed a plate of wild peaches on the table. "I found these in the mountains yesterday. They're a bit small, but very sweet. You should try them."
Li Xiuju pushed the package back apologetically, "Huilan, we originally came to buy tofu. This is fruit and tofu pudding. You're treating us like guests. There's no need for this."
"If you don't eat, we Chenyu will!" Zhou Huilan said with a hint of anger, forcefully putting down the basket. "Besides, we're all from the same village, all with the same surname, and our ancestors were all brothers and sisters. Why are you being so formal?"
Li Xiuju blushed as she accepted the fruit and thanked him repeatedly.
Zhou Chenyu was singled out by Grandma Zhou, and even though she didn't like peaches, she still carried one in her hand and took a few bites.
Zhou Huilan chatted with them for a while, and when she saw that her son was tired from pushing the graphite, she rubbed her hands and got up: "You all wait here, I'll switch with the children."
Seeing that the two grown men were pushing it so hard, Zhou Chenyu was really curious about how heavy the graphite was. She looked at Li Xiuju and said, "Grandma, why don't I go and try it?"
Pushing graphite is a task traditionally done by men; women have never been interested in it.
Seeing the child's curious expression, Li Xiuju let her be. Zhou Chenyu smiled and walked to Zhou Huilan's side. Suddenly having an extra hand, Zhou Huilan liked this girl even more. "Chenyu, this graphite is a bit heavy, we need to be careful."
"It's alright, I have plenty of strength, come on!" Zhou Chenyu placed his hand on the round log that Shi Mo had extended. Zhou Huilan called out, "Let's go!" Zhou Chenyu felt that he had used all his strength, and with the old lady's help, he slowly pushed it around.
She never imagined that a piece of graphite smaller than a round table would be so difficult to push, as heavy as pushing a refrigerator.
Having spoken harshly too early, Zhou Chenyu couldn't bring herself to leave the stage. She gritted her teeth and pushed the cart with Zhou Huilan for over ten laps. Once Zhou Huilan's two sons had rested enough, they quickly came up to replace them.
Zhou Chenyu had finally waited for that moment. After getting out of the graphite, both of his arms were trembling.
Li Xiuju couldn't help but smile and asked, "Will you still go to push the graphite in the future?"
"I'm not going, I'd rather die than go." Zhou Chenyu stretched out his hands uncontrollably, shook his head with a mournful face, and his honest appearance made everyone present burst into laughter.
Zhou Huilan's two sons put the remaining soybeans into the stone mill and ground them. The soybeans, along with the well water, were ground into soybean juice and flowed into the bucket along the shallow groove along the edge of the round stone.
A cloth bag was suspended in the air, and the ground soybean juice was poured into it. After squeezing it several times, the soybean residue was sieved into the bag, and the pure soybean juice was left behind.
Pour all the purified soybean juice into a large pot, boil it over high heat until it foams, and add brine little by little. Gradually, the soybean juice in the pot will coagulate into a ball. Press it with a winnowing basket to separate the layers. The translucent juice floats on top. Scoop it out with a spoon. The remaining coagulated part is the tender white tofu.
Making tofu is not easy for them, so Li Xiuju felt embarrassed to stay and taste the tofu pudding. Taking advantage of the approaching heavy rain, she took the tofu she had bought and went out.
When Zhou Chenyu and she were halfway there, the rain intensified, and the water that had seeped into their straw hats flowed down their necks and into their clothes.
Seeing the torrential rain, Li Xiuju disregarded her own safety and hurried home. "The rain is so heavy, I wonder how Baoyu is doing? Hurry back and prepare hot water for him."
They ran and walked back to their doorstep, and from afar they saw Baoyu squatting under the eaves to avoid the rain, with rainwater streaming down his forehead.
Zhou Chenyu looked at the three strands of hair on his forehead, coupled with his furrowed brow, and couldn't help but laugh.
Li Xiuju hurried over, pulling out her keys, and said helplessly, "You're soaked to the bone, don't you know where to hide?"
Baoyu shook his numb legs. "I wanted to climb over the wall, but before I even reached the top, the rain started pouring down. Mother, Sister, where are you? Why aren't you home in this heavy rain!"
Zhou Chenyu shook the tofu and wolfberry leaves in the basket and coaxed, "We know you work hard outside, so we're preparing food to cook dinner for you."
"Prepare food for me? I don't believe it." Baoyu pouted and took off his wet clothes to go into the house, but Li Xiuju quickly stopped him. "Hey, stop. You're so wet. If you go in, you'll get wet too. Stay here, and I'll go get you some clean clothes to change into."
Baoyu leaned against the wall miserably, "I went out to repair the road for our family, and not only did you not offer me a cup of tea, but you also complained about me. What kind of life am I living?"
Zhou Chenyu found him increasingly amusing. "What are you complaining about? I'm just boiling water to make you ginger soup, aren't I?"
Li Xiuju came out with the clothes and pushed his shoulder: "That's right, how can a grown man be so petty? Go and change your clothes."
Baoyu snorted in grievance and reluctantly took his clothes to the bathhouse to change.
The rain kept falling, and the sky above the eaves was covered by dark clouds. It was not yet evening, but oil lamps had already been lit inside the house.
Zhou Chenyu sat on a low stool picking goji berry leaves, while Li Xiuju chopped the minced meat, hollowed out the middle of the white tofu, and stuffed spoonful after spoonful of minced meat into it.
The mother and daughter were chatting idly when they were suddenly interrupted by a series of urgent knocks on the door. Hongmei, carrying a pair of shoes, walked barefoot into the yard, her white feet covered in mud. "Auntie, is that duck with the cut on its webbed feet yours?"
Li Xiuju put down her spoon and hurriedly walked out of the kitchen. "Yes, but our ducks haven't been let out today. Could they have run away on their own?"
Hongmei said, "The rice seedlings outside have just been hit by rain. If the ducks eat them, it will definitely cause a lot of trouble. Let's go and take a look."
"I'll go out and take a look." Li Xiuju hurriedly took off her apron.
"It's dark and the road is slippery, how can your legs take it?" Zhou Chenyu clapped his hands and stood up. "I'll go."
Zhou Chenyu followed Hongmei to the pond, where the ducks they raised were indeed playing and frolicking. They stretched their beaks and necks into the pond to peck at fish, only their plump bottoms showing, oblivious to the world around them.
"You stinking ducks, you made me come out looking for you so late. I'll definitely kill you one of these days!"
"That's great! Let's kill it!" Hongmei smiled and stood guard at the pond's outlet. Zhou Chenyu carried a bamboo pole to the other side. The fat duck was swimming in the middle, out of reach of the bamboo pole. She stepped into the shallow part of the pond and hit it with the pole.
Startled, the fat duck flapped its wings and flew ashore from the water, finding its way home on its own. "Sinking Fish, alright, let's go back!"
Hearing Hongmei's call, Zhou Chenyu threw down her bamboo pole and grabbed two small bamboo stalks by the pond to climb up. However, the tender bamboo was too brittle and could not support her weight at all.
She screamed in terror and fell into the pond with her back to it.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com