Chapter 45
45
"Don't make too many. If you make too many, you won't be able to sell them and they will rot in your hands." An uncle couldn't help but mock him. He felt that children are unreliable and yet they have extraordinary self-confidence.
"My husband has spent a lot of time researching it, so how can it not be delicious? You haven't tried it, so don't belittle it." Cheng Yeran pretended to be angry and said, as if it was really made by his husband.
"You've boasted so much, don't let it turn out badly and make people laugh and suppress you. We won't believe it unless you give it to us now to taste."
"Yes, let us try it. If you don't let us try it, how can we tell whether it tastes good or not?" The onlookers also started to make a fuss.
Cheng Yeran
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"I can hear all the thoughts in your mind. If you don't have it, then you don't have it. If you want to eat it, wait until it's ready."
Shen Yuntang came out of the house, holding a bowl with small pieces of dried tofu in his hand. "There are still some here. Let's give them to everyone to try. This way, uncles and aunts can buy them with peace of mind."
Cheng Yeran stood in front of Shen Yuntang like an old hen guarding her food.
"That won't do. I saved that bowl for dinner. If you give it to them, what will I eat for dinner?" Cheng Yeran's excellent acting skills fooled everyone. If he and Shen Yuntang hadn't agreed to act together, Shen Yuntang would have been fooled by him.
"I'll make it for you next time. The uncles and aunts came here just for our dried tofu. We can't let them go back like this." Shen Yuntang stopped Cheng Yeran behind him, "There are only a few left. They are one penny each. Everyone try them first and buy more if they taste good."
"Xiaotang is really generous," an aunt said to Cheng Yeran, "You should learn more from your husband."
"That's what I'm saving for dinner. Please save some for me." Cheng Yeran was still acting hard behind Shen Yuntang, with tears even in his eyes.
The more he said this, the more everyone rushed for the food. Everyone grabbed a small piece and stuffed it into their mouths. Aunt Li, who was standing in the back row, almost got angry when she saw this. Yesterday, she asked Cheng Yeran to try it, but Cheng Yeran was not happy about it. But today he was so generous that he took out a bowl for everyone to eat. She was so angry that she wanted to squeeze forward and grab a handful, but there were too many people in the front and she couldn't get through after squeezing for a long time.
Everyone originally squeezed in with the idea of getting a bargain. No matter whether it tastes good or not, if you can eat something that costs only one penny for free, you're making a profit.
Before they ate it, they thought it was probably just the taste of dried tofu, which might smell good but not necessarily taste good. But after putting it in their mouths and chewing it, their thoughts changed completely!
This thing smells delicious the first time you put it in your mouth, and it becomes more delicious the more you chew it. It is not too salty either. People who have eaten the dried tofu bought in town before can immediately tell which one tastes better.
The tofu in town is saltier and has a looser texture, while this one is more solid, chewy and has a richer taste. Even if you eat it alone without rice or water, it won’t taste salty.
After everyone finished the first piece, they wanted to eat a second piece, but when they looked down into the bowl, they found that it was empty.
They turned their gaze to the paper bag in Cheng Yeran's hand with lingering interest.
To be honest, they thought it was too expensive to cost one penny for such a small piece, but after tasting it, they felt it was a great deal.
Those who arrived later didn’t get to eat and could only stare at the expressions of the people in the front row, swallowing their saliva with envy when they saw how much they were enjoying the meal.
The uncle who had just disliked Shen Yuntang for being too young to make the right tofu was now speechless. He turned his head away in shame, savoring the taste that had yet to dissipate in his mouth. If this tasted paired with a glass of wine, it would be simply heavenly.
Those who had tasted the dried tofu were eager to tell Cheng Yeran that they wanted to order some. Cheng Yeran counted and there were more than a dozen people. He was afraid he couldn't remember them all, so he took out a pen and paper and carefully wrote down their names and the quantities they wanted to order.
Those who hadn't tasted it curled their lips, "Is it really that delicious? Do you have the money to cook it if you ordered so much? If you really have the money, go buy it in town. Aren't the ones in town better than theirs?"
"It's really better than the ones in town. Believe it or not. If you don't believe it, don't buy it, or you'll have to compete with us for the quota."
"You'll know once you try it. I still have the fragrance in my mouth. It's so delicious!"
When Cheng Yeran was writing his name, a child squeezed over to watch Cheng Yeran write, "Every word you wrote has a stroke missing. It's different from what I learned from my teacher. It's wrong."
Cheng Yeran: “…” This is simplified Chinese, not a typo, kids, don’t talk nonsense!
Cheng Yeran had no words to express his pain and could only smile awkwardly.
An uncle next to him interpreted his smile as him forgetting how to write because it had been so long. He sighed with regret, "Back then you were our village's child prodigy. The village teacher said you would have a bright future, but in the end... Alas..."
"I plan to pick up the book again and continue reading," said Cheng Yeran.
"You? Forget it. Others start learning since they were little. You're already so old. You might as well give up on this idea."
"You've almost forgotten how to write. Don't waste the money. Education costs a lot. Your family has finally gotten better. Don't ruin it again."
"Are you jealous because Xia Xiaowu is going to study in the county? After all, Xia Xiaowu is your husband's ex-fiancé..."
They got excited when they talked about this matter, and they kept talking about how great Xia Xiaowu was, and how he would definitely become an official in the future. They said that Shen Yunfeng was destined to be an official's wife, and they told Cheng Yeran not to be jealous. Some people even asked him if it was Shen Yuntang who instigated him to study for the imperial examinations. Seeing that his cousin was about to become a phoenix, he felt jealous and wanted to be an official's wife, without even considering whether he was worthy of it.
Cheng Yeran slammed the pen on the table and said, "Are you still going to buy it? If anyone says anything bad about my husband again, I will stop doing business with you."
The yard suddenly became quiet. Everyone remembered that this man was a lunatic and no one should mess with him. Everyone who messed with him last time was dead. It was better to be careful.
After seeing everyone off, they carried their things and went to the village chief's house first. In previous incidents, the village chief had always stood on their side, so it would be unreasonable not to give them some benefits.
They gave the village chief a large piece of dried tofu and dozens of small pieces.
He bought three large pieces of dried tofu and a large box of small ones. Shen Yuntang ate less than one-third of them yesterday, and divided the remaining half into two portions, one for the village chief and the other for Shen Yuntang's father.
Before they arrived at the Shen family, Shen Yuntang's parents had already heard from the villagers that their youngest brother had developed dried tofu and would bring it back for them to eat. They praised their brother-in-law for being filial and always thinking of their father-in-law first when they had any good things.
Father Shen was very surprised to hear this. His brother could cook, but how could he make dried tofu? It must be that others were exaggerating. Even if he could make dried tofu, it would only taste like ordinary home-cooked food and could not be compared with the ones sold there.
They didn't expect anything, and just when noon was approaching, two people came over and fried the dried tofu they brought, and used the small pieces as snacks.
Father Shen said he wanted to have a few drinks with him alone, and the two of them went to eat at the small dining table in the yard, while the others ate at the dining table in the house.
Cheng Yeran felt as if the two of them were not allowed to eat at the table and were kicked out, but the yard was quite cool, not as hot and stuffy as the house. He wanted to call Shen Yuntang out to join them, but Shen's father said he wanted to eat with him alone, so he had to go out by himself.
He had also drunk with Shen's father last time. He thought he was filming a variety show that time, so he was not so nervous. Now Shen Yuntang has really become his wife, and the person sitting opposite him is not an actor, but his father-in-law, which makes him very stressed.
Father Shen wanted to tell him not to be too impetuous on weekdays and not to always quarrel with the villagers and cause unnecessary trouble.
Before he said these words, he took a bite of the dried tofu and was stunned. The aroma and taste were completely different from what he had bought before. He heard that it cost one cent per piece. Before eating it, he was thinking, these two kids are really bold to ask for a high price. After eating it, he felt that charging one cent for this was a good deed.
"Are you two short of money recently?" Father Shen asked them, "Otherwise, why did you suddenly think of making tofu?"
"There are too many places to spend money at home. We plan to save some money to buy a donkey cart. We can drive it to the town to sell dried tofu in the future. We can use the money to dig a well in the yard and repair the house. Our house is leaking. How can we endure the winter? He always says that I am so pampered..." Cheng Yeran muttered to himself for a long time. He couldn't help but want to share his daily life with Shen Yuntang, but when he remembered that he was facing Shen Yuntang's biological father, he quickly shut up.
When Mr. Shen first heard him talk about his future plans, he was very satisfied. His brother-in-law was not the kind of person who would just eat and wait for death. He had detailed plans for the future and was a good man. Until he heard the last sentence, he was stunned.
At first, he thought Cheng Yeran was talking about his brother being so delicate, and that he had to fix the house to prevent Shen Yuntang from getting cold. But when he listened carefully, he realized that what he was talking about was Shen Yuntang saying that he was delicate. It turned out that Cheng Yeran didn't feel sorry for his brother, but for himself...
But anyway, the house was renovated.
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, Shen Yuntang wouldn’t suffer from the cold in winter, so he felt better.
"How much money do you need to buy the donkey cart?" Shen's father asked him.
"Still short..." Cheng Yeran thought to himself that it was not short at all. The money in his cabinet was enough to buy all the donkeys in the village, but in the current situation he could only pretend to be poor.
Seeing him hesitating, it seemed that he still needed a lot of money. Father Shen took out a small cloth bag and put it on the table and pushed it over. "Here is some money, enough for you to buy a donkey. I'm not giving it to you, but lending it to you. Pay it back to me when you make money."
Cheng Yeran remembered that Shen Yuntang said that their family was not rich, and there were many people in the family, so they lived a tight life.
Cheng Yeran quickly pushed the money back and said, "We can save enough money by going to the market a few times. Let's keep it for our family."
"We don't have much use for the money at home, so it's just sitting there anyway." Father Shen was quite optimistic about their dried tofu business. If they went to the town to sell it frequently, they could make a lot of money. Their family would become wealthy, and Shen Yuntang's life would be better in the future.
"I heard that Fourth Brother is going to perform corvée labor this time. It would be better to use the money on him instead of letting him go." Cheng Yeran heard that corvée labor was very tiring. Some people became seriously ill after returning. Some even could not return and died outside.
"Don't worry about them, just think of it as going out for exercise." Father Shen had no intention of spending money on the children.
"I paid for this money, and you can consider this money as a loan from me, paid on behalf of Fourth Brother. When we make money in the future, the other brothers won't have to do labor service." Cheng Yeran felt that Shen Yuntang had a very good relationship with his family. If anything happened to his family, he would definitely be very sad.
Their family has money now, but they just don't have a legitimate reason to take out the money. Since they have the conditions, they might as well help Shen Yuntang's family. He also doesn't want to see Shen Yuntang sad.
He told Shen's father what he was thinking. When Shen's father heard that he did it for Shen Yuntang, he was very touched. He found such a good son-in-law, and his son would never have to worry about having a good life.
On the other hand, although Xia Xiaowu was not Shen Yunfeng's biological son, he was Shen Yunfeng's uncle and had always raised him as his own child. After getting married, Xia Xiaowu not only never visited them once, but also often asked Xia's mother to come and take advantage of him and ask him to help with some carpentry work for free.
He didn't think the Xia family was so bad before, but after getting along with them for a while, he found that the Xia family members were not only take advantage of others, but also troublesome and mean. If he had known this earlier, he would definitely not let his brother marry Xia Xiaowu.
On the contrary, Cheng Yeran was a lazy man who could not be helped before he got married. There was no one in the whole village who was willing to marry him. But after they got married, everyone found out that this guy was really a good person.
Cheng Yeran took out another piece of paper from his arms, "Dad, we actually want you to make a box for us this time. The size is written on it. I'll ask Shen Yuntang to pay for it later. All my family's money is with him."
"Why would a box cost so much? Just consider it as a return gift for the dried tofu you sent me today." Father Shen generously waived it for him.
Father Shen was happy today. He dragged him to drink all afternoon and invited them to dinner in the evening.
Shen Yuntang hadn't been back for a long time and missed home very much, so he chatted with his mother for the whole afternoon.
When Cheng Yeran returned home in the evening, he was drunk, even more than last time. Last time he wanted to sleep after returning home, but today he was extremely excited, especially when he opened the door and saw more express deliveries on the ground, he became even more excited and sat on the ground to open the express deliveries.
He bought toiletries and snacks for Shen Yuntang, and the last item of parcel he opened was a pair of underwear.
He pulled out a pair of underwear and shook it, "This is super comfortable to wear, go try it on and see if it fits."
"What is this?" Shen Yuntang was dizzy and couldn't see what he was holding.
"It's just underwear. I usually wear them. Haven't you seen them?" Cheng Yeran said as he took off his clothes. He pointed at his black boxer briefs and grinned at Shen Yuntang. "That's it. The weather is getting hotter and hotter. From now on, we should just wear underwear to sleep at night instead of clothes. It will be cooler!"
His thing looked quite impressive, and his underwear completely highlighted it. In addition, his two long legs, abdominal muscles, and waistline were all displayed in front of Shen Yuntang.
Shen Yuntang's face exploded instantly, "You, you, you, it's not even completely dark yet! Pay attention and put on your clothes!"
"What are you afraid of? There are only two of us at home. Come on, change your pants too," Cheng Yeran pulled him into the house. He was still very strong after drinking so much that he didn't give Shen Yuntang a chance to break free. "I'm not lying to you. These pants are really comfortable. They are a hundred times more comfortable than the pants you usually wear."
"I, I don't want to!" Shen Yuntang didn't want to wear such indecent pants.
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