Chapter 52
On August 25th, before dawn, the oil lamps in every household in Shili Village gradually lit up.
The climate of the Dagan Dynasty should be slightly different from Sangluo's original time and space, but this is not important. The time and space are different, so it is normal for the climate to be a little different. In short, every village and household in Qingpu Township, Qiyang County will start harvesting rice today and tomorrow.
The old farmers who usually only eat two meals a day will definitely not be hungry today. The women get up before dawn to light the fire and cook. Not only have they changed the previous two meals a day to three meals a day, but they have to eat dry rice today. Only by eating dry rice can they have the strength to cope with the high-intensity farm work for several consecutive days.
It would be best if there was some meat at lunch. Even the poorest families, who usually only had porridge, would try to get some oily food for the men working in the fields during these days, otherwise their bodies would not be able to bear it and would collapse.
The women in Shili Village are busy, and Sang Luo is also busy. Qin Fangniang is not selling the magic tofu today, but Sang Luo still has to sell it. Not only the magic tofu, she also made two boards of tofu.
It’s not that she didn’t want to make more, but she actually didn’t have the money, so she could only consider and plan her purchases, so it was only enough to make two boards.
That’s all. I also kept three pieces for cooking at home tonight, so all I could find at the market were twenty-nine pieces of tofu.
Fortunately, we still have the magic tofu. After all, if we can sell it all, we will have a good harvest this time.
After more than ten days, Shen An was finally able to go out and do business with his sister-in-law again!
He was so happy that he got up early in the morning to prepare. Chen An carried a full basket of lotus leaves that he had picked and washed yesterday, as well as tofu and fairy tofu, which Sang Luo picked herself with gritted teeth.
Fortunately, the twenty miles of walking every day these days were not in vain, and their physical fitness had improved qualitatively. When the households in Shili Village just lit the lights and were busy making breakfast, Sang Luo and Shen An set out from home.
Chen Ning was at home. There was no other way. Sang Luo had not yet saved enough money to buy a padlock. If Chen Ning wanted to follow, someone had to stay at home to look after the house.
…
Sang Luo hadn't been to the morning market in Sanli Village for a long time. She used to set up a stall in the county and had no time to take care of the business at the Sanli Village market. On the previous two market days, Sang Luo would ask Old Mrs. Chen if she wanted to set up a stall. If the old lady was willing, she would bring her a portion of magical tofu.
But today, Old Mrs. Chen was too busy carrying a basket to sell a few pieces of tofu, and Sang Luo was also short of money, so she naturally made the trip by herself.
When she arrived at the market, her first stop was to the butcher selling meat. She greeted the butcher with a smile. The butcher looked at her a few times and actually recognized her.
"You are... my eldest girl's friend who sells the magical tofu?"
Sang Luo was happy: "It's me, uncle has a good memory, you still remember me?"
The butcher laughed: "I remember, but you look much better now. I almost didn't recognize you just now. Why, do you want to buy meat today?"
Sang Luo nodded, "I am going to buy meat. We are going to set up three tables for dinner at home today. But I am short of money right now. I am going to sell the tofu and the magic tofu I picked and come back to buy meat. But I am afraid that many people will come to buy meat today because of the rice harvest. By the time I sell these things, there will be no good meat when it is my turn. So I came here specially to say hello to you, uncle, and see if you can let me pick first and save some for me. I will come back later to pay and get the meat."
When the butcher heard what was going on, he smiled and said, "You have to keep some of it first. These days, every family in the surrounding villages will cut some meat to replenish their energy. If we wait a little longer, there will be no good meat left. OK, tell me which piece of meat you want to buy, and I'll keep some for you when you pick it out. If you don't come after noon, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep it."
It's hot, and the meat won't last long. After 9:00 p.m., there will be fewer buyers, and you'll end up wasting money.
"I see. It's enough to keep it until the appointed time. Uncle, would you like to buy some tofu and fairy tofu?"
It was still early, and there were no customers at the butcher's place. Hearing Sang Luo's question, he couldn't help but be curious: "I know about the magical tofu, but what is tofu?"
Chen An was very clever. When he heard this, he immediately helped Sang Luo to uncover the tofu basket on her left, and then lifted the tofu cloth, saying with a smile, "Look, that's it. This tofu is delicious when it's roasted."
Sang Luo looked at him and wanted to laugh.
You have only eaten tofu dregs, oh, and soy milk and tofu pudding, but have you ever eaten any kind of cooked tofu?
But the little guy was so clever that he could help her attract business, so Sang Luo continued his words, "This thing looks like the tofu of the gods, but if it is really made into a dish, it is even more delicious than the tofu of the gods. The butcher in your family can cut some pork belly and stew it with tofu, or add some lean meat and stir-fry it with tofu. Even if you don't add meat, just simply fry it with oil until both sides are golden brown, add some garlic, season it with some sauce, and sprinkle with chopped green onions. It is also extremely delicious, no worse than meat."
"Not worse than meat?" The butcher was unconvinced: "Can it be better than meat? That's impossible."
Sang Luo smiled and said, "Uncle, you will know after you have eaten it once. As long as the cook is skilled, the taste will definitely make you want to eat it again. There are many ways to eat it. You don't need me to teach you. If I have good cooking skills, I can come up with many different ways by myself."
The butcher was a little tempted by what she said. He stretched his neck to check the size of the tofu and said, "Okay, give me one piece, and two pieces of the magic tofu."
The butcher's family also farms, and they are busy with farming today. The family doesn't just eat this magical tofu as a dish, but also mix it with some sugar water as a snack, which is very refreshing. It's just right to come home from harvesting rice in this hot weather and eat a small bowl of this.
"Okay, uncle, why don't you use a bowl to hold it? It's better than using this lotus leaf."
What was there to say? The butcher turned around and called his wife into the house. Soon, the butcher's wife came out carrying two large bowls of soup.
Yes, it needs a big soup bowl. The tofu and the fairy tofu made by Sang Luo are both solid. The large bowls we usually use for meals at home can only hold one piece.
Sang Luo picked up tofu for the butcher's wife. When the butcher's wife took a look at the tofu, she found it white, tender and trembling, as beautiful as lard. No, it was even more beautiful than the pig lard they made.
She exclaimed, "This is well made. How do you eat it?"
Sang Luo had to talk to her again.
The butcher's wife listened to Sang Luo's three or five ways of cooking and thought for a while, "Let's have two pieces, and one piece of the fairy tofu, so three pieces."
Then he said to the butcher, "Buy some for my daughter to try. She's been thinking about this delicious tofu all day. I think this tofu is not bad, but I don't know how it was made by such a skilled hand."
Sang Luo just smiled and didn't respond to the butcher's wife's words. She turned the topic to the butcher's daughter and said with a smile: "Then the big girl sister will definitely be happy. Uncle and aunt really love their daughter. The big girl sister is very lucky."
The topic was changed, and the butcher couple was very happy.
She said she came to buy meat, but before she bought the meat, Tofu asked her to sell five pieces of it, which was a good start.
The butcher counted out the ten cents and gave it to her directly without telling her to buy some meat.
Sang Luo was not embarrassed. She took the money calmly and put it into her purse, covered the tofu basket, and then picked up the meat.
A large square piece of the best pork belly was cut, with one and a half pounds of lean meat, a pig ear, a pig tongue, a pig bone, and another pound of fat for making oil.
The butcher and his wife who hadn't entered yet were stunned. Three tables of food? So full?
Last year it was not uncommon for people to buy meat like this, but this year not many people are willing to buy meat like this. After all, most people can only fill their stomachs half full.
His eyes fell on the shoulder pole that Sang Luo was carrying, and he understood again: she had skills.
The butcher readily cut what Sang Luo wanted, and when everything was done, he weighed it on the scale and quoted the price as he weighed it. Finally, he said, "Eighty-seven coins in total."
Seeing that Sang Luo had no objection, he placed all the food Sang Luo wanted in a separate basin, turned around and placed it on the butcher block behind him, and cut off a piece of pork liver: "You bought a lot, so I'll give you a little extra. I'll chop the meat bones for you when you come to get them."
Sang Luo thanked him with a smile. Although her kitchen knife was sturdy, most people would not be willing to use it to chop bones. She would feel sad if the blade bent.
After the meat was ordered, she didn't leave. Instead, she put down her load and asked the butcher, "Uncle, can I set up my stall next to yours for a while?"
Today is the busy farming season, so there are few people setting up stalls. The market in Sanli Village cannot be held, and most of the people who need to go to the market to buy vegetables are buying meat, because every family has vegetarian dishes. Therefore, although it is a market day, there will not be many people at the market. Instead, the area next to the butcher's meat shop is a good place for feng shui.
The butcher also knew the situation and smiled: "Okay, just don't block my butcher counter."
“No, no.” Sang Luo smiled and set up her stall to the left of the butcher’s stall. People from nearby villages who came to Sanli Village to buy meat would first see her tofu stall.
The butcher just took a look and didn't care. They were not the same thing and it wouldn't delay his selling of meat, so he let her do it.
So, when more and more people came to the butcher shop to buy meat, they all found that next to the butcher stall was a stall carrying a pole, and the things it sold were one white and one green, which were unrecognizable.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t recognize her. Sang Luo is a talkative person. She never speaks when people are buying meat so as not to delay the butcher’s business. After people buy the meat and pay, she immediately starts talking with a smile.
"Aunt, have you ever eaten tofu? It's known as "mock meat". It's not meat, but it's just as good as meat. It's cheap, only two cents a piece. And it tastes good. If it's braised with meat, it's even better. The tofu will absorb the meat flavor. Even if it's not meat, it tastes just as good as meat."
"For two cents, you can cut it into thick pieces, fry both sides with a little lard, and fry a few thin slices of pork belly together, or add a little chopped lean meat and roast it together. It will be as fragrant as meat."
To nourish the body, braise it with meat and the tofu will absorb the meat flavor and taste as good as meat. It only costs two cents!
The woman she spoke to accurately grasped the key points of these sentences. She stopped walking and stood in front of Sang Luo's stall.
Once the person stopped, it was not difficult to make a deal. Sang Luo was very good at talking about food, and the woman was so impressed that she couldn't even move her feet.
The butcher nearby chimed in, saying with a smile, "The tofu made by this young lady is the most delicious, the green one. It tastes good whether it's mixed with salty or sweet flavors. Eating a few pieces on a hot day is really refreshing. This is something we love. They only sell it once a market day, and this is the first time I've bought the white one. But it sounds like it's not bad, and two cents isn't expensive. Sister-in-law, you can buy a piece and take it home to try. Everyone's been tired these past few days, so this is a good time to add a dish."
The woman was already moved, and with someone supporting her, her heart was instantly turned into action.
She didn't believe that it tasted as good as meat or was as nutritious as meat, but since it was being sold like that, it must be worth something. For two cents, she might as well give it a try.
I actually paid for it.
There was no need for Sang Luo to carry her load and hawk her wares everywhere. She could just put the load down next to the butcher's meat counter. Out of ten people who came to buy meat, six would be persuaded by her to buy tofu or magic tofu.
It wasn't even the 9th hour at all. Before the 7th hour, most of the things she picked had been sold. After all, every family was busy at this time, and most women had to go to the fields to help, so they came out early to buy meat.
There were only a few pieces left, and they would be sold out after one or two more customers. As luck would have it, among those who came to buy meat, there was an acquaintance.
Zhoucun’s legitimate daughter-in-law.
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