Chapter 26 Regarding the fried stinky tofu, Su Zhihan was still unaware of what was happening...
Meanwhile, Su Zhihan was unaware that the bag of tangerines she was carrying was filled with tangerines so sour they were practically tooth-rotting bombs.
After returning home, she went to look at the object that was wrapped in layers of cloth next to the clay stove.
Just as Su Zhihan raised her hand to open it, she paused, her expression becoming cautious.
Immediately afterwards, she opened the windows of the house to let the north wind into the room.
Then, she put on the mask she had made from scraps of cloth and cotton the previous two days.
After making thorough preparations, Su Zhihan finally peeled back the layers of firewood and rags, revealing the pottery jar wrapped inside.
Finally, she twisted the lid off the can with force.
In an instant, an indescribable stench surged up, and even though Su Zhihan was fully armed, she was so shocked that her vision went black, and she subconsciously put the lid back on.
"..."
A howling north wind rushed into the room, sweeping away the heat and odor. Soon, an unknown voice complained from afar, "Where's that smell coming from? It's so awful!"
"Is that smell coming from the Jiang family's house again?"
"It's been three days already! What's going on?"
The servants' quarters were filled with complaints. The idle maids stood in the courtyard, pinching their noses, and kept talking about the Jiang family's house from afar.
Since the evening before last, there has been a strange smell in the servants' quarters that I can't quite describe.
By yesterday, the sour, rotten smell had become even stronger. At first, some people thought that birds or stray dogs had frozen to death in a corner, and they searched the house inside and out but couldn't find them. Later, they followed the smell and found that it was coming from the Jiang family's courtyard.
Some people suspected that the smell from outside might have come from the house, which was located next to an outer wall. However, a quick search outside revealed nothing unusual.
Some people suspected that the Jiang family mother and daughter were lazy and that the house was dirty and messy, but others quickly refuted this, saying that Jiang Zhenniang was very clean and that she had been staying in the maid's room in the Third Sister's courtyard for the past few days and had not gone home.
Finally, the servants, after much speculation, concluded that it was either Wang Pozi taking revenge or that she had poured the filth on the house.
Granny Wang dragged her weary legs slowly toward the servants' quarters. The work in the laundry room was far more strenuous than that in Third Sister's courtyard, leaving her exhausted after years of not doing hard labor. Every day when she returned to her room, all she wanted to do was lie down and sleep; she didn't even have the mood to play with her grandson as she used to.
Granny Wang quit after only a few days. But her own daughter-in-law was still hoping to work in the household, so no matter how hard or tiring it was, Granny Wang had no choice but to grit her teeth and keep going.
Granny Wang lowered her head and slowly stepped into the servants' quarters. She was already used to the stares from those around her, at most noticing that the gossip was unusually loud and frequent today.
It wasn't until Granny Wang took a few more steps and got closer to her house that she finally realized something was wrong. She first sniffed the air, then pinched her nose in alarm: "Where's that smell coming from? It's so awful!"
Hearing the sound, Su Zhihan, who was hiding in the house, squatted down guiltily and stared at the pottery jar in front of her with a bitter look.
She only mentioned it to Aunt Cao and the others last time, but didn't actually intend to make it, and that was the reason. Although the taste of stinky tofu was tolerable, the smell of the brine was truly nauseating.
Su Zhihan even advised Jiang Zhenniang not to go home, but to squeeze into the maid's room in the Third Sister's courtyard for the next few days.
Despite the unpleasant smell, she could only continue working with a blank expression.
Su Zhihan lifted the lid of the pot with one hand and picked up the strainer with the other, decisively and quickly scooping out the various fermented ingredients inside, and neatly throwing them into the trash can, preparing to completely destroy them later.
Then, she set aside the milky white, seemingly harmless liquid after filtering out the ingredients, and then put the pre-prepared firm tofu, cut into cubes, into it to soak.
In fact, this pot of brine should be fermented for five to ten days to achieve the best flavor. However, Su Zhihan had only agreed to a short time with Madam Xu, and making this dish in the servants' quarters was not something people would like to do, so she had no choice but to modify the recipe.
Use a suitable temperature to speed up the fermentation process, and soak the tofu for a longer time to allow its color to change slightly, making it look like it's half-rotten but not quite.
When the time came, Su Zhihan scooped out all the tofu. She placed the tofu on a coarse cloth, wrapped it with several layers of cloth, and then carefully moved it into a bamboo basket, preparing to take it to the main kitchen in a little while.
As for the pot of brine, Su Zhihan looked at it again and again, then silently put the lid back on and covered it with coarse cloth and dry grass.
Since we've already done it, it would be a waste not to use it. The most important thing is that we spent a lot of our own money to make this braising liquid.
Su Zhihan opened the window and lit the clay stove. While getting rid of the smell, she also looked through the food that Grandma Chen had given her—there were quite a lot of hawthorns. What should she do?
Pecans? They look to be of pretty good quality.
Su Zhihan casually peeled a tangerine, stuffed it into her mouth, and felt a tingling sensation in the back of her head from the sourness.
She spat out the orange segments expressionlessly, then peeled another one, only to discover with a heavy heart that what she had eaten at Xiao Hong's house was not an accident after all.
How can you eat such a sour orange?!
Wait a minute? Su Zhihan thought for a moment; she had just given several to Granny Xu.
Su Zhihan piled the oranges aside, planning to decide what to do with them later.
Next, she moved a bag of hawthorns to the front, rinsed them with clean water, and then used a knife to remove all the pits.
At first, her movements were a little clumsy, but as she removed the kernels more often, Su Zhihan's movements became more and more agile and swift.
Before long, a pile of pitted hawthorns appeared in front of her. Su Zhihan washed them again, checked the time, and planned to come back and work on them after her shift ended in the evening.
Just then, the smell in the house had almost dissipated. Su Zhihan picked up the bamboo basket containing the stinky tofu, discreetly went out, and stealthily passed through the servants' courtyard before entering the Marquis's residence.
She finally breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the outside of the main kitchen. Su Zhihan straightened her back and stepped inside. As soon as her feet touched the ground, several pairs of eyes turned to her.
Or rather, everyone in the kitchen was looking at her. Among them, Wu's mother's gaze was particularly intense. For the past three days, she had been worried that Su Zhihan might spend money to curry favor with Madam Xu in an attempt to escape this inevitable defeat.
Today, she finally felt relieved. Faced with the prospect of Su Zhihan being kicked out of the main kitchen, Wu's mother even felt like joking: "Han'er is here? I thought you weren't coming today."
"Why don't you come over?" Su Zhihan asked curiously. She placed the bamboo basket in her hand on the table, lifted the coarse cloth covering it layer by layer, and carefully took out the tofu.
"Why?" Looking at Su Zhihan's unhurried movements and calm demeanor, Madam Wu couldn't help but feel suspicious. Could it be that Sister Han really had that unique bad tofu, or had she already begged Madam Xu for forgiveness? Otherwise, how could she be so confident?
She looked at Su Zhihan suspiciously, and soon her gaze fell on the tofu that Su Zhihan had taken out.
The unpleasant odor made Wu's mother frown and instinctively take a half-step back.
That tofu is completely spoiled!
Looking at the unusually sticky tofu that emitted a strange smell, Mrs. Wu was speechless and dismissed her first absurd guess, leaving only another possibility.
Just then, Wu's mother caught a glimpse of Madam Xu walking in from outside. She steeled herself and quickly voiced her suspicions: "You're probably planning to fry up some rotten tofu in front of us, make us sick, and then play the victim to gain Madam Xu's sympathy, aren't you?"
Madam Xu happened to hear these words, and following the strange smell, her gaze also fell on the tofu in Su Zhihan's hand.
Just as Wu's mother thought, she was also shocked by the appearance of the tofu. Judging from its appearance, it had been sitting for at least three to five days. How could it be edible?
Soy milk and tofu are extremely perishable; they are prone to spoilage even if consumed the next day, let alone on days like these.
Madam Xu originally thought that Su Zhihan would apologize in private, but she didn't expect that Su Zhihan would be so stubborn and actually bring out such a bad thing, and even look like she really wanted to eat it.
What does she consider her own body to be? Or is she, as Wu's mother said, planning to put on a melodramatic show?
Madam Xu's face was very unpleasant, and even the kitchen maids and old women who were usually close to her did not dare to speak at this moment, and followed behind her with their breath in their hands.
Not to mention the other maids and servants, who all hid in the corners, secretly watching this side.
Madam Xu suppressed her anger and said in a deep voice, "Han'er, is this the rotten tofu you said you could make and eat?"
"yes."
“Very good.” Madam Xu stared at her intently and said slowly, “Then I also have something unpleasant to say beforehand.”
"After you finish cooking, try it yourself first. If you get diarrhea or become seriously ill, I won't let you off the hook and make you stay in the main kitchen any longer."
"On the contrary, they will report your behavior to the head housekeeper, and from now on, the head housekeeper will handle where you go."
"If that's what you're thinking, you'd better get rid of it sooner rather than later, and take your tofu and leave immediately."
Madam Xu made a harsh statement, but seeing that Su Zhihan didn't react much, she didn't bother to remind her anymore and just gestured for her to start doing it quickly.
Su Zhihan responded and chose the stove to start a fire. Cao Daya, who had been hiding behind Cao Mama, felt uneasy seeing this scene. She forced herself to break free from Cao Mama's hand and stepped forward: "Sister Han, let me help you start the fire."
Su Zhihan smiled and said, "Okay."
Heat oil in a pan, and once the oil is hot, she carefully places the tofu slices into it, keeping them close to the edge of the pan.
The moment the hot oil meets the tofu, a sizzling sound rises and falls in the pan, and golden oil bubbles surround the tofu as it bursts into the air.
At the same time, the strange smell that was originally hard to describe gradually changed, turning into a wonderful fragrance that was hard to describe.
Cao Daya, who was closest to the oil pan, swallowed hard, her eyes wide open as she stared at the pan. She moved closer and closer, but Su Zhihan finally grabbed her clothes, bringing Cao Daya back to her senses and making her obediently take a few steps back.
"...This taste is really weird."
"It smelled awful just now, but now it actually smells kind of nice... *gulp*"
Even those who weren't cooks knew a thing or two about cooking. They were drawn in by the increasingly overpowering, strangely pungent yet fragrant aroma, their eyes completely captivated by the bubbling oil in the wok.
"It really is..."
"How can it taste like this?"
"It can't really... taste good, can it?"
"And what about Aunt Wu's work..."
Whispering chatter filled Wu's mother's ears. She stood frozen, staring intently at the oil pan, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her.
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