After the New Year, the good things on the mountain came out one after another. Yu Wan had discovered several types of wild vegetables. However, they had only sprouted sprouts now and could only be dug out in a few days. Yu Wan secretly remembered the location of the wild vegetables.
In terms of taste, these wild vegetables might not be comparable to the vegetables in the field, but didn’t they lose their land now? Besides, the wild vegetables were rich in nutritional value and were good for the body.
The spring bamboo shoots were still small, so Yu Wan came to the stream. The earthquake also affected the terrain of the forest, but it was not big.
Yu Wan caught three fish in the stream. Two of them were too thin and small, so she let them go. She only carried the fat carp back to the courtyard.
On the way, she was still thinking about how to cook this fish later. Just as she reached the door of the backyard, she turned around and knocked on the back door next door.
Uncle Wan opened the door.
Uncle Wan’s expression did not look too good. The peony flower that he had raised for an entire winter had been harmed by someone. He did not need to guess to know that it was done by the three little brats.
“Uncle Wan.” Yu Wan greeted him politely.
“Miss Yu.” Uncle Wan restrained his displeasure. He liked Yu Wan from the bottom of his heart. Not only was her culinary skills good, her temperament was good, and her medical skills were good, she was also considerate and hardworking, especially when she could tolerate his crazy young master and the three little brats. Such a girl was really rare in the world!
Yu Wan was too embarrassed to say that it was for the three little lads, so she said, “I caught a fish. You guys can use it to make soup.”
She took out the spring bamboo shoots from her basket. “The bamboo shoots aren’t big, but they’re very fresh. It would be very nourishing if you used these for the fish stew.”
“How can I accept this?” Uncle Wan refused.
Yu Wan said, “It’s not worth much. There’s still a lot on the mountain.”
“Then I’ll accept it.” Uncle Wan smiled and accepted it. “Miss Yu, why don’t you come in and sit for a while?”
Yu Wan shook her head. “No, I’m going to work.”
This was not a polite greeting. It was because the soybeans were almost done soaking and it was indeed time to start work.
Uncle Wan also knew that the Yu family was busy with business, so he didn’t try to persuade her to stay. He thanked her and after Yu Wan left, he carried the fat carp to the kitchen.
As soon as he turned around, he was shocked by Yan Jiuchao who had appeared behind him at some point!
“Young Master! Why aren’t you lying in the room? Why did you come out?”
Even with his walking stick, Yan Jiuchao could still exude the aura of a ruler. He glanced at Uncle Wan indifferently. “She’s secretly asking about me again?”
“Uh…” She didn’t mention you at all…
Yan Jiuchao snorted sarcastically. “She’s already taken advantage of me for a night. What else does she want?”
Uncle Wan was speechless.
Wasn’t it just because she saw that you were a cripple and held your little hand? Wasn’t she just kindly helping you during the walk to the west side of the village from east? You make it sound like Miss Yu ate you clean…
Was it really good to be so shameless?
… .
Yu Wan still didn’t know that she had given him an unprecedented imagination when she just wanted to give little munchkins some wild game. At this moment, she was at the old residence, helping to boil the fire and make soy milk.
There were a total of three stone mills in the village. At this moment, they were all used. A steady stream of soy juice flowed out from under the millstone.
Shuanzi, Yu Feng, Hunter, and a few other strong men took turns to push and grind, while Aunt Zhang, Aunt Bai, and the others helped put the beans and receive the soy milk.
Cui Hua and the wifes did not stay idle either. Under Yu Wan’s instructions, they scooped out the soy milk from the pot and poured it into the jar that they had prepared beforehand.
Making tofu was definitely not an easy task. Otherwise, why would it be counted as one of the three hardships in the world other than punting a boat and forging iron.
To make tofu from a bag of fresh soybeans, one had to soak it for a few hours until it was two to three times bigger.
Then it would be grounded after soaking it the water. The soy milk that was ground would be placed into the pot and boiled with a large fire. Up to this point, it was still simple physical work. But the next step requires a lot of knowledge, and that was making it into a pulp.
If it was done well, it would be tofu pudding; if not, it would be yellow gravy.
The craftsmanship of the making it into a pulp determined the quality of the tofu, while the materials of the making the pulp determined the output of the tofu.
Generally speaking, the production of lactone tofu was the highest. One pound of soybean could produce four pounds of tofu, followed by gypsum and brine, about two and a half pounds to three to four pounds.
Unfortunately, there was no lactone in ancient times, and gypsum was not common among the people. Brine was the choice of most tofu makers. Yu Wan originally planned to use salt to make the brine. After tasting her uncle’s new sour pulp tofu, she decisively changed to using sour pulp.
The sour pulp was the juice that was extracted from the tofu the day before. It became sour pulp after it was acidified. The output of the tofu that was extracted from the sour pulp was half a pound less than that of the brine. However, its taste was more mellow and hard than the brine tofu. The fragrance of the bean was also more primitive and rustic. Correspondingly, the requirements for the pulp process were also more stringent.
“You have to do this…” Under the shed in the backyard, Yu Feng was patiently teaching Shuanzi how to make the pulp.
Many hands make light work. The tofu that the Yu family took three days to complete was made by the villagers overnight. After that, they waited for it to ferment before making stinky tofu and fermented beancurd.
“Ah Wan.” After work, Yu Feng called out to Yu Wan.
Yu Wan placed the last piece of tofu into the jar. “What’s wrong, Big Brother?”
“There’s something I want to tell you.”
“Is it about the order volume?”
“You noticed it too?”
“Yes.” Yu Wan nodded. “Our family can’t handle the orders we accept, and it’s not enough for the entire village.”
To put it bluntly, they could not support so much labor. Otherwise, they would be operating at a loss. A day or two was fine, but they would collapse sooner or later if they suffered for too long.
Yu Wan thought for a while and said, “We have to expand the market a little. We’ll will go to town to take a look tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Yu Feng was originally worried that Yu Wan would reduce the labor force. When he heard that she wanted to expand the market, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief. “I’ll send you back.”
The two of them left the old residence.
Yu Wan suddenly thought of something and said, “How’s Second Brother? I haven’t seen him all day.”
Yu Feng frowned. “I don’t know why he’s throwing a tantrum. He’s even eating in his room.”
“Oh right.” It was Yu Feng’s turn to ask her. “I heard that a new family moved in next door. It’s a scholar.”
On the day that Apricot Flower Village was in trouble, the Yu family had accompanied her aunt back to her maiden home. It was only today that they heard the villagers mention it by chance. Otherwise, Yu Feng wouldn’t have known that a powerful teacher had come to their village.
Yu Wan thought to herself, What teacher? He’s just a bored second-generation heir.
… .
The next morning, Yu Wan and Yu Feng carried two jars of fermented tofu and beancurd to town.
The market outside the town had yet to open, but the market in the town had already started operating. Just as Yu Feng had said, due to the interference of the Xu family’s trading company, the prices were stabilized very well.
The siblings wandered around the market and observed the customer flow. They felt that it could not satisfy their current needs.
“It would be good if we could sell salt,” Yu Feng said.
Salt was a huge profit. They knew how to make salt and could turn the bitter salt into high-grade snowflake salt. In that case, it was enough for them to earn a lot even if they did not sell a lot.
Yu Wan smiled. “Not everyone is as tight-lipped as Miss Bai.”
This was the truth. In the Great Zhou, selling illicit salt was against the law. Once word got out, their entire family would go to jail.
Yu Feng sighed. “I was just saying.”
“Miss Yu!”
When the two of them heard a familiar voice, they turned around in unison and saw Shopkeeper Cui jump down from a carriage that had stopped abruptly.
Shopkeeper Cui said in surprise, “It’s really you! I thought I was mistaken! Little Brother Yu Feng is here too!”
“Shopkeeper Cui.” The two of them greeted him.
“Where are you guys going? I’ll give you a ride,” Shopkeeper Cui said.
Yu Wan smiled and shook her head. “No, we’re just here to take a walk and see if there’s any place we can sell the stinky tofu.”
Shopkeeper Cui said, “Are you worried that your stinky tofu won’t sell? Master Xiao Wu said that your family can’t meet the demand!”
Yu Wan said, “Our business has indeed increased.”
“How much… is it?” Shopkeeper Cui asked.
Yu Wan gestured.
Shopkeeper Cui was speechless.
He originally wanted to say that they should supply the White Jade Restaurant. The White Jade Restaurant’s business had been very good recently, but he was speechless when he saw the Yu Family’s output. A small town’s restaurant didn’t need so much.
“Got it!” He slapped his thigh. “You guys can go to the Tianxiang Restaurant!”
The Tianxiang Restaurant was the largest restaurant in the Capital. There were a total of seven branches. Other than the restaurant’s businesses, they also had their own trading companies in various parts of the Great Zhou.
If they could supply Tianxiang Restaurant, they would not have to worry about not earning anything.
“But it’s…”
“But what?” Yu Wan asked.
Shopkeeper Cui made up his mind and said, “The restaurant is very picky about ingredients. Although I’m confident in your culinary skills, but… you’ve heard of Madam Du, right? Her culinary skills are peerless in the world. Then do you know that she’s actually a disciple of Tianxiang Restaurant?”
Madam Du was famous. What kind of place was the Master Chef Hall that allowed her to become a master?
Yu Wan nodded. From the corner of her eye, she saw Yu Feng deep in thought. “Big Brother, what’s wrong?”
Yu Feng said with a complicated expression, “My father used to work at Tianxiang Restaurant.”
