Chapter 45: It will soon become popular throughout Nanxi County

May 17, 2023Ai Hrist

Shi Qingluo instructed Xiao Baili while cooking dinner.

She was not good at cooking, but she has recipes and has eaten a lot.

Braised pork, homemade tofu, pork ribs stewed radish, and scrambled eggs. This was the most hearty meal the Xiao family has eaten since the separation.

It was also the best meal Mrs. Kong and the others had ever had.

Mrs. Kon looked at Shi Qingluo with a smile in her eyes while eating.

Since her daughter-in-law got married, the smile on her son’s face has increased, and their life has become more and more prosperous, which was great!

After dinner, they took a stroll, and when it got dark, everyone went to sleep.

Because the villagers will come to make tofu starting tomorrow, so even Xiao Hanzheng didn’t continue to write the storybook.

The next day at two o’clock in the morning, there was a knock on the door outside.

Mrs. Kon opened the door after waking up, washing and tidying up, and asked the patriarch to choose the person who came to help make tofu to come in.

Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo also got dressed and left the room.

By dawn, everyone also saw Xiao Hanzheng walking out.

Xiao Qingshan, the third son of Patriarch Xiao, looked at Xiao Hanzheng and said: “Dalang, how is your body?”

Xiao Hanzheng smiled slightly at Xiao Qingshan, “It’s almost better.”

He added: “Thanks to my wife for taking care of me.”

This was the truth. Without Shi Qingluo’s antipyretics and the sugar water he took, it would be impossible for him to recover so quickly.

From the ears of other people, it means that Shi Qingluo was blessed, not only woke up Xiao Hanzheng with joy but also made his body healthy.

As expected of being the apprentices of the Old Immortal Master, they have little more confidence in the Xiao Family’s tofu sales.

Xiao Hanzheng looked at the three men and two women who came over, and said: “From today on, I will trouble everyone to help me make tofu at my house.”

“Every day, your wages are 10 copper coins, not including food. You can go home to eat breakfast, and after making the tofu to sell for the day, you can go home directly.”

He paused and added: “Your wages will be settled every 10 days.”

“Is that okay?”

The patriarch told everyone before about their wages, and they were all very satisfied.

They thought it would be settled every month, but they didn’t expect it to be settled in ten days. This was a surprise.

“It’s fine, you can work now.”

Xiao Hanzheng took them to the backyard and lit a few oil lamps that Shi Qingluo bought from the county town.

Shi Qingluo directed everyone to work, and Xiao Hanzheng also helped.

The five people selected by the patriarch were all hard-working people, and Xiao Qingshan takes the lead, so no one was lazy, and they were very active in their work.

Several people have been paying attention to the process of making tofu, and Shi Qingluo didn’t deliberately hide how to make tofu.

After all, she planned to open a larger tofu workshop in the future, and even open a chain, so there was no way to hide the production process.

However, when ordering tofu, she deliberately said: “This is the secret recipe left by my master. Only by using this thing can it be turned into tofu.”

A few people were curious about how the soy milk turned into pieces of tofu, but now they understand that they need a special recipe for tofu.

Sure enough, after Shi Qinglou put down some tofu, the tofu gradually curdled into lumps.

Several people were stunned when they saw it and lamented that the Old Immortal Master’s teaching was magical.

When the sky was almost bright, the tofu was freshly made.

People from the village who decided to buy tofu for resale also came.

Shi Qingluo brought Mrs. Kon and Xiao Baili to weigh tofu for everyone.

She also asked Xiao Baili to fry a few pots of tofu specially and wrapped them in clean leaves.

Every person who came to buy tofu was given a pack according to the quantity bought by the other party.

Shi Qingluo said: “When you go to sell tofu, you can let the customers taste the fried tofu for free first.”

“And tell the other party what I told you about how to cook tofu before so that you don’t have to worry about selling it.”

It was not that the people in the village haven’t sold things before. They were used to picking and selling what grow in their field, but they didn’t expect such a way of selling.

“Isn’t it a loss to let those people eat for free?” Someone asked in confusion.

Shi Qinglou laughed and said: “Everyone just eats a small piece, but may buy a catty or two of tofu. You will not lose money.”

“Otherwise, if you don’t let people taste it first, others won’t know how it tastes, and they won’t dare to buy it and eat it.”

“Once the reputation of tofu spreads, there is no need to give it away for free.”

Everyone found it reasonable when they heard it, “Okay, then we will try what you said.”

Not many people came to pick up tofu today, others were still waiting to see how other people sell it before making a decision.

Not all the tofu was bought by resellers.

The rest were exchanged one after another by the people in the village.

As for the family who lent money to the Xiao Family before, Shi Qingluo said that they don’t need to give any more money to get the tofu, and just use the tofu to pay off the debt.

This made these people who were already a little moved decided to try it.

For example, the eldest son of the patriarch took six catties.

The hometowns of other ethnic groups took a few catties to try.

During lunch, the three mothers and children were a little absent-minded.

Shi Qingluo guessed what they were thinking, so she said with a smile: “Mother, don’t worry, the tofu won’t be hard to sell, don’t worry.”

Hearing what she said, Mrs. Kon suddenly stopped worrying about it for some reason: “Yes, I also have confidence in our tofu.”

While talking, they heard someone knocking on their door.

Xiao Hanyi opened the door and saw Xiao Dashu, the big man who first proposed to sell tofu, standing at the door with his other two brothers.

Xiao Hanzheng stood up: “Brother Dashu, is your tofu sold out?”

Xiao Dashu had a full smile on his face, and was a little excited: “It’s sold out, and it’s not enough to sell.”

“Thanks to your wife’s idea, I let someone try it first.”

“Almost all the people who tried it bought tofu.”

“We just walked around the nearby villages, and all 30 catties of tofu were sold out.”

They were quite courageous, and each of the three brothers took ten catties to sell.

Others only bought three to six catties and tried to sell them.

However, they also earned the most. They earned 30 copper coins in one morning, which was much better than working in the county town.

Xiao Hanzheng nodded: “It’s fine as long as it’s sold out.”

Xiao Dashu said with a smile: “We want to sell more tofu tomorrow, so I would like to say inform you first.”

Xiao Hanzheng asked: “Then how many do you want?”

Xiao Dashu replied: “Sixty catties, we can go to two more villages to sell.”

At worst, it will take a little longer, but judging from today’s situation, it will be sold out.

Before he guessed that tofu would not be difficult to sell, but after all, they haven’t tried to sell it, so they don’t feel at ease.

Right now, he was completely relieved. He guessed that other people who sell tofu will increase the quantity tomorrow, so he came here in advance to make an order.

Xiao Hanzheng didn’t answer immediately but turned to look at Shi Qingluo.

After she nodded, she said to Xiao Dashu: “No problem, I will leave sixty catties for you tomorrow.”

The three brothers said happily: “Thank you very much!”

Not long after the three of them left, people successively came to their house to make reservations in advance. The tofu was very popular. Even the most stupid person who sell the tofu was sold out and returned to the village at noon.

This was expected by Shi Qingluo. After all, Xiao Baili’s cooking skills were very good. The fried tofu was delicious even if it was cold.

For those who have never eaten it, it was not expensive and delicious, so naturally they will buy it to try something new.

And as long as someone buys it, others will follow suit and buy it.

She believed that tofu will soon become popular throughout Nanxi County.