Free Web NovelChapter 96: Chapter 87: Aunt Jiang Making Tofu
At the end of October, when Xiao Man entered the Treasure Pearl Space again, she could no longer find the Spirit Lord’s hazy image. It was just as he had said: a wisp of Divine Sense could only last for a hundred days, and after that, it would dissipate and vanish. freewebnøvel.coɱ
Xiao Man couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness at his departure. ’Though I don’t know what he was really like,’ she thought, ’he certainly meant me well.’
From now on, Xiao Man was the only one in the Treasure Pearl Space. It belonged completely and utterly to her.
Xiao Man practiced the Nine Profound Body Refining Technique in the space. Spiritual Energy flowed into her body with ease, readily absorbed. After every session, the improvement in her cultivation was distinct.
The Spirit Lord had once told her that the Treasure Bead contained a Spiritual Spring. It naturally generated Spiritual Energy, creating an extremely favorable environment for Cultivation—a true Immortal Cave Mansion. However, he had warned Xiao Man not to rely solely on the space for her Cultivation. She had to remember that a Cultivator’s ultimate goal was to defy the heavens and change their fate. To do so, a Cultivator had to experience all manner of trials and endure countless hardships. They needed to face both adversity and prosperity with composure. Although Spiritual Energy was scarce on the current Earth Continent, it wasn’t entirely absent. The world was vast, and Xiao Man could absolutely find a place suitable for her Cultivation. Finding such a place would be a stroke of luck. If she couldn’t, she would have to create the right conditions herself—even build her own cultivation site. This was an essential skill for any Cultivator.
Besides, Cultivation was a path without end. The Treasure Bead was Xiao Man’s greatest asset and needed to be maintained by storing up more energy. She couldn’t afford to just live off its resources. After all, the saying ’idly consume your assets, and you’ll be left with nothing’ was no mere platitude.
’The logic was simple, and it’s not that I don’t get it. I just can’t resist indulging in the space’s superior cultivation environment a few more times. Besides, the Spirit Lord is gone now, so I can be the boss and do as I please for a while.’
Besides, finding a place with relatively abundant Spiritual Energy would require her to travel, and she didn’t have that freedom at the moment. She had school during the day, and when she got home, Grandma kept a close eye on her and wouldn’t let her go out. Fortunately, their courtyard was in a decent spot. With few people living nearby, wisps of Spiritual Energy could flow through unhindered. For the past few nights, Grandpa had been away guarding the soybeans at the grain station. So, after Grandma fell asleep, Xiao Man would sneak out to the sunning-ground and meditate for an hour under the cover of darkness, managing to absorb a good amount of Spiritual Energy.
The heavens were kind; it only started to rain again after the soybeans and sesame seeds were safely stored in the warehouse. A steady rain fell for several days. As the saying goes, "each autumn rain brings a new chill." Although winter arrived late in the South, the weather was gradually turning colder. People began to put on their autumn clothes, sweaters, and lined jackets. Those who didn’t have any simply wore all their single-layered garments in layers. At school, Xiao Man saw her classmates competing to see who was wearing the most clothes. Some were wearing as many as four or five layers, having put on nearly everything they owned.
’This is how they dress now, and it’s how they’d dress in the dead of winter if they didn’t have a padded cotton coat. That’s how it was for me in my past life. Growing up, Liu Fengying never once made me a padded coat, let alone knit me a sweater. The only sweater and coat I ever got were things I bought myself with money I earned from a side job after the economic reforms in the eighties—and even then, Liu Fengying only bought me the cheapest junk from a street stall!’
As the weather grew colder, the work for the production team dwindled. With not much else to do, everyone, men and women alike, hunkered down at home. The women busied themselves with household chores, digging out all the needlework for the year. They mended old clothes or, if they could afford it, made new ones. The young women and new wives would gather in groups to knit sweaters or stitch soles for new shoes. In short, there was always something to keep them busy.
The men of the Gu family weren’t idle either, repairing farm tools and fixing things around the house like floorboards, stairs, and the foundations of the courtyard walls. The more restless men, on the other hand, would secretly gather to play cards and gamble. Since they had no money, they bet with grain! Of course, they could only make small wagers—a handful at a time. Everyone knew each other’s financial situation, so no one dared to bet too much.
With Grandpa back at home, Grandma was more at ease and allowed Xiao Man to leave the courtyard in the mornings and evenings to visit the neighbors behind them. There were four households in the back: the Qiu Family, the Jiang Family, the Yu Family, and the Zhao Family. Perhaps because they had moved in just a few years ago, none of them had built surrounding walls for their courtyards. The houses were arranged in rows of two, each on its own plot of land. They were all three-room houses with a sunning-ground out front. They had also dug up the land to the sides and back to plant vegetables, sweet potatoes, and taro, with fruit trees planted a bit farther out. One could easily imagine that in a few years, all the land they had planted on would be enclosed by them, becoming their own private yards.
’I remember that in a few years, a few more families will move into this area,’ Xiao Man thought, ’but none of their plots will be as large as those of the first settlers. The original residents really were quite forward-thinking.’
On Sunday morning, Secretary Mo came to call Grandpa away. After seeing him off, Xiao Man closed the courtyard gate. She remembered Jiang Xuehua mentioning yesterday that her mom would be making tofu today, so she just pushed the gate to and ran toward the neighbors’ houses in the back.
’It wasn’t that I’d never seen tofu being made in my past life, but that was always in the city. For some reason, I was curious to see how it was done in a rural village.’
Her sandals felt cold and stiff as she walked on the gravel road. Sandals...
Xiao Man looked down at her outfit: a red corduroy jacket, dark green corduroy pants, and on her feet... a pair of clear plastic sandals. ’What a ridiculous combination,’ she thought. ’I can’t even...’
’I used to have two pairs of tattered cloth shoes, hand-me-downs from Liu Fengying’s younger sister. I didn’t bring them with me. Not that I’d want them now even if she offered.’
The day before yesterday, Grandma had told Grandpa to take Xiao Man to the commune’s supply and marketing co-op, or the one by the factory and mine, to buy a pair of shoes for the cold weather. But Secretary Mo had come for Grandpa first thing this morning to ask for help with something. It looked like buying shoes would have to wait.
’Winter is coming. I need to buy shoes and socks. Grandpa and Grandma don’t have lined jackets; it must be so uncomfortable for them to wear three or four thin layers at once. And neither Grandpa nor I have a padded winter coat. Grandpa and Grandma’s layered-sole cloth shoes are old and don’t offer much warmth... Sigh. There are so many things we need money for. Money, money... I have to find a way to earn some, and fast!’
By the time Xiao Man got to Jiang Xuehua’s house, she was already too late and had missed several steps of the process. Jiang Xuehua’s mother, Aunt Jiang, had already set the tofu and was just picking up a chopstick to test it.
Aunt Jiang raised her hand and plunged the chopstick down. The bamboo chopstick stood perfectly upright in the wooden basin of milky-white tofu custard, trembling slightly. This meant she had used just the right amount of gypsum, and it had coagulated perfectly. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Several children cheered and ran over with bowls and spoons, begging for some tofu custard. When Aunt Jiang saw Xiao Man, she quickly told Jiang Xuehua, "Get a bowl for your big sister to have some, too. And later, you can take half a bowl back for your Grandma to try."
Xiao Man didn’t refuse. She said her thanks, took the bowl, and scooped up a small amount for herself. There was no sugar, so Jiang Xuehua got some salt for her younger siblings to mix in. All the children, big and small, ate with great relish.
The next step was to ladle the tofu custard into a mold lined with a white cloth. Xiao Man washed her hands and went to help. Once Aunt Jiang had finished ladling, Xiao Man folded the four corners of the cloth over, placed the lid on top, and Aunt Jiang brought over several clean, green stones to press it down. The stones weighed over ten pounds. As they pressed down, a pale yellow, watery whey began to trickle out from under the wooden mold like rain. Aunt Jiang caught the liquid in an enamel basin, explaining that it could be mixed into the slop to feed the pigs!
The stones had to press down on the mold for an hour before they could be removed. Only then would the tofu be ready.
