The Chief Minister's Ferocious Wife

162 Try Tofu Skin

For the flavorful beer-braised duck, even ginger slices were good to go with rice.

After having the first bite, Zhao Chuchu and Xie Jun locked their eyes on the beer-braised duck while having a war over it.

Xie Heng saw this and scolded Xie Jun, “Junjun, you can’t be so rude. How can you eat it all? Did you forget what I told you?”

Xie Jun mumbled, “Duck meat cooked like this tastes so good, brother. I can eat three bowls of rice.”

“Da Lang, I’ll go buy a duck tomorrow and you can make beer-braised duck again, okay?” Zhao Chuchu said as she raised her head from the rice bowl and looked at Xie Heng. “How can one meal be enough?”

“Okay, we’ll make another one tomorrow,” Xie Heng said with a smile.

In fact, Xie Heng was happy to see that both of them liked it.

But Xie Heng was the only one left to eat the plain duck.

He didn’t fight with them.

After having the meal, Zhao Chuchu and Xie Jun slumped against their chairs while rubbing their stretched bellies, not even wanting to move because they were so full.

They finished the beer-braised duck nice and clean.

Xie Heng then cleaned up the dishes, letting Zhao Chuchu and Xie Jun go out for a walk to digest.

Zhao Chuchu went back to the room, took out an electronic scale, stood on it, and was surprised to find that she was 4 kilograms heavier than when she first came here.

It was all because of Xie Heng!

Zhao Chuchu felt the flesh around her waist and was pleased to find that there was no fat.

After all, the original owner of the body was too thin before.

“If you gained another 4 kilograms, you can’t indulge yourself in eating and drinking. Being too fat is bad for your health!” she told herself.

When Zhao Chuchu came out of the room, Xie Jun was still lying there.

Zhao Chuchu laughed at him as she said, “Junjun, if you keep doing this, you will become fat in the future. Girls don’t like fat men.”

“Chuchu, I’m only 10 years old,” Xie Jun retorted with a red face. “I don’t want any girls to like me!”

“Well, hold that thought. Wait until you meet a girl of your choice!” Zhao Chuchu poked Xie Jun’s face, which had grown some flesh. It felt good to the touch. She knew that she could start cleansing Xie Jun’s body after some time.

“Da Lang, I’ll go to the village chief’s house,” said Zhao Chuchu after rushing to Xie Heng’s room. She then set her feet towards outside and went out.

“Well, come back early.” Xie Heng’s voice came out.

When Zhao Chuchu arrived at Niu Tongsheng’s house, they were eating. Seeing Zhao Chuchu, Niu Tongsheng immediately greeted her, “Chuchu, come over and eat with us.”

“Sorry, chief, I have already eaten. We ate the duck you gave us. The duck you reared is delicious.” Zhao Chuchu smiled and said, “You guys take your time. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Then, come here and catch one more when you want to eat ducks again,” Madam Kong said generously. “There are six more at home.”

“We’ll talk about it then. You eat first, madam.” Zhao Chuchu went out and waited outside the courtyard by herself.

Seeing this, Niu Tongsheng quickly finished the rice in his bowl and hurried out. “Chuchu, what do you want from me?”

“Last time, I told you that if Uncle Guitang did well in their tofu business, I would teach you to make another kind of bean product. Now that the tofu business is up and running, I’m going to let you guys try making tofu skin.”

Niu Tongsheng stared at her incredulously and sounded a bit excited. “Chuchu, is what you said true?”

“Of course, it’s true, but I plan to set up a workshop in the village so that you all have a stable job,” said Zhao Chuchu. “I taught Uncle Guitang to make tofu because I broke Uncle Guitang’s leg and I felt sorry for him. I’m compensating them.”

“We understand this, but if we’re setting up a workshop, how many people do you plan to hire?” Niu Tongsheng asked. “I’ll be honest with you, Chuchu. If you can’t make sure each family is involved, I’m afraid that there will be people resenting you. After all, some people don’t know how to be grateful.”

“I understand, but this workshop is not so easy to operate. We’ll go for a trial first today.”

“Okay, let’s go then.”

Niu Tongsheng hurriedly followed Zhao Chuchu to Zhao Guitang’s house.

Madam Kong in the house also heard the conversation between the two. She said to her son and daughter-in-law, “It’s good that your father made the right decision, otherwise, I’m afraid that we won’t be so lucky.”

Niu An and Niu Le were convinced.

Their wives were even happier to see such a good thing.

Everyone would want a better life for themselves.

Zhao Guitang, who made tofu every day, naturally had ready-made thick soy milk.

Tofu skin was made by heating and boiling thick soymilk. After a certain period of time, a film on the surface was formed. Then, it is picked out and dried in the sun. Later, tofu skin was produced.

Tofu skin could be fried, cold-served, used to make soup, hot pot, and so on. There were many ways to eat tofu skin. Before the end of the world, tofu skin was a very popular ingredient.

Zhao Chuchu believed that the Wei Dynasty was no exception.

Tofu skin was relatively easy to make compared to tofu, but drying tofu skin was more troublesome. Still, the good thing was that recently, there were sunny days. It would take shape faster in the sun.

In fact, fresh bean skin was also edible. In short, there were many ways to process soybeans for consumption, which could be developed to the extreme in later times.

Zhao Chuchu also took advantage of the Wei Dynasty’s low productivity and technology to come up with all sorts of things that seemed new to them.

Zhao Chuchu explained Niu Tongsheng about her plan, “If the workshop can be built by then, we can also use bean residue to raise pigs. Even if we don’t sell them, our people can share some pork and the pig manure can also be used as fertilizer! That way we can make the best use of the things we have.

“I’ve thought about it. Making soy milk is a tiring job. I plan to build a water mill by the river so that we can skip the most tiring step…”

Niu Tongsheng listened and just nodded his head repeatedly.

After all, he didn’t know anything, so he could only listen to Zhao Chuchu.

“Chuchu, how come you’re so clever as to come up with so many ideas?”

“Well, this is because I’m standing on the shoulders of those who came before me. I read it from books and I thought it was interesting. So, I tried to figure it out. I never thought it would work. Chief, I think it’s important for people to learn to read and write because many valuable treasures are recorded by words. I am grateful to Da Lang for teaching me to read and write.”

“That’s true. If our workshop can be a success, I have to send my grandson to the school to study.”

Niu Tongsheng was convinced.

...

“If Zhao Chuchu could not read and write, would Lengshui Village be as good as it is now?” he thought.

“Knowledge is power,” Zhao Chuchu said earnestly.

After Zhao Chuchu explained what they were going to do, she took a plate of bean skin back with him.

Fresh bean skin had a special flavor too.

But the next day, Zhao Chuchu went into the city to continue acupuncture for Old Mrs. Gan. Niu An sent tofu into the city and visited Zhao Chuchu.

Zhao Chuchu gave Madam Luo a small bundle of tofu skin for the Gan clan to try before she went to Visitor’s Aroma with Niu An.

Zhao Chuchu opened the door. “Manager Lin, last time I told you that besides tofu, I have another kind of bean product. Now that I made it, do you want to try it?”

“Yo, Manager Lin, how come everyone can send ingredients now? Aren’t you afraid of poisoning the customers?” Manager Lin did not say anything, but a short man beside him started to talk in a sarcastic manner.