Chapter 113 Tofu Selling for Money
An hour later, Mr. Fan finally said that we could take a short rest.
Qianhuan really didn't want to learn these things that she already knew, so she quickly stood up and said, "Sir, didn't you ask me to make sugar-roasted chestnuts for the old lady? I have brought the sand for roasting chestnuts. I wonder if you have the raw chestnuts ready?"
Mr. Fan then remembered that he had to make sugar-roasted chestnuts for his mother, so he asked Uncle Chang to get a pound of raw chestnuts from the cellar. Qianhuan asked Uncle Chang to help cut the raw chestnuts, and then she started to get busy in the kitchen.
Qianhuan felt that working in the kitchen was easier than learning the words she already knew. After all, pretending to be good was a very tiring thing.
Quarter of an hour later, the fragrant sugar-fried chestnuts were ready. Uncle Chang took the fried chestnuts to the inner courtyard and gave them to the old lady.
When Mr. Fan saw that she had finished frying the chestnuts, he quickly asked her to come and attend the class. Qianhuan felt miserable.
But thinking that today was her first day of learning from the master, she had to insist on finishing the class even if she couldn't sit still. If she ran away now, she would be too sorry for Mr. Fan's serious teaching.
Finally, it was noon, and Mr. Fan said, "Today's class ends here. From now on, you will come to study at 4:00 pm (8:00 am) every day, study for two hours, and go home at noon. After you go back, copy all the characters you learned today twenty times and bring them to me tomorrow."
"Yes, sir, I'm leaving now." Qianhuan breathed a sigh of relief. She was finally able to leave.
The two of them packed up their pens, ink, paper and inkstone, took the books given by Mr. Fan and left.
Qianhuan bought six buns, and she and Wenjie ate three each to fill their stomachs. Then she took Wenjie to Zuixianju.
When she saw Shopkeeper Zhou, Qianhuan asked, "Shopkeeper Zhou, I wonder if Young Master Chu has tasted the crystal tofu I sent over?"
"Young Master Liang, you came just in time. Our young master and his cousin are having lunch in the store right now. After tasting the crystal tofu, they both praised it highly. I immediately went to tell our young master that you, Young Master Liang, are here.
"Okay, then I'll have to trouble Shopkeeper Zhou."
After a while, Chu Yichen hurried downstairs. Seeing Qianhuan, whom he hadn't seen for many days, he said with some surprise: "Brother Liang, I finally see you again. How are you doing recently?"
Qianhuan was a little puzzled when she saw that he greeted her like an old friend. She thought to herself: When did I become so familiar with Young Master Chu?
But she still replied politely: "Go back to the young master's house, Liang is doing well. I wonder if the young master Chu is satisfied with the crystal tofu I sent over?"
"Very satisfied. The crystal tofu you made tastes smooth and not greasy, much better than white tofu. And it can be stored for a long time. Just send me as much as you have. We have more than 40 branches in Lingzhou Prefecture, and I plan to have all branches introduce this new dish."
"Okay, I'll bring the tofu to you tomorrow morning. By the way, Young Master, did Manager Zhou tell you that I sell my crystal tofu for half a tael of silver per pound? Is this price acceptable to you?"
"Well, I can accept the price." Although Chu Yichen had a different feeling towards Qianhuan, he still knew clearly about matters concerning the interests of the restaurant.
One pound of crystal tofu can be fried into two bowls, and one pound costs half a tael of silver, which means the cost price of one bowl of crystal tofu is 250 wen, which is not cheap.
But things are precious because they are rare. He has been to many places, but this crystal tofu is the first time he has eaten it. This thing is probably only available here in the whole Dayuan Kingdom. This new dish that can't be found anywhere else can be sold for at least two taels of silver per plate in their Zuixianju, so he can fully accept the cost price of 250 coins.
"Okay, then, Mr. Chu, I'll take my leave first." Qianhuan clasped her fists and said goodbye.
"Wait, Brother Liang, have you eaten? Why don't you come with me to the private room to eat before going back." Chu Yichen said enthusiastically.
"No, Young Master, my brother and I have already eaten. We have something else to do, so we'll leave first."
With that, the two of them left. Chu Yichen looked at his back with some reluctance to leave. He didn't know what was wrong with him. Why did he feel inexplicably happy when he saw Liang Xiaodi?
Qianhuan went to the carriage shop, paid the boss some money, and asked Ji Feng to pick her up at her doorstep in a carriage early the next morning.
She planned to make more tofu as soon as she got back, and then transport it to Zuixianju by horse-drawn carriage, so as to avoid being seen by the villagers and asked questions while riding in an ox cart. She didn't want outsiders to know that bitter chestnuts could be used to make tofu.
After Wenjie got home, he began to follow Mr. Fan's instructions and carefully copied each new character he had learned twenty times.
He was just beginning to learn how to write, so he wrote slowly, but his attitude was excellent. Mrs. Chen was pleased to see her son working so hard.
Qianhuan, after returning home, also started writing with a bitter face. She just wanted to quickly complete the task assigned by Mr. Fan so that she could make tofu. Therefore, she wrote very quickly and finished what Mr. Fan assigned in a short while.
She said to Liu, "Mother, I will take the crystal tofu to Zuixianju to sell for money tomorrow morning. Let's quickly take the bitter chestnuts we peeled at home to the town mill to grind them into pulp. We can boil a few more pots tonight. When it solidifies tomorrow morning, I can take all the tofu to Zuixianju to sell for money."
"Okay, Mom, go push the cart over here."
So the two of them pushed the cart to the town. When they came back, it was dark. They cooked dinner first. After eating, Qianhuan lit the oil lamp and started to cook bitter chestnut tofu in a big pot.
After everything was cooked, several large basins in the house were filled with tofu. Together with the remaining 70 kilograms, she could sell at least 300 kilograms of crystal tofu to Zuixianju tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Ji Feng drove a horse-drawn carriage to Qianhuan's door. Each wooden basin was filled with a large basin of crystal tofu and covered with a wooden lid. Qianhuan couldn't move them, so she asked Ji Feng to help her put them on the carriage.
When they arrived at her aunt's house, Qianhuan gave Chen a few pieces of tofu that she had prepared and told her how to make crystal tofu.
Qianhuan also told Chen: "Aunt, this is the crystal tofu I made myself. I brought these pieces here especially for you and brother Wenjie to eat. I plan to sell the others to the restaurant for money. No one in the village knows about this tofu. You can just fry it at home and eat it. Don't tell anyone else in the village."
Qianhuan didn't want other villagers to know that bitter chestnuts could be used to make tofu. After all, it was very simple to make tofu with bitter chestnuts, and one could basically learn it just by watching it once. Qianhuan didn't want others to learn this way of making money, so after her family made bitter chestnut tofu, she never even sent it to Uncle Zhang's house next door.
"Well, don't worry, Auntie won't tell."
Qianhuan took Wenjie to the county town, and they first went to Zuixianju to sell crystal tofu.
After Manager Zhou weighed the tofu, there were a total of 420 kilograms of tofu, which he sold for a total of 210 taels of silver.
Qianhuan said to Shopkeeper Zhou, "Shopkeeper Zhou, this crystal tofu can not only be stir-fried but also stewed in a meat pot. You can ask the chef to try it."
"Okay, thank you, Young Master Liang, for telling us."
"Manager Zhou, you're welcome. My brother and I have found a teacher to study with, and we're going to listen to his lectures. I'll leave this wooden basin in your restaurant first, and I'll come and get it after school."
"Okay, Mr. Liang, I'll have the waiter put your wooden basin in the woodshed for you first."
After saying that, Qianhuan took Wenjie to Mr. Fan's house in a carriage.
The carriage was very fast. It took two incense sticks of time to get to Zuixianju, but we were not late when we arrived at Mr. Fan's house.
Qianhuan suddenly thought that it would be great if her family also had a carriage and a coachman, so it would be much more convenient to go out.
When they arrived at Mr. Fan's house, they first took out the words they had written yesterday and showed them to him.
Mr. Fan commented: "It's obvious that Wenjie wrote his handwriting very carefully. The more he wrote, the better his handwriting became. But Shanbo, why do you write in a hurry? It becomes more and more sloppy as you write?"
Qianhuan felt miserable because she was busy going to the town to grind chestnut juice to make tofu to earn money. She was in a hurry to finish the writing, so of course the writing became worse and worse. She didn't expect that Mr. Fan was so good that he could see this at a glance.
She had no choice but to honestly admit her mistake: "Sir, I was really anxious when writing yesterday, so my writing became worse and worse."
"People who study should remember not to be impatient. You must calm down and practice calligraphy diligently in the future."
"Yes, sir, I understand."