Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Lu Yuan borrowed a bucket, returned home, and then found a three-foot-long bamboo pole, splitting it into six sturdy strips.

The two children squatted nearby, watching. Chun Hua asked curiously, "Mother, what are you doing?"

Lu Yuan replied, "Making a small drying rack."

Chun Hua, her curious eyes wide, asked, "What's it for?"

"For drying tofu skin," she answered.

Tofu skin is also known as yuba.

When soy milk is boiled, a layer of film forms on top. This film can be lifted and placed on a rack to dry. Once sun-dried, it becomes tofu skin.

"What is tofu skin?"

Ever since Chun Hua could remember, her hometown had been in drought. She had never tasted soy milk nor heard of tofu skin.

Lu Yuan looked at her, thought for a moment, and explained, "It's like the sticky film that forms on top of rice soup or congee when it's cooking. It's similar to that, except this tofu skin can be picked up."

Old Lady He heard this and remarked, "You know quite a lot."

Lu Yuan smiled and replied, "Anyone who makes soy milk usually understands this."

Old Lady He offered no further comment and lowered her head to continue embroidering. Suddenly, her vision blurred, and everything became hazy.

She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, barely managing to see clearly again.

Lu Yuan happened to witness this and advised, "Old Lady, take a break for a while and look into the distance. Otherwise, your eyesight will deteriorate quickly."

Elderly people's eyes are already delicate, and overusing them, especially without eye drops available in this era, could easily lead to blindness.

Old Lady He said, "You mind your work. I'll rest after finishing this handkerchief."

Lu Yuan didn't press further and continued making the triangular rack.

As evening fell, everything was enveloped in a gray haze.

After washing up, Old Lady He brought out a basin of water and poured it into the water storage pit.

Hearing the sound, Lu Yuan came out of the kitchen and said, "Old Lady, I boiled some mugwort water for your eyes. It can help relieve fatigue."

Old Lady He looked at her in surprise. "You know how to do this too?"

Lu Yuan replied, "Back home, the elders often used mugwort water for their eyes. It's very effective."

Old Lady He's eyes were indeed bothering her, and she agreed, "Then apply it for me."

Lu Yuan took the basin, fetched the mugwort water, and carried it into Old Lady He's room.

Old Lady He lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and waited for Lu Yuan to apply the hot compress.

But before the hot compress arrived, she felt Lu Yuan's slender yet rough fingers pressing near the corners of her eyes.

Old Lady He opened her eyes and looked up at Lu Yuan. "What are you doing?"

Lu Yuan replied, "I'll massage first, then apply the compress. It will be more effective."

Old Lady He muttered, "You sure know a lot. Today, I saw you massaging Sheng Geer's legs and feet very skillfully. It didn't seem like random pressing."

Lu Yuan responded, "I've taken care of bedridden patients before, so I know a thing or two."

As she spoke, Lu Yuan began performing eye exercises for Old Lady He.

After a while, Old Lady He said, "I must say, this massage feels quite comfortable."

Lu Yuan said, "If you do this for a short while each day, it can relieve eye fatigue. It's especially suitable for someone like you who overuses their eyes."

Probably due to the comfort, Old Lady He's voice gradually softened. "Then massage for me every day."

Lu Yuan thought for a moment and tactfully said, "But overusing your eyes will eventually cause problems. Massaging daily only helps delay the symptoms."

Old Lady He fell silent. Just as Lu Yuan wondered if she had fallen asleep, she finally spoke.

"I'll handle my own affairs."

How could Old Lady He not know that overusing her eyes might lead to blindness?

But she still wanted to save more money for her grandson while she could still see.

Now, hoping for a great-grandchild, she wanted to earn even more and save for the great-grandchild as well.

Lu Yuan said, "Making money is important, but you shouldn't ruin your eyes. If your eyes are damaged, you won't be able to do embroidery. What will happen to the family's income?"

With that, Lu Yuan stopped persuading her.

If someone is stubborn, no amount of persuasion will work.

She picked up the towel from the water basin, wrung it out while it was still hot, folded it, and placed it over Old Lady He's eyes.

After a while, when the towel cooled, she replaced it with another.

After applying the compress for some time, Lu Yuan heard steady, long breaths and knew Old Lady He had fallen asleep.

She carried the water basin out and gently closed the door.

After tossing the water, she glanced at Qi Cheng's room.

After a moment's thought, since the old lady was already asleep, she decided to go stimulate Qi Cheng as usual.

Lu Yuan put down the basin and headed toward Qi Cheng's room.

Entering the room, Lu Yuan deliberately walked heavily, making noise.

When she reached the bedside, she leaned close to Qi Cheng's ear and said slowly, "The children are asleep, the old lady is asleep, but this widow can't sleep."

As she spoke, she reached out and placed her palm on Qi Cheng's left chest.

"The night is long. What should I do to pass the time?" she whispered, her tone suggestive.

After saying this, Lu Yuan felt the heartbeat under her palm quicken slightly.

She sensed it and knew that Qi Cheng was conscious at this moment.

Since that was the case, she decided to add more fuel to the fire.

With this thought, Lu Yuan removed her hand, leaned her entire body down, and pressed herself against Qi Cheng, her face resting on his chest.

"Thump-thump, thump-thump-thump-thump."

Lu Yuan listened to the heartbeat, silently counting the rhythm in her mind. After just a few beats, it grew increasingly rapid.

Qi Cheng felt the warm, bony body pressing against him, and his whole heart tightened.

Lu Yuan lay there for a while before sitting up, deciding not to push further.

After all, nothing happens overnight; it's better to take things slowly.

She got up and left the room.

Qi Cheng felt the weight lift off him. After a long while with no further sensations or sounds, his tense heart finally relaxed.

Perhaps Su-shi had the desire but lacked the nerve, which was why she ran off.

Qi Cheng sighed inwardly, thinking he could at least get a restful sleep now.

Life in ancient times was monotonous and dull. Once it got dark, everyone went to sleep, so they woke up earlier than the roosters.

Before the rooster even crowed, Lu Yuan, afraid of oversleeping, was already awake.

Staring out the window at the pitch-black sky, unsure of the time, she lay awake until the first light of dawn.

As soon as the sky brightened, Lu Yuan got up to make soy milk.

The two children wanted to follow her into the small kitchen, but it was too cramped to move around, so she shooed them outside.

After the children left, Lu Yuan placed the simple tripod stand she made yesterday on the stove.

She started the fire, poured the freshly ground raw soy milk into the pot, and added some water to simmer.

After simmering for about a quarter of an hour, a layer of film formed on the surface of the soy milk. She skimmed it off with bamboo chopsticks and hung it on the rack.

Successfully getting the first sheet of tofu skin, Lu Yuan felt elated.

Now they finally had fresh food to eat.

Every so often, another layer of film formed on the soy milk, and she skimmed each one off.

But by the fifth sheet, it was noticeably thinner.

It must have been due to the concentration of the soy milk; with average concentration, the yield of tofu skin was lower.

She barely managed to skim off six sheets of film.

Six sheets were enough for one meal.

After finishing the soy milk, it was still scalding hot and needed to cool before filtering, so she went to wash up first.

Returning after a little over half an hour, the soy milk had cooled down enough to start filtering.

The hemp cloth Old Lady He gave her was new and would need to be repaid.

The cloth was too small, making it difficult to secure over the bucket, so she had to filter carefully to avoid wasting the effort.

The stone mill in ancient times didn’t grind finely enough. To ensure the soy milk was smooth and fine, Lu Yuan filtered it three times.

At home, they bathed using basins. This bucket was usually for carrying water and had been scalded with boiling water yesterday, so it was already very clean.

After filtering, she placed the lid on the wooden bucket and then cleaned up the soybean residue.

The filtered soybean residue could also be used for cooking—it could be made into pancakes or stir-fried with eggs.

It wasn’t time to leave yet, so Lu Yuan asked Old Lady He to scoop out half a bowl of rice bran. She then mixed the soybean residue with a small spoon of salt to make pancakes.

With the soybean residue, there were more pancakes—three for the adults, two for the children, plus half a bowl of soy milk for each.

The two children’s eyes widened at the sight of such a lavish breakfast.

Chun Hua asked, "Mom, is it a holiday today?"

Lu Yuan smiled. "No, it’s not a holiday. Eat up."

Old Lady He glanced at the food on the table. Since Su-shi had paid for the beans herself, she said nothing and picked up the soy milk to take a sip.

Lu Yuan waited until she finished before asking, "Old Lady He, how is the soy milk?"

She had tasted it herself and found it much better than the soy milk sold at stalls in town. If they could add a bit of sugar, business would surely be good, but sugar was expensive and unaffordable.

However, Lingnan was rich in sugarcane. When the season came, they could buy some and try making sugar themselves.

Old Lady He put down the bowl, savored the taste for a moment, and looked at her. "It’s indeed rich, smooth, and has a light sweetness."

Hearing this, Lu Yuan felt even more confident.

The two children also picked up their bowls and drank. After the first sip, their eyes lit up.

Chun Hua exclaimed excitedly, "Mom, this soy milk is so good!"

Qiu Hua chimed in, "Mom, good."

Lu Yuan looked at Qiu Hua. At two years old, the child only knew a few words—that wouldn’t do. She would need to practice speaking more in the future.

After breakfast, Lu Yuan headed out, carrying a bucket two-thirds full of soy milk in one hand and an empty bucket with two bowls and a ladle in the other.

The two-thirds full bucket of soy milk was heavy, and she had to stop and rest every so often.

Coincidentally, Huang Lan also stepped out around that time, carrying a basket on her back, and hurried over to help carry it.

"Why didn’t you use a shoulder pole to carry it?"

Lu Yuan replied, "The other side is empty; I was afraid I wouldn’t balance it well."

Huang Lan said, "Silly you, you could fill both buckets halfway with soy milk and pour them together in town. It wouldn’t affect carrying water either."

Lu Yuan paused, then laughed at her own foolishness. "Why didn’t I think of that?"

Huang Lan said exasperatedly, "The Qi family lives at the very end of the village. It takes a quarter of an hour just to get to the village entrance. If I weren’t going with you, you’d be carrying it all the way."

Lu Yuan said, "Thank you, sister-in-law. When we get to town, I’ll treat you to soy milk."

Huang Lan: "You bet!"

Just as they reached the village entrance, a man in his twenties was driving an ox cart to the entrance.

The ox cart also carried a basket of produce.

Huang Lan said, "The driver is the village head’s youngest son, Liu Junsheng. On market days, he delivers produce to the Welcome Guest Restaurant in town. I heard Qi Cheng was the one who introduced him."

Lu Yuan once again heard about Qi Cheng from someone else and couldn't help but feel curious—what kind of person was Qi Cheng, exactly?

What kind of person could inspire such goodwill from others toward his family after something happened to him?

Just as Lu Yuan was about to hand over the coins, Liu Junsheng, the village head’s son, said, “My father said not to charge the Qi family for the ride.”

Before Lu Yuan could respond, a woman who had just been about to board the cart spoke up discontentedly, “Why doesn’t she have to pay?”

Liu Junsheng replied, “Her family is going through a rough patch.”

“Well, my family isn’t doing so great either. How come you don’t let me ride for free?”

Liu Junsheng didn’t mince words: “If your husband can get us some work and sell your rice fields to us at a discount, I guarantee you’ll ride for free for life.”

The woman immediately fell silent.

Huang Lan, who had gotten to know Lu Yuan over the past few days, also took her side and said, “Exactly. Qi Cheng helped the village head’s family. Isn’t it only right that she rides for free?”

As she spoke, she quickly loaded Lu Yuan’s two buckets onto the cart and said to her, “Hop on.”

Lu Yuan stepped onto the ox cart.

Money was tight now, and there was no point in arguing over pride. Saving even one coin mattered. She could always pay for the cart later when she had more money.

The ox cart jolted along the road, and they reached the town in less than an hour.

By that time, the town was already bustling with people. The better stall spots had already been taken, leaving only some out-of-the-way spots.

Huang Lan said, “The town guards have marked off stall spaces. Let’s share one stall later—we can squeeze in together and each pay one coin. It’ll save money.”

Lu Yuan agreed, “That works. But won’t the town guards mind?”

The town guards were essentially the town’s security personnel in ancient times.

They wore black uniforms with red cuffs and collars, and a round patch was sewn on the chest with the character “jiǎ” in the center.

Huang Lan said, “As long as we don’t go overboard, the town guards will turn a blind eye. Lots of people do this.”

“Also, they’ll give out a bamboo token. With this, each stall can get a bucket of water for personal use from the street entrance.”

Lu Yuan had originally been thinking of going to Welcome Guest Restaurant to borrow water, but now that water was provided, she wouldn’t have to swallow her pride and ask.

The two found a spot in a corner, and soon a town guard came to collect the fee.

When they said they were from the same family, his eyes seemed to see right through them, but he didn’t make a big deal of it. He just took two coins.

After getting the bamboo token, Lu Yuan asked Huang Lan to keep an eye on their stuff while she went to fetch water.

While getting water, she noticed someone selling bowls for one coin each. Remembering she had two coins left, Lu Yuan bought two more.

When she returned with the water, she washed the bowls, filled one with soymilk, and handed it to Huang Lan. “No one’s used these bowls yet. You have the first drink.”

Huang Lan took it and said with a smile, “I’m lucky to benefit from you and have this treat.”

Lu Yuan said, “Drink slowly. I’ll try to attract some customers.”

She turned toward the bustling crowd and began calling out, “Soymilk for sale! Rich and fragrant soymilk, one coin a bowl!”

Huang Lan took her first sip and exclaimed in delight, “This soymilk is really rich and fragrant, with no raw bean flavor at all. It’s delicious!”

Her voice was loud enough to act as an unexpected help for Lu Yuan. People nearby heard and wandered over. One said, “Give me a bowl too.”

Lu Yuan quickly poured a bowl of still-warm soymilk, handed it over, and collected one coin.

With one customer, Lu Yuan hurried to drum up more business.

Some people, watching the first customer drink, asked if it was really good.

The man replied, “It’s quite tasty—really rich, not watery like others, and no raw bean flavor.”

Hearing this, others came over and asked for a bowl.

Slowly, a few more people came to try the soymilk. After all, their spot wasn’t great, and soymilk wasn’t exactly cheap, so it wasn’t flying off the shelves all at once.

Seeing customers coming for soymilk, Huang Lan hawked her family’s dried mushrooms and managed to sell some as well.

After about half an hour, perhaps through word of mouth, several more people came for soymilk.

Lu Yuan hadn’t brought much—only about thirty bowls—and in a little over an hour, it was all sold out.

Huang Lan said, “Your business is really good. You sold out so quickly.”

Lu Yuan was in a great mood and replied cheerfully, “Your business isn’t bad either.”

Huang Lan said happily, “I brought five jin (about 5.5 pounds) of dried mushrooms and sold almost two jin. In the past, if I sold one jin at a stall, it was considered good.”

One jin sold for twenty coins, more expensive than meat. Only families with money bought a few liang (ounces) at a time to try.

It wasn’t time to head back yet, so Lu Yuan asked Huang Lan to keep an eye on their stuff while she went to buy beans.

Having made money from the soymilk this time, Lu Yuan had a plan in mind. She figured she’d buy four jin of beans, plus another bucket and basin, so she wouldn’t need to borrow buckets from others next time.

Thinking it over, she realized she’d probably end up plowing all her earnings back into the business today.