Chapter 13: Making Tofu

Chapter 13: Making Tofu

On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, they honored the Kitchen God and did an initial dusting.

The twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month was the day for a thorough cleaning.

"Chen" (dust) shares a homophone with "chen" (old), so sweeping away dust represents "removing the old and ushering in the new," sweeping away all misfortune, poverty, and bad luck, and praying for a fresh start in the new year, along with health and good fortune.

This was the most important and heaviest cleaning task for ordinary households before the New Year, with the entire family—men, women, young, and old—turning out to help.

The Gu family was no exception, including Gu Muan, who was over two years old and about to turn three, joining the adults in doing whatever small tasks he could manage.

"An Geer, help Nai (Grandma) bring the bed sheets from the kang (heated brick bed)."

"Coming!" Gu Muan answered crisply.

Gu Muan had just helped Grandpa fetch the feather duster, and now hearing Nai's call, the little boy, feeling very important, beamed with pride.

He even deliberately mimicked the adults' catchphrase and called out playfully: "Oh dear, oh dear... An's coming!"

"An Geer? Where's the broom?"

"Oh dear, oh dear... An's coming!"

Gu Muan clutched the broom handle, which was as tall as him, and dragged it over to Chen Youyan, who was calling for him.

As he passed by Yin Hongxue, who was wiping down the table, he deliberately stopped and wiped his clean forehead with his chubby little hand.

Yin Hongxue chuckled at his little show and whispered, "Oh my, our An Geer works so hard."

Hearing this, Gu Muan puffed up his chest and nodded in agreement.

Yes, An Geer works so hard. Everyone needs An Geer so much—An Geer is the busiest one in the whole family.

But busy little An couldn't string together such a long sentence yet, so he just nodded and echoed, "An work hard."

Gu Chaoning, who was helping the adults fetch and change water, happened to walk by and overheard Gu Muan's words. He chuckled and said, "Yes, An Geer is the hardest worker. Thank goodness we have An Geer, or we'd be swamped."

Then Gu Chaoning declared, as if settling it: "Today we've got to properly reward our An Geer."

Just then, Chen Youyan called out once more: "An Geer, is the broom coming?"

"Coming!" Gu Muan answered loudly.

Oh boy, Papa and the others just can't do without An Geer for a second!

Gu Muan shook his head, looking helpless but secretly proud, then turned to his two older brothers who weren't as busy as him, and said with a sigh, like a tired old man: "An busy."

After saying this, Gu Muan ignored his brothers' stifled laughter, and like a little rooster, all puffed up, he dragged the broom toward Chen Youyan.

Hmph, An Geer's busy, no time for chit-chat.

After dropping off the broom with Papa, An Geer still had to rush over to Daddy to see if Daddy needed him.

As he walked, Gu Muan thought back to what Gu Chaoning had said.

"Today we've got to properly reward our An Geer."

Gu Muan knew what being rewarded meant. During harvest time, or when Daddy and Grandpa were working hard, Papa and Nai would cook meat and call it a reward.

An Geer worked today, so shouldn't he get a reward?

Gu Muan nodded to himself and picked up the pace toward Chen Youyan.

After handing over the broom, he tried to remember how the adults talked, then said: "Papa,"

He opened his mouth, made a tired face, and rubbed his forehead with his chubby little hand, "An work hard."

"Yeah, yeah," Chen Youyan was too busy to look up, just nodding along. "Hardworking, hardworking. An Geer's a hard worker."

Gu Muan looked up, confused. Why wasn't Papa saying anything about a reward?

Confused, Gu Muan made the tired face again and rubbed his forehead with his chubby hand, trying hard to copy how adults wiped sweat when they were tired.

"An work hard," he repeated.

Chen Youyan, clueless about what was going on in his little boy's head, nodded absently again. Then he remembered what he'd heard earlier—the little guy bragging to Gu Chaoning and Yin Hongxue.

Maybe he wanted to keep working?

He figured and said, "An Geer's a hard worker. Take this stool to your daddy and tell him it's broken, have him fix it."

"Coming!" Gu Muan, used to answering right away, responded crisply, then, under Chen Youyan's satisfied smile, wandered off in a daze with the stool.

So that was it, Chen Youyan thought, satisfied.

*

On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, they made tofu.

"Tofu" (fu) sounds like "blessing" (fu), so making tofu is about "receiving blessings" and "welcoming good fortune." The tofu they made was also a key ingredient for the New Year feast.

Making tofu was a lot of work. Everyone in Xiaohe Village knew how, but most people just bought it.

Chen Youyan had soaked a basin of soybeans the night before. By morning, the beans had puffed up to twice their size, and pressing a fingernail in left a little crescent mark easily.

That meant the beans were ready to go.

To make tofu, you soak the beans overnight, then grind them into soy milk with a stone mill.

The Gu family had a stone mill, but it hadn't been used in ages and was covered in dust. Chen Youyan scooped up a ladle of water and poured it over the mill, then used a brush made from sorghum tassels to scrub off the dust.

Once the mill was clean, he poured the soaked beans and water into the hole at the top.

Gu Wen brought the mule over and hitched it to the mill.

As the mule walked, it turned the mill, grinding the beans little by little, and the mixture oozed out from between the stones.

Eventually, it all collected and flowed into the wooden bucket set under the mill's spout.

As the beans got ground up, the soybeans' faint, earthy smell started to fill the small courtyard.

At this stage, the ground beans were a mix of soy milk and pulp.

Gu Daniu hauled out a big wooden basin and set up a hanging strainer made of wood and fine cloth over it.

Then Wang Xiuxiu scooped the ground beans into the hanging bag, one ladle at a time, and poured hot water over it. By shaking and squeezing the bag, she strained the soy milk from the pulp.

With everyone pitching in, things went faster. Chen Youyan and Gu Wen ground the beans, while Gu Daniu and Wang Xiuxiu handled the straining.

Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan stood off to the side, watching with great interest.

As for Gu Chaoning—

"Big grandson, mix this bucket of soy pulp with some bran and take it to the pigs and chickens in the backyard," Gu Daniu called out loudly.

Worried Gu Chaoning couldn't carry it, Gu Daniu thoughtfully only filled the bucket halfway.

Gu Chaoning called back and quickly stepped forward. Yin Hongxue, bored with nothing to do, perked up and immediately followed, saying, "I'll go with Chaoning Ge too."

Seeing both of his older brothers leave, Gu Muan—though he had never watched the adults make tofu—happily raised both hands as the little tagalong he was and shouted along, "An wants to go too!"

Hearing Gu Muan's shout, Yin Hongxue stopped in his tracks, turned around, and waited for Gu Muan to catch up. Then he took his hand, and together they headed toward the backyard.

The Gu family kept ten ducks and sixteen chickens. Originally, they had raised three pigs, but as the New Year approached, they had sold two, leaving only one at home.

The moment Gu Chaoning appeared carrying the wooden bucket, the pig in the corner straw pile grunted and heaved itself up, snorting and twitching its short, round snout. The chickens and ducks huddled together also began clucking and quacking noisily.

In the cold winter, mealtime was the only thing that got them up and moving.

"Wow!" Gu Muan couldn't help but gasp at how lively the backyard got the moment they arrived.

The soy pulp mixed with bran was still warm. Gu Chaoning used a gourd ladle to fill the pig's trough first—simply because the pig's grunting was too loud and noisy.

Seeing that the water in the trough had frozen into ice, Gu Chaoning handed the gourd ladle to Yin Hongxue.

"Xue Ge, you handle this. I'll go fetch some hot water."

Yin Hongxue nodded and carefully scooped half a ladle into the chicken feeder.

Compared to summer, the chickens' down feathers were much puffier, making them look rounder. The moment the warm bran and soy pulp mix was poured in, the chickens clucked and flapped their wings as they scrambled over together. Some bumped into each other in their rush. Gu Muan watched with delight, giggling out loud.

Yin Hongxue spotted, plain as day, three eggs in the straw pile where the chickens had been huddled.

Just then, Gu Chaoning walked over carrying hot water. Yin Hongxue, who had been about to step forward, stopped in his tracks. His eyes lit up as he looked at Gu Chaoning. "Chaoning Ge! Look, eggs!"

Gu Chaoning poured the hot water into the pig's trough. Watching the steam melt the ice on top, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Following Yin Hongxue's pointed finger, he indeed spotted three beautiful eggs.

"Well, would you look at that. We'll have Dad stir-fry them later."

Hearing this, Gu Muan stopped watching the chickens scramble for their food. He looked at the three eggs, thought of the taste of stir-fried eggs, and automatically licked his lips.

In the cold winter, chickens rarely laid eggs, so eggs were a real treat in winter.

Gu Chaoning took back the gourd ladle, quickly dumped the rest of the feed into the chicken and duck coops, and then opened the chicken coop door and stepped inside.

He first picked up the three eggs and tucked them into the front of his shirt, then ran his hand around casually.

Gu Chaoning froze mid-motion. Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan both stood on tiptoe, craning to see.

"What's wrong?"

Gu Chaoning slowly raised his hand—and in that supposedly empty hand sat another egg, plain as day.

"Four eggs!" Yin Hongxue exclaimed.

The little tagalong swallowed his drool and echoed, "Four eggs!"

Gu Chaoning grinned and nodded.

Thick white steam billowed out of the kitchen. Besides the soy milk boiling away in the big pot, there was another pot with scrambled eggs and scallions, golden and fragrant.

Today, Gu Muan got special permission to be in the kitchen while the adults cooked. He looked at the golden, fragrant eggs, then at the bubbling soy milk, feeling like he didn't have enough eyes to take it all in.

The soy milk was boiling hard, throwing up a ton of foam. Wang Xiuxiu kept stirring with a spatula so it wouldn't scorch.

Seeing the milky foam churning higher and higher, Wang Xiuxiu shouted, "Pull the wood!"

Gu Daniu and Wang Xiuxiu worked in perfect coordination. He quickly yanked out two logs that were blazing, getting the fire under control just before the soy milk could boil over.

Yin Hongxue felt as nervous as if he were watching a kid get grilled on his recitation in front of the teacher. When the foam gradually subsided, he slowly let out a breath.

Gu Muan clapped his hands and laughed out loud.

The raw, beany smell of the soy milk slowly turned into a rich, nutty aroma, spreading through the whole kitchen and out into the yard.

There was a knock at the door. Gu Chaoning set down his book, but before he could get up, the half-open door swung open.

A woman in brown hurried into the yard carrying a bowl of tofu pudding. Seeing Gu Chaoning, she smiled and said, "Chaoning, Auntie Song brought y'all a bowl of her tofu pudding to try!"

Every family's tofu came out a little different. Close families would swap tofu and pudding on this day to taste each other's.

Chen Youyan heard the ruckus and came out. Seeing Mrs. Song, he broke into a smile. "I knew you'd beat me to it."

He took the bowl and had Gu Chaoning take it to the kitchen to pour into their own bowl, then looked at Mrs. Song and said, "Ours isn't done yet. I'll send some over with Chaoning later."

Mrs. Song smiled, took the empty bowl back from Gu Chaoning, and hurried off.