Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

Xiao Lan also promised that her tofu would only be provided to Tianxianglou and the restaurant where Manager Xu's boss worked before the New Year.

We will start with the four-board method tomorrow. As for the future, they will confirm with Xiaolan's family based on the sales of the restaurant. They don't have to deliver the tofu directly to the restaurant. Manager Xu will send someone to pick it up.

The two plates of tofu were incomplete because Xiaolan's family had left some of them. Manager Xu waved his hand and said, "This time we'll calculate the money based on two plates. Go to the account and withdraw the money. I'm going to the county town right away to discuss the tofu issue with the boss."

Xiao Lan pocketed ten taels of silver, and the father and daughter pushed the flatbed cart out of the restaurant. When they returned home, they saw the door of the old house of the Sheng family next door was open, and the family was unloading the cattle cart. It turned out that they had returned from the town.

"Dad, you're back." Sheng Xuan saw the old man sitting at the door smoking his pipe and hurriedly greeted him.

"Yeah. Now that I'm back, nothing is better than home." Grandpa Sheng said with emotion, "Third brother, I heard that you bought land when I came back?"

"Well, I bought it when the land was cheap." Sheng Xuan said with a smile.

"Hey, third brother, you've become rich and really bought some land." When Sheng Kai heard the conversation between Sheng Xuan and the old man, he didn't even bother to take off his gifts and hurried over to join in the fun.

"Second brother, shut up." Old Master Sheng knocked his pipe on the ground a few times and said with a stern face.

"I heard from the fourth brother that your family has invented a new food, and they sent a large piece of it home today. I'll ask your mother to cook in the evening. All of your family can come over, and we'll have a meal together." said Grandpa Sheng.

"Okay, let the child's mother come and help then." Sheng Xuan said with a smile.

Then the father and daughter went home.

Zhang was very surprised that they came back so early. When she found out that a plate of tofu could really be sold for five taels of silver, her eyes opened wide and her mouth couldn't close for a long time.

It was getting late, and Sheng Xuan had just agreed to go over to eat with Grandpa Sheng, so Zhang took Xiao Ting and Xiao Lan to help. Because they had to cook for the whole family, the two stoves in the upper room were turned on.

The eldest and second sons' families were packing their luggage and had no time to cook. When the mother and her two daughters came in, Liu and Xiao Ye were occupying a stove and cooking.

The mother and her two daughters used another pot to cook. The dried bean shreds had been soaked in water by Mrs. Liu long ago, and there was a piece of pork belly in the bowl on the stove. According to Mrs. Liu, this was what Grandpa Sheng asked Chunhua to bring to cook the whole meal.

Zhang cut the pork belly in half, heated the pot, put the meat in, waited for the fat to come out, then added scallion segments, star anise, soy sauce and salt, and stir-fried them. Then poured in the soaked green bean shreds, added clean water, covered the pot and began to stew. After about a quarter of an hour, there was no need to light the fire anymore. Just keep the lid on and simmer it in the pot.

The dishes cooked in a large iron pan have a strong aroma and taste great.

Before this dish was out of the pot, Liu's bean rice was ready. Among the sisters-in-law, Liu's rice was the best, not too dry and not too wet. Liu served the rice and put it on the kang to warm it up.

Zhang then cleaned the cooking pot, sliced ​​the meat and chopped the tofu. Xiaolan and Xiaoting took a cabbage from the vegetable cellar, peeled the skin and cut it.

It was Zhang's first time making tofu, and Xiao Lan was there to instruct her. First, drain the fat from the pork belly, add the cabbage, stir-fry for a few times, then add tofu, sauce, salt, and water to stew. Tofu is not afraid of stewing, and the longer it is stewed, the better it tastes.

While Zhang was cooking, Cui came out with a gloomy face, walked around, and then went back to the house. When the aroma of meat wafted out, Shen came over with Xiaocao, smiling. Wang never showed up.

Because she no longer lives in a large compound, Zhang is now in a very relaxed mood. How many times can she come to the old house to work in a year? So she doesn't care about these things.

Soon the food was served, and just like before, men and women ate separately. The first and second wives were thick-skinned and ate at the table even though they didn't work.

This meal was prepared to welcome Mr. Sheng and his family, and also to unite the whole family. They had been away for two months, so it was inevitable that they would talk about what had happened in the past two months at the dinner table.

"Third brother, this is the new tofu your family has made. It's quite delicious." Sheng Kai said.

"The kids figured it out." Sheng Xuan said with a smile.

"I heard that your family bought thirty acres of land, which is quite close to our village, and it's a whole piece? You've made a fortune, Lao San." Sheng Nuo raised his head and drank a cup of wine, then picked up a piece of fat meat, chewed it a few times and swallowed it. "Lao San, don't hide it from me. If you have any way to make money, let us take advantage of it."

"You can't even shut up while eating." Old Master Sheng yelled. "Third brother, don't listen to your second brother's nonsense. You didn't get any money when the family was divided. Now that you can live a good life, Dad is happy for you."

Mr. Sheng made it clear, and the topic was dropped.

The women's table was particularly quiet, with everyone eating in silence. Cui glanced towards the other end of the kang and saw that the old man was in a good mood today and did not find fault with him, which spoiled everyone's mood.

The meal went smoothly. After everyone left the table, Zhang and Liu led the children to clean up the table.

When they got back to their own home, Zhang said, "It's good to be apart. Whenever we get together, there won't be too many conflicts. People who are far away smell good, but people who are close smell bad."

Early the next morning, Xiaolan's family started to get busy. They soaked 60 kilograms of beans last night. Shengxuan and Zhang began to grind the beans and make tofu. Before noon, the waiter from Tianxianglou came in a horse-drawn carriage to transport the tofu. They agreed to come back next time and left.

During the lunch break, Xiao Lan asked Sheng Xuan to make a few more molds in case of emergency.

In the afternoon, when Xiaolan and her family were working, Grandpa Sheng, Sheng Nuo, Sheng Hong, the couple from the second house and several children came to see them. Sheng Kai and Shen asked a lot of questions and even wanted to try it themselves, but Xiaolan refused.

After these people left, Xiao Ting said worriedly, "Xiao Lan, they won't copy what you said, will they?"

Xiao Lan shook her head and said, "It's not that easy." There is a key step in making tofu, which is to make tofu. She didn't tell anyone the use and proportion of the cold water stone, not even Sheng Xuan and Zhang. She was afraid that the two of them would not be able to resist the pleas of the old Sheng family and leak the secret recipe.

In the afternoon, the tofu guy came with twenty taels of silver and said he needed eight sheets of tofu for tomorrow, so they should prepare in advance.

Eight-layer tofu requires 120 kilograms of beans, and it is very hard work to grind so many beans manually.

Xiao Lan suggested, "Dad, let's go to town and buy a cow. As tofu is promoted, the demand will only grow. I have enough money to buy a cow."

Sheng Xuan was a little embarrassed. His family was brought up by Xiao Lan, and now she was going to buy more livestock for the family. There was no other parent who was less troublesome than him. As long as he helped, they could live a good life.

Xiao Lan put all the money in her hand into her pocket, a total of fifty-six taels and six hundred coins.