Starting from a thatched cottage, the farmer embarked on the road to wealth through imperial examina

Chapter 416 Making Tofu

Ye Changyan and his group of five came out of the greenhouse carrying a basket full of strawberries. As soon as they entered the yard of the farm, they saw the children happily gathered together to eat strawberries. Erniu and Chen Bingshuang were washing the strawberries in the basket in a basin of water.

Several women, including Lian, Ma, Liao and He, helped Yang Lin's wife Xuenniang and his mother to pluck the feathers from the chickens and ducks that had just been slaughtered.

Old Cai, Ye Xiaozheng, Xiao Yankai, Zhao Mubai, Ji Yunting and others were sitting on one side chatting about something, while Xiao Jingxing and Zhong Yunfeng were helping to pulp the beans that Xue Niang and her mother-in-law had just ground.

Li Ping was very curious when he saw the scene in the yard. As a noble prince, he had never seen how to pluck the feathers of a chicken or how to make pulp from ground beans. He asked Ye Changyan excitedly and then he found out what everyone was doing.

Li Ping rolled up his sleeves with an excited look on his face, and was about to go forward to help. Zhu Yuchun was frightened by the Fourth Prince's posture, but could not find a reason to stop him. At this moment, he heard Old Cai calling Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng.

"Jingcheng, Sanlang, you two take your friends and go help Jingxing and Yunfeng. You can't just do it recklessly when making soy milk. You have to be smart. You two cooperated very well in Yuzhou. You two go and lead them."

Zhu Yuchun felt as if he had been struck by a critical blow. He had previously wondered whether the master knew the identity of Li Ping, but now Zhu Yuchun was certain that the master certainly did not know that Li Ping was the Fourth Prince, otherwise how could the master have the courage to let his two junior brothers take the Fourth Prince to pulp the ground beans.

Li Ping had originally planned to go up and give it a try. Now, after hearing what Mr. Cai said to Ye Changyan, he quickly came to the wooden rack hanging under the eaves beam, with an excited expression on his face, eager to give it a try.

Although Sang Li had seen people grinding beans, making soy milk, and making tofu in Youshui City, he only had a general idea of the process. He had never done it himself. Seeing Li Ping's excited look, Sang Li ran forward in three or two steps, ready to try it himself.

After hearing Mr. Cai's instructions, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng immediately came to the place where the soy milk was being made. Then they heard Zhong Yunfeng speaking to Ye Changyan with some breathlessness.

"Chang Yan, I've seen Aunt and Chang Ting grind beans to make tofu before, and I thought it wasn't that difficult. But today I tried it myself, and I found that it's not as easy as I imagined."

The onlookers all smiled, and saw Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng step forward and take over from Zhong Yunfeng and Xiao Jingxing. The two of them moved very slowly, explaining as they operated. Li Ping saw that Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng were familiar with the process and their movements were skillful, so he quickly spoke.

"Chang Yan, let me try it."

Ye Changyan smiled, gave Liang Jingcheng a look, and then greeted Sang Li.

"Ari, come and give it a try with Pingzi."

Sang Li was also excited, and he and Li Ping stood where Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng had just stood. Holding the wooden frame tied with gauze in both hands, he began to shake it, imitating the movements of Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng.

However, just as the two of them started, they could clearly feel that the tacit understanding between Li Ping and Sang Li was not very good. The two of them used too much force, and the soy milk filtered out of the gauze splashed out, and a lot of it was spilled on the ground.

Li Ping and Sang Li were both a little unconvinced. How come the wooden rack, which had been very obedient in Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng's hands just now, became a little out of control when it was in their hands? So they both put in all their effort and prepared to continue, but the more they wanted to get it done, the more flustered they became.

Everyone on the sidelines burst into laughter. Seeing that the two of them had no tacit understanding in cooperation, Ye Changyan stepped forward, replaced Sang Li, and then patiently led Li Ping to push the wooden rack again. Li Ping followed Ye Changyan's rhythm, and sure enough, the wooden rack in his hand became smoother, and soon an excited smile appeared on his face.

"Haha, this isn't that difficult!"

Seeing that Ye Changyan and Li Ping cooperated well with each other, Zhong Yunfeng picked up a gourd ladle beside him and began to scoop two scoops of the ground soy milk in the bucket and added them into the gauze basket. The weight of the gauze increased and Li Ping couldn't adapt to it all of a sudden. He almost spilled the soy milk again, and then he heard another burst of laughter from the people around him.

However, Li Ping quickly regained the rhythm and key points, and then spoke to Ye Changyan.

"Chang Yan, you take a rest first. Let Sang Li and I take over."

Sang Li observed for a while and seemed to have learned some key points, then replaced Ye Changyan again with an excited look on his face.

Li Ping directed Sang Li to push the hanging wooden rack back and forth according to his own rhythm. The first two pushes were still a little stiff, but soon, Sang Li followed Li Ping's rhythm and moved back and forth smoothly.

Ye Changyan, Liang Jingcheng and others on the side kept nodding. Zhong Yunfeng saw that the amount of soy milk remaining through the gauze was getting less, so he picked up the gourd ladle, scooped two large scoops of soy milk, and added it into the gauze basket. Li Ping and Sang Li stumbled a little, but then everything became smooth again.

Although Zhu Yuchun joined the conversation between Mr. Cai and his fellow apprentices, he kept looking towards Ye Changyan and the others from time to time. He saw the Fourth Prince pushing the wooden rack to filter the soy milk in a very orderly manner with a hearty smile on his face. Although he was still very shocked in his heart, the corners of his mouth rose slightly without him realizing it.

In this freezing cold weather, Li Ping and Sang Li were sweating in a short while, but they were working very hard. Zhong Yunfeng and Xiao Jingxing were ready to step forward to replace them, but they were rejected by them.

At noon, Li Ping picked up a piece of Mapo Tofu made by Ye Changyan with chopsticks. It was still a little hot when he put it into his mouth, but he felt that the tofu was extremely delicious. He had eaten Mapo Tofu in Yunfeng Tower before, but the Mapo Tofu today was just right in terms of numbing, spicy, fresh, fragrant and smooth taste.

Perhaps Ye Changyan's cooking skills are better than those of the chef at Yunfenglou, but Li Ping knows in his heart that he has contributed a lot to the tofu today. Perhaps this is what people often say, the fruits of one's own labor, and in his heart he is always filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Li Ping is feeling just like this now, with a full sense of accomplishment. From childhood to adulthood, he has never had such an opportunity to get in touch with the lives of these people at the bottom of society. Today's trip was really worthwhile. Not only did he pick strawberries himself, but he also participated in the tofu-making process. When Ye Changyan was cooking, he, Liang Jingcheng and Sang Li were guarding the pot. When Ye Changyan scooped up some vegetables from the pot and let the people guarding the side taste it, the three of them were so excited that they didn't care whether it was hot or not, they just thought it tasted great.