loyal dog becomes cat

After buying a stone mill, as well as gypsum powder and donkey gray beans, Ma Ke can finally show his skills in making tofu, and is heading towards the glorious road of "Prince of Tofu".

Ma Ke's mother died of stomach cancer, so he paid special attention to diet and health care. Before his father remarried, he lived at home, cooking three meals a day by himself, and never eating out.

Food supervision is not strict in the modern market, and all kinds of fake and poisonous vegetables are flooded, so even if it is an ingredient, Ma Ke can make it by himself.

Ma Ke's father is a Chinese medicine doctor. He is very picky and likes tofu, so Ma Ke's order of tofu is a must. Gypsum, calcium gluconate, old and tender ones are all very good. Dare to think about the reason for the tofu business.

Of course, the stone mill is different from the soymilk machine, and the ancient gypsum powder is also different from the modern one, with large particle size and many impurities. Ma Ke is a liberal arts student, and the chemistry he learned in middle school has long been returned to the teacher. Naturally, I don’t know. How to purify this thing, after much deliberation, I asked Huajian to buy a few sieves with relatively fine eyes, crushed it with a spoon and sieved it several times to make it as clean as possible.

The first time the bean curd was ordered, the output was not large. It was poured into the mold and pressed for a day, and it fell apart immediately when it was taken out. He is skillful, and he makes spicy, three delicacies and five spices alternately, and everyone does not feel tired after eating.

Ma Ke was not in a hurry to do it again immediately. He spent a day thinking hard in the room, and went into battle again the next day.

This time it was a little bit better, the output was higher, and it was pressed into shape, but the tofu produced was very scumbag and had many holes, let alone modern tofu, it was far worse than Deng Liuniang's.

Mrs. Ma saw that Ma Ke had finally decided to do something, and was afraid that he would give up halfway. At first, she encouraged him with insinuations. Unexpectedly, Ma Ke seemed to be possessed by a demon. He almost lived in the firewood house, and wished he could sleep with the millstone in his arms every day. No one could say anything, only Liu Xiaodong stayed by his side loyally.

After nearly 20 days of tossing like this, the first piece of relatively successful tofu was finally released.

Looking at the white, tender and shiny cube, the whole family breathed a sigh of relief - eating tofu for 20 days in a row, no matter how many ways you think about and how many ways you make, it is a kind of food for diners disaster.

But there are exceptions, that is Liu Xiaodong, as long as it is Ma Ke's tofu, he has no complaints about how much he eats, and he eats it happily.

Later, Huajian joked, "Liu Xiaodong, a cat, likes tofu from birth. Not only does he like to eat tofu made by big brother, but he also likes tofu made by big brother. Why don't you call him Liu Xiaodong and call him a tofu cat."

Ma Ke was speechless, while Liu Xiaodong squatted obediently in front of Huamian, tilting his head to show his cuteness, his big black jewel-like eyes shone with incomparably pure brilliance, and he could vaguely see the letters CJ. It seemed that he was not born to like to eat The mouse likes to eat tofu, and I don't know what this sister is talking about...

After the successful version of tofu was made, the family could no longer taste the taste of tofu, but just by looking at the appearance, they all agreed that it was very good, much better than Deng Liuniang's.

Ma Ke thought for a while, and asked Hua Jian to send a package to Deng Liang's family first.

Mrs. Ma was afraid that the tofu made by Ma Ke was a little bit hesitant. Ma Ke said: "What are you afraid of? Haven't you all eaten the uglier ones for 20 days? Besides, these things are just soy milk and calcium carbonate. , the big deal is that there is a little too much calcium, and you won’t get stones if you eat it once in a while, so don’t worry.”

The whole family was stunned, except for the kitten Liu Xiaodong, no one understood what he was talking about.

But Huajian was afraid of tofu for a long time, afraid that Ma Ke would change his mind and not give it away, so he ran away with the tofu in his arms, and Mrs. Ma couldn't even yell at her behind.

The family waited anxiously for the whole night. In the evening of the next day, Deng Liang came back from the city with a cart and knocked on the door of Ma Ke's house. As soon as he saw the flowers, he asked, "Sister Huajian, what do you want?" Where did you buy the tofu that was delivered yesterday? It's delicious?"

Hua Jian was taken aback for a moment, then rushed back to the room and said to Ma Ke: "Brother, Brother Deng Liang is here and said that the tofu you make is delicious."

Ma Ke rushed to the door, grabbed Deng Liang's sleeve and said with bright eyes: "Tell me, how delicious is my tofu?"

In this era, men and women can't tell each other clearly, not to mention Ma Ke's ambiguous words of "eating tofu", Deng Liang's Chinese face immediately turned into a pig's liver color, nana said: "Miss, Miss, Yes, if you have something to say, let go first."

Ma Ke was excited and forgot his identity for a while, and felt a little embarrassed when he realized it, he quickly let go of his hand, and said in a friendly voice: "Deng, brother Deng, that, sorry, I made new tofu for you yesterday, just I want to ask if it tastes good to you?"

Deng Liang wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and said, "It's so delicious, my mother even asked me to ask who bought it."

Ma Ke asked Hua to go to the kitchen and wrapped another big piece, and asked Deng Liang to take it home, and said: "There are so many left from what I made yesterday, as long as your mother likes it, I will make it in a few days." If there are too many, send them to the city to sell, and then send some more to you.”

Only then did Deng Liang believe that the tofu was really made by Ma Ke, and he was surprised: "Miss, why do you..."

After half a sentence, he paused and sighed, "Oh...Master Ma is gone, I know your family is having a hard time, but you are a young lady after all, how can you show your face for your livelihood? A good in-law's family will have someone to rely on for the rest of my life..."

"Brother Deng." Ma Ke interrupted him, "I don't steal or rob. There's nothing wrong with being self-reliant. Even if I'm a woman, I still have to support my mother and sisters. How can I expect to be raised by a man at such a young age? lifetime?"

Deng Liang had never heard such words before, and stared: "Miss, what are you talking about, marrying a man, marrying a man, dressing and eating, which woman is not raised by a man?"

Ma Ke suddenly thought that he was living in ancient times. After all, it was a feudal society. No matter how capable women are, they are still men's vassals. , Men and women are born equal, but there is a difference in the division of labor in society, but there is no distinction between high and low, some women like to be raised by men, but some prefer to do what they like to do."

"Who's here?" Mrs. Ma heard someone talking at the door, she poked her head in and said, "It's Deng Liang..." She waved her hand at Ma Ke, "A Ke, go to the well and help Nanny Wu get a bucket of water , the tank is empty."

Ma Ke left according to his words, Madam Ma greeted him and said, "Deng Liang, stay for dinner."

Deng Liang quickly waved his hands and said, "Don't bother me, I still want to go home." He insisted on leaving, so Mrs. Ma had no choice but to send him out.

After all, Deng Liang was a straight-hearted person, and he didn't hold back his words. After going out, he said to Mrs. Ma: "Mrs. Ma, I have something that I should not have said, but I feel that I must say it."

Madam Ma hurriedly said, "It's okay for you to say it."

Deng Liangdao: "Madam, Missy has read a lot, and she has lost her mind. She only thinks about doing business and supporting the family. In my opinion, a woman's duty is nothing more than being a husband and a child, a needlework girl, and family affairs. You need a man to stand up to you. Ma'am, you'd better find a matchmaker earlier and make a good match for the eldest lady, so that you will have a son-in-law to rely on."

Mrs. Ma knew that Deng Liang was not a talkative person. Seeing his abrupt words, she felt suspicious, and asked in a low voice: "Deng Liang, you didn't say this for no reason. What did you hear?"

Deng Liang hesitated for a moment, and finally lowered his voice and said: "Ma'am, my mother heard people say a few days ago that Deng Youcai, the eldest son of the Patriarch Seventh Master's family, fell in love with the eldest lady, and wanted to ask someone to make him his concubine."

"What?" Mrs. Ma was so angry that her chest was tight. Although she knew that her family was a boy, she couldn't help being angry when she heard the word "be a concubine", and said, "Although my master's whereabouts are still unknown, I After all, the Ma family is a decent family, not to the point where it can't be blamed, how can there be a reason for a good girl to be a concubine? The Seventh Master's family is simply deceiving people too much!"

Deng Liang sighed silently, then paused and said: "Mrs. Dong's family, this may not be accurate. Recently, the Seventh Master's family somehow offended the officials of Ximen in the city, and they are going up and down to make amends. Presumably there is no time yet. Marriage proposal, please relax, if my mother hears any news, I will ask her to tell you... Deng Youcai has never been in the main room, but he is thinking about occupying the eldest lady as a concubine, it is really not a thing."

Ma Ke didn't take Deng Liang's words to heart. After dinner, Hua Jian blindfolded the gray beans, put them on a stone mill, and began to grind the soaked beans the day before. The wife sent Nanny Wu to remind him to go to bed early, so Ma Ke had to go back to his room, and just after washing, he heard someone knock on the door.

Mrs. Ma brought him a bowl of millet porridge, and said, "Ake, eat something before going to bed. You managed to raise some meat a few days ago, and you've lost weight again by making tofu these days."

Ma Ke was moved, and sat down at the table to drink porridge obediently. In fact, these days he is either grinding or pressing tofu. Although he looks thinner than before, his arms and legs have developed some muscles, and his strength is much stronger. , not as weak as it seems.

"Ake, do you plan to sell the tofu you made this time at the market?" Mrs. Ma asked.

Ma Ke nodded and said, "I want to sell it, but I don't want to go to the market. I want to send Huajian to Huanzhou City. If the business is good, I can rent a store to sell it in the future."

"Oh..." Mrs. Ma's expression turned pale, and she said, "You are not familiar with the city, not to mention that you are weak, mother is worried."

"It's okay, I'll ask Deng Liang tomorrow, he is familiar with the city, and see where it is more suitable to set up a stall." Ma Ke said with a smile: "I'm already this old, why don't you worry about it, our current situation No, it's different from before, don't always treat me like a child, I'm the only man in the family now, so naturally I have to take responsibility."

Mrs. Ma smiled and nodded, feeling very comforted in her heart, but she was still thinking about Deng Liang's words, and she didn't dare to tell Ma Keming, fearing that he would be too young to calm down and cause some conflict with Deng Youcai, after thinking for a long time, she said: "Ake, I think it's like this. At the beginning, we should let Nanny Wu and Hua Jian go with Deng Liang. When the sale goes well and the shop is rented, it won't be too late for you to come forward."

Ma Ke said with a smile: "Why, mother, don't you trust your son?"

Mrs. Ma patted his head, and said: "A Ke, your father and I only had you on the 36th. Before leaving, the master repeatedly asked you not to change back into men's clothes, otherwise you will die young."

Ma Ke nodded and said, "I know, don't I wear a skirt obediently now?"

Mrs. Ma touched his face and sighed: "Ake, you have been beautiful since you were a child. Beauty is the root of heat disaster. I didn't dare to let you go out casually before. Now that you are old, although you are a kid, how dare you go out?" As a girl, if you sell tofu in public, I'm afraid... your face will cause endless trouble."