60s Splendid Life

When it was the day to go to Lijia'ao to go to the market, they went to the tofu shop to make tofu before dawn. When their tofu was ready, the genius outside was slightly bright.

When discussing what to bring, Lu Jin suggested: "The bean curd is too heavy, so we won't bring the tofu. We can just leave it in the village and exchange it for beans. Let's take all the bean curd that we made in the past two days. , and bring this pot of stewed dried tofu, and bring a few plates of tofu with you.” The tofu flower is too heavy, and they have to bring a bowl and spoon with the tofu flower, after all, not everyone brings a bowl when they go to the market out.But selling it in your own village is different. People in the village are used to bringing bowls to buy tofu flowers and take them home to eat.

"How many yuba do we have?" Aunt Qin asked.

"It's just in these two baskets." Lu Jin pointed to the two baskets filled with bean curd sticks on the ground.Aunt Qin glanced at it and said, "Okay, let's go and try it out. If it sells well, we'll make more next time."

"I think so too." Lu Jin nodded.

In the past two days, they made a lot of bean curd sticks, and they weighed about ten catties after drying.

They made the dried tofu yesterday afternoon, and they didn't put it in the pot until this morning to marinate it. Otherwise, it would take only one morning to press out the tofu. How could there be time to make the dried tofu, let alone cooking it later? It's time.

It is not difficult to make tofu, but it takes too much time to do and wait for each procedure.

Lu Jin poured out the excess brine, and the brine can be reused. The most expensive thing about their stewed dried tofu is not the dried tofu, but the stewed ingredients.It is not easy to go out to buy these things now. The marinade they are using now is still his own stock, and of course their captain has converted it into money and subsidized it back to him.

Pour the brine back into the pot and put the remaining half of the uncooked dried tofu into it. Lu Jinna said to Wang Xiumei who was staying behind in the tofu shop: "Sister-in-law Xiumei's dried tofu is re-ordered by me. It's not cooked yet. You will remember to cook it in a while, after it boils on a high fire, cook slowly on a low fire for about half an hour, leave some residual fire at the bottom to keep it warm, and sell it when someone comes to buy it.”

"Oh, yes." Wang Xiumei replied.

Their stewed dried tofu has been selling well in the past two days, and the pot they boiled every day is sold out, so they boiled the second pot and left it in the village for sale.

After arranging the affairs of the tofu shop and packing up all the things they need to bring, they are ready to go out.Go to the market early, otherwise other people's markets will have been dispersed by noon, and who will sell the things they brought.

Everyone came early this morning, no one had breakfast, a few of them had done a morning's work, and everyone was so busy that they didn't even sit down to drink.Lu Jin boiled a small pot of soy milk, and baked a batch of bean cakes with the bean dregs they filtered out, and called everyone to come and eat something before setting off, "The soy milk has been drying for a while, it is not very hot, everyone can drink it at ease .”

"Well, it's just right." Aunt Qin picked up the soy milk and drank it up in two or three gulps, then picked up a bean pancake and took a bite. Although the taste was a little rough, it tasted very fragrant, and she couldn't help it. He boasted: "Xiaojin's craftsmanship is really good, even a pancake can be so delicious."

"Yes, this bean pancake is really delicious, much better than the ones I make myself." Li Guihua was also drinking soy milk and eating pancakes.This pancake was so delicious that she was a little reluctant to eat it, and wanted to take it home to eat for her grandson.

Everyone was very hungry after working all morning, and they felt that the food was very delicious. In fact, the bean pancakes baked by Lu Jin were very delicious.

Lu Jin was stuffing something into his mouth while talking to Wang Xiumei, "I won't be going home in a while, Xiaolian and Chenchen will take Xiaobao to school in the morning, and they will go home after school at [-]:[-] noon , I left food for them at home. With Xiaolian and Chenchen here, there should be nothing wrong with Xiaobao, sister-in-law, if you have time, just help me go and see them."

"Okay, it's okay, just rest assured." Wang Xiumei replied.

After they all ate, there were still a few bean pancakes left, Aunt Qin set aside a few, and packed the rest to take them to eat when they were hungry on the road.The things they brought contained two pairs of loads, and Lu Jin said that he would carry one, "Why don't I carry the load?"

"No, no, no, you haven't picked anything before. How can you carry the burden? Just come here." Cai Chunmei bent down, tried the tofu with the burden on her shoulders, and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's not very heavy. .”

"Okay, let's pick it up like this first, and change it when we get tired on the road." Aunt Qin picked a load of yuba and a load of dried tofu, and the things on her side were not very heavy.

The two aunts and aunts picked up all the heavy work, and what was left to him was a little light work.

When the three of them set off, the two people in front carried the burden. Lu Jin carried a basket on his back, which contained several catties of bean curd sticks, water for them to drink on the way, and some pancakes. After walking out of the tofu shop, he turned around and met The sister-in-law and aunt who watched them leave waved.

Aunt Qin also told her daughter-in-law to be optimistic about her two grandchildren, and left with Cai Chunmei carrying the burden.

***

After they left Lujia Village, they walked west for five or six miles to Lijiaao.

After coming here, Lu Jin has only been to the town a few times. The direction to go to the town is to the east, and the direction to Lijiaao is to the west, which happen to be two opposite directions, so he is not familiar with the village here. very familiar.

The villages here are connected to each other. Many villages are separated by a small river, and even the fields are connected together. Therefore, there will be some competition between the villages for water sources, or some villages occupying another village’s fields. And a dispute.

The three of them walked all the way west with their backs to Chaoyang, without stopping to rest on the way.

After passing through a field and a forest, they entered the boundary of Lijiaao.Cai Chunmei paused for a moment, then turned her head to Aunt Qin and Lu Jin and said, "We're almost here, just go ahead and you'll be at the market."

"All right, you go ahead, I've been to the market in your village, it's that kid Xiaojin who doesn't know the way." Aunt Qin has been to the market on the Lijia'ao side, and she knows where it is, so turn around Said to Lu Jin: "Xiao Jin, you have to remember the way, next time you want to come, you will know how to get there."

"Okay, I will remember." Lu Jin who followed behind smiled, his face was red from walking so far, his forehead was dripping with sweat, he raised his hand and wiped the sweat on his forehead with his sleeve , followed behind the two adults.

He saw that the two aunts and aunts in front of him were walking like flying with their burdens, and he himself was a little out of breath when he walked behind with a small backpack on his back. It can be seen that his physical fitness is too bad. Just add an hour of running every day.

There are many and high mountains on the Lijiaao side, and the whole village is built at the foot of a mountain, and at a glance, there are earth houses and bamboo buildings.Although Li Jia'ao is not very far from their Lujia Village, the atmosphere of the two villages is completely different.

When I met someone on the road, Cai Chunmei even greeted him. It was obvious that they knew each other from the village.Seeing her carrying a load, the man asked her what she was carrying. Cai Chunmei told them it was tofu, and asked if she wanted to buy it at the market, and the man said yes.

After walking for another ten minutes, they arrived at the market on the Lijiaao side.

It is said to be a market, but it is actually a small market formed by the people of their village setting up several stalls in an open space to sell things.It used to be a small market in Lijia'ao's own village. Over the years, the markets in nearby villages have been banned. Only the market on Lijia'ao's side is still open, so people from several nearby villages have to go to the market. They all come here, the market on the Lijiaao side is getting bigger and bigger, and more and more people come and go.

It was a bit late for them to come, and when they arrived, the market here had already started.

"Let's find a place to lay down the burden too." Cai Chunmei turned her head to discuss with Aunt Qin, and the two women carried the burden and walked for a while, and put down the burden at a vacant place on the side of the road.

Lu Jin followed the two aunts and aunts, looking at the people they met along the way. At a glance, they were all completely unfamiliar faces and people they didn't know.He had been here for so long, and it was the first time he had seen so many people, but they hadn't seen so many people in the town the previous few times.

If it weren't for the simple clothes on everyone's body, he would have thought he had returned to decades.But unfortunately not, he is still in the historical torrent of the 60s, supporting his family and doing business in the countryside.

"Hey, isn't this Chunmei? What are you selling?"

Before their stalls were set up, they met Cai Chunmei's aunt from the same village.There are still a lot of villagers in Lijia'ao in this market. They are all from the same village, and everyone knows each other.

"The tofu and bean curd sticks made by the tofu workshop in our own village, San Aunt, do you want to come and have a look? There are also some stewed dried tofu cooked by us." Cai Chunmei took off the lid and put a wooden board in the basket. Put the bottom tofu on top.

"You guys know how to make tofu. This tofu looks pretty good." The woman who was called the third aunt glanced at Cai Chunmei's tofu stand. Seeing that the white and tender tofu was quite good, she asked, "You guys How do you sell tofu?"

"Tender ones are ten cents and two yuan, and old ones are six cents and one yuan." Cai Chunmei picked up the bamboo slices and scratched the tofu. When their tofu was made, there were grids inside, which slid down the lines and peeled off piece by piece. The tofu were about the same size.

The woman felt a little too expensive in her heart, but she was embarrassed to say it, but she smelled a fragrance, and her eyes fell on the pot of stewed dried beans in front of Aunt Qin.Asked: "What is this, it smells really good."