A Good Country Wife-Chapter 32 - Uncle Zhao the Third_1
Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Uncle Zhao the Third_1
Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Uncle Zhao the Third_1
Seeing Zhao Erhu’s attitude, Lin Yue knew that going to the market to sell food was temporarily impossible. She would have to slowly change his mind about it later. As for the tofu and bean sprouts she’d made, not selling them but rather using them to give away as favors was also good, and there was the leftover soy pulp from making tofu which they couldn’t finish eating.
Lin Yue thought about it and made two kinds of soy pulp food — soy pulp buns and soy pulp cakes, one sweet and one savory. They were great for gifting or as snacks for the kids. Otherwise, it would be a waste to throw away the leftover soy pulp.
Soy pulp buns were easy to make. First, she put warm water, wet soy pulp, sugar, and a little salt into a basin, then added flour and well-fermented starter dough. After mixing all the ingredients, the rest wasn’t much different from making regular white buns. The soy pulp buns turned out slightly yellow compared to the white buns, soft and sweet with a unique bean flavor—they were delicious.
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Soy pulp cake was Lin Yue’s favorite snack from her childhood. She cracked eggs into the soy pulp, added an appropriate amount of flour, onion powder, and pepper powder to make a batter. She then coated a pan with a thin layer of oil and used medium-low heat. When the pan was hot enough, she scooped a spoonful of batter into it, spread it into a round cake, and fried both sides until golden brown. The resulting delicious soy pulp cake was made.
Considering she wanted to give them away, Lin Yue made quite a bit of each. Besides the portion they’d eat at home, which she divided into four parts, one went to her father-in-law, and one portion each for the Wu Family, the village chief’s family, and Chunxi.
Chunxi was the woman Lin Yue had met on the ox cart when she went into the city last time, and later, Lin Yue bought two jars of pickles from her. In Zhao Family village, aside from occasionally mingling with Sister Chunhua, Lin Yue didn’t have any other friends. Last time, Chunxi had brought over pickles, and Lin Yue had invited Chunxi into her home for a chat.
It turned out that Chunxi’s husband hadn’t returned since he went out on business two years ago. It was just Chunxi, her five-year-old son, and her mother-in-law, depending on each other. They had no other source of income, relying on Chunxi and her mother-in-law to make food and embroidery to sell at the market, earning a modest amount of Silver Coin to live on. Last time, because of Lin Yue’s help, Chunxi sold quite a bit more than usual. Both Chunxi and her mother-in-law were very grateful. Besides the two jars of pickles that Lin Yue had agreed to purchase, Chunxi even gave her a fat white radish for free. Given the season without vegetables, this was quite rare. Lin Yue knew it was something even they themselves would hesitate to eat.
Lin Yue found that Chunxi was efficient and not given to gossip, nor was she one to take advantage of others easily. Feeling that Chunxi was someone worth getting to know better, Lin Yue increased their interactions. Zhao Erhu knew that Lin Yue was lonely at home by herself, and as long as Lin Yue was happy, and he deemed nothing improper about Chunxi, he did not interfere with their friendship.
Lin Yue didn’t like going to the old house, so she let Zhao Erhu take the portion for his parents there. She had intended to also send some to her eldest brother and sister-in-law, but since the old house hadn’t been divided, whatever was sent there would end up with Zhao Erhu’s stepmother from the Wei Family, and her sister-in-law and the kids would still be unable to get any, so Lin Yue didn’t prepare an extra portion.
Zhao Erhu took the basket from Lin Yue’s hands but didn’t leave right away. Seemingly recalling something, he said, “Niuniu, since you’re sending some to dad’s side, please prepare an extra portion. I’ll take some to Third Great-Uncle as well. Back when we were in the old house, and grandpa was gone, it was all thanks to Third Great-Uncle looking out for us.”
Third Great-Uncle was the brother of Zhao Erhu’s grandfather, a man of high standing in the family with only one son and one daughter, both of whom were successful. Unfortunately, many years ago, his son and daughter-in-law had died early in an accident, thankfully leaving behind a dutiful and capable grandson who worked as a constable in the Government Office. The daughter married a Scholar from the neighboring village, becoming the Scholar’s wife. Now, his granddaughter was of marriageable age. The villagers held great respect for Third Great-Uncle, especially since the Zhao Family village was mostly descendants of the Zhao clan. Third Great-Uncle had a significant standing in Zhao Family village, rivaling even that of the village chief.
