Chapter 105 Braised Tofu

  Zhong Gensheng couldn't bear to disappoint his daughter, so he hastily put it in his mouth and said, "It's fragrant, delicious! The oil from the braised meat is inside, how can it not be good?!"

  "Dad, if it's delicious, I'll also bring some to sell. After all, not many people can afford to eat braised meat. But this tofu is quite ordinary. With this flavor and the pork fat inside, even if we double the price, someone will still buy it. This tofu costs 5 cents for 5 pieces, and mine is 25 cents for 5 pieces. What do you think, Dad?" Shen Sisi smiled and said, "It's not expensive, right?"

  "It's actually not expensive compared to braised meat..." Zhong Gensheng smiled and took another bite, saying: "It's a good dish to go with wine..."

  "It's settled then, from now on we'll sell the meat and buy dried tofu instead. We should find a regular supplier, if we buy in bulk, it's possible to get six or seven pieces for one coin, that way we'll make even more profit..." Shen Sisi smiled so widely her eyes disappeared.

  "Hey, how are those two going to split the money from selling this?!"

  Shen Sisi glared at him and said, "The profit from the braised meat is already quite high, but you want to divide it among them? Who dares to do that?! With this kind of treatment, in the future when people buy braised meat, they won't even need to give out small pieces of meat as a bonus. Giving out this will be fine, and it'll save money..."

  Si Bao's mouth twitched after hearing that, and he deeply felt that Er Gouzi and the others would be quite pathetic even if they could get their wages.

  "Dad, eating pig's trotters, taking a bite with your mouth, isn't it good for drinking too?!" Shen Sisi smiled and said: "Unfortunately, one pig only has one pair of trotters, if there were more, we could sell them by the catty..."

  Here it's not modern times, pig killing is on a large scale, you can put the pig trotters together and sell them, this is much more expensive than pork, unfortunately, it's worthless here, mainly because there are too many bones.

  Si Bao listened and his mouth twitched even more. Why did this girl only think of making money whenever she saw something?!

  "Girls, Xiaohua, and this pork and tofu soup, how is it? Delicious, right?" Shen Sisi served them two dishes and said: "Eat a bit more, there's such a big pot of it, if you don't finish it, it'll be wasted..."

  The two laughed and said: "You eat too, Tuni, look how thin you are..."

  She sighed helplessly and shook her head, she had been malnourished for a long time, now it's hard to make up for it later.

  There are really a lot of dishes on the table, especially a whole pig's internal organs stewed in a big pot until they're tender and fragrant. The tofu is flavorful, delicious, and aromatic. San Bao eats with relish and says: "Tuniu, the tofu is also delicious, I've never had such delicious tofu before..."

  Shen Sisi smiled with curved eyes and patted San Bao, who was eating hastily, saying: "Eat a bit more..."

  The big pig head that was braised is to be sold tomorrow, but taking a whole pig head into the city is too scary and people don't dare buy it. So after finishing dinner, Shen Sisi took a knife and cut the pig head into small pieces so that it couldn't be recognized anymore. However, she kept the pig ears and planned to eat them for breakfast tomorrow.

  Crispy crispy crunchy bones are crackling in my mouth, just thinking about it feels wonderful.

  The family finished their work and took a rest, tomorrow will be another good day. The big pig in the pen at home was still oinking, occasionally you could also hear the sound of the little pigs they raised themselves, indicating that this family is slowly becoming wealthy...

  The Zhong family is wonderful, while the Niu Lao Gen's home is gloomy. For the past two days, Niu Lao Gen has not been in a good mood. Although he knows his daughter is living a great life at the Zhong's, eating meat every day, wearing new clothes, and even having hairpins to wear, he has heard the villagers' gossip, and hearing those rumors makes him feel really bad...

  Selling his daughter, to a honest and simple farmer who has been honest for a lifetime, even if he was forced to do so, it is still extremely unbearable in his heart.

  He sighed and lamented, the more he thought about it at home, the more unbearable it became. The emptier the house was, the more painful it was. Seeing Tian Guihua was even more unbearable. As soon as he thought that she had caused all this, he hated her deeply. He always scolded her with a stern face, never showing a good expression...

  He didn't get to see his daughter off in style, and instead sold her. Old Cow's heart was filled with indescribable pain, self-reproach, shame, guilt, and regret.

  Tian Guihua was even more cautious, but she dared not speak out. She had seen enough of Niu Laogen's face. When she saw Niu Laogen sighing in front of the house where Niu Xiaohua used to live, she felt uncomfortable in her heart.

  So, in these days, she didn't dare to speak much more, at home she was like a wrongdoer, being very honest and obedient, but she never thought that she had done anything wrong, she just feared that after being sent back by Niu Laogen, she would lose face and be without a place to live.

  She thought of what she heard in the afternoon, her expression twisted, and seeing Niu Laogen sighing again, she stammered: "......Laogen, we've been married for decades, don't be angry with me, it's my fault, but I heard that Wang Xiucan took a new wife today, so you won't have to worry about Xiaohua in the future..." After finishing, she choked and looked at Niu Laogen's glaring eyes, then swallowed the rest of her words.

  But, after all, she was still not reconciled, and she stammered again: "...... It's my fault, the Zhong family is also well-off, their braised meat business makes a lot of money, they will definitely become rich in the future, Xiaohua's life will definitely be better... You don't have to worry about that girl too much, it's just that you sold her, but what you did was excessive, if she could marry into a good family with dignity, that would be great..."

  Niu Laogen sneered and glared at her with slanted eyes, not saying a word. He did all this to guard against this old good-for-nothing, his wife who would stir up trouble for no reason and cause him to lose even his daughter.

  Does she think he's willing to do so?!

  Seeing his eyes were not right, Tian Guihua held her head down and swallowed the words back into her belly. After thinking for a moment, she still didn't dare to speak again, fearing that she would touch off Niu Laogen's bad temper, which had been getting worse lately, so she didn't even dare mention braised meat anymore...

  Although she had already made up her mind to have braised pork, she didn't dare mention it to Niu Laogen. Her eyes rolled around, today was interrupted by that little girl Tuniu, if only she could persuade Xiaohua a bit more... That little girl was too soft-hearted and wouldn't listen to good words, no use trying to coax her. Tian Guihua's mind was racing, no matter what, she had to get that prescription.

  She gritted her teeth in hatred, and didn't know how that little girl could be so cunning. Thinking of the beatings she had endured, the threats she had faced, she was filled with deep hatred, gnashing her teeth in anger, wishing she could bite off a piece of flesh from her body to vent her rage...

  But it's just a thought, that girl is even more reckless than her. Unwilling to accept defeat, truly unwilling to accept defeat. She must think of a way...

  Niu Laogen saw her lowering her head and not speaking, took a few puffs of smoke, then coldly laughed twice, saying: "...... If you dare to be evil again, I'll kill you."

  Tian Guihua lowered her head and pursed her lips in obvious disdain, clearly not having listened.

  In her heart, she was thinking of letting Xiaohua's three sisters-in-law take things to coax Xiaohua. After all, that little girl is still young, and using some small favors to coax her would probably work...

  She can come into contact with braised pork every day, and she doesn't believe that she won't be able to find the secret recipe.

  She quickly glanced at Niu Laogen with her eyes and knew that he was guarding against herself to find trouble for Xiaohua. She couldn't be free, but could her three daughters-in-law not be free either?!

  "After some thought, she said: 'I still have some needlework to let my three daughters-in-law do, I'll go find them. My eyes haven't been good lately, and I can no longer thread the needle...'"

  Niu Laogen listened and didn't react much, just faintly saying: "Come back early." It was a warning.

  Tian Guihua sneered inwardly, looking at her as if she were a criminal. She snorted and patted her apron, hurrying away with quick steps. This old house was really annoying to stay in for even a moment. This stubborn old thing only knew how to control her. Annoying.

  Tian Guihua would rather go live with her sons and no longer wants to live with this useless old man.

  The next morning, Shen Sisi took Er Gouzi and they left. Then, Niu Xiaohua's three sisters-in-law came over, smiling, each holding something in their hands. Although they were reluctant to give things to Niu Xiaohua, after hearing Tian Guihua's words yesterday, they steeled themselves and brought them out to curry favor with Niu Xiaohua.

  As soon as I entered the Zhong family's courtyard, my nose caught the lingering aroma of braised meat from the house. A glimmer of greed flashed in my eyes - if only I could get this recipe... that would be great! Our family would definitely live a better life, at least better than digging for food on the ground.

  I heard that Zheng's family is also selling braised meat, but after inquiring about their family spending one or two silver coins a day to buy a package of braising spices from the Zhong family, they all gave up. In their hearts, they scolded Zheng's daughter for being foolish, having the spice package without even opening it to take a look?! Spending this kind of money every day is really...

  But no one knew that Zheng's wife had already divorced him...

  Three people just think that selling sauce packets can earn one or two silver coins a day, their eyes are full of enthusiasm, and with the money earned from selling braised meat, this is a huge fortune...

  So they all came in with a smile, looking at He Axiu as if she was a misty water, especially when they came up and pulled He Axiu's hand, laughing: "Oh, Auntie is good, our Xiaohua is obedient at your house, listening to you, my little daughter is the most honest, but if there's anything wrong, Auntie must take care of it..."

  Three people, one sentence each, made He Axiu unable to cope. These three people were the most talkative, but they had never come to the poor and desperate Zhong family before. This time, was it for Xiaohua?! He Axiu thought uncertainly, looking at what they were holding in their hands, she was stunned, even if she was foolish, she somewhat understood, fearing that Tian Guihua had sent them over...

  In the village, who doesn't know that Tian Guihua's three wives are also formidable? Not only can they talk and laugh, but they're also quite stingy, just like Tian Guihua. They don't have her carefree spirit, but their greedy nature is almost identical to hers. Now these three snakes have come in, thinking of taking advantage of Niu Xiaohua... He Axiu couldn't help but look at Niu Xiaohua with concern as she sat in the house.