When Meng Wan woke up, no one was home as usual. After washing up, he ate the breakfast that Chang Jinhua had left for him while thinking about the ingredients he needed to make tofu: soybeans, cloth bag, large pot, and firewood. If he succeeded, he would also need to order two wooden trays from the carpenter. The most important thing was the brine.
Meng Wan suddenly realized, “That’s right, how can you make tofu without brine?”
Did they have brine in this era? Of course they did, otherwise what would the tofu stalls in the market use? But where did they get the brine from?
When Chang Jinhua returned, Meng Wan told her that they were missing one ingredient to make tofu, and she didn’t know if they could buy it in town, so it might take a few days.
Chang Jinhua was slightly disappointed, but not entirely surprised. If it were simple to make, anyone could do it, and it wouldn’t have become a traditional craft.
”Auntie, do you usually buy your salt at the market?”
Meng Wan thought that she probably couldn’t get brine from the tofu stall, but ordinary people should be able to buy it, since the couple who ran the tofu stall didn’t seem to be people with any connections.
Brine should be uncommon, or few people buy it.
Chang Jinhua hurriedly said, “This stuff isn’t available at the market, and we ordinary folks aren’t allowed to buy or sell it privately. It’s only sold in town.”
It turns out that the production and sale of salt in the Yu Kingdom were all controlled by the imperial court. Private salt production and sales were serious crimes. Once discovered, salt buyers and sellers would have their families confiscated and their families exterminated. Only salt merchants with salt permits could sell their salt.
“We’re really running low on salt at home. Would you come with me to buy some tomorrow?” Chang Jinhua wondered if Meng Wan’s mention of something missing was related to salt.
Meng Wan did want to go to town. At this time of year, everyone in the village was busy with farming. The Song family had rented out all their land, so they were a bit more relaxed than other families. During the day, he and Chang Jinhua cleaned up the withered and yellow vegetable seedlings in the vegetable garden, turned the soil over again, and sowed cabbage and radish seeds. They would rely on these two things to get through the winter.
The next morning, Chang Jinhua changed into her long coat. It was too early for Meng Wan to wear the cotton-padded coat she had made, but the thin cotton skirt was just right. The brand-new indigo skirt fit him perfectly.
Since he was not yet married and could not tie his hair up completely, he tied up the top half of his hair and made a bun with a wooden hairpin. It was called a wooden hairpin, but it was actually just a round wooden stick that he picked out, rounded both ends, tore off the rough skin, and used to tie his hair. It was much more convenient than a strip of cloth.
He wasn’t that particular, but Chang Jinhua was annoyed with him, saying, “You might as well just tie a strip of cloth to it, what kind of appearance is that?”
Meng Wan still had a cloth wrapped around the lower half of his face. “Oh, Auntie, it’s fine as long as it’s convenient. Nobody will be watching.”
Chang Jinhua didn’t know what to think. She thought that he was young and handsome, and at the age when he loved to dress up, so she should dress him up nicely.
But when I actually saw him dressed in new clothes, so attractive even without makeup, I was afraid that taking him out would cause trouble.
Having been a widow for so long, she naturally became more cautious, so she didn’t say anything more.
There was only one salt shop in town, and its sign read “Zhu’s Salt Shop”.
Chang Jinhua and Meng Wan went inside. There weren’t many people in the salt shop, and they all went in with long faces, carrying small jars, and came out with long faces as well.
Buying and selling things should be a happy thing, so why was he behaving like this? Even Chang Jinhua, who was standing next to him, sighed.
”Auntie, what’s wrong?” Meng Wan asked, puzzled.
Chang Jinhua took a small jar out of the basket she was carrying, and the wrinkles between her brows deepened. “Salt is expensive. It costs ninety coins a pound. We really can’t afford it.”
She went in and bought two catties of salt, paying 180 coins, enough to buy more than ten catties of pork. No wonder everyone who entered this place looked worried. Salt is a necessity and a consumable. Every household can endure not eating meat, but not eating salt is not an option.
Meng Wan sighed inwardly. This was true exorbitant profit. It was unimaginable how wealthy the salt merchants here must be.
Given his current social class, he dares not acquire anything rare for fear of inviting trouble and losing his life. Being sold off like livestock is a stark example of this.
People are as cheap as grass. A slave’s life is not even worth as much as this small jar of salt. The brothers and sisters who traveled with him on the train were all sold off by their closest relatives. When their lives were hanging by a thread, even their parents would sell them off like animals.
The Song family mother and son treat him well now, but that’s on the premise that he’s harmless and might be their future husband. If Song Tingzhou were to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, he would have many more options and might not marry someone of slave status. If he’s in a better situation, he could become a slave in the Song family, but if he’s in a worse situation and the Song family can’t tolerate him, his fate would be similar to before—he would be sold off.
If he could have helped the Song family a little when they were poor, the situation would have been different. Not to mention taking advantage of their kindness, he could at least use Song Tingzhou’s status as a scholar as collateral to get rid of his slave status. Although his status as a Ge’er would be inconvenient, it would still be better than being controlled by others, at least he would be free.
Meng Wan calmed himself down a bit. The most important thing now was to demonstrate his value without being too conspicuous.
Taking advantage of the fact that the shop was not crowded at the moment, he asked the waiter, “Brother, do you sell brine?”
The waiter didn’t even glance at him, waving his hand dismissively, “Go away, what nonsense about brine, I’ve never even heard of it.”
Chang Jinhua took out two copper coins from her purse and stuffed them into his hand, saying, “Young man, you’re just a child and don’t know any better. Take these and have some tea.”
The waiter lazily stuffed the copper coins into his pocket, finally giving Meng Wan a proper look. “What kind of brine? Tell me in detail.”
Meng Wan thought to himself that the shopkeeper didn’t even want two copper coins, no wonder it was a salt merchant’s shop, but he began to describe it aloud, “It should be something that comes out with salt, white and like a stone.”
The waiter suddenly realized, “You mean bitter stone? People who can’t afford salt buy it to boil water, then boil some more and dry it to make salt to eat. Since you’ve already bought salt, what do you need it for?”
Meng Wan was shocked. Wasn’t this thing poisonous? How could it be boiled to make salt? This was beyond his knowledge.
The waiter dragged a bag out from a hidden corner, opened it, and inside were slightly yellowish crystalline stones. “They’re all here, ten catties for two coins.”
Meng Wan: “!!!!!!!”
He tugged at Chang Jinhua, who understood and said generously, “Then give me twenty jin.”
Meng Wan stopped her, “No, no, no, Auntie, ten pounds is enough.”
The two bought brine and carried it themselves, feeling much more at ease.
As they passed a small alley, Chang Jinhua kept looking inside, her body leaning slightly forward.
Meng Wan asked, “Is my cousin’s private school located here?”
Chang Jinhua snapped out of her daze and gave a bitter smile. “Dalang’s private school is at the west end of town, and my family home is in this alley.”
She seemed unwilling to continue, so Meng Wan changed the subject, “If we can really make tofu successfully, we’re still missing a wooden tray to press it down.”
Chang Jinhua pondered and said, “There are carpenters in Tianjia Village next door. We can go and have one made.”
They walked out talking, their steps neither hurried nor slow. Because they had gotten up early, they immediately went to town to buy salt, and it was only noon now.
”Jinhua…” an old man called from behind.
Chang Jinhua’s wrinkles deepened, and her expression seemed somewhat timid. She turned back to the old woman who had chased after her and whispered, “Mother.” She was nearly forty years old, yet she still showed this girlish demeanor in front of her own mother.
”You…you…sigh!” The old woman’s eyes were filled with tears. She wanted to scold Chang Jinhua, but she also felt sorry for her, as she had lost her husband and raised her child alone with such difficulty. She wanted to invite her home to sit down, but she thought that her daughter-in-law, who was in charge of the household, would probably not allow it. All sorts of emotions welled up in her heart, and she could only shed tears.
”Mother, don’t cry, my life isn’t hard.” Chang Jinhua could only turn around to comfort her, but her own eyes also reddened.
Meng Wan stood there helplessly. So this was Aunt Song’s mother. The mother and daughter clearly lived not far apart, so why did they act like they were reuniting after a long separation ?
Mother Chang, over sixty years old with graying hair, tremblingly held her daughter’s hand and asked, “We haven’t seen each other for three years. How have you been in the village? Is Tingzhou alright? This young man is… Tingzhou’s husband?”
Chang Jinhua’s voice choked with emotion, “Mother, don’t worry, my husband left behind a lot of savings, and Tingzhou is also filial and sensible. I’m not suffering.”
Holding Meng Wan’s hand, she didn’t hide anything from her elderly mother, saying, “This is the husband I introduced to Tingzhou; he’s not married into the family yet.”
Chang’s mother was short in stature. She tilted her head slightly to look at Meng Wan and said, “Oh, the birthmark is bright. He’s a good child.”
Slightly embarrassed, Meng Wan said to Chang Jinhua, “Auntie, there are benches at the noodle stall over there. Why don’t you help Grandma over to sit and chat?”
”No, no, no,” Chang’s mother refused.
”I came out to buy cakes for your second brother’s son, Yu Ge’er, so I can’t talk to you any longer.”
Chang Jinhua knew how domineering her second sister-in-law was, and dared not make things difficult for her mother, so she said, “Then you should go back quickly.”
If I had seen my mother two years earlier, I would have dared to say that I would visit her again after Tingzhou became a scholar, but now I can’t even bring myself to say it.
Looking at her daughter’s much older face, Chang’s mother couldn’t resist taking two loose silver coins from her purse.
Knowing her daughter was strong-willed, she didn’t say a word, but secretly slipped it into the basket Meng Wan’s hand while her daughter was supporting her.
Meng Wan opened his mouth to speak, but the old lady gave him a sidelong glance before leaving, so Meng Wan had no choice but to pretend he didn’t notice.
As Chang’s mother watched her daughter’s trembling figure leave, she lowered her head and wiped away her tears.
Chang Jinhua was in low spirits on the way back to the village. Once home, she sat silently on the kang (heated brick bed). There was silver in the basket, but Meng Wan didn’t dare touch it. He carried it into the house, placed it at Chang Jinhua’s feet, and then quietly withdrew.
After feeding the chickens, Meng Wan weighed out two pounds of soybeans and soaked them in water. Since it was his first time making them, he was afraid of making a mistake, so he decided to try a small amount first.
It was already noon when they finished doing all this, but when Song Tingzhou didn’t go home, he and Chang Jinhua ate two meals a day, and this was true not only for his family but for everyone in the village.
Meng Wan had been working all day, and the two bowls of porridge he had eaten in the morning were long gone. His stomach growled twice, and he drank a few bowls of cold water to calm it down. He then started thinking about grinding soybeans.
Making tofu can be simple or difficult, depending on how you look at it. If no one explains how to make it, most people wouldn’t be able to figure out the method. But once you know the method, the steps aren’t actually that complicated.
In Sanquan Village, there is a square for drying grain. It is smooth and flat, with two millstones in the middle, one large and one small. No one knows when or whose they belonged, but they have always been there, used by whoever wants to use them.
The large millstone was heavy, and only strong men and livestock could pull it. Meng Wan went to the grain drying yard to try the smaller one, and thankfully, it was not difficult to pull at the moment.
He thought of the couple who ran a tofu stall at the market. With such a large flow of people at the market, they only made three plates of tofu. They must have limited consumption in the nearby villages. Normally, they would be lucky to sell one slab of tofu a day in the villages. If they were to go to the town to sell their tofu, they wouldn’t have the stamina.
Meng Wan was a little annoyed and thought I’ll just make some tomorrow and see how it goes. The cost is low, after all; I’m unlikely to lose money on it.
The grain piles up more and more in the drying yard, and it’s not easy for the villagers to remember which pile belongs to which family. As soon as the grain is dried and taken home, another family will fill the gap.
The whole village was bustling with the autumn harvest, except for the widowed Song and Meng Wan, who were idle at home and stood out.
Having been a widow for many years, Chang Jinhua knew best how to avoid suspicion and never went to crowded places. Meng Wan, on the other hand, was always busy, either digging for wild vegetables in the mountains or strolling along the riverbank at the village entrance. The villagers were used to seeing the young man from Widow Song’s family running around, and they were generally kind to him.
”Wan-ge’er, are you playing with the millstone here by yourself?” The Tian family was also harvesting autumn crops, but they had more labor force. Uncle Tian and his wife, along with their two sons, Tian Xing and Tian Wang, were all working in the fields. Zhu-ge’er stayed home to cook and deliver meals, do laundry, and feed the livestock. Sometimes, Xiao-mei would pick up scattered rice ears in the fields, but when she got tired of it, she would find an excuse to go to the grain drying yard to turn over the grain, thus slacking off for half a day.
Meng Wan smiled at her, “I’m not playing.”
”What else could it be but playing? I think you’re just here to slack off like me.” Xiaomei liked talking to him; she always felt that whatever he said was interesting.
”So you know you’re shirking your responsibilities? Why don’t you help your sister-in-law with some chores? I think he fell down; his face was bruised when I saw him this morning.”
Xiaomei leaned closer mysteriously and said, “That wasn’t from a fall.”
”It wasn’t from falling, it was from bumping into something?” Meng Wan asked, thinking about the tofu, while giving Xiao Mei a perfunctory answer.
Xiaomei got anxious, “How can you be so clumsy? Who could bump their face like that!”
Meng Wan grew impatient. “Could it be that he was beaten up?”
Xiaomei had a look on her face that said, “You finally guessed right.”
This time, Meng Wan looked at her in surprise, “Who hit him?”
”What do you think? It couldn’t be me, could it?”
That’s Tian Xing.
Xiao Mei sighed, “My brother looks so honest and simple, but he actually beats his husband on the kang (heated brick bed) at home. I never would have guessed.”
Even Meng Wan was surprised that Tian Xing, who usually looks simple and honest, could beat up his husband. You really can’t judge a book by its cover.
Xiao Mei wanted to chat with Meng Wan about her family again, but then she saw Zhang Xiaoyu pushing a cart of grain over. It was an old-fashioned handcart, heavy and difficult to push. Zhang Xiaoyu had probably worked all day; he was covered in dust and looked rather annoyed.
”You young men and women are just wandering around aimlessly. Can’t you see you’re blocking the way? Get out of the way!”
He was just making trouble out of nothing. The grain drying yard is so big, there’s plenty of space to dry the grain, why did he have to squeeze in next to them?
Xiaomei is like a crab fighting in its hole—a bully in its own den, but when scolded by an elder she doesn’t know well, she shrinks her neck and moves away.
Meng Wancai wasn’t going to indulge him. “Second Aunt, I’m really sorry. We were so engrossed in our conversation that we only saw a huge cart of grain and no one. I thought it was haunted and the grain had grown legs and come running over!”
Zhang Xiaoyu’s face turned ashen. “Are you blind? Can’t you see me? What nonsense are you spouting?”