Chapter 017 Rent

"Eat it while it's hot."

"Okay." Zhuang Qingsui accepted the offer, taking a piece first for Zhuang Qingning: "Sister, you eat first."

Zhuang Qingning chuckled, accepted it, and swallowed it down.

The tofu exuded an intense bean aroma, the texture was soft and maintained its integrity, producing a profound and lingering aftertaste.

In short, it was delicious.

"Not bad, it's edible." Zhuang Qingning smacked her lips: "Start eating, and taste the tofu we made."

"Okay!" Zhuang Qingsui nodded heavily and began to eat the tofu.

"Delicious!"

Zhuang Qingsui let out a gasp of astonishment, before fairing two more pieces into her mouth as though she were starving, only then slowly savoring it: "It's really delicious. This must be the most delicious tofu I've ever had."

It is even tastier than the Physalis tofu Aunt Wen made.

"If we took this tofu to sell, it would definitely sell well." Zhuang Qingsui's nose went red with excitement.

If the tofu sold well, they wouldn't need to worry about their livelihood in the future, and they could live a good life!

"You two girls, what are you talking about selling?"

Mrs. Wen, carrying an oil lamp, entered the kitchen.

"Aunt Wen, you're up early." Zhuang Qingning smiled: "We just finished the tofu, and we were thinking of letting you try it when you woke up."

"How could I sleep with all the clanking going on all night?"

Mrs. Wen grunted and glanced at the neat block of tofu beside Zhuang Qingning, leaning forward to catch a whiff.

After examining it for a while, she straightened up with a wrinkled brow: "You do know how to curdle tofu with rice vinegar. At least, you're not a fool."

Zhuang Qingning swiftly cut a piece of tofu, made it into small pieces and placed it in a dish, handing it over to Mrs. Wen: "Aunt Wen, try it."

Mrs. Wen maintained her stern expression, picked up a piece from the tofu bowl and tried it.

The more she chewed, the more she frowned.

And she was holding the tofu in her mouth without swallowing it at all.

"Aunt Wen, how's the taste?"

Zhuang Qingning's soft voice broke Zhuang Qingsui's daydream, startling Mrs. Wen who was in deep thought.

Mrs. Wen seemed to snap back to reality, swallowed the tofu in her mouth, and asked: "Apart from rice vinegar, what else did you add when you curdled the tofu?"

As expected, Mrs. Wen had picked up on something unusual about the delicious tofu.

Zhuang Qingning smiled and replied: "This is the secret weapon my sister and I plan to rely on to establish ourselves. I absolutely can't reveal it. Aunt Wen, when you used to run a tofu shop, you never shared the secret of Physalis with others, right?"

"So you're not worried that if you don't say it, I won't rent this tofu shop to you?" Mrs. Wen's eyes lifted slightly, emanating a flicker of coldness.

"But if Aunt Wen doesn't rent it to me, you'll never know what's put in it. Maybe you won't even get to eat it in the future." Zhuang Qingning smiled slightly, looking up at Mrs. Wen.

They faced off, creating a tense atmosphere.

Neither party showed any sign of backing down.

After a tense silence, Mrs. Wen suddenly let out a long sigh, crossing her hands behind her back.

"You are so determined to rent this tofu shop, what can an old woman like me say?"

"When you're old, all you get is being bullied. There's no room for me to even speak. I have to talk to the village chief and see what's going on with the people in our village, whether there's any sense of order left."

Mrs. Wen snorted, her face gloomy, she turned to leave, hands behind her back.

Regardless of her attitude, she didn't say she wouldn't rent it.

Since she didn't say no to the rent, it was taken as an implicit agreement.

Zhuang Qingning relaxed her clenched fist inside her sleeve and quickly caught up with Mrs. Wen: "So what about the rent?"

"Rent?" Mrs. Wen stopped in her tracks and gave Zhuang Qingning a side glance: "Do I look like someone short of money?"

Mrs. Wen was indeed not short of money, at least not the rent for this tofu shop.

Although Mrs. Wen's children didn't live with her, they were always dutiful. They took care of her during the holidays, bringing money, clothes, and food. Mrs. Wen lived alone and naturally didn't spend much. Everyone in the village said that Aunt Wen might seem poor, but in reality, she was quite well-off.

"A bowl of savory tofu pudding for breakfast every day, a plate of homemade tofu for dinner, and on the first and fifteenth of each lunar month, deep-fried tofu and tofu balls must be made. If you can do that..."

"We can do it."

Zhuang Qingning didn't wait for Mrs. Wen to finish, she immediately agreed: "Aunt Wen, rest assured, we can do it."

As long as they could rent the tofu shop, these weren't issues.

"Since you can do it, stick to it."

"From now on, the tofu shop is yours to use. Don't touch the things outside, arrange for whatever you need, repair whatever is broken, get whatever you want yourself. Also, the leftover soybeans in the tofu shop, if left there, they'll just spoil. For now, you can use them, and I'll just deduct the equivalent tofu from you later."

"Only one rule…"

Mrs. Wen gave Zhuang Qingning a sidelong glance: "Never say in public that the tofu-making skills you have were taught by me."

"I can't possibly make such unpalatable tofu. It would ruin the reputation of my tofu shop."

"Aunt Wen, don't worry, I remember. Rest assured." Zhuang Qingning smiled and agreed, then picked up the tofu bowl that Mrs. Wen had only eaten a piece from and passed it to her: "Today, I didn't know what you'd like for breakfast, so I didn't prepare tofu pudding. Please consider the hot tofu as today's portion. You can eat it with green onion. It's not bad as a side dish."

"Trying to get rid of me with unpalatable tofu."

Mrs. Wen didn't soften her expression, but she did take it: "Given the situation today, there's no tofu pudding for breakfast, so I'll reluctantly have a couple of bites."

Having said that, she picked up the bowl and the oil lamp, and she walked out of the tofu shop.

Seeing Mrs. Wen leaving, Zhuang Qingsui finally let out the breath she had been holding, followed by heavy breathing, and then she wiped off the sweat beads that had appeared on her forehead due to the tension.

"I thought Aunt Wen wasn't going to rent it to us."

"Why would she not?" Zhuang Qingning smiled: "As soon as it gets light, we'll carry the tofu to town to sell. While it's still dark, you better eat your tofu to fill your stomach, then take a nap here, I'll call you when it's time."

"Okay."

Zhuang Qingsui yawned widely, rubbing her sore and tired eyes.

After working all night, even though she had slept well the previous afternoon, she was extremely tired now. Sitting on the small stool and leaning against the large pillar next to it, Zhuang Qingsui fell asleep.

The fire in the big stove hadn't completely died out, the tofu in the room was still hot, as was the liquid in the water tank waiting to ferment, heating up the entire tofu shop. Even in her sleep, she didn't feel cold.

Zhuang Qingning, on the other hand, poured out the soybeans from the sack beside her, carefully selecting out the poor quality beans.

Once the tofu production started, it couldn't stop.