When the pears are green

Chapter 203 Tofu

Song Li and Li Yi took Kai Xin's ox cart to the town to buy soybeans and mung beans. After sending Song Li and Li Yi to the grain shop, Kai Xin continued to drive the ox cart to the restaurant.

Kai Xin drove the ox cart into the backyard of the restaurant and asked Zhang Er, who was helping him unload the cart from the ox, with a smile: "Second brother, is the boss here?"

Zhang Er pointed to the second floor and whispered, "The boss is here, but he's not happy."

"Thank you, second brother, for telling me. I'll go find my boss right away." After Kai Xin said that, he ran into the lobby and walked up the stairs to the second floor.

The door of the private room on the second floor was open. Hu Zhimin was lazily lying on the chaise longue by the window. The long sleeves of his wide sky blue brocade robe hung down the edge of the couch, revealing a water pattern inlaid with silver thread. His right hand was casually supporting his head, his eyes were narrowed, and it was unknown what he was thinking.

Kai Xin didn't dare to go in rashly and knocked on the door gently.

Hu Zhimin slowly opened his eyes, and seeing that he was happy, he asked him to come to the couch and answer.

Kai Xin lowered his head and reported to Hu Zhimin about the bean sprouts and garlic sprouts, and also told him about Song Li's plan to make tofu.

Hu Zhimin immediately sat up straight and asked Kai Xin with interest: "Kai Xin, when is Madam Jiang going to make tofu?"

Kai Xin quickly replied with a smile, "Boss, it should be these two or three days. When I went to Jiang's house today, the millstones had already been bought. Madam Jiang said that she would start making tofu after Jiang finished making the wooden boxes and wooden plates. Boss, can we replace Liu Shulin's tofu? The quality is not good, and it is often short of weight."

Kai Xin thought of the troublesome Liu Shulin and couldn't help but frown. He couldn't understand why the always shrewd Hu Zhijian chose to cooperate with the rogue Liu Shulin, causing a lot of trouble for Hu Zhimin who took over the restaurant later.

Hu Zhimin looked at Kai Xin with a frown on his face and smiled gently, opening and closing a folding fan in his hands.

"Liu Shulin's behavior is indeed despicable, but he is Liu Zhen's nephew, and the restaurant cannot easily terminate its cooperation with him. Our current power in the town is not enough to defeat Liu Zhen, so we must not act rashly." Hu Zhimin stood up and said, he walked to another window, gently pushed it open, and a gust of cold wind rushed in from the window, making Hu Zhimin and Kai Xin shiver.

Kai Xin compared the power of the Hu and Liu families in his mind, and it was obvious that the Hu family was more powerful. He asked Hu Zhimin in confusion: "Boss, it is obvious that the master is more powerful than Mr. Liu, why do you say that?"

Hu Zhimin tapped the window lattice with the fan in his hand, and in a good mood explained Kai Xin's doubts: "Silly Kai Xin, first of all, Liu Zhen's legitimate daughter is Cui County Magistrate's concubine, and secondly, the old man has more than one son. I heard from Jing Zhu that the county magistrate intends to remove Cui County Magistrate, the second master, but Cui County Magistrate has been operating in Linhe County for many years, and all kinds of relationships are intertwined. How can he be easily removed? The previous Lord Su also wanted to remove Cui County Magistrate, but he finally left Linhe County with regret. I am just a small merchant and cannot easily get involved in official affairs. However, Cui County Magistrate has many concubines in his family, and Liu Zhen's daughter is not the most favored one, so why not..."

Kai Xin saw Hu Zhimin pause and continued in a low voice, "Does the boss mean to let the fourth young lady also become the concubine of County Magistrate Cui? The fourth young lady is the most beautiful in the city, and she will definitely be more favored than Mr. Liu's daughter."

After hearing this, Hu Zhimin turned around and hit Kai Xin on the head with the handle of his fan. Kai Xin held his head and cried out in pain.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm not so incompetent that I have to rely on my sister's skirt to maintain the relationship. Linglong has always been good to you, and you actually want her to be a concubine of an old man over fifty years old. Where is your conscience?" Hu Zhimin said neither lightly nor seriously, wondering if he was too indulgent and happy in his daily life, so that he dared to make up stories about the unmarried lady in his family.

Kai Xin also knew that what he had just said was inappropriate, so he quickly knelt at Hu Zhimin's feet to admit his mistake.

"Even though Linglong is Aunt Gu's daughter, she is a lady of the Hu family after all. How dare you, a servant, look down on her like this? Considering that you have been with me since you were a child and have never made any major mistakes, I will punish you to kneel for an hour today. If you make the same mistake again next time, you will be sent to the countryside to guard the mulberry fields. Go call Zhang Er in, and then kneel on the corridor on the second floor." After Hu Zhimin finished speaking, he waved his hand to let Kai Xin go out, thinking in his mind how to remove Liu Shulin from the restaurant's business first.

Kai Xin first kowtowed to Hu Zhimin, then stood up and ran to the backyard to call Zhang Er up.

After Zhang Er entered the private room, he knelt happily in the corridor. He knew in his heart that Hu Zhimin didn't really want to punish him, but just wanted to teach him a lesson. The master is the master, even if the master has a bad life, the servants can't arrange it at will.

Zhang Er looked back at Kai Xin who was kneeling on the ground, then carefully closed the door and asked Hu Zhimin who was frowning, "What instructions does the boss have?"

Hu Zhimin whispered his plan to Zhang Er, who opened his mouth in surprise, with disbelief written all over his face.

"You heard it right, go and arrange it. You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a lamb." After saying this, Hu Zhimin lay down on the chaise longue again.

Seeing this, Zhang Er quickly stepped back and asked Kai Xin in a low voice what mistake he had made.

"I mentioned the Fourth Miss in front of the boss." Kai Xin answered with his head lowered.

Zhang Er reached out and tapped Kai Xin's head, saying that it was all his own fault, and asked Kai Xin to kneel down obediently.

Kaixin recalled that the Fourth Miss had once helped him out in front of Hu Zhijian, but today he was thinking of asking his boss to send the Fourth Miss to be a concubine, and he slapped himself twice.

Hu Zhimin listened to the "pa pa" sound coming from outside the door, and the corners of his mouth rose. He opened the door and asked Kai Xin to kneel for an hour before going to Li's house to find him.

On the way to Li's house, Hu Zhimin met Song Li and Li Yi who had just come out of the grain store.

"Mrs. Jiang, I heard happily that you are going to make tofu?" Hu Zhimin asked Song Li with a smile.

Song Li nodded quickly and said that she had already bought the soybeans and would try to make them in the next day or two.

"Mr. Hu, the dried vegetables have been dried. We will bring them along when we deliver the garlic sprouts to the restaurant tomorrow." Song Li continued to say to Hu Zhimin.

Hu Zhimin nodded and tactfully reminded Song Li not to conflict with Liu Shulin, who was selling tofu, and that he could sell the tofu in a nearby village first.

Song Li thanked Hu Zhimin, thinking that Liu Shulin should be the tofu seller in the town mentioned by Li Yi. Since Hu Zhimin reminded her, it seems that this person should have a strong background. She planned to ask Chen Yuan about Liu Shulin in the next two days. If he is really difficult to deal with, it is not a bad idea to sell it in several nearby villages first.

Hu Zhimin did not tell Song Li about Liu Shulin's background. He wanted to test whether the seemingly intelligent and insightful Song Li would listen to advice. He did not want to cooperate with an impulsive person for a long time.

After the three of them separated, Song Li walked on the way home with a lot on his mind, feeling a bit desolate as if "dying before accomplishing his mission".

Although Li Yi stayed in the study for many years and was raised innocently by Master Li, she still heard the deep meaning in the conversation between Song Li and Hu Zhimin. She didn't know how to comfort Song Li, so she could only follow Song Li silently and steal a glance at her from time to time.

Seeing Li Yi stealing glances at her from time to time, Song Li smiled and said that what Hu Zhimin said was very normal, so she should avoid him first and wait for the right opportunity to go to the town to sell tofu.

In order to distract Song Li, Li Yi stopped talking about tofu. She told Song Li about the interesting things that happened in the bookstore, and they soon returned home.

Jiang Qingzhou pulled Song Li to the kitchen to see the finished wooden boxes and wooden trays. Song Li touched the smooth surface of the wooden boxes, looked at the gaps between the tightly connected wood, and kept praising Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou laughed happily, then leaned on Song Li's shoulder and whispered to Song Li.

Song Li pushed Jiang Qingzhou away with a slightly red face, and relayed to him what Hu Zhimin had said, and said that she wanted to find Chen Yuan to inquire about Liu Shulin's situation after making the tofu.

Jiang Qingzhou nodded and agreed with Song Li's idea, and the two decided to wait until the evening to start making tofu.

Song Li was not sure whether she could make tofu successfully, so in order to avoid waste, she soaked two kilograms of soybeans.

In the afternoon, the two of them went to the riverbank to cut a load of white grass, preparing to repair the roof in the next two days. When they returned home, the soybeans were already soaked.

Song Li first cleaned the stone mill, and then scooped soybeans and a little water into the feeding port.

Jiang Qingzhou pushed the stone mill, and the bean residue quickly flowed out from the stone ditch.