Chương 28: Chapter 28: The Tasteless Food

Qi Younian entered and immediately spotted the busy Ye Xinyan. He smiled and asked, "Ye Zi, are you making that unusual dish of yours? These seasonings smell really fragrant as they simmer."

Ye Xinyan added a few pieces of firewood to the stove and said, "I only know how to make it, but whether I can succeed or not is still uncertain. Today, I must make extra, it's only enough for one meal for us. Regardless of how well it turns out, we'll eat this today." Thinking it had been many years since she last made it and that she was not used to the lime available here, if it didn't turn out well...

Considering the possibility of the rice tofu turning out badly today, which would probably taste terrible and yet couldn't be wasted, Ye Xinyan's voice lowered a bit, and she spoke with less confidence, "If the rice tofu isn't successful, I guess it won't taste good, and I'll have to keep trying tomorrow. That... it has to be made successfully, right?"

Upon hearing this, Qi Younian couldn't help but laugh. "Even if it's not successful, it's still food, right? Let's just think of it as if we're drinking mixed grain porridge. Can you manage by yourself, or do you need Grandpa to help?"

Ye Xinyan hastily replied, "No need, I can handle such a small task by myself. You went out early to find a carpenter and have just come back, so go sit down and rest for a while."

"By the way, did the old master find a carpenter?" Nanny Jin asked, setting aside her needlework and coming out from the inner room.

Qi Younian, sitting on the edge of the bed-stove, replied, "I found one. I've already made arrangements with the carpenter; we will use their lumber. Once the furniture is made, we'll calculate the cost, including labor and materials. Ye Zi's Great Uncle has given his guarantee."

"It's the busy farming season now, did the carpenter say when he will be able to finish the work?" Nanny Jin was a bit anxious. Everything inside and outside the house was scattered about with no proper place to put them. Even bowls, dishes, and plates were kept in a basket, and clothes were piled up on the bed.

"Carpenter Wang said he would start right away. His farm work can be taken care of by his two sons putting in extra time each day, and he will free himself up to focus on making our furniture. I've negotiated that as soon as he finishes an item, we'll bring it back home to use," Qi Younian said while drinking water.

Nanny Jin was relieved and contented, "That's good, that's very good. Even though we don't have many possessions, the cluttered mess inside and outside doesn't look good. Once we have furniture, everything will be organized, and it will finally feel like a proper home."

These words from Nanny Jin filled Qi Younian's heart with warmth. For so many years, he had thought he would end up lonely in his old age, an outsider buried in a foreign land. Unexpectedly, when it seemed all was lost, he gained a granddaughter, a considerate and sensible girl.

Yes, he already had a family, and when everything in the house was in place, it would become an even cozier home.

Meanwhile, Ye Xinyan continued to struggle with her rice batter and dipping water.

After a brief rest, Qi Younian went outside to build an animal shed. Erecting an animal shelter was rather urgent, and fortunately, it had not rained these past days, otherwise, even the donkey wouldn't have a place to be tethered.

When the sun was high in the sky, Ye Xinyan's face was flushed red from the steam rising from the stove, and the rice tofu in the pot was ready to eat.

At that moment, Qi Younian was still busy in the yard, but Nanny Jin was already following Ye Xinyan, curious to see what this food, meant to be sold for money, looked like.

Ye Xinyan wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and said to Nanny Jin, "Nanny, go call Grandpa to wash his hands and eat. Looking at the set rice tofu, which had captured Nanny Jin's curiosity, she smiled and nodded, "It's quite alright, not as good as I imagined, but not bad either. We'll have this for lunch today."

Ye Xinyan served each of the three a large bowl of rice tofu, topped with dipping sauce and spicy oil, allowing everyone to add seasonings to their taste. The rest was kept warm in a clay basin in the pot. If Qi Younian liked it, they could share some with the members of the main and third families.

The rice tofu was still paired with the wild vegetable mixed flour pancake.

An oilcloth was spread over the kang bed in the outer room, and on it were laid bowls, chopsticks, dipping sauce, chili, and a small basket, inside which were mixed flour pancakes mixed with wild vegetables.

Although Lady Han and the villagers looked down on wild vegetables and the people who ate them, Ye Xinyan had no such scruples. With fresh, tender wild vegetables available, she preferred to mix them into the mixed flour to enrich the dietary fiber and nutrients.

Qi Younian entered, wiping his hands, and upon seeing the bowls on the kang with their content looking like soft tofu and topped with rich, colorful dipping sauce, he smiled and said, "It looks like a delicious dish, but I wonder how it tastes?"

Ye Xinyan asked Qi Younian to sit on the kang, "Whether it's tasty or not, why not give it a try? Grandpa, please sit up here and see how it tastes." She turned to Nanny Jin, "Nanny, come up too and see if it's good enough to set up a stall and make money."

Ever since Nanny Jin followed Ye Xinyan out, she had never again enjoyed the good days at the Duke's Mansion. She had suffered a great deal, yet she never complained, nor did she resent Ye Xinyan. Her only concern was the tenderness with which Ye Xinyan had grown up, only to face such trials in the end.

Having been dragged into this predicament by her and enduring hardship together, without a single complaint, Nanny Jin still cared deeply for her. With such an elder around, Ye Xinyan naturally couldn't treat Nanny Jin as if she were a servant, but always considered her a senior family member.

Over the past six months or so, Nanny Jin had also stopped being as cautious as before and sat on the kang following Ye Xinyan's words. However, she did not start eating first, disregarding their relative status, but waited for Qi Younian to pick up his spoon.

Qi Younian, along with some dipping sauce, brought a spoonful of the rice tofu to his mouth. The rich aroma of rice, mixed with the flavor of the dipping sauce and the tender, smooth texture of the rice tofu, spread in his mouth, truly deserving of the description 'melts upon entry, salty and delightfully smooth.'

Qi Younian nodded continuously, swallowing the rice tofu in his mouth, and praised, "Not bad at all, very tasty. Although the texture of the rice tofu is similar to soft tofu, the taste is different, full of rice fragrance. Good, good, it will surely sell well and make money."

Ye Xinyan smiled with her eyes narrowed in delight, nudging the small dish of chili oil towards him, "Grandpa, add a bit more chili, and it will taste even better." She urged Nanny Jin, "Nanny, try some too, see how it tastes, would you like some chili as well?"

Seeing Nanny Jin also eating with satisfaction, Ye Xinyan felt relieved. In fact, this batch of rice tofu wasn't quite perfect. She wasn't too good at measuring the amount of lime water used, but she was certain that she could do even better next time.

As the two of them began to eat, Ye Xinyan said, "Grandpa, there is still quite a bit of rice tofu left on the stove. We've received much support from Great Uncle and Great Aunt since we came back, so I'm going to take some of it to Great Uncle and his family's home."

Qi Younian replied, "No rush, keep the rest of the rice tofu warm on the stove, go after we eat. If you run off now, the food will be cold when you get back."

Ye Xinyan, while dividing the rice tofu on the stove, responded, "I'll keep our food warm on the stove, it will still be hot when I get back. If I deliver the rice tofu to Great Uncle's family too late, it will be past mealtime, and reheating won't taste as good as when it's freshly made."

When Ye Xinyan brought the rice tofu to Great Uncle, they had just started to set the table. She served a soup bowl topped with dipping sauce on the rice tofu as an added dish.

Ye Xinyan explained that this was the dish they were selling at their stall, made for the family to taste first. If they liked spicy food, they could add some chili powder to enhance the flavor.

Although the dish brought by the great-niece was rather unusual and looked appetizing, Lady Wang could tell at a glance that it was not very nutritious and wasn't an expensive delicacy.

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