The "T" shaped lever on the grinding disc has a labor-saving effect, driving the grinding rod, which is enough for an almost ninety-year-old lady to support the force required to push a grinding disc with a diameter of about sixty or seventy centimeters.

The grinding disc was even more insignificant under Qiao Shi's hands, and the speed of the rapid operation made Xiao Jiajun almost unable to keep up with the speed of putting beans, and shouted "Slow down, slow down, I can't keep up!" ”

In fact, grinding tofu still has a variety of exquisiteness, the speed of grinding is fast and slow, it will affect the taste, and Granny Tang makes the ancient tofu that has been passed down from generation to generation, unlike the variety on the market that will not break no matter how bumpy it is, this kind of handmade tofu unique to Han Jiujiu's hometown is so tender that it is unimaginable, and it has to be held lightly, and it can be broken into several cloves without care.

But it is precisely because it is not easy to form, this kind of tofu has never been liked by the chefs of those big hotels, because it can not be cut and shaped by people's minds, and it is basically not served on the table except for making soup, so it is generally only popular in rural areas that do not pay attention to the appearance of food, and has firmly dominated the tofu market for hundreds of years with its smooth and tender taste, and it has not changed until the time when Han Jiujiu was reborn.

And Granny Tang is the best tofu in Shili Eight Villages, her tofu stall is placed at the door of her house, and she only starts selling it at two or three o'clock in the afternoon, and she sells one pot a day, and before four o'clock it will be snapped up by the purchasing power of several villages next to her.

Other tofu makers are either far away from Granny Tang's market, or honestly avoid the time when she sets up a stall, which is almost an unwritten rule in Shili Eight Villages.

Because of this, Granny Tang was able to pull the fatherless and motherless little Jiajun to such a big point by herself-

"Mother-in-law, have you ever thought about it...... In the future, you are gone, what should Xiao Jiajun do? ”

After following Granny Tang for a long time, Han Jiujiu suddenly changed his voice and asked.

"Hmmm......"

Granny Tang seemed to take over the topic very calmly, smashing her dried orange peel-like mouth, her eyes "looked" in the direction where the big and small voices came, and the cloudy white film didn't seem to stop her from witnessing her little grandson's spirit of pointing out the country-

"Slow down, slow down, my grandma said, I can't eat hot tofu in a hurry!" It's the little guy who looks full of anger after he can't keep up with his hand speed.

Qiao Shi: "Oh. ”

Slowly slowed down the speed of the push.

Little guy: "You have to stop a little when I put the beans, otherwise the beans will be spilled, hey, look at the bucket, don't let the soy milk overflow the white cloth!" ”

Hearing this, Qiao Shiyan gently pinched the four corners of the barrel to make sure that they would not be rolled together by the force of the soy milk flowing down from the grinding plate.

Little guy: "Oh, there's no water!" ”

Qiao Shi: "I'll go and ......"

"I want well water!"

"Got it."

The wise and martial Lieutenant Colonel Qiao was commanded by the little guy in grinding tofu, and Granny Tang smiled softly with her shriveled mouth, she was no different from blindness, but it never seemed to be a problem, she could still grind tofu, and she could "see" the carefree childhood of her little grandson, and the suffering next to her seemed to have nothing to do with her all of a sudden.

"Hmm...... People always have to die. ”

The old grandmother touched her wrinkled forehead with the thin palm with swollen and deformed joints, and the skull that seemed to be wrapped in old skin was frightening, she smiled, a little satisfied and a little disappointed: "It's already so old, I still feel that it's not far from getting married, it's already so old......"

"It is said that people do not have unbearable suffering, only can not enjoy happiness, I used to complain that the days were too hard, and my eyes were blind from crying...... Now I'm afraid that the hard days won't last long, and I can't see my family Ah Jun grow up. ”

"I'm only six years old and I'm in preschool...... I helped him buy a new school bag for his first grade, as well as a lot of pens and new books, which I hid in my closet. ”

“…… I pulled a few feet of cloth, and I wanted to sew a few clothes for him, but my eyes were getting more and more blind, Ah Jun helped me thread the needle, and I couldn't figure out where to cut it, so I simply sewed a shoelace, which was also in a small schoolbag, and I didn't know if he needed it, and now dolls don't like to tie shoelaces. ”

"I want to see him go to elementary school, junior high school, high school, and university with his schoolbag on his back...... Then marry a girl who has also studied in college, and the doll born in the future will be a cultural person! Unlike me, I don't recognize a word until I die......"

"The daughter-in-law doesn't have to be pretty, just be able to endure hardships with him."

"His grandfather and his father have been useless for two lifetimes, and they haven't left him any family property, and he will have to earn it by himself in the future, and his daughters will suffer with him, so he must treat others well."

"My Ah Jun loves to play so much, hehe, I heard that after playing, you have to grow taller, it must be taller than the small jujube in the yard, the high point is good, the high point is easy to find a daughter-in-law......

The old grandmother didn't know if she was aroused, so she was next to Han Jiujiu, babbling some small instructions, as if she felt something, and recited some of the words hidden in her heart in the past, "looking" at the little guy who was laughing heartlessly, a trace of sadness brewed in her eyes, gently patted Han Jiujiu's weak and boneless little hand, and sighed:

"I died when I died, and I didn't ask for anything, I asked the village chief for the first two years, for the sake of the same ancestor, my family's seven or eight acres of land are all good fields cultivated for two generations, subleased to the villagers, how much rent a year, let the village chief help manage it, and take care of my little grandchildren until adulthood......"

"The child can't eat much, and the new house that was just built last year is lived, the wind can't blow the rain, the tuition fee my old lady paid him until he graduated from primary school, plus the savings of these years, save a province, save a province...... It should be enough for him to grow up. ”

The old man said one by one, those private or sensitive plans—where were the gifts for the little one, where were the things that could be saved in case of emergency, to whom the fields were entrusted, and who was to help manage the little one's living expenses...... No matter how big or small, as if explaining the aftermath, it is not only the anxiety of an old man for his children and grandchildren, but also the wisdom of people's hearts left by the years.

Every time one more person knows her plan, Xiao Jiajun's life will be watched by one more person, whether he is well fed, clothed and educated in the future, there will be the eyes of the masses to help supervise-

If people's hearts are not ancient, there is always a way back......

Belonging to the afternoon sun, an old man and a young man sat against the grapefruit tree, the shade of the tree sieved out fine spots of light and fell on the bundle of white hair, a small handful, low hanging behind the head, but it was unusually neat and regular, just like this simple but neat and clean small yard, looking comfortable and ironing.

"Alas...... I don't know what's going on today, you listened to the complaints of the afternoon, Teacher Xiao Han, I know you are a good person, in the future, I will ask you to help watch my family's Ah Jun's study, that child is sensible, he can still do it if he stays by his side to help with chores, if the old woman is gone, please watch more. ”

"Don't let him ...... Starving ......"

As she spoke, the old grandmother took Han Jiujiu's hand, her cloudy eyes were already full of tears, and her shriveled lips trembled, as if she was enduring a lot of bitterness.

"Okay."

Han Jiujiu shook the old man's palm back and promised: "Jiajun is a very talented child who learns everything quickly, as a teacher, I really hope to have such a disciple." ”

is a disciple and not a student, which means that Han Jiujiu has the intention of accepting an apprentice, but I don't know if the old grandmother can hear it.

As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Qiao Shi and the two of them, who had already filtered the bean dregs and started to cook the tofu, the next process was too time-consuming, and Qiao Shi, who did not have a little skill, could hardly intervene, and there was no point in the two of them staying here.

So, Han Jiujiu politely said goodbye, looked at the man who was sweating beads of sweat from the fire, slowly got up, and greeted him, leaving a white-headed old man standing silently under the tree.

"Okay?"

Qiao Shi wiped his sweat, looked at the woman who was holding one of his arms, and asked softly while opening the firewood.

"Hmm...... Next, it's up to Granny Tang to understand my hints. ”

She said - yes, then you will be accepted as a disciple and carefully teach your skills, maybe in a few decades, there will be a ** teacher like the old lady in the north and south of the river again; No, she will also carefully adopt and nurture her, and then walk the world as a mortal, which can be regarded as fulfilling her duty as a land, and also fulfilling the original period of cause and effect.

"After all, everyone has their own fate, and they can't be forced. I just don't know if that little guy can accept such abrupt bad news......"

Han Jiujiu sighed for a long time and said, gently sniffing the man's fireworks and the smell of sweat, sniffling, and turning his head in disgust: "Go back and take a shower before you can enter the room!" ”

"Oh, don't look at who it's for! It's too late to dislike it now! ”

Qiao Shi, who was sweating all over, chuckled, stretched out his hand to copy, and copied the whole person into his arms and pressed it into his sweaty chest-

"Damn, how dare you - let go of my !!"

Han Jiujiu's hair was fried, and his whole body was stained with the smell of his sweat, and it was useless to let her punch and kick the struggle.

"That way, we can wash together when we go back!" Qiao Shidao, hugging Han Jiujiu, couldn't stop the smile on her lips, so hated that she shook Fang Cai's sadness out of the clouds in an instant, stretched out her claws, and aimed at the small tender meat on someone's waist, just smacked it!

"Whew, murder of my husband!!"

The high-pitched and majestic screams resounded in the sky, Qiao Shi grinned, but refused to let go, jumped into the suddenly opened space of the Divine Mansion, and disappeared on the empty village road.

"Hmph, yes, show affection, die quickly, the dog abuser should be burned!"

On the side, Dou Zhan, who jumped out of nowhere, grinned, and said that the body of the dog, which was almost more than a person tall, had shrunk to the point that it was no different from ordinary dogs, except for the black and shiny hair, which was no different from the domestic dogs scurrying around in the village.

"But, in that case......" It licked its front paws, rolled its eyes, and said happily: "Stupid Han is gone with the stupid lieutenant colonel, so won't no one care about me?!" ”

What is an opportunity, this is called an opportunity!!

Fighting "snapped" and stepped on a piece of gravel on the side of the road, excitedly wagged his tail into a fan, and roared in the direction of the town with his neck tilted - it hadn't been shopping for half a year!

"After so many days of hard work, I want to take a vacation, my lord will go on vacation, your two-person world will live longer, quack quack !!"

Ignoring the two who abused the dog and the fight that didn't want to be abused and ran out to wave, everyone who went away didn't notice that the old man who was left alone at the foot of the tree, when they used their divine power twice, his fingers trembled slightly, and then he returned to his deep contemplative appearance, and sat motionless on his small stool.

"Grandma, what's wrong with you?"

Suddenly, a slightly hesitant voice sounded, she was startled, reached out and touched it, it was her little grandson.

Han Jiajun's face was gray, he was burning the fire in the kitchen, but the tofu was boiling, and his grandmother hadn't come in yet, and he couldn't reach the pot and couldn't get rid of the foam, so he hurriedly came out to call someone, but when he saw his grandmother's solemn and calm appearance, he was frightened and said cautiously.

"It's Ah Jun, Grandma is fine, is the water boiling, I'm going to skim the foam, you go wash the tofu board, Grandma will teach you to set up a stall today!"

Granny Tang got up with her back bent, almost staggered, and was helped up by Xiao Jiajun, but just as he was about to speak, Granny Tang slowly and resolutely pushed him away, touched his little head and asked: "Good, listen to Grandma, go and wash the tofu board." ”

But isn't that ...... "Washed a long time ago?!"

Han Jiajun opened his mouth in a panic inexplicably, but looking at his grandmother's thin appearance, he almost instinctively stopped, looking at the old man's back in a daze that was more staggering than before, and somehow, suddenly a sour premonition hit.

"Grandma'......"

He called softly, with a hint of panic.

On the other side, Granny Tang, who had opened her little grandson, stuffed a handful of firewood into the stove, and under the strong white haze, she could only vaguely see a bright light in the fiery direction, and slowly waved her hand.

"Blind...... Unseen. ”

With a light sigh, the tears finally rolled down, reflecting the red stove fire, which became more and more hazy.

"I can't see what my family Ah Jun looks like, and when the old man asks, he complains again."

Tears kept falling, and the sound was still flat, and the thin hand held the foaming wood chips, and steadily fished out the boiling white foam in a circle, without anyone's guidance, after a while, the fire was withdrawn, the temperature was cooled, and the big antimony pot was already clean.

The old man took out a big bowl from the wooden cupboard, filled it with a full amount of soy milk and put it aside, first scooped out the sugar from the crockpot and sweetened it, covered it on the dining table and waited for Han Jiajun to come back and drink it.

Then, she slowly mixed the gypsum, prepared to wait for the temperature of the soy milk to drop to about 80 degrees, stirred it with a wooden spoon and poured it into it, let it fully react with the soy milk to form tofu flowers, and let it cool and condense.

Then, take several square wooden troughs with a length and width of 60 centimeters and a depth of about 4 centimeters, put a clean white cloth on each one, scoop the condensed tofu flowers into several wooden plank troughs with a scoop, cover them with a white cloth in the trough, and then press a wooden board and stone to reduce the water content and be pressed into shape.

After more than an hour, the stones and wooden planks were removed, turned over, and the white cloth was removed, and a milky white checkered plate of tofu was freshly baked!

If you want to sell, you will use a piece of 60 centimeters long, 6 centimeters wide, which is divided into ten squares by a carved line "wooden ruler" measurement, with a clean blade cut into a small square, a ten, a pound of beans can be exchanged for one, cheap and affordable, is one of the several kinds of food that has been prosperous in the countryside for a long time.

Granny Tang struggled to stir the tofu flowers that had become more and more viscous, and the experience of making tofu for most of her life made her already know where the trip had reached just by feeling it, and she groped to the door and shouted from the direction of the well: "Ah Jun, have you washed it?" Serve tofu! ”

"Wash, wash!"

Hurriedly holding the wooden plank trough that had been put aside a long time ago, Han Jiajun inhaled his red nose and ran over, but he avoided his grandmother's welcoming hand, brought it to the table and put down his things, and consciously took another small melon scoop and started to work.

"Alas......"

seemed to feel her grandson's resistance, but Granny Tang didn't say anything, took another slightly larger melon scoop, and told while scooping:

"Remember, to make tofu, choosing beans is the key, you must not use those old beans, those things are lifeless, and the beans made are not delicious......"

"Soak the beans, don't soak them for too long, four or five hours will be fine, the soy milk that is ground out after soaking for too long will not taste good......"

"Don't be too anxious to grind soy milk, just like you said, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry, you have to grind all the beans and grind out the innermost essence, so that the soy milk is delicious......"

"Remember to skim the foam when boiling soy milk, if you don't skim it, it will be gasy...... Don't stop the heat immediately after the soy milk is boiled, and cook it for an extra three to five minutes to let it cook through...... Put gypsum to remember the proportion, our kind of spoon scoops a spoonful into a big bowl of water, and mixes it into gypsum slurry, just enough to make so much tofu, you have to remember. ”

She touched her little grandson's head, slowly told the secret of making tofu over the years, and shed tears as she spoke, and hurriedly turned her back, not daring to let the little guy see-

"I—I can't remember, grandma......"

Xiao Jiajun was crying next to him, and Granny Tang smiled and silently shook his head, saying: "It's okay, it doesn't matter, forget it if you can't remember, my Ah Jun won't need this to support the family in the future, isn't it, Ah Jun is a person who wants to make a lot of money in the future." ”

muttered: "Hold the boat and sell tofu...... It's good that my Ah Jun should not touch it for the rest of his life......"

Pressing the stone on the wooden board, Grandma Tang gently took his hand and entered her room in the back room, the newly built subsidized room is quite spacious, but there are too few things for the elderly, a wooden bed that was put together when he got married, it has been creaking for more than half a century, and the old mosquito net hangs on it, although it is clean, but several huge patch bars are attached to one by one, which looks dilapidated.

A marrying, a mahogany box with red paint that has fallen off, an old-fashioned wardrobe, a few self-made straw benches, and not even a formal wooden chair, this is all the belongings of Granny Tang, all filled in this obviously partial room, it still looks extremely wide.

The old man sat tremblingly on the edge of the bed, took out a brass key from his neck, handed it to Xiao Jiajun who was following her in a daze, and said, "Good, Ah Jun, go and open that red box." ”

The little guy nodded, but did not take the key first, but ran over and dragged the box to the grandparents and grandchildren, and then sat on the straw bench, holding the key to explore the brass lock that slapped him back, the patterns on it were a little blurred, and the style of the Ruyi pattern was still smooth and yellow, I don't know how many years it was an object.

With a click, the copper lock opened, and the old box was lifted, revealing something bulging underneath that was hidden by a few pieces of clothing.

Granny Tang fumbled and opened the old clothes, those were still worn in the early years, the flag style with a buckle, the color was either black or blue, it was the style that the woman's family passed all the way from the end of the Qing Dynasty, and now almost no one wears it.

Beneath the old clothes are different eras, a small blue schoolbag with bright pictures comes into view, as well as a set of clothes, pants, shoes and socks, gloves...... The size is different, the smallest one can be worn by Han Jiajun now, and the larger one is already an adult body, which can be seen to be prepared for different ages.

took out her clothes, and the broken banknotes hidden under the pillow, those that were saved when she came to buy tofu, most of them were exchanged for a whole month and handed over to the village chief, for fear that no one would know where to hide when she was gone, and these scattered ones were all kept as pocket money for the little guy.

There are also real estate certificates, land transfer certificates, household registration books, emergency passbooks, and ...... In short, there were a lot of bits and pieces, and she told them over and over again as if she were going to die in the next second, until she was sure that the little one had memorized them.

"Ah Jun, do you like your little Han teacher?"

Granny Tang touched his little head, as if she couldn't touch it enough, and suddenly asked again.

"Happy, like...... Sister Jiujiu was very good to us. ”

The little guy lowered his head and was very well-behaved, as if he also realized that today's atmosphere was extraordinarily different, and replied in a muffled voice.

"Then would you like to worship Teacher Xiao Han as a master?"

"What is Master?"

"It's about the same as a teacher."

"That Jiujiu sister was originally my teacher."

"No, it's not enough to be a teacher, Master is like Abba and Grandma, she will teach you a lot of powerful things, and you can also live in Master's house, just like living with Grandma."

"But I have a grandmother, I don't want to live with others, I want to live with my grandmother!" ”

Woo woo, grandma, don't you want me too...... Like Abba and Grandma, don't you want me too, I'll be very well-behaved, I'll just eat a little bit, don't drive me away, okay! I don't want Master, I want Grandma—woowoo......" 166 Reading Network