The Romance of the Famous Marshals of the Early Tang Dynasty Li Jichuan

Chapter 15: The Half Immortal Sees Accurately

The fat boy walked up to the white-haired old man and said with a smile: "Grandpa, grandson grinds beans, you can rest." ”

The white-haired old man pouted at the opposite side and said, "You go to the opposite side to grind, finish making tofu early, and go to the market to sell it early." ”

The white-haired old man and the fat boy pushed the stone mill together, and as the grinding disc rotated, the soaked soybeans rolled down the small slope to the grinding eye, and one by one fell down, leaking into the gap between the upper grinding disc and the lower grinding disc, and was crushed into foam, and the gurgling water flowed down into milky white raw soybean milk, which flowed out of the grinding seam, and then flowed down the groove on the stone mill. Fall into the barrel below.

Afterwards, the fat boy poured buckets of ground raw soy milk into the boom. The boom is composed of two wooden sticks and a piece of gauze, and the four corners of the gauze are firmly tied to the two crossed wooden sticks to make the shape of a net bag. While the fat boy was pouring the soy milk, the white-haired old man manipulated the boom and shook it up and down, left and right, so that the milky white raw soy milk was filtered through gauze and flowed into the cauldron below.

The old woman lit a fire on the wood stove under the cauldron and carefully added firewood to the stove: at first, the fire should be fierce, and when it is about to boil, the fire should be small, otherwise the soy milk will overflow out of the pot at once. In order to make the soy milk cooked thoroughly and evenly, the fat boy stood next to the pot, took a spoon and kept scooping it up, and then slowly poured it into the pot. After the raw soy milk is filtered, it boils in a moment, and the low heat boils for about two minutes, and then the stove is removed.

The white-haired old man and the fat boy scooped the cooked soybean milk with a big spoon into a short and thick vat, the fat boy poured the brine weighing well into the brine tank, the white-haired old man took the bowl with the brine, scooped a bowl in the brine tank, held the bowl in his left hand and slowly poured it into the short and thick vat, held the wooden spoon in his right hand, put it in the short and thick vat, and slowly stirred up and down. After all the brine in the brine tank was emptied, the fat boy took a large lid and put it on top of the short and thick tank.

When the white-haired old man and the fat boy ordered tofu with brine, the old woman had already set up the mold for pressing the tofu, which was made of sycamore wood, and the four sycamore molds were inlaid and fixed with wooden rivets, and thirteen holes were drilled in each of the four walls to allow water to leak. Place the sycamore mold on a tofu curtain made of bamboo slices, and spread the inner layer with coarse gauze.

After simmering for a moment with the soy milk ordered with brine, the fat boy lifted the big lid on the top of the short vat, and the tofu flower was formed, and the milky white tofu flower and the pale yellow slurry were immediately separated. The fat boy carefully placed the clumps of tofu flowers with a wooden spoon into the mold used to press the tofu layer by layer, and scooped them all into the mold. The white-haired old man filled it with a wooden shovel and smoothed it, the old woman wrapped the coarse gauze cloth on the inner layer, and the white-haired old man moved the pressure plate to cover it, and the pressure plate and the mold frame were together and could fall down. The fat boy brought two large wooden blocks of equal weight and placed them at both ends of the pressing plate, and the large wooden blocks were pressed on the pressing plate, and the slurry water inside would slowly flow out.

After about an hour, the fat boy took down two large wooden blocks of equal weight, the white-haired old man moved the pressure platen, the old woman opened the coarse gauze, and a faint fragrance rushed to her face, and the white and tender tofu was ready.

The white-haired old man walked out of the door quickly, looked up at the sky, it was just dawning, and shouted to the room: "It's still early, let's go immediately, and we can come back before noon." ”

After saying that, he walked briskly to the backyard stable. The fat boy carried the molds containing the pressed tofu one by one to the yard.

After a while, the white-haired old man pulled the set carriage to the front yard, the white-haired old man and the fat boy moved the mold containing the pressed tofu to the carriage one by one, the old woman tied it with a rope, the fat boy opened the courtyard door, and the white-haired old man pulled the carriage and went out of the courtyard gate.

The fat boy smiled: "Grandpa rests, grandson catches the car." ”

"Hmph" The white-haired old man snorted and said, "Little child, there is no hair on your mouth, you can't handle things well, let's catch up with the empty car for two more years."

The old woman took some dry food and water from the main house, and sat down in the carriage with the fat boy, while the white-haired old man drove the carriage and galloped towards the market.

After arriving at the market, the white-haired old man, the old woman and the fat boy were all sold together, and in more than an hour, all the tofu was sold, and the fat boy drove the empty carriage, and the white-haired old man and the old woman sat in the carriage and returned home before noon.

The white-haired old man and the fat boy were drinking tea in the main room, and after half an hour, the old woman brought a plate of beef in sauce and a plate of spiced peanuts, put them on the table, and said with a smile: "You're all hungry, come and eat." ”

The old woman smiled at the fat boy and said, "Xu Mouse, there is also a pot of tofu soup, you go to the stove room to bring it." ”

After a while, the fat boy came to the table with a pot of tofu soup in his left hand and a plate of white flour steamed buns in his right hand.

The white-haired old man said to the old woman, "Old woman, get two more dishes, and I'll drink two more cups to relieve my fatigue." ”

The old woman replied, "Yes." "Turn around and go to the stove to cook.

The white-haired old man instructed the fat boy, "Xu Mouse, come and pour wine for grandpa."

The fat boy stood up and poured wine into the wine glass in front of the white-haired old man, the fat boy sat down, sandwiched a peanut, put it in his mouth, rattled and chewed, raised his head, looked at his grandfather, and saw a pair of soybean eyes squinting on his copper-colored face, chewing a piece of sauced beef in his mouth, with a pleasant expression.

The fat boy was bold and shouted at the stove room: "Grandma, bring a wine glass, and my grandson will drink two cups less to relieve his fatigue." ”

The white-haired old man picked up the wine glass, took a long sip of wine with his neck tilted, and put the wine glass heavily on the table.

He yelled loudly: "Children, no drinking!" ”

The fat boy hurriedly stood up, filled the wine glass in front of the white-haired old man, and said with a smile while pouring wine: "Who made you my grandfather, listen to you." ”

After a cup of tea, the old woman took two plates of dishes, walked to the dining table with a smile, put a plate of steamed dried mackerel in front of the white-haired old man, and said with a smile: "But it's a half-fairy, he said nonsense that it rained heavily in the afternoon, so scared that we only made half of the tofu, and made a few less money, and I made two dishes less, but you old gluttonous cat didn't follow." The words just fell.

There was a deafening thunderclap sound, and the old woman was so frightened that she sat down on the chair, and the plate containing spiced edamame in her hand fell into the tofu soup pot in front of the fat boy, splashing many slices of tofu, and it happened that two slices of tofu stuck to the fat boy's face.

The white-haired old man hurriedly stood up, folded his hands, and prayed to heaven: "God, a woman with long hair and short knowledge, and her mouth is wild, she has offended your old man, please atone for her sins." After praying, the white-haired old man walked quickly to the door of the house, held the door frame with his hand, and looked up at the sky.

"Click" and a deafening thunderclap sounded, and the white-haired old man hurriedly folded his hands, knelt on his knees, and prayed to the heavens: "God, as the saying goes: the godson in front of people, the godwife behind the back, and the old woman offends your old man, it is the fault of the villain, and your old man will punish me." As soon as he finished speaking, it began to rain heavily.

The fat boy trotted to the white-haired old man, picked up the white-haired old man, and comforted: "Grandpa, it's raining, no more thunder." ”

The white-haired old man looked up at the sky, stood up, and said with a long sigh of relief: "This thunder struck me, but it scared me." ”

The white-haired old man walked to the dining table, pushed the old woman, and said with a smile: "God, I have forgiven you." ”

The old woman shook her head, came to her senses, folded her hands, and prayed, "God atonement, God atonement." ”

The old woman saw a piece of tofu on the fat boy's forehead and nose, so she hurriedly stood up, walked to the fat boy's side, helped him remove the tofu slices, put them on the corner of the table, and rubbed the fat boy's forehead with her hands.

While asking, "Grandson, is it hot?" ”

The fat boy smiled: "Grandma, the tofu soup is not hot, it is not hot." ”

The old woman smiled and said, "Thanks to the tofu soup I made first, and then the dishes." ”

The white-haired old man smiled: "My grandson has rough skin and thick meat, and he is not afraid of being hot." ”

The white-haired old man took a sip of wine, put down the wine glass, and said with a smile: "Let's eat, if you don't eat again, the food will be cold." ”

The old woman took the plate containing the spiced edamame out of the tofu soup basin, wiped the bottom of the plate with a rag, and placed it in front of the fat boy.

The old woman smiled and said, "Grandson, grandma knows that you like to eat spiced edamame, and I picked the big beans to cook for you today, can you taste them?" ”

The fat boy picked up a spiced edamame, peeled off the skin of the edamame, put a edamame in his mouth and chewed it carefully, and blurted out: "It's delicious, it's so fragrant." ”

The fat boy turned his head to look at the heavy rain outside the door, and then said, "Grandma, four months ago, after lunch, I was plowing the ground in a small peanut field at the west end of the village.

Suddenly, someone shouted: "Xu Mouse, go home quickly, it's going to rain heavily." ”

I looked up and saw that the half-immortal was holding an umbrella in his hand, standing at the head of the field and shouting to me. I looked up at the sky, the fiery red sun, without a trace of dark clouds, and I said, "Half immortal, there are no dark clouds, and it won't rain heavily." ”

The half-immortal said: "Little child, if you don't listen to the old man, you will suffer in front of you." ”

After speaking, he walked towards the east end of the village.

While plowing the ground, I thought: "The half-immortal went out, holding an umbrella, and the umbrella blocked the sun and couldn't expose the face of the half-immortal, no wonder the half-immortal is a big white face." In the future, if I want to go out and hold an umbrella, I can also become a big white face. But if I want to plow the ground, I can't hold an umbrella, if I hold an umbrella with one hand and plow the ground with the other, the strength of plowing is only half, and the planing is too slow. ”

I thought about it in a mess, planed to the end of the field, and looked back: a small piece of peanut field has been planed for more than half, and with more effort, it can be all planed before the sun sets. I turned around and stood on the next ridge to plow the field, just in the middle of the field.

Suddenly, there was a "rumbling" thunder in the sky, I picked up the hoe and ran home, ran to the field, I remembered that the jug was still at the end of the field, I ran back to the end of the field, picked up the jug and ran, the second time I ran to the field, the sky was pouring rain, and the beans rained heavily on my body. I ran home desperately, and when I got home, I had been poured into soup by the heavy rain. ”

The fat boy picked up the remaining three edamame, put them in his mouth together, and munched on them.