Chapter 354: Crispy on the Outside, Tender on the Inside
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Shen Qiuhua walked quickly. “Binglan, the workers are blaming themselves now that they know that two boxes of tofu have gone bad. What should we do?
Those two boxes of tofu are worth a lot of money.”
Her heart was heavy because the tofu everyone had worked so hard to make had gone bad. The villagers were typically frugal. Whenever they made food, they could not even bear to waste a single drop, let alone tofu.
They could have eaten the tofu if it had not spoiled. Still, it was such a waste of money and food.
Shen Qiuhua sighed helplessly.
“Don’t worry, Mother. I have an idea,” Su Binglan consoled Shen Qiuhua.
Shen Qiuhua’s dejected expression disappeared when she heard her daughter’s words. She looked at her daughter excitedly and said, “Do you have a way to save the tofu?”
Her eyes brightened when she looked at Su Binglan with anticipation. “I have an idea, but I’ll need to check something first.” Su Binglan nodded canny.
Shen Qiuhua trusted her daughter the most, so the first person she thought of after encountering such a fiasco was Su Binglan. If Su Binglan said there was a way, Shen Qiuhua would not doubt it.
Her mood improved exponentially, and she went to the factory with her daughter. The two went straight to the warehouse where they kept the tofu. As soon as they entered, they could smell the spoiled tofu.
Shen Qiuhua explained, “We had a lot of goods two days ago, so we put these two boxes of tofu below. When I was moving things, I saw these two boxes of tofu and thought they were empty.
“It’s because someone smelled a bizarre scent today that they realized these two boxes of tofu had spoiled.”
Shen Qiuhua was puzzled and wondered what the idea her daughter had was. ‘She can’t salvage spoiled tofu, right?’
Although it was an unbelievable feat, she felt her daughter always had a mysterious way of doing things. After all, it was not the first time her daughter had shocked her.
‘I wonder what the surprise will be this time.’
There were staff members in the tofu shop, and everyone covered their noses while waiting. The rotten tofu smelled bizarre, but they continued working. It was just that their hearts ached for the wasted tofu.
The workers did not know how to deal with it. They felt it was a pity that all that tofu went to waste. After all, it was food and money going down the drain.
Su Binglan looked at the spoiled tofu, and her eyes lit up. “Mother, bring me a big pot. I need it.”
The tofu factory had several large pots, and she wanted to use one.
“Binglan,” Shen Qiuhua asked, “Are you going to use a big pot for cooking the stinky tofu?”
Su Binglan smiled mysteriously. “You’ll find out soon, Mother.”
It just so happened she wanted to make stinky tofu, so she had a use for the spoiled ones.
Since Su Binglan had said so, Shen Qiuhua would do as her daughter told her. Shen Qiuhua said, ‘Qiu He, go to storage two and tell Cuihua to bring a big pot for us. Tell her to use another pot if she wants to prep the soybeans.”
“Yes, Miss Shen.” Qiu He now worked for Shen Qiuhua. Although Shen Qiuhua
had Qiu He under a contract, she would still pay the girl and would not treat her as a servant.
The Su family trusted Qiu He, Luo Kang, Luo Juan, and Du Xiaoju more than the hired workers.
“Mother, can you help me carry these two boxes of tofu inside? I’ll cut them into small pieces later,” Su Binglan said to Shen Qiuhua.
Shen Qiuhua nodded. Then Su Binglan took out the tofu and cut them into small pieces. She told the staff at the factory, “Help me heat this pot.”
“Yes, Miss Su.”
Whenever Su Binglan ordered someone to do something, someone would immediately oblige. One of the workers immediately heated the pot with firewood.
Everyone was curious about what Su Binglan would do. Of course, they had also heard about the two boxes of spoiled tofu.
Su Binglan poured some oil into the pot. When the oil was hot, she put the pieces of spoiled tofu in and deep-fried them.
She deep-fried the spoiled tofu in the oil, making it crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Shen Qiuhua’s heart ached as she looked at the oil in the pot.
‘Does she have to waste so much oil on the spoiled tofu? My heart can’t take it!’
Of course, the smell spread and became even more potent when Su Binglan deep-fried the spoiled tofu in the pot. The workers were astounded when they smelled it and did not understand Su Binglan’s intentions.
Although it smelled unpleasant, everyone had experience with daily farm work, feeding chickens, ducks, and pigs. They had smelled more pungent scents before, so they were not disgusted.
Besides, Su Binglan had given them substantial bonuses, so they would not have any complaints even though they had to work with the pungent smell wafting around. Everyone continued working.
Su Binglan saw that the tofu was ready, so she removed it from the pot and put it in another. Since there was a lot of spoiled tofu, she had to cook them in portions.
As she continued deep-frying the tofu, she said to Shen Qiuhua, “Mother, could you go to our house and bring me the spices? Also, wash the wild vegetables and cut them.”
Shen Qiuhua nodded in a daze, then went home to get the things.
Su Wenxiu was at home when his mother arrived. He smelled something and asked in surprise, “Mother, where did you go? Why do you smell like that?”
Shen Qiuhua patted Su Wenxiu’s shoulder. “You little brat, you won’t understand even if I tell you. I came home to get the spices.”
She could not be bothered to talk to her son. She got the spices, then washed and cut the vegetables into pieces before taking them to the tofu factory.
Meanwhile, Su Binglan cut all the stinky tofu into pieces after cooking the spoiled tofu. Then she saw her mother coming in with the spices and wild vegetables.
Su Binglan placed a few pieces of stinky tofu on a plate, then added some soy sauce and other seasonings. Afterward, she put in the wild vegetables and mixed them with the stinky tofu. That way, the stinky tofu dish could absorb the flavor.
“Do we have skewers around here, Mother?”
“No, but we have new wooden chopsticks,” Shen Qiuhua said. She had placed those chopsticks at the factory as a backup. “Do you want to use them?”
Su Binglan nodded. “Yes, mother, take it.”
After Shen Qiuhua took the wooden chopsticks, Su Binglan used them to pick up a piece of stinky tofu and ate it. After eating a piece of stinky tofu, she nodded. “Yes, that’s how it’s supposed to taste. It’s delicious. Although, adding some chili will improve the dish.”
She poured some chili into a bowl, dipped the stinky tofu, and ate it smilingly.
Everyone looked at her expression and was in disbelief. They all wondered whether or not the stinky tofu dish tasted good. Nonetheless, they would not believe others but would believe Su Binglan. It seemed the dish might be delicious, after all..
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