Chapter 259: Chapter 95 Tofu Products
Gu Xiâs expression was a bit unnatural, because the fifteenth of August is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and most of the married women in the Dayan Dynasty return to their maiden home on the sixteenth. Of course, some do not return, as once married, they have a pile of chores at home. If the sister-in-law returns to her maiden home, the mother-in-law keeps the wife at home to cook. Today is only the eleventh, still several days away from the sixteenth!
Gu Xi only gained the freedom to return to her maiden home after dividing the family, when the mother-in-law was in charge, she could not return home freely.
"Whatâs second brother been busy with lately? Why didnât I see him today? Itâs already noon, and neither did I see second sister-in-law and their children." Gu Xi picked up the tea cup on the table, took a sip, and then asked about Gu Chengyi. She had been here over an hour and hadnât seen anyone from the second household.
"Your second sister-in-law returned to her maiden home, I donât know where your second brother is, often not seen." Mr. Gu frowned as he mentioned this. The second household frequently returns to the maiden home, and previously the second brother would go fetch them back, but lately, he often disappears; sometimes when the second sister-in-law stays at her maiden home for several days, he doesnât go fetch her.
"Second sister-in-law has returned to her maiden home again?" Gu Xi was also a bit surprised, itâs said that second sister-in-lawâs family isnât close to her, so why return so often?
"What about Erlang and them? Where do they eat dinner when they return at night?" Gu Xi thought of her two nephews and niece, could they have been taken to the maiden home together?
"Erlang studies during the day and returns at night to eat in the main house; Sanlang now works at the soap shop in town, stays at the shop, and doesnât come back; Sanya always eats and sleeps with your eldest brotherâs family." Speaking of these matters, Mr. Gu thought of his third son, who opened a shop in town.
The third son hadnât returned for a month. This time Xiaobao achieved the Scholar status and would certainly return for the banquet. The third sonâs wife was pregnant, so they didnât return often; it was difficult for them to conceive, so they had to be careful.
Gu Chengyu glanced at Wang Quanshou sitting in the corner; so much time had passed, yet he hadnât said a word.
Mr. Gu provided the answers, and the room fell silent; Gu Chengyu guessed that Gu Xi would soon reveal the reason for her visit.
"Father! Nowadays, the family is doing well, but my husband and I are struggling financially. Xiao Bao is already studying at such a young age, my child Ah Dou is eight years old and canât even recognize a single character. Thereâs only so little income from the field, how can it support the whole family for a year?"
Gathering her thoughts, Gu Xi spoke out. At this point, Mrs. Lv entered the main room from the kitchen, just in time to hear Gu Xiâs words. Mrs. Lvâs expression soured, yet she ultimately said nothing.
Gu Chengyu recalled that previously he had found work for Wang Quanshou at Manager Zhouâs cloth shop in town. Today, he was supposed to be at the cloth shop, why did he come to visit?
How to put it? Wang Quanshou lacked skills, wasnât smart, didnât understand how to be flexible, making it hard to find suitable work. Thus, Gu Chengyu asked Manager Zhou to accommodate him since the town was nearer his elder sisterâs home. Though his own First-class House was also in town, it was a small shop with all staff arranged, and he couldnât simply drive others away.
"Didnât I mention a job opportunity for brother-in-law previously? Is he not doing it anymore?"
"Your brother-in-law worked for a few days then stopped, the shop staffers are alert, your brother-in-law speaks awkwardly, and lacks the skill to do the job." Actually, Gu Xi was also quite helpless with Wang Quanshou, he wasnât bright, was often bullied when working outside.
Gu Xiâs words made Gu Chengyu realize that finding a suitable job was not easy, perhaps helping them start a small business would be better. Brother-in-law couldnât manage it, but his elder sister seemed like quite a capable woman.
Gu Chengyu sat in the chair pondering, the small business could only be humble, as Gu Xiâs family had little capital.
"What does son-in-law want to do?" Mr. Gu was somewhat angry, talked about finding a job previously, even tried, doing business also lacked the eloquence and courage needed, he didnât know what else to do.
Gu Chengyu suddenly thought of tofu, his third sister-in-lawâs father made tofu for sale, but in the Dayan Dynasty, tofu was just tofu. There were no soy products like in the previous life, such as tofu skin, soy milk, bean curd, fried tofu, hundred-page tofu, none of these existed in Dayan Dynasty. Might as well have the elder sister and her family make and sell them.
He planned to find books on these topics later in his space, tofu skin, and tofu he knew how to make already; fried tofu was easy, only the hundred-page tofu he wasnât sure about, needed to experiment and try making a few times, should be similar to the previous life.
No matter what, she was his elder sister, although not of the same mother, they had familial bonds, it was right to offer help.
"Could you find a lighter job? Or in the soap shop, find a job?" Gu Xi wasnât sure, Wang Quanshou was fine farming, couldnât say what else he could do well, but he was diligent, worked without laziness.
"The shopâs staff is sufficient, and son-in-law doesnât enjoy talking, couldnât be a staffer again." Mr. Gu also felt it was a big problem, he looked at Gu Chengyu thinking perhaps Xiaobao might have a solution, after all, it was Xiaobao who found work previously, Xiaobao knew lots of people.
"Has elder sister thought about starting her own business? Brother-in-law is not good at speaking, but reliable at working hard, starting a small business might be better than searching for jobs everywhere!"
"Ah? Doing business? Wouldnât that require capital? How could we have that ability? Besides, we donât have any skills, even wanting to do it wouldnât succeed!" Gu Xi was surprised at these words, she hadnât considered this.
"Why not? A small business doesnât need much capital, the other day I saw a recipe in a book, I think it suits you, why donât elder sister and brother-in-law try it out?" He believed Gu Xi would be interested.
"What is it? Food?" Gu Xi felt a bit stirred, Xiaobaoâs recipes surely made money, all these years the Gu Family relied on Xiaobaoâs earnings to support, she felt a sense of anticipation rise.
"Yes!" Gu Chengyu explained the tofu skin and other things, making Gu Xiâs eyes sparkle.
"Can Xiaobao make it? Has it been made at home before?" Gu Xi listened more excitedly, the business sounded fitting, small capital, making tofu was easy, needed to wake early but they had endured hardships, such difficulties were nothing.
"No, hasnât done before, elder sister and brother-in-law try first, itâs not difficult! If youâre free tomorrow, try at home; if there are questions, Iâm here to assist!"
The main ingredient for tofu skin was soybeans, which his family had, only soybeans needed soaking for a day and night, so couldnât do it today!
"Canât do today? My husband and I are free now!" Gu Xi was naturally impatient, since deciding to do it, better start sooner.
"Itâs not that I donât want to, making tofu needs soybeans soaked for a day and night, soak them now, tomorrow morning is perfect!" Gu Chengyu understood their rush, sympathized with their urgency to make money.