Transmigrated into Substitute Bride ‘Fu Lang’

Transmigrated into Substitute Bride Fu Lang

Chapter 6:麻婆豆腐

Mapo Tofu1[麻婆豆腐 : pockmarked grandma’s bean curd —stir-fried bean curd in chili sauce (attributed to an old woman with pockmarks)]]

 

 

The next day, Chen Xing came to pick up the bean curd at the door at the appointed time and after hearing a knock at the door, he immediately opened the gate of Gu family’s residence.

 

The stall owner who had originally raised his hand to knock on the door was obviously startled by the sudden opening of the gate, a look of embarrassment surfaced on his face while he could not help but shiver after looking pass through Chen Xing’s shoulder and seeing the sight behind him.

 

Chen Xing looked at his panic-stricken reaction and somewhat did not know why he was like this, “What’s wrong?”

 

Hearing the sound of his voice, the stall owner immediately came back to his senses with a jolt, thinking of what he had come over for, he quickly pointed at the tofu placed aside and said nervously, “This is your tofu.”

 

Chen Xing looked at the quality of the tofu, which was all freshly made today, so after nodding to him, he gave him the rest of the money as well as the deposit money for tomorrow.

 

After the stall owner received the money, once again, he took a look at the direction inside the door. He shivered again and ran away as if he was being chased by a ghost.

 

Looking at the stall owner’s panicked back as he hurriedly ran away, Chen Xing shrugged his shoulders and bent down to pick up the tray of tofu on the floor. The moment he turned around and saw the overgrown weeds on the courtyard behind him, he suddenly fell silent for a moment, as if he could somewhat understand why the stall owner had given that kind of expression just now.

 

However, looking at the weeds in front of him, Chen Xing started to think about another issue. He wanted to raise some animals here, so that he could get rid of the weeds and have more meat to eat. But he still had to discuss this to Gu Lang about this, after all, he was the owner of the place.

 

Qiu Jiu, who was originally in the kitchen boiling the medicine, was distracted by the thought of what he was going to have for breakfast later and also by the thought of what Chen Xing had gone out to do. When he saw Chen Xing returning with a tray of tofu in his arms, he was instantly curious, could it be that the food Chen Xing mentioned had something to do with this?

 

But although he was puzzled, Qiu Jiu did not open his mouth to ask because he saw that Chen Xing had already put down that plate of tofu and started to prepare today’s breakfast.

 

The people here usually only ate two meals, but since Gu Lang was not in good health and could not starve yet also could not eat too much, therefore he ate three meals a day, to the extent that Chen Xing and Qiu Jiu followed him to eat like this. Concerning this, Chen Xing was very satisfied.

 

As soon as Chen Xing got up, he made soup from the bones left over from yesterday’s fish dishes. In such a short time when he went to get the tofu, the soup was almost done. He ladled out three bowlfuls with a spoon, then added water to it and brought it to the boil, then added the noodles he had made last night.

 

The noodles were put into the boiling water. He then lifted it out of the water and put it directly into the thick white soup, topped with the seasonings and sprinkled with some chopped green onion, making it look particularly delicious.

 

Qiu Jiu sucked in the drool that was about to flow out of his mouth and came over to Chen Xing as he excitedly said, “This noodle you made smells much better than the one I made!”

 

Chen Xing just smiled at Qiu Jiu’s words and didn’t answer, then pointed at the bowl of noodles with a soft yolk of the cooked egg and said to Qiu Jiu, “Gu Gongzi is not in good health and the noodles are not easy to digest, so I put a little less in it for him and added an extra egg, so it’s a balanced nutrition.”

 

Qiu Jiu nodded and finished his own noodles first, then picked up Gu Lang’s medicine as well as the noodles and went out.

 

Wait until Qiu Jiu left, Chen Xing leisurely finished his own bowl of noodles and guessed the time to start working on those tofu.

 

Before making the tofu, Chen Xing cooked the rice first. He brought in the clean bucket and put the tofu cut into small pieces in it, until all the tofu was cut, the smell of the rice came out.

 

Chen Xing set up a wok on the top of the stove and prepared all the seasonings, then poured oil into the wok and began to fry the vegetables. Soon, a nice chilli aroma wafted up from the kitchen.

 

Until the dish was ready, Chen Xing tasted it first. Although the taste of the dish was affected by frying too much in one pot, but as a snack to sell, this taste was enough.

 

Chen Xing put the finished dishes and rice into separate buckets, covered them as he prepared to carry them and put them on the wheelbarrow.

 

Qiu Jiu returned with an empty bowl as he prepared to see what he would eat for lunch. He could not help but swallow his saliva when he smelled the remaining fragrance inside the kitchen and looked at Chen Xing, “What are you making? Why does it smell so good?”

 

Chen Xing looked at Qiu Jiu’s gluttonous (fond of good food) face and smiled, “I made mapo tofu and saved some for you guys to eat at lunch today.”

 

Qiu Jiu’s eyes immediately lit up and he hurriedly ran to Chen Xing as he excitedly asked, “Where is it?”

 

Chen Xing stretched out his hand and pointed it out, only to see two plates of mapo tofu and a plate of stir-fried vegetables in the pot that still had residual heat. He then said to Qiu Jiu who was so excited and impatient to get the dishes, “Gu Gongzi has a weak stomach, so the less spicy one is for him.”

 

Qiu Jiu nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice, indicating that he knew.

 

Chen Xing also didn’t say anything anymore, only telling him that he would be back to cook before dinner and went to move those two wooden barrels.

 

While imagining what the two dishes would taste like, Qiu Jiu glance from the corner of his eye and saw Chen Xing trying to pick up a wooden bucket with some difficulty, he suddenly froze for a moment, then walked over and took the bucket from Chen Xing’s hand before the person could react. Looking at the unresponsive Chen Xing, he smiled, “I’m quite strong. I’ll help you carry it.”

 

Chen Xing still wanted to refuse, but he saw Qiu Jiu striding out energetically with the wooden barrel in his arms, easily putting the barrel on the wheelbarrow before then coming back and picking up the other one and placing it on the other side.

 

When they were all done, Qiu Jiu turned his head and smiled at Chen Xing and said, “It’s done.”

 

As Chen Xing watched Qiu Jiu’s series of actions, he felt that you shouldn’t judge people from his appearance. After thanking him, he pushed the wheelbarrow and left.

 

Looking at Chen Xing’s departed back, Qiu Jiu sighed in his heart and then, as if he had thought of something, he ran back to the kitchen in a flash, picked up the dishes Chen Xing had left for them and served two more bowls of rice before heading to the dining area. At this hour, it was time to eat!

 

Chen Xing pushed his wheelbarrow towards the main street and as he walked, he was thinking in his heart about where he was going to sell it, how much he should sell it for and how he should shout the slogans so he could attract more customers.

 

When Chen Xing arrived at the street, he found that there were no good spots left in the street, so he had no choice but to choose a corner that was not too remote.

 

By the time Chen Xing had set up the wheelbarrow and took out the bowls and chopsticks from the wooden basin, the street had gradually become more crowded with pedestrians.

 

Looking at the groups of pedestrians walking past, Chen Xing took a deep breath, then uncovered the lid of the wooden bucket with the dishes inside and shouted, “Mapo tofu! Spicy and fragrant mapo tofu! Guarantee you’ve never eaten this mapo tofu before, if you pass by, then don’t miss it!”

 

The youngster’s clear voice rang out in the street, attracting the attention of many people.

 

A man who had a high curiosity came to Chen Xing’s stall, smelled the thick and fragrant smell, swallowed his saliva and asked somewhat skeptically, “Is this really delicious?”

 

Chen Xing gave him a smile and said directly, “Whether it is delicious or not, you will know when you taste it.”

 

At first, the man was only asking but now he was fascinated by Chen Xing’s smile and coughed to cover It, before continuing to ask, “Then how do you sell it?”

 

Seeing that he was thinking of buying it, the smile on Chen Xing’s face became more and more sincere, “Eight wen for a bowl, with meat in it, I guarantee that after you have eaten one bowl, you will want to eat the second one.”

 

Hearing that it was sold at such a high price, the man was a bit hesitant, after all, this amount of money could buy four big meat stuffed steamed buns. But after smelling the aroma and looking at Chen Xing’s smile, he gritted his teeth and still bought a bowl.

 

1[麻婆豆腐 : pockmarked grandma’s bean curd —stir-fried bean curd in chili sauce (attributed to an old woman with pockmarks)]