Seeing her fleeing son, Tian Cuihua smiled helplessly. "Haha, this boy is so mischievous and disobedient! Your daughter is much more likable. Oh, where is your Tongtong? Why didn’t she co with you?"
Thinking of her own equally mischievous daughter, Sun i couldn’t help but smile. "Oh, she was called out to play by so children from the school. Please don’t praise her, or her head will be in the clouds."
Tian Cuihua noticed the bowl in Sun i’s hand. "What’s this?"
Sun i smiled. "My husband’s leg isn’t what it used to be, so I’ve been thinking about finding a new way to make a living. I’ve developed so snacks recently and was wondering if I could make a business out of them. I brought so for your family to try, partly as a thank you for the Village Chief’s care for our family, and partly to ask for your opinion—to see if these things might sell."
Just then, Village Chief Zhao Qiangshan ca out of the yard. Hearing Sun i’s words, he nodded in agreent. "Yes, it’s ti to find a new way to make a living."
Tian Cuihua had already taken the bowl. Looking at the square, white, and tender food that was still steaming, she exclaid, "What is this? It’s so white and tender; it looks like it would be delicious! Mmm, and this bowl slls amazing too. It’s making my mouth water!"
Sun i explained, "We call this tofu, and this bowl contains tofu as well. The tofu in this bowl is already seasoned and can be eaten directly. The other tofu can be fried in oil, cooked in dishes or soups, or mixed with scallions—it’s delicious any way."
"It looks really good," Tian Cuihua said. She then went into her house to pour the contents into her own bowl and washed Sun i’s bowl clean before bringing it back out.
Tian Cuihua licked her lips, smiled, and said, "You’re truly skilled! I’ve already shared the tofu from the bowl with the children, and they were all fighting over it. I tried it too, and it’s really delicious. I told the Liang Clan about the other tofu, and we’re going to cook it tonight. Don’t worry, sothing this good will definitely sell well."
Sun i laughed. "Then I’ll take that as a good on."
「On the other side.」
Zhao Dong brought a bowl of the seasoned tofu and a block of the other tofu to Butcher Zhao’s ho, and he also gave his approval.
Many villagers were at Butcher Zhao’s ho to buy at, and they were all curious about the food he was praising so highly. The main reason was that Sun i’s specially made secret sauce was incredibly fragrant. Even in a place filled with the scent of raw at, that aroma made people’s mouths water and stirred their appetites.
Butcher Zhao asked, "Zhao Dong, this seasoned tofu, how are you planning to sell it?"
Zhao Dong replied, "The seasoned tofu will be one coin per bowl, and the block tofu will be three coins per pound."
Butcher Zhao finished the last bite of the seasoned tofu, savored the taste for a mont, and nodded. "Hmm, this pricing is fair. The bowl of tofu is quite generous, it’s full, so one coin is fine. Three coins for the block tofu is also reasonable, not expensive."
The interested villagers were all getting hungry. "Zhao Dong, when are you going to start selling? We’ll definitely co to support you then!"
Zhao Dong thanked them with a broad smile. "The day after tomorrow. We’ll start selling then. Thank you all in advance!"
"Don’t ntion it."
As soon as Zhao Dong left, the villagers began to chat.
"Tell us, Butcher Zhao, is it really that delicious?"
Butcher Zhao nodded repeatedly. "Delicious, absolutely delicious!"
"Watching you eat it made hungry! When Zhao Dong starts selling, I’ll buy a bowl to try. One coin isn’t expensive anyway."
"That’s right, that’s right. With Zhao Dong’s leg being like it is, it’s good for him to have a way to earn a living."
...
While Sun i and Zhao Dong were busy, Zhao Zhitong was not idle either. At that ti, she was dominating the scene under the big pagoda tree at the entrance of the village.
This all started earlier today at school. Her defeated opponent, Qiao Muchen, still wasn’t ready to admit defeat and had challenged her again during lunchti. However, the Teacher at the school had forbidden tree climbing on school grounds. So, the two agreed to et after school under the big pagoda tree by the bridgehead at the village entrance.
And so, after school, Qiao Muchen headed straight for Zhao Zhitong’s house.
The big pagoda tree at the entrance of the village was even bigger than the one at the school.
Zhao Zhitong stood under the tree with her hands on her hips. "Sa old rules: whoever climbs to that branch first wins!"
Qiao Muchen’s small face was earnest and serious. His sleeves were already rolled up, revealing his fair skin, and he looked ready to dash forward. "Hmph, I know. This ti, I’ll definitely beat you!"
Zhao Zhitong automatically ignored his last sentence. "Let’s start!"
The mont she gave the command, it was over.
Qiao Muchen was defeated again, but he did better than last ti; he managed to climb at least a ter high.
Qiao Muchen stood under the tree, his face flushed, and shouted up at the little girl in the tree, "I... We’ll do this again tomorrow!"
These repeated failures didn’t discourage Qiao Muchen; instead, they made him even more determined.
Grandpa Bai in her space even praised him.
Zhao Zhitong pouted, displeased. "Grandpa Bai, I clearly won, so why are you praising Qiao Jiaojiao?"
Grandpa Bai stroked his beard. "Young girl, you must learn to see the good qualities in others. As the saying goes, ’When three people walk together, one of them can surely be my teacher.’ That boy is resolute and isn’t easily defeated by failure. That’s a good trait."
"Oh..." Zhao Zhitong said, sitting on the branch and swinging her little legs. "I’m not afraid of failure either!"
Their competition had attracted many other children from the village. Among them was Zhao Yue, who had co over with Qiao Muchen after school. Seeing Qiao Muchen defeated yet again, he started laughing loudly.
"Hahaha, Qiao Muchen, sha on you! A big boy like you, losing to a little girl twice in a row!"
The other children around them also joined in, laughing at him.
Qiao Muchen’s whole face turned red.
Sitting in the tree, Zhao Zhitong beca unhappy. Grandpa Bai had just praised Qiao Muchen, and she had already decided she was going to like him and be his friend. So, seeing others laugh at her prospective friend made her indignant. Waving her little fists, she said fiercely, in her small way, to Zhao Yue and the others, "None of you even dare to compete with , yet you’re laughing at him! You’re the ones who should be ashad! Zhao Yue, do you dare to compete with ?"
Zhao Yue was stunned for a mont, then he stuck out his neck and shouted, "Compete then! Who’s afraid of whom?"
Saying this, he threw his little schoolbag on the ground, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared for the battle.
The result, well, it was quite predictable.
Zhao Zhitong was once again sitting on the branch. She looked down fiercely at Zhao Yue, who had only made it halfway up, and said, "You lost! Nyaah~"
Zhao Yue jumped down, his face full of indignation. "You cheated! That doesn’t count, it doesn’t count! You said ’start’ first, that’s not fair!"
Zhao Zhitong retorted, "How was it not fair? You lost, plain and simple. Zhao Yue, you’re just a sore loser! Sha on you, sha on you!"
Zhao Yue blushed. "I am not!"
Zhao Zhitong insisted, "You are too!"
"I am not!"
"You are too!"
...
The two of them, one up in the tree and one down below, continued to argue back and forth like this.
Seeing Zhao Zhitong defeat two ’big’ boys in a row, the other children were all indignant. One after another, they declared they wanted to challenge Zhao Zhitong, determined to restore the honor of ’big boys’.
"I want to compete with you."
"I want to compete too."
And so began the scene of Zhao Zhitong utterly dominating her challengers.
...
Reviews
All reviews (0)