Hearing this, Sun Mei was a bit tempted. Although tofu wasn't anything precious and couldn't make big money, new products were different.
"But..."
Thinking back to her previous life, she had also made tofu at home, but only occasionally. If she had to grind tofu daily now, wouldn't that exhaust her?
Seeing Sun Mei was still hesitating, Zhao Dong directly held her hand: "No more buts, otherwise, you'll miss the business opportunity. When something new comes out, it's the most lucrative. But I know grinding tofu is tiring, don't worry, I have it all planned out."
"There is a water mill in the neighboring Xiaoyi Village, no manual work needed, and for fifteen coins a day, you can grind a hundred pounds. I'll take charge of grinding the beans into soy milk, and you just need to make tofu at home."
"Let's try selling some ourselves first. Once we make a name, we can wholesale it to the villagers to sell together. Once we make money, we can even buy a donkey."
Seeing Zhao Dong had a plan, Sun Mei didn't say much more and nodded in agreement: "Alright, let's give it a shot. If you're grinding beans tomorrow, we'll have to soak them tonight."
"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." Zhao Dong nodded, recalling something and asked: "By the way, wife, how much soybeans does our daughter have stocked in her storage?"
When they stocked up on supplies, Sun Mei had stored various grains. Soybeans were useful, and she remembered storing quite a few.
"Should be around five hundred pounds, why?"
"I'm afraid it won't be enough. If selling tofu works out, I'll run around collecting more beans. Let's earn some money before the harvest season."
Zhao Dong had already calculated in his mind.
"Wife, tomorrow, we'll make some tofu and give it to families we're close with in the village to try. I can take the opportunity to order some tofu frames and buckets from Wang the carpenter's house."
Hearing this, Sun Mei knew Zhao Dong planned to have friendly villagers help with free advertising, and she immediately nodded in agreement: "Sure, I think it's a good idea. I'll go soak the beans first."
"No rush, look at what this is." Zhao Dong said, opening a cloth bag and handing it to Sun Mei: "This is tea seed cake, it can be used for washing hair, dishes, feet, anything. Oh, and I also bought some soapnut powder for washing clothes."
Sun Mei thought he'd bought something good, but seeing these items, she complained: "I told you, you keep wasting money. Don't we have shampoo and detergent in our storage? We don't need these."
Zhao Dong disagreed, thinking long-term: "We can't always use those. We should have these on hand for when guests come over. Can't use the stuff from our storage, right?"
Sun Mei realized he had a point and sighed: "I really don't like using soapnut for washing clothes, detergent is way better. But you reminded me, I should take the clothes to the river to wash occasionally, or others might think we never wash clothes."
"Haha, right?" Zhao Dong put away the items, looking proud: "And, haven't you been complaining about your dry hair and no conditioner lately? This tea seed cake is said to make hair black and smooth. When I was little, we used this for washing hair, never had shampoo. I bought extra for you, isn't that thoughtful?"
Sun Mei rolled her eyes at Zhao Dong but smiled: "I've heard tea seed cake is good for hair too. I'll try it tomorrow, and Tongtong needs a wash too, she can use it."
Seeing Zhao Dong's look, Sun Mei couldn't help but laugh: "Since you're so thoughtful, why don't you try it too?"
"Sigh! Just an afterthought, my wholehearted efforts are really misplaced."
...
After discussing, they called Zhitong, who was playing outside, to bring out the soybeans stocked in her storage.
There were three large bags in total, each bag holding about two hundred pounds, totaling over six hundred pounds.
Sun Mei took some out, washed them with clean water, and soaked them overnight for grinding into soy milk the next morning,
"Mom, why are you soaking the beans?" Zhao Zhitong squatted nearby, watching curious as Sun Mei soaked the beans.
"To make tofu, do you want some?"
Zhao Zhitong shook her little body, speaking in a childlike voice: "Tofu is too old, I don't like old tofu. I want the soft kind, bean curd."
Sun Mei couldn't help but laugh: "You little girl, actually like eating soft tofu."
Zhao Zhitong's words gave Sun Mei an idea. Indeed, they could make not only tofu but also bean curd!
So, Sun Mei shared her thoughts with Zhao Dong, who also agreed it was feasible.
They decided to get started and soaked a full ten pounds of beans that night.
Early the next morning, just as the sky began to lighten, Zhao Dong got up, while his wife and daughter were still dreaming.
Zhao Zhitong slept like she was spinning, waking up with her head and feet swapped, her little blanket kicked to the side.
Zhao Dong quietly tucked her in before preparing to get out of bed.
At this moment, Sun Mei seemed to be woken up by him, slowly opened her eyes, rubbed them, glanced at the still dim sky outside, and whispered: "Honey, why are you up?"
"Did I wake you?" Zhao Dong tucked Sun Mei's blanket and whispered: "I thought I'd take the beans to grind them while it's early and no one's around, so fewer people see what we're up to since we haven't started selling. You and Tongtong keep sleeping, it's still early, I'll be back soon."
After speaking, he quietly got out of bed, left the room, washed up quickly, and took the ten pounds of soaked beans to the village mill.
Their village also had a mill, but unlike the water mill in Xiaoyi Village, theirs was powered by livestock, shared by the whole village. Since he was only grinding ten pounds today, he opted not to go to the neighboring village.
Arriving early, there weren't many people, just the village chief's second son and his wife opening the door.
Though the mill was communal, it required management to prevent wastage and damage.
The village chief's family had always managed the mill, owning the donkey driving it. Villagers had to pay them, a coin for ten pounds, for the donkey's feed.
Zhao Leiguang had just opened the door when he saw Zhao Dong pulling the cart and quickly greeted him: "Oh, Dong, here to grind flour this early?"
Zhao Dong smiled: "No, just grinding some beans to eat."
...
After greeting and paying, the donkey began working.
Since he was grinding a small amount, it was done quickly. After notifying Zhao Leiguang, Zhao Dong loaded the ground soy milk onto the cart and headed home.
Just as he left, Zhao Leiguang's wife, Liang, commented: "Do you think Mr. Dong's family has no flour left? They're eating beans now. I heard father-in-law lent them half a bag of flour, how did they finish it so fast?"