Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

"Cousin, this tofu pudding is so delicious, we want more!" Ruyue and Ruxing said coquettishly to Liu Siyue.

"You still want to eat? There's none left today, but we'll make sure you eat your fill tomorrow, you two little gluttons."

About an hour later, Liu Siyue pressed down on the tofu bun with her hand. Hmm, it's ready.

"Second Uncle, move the stone slab down."

As soon as Liu Dawang moved the stone slab away, everyone gathered around, waiting to witness the miracle.

Liu Siyue opened the tofu bun, and a large piece of white tofu was presented to everyone.

"Mom, Second Uncle, Cousin, we did it! We never expected to succeed on our first try."

I'll cut a small piece for everyone to taste; we'll have a tofu feast for lunch today.

"Mmm, it's delicious and fragrant, even firmer than the tofu sold in town."

"This tofu is real firm tofu, it's been pressed for a long time and has less moisture, so it's quite firm. If you want it to be softer, press it for a shorter time."

To achieve a consistent texture, I need to use a fixed weight and press time for the tofu in the future. After a few tries, I can find the optimal pressing time.

"Second Uncle, could you grab our scale? Let's see how much tofu we can make from five pounds of soybeans."

Liu Dawang took out a scale and weighed it; it was a little over 12 jin (6 catties).

"This tofu has indeed been pressed for too long and is too hard. Normally, one pound of soybeans can make 3 to 5 pounds of tofu."

"We have no experience here, but we'll have experience next time. This time we pressed for an hour, next time we'll press for half an hour."

"My cousin is right, next time we'll press for half an hour."

Tonight we'll soak 10 jin (5 catties) of soybeans, and tomorrow we'll make two tofu buns. We'll choose the one with the best soaking time, and we'll do it this way from now on.

At lunchtime, I indeed prepared a tofu feast: braised tofu, Mapo tofu, pan-fried tofu, stewed tofu, cold tofu salad, fish head tofu soup...

People say that tofu is something only poor people eat, and that rich people never eat it. I think they are just unlucky and don't know how good tofu is.

"Mother is right. They don't eat because they don't know how to eat or cook."

How do people here eat tofu? They either boil it or stew it, so it doesn't have much flavor at all.

"How do you think the dishes made with this tofu taste today?"

"It's so delicious! It's really so delicious. Although they're all made with tofu, they each have their own unique flavor."

"Cousin, this tofu will be a great dish at your restaurant from now on."

"Yes, once my restaurant opens, Grandma's tofu will also be available for sale."

"Go and take a look at the shops in town in a few days, think about how to decorate them, and get them decorated as soon as possible. Order the tables, chairs, and benches in advance, and open for business on an auspicious day."

"Opening a restaurant in April is not as simple as you say. Actually, I'm a little nervous and afraid that I won't do a good job."

"Cousin, when the restaurant in town opens, you can go there for a meal and see how they run their business."

After the eighth day of the first lunar month, everyone will get busy. Construction on our house will begin, the weather will gradually warm up, and everyone will start preparing for spring plowing.

"Second Uncle, I plan to plant chili peppers on all 30-plus mu of my wasteland. Do you want to plant chili peppers on the few mu of land we have at home?"

"Why did you plant so many chili peppers in April? They're so spicy, and you can't eat that many. They'll just go bad if you leave them out!"

"This time, I'm building a house, not only to live in it, but also to build a workshop. I'm going to sell these chilies to make money."

"In April, we can't plant chili peppers on those farms. We have to plant grains. Only when we have grains planted in the fields will we feel at ease."

"Second Uncle, don't worry, I won't fight you for the land. You can plant whatever you want on it, however you want. You're the landlord!"

Everyone burst into laughter, saying, "Father, you're the landlord, you can plant however you want."

In the afternoon, Master Chang, Master Xie, and several others came to their house to offer New Year's greetings and discuss the resumption of work after the New Year.

"Master Chang, when do you think construction on our house will start?"

"Lady Liu, I had someone calculate an auspicious day, and the eighth day is a good day to start work."

I will bring a few craftsmen over on the eighth day of the lunar new year. You can find some laborers in the village, and I will have the craftsmen take the laborers to do the foundation work first.

After the Lantern Festival, the bricks and tiles will be delivered one after another.

"Okay, I'll follow Master Chang's arrangements. I've bought the whole area at the end of the village. Come with me and take a look at the foundation."

Our living area must be separate from the workshop site; we can't let the workshop workers affect our families' lives.

"Okay, let's go take a look together and make some plans."

Liu Dawang and the others walked around the end of the village together. "Master Chang, the yard I'm going to build later will be bigger than the current one. I'll draw up the blueprints, and you can build it according to the blueprints. The original budget might have been a little short, but I'll make up for it later."

"Okay, that's easy to discuss."

Not long after Master Chang and his group left, the village chief and clan chief arrived.

"Uncle Village Chief, Grandpa Clan Chief, please come and sit down, please come and sit down."

"It's April, and spring is just around the corner. We've come today to ask how you plan to cultivate those dozens of acres of barren land?"

"Grandpa Clan Chief, Uncle Village Chief, I think the families who worked for our family before were pretty good, so I plan to have them continue working for us."

"What do you plan to plant on that land? Soybeans are the best choice for wasteland, as they fertilize the soil and help turn wasteland into fertile land quickly."

"Uncle Village Chief, Grandpa Clan Chief, I have a few things to tell you. Our family will start building a house on the eighth day of the first lunar month. We need to recruit a group of laborers in the village, about seventy or eighty people, let's say eighty. It would be best to recruit one person from each family. We need reliable and hardworking people, not slackers."

If the village can't recruit enough, I'll look for them from outside.

"With so many people hired, how big of a house are you planning to build?"

"I'm building quite a few houses this time. My family is large and there aren't enough rooms for everyone. I also need to build a workshop, so I need a lot of people."

"Build a workshop! What kind of workshop?" the clan chief and the village chief asked in unison.

"Preparing to make some things to sell."

"Uncle Village Chief, could you please help me arrange the hiring of laborers? If you need anything, just ask my second uncle. The pay is the same as before, 22 coins a day, meals not included."

"Uncle Village Chief, Grandpa Clan Chief, I don't plan to plant soybeans on those wastelands. I plan to plant chili peppers instead. If the villagers are willing to plant them, I will sell seedlings to everyone. When the chili peppers are ripe, I will buy them all at a price of 15 coins per pound, which will give the villagers an extra source of income."

"Uncle Village Chief, please help me count how many people are willing to plant it, and how many acres each family should plant. That way, I can start the seedlings."

"Okay, I'll take care of all of this. No problem, this is great news!"

"Thank you for helping the villagers!"

"As long as the villagers don't do anything evil and everyone stays united, I'm still willing to help them within my capabilities."

If someone betrays their own people and drags the villagers down with them, don't say they're heartless.

"Don't worry, April. If someone like that really appears, I will not let them off easily."

"In April, I also wanted to ask, what are the chili peppers you mentioned used for?"

"Chili peppers are a condiment, and they taste similar to dogwood."

"Not many people eat that stuff, and it doesn't taste good either."

"Chili peppers have many uses; you'll see when they're grown."

"Alright, alright, I'll go and make the arrangements right away."