Hearing this, Sun Mei was a little tempted. Although tofu was not an expensive thing and could not make a lot of money, new things were different.
"But…"
She recalled that in her previous life, she had also made tofu and beancurd at home, but that was only once or twice. If she had to grind tofu every day now, she would be exhausted.
Seeing that Sun Mei was still hesitating, Zhao Dong pressed Sun Mei's hand down. "No buts. If you continue to wait, you'll miss the business opportunity. When new things are first released, it's the most profitable. However, I know that grinding tofu is tiring. Don't worry, I've already planned it."
"There's a water mill in Xiaoyi Village next door. We don't need anyone to work hard. It can produce more than a hundred catties of tofu for fifteen copper coins a day. I'll be in charge of grinding the beans into soy milk. You'll be in charge of tofu orders at home."
"Let's try to sell some of them ourselves first. When we become famous, we can sell them to the villagers wholesale. When we earn money, we can buy a little donkey ourselves."
Seeing that Zhao Dong had an idea, Sun Mei didn't say anything else and nodded in agreement. "Alright, let's give it a try. If you want to grind the beans tomorrow, you'll have to soak them tonight."
"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you." Zhao Dong nodded. He thought of something and asked, "By the way, honey, how many soybeans are stored in our daughter's space?"
When she was stocking up, Sun Mei had stocked up on all kinds of miscellaneous grains. Soybeans were a good thing. Sun Mei remembered that she had stocked up on more.
"There should be about five hundred kilograms. Why?"
"I'm afraid it won't be enough. If selling tofu works, I'll buy some soybeans and make more money before the autumn harvest."
Zhao Dong had already calculated in his heart.
"How about this? Wife, let's make some tofu tomorrow and send some to the families in the village who have a good relationship with us to try. Coincidentally, I'll take the opportunity to go to Carpenter Wang's house to order a batch of tofu frames and wooden barrels."
When Sun Mei heard this, she knew that Zhao Dong was preparing to get the villagers who were on good terms with her to help advertise for free. She immediately nodded in agreement. "Yes, yes. I think it's fine. I'll soak the beans first."
"There's no hurry. Take a look at these," Zhao Dong said as he opened a cloth bag and handed it to Sun Mei. "These are tea leaves. They can be used to wash your hair, wash the dishes, wash your feet, and so on. Oh, right, I also bought some soap powder to wash your clothes."
Sun Mei thought that he had bought something good. When she saw that it was these things, she complained, "I say, you're actually spending money recklessly. Don't we have shampoo and detergent in our space? We don't need these."
Zhao Dong didn't agree. He thought for a long time. "We can't always use those things. We have to prepare these things at home. If someone comes as a guest, can we still use the things in the space?"
Sun Mei thought about it and sighed. "I really can't use soap to wash clothes. It's better without detergent. However, this reminds me that I have to carry the clothes to the river a few times from time to time. Otherwise, outsiders will think that our family doesn't wash clothes."
"Haha, right?" Zhao Dong put things away with a smug expression. "Also, you have been complaining recently that your hair is dry and you don't have hair conditioner. I heard that this tea will make your hair black and smooth. When you were young, we didn't have shampoo, so we used this to wash our hair. I bought you some more. Isn't that very considerate?"
Sun Mei rolled her eyes at Zhao Dong, but there was a smile on her lips. "I seem to have heard that this tea is good for hair. I'll try it tomorrow. Coincidentally, it's time for Tongtong to wash her hair. I'll let her use it too."
Seeing the way Zhao Dong looked at her, Sun Mei couldn't help but smile. "Seeing how considerate you are, you should wash up too."
"Sigh! I just happened to be infatuated. In the end, I paid the wrong price."
…
After the two of them discussed it, they called Zhao Zhitong, who was playing, and asked her to release all the soybeans in the space.
There were a total of three big sacks. A big sack like this could hold about 200 catties. These were more than 600 catties.
Sun Mei poured some out and washed them with clear water. After soaking them for a night, she would be able to grind them tomorrow morning.
"Mother, why are you soaking the beans?" Zhao Zhitong squatted at the side and watched as Sun Mei soaked the beans in water and transformed into a curious baby.
"I'm making tofu. Do you want some?"
Zhao Zhitong's small body swayed as she said in a childish voice, "The tofu is too old. I don't like old tofu. I want to eat tender tofu."
Sun Mei could not help but laugh. "You little girl, you actually like to eat tender tofu."
However, Zhao Zhitong's words made Sun Mei's eyes light up. That's right. Not only could they make tofu, but they could also make beancurd!
Hence, Sun Mei communicated her thoughts with Zhao Dong. Zhao Dong also felt that it would work.
They did as they were told. That night, they soaked a full five kilograms of beans.
The next morning, Zhao Dong woke up at dawn. His wife and daughter were still sleeping.
Zhao Zhitong slept like a spinning wheel. When she woke up in the morning, her head and feet turned around, and she kicked the small blanket to the side.
Zhao Dong gently covered her and prepared to get out of bed.
At this moment, Sun Mei seemed to have been woken up by him. She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them. She looked at the still groggy sky outside the window and whispered, "Hubby, why are you up?"
"Did I wake you up?" Zhao Dong tucked Sun Mei in and whispered, "I wanted to grind the beans while it is still early. We haven't started selling yet, so the fewer people who see us, the better. Sleep with Tongtong for a while. It's still early. I'll be back soon."
With that, he got out of bed quietly and walked out of the room. After washing up briefly, he pulled the ten kilograms of beans he had soaked last night to the mill in the village.
Their village also had a mill, but it was not a water mill like Xiaoyi Village. It was the kind that relied on livestock to pull. It was shared by the entire village. Today, he would only grind ten catties, so he would not go to the neighboring village first.
As he was the first to arrive, there was no one around. Only the village chief's second son and second daughter-in-law had just opened the door.
Although it was a public mill in the village, someone still had to manage it. Otherwise, there would be abuse and destruction.
The mill had always been managed by the village chief's family, and the mill was also bought by the village chief's family. Therefore, the villagers who came to grind flour had to give the village chief's family money. Ten catties for a copper coin were considered as money for the donkey's food.
Zhao Leiguang had just opened the door of the mill when he saw Zhao Dong pushing a cart over. He hurriedly greeted him, "Yo, Brother Dong, you're here to grind flour so early."
Zhao Dong smiled and said, "No, I'm grinding some beans to eat."
…
After greeting them and paying, the donkey began to work.
As he didn't have to grind much, it wasn't long before he was done. After informing Zhao Leiguang, Zhao Dong moved the grounded soybeans onto the cart and pushed them home.
As soon as he left, Zhao Leiguang's wife, Madam Liang, started talking about him. "Do you think Brother Zhao Dong's family has no flour to eat? They are actually eating beans. I heard that Father-in-law lent them half a bag of flour some time back? How did they finish it so quickly?"