Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Yuan Laorong was speaking, leaning in to scrutinize his son's face and nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad, you have a handsome and proper look; no wonder others have their eyes on you."

Chang Errui, upon hearing this and his sun-darkened face blushed, his voice softened a bit and said, "Dad, you are just making things up, Aunt Da Gui doesn't have a daughter."

Yuan Laorong said, "That's true, but she has a niece, who is Gu Dafu's daughter. The girl lost her mother, and as her close aunt, Mrs. Chen naturally wants to find a suitor for her niece."

Chang Errui's face turned even redder: "What do you mean by that, dad?"

Seeing his dad smiling cheerfully, he guessed he must be quite satisfied with Uncle Dafu's family.

Yuan Laorong continued, "Gu Dafu's family is one of the owners of Gu's Workshop, and they receive dividends from the workshop every month. Moreover, Dafu is a generous man who thinks of the bigger picture. He has a son who is studying; if the son can achieve an official position in the future, it would be beneficial for you."

"You've also reached the age to marry. Your mother has already asked the matchmaker to spread word, looking for a bride for you. Since Brother Dafu's daughter is also seeking a match and they think well of you, our family might as well consider it."

"As for whether it can work out, we'll have to see what the girl is like," Yuan Laorong was pleased with Da Fu's family but he knew well the principle that marrying an unworthy wife brings calamity for three generations. If Gu Dafu's daughter was not good, he would not agree to the marriage.

Upon hearing this, Chang Errui breathed a sigh of relief, "Son will listen to father."

Now, he was also curious about what kind of girl the daughter of Uncle Dafu's family was.

Is she easy to get along with?

Is she capable of doing work?

Is she fierce?

...

After returning home jubilantly, Mrs. Chen praised Chang Errui to the skies, while Gu Yumei kept a stern face, not engaging in Mrs. Chen's conversation.

Mrs. Chen got angry, "Who are you showing that sulky face to? Brother Rui is truly a fine young man, capable and sensible. Look at yourself, what can you do? You even mess up mixing spices, and you dare to disdain that he's not a scholar, not good enough for you? I think you don't deserve him!"

"Because of your affairs, the family has already lost two hundred taels of Silver. If you have any conscience, don't cause more trouble for the family. Just behave and wait until we find you a marriage proposal, happily get married out, if you dare to be picky again, believe it or not mother will beat you to death?"

Gu Dagui, hearing Mrs. Chen getting more and more excessive, rebuked, "Enough, how can you talk like that? She is your own niece, would you really beat her to death?"

Moreover, the girl has grown up and cares about her face, is it right to scold her like this?

"Hmph!" Mrs. Chen glared at Gu Dagui and left with Brother Fa to mix spices.

Gu Dagui, worried that Gu Dafu would feel terrible, apologized to him, "Big brother, don't take it to heart. Mrs. Chen is just harsh with her words, but deep down, she still deeply cares for Brother Xing and Sister Mei."

Gu Dafu replied, "Big brother understands. But don't always scold your younger sister. Having people to live with you is better than anything."

Unlike his wife, who died on the way, and now all he had was her memorial tablet, which he couldn't even see.

Still, Gu Dafu comforted Gu Yumei, "Sister Mei, don't worry, your second aunt will consider several families for you, not necessarily just the Yuan family."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yumei finally felt relieved and then spoke in a low voice, blushing, "Then, let's look at the families in town, there are many scholars there."

Hearing this, Gu Dafu sighed; Sister Mei still wanted to marry a scholar. But ultimately he cherished his daughter and, not wanting her to marry unhappily, he promised, "Alright, dad will ask your second aunt to look at the families in town, we'll pick a good match for you."

"Ah." Gu Yumei was happy and took the initiative to go and work with Mrs. Chen on the spices.

...

Gu Jinli did not pay much attention to Gu Yumei's marriage matters; she was busy making dried tofu and fried tofu.

Now it was May, and the weather had warmed up. Tofu, which has high water content, can spoil easily. It needs to be made into dried tofu and fried tofu to maintain its flavor.

"Young Master, this yellowish dried tofu looks really attractive," Mo Chunyue slowly tended the fire while baking the dried tofu on the clay stove, asking excitedly.

Gu Jinli nodded: "Yes, after pressing the tofu firmly, cut it into small pieces and bake it on the clay bed. Baking it for half an hour will turn it into delicious dried tofu."

While baking, she placed several handfuls of spices inside the clay stove, allowing the aromas to infuse the dried tofu. When the dried tofu was ready, it would carry a delightful fragrance that would make anyone's mouth water.

However, the workshop was too small and did not have a specialized kitchen for baking dried tofu. Currently, the clay stove used for baking dried tofu was temporarily constructed by Gu Dashan and Gu Dalin in the backyard of the workshop, made of four wooden pillars and a thatched roof.

Nevertheless, she had already arranged with Master Yuan that after completing the shop, he would come to the village to build the workshop. In the future, the tofu and spice workshops would be separate, and everyone would not have to squeeze together anymore.

As for the new family house, she had already discussed it with Gu Dashan and Mrs. Cui. They planned to build a house with green bricks and tiles, so it needed careful planning, which would take some time. They would wait until the shop and new workshop were built before constructing her family's house.

Gu Jinli looked at Zhu Chahua, her daughter, and Ms. Wang Ma: "Have you three learned this?"

In the future, the task of baking dried tofu would be assigned to these three.

The trio from Zhu Chahua hurriedly responded: "Young Master, we've learned it."

"Then get to work," Gu Jinli said as she turned to move to another thatched hut, where she saw Ms. Xu Wang frying fried tofu and commented, "Nicely fried, just like that."

The fried tofu made in the workshop was square and as big as a palm, golden brown and crispy on the outside while soft on the inside, very delicious.

Hearing Gu Jinli's words, Ms. Xu Wang felt relieved and smiled, "Glad the Young Master is satisfied."

She was afraid of not frying the tofu well, which could anger the master and lead to her and her son being sold off.

After all, frying tofu uses a lot of oil.

After walking around the workshop, Gu Jinli called Mo Chunyue, and the two carried two loads of white tofu back home.

She took the white tofu to make five-spice preserved tofu.

Five-spice preserved tofu not only pairs well with porridge and rice but is also an excellent condiment. Thinking of dishes like five-spice pork belly, preserved tofu pig trotters, and preserved tofu braised duck made her salivate.

Moreover, five-spice preserved tofu can be stored and sold to farther places, representing a long-term business.

Five-spice preserved tofu is not difficult to make. Boil the tofu, drain the water, place it on straw, and wait for the tofu to grow mould. After that, add seasoning spices and marinate for a month to obtain five-spice preserved tofu.

Mould is a fascinating fungus that exists in humid air; it grows white mycelium on the tofu.

Since natural white mold exists on straw, the boiled tofu should be placed on straw to allow the mycelium to grow more quickly.

Her actions were swift, and with the help of Gu Jinxiu and Mrs. Cui, it took only half an hour to handle the two loads of white tofu, placing them piece by piece on the straw-covered large sieve and then covering them with coarse linen.