Ch. 16..20: The Princess of Northern Land Chapter 16-20

Chapter 16 – Brine(2)_1 “You’re right, the village is so small, naturally the more you move about, the more you get to know it.” Another lady, holding her child’s hand, echoed, “As long as no other parts are hurt, it is indeed a blessing in disguise. Keep these greens to eat.”

After speaking, she put down a basket.

“How can this be?” Guo Huiniang wanted to refuse politely.

“It’s nothing fancy, you’ve sold all the greens from your home, you can’t always eat greens.” Auntie Bai pushed the basket into her hands, “These are homegrown, we’re neighbours after all, you’ve helped us often. There’s no need for you to refuse some greens.”

“Thank you, ma’am, then we’ll gladly accept it.” In these matters of kindness, it’s really hard for the men to speak. Seeing that old master Lin didn’t object, Guo Huiniang accepted the gifts from everyone.

“The Ma Family is truly despicable for taking advantage of others’ misfortunes. They’re not decent people. They just ranked as Tongsheng, not even a Scholar, yet instead of feeling shameful about canceling the marriage, they are clamoring for a bride price. They deserve to be struck by lightning. You Lin Family are too generous, actually returning their stuff to them. If it were any other family, they wouldn’t even bother with them.” Auntie Bai is apparently a straightforward person; remarks about the Ma Family made her quite indignant.

“Why talk about such people.” Madam Bai gave her daughter-in-law a glare, then patted Lin Zige’s hand comfortingly, “Zige is a good girl, in my opinion, it’s good that you managed to get away from such a family before marriage.”

Lin Zige nodded, her eyes reddened.

Lin Ziyin remained silent like an outsider; after all, she was now considered “brain injured,” so her silence wouldn’t raise anyone’s suspicions.

“He’s just a lowly Tongsheng, yet Yan Family is showing off in the village as if they’ve produced a top-scholar or something.” Another aunt said disdainfully, making it clear that the Yan Family had indeed managed to offend everyone in the village.

…

The women took turns criticizing the Yans, leaving behind some small gifts before leaving contentedly.

“These people are all on good terms with our Lin Family. You won’t go wrong if you make friends with them in the future.” Lin Zige instructed Lin Ziyin.

“I got it.” Lin Ziyin nodded in agreement.

“Dad, these are all things Ziyin and I made together.” Lin Yanzhi finally found a chance to show off when the guests had left, he started to brag to Lin Changshu.

“What are these things for?” Lin Changshu asked while looking at the racks and display panels.

“It’s a secret.” Lin Yanzhi relayed Lin Ziyin’s words. His serious expression made everyone laugh.

“You’ll know by tomorrow.” Lin Ziyin replied with a smile.

Lin Changshu and the others were busy and didn’t ask any further.

In the afternoon, Lin Ziyin, Lin Changting and Lin Yanzhi chose all the beans and put them in bags. Then, she soaked about ten pounds of beans, as this was her first time, she wasn’t planning on making much.

“Sister, where’s the salt in the house?” Lin Ziyin asked Lin Zige, who was sitting in the yard with embroidery in hand.

“The salt is in the jar.” Lin Zige replied.

Lin Ziyin went straight into the kitchen and indeed found the salt jar on the stove, but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough salt in the jar for her to make brine.

“Sister, can we go buy some more salt?” Lin Ziyin asked. She was clueless about the situation in the village, so she had to ask Lin Zige for help.

“Isn’t there still some left?” Lin Zige looked at her, puzzled.

“It’s not enough.” Lin Ziyin replied, a bit embarrassed.

“Then I’ll go buy some more, but how much do you need?” Lin Zige asked hesitantly. They didn’t have much money at home and salt was expensive, she wasn’t sure what Lin Ziyin needed the salt for.

“Two pounds.” Lin Ziyin answered.

“What do you need so much for?” Lin Zige was taken aback by her casual request.

Chapter 17 Tofu(1)_1 The price of salt in this era was exorbitant, the common households simply could not afford it.

Besides, the Lin Family hardly had any extra cash at the moment but Lin Ziyin just outright asked for two pounds of salt. Lin Zige almost fainted in shock.

“I need it urgently.” Lin Ziyin looked a bit helpless and desperate. She was not an ignorant person; she knew the high price of salt in ancient times. But when making tofu, it was absolutely necessary to have salt brine. Though plaster could be used as a substitute for salt brine, Lin Ziyin found that tofu made with plaster was much inferior in taste to that made with salt brine.

“Well, you could buy one pound for me instead.” Lin Ziyin reluctantly lowered her request.

“This?” Lin Zige wanted to decline, but upon seeing Lin Ziyin’s pleading eyes, she swallowed back the words of refusal she had almost uttered.

“Buy.” Little Bun, who followed Lin Ziyin closely, had no idea what she wanted to buy, but he knew how to gauge people’s moods. Probably sensing Lin Ziyin’s obvious longing, he tugged at Lin Zige’s sleeve, pleading.

“Alright then, I will go take a look.” Lin Zige sighed inwardly. Normally, Lin Ziyin, being aware of their financial situation, would never make such unreasonable demands. But now that Ziyin’s mental state was unstable and she was making a request for the first time, Lin Zige found it hard to decline.

After all, the family was running low on salt. Instead of wasting some, they might as well buy more. The remainder would still be of use.

With this mindset, Lin Zige took out a few copper coins from the house, ready to go to the village store to buy salt.

“Thank you, Yanzhi, for pleading on my behalf.” Lin Ziyin gave a peck on the skinny Lin Yanzhi, who stood close to her.

The little fellow blushed instantly, but he quite enjoyed being pampered. So, he leaned contentedly into Lin Ziyin’s embrace.

“In a few days, I’ll buy you some snacks,” Lin Ziyin said, a pang of sorrow hitting her as she looked at the thin little boy.

“No need.” To her surprise, after some hesitation, Lin Yanzhi firmly declined her offer. “No money, medicine needed.”

Although the child’s vocabulary was limited, Lin Ziyin understood his words. Tears welled up in her eyes. This child was too sensible! The saying “a poor man’s child becomes a householder early” was indeed true.

“No worries, once tomorrow passes, I’ll be able to earn some silver, then I will have money to buy you treats. The silver earned will also be thanks to Yanzhi’s help, but until the money is in hand, Yanzhi must keep it a secret for me.” Lin Ziyin silently vowed that with such a family around her, she must strive to improve their living conditions as soon as possible.

“Won’t tell.” Lin Yanzhi covered his mouth.

Lin Ziyin was amused by his display all of a sudden and burst into hearty laughter. The little boy didn’t know what she was laughing about, but thinking about Lin Ziyin’s words about their home soon having silver, he too began to giggle happily.

After a short while, Lin Zige returned with a small bag of salt.

“Here, use it sparingly.” She handed the salt to Lin Ziyin, hesitantly reminding her.

“I understand.” Lin Ziyin replied with a smile. She believed that she would soon earn back the money spent on the salt.

“Sister, could you help me light the fire?” Lin Ziyin asked Lin Zige.

“Light the fire for what?” Lin Zige was surprised, “It’s still a while until dinnertime.”

“I need to boil the salt.” Lin Ziyin answered. “Either way, I’ll be useful.”

Lin Zige wanted to persuade her to rest and heal, but upon seeing the bandage on Lin Ziyin’s head, she took back her words. Well, since the salt has been bought, they might as well use a bit of firewood.

Chapter 18 Tofu(2)_1 So she dutifully followed Lin Ziyin into the kitchen.

Making brine is a technical task. Ancient salt had impurities, making it both bitter and salty. Lin Ziyin started by removing the impurities, and only then made the brine. The whole process nearly drove Lin Zige crazy; she couldn’t understand why Lin Ziyin spent an entire afternoon grappling with salt.

Sacrificing so much firewood for nothing.

But the words of reproach Lin Zige had in mind couldn’t come out.

Time flew by amidst their busyness, and by the time Lin Changshu and the others returned, the brine was already prepared.

Lin Zige seized the opportunity to secretly tell Lin Changshu about Lin Ziyin’s unusual behavior that afternoon.

“It’s just a waste of a bit of firewood, let her be.” Ever since Lin Ziyin injured her head in the mountain, Lin Changshu felt guilty towards her. Guo Huiniang also shared this guilt. Therefore, they indulged Lin Ziyin’s requests.

The mentality of the elder brother and sister-in-law was deeply rooted in this couple.

The dinner was still unchanged: millet pancakes and bean paste, which made Lin Ziyin feel uncomfortable.

“Brother, you need to get up early tomorrow, can you get up in the middle of the night to help me grind the beans?” Lin Ziyin asked awkwardly after putting down her bowl.

She knew that Lin Changshu had been busy in the fields all day and must be exhausted. Her request was a bit inconsiderate.

But her body was still very weak, and grinding was a labor-intensive task, which she couldn’t handle at the moment.

“Alright,” Lin Changshu answered quite willingly.

“Grandfather, you don’t need to fetch firewood tomorrow morning. I’d like to go with you to the temple.” Lin Ziyin added.

“Then I’ll fetch firewood early. In the afternoon, you can come with me to the temple,” the old grandfather answered tiredly.

“No, I need to go in the morning.” Lin Ziyin insisted.

“Alright then.” The old man glanced at her forehead, “By the way, let’s have the master take another look at you.”

“Sister, I want to go too.” Lin Changting interjected.

“I’m going too.” Lin Yanzhi chimed in.

“Both of you kids stay at home.” Lin Changshu, as the head of the household, spoke up.

Then neither of the young ones said anything more.

“Don’t worry, when I come back, I’ll buy you something to eat,” Lin Ziyin said with a smile.

On hearing this, Lin Yanzhi perked up, while the others dismissed Lin Ziyin’s promise as mere child’s play. After all, there was no spare money at home.

“Sister, you have to call me in the middle of the night. You’ll have to get up and help me. We cannot delay.” Lin Ziyin said with her eyes closed.

“Okay,” Lin Zige responded, looking at the sleeping figures in the darkness.

Ever since her sister hit her head, her character and the way she did things had changed a lot. Was this a good thing or a bad thing?

With her mind preoccupied, Lin Ziyin woke up quite early as expected.

“Sister, it’s time to get up.” She nudged Lin Zige beside her. Thus, Lin Zige got up in a daze.

When Lin Ziyin was done with her simple wash and went to the kitchen, she found that her elder brother and sister-in-law had already ground the beans into soy milk.

“Thank you, brother,” Lin Ziyin said, smiling. Then she called to Lin Zige, “Sister, start the fire. Oh, and sister-in-law, you come over and keep an eye on it. Don’t let it stick to the pot.”

Guo Huiniang promptly agreed, and Lin Ziyin started squeezing the soy milk through a cloth bag, leaving Lin Changshu to take over her task once he saw what she was doing.

Lin Ziyin heaved a sigh of relief. Her body was not strong enough, but Lin Changshu, accustomed to working in fields, had the strength. His might even resulted in more soy milk being extracted.

Making tofu in ancient times relied on manual labor, without any modern equipment. During the cooking process, soy milk was prone to sticking to the bottom of the pot, resulting in a burnt taste in the final tofu that made it inedible. Therefore, the process of making tofu was very busy, and nothing could be taken lightly.

“This step is called ‘pointing slurry’, and it’s crucial. If you add too much, the tofu will be old and have an off-taste when eaten. If too little, the texture of the tofu will not be good, and it might not even set properly.” Lin Ziyin did not plan on forever doing this work, so she began to instruct Guo Huiniang step-by-step.

Guo Huiniang and Lin Zige were astonished by the series of changes that the soy milk went through. Even Lin Changshu was observing the process with a serious face.

Chapter 19 Selling Tofu (1)_1 As the soy milk turned into douhua, Lin Ziyin asked Guo Huiniang to cook it in another pot. She crumbled the douhua and steamed it, using partitions she had crafted from wood.

“It smells quite fragrant,” Lin Changshu hesitated before speaking, as he was still recovering from the shock of tofu-making.

“Wait until it’s done. Then you all can have a taste,” Lin Ziyin replied with a smile.

“What should we do with these leftover soy dregs?” Lin Zige asked, pointing at them.

“Leave them. When I’m back from the Ding’an Temple, I’ll use them to make cakes,” Lin Ziyin answered with a smile.

From her comment about the temple, Lin Zige and Lin Changshu understood.

The final step was actually quite quick, and soon enough tofu had been made.

The sight of freshly made, tender white blocks of tofu was so surreal to Guo Huiniang, Lin Changshu, and Lin Zige that it seemed like they were dreaming.

“Here, try the douhua,” Lin Ziyin purposely saved some douhua to serve her family for breakfast.

“You made this?” At this time the old master, Lin, had woken up and followed the smell into the kitchen.

“It smells so good,” Lin Changting opened his eyes wide as he stared at the plump, white tofu and douhua.

“Wash your face and wake Yanzhi. If the douhua cools, it won’t be as tasty,” Lin Ziyin said.

There were cold sorghum cakes that quickly warmed up when steamed over the spare heat. Last night, Lin Ziyin had prepared salted soybeans, which she added to a bowl along with some chopped cilantro from the Bai family’s basket. Unfortunately, there weren’t enough seasonings or chicken soup.

“I’ll go wake him up,” Guo Huiniang stood up quickly and walked out.

Soon enough, a sleepy child was brought out.

“Come wash your face,” the water heated by the lingering fire was just right, and the family quickly washed up and sat down at the table.

“Come, let’s eat,” Lin Ziyin served everyone douhua.

“Delicious,” Lin Changting exclaimed after taking a sip, then letting out a startled cry.

“Good,” the old master wasn’t a man of many words, but he nonetheless expressed his opinion.

Lin Ziyin cut some fragrant tofu and made a small pot of tofu-vegetable soup.

“How smooth,” Lin Zige said in surprise, looking at Lin Ziyin.

Lin Ziyin sat down and sighed softly as she ate a bowl of tofu-vegetable soup.

The lack of oil and seasonings at home had detracted from the deliciousness of the tofu.

“Sister, save that leftover soy liquid. We can use it next time to make tofu,” Lin Ziyin instructed. Tofu made from brine taste better than from gypsum, but tofu made from the original soy liquid extracted from the douhua are even better.

“Ah, I’ll keep it,” Lin Zige agreed promptly.

“Grandfather, how much is a jin of soybeans these days?” Lin Ziyin asked. Only with knowledge of the raw material prices could she set a reasonable price for her tofu.

“Two wen per jin,” the old master replied as he ate his douhua.

Lin Ziyin quickly worked out in her head that a jin of beans cost two wen, and a jin could make about three jin of tofu. Initially, she would use brine, but eventually switch to soy liquid. She also factored in the cost of firewood.

After calculating, she quickly assigned a price to her tofu.

“Grandfather, how is the business at the Ding’an Temple?” she then asked.

“There are many people every day. It has become a big market at the foot of the mountain. The temple also has its own land. It’s even richer than ordinary wealthy families.” Lin Changshu was a clever man and quickly guessed what Lin Ziyin was considering.

Chapter 20 Selling Tofu (2)_1 “Grandpa, when we get to the temple today, regardless of what I say, please don’t interject, alright?” Lin Ziyin started somewhat awkwardly. It felt inappropriate to ask an elder to remain silent, however, she was genuinely worried that his stubbornness would cause him to soften out of gratitude for the livelihood Ding’an Temple had provided him.

You should know that a man of grandpa’s age still has to go up the mountain to sell firewood, a feat powered by his physical strength alone. In Lin Ziyin’s view, this was an act of mutual kindness, not a debt that needed to be repaid.

“Are you planning to sell these tofu to Ding’an Temple?” The old man asked once he finished eating and put his rice bowl down.

“Yes, for ten pennies a catty.” Lin Ziyin replied with a radiant smile, “This is the lowest price.”

Upon hearing her words, Lin Changshu, Guo Huiniang, and others were taken aback. They could all guess that tofu could be sold for Silver, but they never expected Lin Ziyin to demand such a high price. Compared to beans, this was a significant price increase.

“Isn’t that too expensive?” Lin Changshu asked, frowning.

“Not at all. We’re the only ones in this business. Elder brother, sister-in-law, grandpa, don’t feel embarrassed. I think, right now, we have the monopoly on tofu making. In time, when more people start doing it, we won’t be able to sell it at this price. And as you can see, our family is in debt, short of necessities, our house is run down, grandpa is old, and my sister needs to get married soon. Everything requires Silver. So while we can, we’d better earn as much as we can.” Lin Ziyin said in one breath. “Besides, tofu is nutritious and Ding’an Temple isn’t short of Silver.”

In the end, she made a staunch decision.

“Then let’s give it a try.” The old man agreed.

“Delicious.” Yanzhi patted his belly, finally full.

“Wait for aunty to come back and make you something tasty.” Lin Ziyin patted his little face.

“Okay.” Lin Yanzhi admired Lin Ziyin. She could make tasty food, how impressive!

“Not much work to do in the field, I’ll accompany my sister to have a look.” Lin Changshu wasn’t reassured and wanted to accompany them.

“Sure, I can handle the work in the field. Besides, it’s just a morning’s task.” Guo Huiniang was even more concerned. She thought Lin Ziyin, being a young girl, might not handle business matters well. The old man being old and a regular at Ding’an Temple, might feel embarrassed about bargaining.

“Then come along.” The old man didn’t object. He wasn’t obstinate and understood the concerns of his grandchildren.

The family tidied up, put the tofu in a container for Lin Changshu and the old man to carry. Taking advantage of the sparsity of people in the village in the early morning, the three of them set off decently prepared.

Luckily, as expected, they didn’t meet many people after leaving the village.

Lin Changshu and the old man were pleased with this. They didn’t want to fuel gossip and attract attention. If the village was informed about their financial successes, they would certainly receive many inquiries, leaving them at a loss on how to respond.

The journey was neither too long nor too short. To Lin Ziyin, who was used to intense military training, this was not much of a challenge. However, due to her frail health, she was out of breath and finding it difficult to breathe after covering over half of the distance.

“Let’s rest for a bit.” The old man noticed her discomfort and set down his load.

Lin Changshu glanced at Lin Ziyin and also set down his load.

“A short rest will be fine.” Lin Ziyin said timidly, inwardly maintaining that she must strive to strengthen and restore her body to its original state.

After Lin Ziyin regained her breath, the trio set off again.

By dawn, they had finally reached the entrance of Ding’an Temple. When Lin Ziyin thought about the old man hauling firewood between home and the temple every day, her heart started to ache again.

Although they had arrived early, they already saw merchants setting up their stalls outside the temple.

The old man guided Lin Ziyin and her brother to the back gate of Ding’an Temple.