OFTLHFRO C19

Chapter 19: Tofu

The two brothers were very surprised when they heard it was wild boar meat.

After his initial excitement, Huo Yuhui asked curiously, “Little daddy, where did the wild boar come from?”

“Your daddy went hunting with others in the mountains and shared a lot of the meat.”

Luo Mingchen said as he finished handling the wild boar meat, planning to make braised meat and roasted meat, leaving some for red-braising tomorrow.

Huo Yuhui nervously asked, “Did daddy get hurt?”

Huo Yan said, “No.”

The usually quiet Huo Xinyue gestured energetically with her hands and feet, trying to describe to her two brothers, “Daddy…”

Then came a burst of incomprehensible babble, finishing by spreading her arms wide and hopping a bit, saying “Big!”

The two brothers had been with her so long, yet still didn’t understand what she wanted to express.

Seeing their confusion, Huo Xinyue anxiously gestured again.

“Yueyue, what are you saying?” Huo Xiang looked completely baffled.

While building the frame for the stone mill in the yard, Huo Yan said, “She wants to tell you that your little daddy punched a big wild boar to death.”

The brothers: “…!!!”

Huo Xiang was stunned, “What about the wild boar?”

Luo Mingchen said, “There’s food anyway. They took it to the county town to sell for a few dozen taels of silver.”

“Wow…”

Huo Xiang couldn’t imagine it at all.

In the evening, the braised and roasted meat Luo Mingchen made was eaten clean.

After dinner, Huo Yan continued building the stone mill’s frame.

Huo Yuhui washed the dishes, took Huo Xiang for a bath, then went to review lessons.

Luo Mingchen finished washing Huo Xinyue and sent her to the room to sleep, locked the chickens and ducks in the coop, grabbed a small stool, sat aside, and bit an apple while watching Huo Yan work.

Huo Yan glanced at him and asked, “Only one?”

Realizing he was talking about the apple, Luo Mingchen took another one out, casually rubbed it on his clothes, and handed it over, “Here.”

Huo Yan bit into the apple as he worked without stopping.

Luo Mingchen: “…”

But he didn’t bother arguing much with Huo Yan; if he wanted to eat, let him.

Back to the topic, Luo Mingchen said, “Those two kids are getting bullied at the academy. Should we help?”

“How help? Are you going to accompany them to study?”

Luo Mingchen was speechless but knew Huo Yan was right, “Then I’ll wait?”

“Knowing Xiao Hui’s temper, they haven’t spoken up yet precisely because what others do is still bearable. Learning some martial arts to defend themselves, kids might fare better in fights.”

At that, Huo Yan gestured with his eyes for Luo Mingchen to hand over the apple.

Luo Mingchen gave him the apple and said, “I’ve grown this big. Who dares to bully me? I’ll definitely fight back.”

So hearing the kids got bullied made his whole body uncomfortable.

Huo Yan looked at his thin limbs, “Could you fight back when you were little?”

“Don’t underestimate me, okay? I worked jobs at construction sites since I was young. It was a wonder if they could beat me. Also, with good grades and teachers favoring me, if they started first, their families had to pay.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Yan guessed Luo Mingchen had lost his parents young and lacked elders to guide him, so he dealt with peer issues very harshly and probably had few friends.

Huo Yan said, “Listen to me on this one; let’s not intervene yet.”

“Okay.”

Luo Mingchen thought carefully. Indeed, he won fights and won in the end but was mostly lonely during his student years.

But he didn’t regret it.

He was different from others; earning his own money and tuition, he wasn’t from the same world, so no need to force integration or bother spending time.

But for Huo Yuhui and Huo Xiang, Luo Mingchen hoped they could make a few good friends and not be left with barely anyone to contact if the world ended.

After finishing the stone mill’s frame, Luo Mingchen took out the soaked beans and used water tentacles to work swiftly and steadily.

Seeing Huo Yan staring at the water tentacles, Luo Mingchen smiled and deliberately prodded his hand with one, only for it to be grabbed.

“Are they tangible?”

Huo Yan felt strange; though there was nothing visible, he found the water didn’t wet his hand but was slippery and cool, like wrapped in a thin film.

“They can take various forms.”

Luo Mingchen said as the tentacle in Huo Yan’s hand turned into countless small water droplets, then distorted water balls of different shapes and sizes, before reforming into water tentacles.

Though his power hadn’t yet reached the level of turning around large rivers, this degree of change was easy for him.

His ability was equivalent to his physical strength, but the power stored in the core was much greater, so working with the water tentacles was simpler and more convenient than doing it manually.

Huo Yan looked and praised, “Impressive.”

Luo Mingchen twirled his eyes and teased him, “When facing those man-eating monsters, I just directly poke their heads with the tentacles, like a sudden stab, can hit seven or eight at once.”

Imagining this, Huo Yan suddenly laughed, “Isn’t that like candied hawthorn on a stick?”

Luo Mingchen: “…”

This guy’s mental resilience was incredible.

Keep in mind, this was a peaceful era, far from any war zone…

Seeing he couldn’t scare him, Luo Mingchen sulked, “Next time I’ll buy you a skewer of candied hawthorn.”

Huo Yan calmly agreed, “Okay.”

After grinding the beans, he put them into boiling water, then filtered the soy milk.

For Luo Mingchen, filtering soy milk was very easy. Controlled by his power, the milk had absolutely no residue.

Boiling the soy milk, he added a proper amount of gypsum water, stirring evenly.

When it turned into beancurd jelly, he scooped it out, placed it into molds, and pressed it with the right weight for a while.

The leftover tofu dregs could be eaten. Stir-fried with pickled beans, it had a unique flavor.

The two ate a bowl of beancurd jelly, and after washing up, Luo Mingchen was still not ready for bed. Huo Yan asked, “How long to press the tofu?”

“About two hours.”

After saying that, Luo Mingchen looked at Huo Yan and added, “Maybe about an hour.”

“…You’re just going to wait?”

“Don’t worry; I’ll sleep before midnight. You rest first.”

Since the tofu could be stored in the space and wouldn’t spoil, it could be sold tomorrow.

If sales were good, he could soak more soybeans.

He already had many soybeans in the space, which could be fully used.

Gypsum was available in the shopping area, likely enough for a year or two.

In this way, the main costs were firewood, a big stone mill, and stall rental.

Huo Yan said, “How about I watch over it here?”

Luo Mingchen shook his head, “I’m not sure if it’s an hour or so. I need to observe. Making tofu isn’t as simple as you think. Pressing too long makes it hard; not long enough, it’s too soft. I haven’t made tofu for a long time and need to experiment.”

After hearing this, Huo Yan stayed to wait with him.