The method of making tofu is not difficult, at least in the eyes of Fang Daxiong who is not good at cooking, it's not too hard, but before seeing it, who would have thought that using plaster to coagulate boiled soy milk would produce tofu?

  Ten kilograms of beans produced nearly forty kilograms of tofu, and the people in the other courtyard couldn't finish eating it. Lin Qingwen was not stingy either, and she gave two blocks to Fang Dasong, asking him to inform the villagers to come and collect the tofu: "Two blocks per household, take it back and cook it with Chinese cabbage or stew it alone."

  "Ah, no, this is Auntie's masterpiece, how can I just take it for free?" Fang Datong hastily declined.

  Lin Qingwan just smiled, "It's not like it's some precious thing, take it away, if you think it tastes good, tomorrow you can soak the beans and make it yourself."

  Lin Qingwan nodded and said, "When the time comes, come to my place for plaster, if you make too much, you can take it to the market to exchange for some beans or copper coins. Isn't Bi Hai saying that Qian Rui's family wants to make a set of longevity clothes for their mother-in-law? Although making tofu is hard work, it may not be possible to earn some money. After the autumn harvest, the work in the village will also be easier, and there will be time to do it for them."

  Fang Datong was shocked with his mouth agape, "Auntie is letting her make tofu to sell?"

  Lin Qingwan tilted her head and smiled, "I'm just making a suggestion, if she's not comfortable with it, then forget it. But in my opinion, all twenty-eight households have problems, relying on one household will definitely not work well. Why not divide into several households as a group to cooperate and make tofu? One household grinds the beans, another boils the soy milk, another curdles the tofu, and another presses the tofu. After the tofu is made, take it out to sell. Divide the labor clearly, and avoid the trouble of one household being unable to do it, with many people and many conflicts."

  Fang Datong's spirit returned home in a daze, and was pushed by his wife before he came to his senses. "Are you stupid? You just came back and squatted in the yard without moving, and didn't respond when I spoke to you."

  Fang Datong propped himself up on his knees and told her what had happened, furrowing his brow as he said: "Do you think the old lady deliberately wanted to teach us how to make tofu? But why didn't she say so clearly?"

  His wife's eyes lit up and she said: "What's it to you? If the lady is willing to teach you, then just learn."

  Fang Datong glanced at her and said, "What do you know? I heard the cook say that the tofu is an ancient recipe, something ordinary people wouldn't be able to make. I've even heard that in the city, there's a restaurant that sells a dish made with this tofu for a higher price than beef."

  "Auntie is willing to teach us, that's a great kindness, of course we should be grateful. But I see Auntie's intention, she seems not to want to make a big show of it, otherwise wouldn't it be better to directly tell the villagers instead of going through me?"

  The wife's face was full of question marks, and she didn't seem to understand. She bluntly said: "If you don't understand, go ask Butler Lin, isn't that right? He is the head butler of the Lin estate, whatever Miss thinks in her heart he knows, could it be that he doesn't know what Miss wants to do?"

  Fang Datong slapped his forehead, "How could I have forgotten this? You go notify each household to come to our house for a meeting tonight, and I'll go find Lin the steward."

  Lin Guan's family saw him and smiled, "I was just thinking when you would come to find me."

  Fang Datong smiled awkwardly and asked: "Excuse me, Housekeeper Lin, I'm a bit dull-witted and didn't quite understand what Miss meant."

  Lin Guan's family smiled lightly and asked: "Have you learned the method of making tofu?"

  "I only remember the steps, but I've never actually done it myself, so I'm not sure if I can really do it."

  Lin Guan nodded and said, "This tofu-making business is quite intricate, whether it's old or tender, there are skills involved. Even the cooks in our household don't dare to guarantee that they can do a good job, so you still have to think carefully about it."

  "Our Lin family, apart from this estate, only has a few bookstores and a publishing house left. There are fewer people to use them, so in the future, most of your descendants will have to stay on the estate. But the work here is heavy and tiring. The young mistress also wants you to have some skills to rely on," Lin, the steward, sighed: "The young mistress has a soft heart, apart from you, I'm afraid the tenants of this estate will also learn this skill in the future. It's just that you are the tenants of the mansion, so it's more intimate, and this skill is taught to you first."

  Fang Datong was puzzled, "Why not just gather everyone together and inform them, also letting them know that this is a blessing from the old lady?"

  "Doesn't the young lady's personal appearance mean that everyone will know this is her kindness?"

  "It's not that it can't be done, but the effect won't be as good." Fang Datong was from a military background and had even been an officer, so he naturally knew some techniques for winning people over. The impact of him taking charge versus having Auntie herself take charge would be different.

  Lin Guanjia said with a profound tone: "It's just that the lady is not good at showing her face, do you know whose family owns the wine house in the city that has the unique tofu dishes?"

  "Whose is it?"

  "Zhao's family," Lin Guan said with a cold smile, "The Zhao and Lin families are both relatives of the Shang family by marriage, so they have many connections between them. Therefore, some things cannot be done openly and honestly by Madam. However, if we find an old recipe in our house and give it to the cook, who then passes it on to the farmers in our household, and they use this skill to make money, no one can find fault with that."

  Fang Datong understood as soon as he heard it. His family had a bad relationship with the Zhao family, and his aunt was trying to set up a trap for the Zhao family.

  Auntie is such a kind person, yet she dislikes the Zhao family so much. It must be that the Zhao family itself is too annoying. Fang Datong immediately rolled up his sleeves and said: "Housekeeper, rest assured, I know what to do now."

  Lin Guanjia smiled and nodded, "I naturally trust you to handle things, but as the lady said, the original intention of this matter is still to let you live a good life, so if there's no profit, then don't bother."

  "Lin Guanjia, how much does a dish of tofu at that wine house cost?"

  Lin Guanjia smiled and reported several dish names and numbers to him, "However, since it's a master chef's craftsmanship, it's naturally more expensive."

  Fang Datong clicked his tongue in surprise, and indeed it was more expensive than beef. He thought for a moment about the cost of making tofu, and finally said, "Don't worry, I know what to do."

  The price can't be too high or too low. They all need to make a profit, and the tofu has to sell well everywhere, so they can still make money from their wine shops.

  Fang Datong returned home in the evening and held a meeting with each family to discuss and cooperate in groups according to their respective situations.

  These twenty-eight households originally relied on each other because they were all military dependents, and now it's relatively easy to divide them into groups.

  They have worked together for a long time and know how to distribute them in the most suitable way. In less than two minutes, they were divided into nine groups.

  Then each group sends one person who is good at cooking to go to another yard tomorrow to learn how to make tofu from the cook.

  "Tonight when we get back, everyone will soak the beans. Tomorrow, everyone will take them to the stone mill in the village and grind them."

  "What if someone else asks about it while I'm grinding there?"

  "To be honest, I went to another courtyard and begged for Auntie's mercy. Auntie granted us permission to go learn how to make tofu with the kitchen maid."

  "What about them going to ask Grandma what to do?"

  "Miss is kind-hearted and won't keep anything that can be taught to herself, so they'll definitely be able to learn it too. It's just that we've taken the lead and learned this skill one step ahead of them. By the time they get to see Miss, our skills will have been honed."

  Fang Datong didn't tell them about the Zhao family's affairs, lest there be too many mouths and it ends up being a rumor.

  "No matter how many of you will learn this skill in the end, I hope you all remember that we are all people of Lin's household, and we are all under the mistress' roof. Don't be arrogant and show off your skills to outsiders, save your extra energy for me to use."

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  Fang Datong then let everyone withdraw.

  The next day, the villagers from other courtyards all carried a wooden bucket to the stone mill in the village to grind bean milk. Everyone gathered around again and learned that Fang Datong had obtained the consent of his wife to learn this skill and even wanted to make money with it, so everyone was extremely envious.

  Some people wanted to go and ask, but when they saw the aunt, very few people dared to come forward to ask. Moreover, for some reason, Auntie didn't even leave her house to patrol the village these past two days.

  In just two days, Fang Daxiang and the others had already mastered the art of making tofu. Although the tofu they made was not as smooth and tender as that from the Gluttonous Building, it was still quite good.

  They directly carried it into the city to sell, because this thing is little known to people, ordinary citizens can't even enter the luxurious building, and for a time there was no one to buy.

  Lin Quan, who still came to join in the fun, saw that they were a group of old men squatting on the ground staring at passersby with eager eyes, but couldn't even shout loudly. Really can't bear to look at it, so he helped to shout: "Selling tofu, selling tofu, white and tender tofu, this is tofu made by Wang Huainan, made with ancient methods..."

  Everyone didn't understand what "bean curd" was, but the two words "Gu Fang" were understood. He couldn't help but come over and ask, "Who is the King of Huainan? Is he famous?"

  Lin Quan: "Even Huainan Wang is unknown to everyone, he is the king, the emperor's brother, do you say it's famous or not?"

  Everyone was shocked, "Was this thing made by Wang Ye?"

  "No, not only that, even the emperor himself has eaten it and said it's good." Lin Quan pointed to the tofu in the frame: "It can be stewed with Chinese cabbage or meat, it's delicious, and it's not expensive. One liter of beans can exchange for four pieces of tofu, and it only costs one copper coin."

  Fang Datong and his team cut the tofu into pieces that are neither too big nor too small, with four pieces weighing about one catty and two taels, equivalent to exchanging one catty of beans for one catty of tofu.

  This year's bean harvest in Suzhou is quite good, and a liter of beans isn't expensive at all, so many people are tempted.

  Lin Quan saw that and became even more enthusiastic, "This is not something ordinary people like us can eat, the Gluttony Building knows it, their signature dish is made of tofu."

  Everyone suspected, "The dishes in this restaurant must have a secret recipe, how did you know?"

  "They all said it was made according to an ancient recipe, this tofu was made by the King of Huainan. How they got the recipe from Fangzi's mansion, we don't know, but our tofu was actually found by our master occasionally in an ancient book."

  Someone laughed and said: "Then your master taught you?"

  Fang Datong became anxious and was about to explain, but Lin Quan had already rolled his eyes and said: "Our master doesn't have that kind of skill, these brothers of mine learned from the kitchen maid in the mansion, and it's also our master's special permission."