Shi Qingluo had already asked Mother Xiao to help soak the soybeans last night.
She asked, "Do we not have a grinder at home?"
Xiao Hanheng replied, "We don't have one at home, but there is a communal stone mill in the village."
"You want to grind beans?"
Shi Qingluo snapped her fingers. "Smart!"
"I'll have Mother and the others accompany me to grind the beans. We can only make tofu once they are ground."
Xiao Hanheng nodded. "Alright. Once my body has recovered, I can help you all as well."
He didn't think Shi Qingluo was making tofu just for today's meal; he assumed she would likely make it frequently from now on.
Upon hearing this, Shi Qingluo caught the underlying meaning in his words.
She discovered that not only did Xiao Hanheng's appearance and temperament hit her aesthetic preferences, but his cleverness also appealed greatly to her.
In the past, she had rejected all her suitors precisely because those people lacked the ability to share a sense of tacit understanding or harmony with her.
"Mm!" She nodded.
She went to the kitchen to call Mother Xiao and Xiao Xiaomei, then carried the soaked soybeans and a bucket of water toward the place in the village where the stone mill was kept.
Along the way, they encountered several people who proactively greeted Mother Xiao.
It was evident that Mother Xiao had quite good social standing in the village.
Shi Qingluo also noticed that the people of Xiaxi Village were much more simple and honest than those of Shangxi Village.
Some people also proactively greeted Shi Qingluo, and she responded with a graceful, generous smile.
Seeing them carrying beans and a water bucket, several people who were close to Mother Xiao asked, "Yuelan, what are you all going to do?"
Mother Xiao's name was Kong Yuelan.
She replied with a smile, "My daughter-in-law wants to grind all these beans."
Someone was puzzled. "What for? Why grind the beans?"
Wasn't that a waste? They had never seen anyone grind soybeans like this; they were usually eaten as grain.
Shi Qingluo replied with a smile, "Because I am going to make tofu."
"What is tofu?" Everyone was even more confused.
Shi Qingluo didn't hide it. "It is a type of food. When I was at the Taoist temple, the Taoist Master taught us how to make it."
A few people asked curiously, "Is it delicious?"
Shi Qingluo nodded. "It is delicious."
She added with a smile, "Once it's made, everyone can come to our house to try some."
She had already planned this: once the tofu was made, she would send some to the families of those who had helped the Xiao family before.
Aside from maintaining social connections, it was also to conduct the first wave of promotion.
A few people felt a bit embarrassed. "There's no need for that. You should keep it for yourselves."
The Xiao family's current situation was not good, so they felt awkward accepting it.
They had heard that these soybeans were even part of the bride's dowry from the Shi family.
Shi Qingluo smiled generously. "You helped my mother quite a bit before. It's just a taste of tofu; there's no need to be so polite."
Hearing her say this, Mother Xiao also knew that her daughter-in-law truly intended to make the tofu and share it with these close neighbors.
Whether it was the beans or the tofu, they didn't belong to the Xiao family, so she couldn't take the initiative to use them for social favors.
But since her daughter-in-law had this intention, she wouldn't oppose it.
In any case, she felt her daughter-in-law was a capable person, so it was best to listen to her.
Thus, she also said with a smile, "This is just a small gesture from our Qingluo. Please don't refuse."
Hearing her say this, the group stopped refusing, mainly because they were curious about what tofu was.
They had heard that the old immortal on the mountain had ascended to divinity; since he was so powerful, whatever he taught the eldest son's wife surely wouldn't be bad.
They even stepped forward to help, going along to grind the beans together.
Once the beans were ground, several people helped carry them back to the Xiao house.
Shi Qingluo went into the kitchen and only asked Xiao Xiaomei and Erlang to help.
Seeing this, the others said nothing and simply sat down to chat with Mother Xiao.
They saw Xiao Hanheng coming out of the room leaning on a cane. Although his face was pale, it was clear he was truly recovering.
"Dalao, you can actually walk on the ground now!"
Seeing that he could walk after waking up, the group felt happy for Mother Xiao and greeted him.
Xiao Hanheng wore a handsome, elegant smile. "This is all thanks to my wife."
"Back then, she was blessed to have that old immortal as her master. After marrying me, she has also brought me good fortune."
He took the opportunity to help Shi Qingluo use the old Taoist priest as a "big flag" to boost her reputation.
These people loved to gossip about village affairs; he believed this news would spread through the village very quickly.
"That's wonderful then. The good days for you two are still ahead!" The group felt this made a lot of sense.
Before, Dalao had been unconscious and nearly dead.
Then, the Shi girl married in yesterday to bring good luck, and Dalao woke up, and today he could even walk.
The Shi girl was truly amazing and indeed a blessed person, worthy of being the old immortal's disciple.
After a few more words of small talk, Xiao Hanheng greeted the group and went to the kitchen to find Shi Qingluo.
By now, Shi Qingluo had already filtered the residue and placed the soy milk on the stove to boil.
She had large medical gauze in her space, so she took some out to use for filtering.
Shi Qingluo turned and asked, "Why did you come in?"
Xiao Hanheng replied with a smile, "I came in to check on you all."
"Does your tofu-making process need to be kept secret? If so, I'll step out first." He made it clear he wasn't there to spy on how the tofu was made, but was simply curious about how his little wife would handle it.
Shi Qingluo waved her hand dismissively with a smile. "No need. We're family, there's no need for secrets. You can just watch."
In the modern era, even if one hadn't learned this, one could just search on Baidu and follow the instructions.
The *Transmigration Treasure Manual* her cousin had stuffed into her hands also contained tofu recipes, and the methods were not much different from what she had learned.
Back then, she and her friends had stayed in Tofu Village for three days, waiting to eat the grand monthly tofu feast, and had even learned how to make other soy products in the process.
The difference was that one was hands-on experience, while the other was just theoretical knowledge.
Hearing Shi Qingluo's natural assumption that they were family and didn't need secrets, the ripples in Xiao Hanheng's long-frozen, closed-off heart began to stir.
Seeing that Shi Qingluo was serious, he didn't leave pretentiously. "Then I'll just watch to see what kind of tofu you make."
Shi Qingluo chuckled softly. "Alright. Since you're being so cooperative, I'll let you taste the first bowl of soy milk and the first serving of tofu pudding later."
She had heard the conversation between Xiao Hanheng and the others just now.
This fellow was truly too smart and resourceful; he had done exactly what she wanted to do.
Crucially, the credibility of what he said was higher than if she had said it herself—after all, he was the one who had woken up due to the "luck-bringing" marriage.
Xiao Hanheng knew what she meant by "cooperative," and his eyes twinkled with a smile. "I look forward to it."
After a while, the soy milk boiled. Shi Qingluo scooped out a few bowls and added some sugar left over from yesterday's banquet.
She stirred it with chopsticks, picked up a bowl, and handed it to Xiao Hanheng. "Here, have a bowl of soy milk first."
She added, "Drinking a cup of soy milk every morning is very good for your health."
Xiao Hanheng took it and took a sip. "Not bad."
The taste was good, with a rich, fresh aroma of soybeans.
Xiao Xiaomei and Erlang also took bowls and had a sip. "It's delicious!"
Shi Qingluo had the two of them carry the remaining soy milk out to Mother Xiao and the others.
Then, she began using bittern to curdle the tofu.