62 Tofu Is a Good Thing
The couple looked at Su Binglan and Liu Yinyin with anticipation as Liu Yinyin closed the door and whispered, “We earned one silver tael and 560 yuan in one night.”
“W-What?” Shen Qiuhua and Su Fengmao were stunned. They thought their ears tricked them. “That’s so much!”
That was a considerable sum of money to ordinary villagers. It was more than their annual income from planting crops—they earned it all in just one night.
Still, the couple did not doubt Liu Yinyin’s claims because she had an excellent personality and never lied. They only suspected that they had misheard.
Su Binglan looked at her parents and smiled. “It’s true. We earned so much in just one night.”
Shen Qiuhua clapped her hands excitedly. “That’s incredible, Binglan! You truly are a treasure to our family!”
Su Fengmao was also ecstatic. However, he was usually quiet and not good with words, so he only laughed.
Shen Qiuhua suppressed her excitement and said, “Your father and I did as you instructed. After we peeled the soybeans and soaked them in water, we used the stone mill to grind them.”
There were many soybeans, so Su Binglan told her parents only to use a few before she left. Even so, Shen Qiuhua and Su Fengmao were busy throughout the day.
The Sus wasn’t sleepy this time. Instead, they were excited.
Su Binglan handed the money bag to Shen Qiuhua and said, “You are in charge of our family’s money, Mother.”
Shen Qiuhua held the money bag and said, “Let’s go into the room and see how much we made. But Xuexuan and Xuehai are asleep, so let’s keep our voices low.”
“Okay.”
The family sat around the brick bed as Shen Qiuhua removed the money from the bag and counted them. Her mouth was agape as she counted, thrilled with their earnings as her eyelids narrowed into slits. “We have plenty of spare money to feel at ease. Our family’s conditions will only improve from now on as long as we work hard.”
Liu Yinyin said excitedly, “Yes, Mother-in-law.”
Su Binglan said, “Mother, I’ll leave the money with you. Tomorrow morning, I’ll set up a stall in town to sell tofu.”
“We’re selling tofu in the morning?”
Su Binglan told Shen Qiuhua what tofu was at noon, even though Shen Qiuhua hadn’t seen it yet. But just from smelling the fragrant soybeans, she could tell it would be good.
Shen Qiuhua now, more than ever, believed in her daughter’s words.
“Well, let’s go set up a stall. Since it’s just autumn and the weather isn’t too cold, we can make more money. Maybe we can set up a shop in the winter too.” Su Binglan even thought of buying a shop.
She thought a lot about it for a long while now. She wanted to build a business empire in the future. With as many shops as possible, Su Binglan could give them all to her family.
Shen Qiuhua was stunned. She never dared to think she could set up an entire shop in the past. Still, she felt her daughter was the most capable person she knew and that it was right to listen to her.
“Okay, you can make the arrangements.”
Su Binglan thought of something and said, “Oh right, Mother, I took some medicine when I got sick before, and you also borrowed money to purchase Jin’an for me. We should repay our debts early, and then we can save the rest of the money we earn.”
Shen Qiuhua said, “B-But you earned this money. We can’t use it to pay our debts. Your father and I thought we should work harder. After the autumn harvest, we will sell the grain and return the money we borrowed.”
Su Binglan felt warmth in her heart. She held her mother’s hand and said, “Mother, we are a family. You and Father borrowed money from other people because of me. It’s okay to use this money to repay our debts. Besides, I can quickly earn more.”