71 Wooden Mold
The corner of Su Binglan’s mouth twitched when she heard Shen Qiuhua’s words. It wasn’t like her mother said at all. Su Binglan was only worried about Luo Jin’an’s condition and thought it wasn’t good for him to work so hard.
“Mother, did you just hear what you said?”
Shen Qiuhua said smilingly, “Okay, I won’t say that again. I know you’re shy.”
Su Binglan felt helpless. She thought the situation was becoming increasingly ridiculous. She looked at Luo Jin’an’s stubborn expression and knew he couldn’t sit still, so she might as well tell him to do something less tiring.
She pondered momentarily and said, “Why don’t you help light the fire instead? We must quickly finish making the tofu to go to the market and sell them.”
Luo Jin’an only nodded.
Then Su Binglan started to make the tofu. The soybeans from yesterday were ready as her parents filtered them with the cloth. She put the filtered soy milk into the pot and boiled it for a while.
During the boiling process, she added cold water to a bowl with some salt and vinegar to make tofu water. Then she mixed in some cold water while controlling the temperature when the soy milk finished cooking.
After that, she scooped the soymilk and mixed it well. The tofu was almost ready when it turned into a curd-like consistency, so she boiled it again. She poured the curd into a wooden mold, wrapped it, and pressed it for fifteen minutes.
Su Binglan sketched a wooden mold and told her parents to order it when she went to town in the afternoon the day before.
Shen Qiuhua sniffed the fragrance and said with emotion, “So that’s what the wooden mold is for.”
Su Binglan knew it had that function when she sketched it.
“You must use this whenever you want to make tofu in the future,” Su Binglan said.
Shen Qiuhua replied, “Um, Jin’an made this.”
“W-What?” Su Binglan was shocked. She didn’t expect Luo Jin’an to possess such a skill. It turned out Luo Jin’an even knew how to make molds. He even took her drawings and made them come to life.
Shen Qiuhua explained, “Initially, your father and I wanted to look for a carpenter in the village who could make the mold you sketched, but Jin’an looked at it and said he could do it.”
“He also said we could save money if he did it instead of paying a carpenter. Jin’an did an excellent job.”
Su Binglan looked at Luo Jin’an with surprise. “Do you know how to make other wood products? Some tools, maybe?”
Luo Jin’an said, nodding, “I learned carpentry when I was a child.” He had learned many things, so he thought nothing of it.
Still, Su Binglan was pleasantly surprised. It would be an ancient work of art if she could make wood carvings. They were also worth a lot of money. She would also have molds for desserts whenever she opened her dessert shop.
She could sketch some designs for Luo Jin’an to make. However, carving wasn’t like chopping wood and wouldn’t require too much physical labor. With that, Luo Jin’an wouldn’t need to go up the mountain to work. Instead, he could do his carpentry at home and wouldn’t be tired. It would also reduce the risk of worsening his condition.
“I didn’t know you could do that, Jin’an. You have hidden talents.”
Luo Jin’an lowered his head as his eyelids trembled, hiding the emotions in his eyes.
The way Su Binglan called Luo Jin’an’s name resembled the tone in her dream.
…
The tofu was ready when the sky shined bright. Su Binglan opened the cloth to reveal the tofu inside as a pleasant fragrance spread through the air, arousing one’s appetite.
“It smells so good.” Liu Yinyin smelled the fragrance and looked at the tofu. She was amazed.
“Is this what tofu looks like?” Su Fengmao looked at the tofu with widened eyes. It was his first time seeing tofu and the first time he helped make some. He thought it felt magical.
Luo Jin’an looked at the tofu, then at Su Binglan as his expression changed.