Chapter Fifty-Seven: Tofu Dry

  Because last year's tofu business was taken over by mom, Qiu Ye can only think of another way to make money this summer.

  What project is this, it's really put Qiu Ye in a difficult position. She didn't want to go too far away from home, that would be neither safe nor convenient, so her options were greatly reduced.

  Qiu Ye knew that at this time, electronic watches and clothes in Guangzhou were definitely cheap. As long as she could resell some of them back home, she would definitely make a few times more profit. However, she was too young, and her family would not let her go alone. The adults didn't have the time, and even if they did, they might not agree with this proposal. So this idea turned around in Qiu Ye's mind for a while before disappearing. This plan wasn't very practical after all.

  In the end, Qiu Ye thought about it and still felt that her business had to revolve around tofu. That way, whatever she wanted to do, her parents could lend a hand. Now that they had this convenient condition, they might as well make good use of it.

  Qiu Ye finally decided to sell small pickled vegetables, the kind made from bean products.

  In her previous life, she saw her mother doing it at home, so she knew the process.

  The second day after the university students' holiday, Qiu Ye got up early to cook breakfast and prepare a loving breakfast for her parents. She also wanted to see if she could find some free labor.

  This year, Qiu's mother has been making tofu all the time, occasionally making dried tofu, but she has never made bean curd, and Qiu Ye doesn't know if her mother can't do it or doesn't want to do it, so today she plans to go and ask.

  Qiu Ye and her godmother said hello, then she picked up a small basket and went to deliver food to her parents.

  This year, Dad and Mom were busy with business, so they completely let go of their brother and sister. Fortunately, they had a godfather and godmother, and there was still hot food to eat every day. Qiu's father also felt guilty for his two children, but he once said that the couple was no longer young, both in their 40s, and should take advantage of these two years to save more money for the two children. Otherwise, when they went to school and got married, they would be short of money and wouldn't be able to do anything.

  Qiu Ye himself is very much in favor of his father's idea. Now, it can be said that the streets are paved with gold, as long as you're willing to work hard and endure hardships, your gains will definitely be substantial. If you wait twenty years later, even if you have the heart to do something, it'll be too late. Wanting to start a big business without capital or connections is just nonsense, throwing money into the ocean wouldn't even make a splash.

  Settling for doing some small business, the little money earned each year might not even cover the rent of a storefront. If you want to do business with no initial investment, it's just setting up a stall outside or being a street vendor, but then you'd have to be on edge every day, afraid that city management would come and catch you. Getting caught once would mean this month is wasted.

  So Qiu Ye's idea is that making money should be done as early as possible. Now, if he can earn enough to cover his costs, in the future, buying a few storefronts will make him worry-free for life.

  Qiu Ye arrived at the tofu workshop and saw Qiu's mother busy pressing tofu inside, Qiu's father was not there, he should have gone to deliver goods.

  Qiu Ye went in and greeted Qiu's mother, calling her to come and have breakfast.

  "Mom, come quickly, I've brought you breakfast."

  Qiu's mother saw that the girl had arrived, and the tofu was almost done, so she washed her hands in front of the water pipe and prepared to eat the girl's loving breakfast.

  "Isn't today a holiday? Why not sleep in for a bit?" Qiu's mother knew that her daughter hadn't slept in since starting school, so she felt sorry for her and wanted her to sleep until she woke up naturally during the holidays.

  It's clear she still doesn't understand how attractive money is to a girl like her, that's way more important than sleep.

  "I didn't see you and dad eating a bad breakfast every day, so I specially brought it to you. I'm filial, look, I even brought you and dad steamed eggs! This is what I personally cooked for you and dad." Qiu Ye took out a small bowl from the basket, inside were two yellowish-orange, oily steamed eggs, Qiu Ye herself felt hungry looking at them, believing that her parents would definitely be full of praise.

  Qiu's mother looked at her daughter with suspicion, seeing only the girl's diligent face. She thought to herself, "This excessive diligence is definitely a sign of ulterior motives." However, she still said: "Oh, my dear daughter is so filial, even making eggs for mom to eat."

  "Mom, I've always been so filial, right? You say, with such a good girl like me, shouldn't you reward me?" Qiu Ye pulled on her mother's arm and started to act spoiled, vowing to complete today's task.

  "I knew you'd be waiting for me here, what's going on? You speak first, I'll listen and see if it's okay before we talk." Old Lady Qiu knew her daughter was being cautious, so she also played dumb, not responding immediately to see what her daughter had to say.

  "It's not a big deal, it's summer vacation anyway, I'm just staying at home with nothing to do, so I thought about doing some small business to earn some extra money." Qiu Ye saw her mom frowning when she mentioned going out again, and quickly added: "Originally I wanted to sell tofu like last year, but now mom has already taken that over, I couldn't compete with mom, so I came up with a new plan."

  Qiu's mom just heard her daughter say that she had taken away her business, which didn't sound very natural. But since she was her mother, if she took it, then so be it. Why would the girl want to take it back? Then she heard the girl say that she wouldn't compete with her anymore and was looking for a new business to do. Qiu's mom felt embarrassed again, thinking theoretically, she had indeed taken away her daughter's business. She immediately felt guilty towards her daughter and wanted to find a way to make it up to her.

  It's just that people's hearts are so strange, if Qiu Ye wanted to compete with Qiu Ma, Qiu Ma would definitely not let her and would have to teach her a lesson. But since Qiu Ye voluntarily backed down, Qiu Ma felt embarrassed instead, thinking she had wronged the girl.

  "You can do whatever you want, as long as it's not excessive, mom won't interfere." Qiu Ye also knew her daughter's personality, and blocking her from doing business was impossible, but she would still review what her daughter wanted to do.

  "Really! Mom is so great! I don't want to do anything else, just want to sell something related to tofu, like dried tofu, tofu dry goods and so on." Qiu Ye said while looking at her mother's expression, seeing that her mother didn't show any strange gaze, she knew there was dried tofu now.

  "Girl, it's not that mom doesn't agree with you, but the small business you want to do really won't work. You see, mom only makes dried tofu occasionally, because in this weather, it goes bad in a day, it's too hot. Even if it doesn't go bad, it can't be left overnight for sure. If we can't sell it and have to freeze it, it's not like frozen tofu that sells well, nobody will buy that. And as for the dried tofu, it's even worse. It's hard and few people like to eat it, so it won't sell."

  "Mom, I know what you said, but I'm not just selling plain tofu. I want to make them into small pickled dishes to sell, so they won't spoil that quickly. Besides, I didn't make too many, I just wanted to try using 20 kilograms of soybeans first. If it works out, I'll make more later. If not, we can still eat them at home." Qiu Ye had already thought this through and was confident that her tofu pickles would be delicious. Even if they didn't sell well, with her brothers around, nothing would go to waste. She just wanted to give it a try.

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