Chapter 58: Made Another Small Profit

  "Twenty kilograms of soybeans is not a small amount, if made into dried tofu, it can make more than fifty kilograms. How can they be sold out in one day?" Old Lady Qiu said with a frown, thinking that the girl's twenty kilograms of soybeans was also a waste.

  "It's okay, if it can't be sold, we still have brother, and if that doesn't work, there's pillar brother, definitely won't be left over."

  "You rotten kid, you think they're all trash cans or something? There's not even any leftovers. If I had the time, I wouldn't bother with you, but today I'm busy and can't do it for you, so just wait till tomorrow to talk about it." Qi Ma has already finished making tofu for today, so she can only give more soybeans to the girl tomorrow to use in her experiment.

  Qiu Yeke is not a person who can wait, besides, she doesn't want to add more burden to her parents, so she coquettishly says: "Mom, you don't have time, that's okay, I have time, just tell me how to do it and I'll learn it quickly, I'm smart, I'll definitely get it in one try."

  Qiu Ye ground it for a while, and Qiu's mother finally nodded in agreement. Mainly because it was only six o'clock now, and after Qiu Ye finished making tofu, there wasn't much time left, so Qiu's mother could guide her through the whole process, so she agreed.

  Then, Qiu Ye borrowed some of the pre-soaked beans from Qiu Ma and promised to pay for them. This year, Qiu Ma's bean curd business has been doing well, but they've run out of yellow beans, so now they're using yellow beans that Qiu Ba had someone bring back from the countryside.

  The process of making bean products is the same in the first half, and Qiu Ye helps her mother to grind beans, boil, filter, and make tofu. Then, use a special mold to make dried tofu and tofu dry, the technology is relatively simple, but the process is more cumbersome, need a layer of tofu brain a layer of cloth, tofu brain also need to be paved evenly, finally wrap the package tightly, press into shape is good. The pressing time needs to be longer than the sitting tofu time, Qiu's mother pressed for an hour before opening the package. After that, Qiu's mother taught Qiu Ye how to make dried tofu.

  During the production process, Qiu's father returned with goods and heard that his daughter was thinking of making new ideas to make money again. He was very curious, but his working hours had arrived, so he couldn't watch his daughter's work anymore. He asked her to leave some for him at night, so he could also taste his daughter's craftsmanship. Qiu's mother said coolly beside him: "Maybe your daughter's craftsmanship is only appreciated by you alone, don't be in a hurry."

  Qiu Ye was extremely indignant at her mother's distrust and vowed to make a good show, determined to sell all the dried tofu today.

  She went home and asked her brother to help her carry the load, bringing back more than 50 kilograms of dried tofu.

  Qiu Ye started making her own pickled vegetables at home. She first made a brine by simmering a bone broth, then marinated all the dried tofu in it for half an hour using a large pot.

  She picked the dried tofu out of the sauce and observed it for a moment, its color was reddish-brown and its flavor was fragrant. She nodded in satisfaction, apparently her skills hadn't declined.

  After that, she dried the tofu and mixed it with scallions, carrots, cucumber shreds, onion shreds, cilantro, and chili oil. She cut the dried tofu into shreds and mixed it with the bean curd shreds to make a salty dish. She didn't add too much salt, just a bit more than usual.

  Qiu Ye thought for a moment and then took some of her homemade Korean kimchi, putting all the pickled vegetables into several large basins. She asked her brother to help carry them downstairs, as she wanted to sell all her pickles before the evening rush hour.

  Qiu Feng was unhappy to see his sister taking away all the pickled vegetables he loved to eat, which she had sold. He hadn't even had enough of them yet, and every time they ate, his sister would only let him have a small dish. Now she had taken away an entire bowl, leaving him with nothing to eat in the future.

  Qiu Ye looked at Qiu Feng's displeased face, then at his eyes fixed on the Korean kimchi, and silently cursed him as a "big foodie". However, she still spoke softly to coax him, "Brother, don't worry, if you come back from the fields today and pick some vegetables, I'll make more of this salty dish tonight and give you a bowl, how about that?" She had to flatter him since she still needed his help.

  Qiu Feng thought for a moment, so isn't it that the more vegetables he picks, the more pickled vegetables his sister will make? Then can't he just eat as much as he wants in the future?

  Qiu Feng was still happily thinking about his beautiful dream, he didn't think at all that it was him who made his sister make more pickled vegetables. With her personality, as long as she could sell them for money, she would take them all to sell. In the future, each meal of his would still only have a small plate of food.

  Qiu Feng nodded and began to help his sister, by the time they pushed their cart to Xi Village Market, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. Qiu Ye found her mother and set up a stall next to hers, then arranged her pickled vegetables on display.

  Qiu's mother looked at the several dishes of pickled vegetables her daughter had brought, and they were completely different from what she had imagined. The color was really enticing, and the flavor had a hint of meaty taste that made it look delicious. Moreover, her daughter had even brought a dish of pickled vegetables from their own home, which Qiu's mother had tasted before and thought was quite good, so it should be sellable.

  "Take a look, take a look, delicious mixed dishes and pickled vegetables, the only one in the whole market. Don't miss it when you pass by, vegetarian meat is 1 yuan per catty, and vegetables are 0.6 yuan per catty."

  When Qiu Ye's peddling cry sounded, it almost scared Qiu's mother into falling over.

  This girl really dares to set a high price, the pickled vegetables from her own family's field are just ordinary vegetables that can be bought for 30 cents per catty, but she asks for 60 cents. And that dried tofu, one catty costs one yuan, which is too expensive.

  "Isn't this a bit too expensive?" Qiu's mother asked in a low voice.

  "Not expensive, mom, look at this pickled vegetable of mine, is it appetizing?"

  Qiu Ye herself didn't think it was expensive, now pork is 16-17 yuan per catty, her tofu was comparable to vegetarian meat in the future, this price was very cheap, besides, she was the only one selling this in the market, no matter what, there should be someone buying it.

  Oil City is a relatively special city, it has its own financial income, so every worker here, in addition to the salary given by the state, also receives a subsidy from Oil City every month, which means that the monthly bonus is high. So nationwide, the money earned by Oil City workers is still relatively high, of course, it can't be compared with big cities, but in third-tier cities, it's already considered high.

  This year, the workers in Oil City have had a pay rise, just like the teachers at Shida University, many of whom now earn over 200 yuan. Dangba and Dangma are among them, and they really do have high incomes these days. In this era of material scarcity, when people have some spare cash but can't even buy what they want, Qiu Ye doesn't believe that his pickled vegetables won't sell.

  "Looking at it, it's quite good, but also too expensive. This bowl of pickled vegetables doesn't even have any cost, you're selling it for 60 cents a catty? Those dried tofu and whatnot, the cost is less than 20 cents a catty. You've added scallions, carrots, and cucumber shreds, that's even more worthless. You're actually selling it for 1 yuan a catty?" Old Lady Qiu whispered to the girl, afraid of being overheard.

  "Mom, although this is low-cost, I'm selling technology. Look at our university's cafeteria, who can make pickled vegetables like this? No one, right? And mine is not just boiled, but also cut and mixed, it's a lot of work. I have to earn back the labor cost." Qiu Ye was very confident in her products, these must be sellable.

  "Hmm, go ahead then. I wonder how you can sell it at such a high price. If it doesn't sell well, it'll be left on your hands, and that means your brother and father will have something to eat for the next few days." Old Lady Qiu still didn't believe anyone would pay such a high price for such salty vegetables.