Glancing at her fleeing son, Tian Cuixia smiled helplessly: "Haha, this boy is the most mischievous, never listens. Your daughter is much more likable. Hey, where's your Tongtong? Why didn't she come with you?"
Thinking of her own daughter, who is as naughty as a boy, Sun Mei couldn't help but laugh: "She got called out to play by some kids from the school. You better not praise her, or she'll get all puffed up."
Tian Cuixia noticed the bowl in Sun Mei's hand: "What do you have there?"
Sun Mei smiled: "My husband, you know, his legs aren't too agile, so I was thinking of finding a new livelihood. I've been working on some snacks these past days, trying to see if we could start a business. We brought some for you to try, first to thank the village chief for taking care of our family. Secondly, to help us see if these could sell."
At this time, the village chief, Zhao Qiangshan, happened to come out of the yard, and upon hearing Sun Mei's words, he nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it's time to find a new means of living."
Tian Cuixia had already taken the bowl, looking at the tofu, which was square, white, tender, and steaming, she exclaimed in surprise: "What's this? White and tender, looks like it would be delicious. And this bowl, it smells so good, it's making my mouth water."
Sun Mei: "We call this tofu, and this bowl is called douhua. I've already mixed the douhua, you can eat it directly. You can fry the tofu with oil, cook it in dishes or soups, or mix it with green onions; it's all delicious."
"Looks pretty good," said Tian Cuixia, as she went home, dumped the tofu into her own bowl, washed Sun Mei's bowl, and brought it back out.
Tian Cuixia licked her lips and smiled: "You're quite skilled. I've already shared the douhua with a few kids, they were all scrambling to eat it. I tried it, and it's really delicious. I talked to Liang about the tofu, we'll cook it tonight. Don't worry, with something this good, it will definitely sell well."
Sun Mei smiled and said: "Well then, thank you for your kind words."
On the other side.
Zhao Dong carried a bowl of tofu and a bowl of douhua to Butcher Zhao's house and received his approval.
Many villagers who came to buy meat were curious about the food Butcher Zhao praised.
Mainly, Sun Mei's secret sauce was too fragrant.
Even in a place with the smell of meat, the aroma made everyone's mouth water and appetite increase.
Butcher Zhao asked: "Zhao Dong, how are you planning to sell this douhua?"
Zhao Dong: "One wen for a bowl of douhua, tofu will be sold at three wen per jin."
Butcher Zhao finished the last bite of douhua, savored it, and nodded: "Hmm, this price is fine. The douhua is generous in portion, a full bowl, one wen is fair. Tofu at three wen is reasonable, not expensive."
The eager villagers looked on with envy: "Zhao Dong, when are you planning to start selling? We'll come support you then."
Zhao Dong smiled and thanked them warmly: "The day after tomorrow, I'll start selling. Let me thank you all in advance."
"No need to be polite."
As soon as Zhao Dong left, the villagers began to discuss excitedly.
"I say, Butcher Zhao, is it really that good?"
Butcher Zhao nodded repeatedly: "Yes, it's good, it's good."
"Watching you eat it makes me want some too. Once Zhao Dong starts selling, I'll buy a bowl to try; it's not expensive at just one wen."
"Yes, yes. Zhao Dong's leg isn't convenient, so having a livelihood is good."
...
While Sun Mei and Zhao Dong were busy, Zhao Zhitong wasn't idle either; at that moment, she was under the big locust tree at the village entrance, 'dominating all around.'
It all started from today at the school, when her defeated opponent, Qiao Muchen, was unwilling to give up and challenged her again during lunch.
But the teacher at school had forbidden climbing within the school grounds. So, they agreed to meet after school by the big locust tree at the village entrance.
Sure enough, after school, Qiao Muchen headed straight for Zhao Zhitong's home.
The big locust tree at the village entrance was bigger than the one at the school.
Zhao Zhitong stood under the tree with her hands on her hips: "Same rules, whoever climbs to the branch first wins."
Qiao Muchen looked serious, his sleeves rolled up to reveal fair skin, ready to charge up: "Hmm, got it. This time I'll definitely beat you."
Zhao Zhitong automatically ignored the last part of what he said: "Then let's start!"
With a command, the ending was decided.
Qiao Muchen still lost, but he did better than the last time; this time, he climbed to a meter high.
Qiao Muchen, with a red face, yelled up at the little girl in the tree: "I'll, we'll come back tomorrow!"
Repeated defeats only made Qiao Muchen more determined, never giving up.
Old Mr. Bai in the space was praising him.
Zhao Zhitong pouted, displeased: "Old Mr. Bai, I clearly won, why do you praise Qiao Jiaojiao?"
Old Mr. Bai stroked his beard: "Girl, you should be good at discovering others' strengths. 'Among any three, there's always something to learn from.' That kid has a steadfast character and won't easily get defeated by failure, that's a good thing."
"Oh~" Zhao Zhitong sat on the tree branch, swinging her little legs: "I'm not afraid of failure either."
Their competition drew the attention of many village kids.
Among them, Zhao Yue had followed Qiao Muchen over after school, and seeing Qiao Muchen lose again, he laughed at him hysterically from the side.
"Hahaha, Qiao Muchen, you're really embarrassing, losing twice in a row to a girl!"
The surrounding kids also joined in laughing at him.
Qiao Muchen's entire face turned red from embarrassment.
Sitting on the tree, Zhao Zhitong wasn't happy. Since Old Mr. Bai had just praised Qiao Muchen, she had already decided to like him and be friends with him.
So, when she saw others laughing at her soon-to-be friend, she wasn't pleased. She waved her little fists, feistily rebuking Zhao Yue and the others: "You all don't dare compete with me, yet you laugh at others. You're the embarrassing ones! Zhao Yue, do you dare to compete with me?"
Zhao Yue was taken aback, then straightened up and shouted: "Compete then, who's afraid of who."
As he spoke, he tossed his little backpack onto the ground, rolled up his sleeves, and prepared to face off.
The result was obvious.
Zhao Zhitong was once again perched on the tree branch, teasingly saying to Zhao Yue who was halfway up: "You lost, nyah~"
Zhao Yue jumped down, full of indignation: "You cheated, it doesn't count, it doesn't count, you said it first, it's not fair!"
Zhao Zhitong: "There's no unfairness, losing means losing. Zhao Yue, can't accept losing, how shameful."
Zhao Yue blushed: "I did not!"
Zhao Zhitong: "Yes, you did!"
Zhao Yue: "I did not!"
Zhao Zhitong: "Yes, you did!"
...
The two continued to bicker back and forth.
Seeing Zhao Zhitong defeat two 'grown' boys in a row, the other kids were dissatisfied and clamored to challenge Zhao Zhitong, determined to uphold their 'manly' honor.
"I'll compete with you."
"I want to compete too."
And thus, Zhao Zhitong's scene of dominating all around unfolded.
...