Just then, an old woman hurriedly approached. Seeing they were about to pack up, she was quite disappointed, "Oh dear, are you closing? Is the tofu all sold out?"
Zhao Dong had some impression of this old lady; she was the first to come to his stall to buy and eat tofu.
Seeing another customer, Sun Mei immediately beamed with a smile and said enthusiastically, "Not all sold out, not all sold out, there's still one piece left."
Zhao Zhitong also enthusiastically greeted her, "Auntie, do you want to buy more tofu?"
The old woman didn't expect Zhao Zhitong to remember her and immediately laughed, "Yes, I'd like to have another piece."
It turned out that this old woman was a servant from Landlord Fang's family, taking care of Old Mrs. Fang. Mrs. Fang was old, and most of her teeth had fallen out, so she couldn't eat slightly harder foods.
The tofu was soft and tender, easy on the teeth, and Mrs. Fang instantly loved it, hence she sent the old woman to buy more.
So, she hurried back to the market. But, who knew, Zhao Dong's original stall was no longer there.
Fortunately, a meat seller nearby told her that there was still a stall at the end of the North Street Market, so she came over to have a look.
Zhao Dong wrapped the remaining one and a half pieces of tofu in a lotus leaf and handed it to the old woman with a smile, "This is the last piece and a half; let's consider it as the price for one piece of tofu."
The old woman's eyes crinkled into a smile, "Oh, that's really kind of you, but I already took an extra half bowl of tofu pudding earlier."
Zhao Dong waved his hand with a smile, "You're a repeat customer, plus the half piece left wouldn't sell anyway, so just take it."
The old woman took the tofu with a smile and asked where Zhao Dong's family was located.
Upon hearing it was Zhaozhai Village, she said with a smile, "That's pretty close, right? It doesn't take more than half an hour to get here, does it?"
Zhao Dong nodded, "If you walk fast, it won't take half an hour."
Then, after learning that the tofu was made by Zhao Dong's wife through her own exploration, the old woman revealed her main purpose for coming.
It turned out that Old Mrs. Fang wanted to know if they could order tofu from his home daily. They didn't need much, just four or five catties for their own family consumption.
Zhao Dong didn't refuse, only stating that if they could send someone to pick it up from their home, it would be fine.
The old woman readily agreed.
So, Zhao Dong told her their home's location and the time to pick up the tofu.
...
After sending off the old woman, the sun overhead became more intense, and the playful little ones began to wilt a little.
Knowing they were hungry, Mrs. Liu took out some pancakes she had brought and handed them to the children, "Eat a little first; after we buy the six ritual foods, we'll head home."
Sun Daji, Sun Daqing, and Sun Daxiang took the pancakes and squatted by the roadside to gnaw on them.
The pancakes were made by Mrs. Liu at home the night before, but now they were cold and a bit hard, so they had to eat them with water.
Zhao Zhitong, with little hands holding a pancake, squatted by the roadside like her cousins, diligently gnawing on it.
Zhao Dong and the others packed up the stall and turned around to see his daughter holding a pancake, chewing so hard her little face was almost deformed.
Zhao Dong couldn't help but laugh, knowing she wasn't used to it, he remembered a cold noodle shop he saw by the roadside on their way here and suggested, "You all stop eating the pancakes. We earned quite a bit today, how about we go have some cold noodles after we finish buying the groceries?"
Sun Mei immediately disagreed, "Brother-in-law, let's just go home to eat. It's not far from home and we shouldn't waste money."
Second Uncle also agreed, "Yes, listen to your sister-in-law, don't waste money."
The children, who had just been excited, were instantly disappointed.
Zhao Dong tried to persuade, "Cold noodles aren't expensive, and it's rare for the kids to have a day out."
Sun Mei still disagreed and insisted they head home for meals.
Sun Daji, Sun Daqing, and Sun Daxiang were already drooling and all looked towards Zhao Zhitong.
Sun Mei was known for her thriftiness in the family, the kind that adds oil to the pan once to fry two dishes.
Last night when Sun Mei saw it, she remarked how the food didn't taste good without a bit of oil, and to her surprise, she replied, 'Making food so tasty only makes you eat more buns!'
At that time, it left Sun Mei speechless.
Now, maybe only Zhao Zhitong could change Sun Mei's mind, so the three little ones all turned their gaze to Zhao Zhitong.
Catching the signals from her peers, Zhao Zhitong immediately ran over to Mrs. Liu and pleaded, "Second Aunt, Second Aunt, let's go eat it, the cold noodles are really delicious."
Finally, under Zhao Zhitong's sweet talk and persuasion, even massaging her shoulders and legs, Mrs. Liu's heart softened, and she agreed.
The few little ones cheered instantly.
...
This large market, where villagers exchanged goods, was set up at a T-junction of the street.
They were now on the north-south street. Walking southward, they'd see poultry and meat sellers, and further ahead would be Butcher Zhao's stall, right at the T-junction, a decent spot.
After greeting Butcher Zhao, they pushed their cart and turned onto East Street, where there were grain and oil stores, fruit stalls, and various other small shops.
Zhao Dong first turned into the grain store and bought lotus seeds, longans, and red beans.
Then they went to the fruit stand.
There were very few fruit stalls, just one or two, and the variety of fruits wasn't much, just common ones.
Looking around, there were plums, green pears, dates, crabapples, and in front of one stand, he even saw local apples, called pome here.
However, the prices of fruits were generally high, just like a red, red pome apple costing three wen coins.
The vendor, seeing Zhao Dong with four kids, enthusiastically started promoting, "Come take a look, see all kinds of fruits, everything you need, these plums are sweet and sour, delicious and refreshing, and this big green pear..."
Zhao Dong waved his hands busily and said no, hurriedly bought some dates, and quickly pushed the cart away.
Six of the ritual foods were still left unbought: celery and dried meat strips. They had celery in their home garden, so no need to buy, and as for dried meat strips, they could simply buy it from Butcher Zhao's home.
Now with the six ritual foods complete, Zhao Dong was ready to take the kids for cold noodles.
Turning onto the street selling cold noodles, they spotted a small straw hut in the distance with a sign hanging in front bearing four big characters.
Zhao Zhitong, leaning on Sun Youcai's shoulders, pointed at the sign and said, "Niu Family Cold Noodles!"
Sun Youcai exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, Little Tongtong, you actually know these four characters."
Zhao Zhitong let out a prideful hum, and with her little hands on Sun Youcai's shoulders, she said in a cute voice, "I know lots and lots of characters."
Standing to the side, Sun Daqing was full of pride, "Hmph, our little cousin is much smarter than our young uncle, just recognizing a few characters, what's the big deal."
Sun Youcai was speechless and gently kicked him on the rear, "Your little cousin is smart, not you, what are you boasting about."
Sun Daqing made a face at Sun Youcai, then ran to hide behind Sun Youli who had parked the cart and walked over.
...