Chapter 68: It’s So Cordial to Suddenly See It
The four of them were fascinated by the stone mill on the tricycle.
They all knew what a stone mill was, of course, but it was rare to see one in person.
This was especially true for Ye Shengge.
She had only seen one once before, on display at a tourist attraction.
Li You brought out two tall, long benches from his shop and set them up securely.
Together, they lifted the stone mill off the tricycle and placed it on the two benches.
Now everything was ready. They just had to wait for the soybeans to finish soaking in the afternoon, and then they could officially start grinding.
He also took down the cloth filter rig and the tofu press mold, placing them to the side.
Then, Liu Jialiang said, "Xiaoyou, I’ll be heading back now. Give me a call when you’re done, and I’ll come haul it back."
Li You quickly said, "Uncle Jialiang, no rush. Sit and rest for a bit. I’ll cook something for you to take back for lunch."
Liu Jialiang said repeatedly, "No, no. Xiaoyou, you don’t have to."
Li You smiled. "Uncle Jialiang, I just want you to try my cooking. See if you have any suggestions. Just sit for a bit, please."
"Well..."
Liu Jialiang thought for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.
He did want to try Li You’s cooking.
He had heard from Li Zhong in the village that Li You was an excellent cook.
Just how good was he? He was actually a little curious.
"You’ve really got to try Boss Li’s cooking," Zhao Yanglin said to Liu Jialiang with a smile.
Liu Jialiang heard this and smiled as well. "It seems Xiaoyou’s cooking really is quite good."
...
In the kitchen.
Li You stir-fried one portion each of three dishes: twice-cooked pork with garlic sprouts, twice-cooked pork with green peppers, and shredded potatoes.
He packed them into separate takeout containers and then put them in a bag.
He walked out of the shop carrying the bag.
Liu Jialiang was chatting with Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng.
"Uncle Jialiang, it’s ready. I’ll put it on the tricycle for you."
As he spoke, Li You walked over to the tricycle and placed the bag on it.
Liu Jialiang saw the three containers and said, "Xiaoyou, why so much?"
Li You smiled. "I made three dishes."
Upon hearing this, Liu Jialiang said that one dish would have been enough.
But since all three were already cooked, Liu Jialiang could only thank him again.
Then, he bid farewell to everyone and left on his tricycle.
After Liu Jialiang left, Li You pulled a water hose out from the kitchen, intending to wash the stone mill.
Seeing this, Ye Shengge, Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng all came forward to help.
Just then, a few people walked over.
They were villagers from Taoshan Village.
They had all come with Lin Zhonghai to eat noodles the day before.
The men were a bit surprised to see the stone mill.
One of them, a villager named Lin Guodong, said, "Young man, what are you doing with a stone mill here? Are you planning to grind beans and make tofu?"
Li You nodded. "That’s right! I’m making some tofu."
Lin Guodong said, "I didn’t expect a young man like you would be making your own tofu, and with a stone mill, no less. You hardly see any young people using stone mills these days."
When they heard Li You confirm that he was indeed making tofu, Lin Guodong and the others were inexplicably delighted.
It was probably because they had a sentimental attachment to stone mills. Seeing a young person about to use one now made them feel very pleased and a sense of kinship.
"Young man, are the beans done soaking? When are you going to start?" Lin Guodong asked, looking very expectant.
Li You smiled. "It’s still early. The beans have only been soaking for a little over an hour. We won’t start until around three in the afternoon."
"I see!" Lin Guodong and the others nodded.
Then, Lin Guodong added, "Well then, young man, first make us six large bowls of beef noodles. We just got back from the market, so we’ll have a bowl of noodles here before heading home."
Li You smiled. "Alright. Just wait a moment, I’ll go make them for you right now."
Yesterday, Lin Guodong and his friends had said that from now on, they would always come here for a bowl of noodles after going to the market in town.
And sure enough, they really came today.
This was a good thing, and Li You was very happy.
He went into the kitchen and started working.
Soon, the six large bowls of beef noodles were ready.
He brought them to the table.
He walked out of the shop.
He saw that the stone mill had been washed completely clean.
It turned out that Lin Guodong and the other villagers had pitched in with Ye Shengge, Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng. Working together, they had quickly washed the stone mill clean.
Li You quickly thanked everyone.
Lin Guodong smiled. "We were just standing around anyway. It was no trouble at all. Young man, are the noodles ready?"
Li You nodded. "They’re ready. Uncles, please, come inside."
Lin Guodong and the others walked briskly into the shop, their faces beaming with joy.
They had really been craving the young man’s beef noodles.
Just then, four small cars pulled into the parking lot.
The car doors opened, and out came a group of vibrant, youthful, and beautiful girls.
There were over a dozen of them, almost twenty in total.
All of these girls were quite pretty, with good figures too.
Dressed in jeans, short skirts, and long skirts, it was a dazzling sight.
The prettiest among them, who was also the tallest and wearing a pair of jeans, was none other than Xia Xiaoyue.
Without a doubt, these girls were all students from the Xingshui Academy of Fine Arts.
Besides Xia Xiaoyue, Yu Wei was also there, and most of the others were familiar faces as well.
"It’s Xiao Yue, Yu Wei, and the others," said Ye Shengge.
The last time, Ye Shengge, Xia Xiaoyue, and Yu Wei had all eaten grilled fish in front of the shop, so they had gotten to know each other.
Li You nodded. "The others are all their classmates."
When Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng saw a group of beautiful young women suddenly appear like that, they all shot Li You a strange look.
’This shop’s appeal seems to be even stronger than we imagined!’
’Then again, girls full of youthful energy really are beautiful.’
After the group of girls walked over, they first greeted Li You, all saying with a smile, "Boss, we’re back!"
This earned Li You another strange look from Zhao Yanglin, He Xianfei, and Qu Feng.
After greeting Li You, Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei whispered a few words to Ye Shengge.
Then, the entire group of girls was drawn to the stone mill.
They all crowded around it.
Xia Xiaoyue said happily, "I haven’t seen one of these since I was a child at my old home in the countryside. I don’t think I’ve seen one since. Seeing it so suddenly now feels so nostalgic!"
Then she asked Li You, "Boss, what are you doing with a stone mill here? Are you going to use it? Or is it an exhibit for people to look at?"
Her words gave Li You an idea.
’You know, having a stone mill here for people to see would actually be a pretty great idea.’
’But this one, of course, isn’t for display.’
Li You smiled and said, "Today I’m planning to use it to grind some beans and make some tofu."
Hearing Li You say this, Xia Xiaoyue, Yu Wei, and all the other girls got interested looks on their faces.
For most of them, grinding beans with a stone mill to make tofu was just a concept, something out of a legend.
They knew such a process existed, but they had never seen it before.
In fact, today was the first time many of them had ever seen a stone mill in real life.
And now, they were about to witness the legendary process of grinding beans with a stone mill to make tofu?
How interesting was that? And so exciting!
So, they were quite pleasantly surprised.
This included Xia Xiaoyue and Yu Wei.
Although they had seen beans being ground and tofu being made with a stone mill when they were children, those memories were now very distant and faint.
Coming here today was definitely the right choice.
...