The Tofu is Hitting People
Su Ruixi’s words were improper, so Sun Miao reached out and lightly punched her. “Susu-jie, hurry up and wash your hands and face. Auntie will be here any minute.”
“I know.”
Just as Su Ruixi turned to go wash her hands, the doorbell rang. Su Ruixi muttered, “She obviously knows the password, she just wants to feel important.”
“You can’t blame Auntie for that. After all, this is our first formal meeting. She was probably worried that if she came in rashly, she would scare me.”
Su Ruixi’s expression changed. How infuriating! Not only was her own mother coming over to hit the autumn wind1, but she was also going to scare her girlfriend. Look at Miaomiao, her speech had become all formal and bookish, and she was already taking her side.
At this point, Su Ruixi was no longer in a hurry to wash her hands. Instead, she reached out, took Sun Miao’s hand, and led her to the front door. Sun Miao felt a little flustered as Su Ruixi held her hand. Even though things were much more open these days, how could parents of the older generation accept that their child was a homosexual? Usually, they knew about their relationship and would just open one eye and close the other2, and that was that. But now, at their first formal meeting, to be grandly and impressively holding hands in front of her, it was impossible for her not to be angry.
The moment the door opened, Shen Yiqiu was indeed a little angry. The two of them had been dilly-dallying, taking forever to open the door, and she had no idea what they were doing. But when the door opened, she saw them holding hands, deep in affection and sweet sentiment, having forgotten about their own mother who was making her first formal visit.
But upon closer inspection, Sun Miao’s slightly awkward and flustered face came into view. In that instant, Shen Yiqiu understood: it must have been her own daughter who insisted on holding hands.
With this realization, she felt more pity for Sun Miao. She could guess with her toes that the one who was usually more unrestrained and reckless and needed to be taken care of was definitely her own daughter. Little Sun was even a bit younger than Xixi, so not only was she being led by the nose by Xixi, but she also had to bear hardship without complaint and take care of her in daily life…
She knew her own daughter. With Su Ruixi’s arrogant temper, she must have ordered Sun Miao until she was spinning in circles3.
Sun Miao squeezed Su Ruixi’s hand with a little force, signaling that it was enough, and only then did Su Ruixi let go.
Sun Miao looked at Shen Yiqiu and greeted her, a little embarrassed, “Auntie, you’re here?”
Shen Yiqiu didn’t pretend she was just now learning of Sun Miao’s identity. Instead, she nodded very calmly and composedly, just like when they had met at the food stall before. “Yes, I’m here. Sorry to bother you, I’ve come to freeload a meal.”
Sun Miao immediately responded, “Not at all, it’s only heaven’s law and earth’s principle4 for you to come for a meal, Auntie. Please, come in.” Compared to Sun Miao’s obviously well-mannered attitude, Su Ruixi was far worse. She glanced at the floor next to Shen Yiqiu and said, “Mom, you didn’t bring any fruit or anything? Come on in, don’t just stand at the door.”
Shen Yiqiu truly felt her daughter was inept at handling things. Just listen to what she was saying. As a mother, she had to bring fruit just to visit her daughter’s home.
Afraid that Shen Yiqiu would get angry, Sun Miao quickly said, “Auntie coming here is just like coming back to her own home, why would she need to bring fruit. I bought fruit today, it’s cut up in the fridge. We can have it after dinner.” As she spoke, she led the woman towards the dining table.
This move let Shen Yiqiu know that Sun Miao’s social skills were also just average.
Normally, for a first formal meeting, one should sit on the living room sofa for a while, have some tea, chat a little, and then move to the dining table, right? But Sun Miao, on the other hand, was leading her directly to the dining room before she was even properly inside. It made it seem as if she really was just there to freeload a meal.
But the moment she saw the dishes on the dining table, Shen Yiqiu felt her feet were rooted to the spot. For no other reason than the table was filled to the brim with Guizhou cuisine.
Heaven knows how long it had been since she had eaten such delicious Guizhou food after leaving home and coming here. Needless to say, her mother-in-law would never make it for her. When her own mother occasionally visited, the most Shen Yiqiu would do was ask her to make a few yangyu potato cakes. The old woman came all this way to see her daughter; if she then asked her to cook, how inhuman would that be.
She had gone out to eat at Guizhou restaurants, and while she did eat the food, it just never felt authentic. The taste was a far cry from her memories.
With a jumble of five flavors5, Shen Yiqiu sat down at the dining table.
Sun Miao went over to the small bar counter and took out a carton of orange juice from the supermarket, the kind with a 15-day shelf life. She was a little embarrassed. “Susu-jie said you prefer to drink this, Auntie, so I bought a bottle. Shall we have some first?”
The girl was a good girl, but this drink wasn’t to Shen Yiqiu’s taste. Shen Yiqiu did like orange juice, but it had to be fresh-squeezed. The helper at her home knew her preference, and the fridge was always stocked with it. If it was over two hours old, the helper would drink it herself or give it to other servants in the house, so Shen Yiqiu always drank the freshest…
Oh well, a drink is a drink. This was orange juice, too.
“Alright, thank you.”
Shen Yiqiu was very gracious, allowing Sun Miao to pour her some orange juice, and then waited for her to start eating together.
While waiting, Shen Yiqiu’s gaze never left the dishes on the table. The braised beef in yellow sauce, the Wujiang tofu fish, the stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat, the yangyu potato cakes… slurp, every single dish was something she wanted to eat. She was even a bit conflicted, not knowing which one to start with. After much hesitation, Shen Yiqiu decided: she would start with the stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat.
Most people from other provinces find it hard to understand what’s so delicious about Zhe’ergen. But for the people of the Yun-Gui6 region, Zhe’ergen is practically a miracle! And stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat is the god among gods!
Who knows who came up with it, to actually put two of the world’s delicacies, Zhe’ergen and cured meat, together! Ever since she was a child, Shen Yiqiu had looked forward to holidays and festivals, because only then would that dish of stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat be on the table. The Zhe’ergen was fresh, and that freshness and crisp tenderness combined perfectly with the rich flavor of the cured meat, dancing and leaping on the tip of the tongue, making one feel as if they wished to stop but could not.
Zhe’ergen itself has a very strong fishy smell and tastes somewhat sharp and spicy. After being stir-fried at high heat, its fishy smell was largely neutralized, leaving behind a unique fragrance. When two ingredients with such strong aromas came together, the sparks they created intoxicated Shen Yiqiu. Before she even took a bite, her mouth was already watering like crazy.
When Shen Yiqiu picked it up with her chopsticks, she deliberately grabbed both the Zhe’ergen and the cured meat together. The moment it entered her mouth, she closed her lips, focusing solely on chewing the food. The Zhe’ergen was crisp and tender, while the cured meat was salty and firm; the two completely different ingredients created an extremely powerful impact.
This was the taste, this familiar taste, the taste for which her soul was pulled and her dreams entwined7!
Shen Yiqiu didn’t even notice that as she ate, her eyes unconsciously curved into crescents, and she radiated an aura of joy from the inside out.
Compared to the happily eating Shen Yiqiu, Su Ruixi had a completely different opinion of this dish. Its smell was very strong. Even though it was placed farthest from her, Su Ruixi couldn’t help but show a hint of pickiness and disgust. Fortunately, the dish closest to her was the cold-dressed wood ear mushroom and cucumber8.
The wood ear mushrooms were blanched and then rinsed in cold water, and the cucumber was smashed directly into a bowl. Then the two were mixed together with seasonings, and finally drizzled with a spoonful of hot oil. You couldn’t imagine how wonderful it was. That aroma was also rich, but because of the cucumber and wood ear mushrooms, it was a fresh and fragrant type of scent.
It was a good thing this dish was there, otherwise Su Ruixi would have started attacking the stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat.
Besides the stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat, there was another dish on the table with an even stronger aroma. That was—the Wujiang tofu fish. But Sun Miao didn’t place this dish far away from Su Ruixi. She chose to move the Zhe’ergen far away because although the Wujiang tofu fish was noticeably spicy, it didn’t have much of a fishy smell. Compared to the fishy smell of the stir-fried Zhe’ergen, this was actually more acceptable to Su Ruixi.
Even though the fishy smell of the Zhe’ergen was mostly gone due to the stir-frying, Su Ruixi still felt a faint fishy scent lingering at the tip of her nose.
After eating several mouthfuls of the stir-fried Zhe’ergen with cured meat, Shen Yiqiu launched an attack on the Wujiang tofu fish. In recent years, the more famous tofu fish across the country was from Chuan province. Their tofu fish wasn’t made of tofu to taste like fish, but was a type of small, tender, and slippery little fish. Cooked in a spicy broth, you could eat a whole pot of it in one go.
But the tofu fish from Guizhou province was literally tofu and fish.
Seeing the fragrant, numbing, and spicy basin, her index finger moved greatly9. However, she didn’t eat the fish first, but chose to eat the tofu instead. For the dish of Wujiang tofu fish, the tofu was supposed to be even more delicious than the fish. No matter how tender the fish meat was, it could never be more tender than tofu. She didn’t use a spoon, but used her chopsticks to pick up the tofu directly.
Well-made tofu must be firm but not broken. It can’t be overcooked, or the tofu won’t be tender; nor can it be too soft, to the point where chopsticks can’t even pick it up and it just crumbles in the pot. The tofu Sun Miao made had that quality. The chopsticks easily lifted a piece of tofu and placed it in her bowl.
With a little pressure from the chopsticks, a piece broke off from the tofu cube.
Watching her actions, Sun Miao revealed a confident smile. Hmph, trying to test me?
She had made duck blood and vermicelli soup before. Although she hadn’t made tofu, the principle was similar to duck blood. It had to be firm but not broken, while also being extremely fresh and tender. Tofu was different from duck blood, so some modifications were necessary in its preparation. But for Sun Miao, whose culinary skills were approaching mastery, it wasn’t a difficult task.
Confirming with her eyes that this was the tofu she wanted to eat, Shen Yiqiu dug in without hesitation. The essence of the tofu fish was all in this one bite of tofu.
Fresh, fragrant, tender, and smooth, it combined the deliciousness of both the fish and the tofu. The main thing was that it had been stewed so thoroughly that the spiciness of the chili had completely seeped in, causing Shen Yiqiu to hiss several times as she ate. She really couldn’t handle spicy food anymore. When she was young, she could eat three bowls of rice with just chili, but now, she was already sucking in air just from eating tofu fish.
It was Sun Miao who was thoughtful, passing the orange juice to her. She didn’t act stubborn and immediately picked up the juice and guzzled it down in a few large gulps. Then, unable to resist, she went back to eating the tofu. The tofu was scalding hot, and the chili was spicy, but it was just so delicious, so delicious she couldn’t describe it with words and simply couldn’t stop.
Compared to Sun Miao’s thoughtfulness, her own daughter was a bit of a monster. “Mom, take it easy. Anyone who didn’t know better would think the tofu is hitting people.”
Your family’s tofu is the one that hits people!
The author has something to say:
Su Ruixi: I told you she was here to freeload a meal.
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