Chapter 123: Tender White Tofu

The next morning, Zhang Fan got up and ate the breakfast Ba Ke Er had prepared before leaving, then hurried to Fei Er's house to wake the just-awakened Fei Er, and together they rushed to the chief's house.

On the way they also met Di Er, so the three chatted as they walked. Since Fei Er had just woken up and was still a bit dazed, Zhang Fan brought out his killer move: food! To tempt him, and indeed as soon as the food appeared, Fei Er immediately came to his senses.

Quick-eyed and quick-handed, he snatched the beef patty from Zhang Fan's hand, started gobbling it down, and almost choked! Fortunately, by then they had arrived at the chief's house; Wei Er saw this and hurriedly poured him a cup of water.

After drinking the water, Fei Er felt as if he had come back to life. He let out a long sigh: 'Ah~ much better! Indeed, Fan Fan's cooking is the best!' Saying this, Fei Er suddenly ran up to Zhang Fan, grabbed his hand, and said emotionally:

"Fan Fan, this makes me look forward to today's lunch more and more! Hahaha..."

Zhang Fan saw Fei Er's expression; although he was actually happy inside, he pretended to be unable to tolerate Fei Er, slapped his hand down with one palm, and said disdainfully: 'Yo ho! Fei Er, I didn't expect you to be so flexible!'

Fei Er naturally heard the hidden meaning in Zhang Fan's words, but pretended not to understand, put on a shamelessly profound face and answered: 'Of course! For food! I'm willing to do anything!'

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fan smirked and said to Fei Er: 'Really? Anything?'

"Of course!" Fei Er replied without hesitation, unusually certain.

"Then it's perfect! I happen to need an extra hand—why don't you help me?" Regarding Zhang Fan's seemingly simple request, Fei Er agreed very readily!

"Sure! Sure! What do you need? Let's go now—I can't wait!" After saying that, he reached out and started pushing Zhang Fan.

Seeing Fei Er's impatience, Zhang Fan couldn't help but chuckle inwardly, greeted Wei Er and Di Er the two brothers, then headed to the kitchen together with Fei Er.

Upon entering the kitchen, Zhang Fan headed straight for the tub of soybeans he had started soaking the day before; Fei Er, noticing this, hurried after him. Zhang Fan scooped out some soybeans to check and saw they were almost ready.

He then called Fei Er to help carry the big tub of soybeans outside and place it under the eaves. Afterwards, he and Fei Er washed the stone mill with clean water before bringing the soybeans over.

Zhang Fan scooped a few spoonfuls of beans into the stone mill, turned it a few times, and seeing that the soy milk flowing out was clean with no impurities, he hurriedly went with Fei Er to borrow a donkey from Wei Er to turn the mill.

Zhang Fan saw that aside from adding beans, there was nothing else for him to do here, so he had Fei Er stay behind to feed beans into the mill. He himself went to the kitchen and, using the rope and gauze he had prepared, made a simple filter.

After Zhang Fan finished preparing the filter cloth, he placed a large wooden basin beneath it to catch the filtered soy milk. By the time he finished, Fei Er outside had already ground the first bucket of soy milk. Hearing Fei Er call him, Zhang Fan hurried out and brought that bucket of soy milk into the kitchen.

Since there was no one to hold the wooden frame on the filter bag, Zhang Fan feared that pouring a whole bucket of soy milk directly into the bag would cause it to spill over, so he used a ladle, pouring it ladle by ladle into the filter bag.

Once the entire bucket of soy milk had been poured into the filter bag, Zhang Fan grabbed the cross-shaped wooden frame on top and began shaking it back and forth, left and right, continuously. As he shook, the soy milk inside the filter bag trickled bit by bit into the large wooden basin below.

While Zhang Fan had not yet finished filtering a bucket of soy milk, Fei Er over there had just finished grinding another bucket, carrying the wooden bucket in. When Fei Er saw Zhang Fan filtering the soy milk and thought it looked fun, he put down his bucket and ran over.

"Fan Fan, so you've been hiding in here playing with this! It looks fun—why don't I give it a try?"

Zhang Fan had been busy for so long and was already exhausted; now Fei Er, oblivious to danger, declared he wanted to 'give it a try.' That was perfect! Zhang Fan immediately handed over the task, letting Fei Er take over, while he stood aside to give guidance.

Who would have thought, Fei Er had only shaken it a dozen times before throwing his hands up and quitting!

"I can't! I can't! Fan Fan, this is too tiring! I'm not playing anymore; I think I'd better go back to adding beans!" Having said that, he prepared to slip away.

Zhang Fan wouldn't let him have his way; in a flash he grabbed Fei Er's hand, smirked, and said: 'Fei Er, you said you wanted to try—how come you can't now?'

Fei Er, too, couldn't resist the provocation; as soon as Zhang Fan used the goading tactic, he instantly wilted, resignedly grabbed the frame, and began shaking again. Seeing this, Zhang Fan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Only then did Fei Er realize he had been tricked again; this time he neither endured it nor pretended not to understand. Instead, he went berserk!

"You damned Fan Fan! Tricking me again! So hateful! Humph!"

Having said that, he dropped what he was doing, lunged to tickle Zhang Fan, but before he could touch Zhang Fan, Zhang Fan stopped him.

"Alright! Do we still want to eat lunch? Stop fooling around! Come on, help me pour that bucket of soy milk into the filter bag."

Saying this, Zhang Fan walked over, secured the filter bag, and stabilized the cross-shaped frame above it.

Fortunately, food held a higher place in Fei Er's heart than his own pride, and he himself wasn't that angry. After all, they were always teasing each other, so they'd grown used to it. Thus, as soon as Zhang Fan's words left his mouth, Fei Er sprang into action!

Once all the soy milk had been poured into the filter bag, Zhang Fan resumed shaking it. Fei Er also took the empty wooden bucket outside to continue grinding soy milk.

Inside, Zhang Fan was busy pouring the filtered soy milk into a clean pot; after who knows how long, Zhang Fan and Fei Er finally finished grinding all the beans into soy milk, filtered it, and poured it into the pot.

Zhang Fan looked at the leftover soybean dregs in the filter bag, wondering whether to stir-fry and eat them after the tofu was done, or just use them as animal feed. Seeing Zhang Fan staring blankly at the dregs, Fei Er also curiously asked.

Upon learning that the soybean dregs were also edible, his eyes lit up instantly; he lunged over, shaking Zhang Fan's arm and clamoring to eat the dregs, leaving Zhang Fan utterly speechless—truly a top-tier foodie! In his eyes, anything edible is a treasure. Seeing Fei Er so eager to eat the tofu dregs, Zhang Fan had no choice but to reluctantly agree.

At that moment, the soy milk in the pot had already boiled; so Zhang Fan hurriedly scooped out some firewood from the stove, then continued to simmer it on low heat. Watching the soy milk bubble in the pot, he felt moved, scooped out a large basin, added white sugar, stirred it evenly, and then ladled a bowl for Fei Er.

After each drank a bowl of soy milk, the soy milk in the pot was nearly done. Then Zhang Fan thought of the gypsum powder ground the day before; he scooped some into the ladle, first ladled soy milk from the pot, poured it back, repeated several times, then gently swirled the ladle in the pot a few times.

Zhang Fan watched the soy milk in the pot gradually turn fluffy; he then added more gypsum powder to the ladle and repeated the same motion. Slowly the soy milk began to solidify; seeing this, Zhang Fan quickly took a clean colander, gently pressed it onto the tofu in the pot, then used the ladle to scoop out some of the excess brine from the pot.

At this point, Zhang Fan also hurriedly told Fei Er to move the fire away from the stove. The tofu was now ready, but the dipping sauce for it had not yet been prepared. Fortunately, it was still early, not yet mealtime, and even the Beastmen who had gone out hunting had not returned yet.

So Zhang Fan and Fei Er went to the vegetable patch, picked some fresh red chilies, green chilies, and Sichuan peppercorns, among other seasonings. After chopping the chilies separately by color, they went together to the small stove outside the kitchen to heat oil.

Then they prepared the hot oil, using small plates to hold the prepared Sichuan peppercorns, chilies, salt, various chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic, also readying soy sauce fruit and vinegar. Everything ready, Zhang Fan took a bowl of tofu dregs and a basket of washed vegetables to the outdoor stove and began stir-frying the dregs for Fei Er.

The tofu was already ready, but Zhang Fan only now realized an important matter: they hadn't cooked rice! So Zhang Fan and Fei Er hurriedly cooked a large pot of white rice.

Just as the rice finished cooking, Ba Ke Er and the others returned with the processed game. Seeing them come back, Zhang Fan and Fei Er felt relieved, brought out the seasonings and utensils, then dished out several large bowls of tofu and placed them on the stone table in the courtyard.

Ba Ke Er and Mo De, seeing this, hurriedly found a spot to set down their game, then helped Zhang Fan and Fei Er bring the rice out from the kitchen.

At lunchtime, everyone raved about the tofu! Its delicate, soft texture and just-right soybean aroma instantly won everyone over; moreover, since everyone mixed their own dipping sauce to taste, it made everyone's appetite flare!

The entire pot of tofu was wiped out clean! Even the large bowl of tofu dregs that Zhang Fan had doubted was completely devoured, leaving not a scrap; and that big pot of rice was eaten down to the last grain, not a single rice kernel left in the bottom.

Seeing this, Zhang Fan was stunned! He was instantly amazed by everyone's 'combat power'! Turns out everyone is a foodie? It seems tofu will also shine and heat up on this primitive planet! At least in the Heaven Lion Tribe, it won't be long before it becomes popular!

After the meal, Zhang Fan and Fei Er went to help at the pharmacy, while Wei Er and Di Er went off to observe small animals. The lunchtime bowls and chopsticks were also washed by Lei Ya and Fei Ji! There's no helping it—since those two ate the most, they provoked everyone's resentment!