I Awakened to a Farming TALENT

**Chapter 96: The Sweet vs. Salty Tofu Pudding Debate**

“This kid...” Jiang Tingyun looked at the three peanuts in her hand, both touched and amused.

After a moment, she pinched the peanuts, a little puzzled. “Wait, why does this scene feel so familiar? Xiao Pei, where did you learn this from?”

Zhu Lili burst out laughing. “Where else? *The Return of the Condor Heroes*. [1] He must have seen Yang Guo give away three golden needles in exchange for three wishes.”

“Pfft!” Everyone at Qionghua Restaurant laughed.

Much later, after they had truly integrated into the modern cultivation world, they would understand how valuable a promise from an attack-type powerhouse could be.

But right now, they just saw Pei Jingmo as their reliable senior brother, the family member who had always been by their side.

They didn‘t take the promise of a talent-upgraded cultivator very seriously at all.

Jin Feifan immediately raised his peanut. “Senior Brother! I’m using my peanut today! I want to exchange it for you doing the dishes. Hahahaha!”

Pei Jingmo meant what he said. He nodded. “Fine.”

Meanwhile, Uncle Liu pulled out a few bottles from beside his feet and cleared his throat. “Ahem, I also prepared New Year‘s gifts for everyone. They’re my homemade...”

Before he could finish, Zhu Lili dropped to the floor and pretended to search for something. “Oh no, where‘s my red envelope? My red envelope is gone!”

Jin Feifan followed her example and crawled under the table. “Huh? Where’s my red envelope? Mine is gone too!”

“I‘ll go wash the dishes.” Pei Jingmo picked up the bowls and chopsticks and headed to the kitchen.

Jiang Tingyun slapped her forehead. “Oh, I almost forgot — we’re setting up the stall tonight! I haven‘t even prepped the stuff yet. I’ll go get the ingredients ready!”

Uncle Liu: “...”

---

That meal had run a bit long. By the time they finished cleaning up, the sky was completely dark.

Seeing that Jiang Tingyun still hadn‘t made a move and was just sitting there cracking sunflower seeds, Zhu Lili couldn’t help asking, “Boss, what are you selling at the stall tonight? Why aren‘t you in a hurry? Didn’t you say you needed to prep ingredients?”

Jiang Tingyun paused. “Huh? Didn‘t I say? I’m selling tofu pudding! Haha!”

She finally got up, brushed the seed shell crumbs off her clothes, and walked into the kitchen. She came back carrying a large basin of soaked soybeans.

“See? This is the ingredient I prepared.”

She scooped up a handful of the plump, swollen beans and examined them, nodding with satisfaction.

She had grown these beans herself. Back in the summer, she‘d cut down the edamame stalks, spread them on the ground to dry under the sun, then threshed them repeatedly with a flail to collect this whole bag of smooth, plump soybeans.

Now fully hydrated, they looked even bigger. When she crushed one between her fingers, a rich, earthy bean aroma wafted out.

“The quality of homegrown beans is really the best! Now, let’s start making tofu pudding.”

“Will we have enough time?”

“No problem. It‘s New Year’s Eve — everyone‘s having dinner at home. By the time people come out for the night market and the first incense burning, it’ll be late.”

Making tofu pudding wasn‘t too complicated. Luckily, the restaurant had a stone mill and a large pot.

For a smoother texture, Jiang Tingyun gently rubbed the beans under running water to remove the skins. The skins were light and floated away with the water.

Then she carried the beans to the stone mill in the backyard. Just like when she’d made Phoenix Tofu before, she poured water and soaked beans into the mill‘s hole at a one-to-one ratio.

“Boss, let me turn the mill! I’m super strong now!”

Jin Feifan took over.

“Ok.”

To show off, Jin Feifan pushed the millstone quickly and effortlessly. Thick raw soy milk soon flowed out.

Jiang Tingyun filtered it several times through a cheesecloth bag to ensure a smooth texture.

She checked the consistency — it still seemed too thick — so she added a bit more water, stirred thoroughly, and poured it into the pot to boil while stirring.

Better to boil the soy milk a little longer. Even after it came to a boil, she let it cook for a few more minutes to make sure it was fully cooked.

The most critical step in turning cooked soy milk into tofu pudding was the coagulation.

Jiang Tingyun brought out some glucono delta-lactone (GDL) she had prepared in advance. The gluconic acid in the GDL would react with the protein in the soy milk, causing it to coagulate and form tofu pudding.

Some places used gypsum water instead. In terms of smoothness, gypsum water produced a better result, but she thought that with her talent, she could nail the texture using GDL as well.

She measured out some GDL, added a little milk powder and a bit of cooked soy milk, and stirred until smooth.

Then, in one pour, she dumped the fully skimmed hot soy milk into the GDL mixture, covered it with plastic wrap, and let it sit. Slowly, the soy milk solidified into delicious tofu pudding.

Using the same method, Jiang Tingyun made two large buckets full of tofu pudding. The curds looked incredibly smooth and delicate, with no sour taste at all — a complete success.

The whole restaurant filled with the rich aroma of soybeans, with no trace of beany or bitter smell — just pure, fragrant richness.

Even though they had eaten a big dinner, the smell made Jiang Tingyun a little hungry.

“Let me taste it.”

She took a spoon and scooped herself a small bowl of tofu pudding, then happily drizzled some osmanthus honey over it.

One bite — before her mouth could even register the flavor, the delicate curds had already slid down her throat.

The lingering aftertaste was the elegant fragrance of osmanthus. Not a hint of beany taste. So tender, so smooth, absolutely delicious!

When she came back to her senses, Zhu Lili was looking at her with a complicated expression.

“What’s wrong? Get yourself a bowl!”

Zhu Lili said sheepishly, “Boss, is sweet tofu pudding really good? It sounds so weird.”

“I can‘t imagine that flavor either,” Jin Feifan added, looking puzzled. “Isn’t tofu pudding always salty and spicy?”

Jiang Tingyun stared at her empty bowl, dumbfounded. “Huh? You guys like salty tofu pudding around here?”

The Qionghua crew all nodded.

Jiang Tingyun slapped her forehead. How silly of her — she‘d forgotten to do market research before setting up the stall. She’d loved sweet tofu pudding since she was a child. She never expected everyone here to prefer savory.

But she‘d already cooked brown sugar syrup and honey red beans. What if no one wanted to buy it?

Pei Jingmo, on the other hand, didn’t care one bit about the sweet-versus-salty debate. He loved sweet things anyway, and he couldn‘t wait any longer.

He followed Jiang Tingyun’s technique — lightly scooping a few spoonfuls of tofu pudding into a bowl, drizzling thick brown sugar syrup over it, and topping it with a spoonful of honey beans.

One bite, and his eyes lit up. He exclaimed loudly, “Delicious!”

Jiang Tingyun‘s confidence immediately soared. Haha — so sweet tofu pudding had an audience here too!

But since she was here, she should also cater to the local taste. Luckily, she ran a small restaurant and had all kinds of toppings — seaweed, dried shrimp, and the like. Today, she’d just sell both sweet and savory flavors!

Once all the ingredients were ready, Jiang Tingyun checked the time. About right.

Jin Feifan brought around the electric tricycle and loaded the two large buckets of tofu pudding. Worried that the temperature would drop too fast in the cold, Jiang Tingyun covered them with some old quilts.

Uncle Liu was too old to stay up late, so he stayed behind to watch the house.

Everyone else eagerly pushed the tricycle toward Phoenix Square.

“Let‘s go! Selling tofu pudding!”