With the addition of their uncles and aunts, they no longer had to rush to make tofu.
Moreover, since there's a market tomorrow, many farmers will go, which might lead to poor sales for villagers selling tofu in the nearby villages.
So, Zhao Dong explained to them this afternoon that tomorrow, no more wholesale except for villagers going to distant villages.
Therefore, they didn't have to stay up late preparing tonight.
After dividing the money, Zhao Dong and his two brothers-in-law carried the soybeans purchased today into the west room, after which the grandparents' family was about to leave.
While waiting for the two of them, Zhao Guifen asked about Zhao Zhitong's apprenticeship.
Hearing from Sun Mei that she planned to buy some meat to make a knee pad, she slapped her thigh and said, "Luckily I asked, otherwise, you would have been quite disrespectful."
Sun Mei was puzzled: "Mom, what's wrong? Can't we give a knee pad?"
Zhao Guifen: "It's not that you can't give a knee pad, but when apprenticing, a disciple must present six ceremonial gifts to the teacher, which include: celery, lotus seeds, red beans, dates, longans, and strips of lean meat.
The celery symbolizes diligent study; the bitter core of lotus seeds symbolizes heartfelt education; red beans symbolize good luck; dates symbolize early success; longans symbolize achieving perfection; and strips of lean meat express the disciple's sincerity."
After listening to her mother, Sun Mei's eyes widened: "I didn't know there were so many customs."
Zhao Guifen laughed: "That's right, and there's a market tomorrow, so let your husband buy them. As for the knee pad, it can be made as a festival gift for the teacher."
Sun Mei nodded continuously, feeling thankful that Zhao Guifen asked, otherwise, it would truly be embarrassing if they ended up being disrespectful.
So, after sending off the grandparents' family, Sun Mei immediately told Zhao Dong about the matter.
——
The next day, at exactly 5 a.m., the first rooster crow hadn't even faded when the first and second aunts and second uncle arrived. Those few little kids were still in their dreams and naturally didn't come along.
By 7:15 a.m., all the tofu was ready, and after the villagers took away the tofu, Zhao Dong and a few others loaded the remaining hundred or so pounds of tofu and tofu pudding onto the cart.
At this time, Zhao Zhitong was awoken by the commotion in the yard. She was peering out the window and saw Zhao Dong already loading the tofu.
Anxious, she hastily put on her clothes without caring about wrinkles, climbed down from the bed, and rushed outside: "Daddy, wait for me, I want to sell tofu too."
Zhao Dong: "No hurry, we haven't left yet. Go wash your face first and drink the egg porridge."
At this moment, Sun Mei came out of the kitchen with the egg porridge, placed it on the table, and pulled Zhao Zhitong to wash her face.
Zhao Zhitong wiped her face quickly, and before Sun Mei could dry it, she ran to the table and gulped down the porridge.
"Alright, Mom, I'm done."
She put the empty bowl on the table and was about to run outside when Sun Mei caught her: "Look at how your clothes are worn, all twisted."
Zhao Zhitong stood still as Sun Mei helped her dress properly. Then she suddenly remembered something, her eyes brightened: "Mom, I want to wear the new clothes Grandma made for me."
Sun Mei laughed: "Hmm? Why do you want to wear them today? Weren't you saving them to wear when you start your apprenticeship?"
Zhao Zhitong pouted, feeling conflicted. Oh right, she wanted to wear the new clothes to school, but she also really wanted to wear them to the market.
Finally, she made up her mind: "Then I'll wear them tomorrow."
She wanted to wear the new clothes to meet her teacher!
Just then, a few children's voices suddenly came from outside.
Zhao Zhitong immediately recognized the voices and shouted as she ran out.
"Big cousin, second cousin, third cousin!"
It turned out Sun Youcai brought Sun Daji, Sun Daqing, and Sun Daxiang over.
After they woke up, they heard Zhao Guifen mention Zhao Dong going to the market today, and begged Sun Youcai to bring them over.
It was just right; Zhao Dong planned to set up two stalls with his second brother-in-law, and Sun Youcai could help watch over Zhao Zhitong.
The children could all go out and play, so Zhao Dong agreed to take them along.
Seeing that their cousins were also going, Zhao Zhitong was overjoyed: "Great, great."
Zhao Dong pushed a cart, the second aunt pushed one, and the second and third cousins sat on it, holding onto the tofu.
The big cousin, claiming he was older, didn't want to sit and insisted on helping push the cart from below.
Zhao Zhitong couldn't sit still and refused to sit at all.
Sun Youli could only lift Zhao Zhitong and place her on his neck with a firm grip.
The sudden feeling of weightlessness made Zhao Zhitong giggle.
"Let's go, let's go to the market!"
With the children's chatter, the group set off in a grand manner.
...
This market is formed by several nearby villages coming together, so it's not very far from Zhaozhai Village. It only takes about fifteen minutes to walk there.
When they arrived at the market, many people were already there, making it very lively. They didn't linger long and started looking for a spot to set up their stalls.
After all, they didn't come to the market often, so they wouldn't be able to get the best spots.
Fortunately, on their way, they ran into Butcher Zhao, who was going to sell meat at the market, and Zhao Dong followed him to find two inconspicuous spots on that street.
Once the stalls were set up, Zhao Dong took out the pre-prepared bowls and lotus leaves from the cart and placed them on the side, and brought out the sauce to prepare a bowl of tofu pudding first.
Since they were unfamiliar faces and selling something new, at first, no one stopped by.
However, at the stalls around them, people frequently stopped to ask about prices and such.
The little ones stood lined up in front of the stall, curiously watching everything around them.
Seeing that Butcher Zhao's family had already sold a piece of meat while no one had yet come to their stall, Zhao Daqing started scratching his head: "Why is no one coming to buy from us?"
The other little ones were also puzzled.
Zhao Zhitong was equally confused.
So she glanced at the stalls around them, then looked at their own stall, and after a moment, suddenly said: "Oh, I know why."
Sun Youcai couldn't help but laugh: "What did you see that made you suddenly understand?"
Zhao Zhitong folded her little arms: "Hmph, I just know."
Pointing to the neighboring stall, she said: "Look, when customers pass by their stalls, they shout loudly."
Sun Daqing observed for a while and found that, indeed, as Zhao Zhitong said, they were all shouting.
He asked, "Shouting? Does shouting really make people come?"
Zhao Zhitong confidently replied: "Of course, if you don't shout, how would people know what you're selling?"
Sun Daqing scratched his head, then laughed in realization: "That sounds right."
Sun Daji and Sun Daxiang both nodded in agreement with Zhao Zhitong's observation.
Zhao Zhitong: "Then what are we waiting for? Let's start shouting too!"