I became the Counterpart of the Winner in a Period Novel-Chapter 163 - 160: Making Tofu with a Stone Mill, It Really Is a Secret Crush

Chapter 163: Chapter 160: Making Tofu with a Stone Mill, It Really Is a Secret Crush

Jiang Mingyue was left dazed by the wind.

But she still tried her best to adjust her emotions.

"Why do you call Jiao Can ’Zhao Zhao’? I’ve never heard you call him that before?"

Jiang Zhenmei was really at her wit’s end with her sister who always hammered on the same point, but no matter what, she still patiently explained the story.

It turned out that "Zhao Zhao" was a name belonging to Jiao Can’s little aunt, but she drowned years ago. Jiao Can’s great-grandmother was very fond of this granddaughter, and after her death, she grieved for many years. Later, when Jiao Can was born, his great-grandmother named him "Zhao Zhao" after her.

At that time, Jiao Longhe and Jiao Yun were somewhat dissatisfied, but they didn’t dare to go against the elders’ wishes, so they stuck with the name. Back then, Jiao Can was often ridiculed by kids because of this girlish name, especially by Jiang Zhenmei. Once he was so upset that he hid and cried in the cornfield, and the adults couldn’t find him until the kids did. After realizing her mistake, Jiang Zhenmei never dared to tease Jiao Can again.

With this lesson learned, even the other kids didn’t dare to make fun of him anymore. Later, Jiao Can’s great-grandmother passed away, and Granny Jiao decided to change the name from "Zhao Zhao" to "Jiao Can".

Perhaps the incident in the cornfield left a strong impression, and now nobody in the village calls Jiao Can "Zhao Zhao", as if that name had never existed.

Jiang Mingyue was quite shocked. She had never seen Zhai Hanjin, but she had interacted with Jiao Can. That young man was tall, handsome, studious, and capable, a standout among his peers.

But to say he secretly loved Jiang Zhenmei, how come she didn’t notice? Or did she just not pay attention? Or maybe he hid it well?

But now it seemed her third sister’s heart was stirred by that educated youth.

Should she stop it?

If she should, should she do it now?

No, no, no... that book was filled with nonsense, anyone opposing Jiang Zhenzhu would be twisted into a villain.

Jiang Mingyue suddenly didn’t dare to jump to a conclusion. She decided to wait until she met Zhai Hanjin, and if his character was questionable, she would immediately discard the thought of him, considering back then her third sister was in Beijing too, and she couldn’t believe with the Zhai family’s influence, they didn’t know her sister was doing hard labor on the construction site, yet never extended any help post-divorce, marrying three months later to a well-matched girl.

"Third sister, can you make tofu?" The topic shift was significant, but Jiang Mingyue just thought of it and feared she’d forget later.

Previously, she harvested two hundred pounds of soybeans and was wondering how to have her third sister make tofu out of them, something she couldn’t make in her secret space since taking out tofu would be hard to explain.

Jiang Zhenmei was quite surprised: "Yueyue, where did you get soybeans from?"

"Exchanged for them with Yan Jinzhi for matsutake."

Jiang Zhenmei was shocked: "Is that even possible? Didn’t you pick the matsutake on their land?"

"But I did spend effort picking them up."

Jiang Zhenmei was amused by her sister’s thick-skinned confidence.

"Alright, alright, you’re the best! I know how to make it, want us to make some now?"

"Aren’t we supposed to work this afternoon?"

"Not going, I’ll have mom ask for leave, I want to make tofu." 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Jiang Mingyue thought to herself: this tofu has great appeal!

They said it and did it, Jiang Zhenmei took her sister to the backyard, stopping by the bamboo clump. Seeing this cluster of bamboo, Jiang Mingyue remembered that night, sigh! Lately, she often thought of that person, wondering if he was feeling any better?

Surprisingly, there was actually a millstone buried here.

"It’s true, back then mom asked someone to make it, later she was afraid of it being smashed, so she buried it, it should be safe now, right? Yueyue, wait here, I’ll go borrow a shovel from the village."

When Jiang Zhenmei came back, there was someone following her. If it were before, Jiang Mingyue wouldn’t have paid special attention, but things were different now.

"Brother Jiao Can."

"Yueyue, I’m here to help. You two girls have such slender arms and legs, unlike us. Move aside so dirt and rocks don’t splash on you."

Jiao Can was indeed quite capable when working, within ten minutes, the deep-buried millstone outline was unearthed. It was even wrapped in a layer of plastic, but there was a new problem—the millstone was too heavy. Although it was a small family-use grinder, it still weighed several hundred pounds. The millstone itself was about 120 pounds; it was dug out, but Jiao Can couldn’t move it, which was a bit awkward.

Jiang Zhenmei wanted to go down and help, but Jiao Can stopped her, saying he would call his brothers over for help.

As the two were speaking, they didn’t notice someone had already jumped into the pit. By the time they realized something was amiss, Jiang Mingyue had already lifted the entire millstone up.

Jiang Zhenmei and Jiao Can: "..." Where were their jaws?

Jiang Zhenmei was too shocked to speak, but after the shock, she wore a sullen face, ignoring her sister. What if she hurt her back by not taking care of herself?

Jiao Can, on the other hand, felt somewhat embarrassed. How could a big man like him have no strength compared to a dainty girl, it was truly shameful. He would need to consider how to become stronger in the future.

As a scorer, Jiao Can also had supervision duties, so he had to patrol the fields.

Seizing the moment Jiang Mingyue wasn’t watching, he pulled a bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Jiang Zhenmei.

Jiang Zhenmei frowned upon seeing it: "What do you mean by this?"

"No special meaning. I bought this snow cream when I went to town for oil for the family, but my mom didn’t like it at all, refused to keep it. You see, I already bought it, I can’t return it, right? Zhenmei, please help me use it, or else it’s wasted."

Pretending to be interested in the millstone, Jiang Mingyue, who was crouching behind them with eyes on the back of her head, watched all this.

How come she hadn’t noticed Brother Jiao Can had such a scheming mind before? She didn’t believe this was bought for Aunt Jiao.

And when he first came, he brought a basket of mountain pears too, afraid Jiang Zhenmei wouldn’t accept them. He preemptively said they were for Xiao Ran and the fourth sister, claiming he picked more than they could eat at home, using them as scapegoats, and naturally gave them away.

Seeing this approach, she believed the book’s claim about him having a crush on her third sister.

Remarkable... with these subtly gentle tactics, if not faced with a formidable opponent, which woman could withstand? Eventually, they’d be won over.

Naturally, Jiang Zhenmei accepted the snow cream but also paid for it.

Watching, Jiang Mingyue noticed Jiao Can didn’t pull a long face on the spot, seeming relieved to have given it away. Sure enough, if it was a crush, he would be happy with even this small progress, wouldn’t he?

Jiang Mingyue felt an increasing urge to meet that new educated youth.

The millstone was set up next to the bamboo, usually cleaned of leaves and covered with a straw mat to shield from dust. This corner was pretty fitting.

So that afternoon, the two sisters ground the beans, cooked the soybean milk, and made tofu, only to remember they didn’t have a tofu box. Surprisingly, Jiao Can had Aunt Jiao bring one over.

Upon leaving, Jiang Mingyue nudged Jiang Zhenmei to scoop a bowl of tofu flower for Aunt Jiao to take home.

The third sister wasn’t much of a talker, so Jiang Mingyue took over the conversation.

"Auntie, try the taste, see if it’s okay, my sister and I are doing this for the first time."

Aunt Jiao was satisfied with everything: "It’s definitely fine, with Zhenmei overseeing, nothing could go wrong."

Jiang Mingyue: "..." See, even Aunt Jiao has an eye on the third sister, it’s a wonder she was so blind before.