The Princess of Northern Land

"Let's share this rice porridge." Without waiting for everyone to react, Lin Ziyin swiftly divided the porridge, pouring some for Lin Yanzhi, Lin Changting and the old man. She, of course, left a little at the bottom of her own bowl.

"What are you doing?" Lin Zige asked anxiously.

"Oh my..." Guo Huiniang was stunned and at a loss for words.

"I told you, I'm really feeling much better. From now on, I'm going to eat the same as everyone else. If you keep making separate meals for me, I'll refuse to eat." Lin Ziyin announced firmly, "I want to eat the same as you all."

"Your body..." Lin Changshu was both touched and excited.

"Oh well, let's eat," the old man glanced at Lin Ziyin and said.

The younger generation looked at each other, and seeing Lin Ziyin start eating her rice paste and beans, everyone finally sat down to continue their meal.

"Delicious," Lin Yanzhi, being the youngest, always exclaimed when he got to the last few grains of rice.

Their cheerful voices made both Guo Huiniang and Lin Ziyin feel a bittersweet sentiment.

"Grandfather, why don't we make some tofu ourselves?" Seeing everyone only eating wild vegetables at lunchtime, Lin Ziyin couldn't stand it. Although wild vegetables would be considered good food in the modern world, Lin Ziyin would bet that anyone who tries the wild vegetables on their table would find them hard to swallow.

It wasn't that Lin Zige's cooking was poor, it was just that the wild vegetables had barely any salt or oil, accurately speaking, they didn't even have a hint of grease.

"What is tofu?" Lin Zige asked in confusion while Guo Huiniang and others also looked at her curiously.

Lin Ziyin was taken aback. Didn't they know what tofu is? But then she realized that she was in an era when tofu, despite having a long history since the Han Dynasty, did not exist.

"Sister, how can the beans be eaten?" Lin Ziyin asked.

"We can make bean wraps, bean paste, bean cakes," Lin Zige answered shyly.

"Are there many beans here?" Lin Ziyin smelled a business opportunity from her words. If there were no bean-based products at this time, she could take advantage of the situation to profit from beans, and also improve the household's living conditions.

"Of course, there are. Wealthy people use beans to feed horses and cows, but we depend on them for our meals," the old man replied.

"Do we only use lard for cooking oil?" Lin Ziyin probed further.

"Yes," Lin Zige replied heartily, clueless as to why her sister had suddenly taken an interest in kitchen-related matters.

"Do the monks in the temples also consume animal fats?" Lin Ziyin asked curiously.

She had learned during the last few days that Ding'an Temple, one of the more famous large temples in the region, is not too far away, about ten miles or so. Many merchants traveling north and south would stop there to burn incense.

"Monks in the temples only eat plain boiled vegetables," the old man responded. He would often deliver firewood to the temples and thus had a good understanding of what went on in there.

Hearing this, Lin Ziyin was delighted. It seemed as if she had found another source of income.

"Grandfather, brother, can you buy me a small grinding stone and a set of carpentry tools?" Lin Ziyin requested.

"What do you need these things for?" Lin Zige was surprised. Their family was very poor; how could they afford to buy a grinding stone?

"I need them. If we can't buy a grinding stone, you could even borrow one from someone else to use for a few days." Lin Ziyin suggested.

She wasn't entirely sure yet. Making tofu required particular water quality and boiling down the right brine. She didn't know if she could do it well, so she decided to keep her plans a secret for the time being so as not to disappoint her family.