Chapter 48: Busy Farming in the Last Days

May 30 2023

Soybeans have been soaking for more than 12 hours since yesterday afternoon until this morning. In the rural areas of S city, there is a tradition of making various bean products during the Chinese New Year, so making tofu is not difficult.

Ji Cha prepared his own bean grinder early and moved the production site to an open space near the well.

There are no other wells nearby, and the army needs to come to the factory to get water while digging wells. Today, when Zhao Tiankuo saw Ji Cha preparing to make, he couldn’t help but ask, “What are you doing?”

There is more than one attractive place in the factory, such as the green vegetable fields and various sprouting vegetable seedlings.

Zhao Tiankuo, in charge of contracting the water, is in his early twenties and is from the north.

“Prepping to make tofu,” Ji Cha replied to Zhao Tiankuo, and then said, “By the way, I want to ask if you need tofu over there. Old tofu, thousand-layer tofu, oil tofu are all okay. If you have soybeans, I can make them all.”

“That’s great,” Zhao Tiankuo’s eyes lit up, and he complained, “You don’t know that we haven’t had fresh vegetables for several days. There were still vegetables planted in our fields a while ago, but they only lasted for two days. Now we eat canned food every day, and our mouths are tasteless. We just want to eat something fresh!”

“Not only tofu, soybeans can also sprout,” Ji Cha saw a way and continued to promote, “Sprouts grow quickly and are nutritious. We have eaten a lot here.”

“I will go back and report to the leaders above. I think it can be done, and you won’t do it for nothing. You may even get some profits from food,” Zhao Tiankuo said.

What Ji Cha wanted was the safety guaranteed by the army. If there were additional profits, that would be even better, but it was not essential.

After soaking overnight, the swollen and soft soybeans mixed with water were ground into white bean dregs by the bean grinder. There were three large barrels of it, estimated to be able to make hundreds of pounds of tofu.

Since the green vegetables grew vigorously, Ji Cha had opened up a large area of land for planting various vegetables. Now, they have all sprouted, and the green fields cover the entire land.

If it was only for his family, they could not eat all of it. Ji Cha planned to process the vegetables in two ways. One way was to send them to the army’s leaders, to pave the way for future expansion of the planting scale. The other way was to dry the green vegetables and turn them into dried vegetables. This way, not only would the shelf life be extended, but it would also have a unique taste.

Ji Cha recently began to have an idea of opening up a farmland outside. He initially established such a self-sufficient system in the factory to survive without relying on others and without having to repeat his experiences of working on a farm. However, now he understands that this idea is not practical. The factory is prominent and attracts attention, and it cannot be completely self-sufficient. Ji Cha needs to rely on external resources, such as the army, to maintain his production.

“This little privilege is just a matter of loosening your grip,” said the military officer, nodding. “That’s easy. I’ll go talk to them later, and this afternoon I’ll have someone bring over the beans. You can start making tofu tomorrow.”

“Okay,” breathed a relieved Ji Cha. “Once I’m done making tofu, I’ll have Zhao Tiankuo take some back with him.”

The officer smiled and looked out at the lush green vegetables growing in the field, hinting, “Your vegetables are pretty good…”

Ji Cha had been living in the post-apocalyptic farm for so many years that he knew exactly what the officer meant. He replied immediately, “Yes, they’re quite good. They’re tender, just add some salt and they’ll be fragrant when stir-fried. I’ll pick two jin of them when I send the tofu over later.”

“Speaking of which,” Ji Cha took the opportunity to voice his thoughts, “I don’t have any other resources here, but I’m good at growing crops. If you could open up a few more plots of land, I could help manage them.”

This struck a chord with the officer. Although they had several large granaries full of food, which could feed them for years, the establishment of the base would attract people from all over, and as the population grew, their food supply might run out at any time. They couldn’t rely on their old stocks forever. Now that Ji Cha had offered to help manage the crops, it could be seen as a solution to the military’s urgent problem.

However, this was still a very big decision, not like making tofu, which the officer could decide on his own. After thinking it over, he said, “Let’s do this. You make tofu for two days first. If it goes well, I’ll go back and talk to the leaders about planning this out, and see if we can let you manage it.”

Ji Cha was already very happy with this result and nodded, “Thank you very much.”

Once the officer left, the others in the factory gathered around.

“You don’t have to worry about finding work outside anymore,” Ji Cha said. “If we can successfully link up with the military, it’s much better than struggling outside, isn’t it?”

Li Xiuqin praised Ji Cha’s actions. “Exactly. We’re few in number. I’ve seen those people outside who are too dangerous to mess with. But no one would dare to bully us if we’re together with the military.”

“That’s a good idea,” Wang Qinxue agreed.

“I think it’s very likely that they’ll approve our request to farm more land,” Ji Cha said, thinking of the farms at the former S base. Not only were the small workers there on their toes, but even the small leaders were objects of flattery from outsiders.

A bowl of vegetables on the black market could be worth half a month’s income for an ordinary person. Weren’t all these gaps in power coming out of their own fingers? Ji Cha had felt deeply the difference in power, but had never thought he would be on the other side of the power equation.

What he could do was try not to repeat the same mistakes. Ji Cha’s hope was to expand production to the point where everyone could eat meat and vegetables and live a comfortable life. This would require a lot of effort, but it was worth a try.

Liang Jincheng was still out all day today, just like yesterday.

In the military…

On one side, soybeans were being transported, while on the other side, workers who had not left the construction site were casting occasional glances at Ji Cha. The military personnel and vehicles had been coming in and out all day, and everyone had noticed.

After this day, the various people who used to gather at the factory gate every day were no longer seen.

The atmosphere inside the factory was relaxed, and Ji Cha felt quite happy.

Today, they had made a total of 120 kilograms of tofu, and the profit margin for making tofu from soybeans was actually very high. Generally, one kilogram of soybeans could produce three kilograms of tofu, and if it was soft tofu, it could be even more, reaching four kilograms or more.

Ji Cha sent fifty kilograms to the army and added ten kilograms of vegetables. Zhao Tiankuo did not say anything, but the smile on his face was like a blooming flower. He went back happily with tofu and vegetables.

There were still seventy kilograms of tofu left, which even Ji Cha’s family could not finish eating. So, he set up a small stall at the factory gate and waited for the workers to come back from work to exchange goods for canned food and grains.

One can of canned food could be exchanged for two kilograms of tofu, or two liang of rice could be exchanged for one kilogram of tofu.

When the stall was first set up, most people stood at a distance, watching with probing eyes. But when two brave people successfully exchanged tofu, more people came over.

The canned food issued by the army was not necessarily bad, but it couldn’t compare to the temptation of fresh tofu, especially for a group of people who had not had fresh vegetables for a long time.

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

The sixty-eight kilograms of tofu that Ji Cha brought out were all exchanged in less than an hour. Some people who lived far away saw their neighbors bringing home fresh tofu and asked where they had gotten it from. They rushed over, but it was too late, the tofu had already been exchanged. They could only ask if there would be any tomorrow.

Ji Cha couldn’t say for sure, but he told them that it was the leftover tofu from the army, and there might be some tomorrow, but not in large quantities.

This made some people plan ahead and prepare to come early tomorrow to exchange for a piece of tofu to eat.

Ji Cha was satisfied with the stall’s success and packed up the exchanged rice and canned food, then soaked the beans for tomorrow’s tofu. Luckily, he had bought many barrels and densely woven gauze, otherwise, he wouldn’t have enough tools to make over a thousand kilograms of tofu at once.

To make one thousand kilograms of tofu, he needed to soak over three hundred kilograms of beans. After weighing and soaking them separately, he recorded everything in his notebook, ready to reconcile the accounts with the army tomorrow.

As for the bean sprouts, they would have to wait for a relatively long time, but since they had made them at home countless times before, Ji Cha knew the recipe well and had already prepared the proportions. They would be ready to harvest in about three days.

Liang Jincheng returned home with the sunset’s afterglow. He looked as tireless as he did yesterday and said goodbye to Qin Shuang at the door.

Ji Cha happened to be standing at the door, looking a little sour in his heart, but he still said irritably, “Can we talk now?”

“Last night, I was afraid that if I stayed, I would not be able to control myself and would become violent towards you,” Liang Jincheng stood at the stairway and did not continue forward. He was two steps away from Ji Cha, his eyes burning, “Just like now, I cannot continue walking forward. I am afraid that I cannot resist continuing what we didn’t finish last night.”

“…” Ji Cha quickly took a step back, “You have to control yourself. It’s still broad daylight!”

Liang Jincheng chuckled softly, “Chacha, don’t be like this.”

“What do you mean by ‘like this’…” Ji Cha was puzzled, “Why are you laughing?”

He felt that the current Liang Jincheng was teasing him. There was a hint of mischief in his smile.

Liang Jincheng slowly took a step forward, “Because you are too cute, I can’t help but want to…” He took Ji Cha’s hand and kissed it, then lowered his head to give him a kiss on the cheek, “I can’t help but want to kiss you or do something more…”

Ji Cha blushed and said gruffly, “You, you have to stop right there!”

Liang Jincheng pulled Ji Cha into his arms, “Just like now, I want to kiss your eyes, then your lips, and finally…” The last few words were lost in Liang Jincheng’s lips. He looked past Ji Cha and at the sofa behind him.

Ji Cha was puzzled and struggled to get out of his embrace. He looked behind him and asked, “What are you looking at…?”

He had finally adapted to Liang Jincheng’s hooliganism and wanted to know what he was going to say next. Why did he suddenly hesitate?

The thin blanket on the sofa, which was the same color as the sofa, suddenly moved. Ji Cha’s face turned red, as if blood was about to drip out.

Oh my god, oh my god, there is someone there!? Ji Cha felt so embarrassed that he thought he could explode on the spot.

Meanwhile, Zhang Hang, who was sleeping on the sofa, felt like he might just jump from the second floor and end it all.

Thingyan: I’m starting to feel like Zhang Hang is being deliberate. What a perve lololol