Ch 3: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

Iron Plate Tofu

“Xia Ge (Brother Xia)! Open the door! It’s Douzi!”

Qin Xia heard the voice and went to the courtyard. As he opened the wooden door, he saw a short man wearing a net cap standing outside. It was none other than Liu Douzi, the son of the original Qin Xia’s godmother, Fang Rong.

Fang Rong was a close friend of Qin Xia’s mother, Bai Ruxin. The two women had decided to become god-sisters while their children were still in the womb.

The original Qin Xia, despite his many flaws, was at least dutiful to his godmother and often looked out for Liu family siblings.

Even though he was often unreliable, whenever anyone caused trouble at Liu’s tofu stall, Qin Xia would always stand up for them.

“What brings you here? Just got back from the market?”

Qin Xia glanced at the cart behind Liu Douzi, stacked with wooden boxes used for carrying tofu.

“Yeah, just got back. Business was good today, sold out early. My mom told me to drop off some tofu for you on my way home.”

“Is godmother not home?”

“My sister’s pregnant, and she’s been having severe morning sickness. My mom went back to the village to look after her. Left early this morning by ox cart.”

With that, Liu Douzi grabbed a small, heavy, woven basket from the cart containing a large piece of tofu.

“There’s also half a bucket of soybean dregs. If you don’t mind, you can have those too.”

Qin Xia took the items. “You said you sold out?”

There were still tofu and soybean dregs left, which could fetch a few more coins.

Liu Douzi chuckled, scratching his head.

“Left these for family; no need to count that as business.”

As Liu Douzi turned to leave, Qin Xia stopped him.

“If there’s no one home, and it’s just a cold kitchen waiting for you, why not stay and eat with us?”

**

Liu Douzi sat in the kitchen, peeling garlic, while occasionally glancing at Qin Xia’s back.

Qin Xia noticed this several times and finally asked, “Is there something on my back that keeps you staring?”

Liu Douzi placed the peeled garlic into a bowl, tilting his head. “I can’t quite say. It feels like Xia Ge, you’ve changed.”

Qin Xia remained composed.

“Oh? How so?”

Liu Douzi scratched at the thin garlic skin, furrowing his brow.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but… you seem more composed now? And Xia Ge, you used to hate cooking, but now you seem quite enthusiastic about it.”

Qin Xia washed his hands and was pressing the water out of the soybean dregs with a cloth.

“Since I got married, I’ve naturally changed.”

Liu Douzi nodded in realization.

“No wonder. My mom always says I’m not mature enough, and she should probably find me a wife. So that’s the reason.”

Qin Xia couldn’t help but smile.

After all, Liu Douzi was only sixteen years old, which, by his modern standards, was the age of a high school student.

Children are easy to fool.

“After you’re done peeling the garlic, go to the backyard and pick some wild onions. I’ll make you two dishes you’ve never had before for lunch.”

Liu Douzi eagerly ran to the backyard to pull up the onions, while Qin Xia prepared the squeezed soybean dregs and thick slices of tofu, wiped his hands, and headed back to the main room.

At the table, Yu Jiuque was carefully threading a needle.

Hearing Qin Xia enter, he quickly stood up.

“Husband.”

“What are you busy with?”

Yu Jiuque pushed the clothes on the table aside.

“I found some clothes in the chest with holes in them, probably from moths. I thought I’d mend them.”

After breakfast, Qin Xia had purposefully cleaned the house inside and out. To give Yu Jiuque some light tasks to avoid his dizziness, he had assigned him the job of sorting through the chest.

Yu Jiuque had been very diligent, having already folded all of Qin Xia’s wearable clothes.

Qin Xia was somewhat surprised.

“You know how to sew?”

According to the original novel’s plot, even though Yu Jiuque was still far from the high status he would later attain, he was already one of the Twelve Stewards in the palace, in charge of important affairs. He hadn’t expected Yu Jiuque to be skilled in such domestic tasks.

Yu Jiuque pursed his lips.

“I know a little. It’s enough for mending clothes.”

He knew that he wasn’t as skilled in needlework as other ge’ers. Yu Jiuque touched the calluses on his fingers and palms, still unsure of what he had done for a living in the past.

“That’s impressive.”

Qin Xia, who in his previous life could barely sew on a button, was genuinely impressed by Yu Jiuque’s skill.

“Husband, did you come looking for me because you need help with something?”

Yu Jiuque glanced outside the door, aware that there was an outsider in the house.

“Nothing much, just wanted to tell you that I invited Douzi to stay for lunch. He’s my godmother’s son, a little brother.”

To Yu Jiuque, this was Qin Xia’s house, so it was only natural for him to entertain guests, without needing to inform him. But Qin Xia still mentioned it, showing that he respected Yu Jiuque.

This warmed Yu Jiuque’s heart a little.

“Since he’s your brother, we should host him properly. How about I go greet Brother Liu? Otherwise, it might seem rude.”

So, when Liu Douzi came back from the backyard with a few dirt-covered wild onions, he was surprised to see a young man standing next to Qin Xia in the courtyard.

The young man greeted him politely, saying, “Greetings, Brother Liu.”

Startled, Liu Douzi hurriedly dropped the onions and returned the bow, stammering, “H-Hello… greetings to you too, Sister-in-law!”

This made Qin Xia laugh, and even Yu Jiuque couldn’t help but smile.

Liu Douzi blushed bright red but remembered what his mother had said to him.

His mother had helped prepare the bridal chamber the previous day and had commented that Brother Jiu was very handsome and well-matched with Xia Ge.

“Your Xia Ge, despite everything, is very good-looking. Usually, anyone standing next to him looks like a plucked chicken, but this Jiu Ge’er really stands out. Let’s just hope that after marriage, he’ll settle down and live a good life together with his husband. That’s the right way.”

Now it seemed like his mother had been right.

Yu Jiuque wanted to help in the kitchen, but Qin Xia convinced him to stay inside, saying the kitchen was too small with just him and Liu Douzi in there.

“Just stoke the fire in the brazier and keep warm. I’ll call you when the food is ready.”

After Yu Jiuque left, Qin Xia noticed Liu Douzi giving him a knowing smile.

“Xia Ge, you and Sister-in-law seem to get along really well. I’ll have to tell my mother; she’ll be relieved.”

Qin Xia shooed the chatty young man back into the kitchen.

Qin Xia planned to make two dishes: iron plate tofu and soybean dreg pancakes.

Although Liu Douzi had sold tofu with his mother for a long time, he had never heard of “iron plate tofu” and was very curious.

So, Qin Xia taught him as he cooked.

He poured oil into the pan and added the thick slices of tofu to fry.

When frying tofu, you must be patient. Constantly poking at it with a spatula will only cause it to stick to the pan or break apart.

While waiting, Qin Xia mixed a sauce with the few available seasonings.

Three spoons of soy sauce, one spoon of vinegar, half a spoon of sugar, and chopped garlic were stirred together and set aside.

“The tofu needs to fry for a bit longer. Let’s start shaping the soybean dreg pancakes.”

He beat some eggs, mixed them with the soybean dregs and flour in a bowl, added salt and chopped green onions, and stirred until well combined. Then, he shaped the mixture into small, flat patties.

Liu Douzi quickly got the hang of it, and Qin Xia left him in charge while he poured the sauce over the tofu, which had finished frying on one side.

The tofu turned from golden yellow to a rich brown, and the aroma filled the kitchen, rising with the steam.

Liu Douzi swallowed several times.

Who would have guessed that Xia Ge’s cooking skills had improved so much? Could getting married really have this effect?

When the tofu was cooked on both sides, the dish was ready.

He carefully placed the tofu pieces on a plate, poured the remaining sauce over them, and sprinkled them with green onions. Even before tasting it, the dish was already a feast for the senses.

“How many soybean dreg pancakes have you made?”

Liu Douzi counted, “About twenty.”

Qin Xia nodded, cleaned the pan with a piece of tofu to absorb any leftover sauce, then heated some more oil and began frying the first batch of pancakes.

The center of the pan was the hottest, and soon, a few of the small pancakes turned a golden yellow color.

Qin Xia picked one out and handed it to Liu Douzi, saying, “Try it.”

Liu Douzi’s eyes lit up as he took it eagerly, not even caring about the heat. He took a bite, and the delicious flavor practically leapt off the pancake.

“This is so good! Making soybean dregs this way is way better than the soybean dregs rice my mother makes!”

Qin Xia smiled, “Your mother’s soybean dregs rice is also very tasty; you’ve just grown tired of it.”

The two of them continued, one shaping the pancakes and the other frying them, turning half a bucket of soybean dregs into dozens of small pancakes, piled high in the basket.

“Xia Ge, will we be able to finish all this? This stuff won’t taste as good once it cools down, will it?”

Qin Xia thought to himself, you haven’t seen how much the person inside can eat.

“Don’t worry, we’ll finish it.”

Finally, with the remaining bit of tofu, he made a small plate of scallion tofu to cleanse the palate, and the lunch at the Qin household was ready.

Yu Jiuque, having just put away the mended clothes in the chest, came out to set the table.

The aroma of tofu, sauce, and oil filled the air, and even before picking up the chopsticks, he was eagerly anticipating the meal.

Liu Douzi was so focused on eating that he didn’t even lift his head, with oil dripping from his mouth.

“This is so delicious! Xia Ge, did Aunt Qin ever make this dish? I don’t remember ever having it.”

Liu Douzi knew Qin Xia’s cooking skills likely came from the Qin family’s matriarch, who had worked as a cook in a wealthy household when she was younger.

Qin Xia replied vaguely, “She made it a few times, but it uses a lot of oil and sauce, so she didn’t make it often.”

Liu Douzi didn’t suspect anything, and with his mouth full of tofu, he mumbled, “The flavor is amazing! I bet if you set up a stall at the temple fair, people would buy this for five coins a serving!”

When Qin Xia heard this, he paused slightly as he was about to scoop some scallion tofu for Yu Jiuque.

It’s true, he thought. Iron plate tofu is a popular street food in modern night markets. The main ingredient is just tofu, and the rest of the ingredients are inexpensive.

Low cost, high profit.

If he were to set up a stall, he could get tofu from Liu’s family, and both families could help each other out.

Not long ago, the original Qin Xia had heard from Fang Rong that there were two new tofu stalls in the nearby market, and their business was getting harder to manage.

Yu Jiuque noticed Qin Xia lost in thought, holding the spoon mid-air without taking a bite, and gently picked up a piece of tofu with his chopsticks and placed it in Qin Xia’s bowl.

Qin Xia was brought back to reality by the gesture.

Looking at Yu Jiuque, who was eating with his cheeks puffed out like a little hamster, Qin Xia couldn’t help but smile. After finishing the tofu his “husband” had served him, he continued the conversation.

“Now that you mention it, I really am thinking about setting up a stall to sell this.”

Liu Douzi’s hand shook, and the soybean dreg pancake he had bitten into fell back into his bowl. He looked at Qin Xia with wide eyes.

“Did I hear that right? Xia Ge, you’re actually willing to set up a street stall?”