The back courtyard of the Bai family merchant estate
Calling it just a back courtyard was not entirely accurate. The estate was enormous, with a main house, side wings, rear residence, courtyards, and rows of servants' quarters. Around the merchant estate were lush forests and wide open grass fields before the woods.
Elara now stood behind the main building, facing the large courtyard that stretched toward the wild land and forest, with Damon and Mathias beside her.
A stone mill had already been placed in the yard. Elara planned to place the remaining nine mills in front of the estate once Damon and the others learned to make tofu.
This way, the estate's production purpose would be visible from the front entrance.
In this era, resources were scarce and war was ongoing. Basic foods like beans and grains were hard for ordinary people to get enough of.
Except for a small group of top nobles, most commoners lived on the most basic and raw food.
Commoners lacked both energy and capital to improve their meals. Even wheat-based foods were rare and precious here.
Only very rich families could afford to spend money and effort making them, having servants scoop valuable rice into stone containers and smash it with stone rods to make powdered dishes.
Yes, in this era there weren't even proper mills for grinding grain.
Production was so primitive that creating flour products required people to crush grains by hand with stone rods.
This made flour products extremely expensive and rare. Only a very few powerful nobles could afford them.
This was one of the reasons Elara wanted to obtain a stone mill first.
With rice and grains in short supply, she planned to start with tofu.
When more rice and grains could be harvested later, then she would consider popularizing flour, noodles, buns, and steamed bread.
All the materials she bought in the market yesterday for making tofu and bean curd were now placed beside the stone mill.
The dry soybeans delivered last night had already been soaked in water as she requested.
Damon and Mathias stood quietly behind her on either side, looking at the strange stone device, not knowing exactly what Elara planned to do.
Making tofu and bean curd wasn't hard. In her past life, Elara had been a CEO, but she also learned various life skills at home.
Her family back then did not rely entirely on house staff.
Instead, during festivals, Elara, her parents—both board members—and herself, always rolled up their sleeves and personally cooked the meals.
So she was very skilled in preparing common dishes.
Because she learned from top chefs, her cooking was actually quite good.
That's why she was able to cook those dishes at Lianyi Tower last time.
Examining the stone mill that looked similar to the ones she remembered, she rolled up her sleeves, revealing her pale arms. She stepped forward and lifted the basin of soaked beans to check their condition.
Yesterday, when the beans were delivered, she told someone to tell Damon to soak them overnight.
Now the beans in the water had swollen. Elara picked up a few, squeezed them gently, and decided they were ready.
She took a wooden spoon, scooped several spoonfuls into a nearby wooden basin, and without lifting her head, called out.
"Damon, Mathias, come over and watch me."
Damon, who had instinctively looked away when she rolled up her sleeves, turned his head at her voice and answered. Mathias, who also took his gaze off earlier, did the same.
They stepped forward and stood on either side of the stone mill. Their eyes remained fixed on Elara's hands.
When she finished scooping enough beans, she glanced at Mathias and suddenly handed him the wooden spoon.
This morning, after breakfast, Mathias had been slightly distracted a few times.
Although his daydreaming was brief and infrequent and he remained quiet as usual, Elara still noticed.
She was about to begin the key part of the process, so she simply gave him the spoon. He would scoop the beans while she gave instructions and could rest her tired body.
Mathias paused for a moment when the spoon was handed to him. His dark green eyes showed a rare two-second blank expression.
Then he quickly realized what to do and lowered his gaze to the spoon as if nothing had happened.
"Elara," she said, "in a moment, scoop the beans and water together and pour them into this little hole at the top of the mill."
She pointed at the small hole on the stone mill. Mathias nodded in response.
Elara then turned to Damon and pointed at the mill's handle.
"When he pours in the beans, you hold this handle and turn it clockwise… that means to the right. Understand?"
She made a mock grip on the handle to demonstrate.
Of course, the stone mill was so heavy her tired body couldn't move it, but she did a demonstration anyway.
After seeing her demonstration, Damon reached up and grabbed the handle. His strong arm exerted a little force and easily turned the stone mill.
"Is this right, Miss?" he asked.
Elara immediately nodded. "Yes."
Seeing that both understood the task ahead, she looked at the big wooden basin placed under the mill earlier.
She estimated the size was about right and told a few remaining senior servants in the merchant estate to bring some large wooden trays and rough but clean cloth sheets that could be used like cheesecloth.
They also set up a simple open hearth next to the stone mill, ready to light a fire at any time.
When everything was ready, Elara asked Uno to bring a wooden chair over and she sat in front of the mill.
She watched as Mathias and Damon, with spoon and handle in hand, prepared to begin.
"Start."
The heavy stone mill began to spin smoothly in Damon's hands after she gave the signal. It started making the first tofu of this era.
…
In front of the main gate of the Bai Family Trading Post.
As more and more refugees were registered on the thick bamboo slips, the dim morning light gradually turned into full daylight.
There were nearly twice as many refugees inside the trading post compared to when Elara first arrived.
The old servants in charge of registration and the junior herbal assistants checking for illnesses had been working non-stop and were now completely exhausted.
As the sun rose close to noon, one young assistant, who hadn't eaten since before dawn, felt too hungry to endure it any longer. Holding his rumbling stomach, he glanced cautiously toward the trading post gate, not seeing Elara who had entered earlier and hadn't come out since.
Temporarily putting aside his fear of the princess, he quietly asked the old servant nearby if they could have breakfast.
The old servant, also dizzy from the work, suddenly remembered they hadn't eaten. He quickly told someone to guard the line of refugees and paused the registration, sending people to the kitchen to bring out hot food.
But just as they were about to enjoy their freshly served brunch, a rich and pure aroma floated in from the backyard of the trading post.
The smell was hard to describe—it wasn't floral or medicinal—but it was clearly food. It was a kind of scent they had never smelled before!
Everyone holding their bowls of rice automatically stopped eating. The strong fragrance in the air made their mouths water uncontrollably.
"What is that? What are they making in the backyard? It smells amazing!"
The servants holding their bowls stretched their necks, trying to see into the backyard. Drawn in by the scent, they began to whisper among themselves.
Even the refugees who had just managed to eat a warm meal lifted their heads and stared toward the backyard. Their mouths started watering again as they swallowed involuntarily.
The junior herbal assistant near the gate was already starving. Before smelling this, he was content with his bowl of bean porridge and vegetables, but now the aroma had completely pulled him in. He wanted to go peek into the backyard and see if he could beg for a few spoonfuls of that delicious-smelling food.
"I think it's Lady Bai, Young Master Mathias, and Damon cooking something back there. Mmm… it smells really good!"
Some servants who were closer to the backyard stretched their necks and peeked over, then shared what they saw.
When the herbal assistant heard "Lady Bai," he trembled and quickly pulled back his neck. He forced himself to swallow his saliva and lowered his head, shoveling his breakfast down quickly.
Forget it. No matter how good that food smelled, staying alive was more important.
…
In the backyard of the trading post, Elara had just finished making the first pot of sample tofu. She quickly cut a small piece into a bowl, dipped it in the sweet and sour sauce she had prepared earlier, and took a bite.
The tofu was hot and steaming, soft and smooth in texture, tender in taste, and paired perfectly with the tangy-sweet dipping sauce. It was delicious!
In her previous life, she could eat this kind of tofu whenever she wanted. But ever since she arrived in this world three days ago, her taste buds had been tortured by rough and bland meals. Even the food in the princess's mansion was too plain for her taste.
Now that she could finally eat this fresh, flavorful tofu again, Elara let out a satisfied sigh. She felt this tofu was even better than any tofu she had eaten in her past life.
After savoring the taste in her mouth, she turned to look at Mathias, who was still scooping beans with a wooden spoon, and Damon, who was still turning the stone mill.
From the moment Damon ground the first spoonful of soy milk, the surprise in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
No, actually, ever since he first saw the strange-looking stone tool, he had been wondering if the princess he had sworn loyalty to had once learned from a sect skilled in mechanical inventions.
Otherwise, how could she have come up with such an incredible creation?
But then he remembered how, after rescuing him from the execution grounds, she had boldly handed him such a large territory to manage. He thought maybe there was no need for a background in those sects—perhaps she was simply that intelligent and capable. Maybe she thought of it all on her own.
Compared to Damon's thoughts, Mathias, who had spent more time with Elara's body and had read countless books before being taken to the princess's residence, thought even deeper. His dark eyes occasionally showed a thoughtful glimmer.
For example, the bowl of beans he had scooped earlier seemed small, but after being ground…