A Bit of Money from Selling Tofu

This book is Liang Xiaosheng’s first middle-length novel， recalling his childhood. From the perspective of an inexperienced teenager， the author sketches out the childhood years of children playing around in the countryside， with faint melancholy and warmth intertwined， depicting a panoramic picture of the loess plateau with the characteristics of the times.

Liang Xiaosheng

Famous contemporary writer and winner of the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award， he used to be an editor and scriptwriter at Beijing Film Studio， and a professor at the Chinese Department of Beijing Language and Culture University. His literary works cover a wide range of subjects， including novels， essays， social history and theories， films， and TV dramas， and he pays close attention to the reading of Chinese children and teenagers.

My Troubles Growing Up

Liang Xiaosheng

Shandong Education Press

July 2021

35.00 （CNY）

One Sunday， Zhengzi， my bro， came to my home to ask me a favor. The tofu factory where he worked had given him the task of working overtime once every Sunday to sell all ten slabs of tofu. The earlier he sold them out， the earlier he could go home. In the past， their tofu workshop only made tofu without selling them， which made the neighborhood rather critical. So， the tofu workshop began to sell tofu， and this initiative was very popular among the residents. Zhengzi wasn’t the only one who needed to do extra work. Other workers also had to work overtime for an hour at night in shifts. Only he was the apprentice， so taking up Sundays was something he couldn’t avoid. And it was not as easy as selling in front of the tofu workshop; he had to push a flatbed tricycle down the street， yelling and selling. He said he was tired enough of making tofu all day long and seeing it again on Sundays made him downright dizzy， so he asked me if I’d like to sell it for him on Sunday.

Mother asked， “You think your little bro can do that？”

Zhengzi said， “I don’t think it’s a problem. Each slab of tofu is already cut， so it’s easy to sell， and he can ask our third brother to come along and help.”

Mother further asked， “Will the leaders of your tofu workshop agree？”

Zhengzi said， “There is overtime pay， five cents for a slab， and in principle， non-workers are not allowed to take over， which can be seen as a disguised hireling. But it’s a different matter if I tell them Shaosheng is my cousin， then it’s mutual help between relatives.”

He threw his arm around my shoulder， bumped heads gently with me， and said intimately， “Aren’t we two closer than cousins？”

I said， “Course we are！”

Mother told him， “Your second brother has just made some progress in his studies， and I am worried that it will be affected again by selling tofu.”

I was already excited upon hearing Zhengzi saying there is money to be made， so I said， “Mom， that won’t happen！ I can sell them together with Shuqi！ He often helps me with my lessons， I should repay him. you can’t leave a friend out of a good deed！”

Zhengzi said， “Now that’s something I like to hear！”

Mother smiled and said nothing more.

That evening I went to Shuqi’s home to tell him the good news.

He was very happy about it， “Yes， I’d like to！ I don’t see it as embarrassing or ill-paid. It’s a legitimate thing to work while studying. But this time we can’t hide it from Xuyan.”

I said， “I don’t think his parents will allow him to sell tofu， will they？”

He said， “Sure thing， but let’s not make him unhappy again！”

I agreed with Shuqi and on Monday when we were at school， I told Xuyan the news too.

Xuyan grinned and said， “I don’t care if I can earn money or not. My parents give me more than enough pocket money every month. What I look for is the pleasure of being with you two.”

Shuqi and I had been roadmates to and from school， so it was only natural that we became friends over time. It would be strange otherwise. The same thing can’t be said about Xuyan and me becoming friends， because he had always been a loner， not talking much. And Shuqi and I had very different personalities， but eventually， he became our mutual friend， which seemed as if only “destiny” could explain.

The next Sunday morning， the three of us showed up outside the tofu workshop at the time Zhengzi had requested， and he was already waiting there. He led us into the workshop and introduced us to the workers. Xuyan and I shared a similar facial shape， so Zhengzi told them that Xuyan was his eldest cousin and I was his second cousin. Without waiting to be introduced， Shuqi blurted， “I grow up with these two.”

A worker jokingly said， “ It’s only a matter of 50 cents in total. Won’t the three of you fight because of the unfair share？” Shuqi said， “The three of us are not here for the money， but to make up for the lesson of working and studying.”

The worker praised him for his good speech， and the other workers all laughed.

Zhengzi treated the three of us to soybean milk in his big enamel jar， saying it was the first brew left in the pot just for us.

It was the first time for me and Shuqi to drink soybean milk， and although it had no sugar added， it was delicious enough for us. Xuyan’s family lived close to downtown. The city’s restaurants sold deep-fried dough sticks and soybean milk every morning， so drinking soybean milk was a common thing for him. But even he admitted that this soybean milk was really good. In comparison， the soybean milk sold in restaurants was clearly watered down.

After tasting the soy milk， we set out to push the tricycle to sell tofu. You can’t put ten slabs of tofu on the cart at a time; it would be too heavy， and the stack is too high， making the cart unstable. We put in five slabs first and brought a small stool with us， for one of us had to stand on the stool when selling; otherwise， we couldn’t shovel up the tofu smoothly.

Zhengzi followed us for a while and asked if we can do it or not.

I said， “ Why can’t we？ Don’t you worry， just go home.”

After he left， the three of us divided up the labor. Xuyan said he’d only be responsible for pushing the tricycle， not for selling， and particularly don’t expect him to yell， because he wouldn’t be able to peddle loudly， no matter what. I was in charge of collecting the money. Shuqi was taller than me， so handing out the tofu was his business. As for the peddling， we’d do it together.

Once the division of labor was clear， the two of us began to peddle along the street with a bang. This prompted a laugh from Xuyan， who complimented us on how well our tones matched. It was very much like the vegetable-in-the-community program nowadays. Three high school students implemented the tofu workshop’s benefit initiative， which was a big hit everywhere we went. Before we knew it， we had sold all five tofu slabs， so we rushed back to the workshop and had five more slabs loaded. The second time we set out， we headed towards another street.