I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 34

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 34. Sundubu
Hong paused at the threshold of the kitchen.
Voices drifted through the crack in the doorway—laughter, and her son’s tender tone.
She could not bring herself to cross the threshold and instead leaned quietly against the wall.
All these years, she had hoped only to restore her family’s honor, for So Jin to reclaim his rank and title.
But had So Jin himself ever truly desired such things?
With her husband and eldest son dead on the battlefield, she had devoted herself to honoring their sacrifice.
Yet that struggle had only driven her youngest son to war and saddled him with false accusations that led to exile.
‘Perhaps I should never have let him so much as glimpse a court position.’
Even if it meant enduring whispers of maternal negligence, she should have kept her youngest safe at home, raised him in peace.
How long had it been since she had seen her son smile like that?
A sudden shame kindled in Hong’s chest toward So Jin.
And in that same moment, her eldest granddaughter, So Yeon Hui, appeared to her in a new light.
The girl who said family mattered more than honor.
A child who shrank from no humble trade to feed her household, who sought counsel from mysterious hermits to save her family from crisis, who stood tall and spoke her mind boldly even before young noble lords.
‘How remarkable. When did she become so capable?’
The So Yeon Hui of childhood had been clever, yes, but obedient and proper.
Never had she shown such boldness.
Had circumstances transformed her? Or had Hong herself failed to see the spirited, resolute child that So Yeon Hui had always been?
Hong turned quietly. This changed So Yeon Hui was unfamiliar to her, yet not unwelcome.
But the moment she spotted a sack on the ground,
her sharp voice cut through the air and summoned her granddaughter.
“Yeon Hui.”
“Yes, Grandmother?”
“What in the world are all these beans?”
Surely the girl hadn’t been cheated by merchants in the Capital City?
It took considerable time to appease Hong’s sharp protests.
A very considerable time indeed.
* * *
In truth, making tofu is not terribly difficult—if one overlooks the time it requires and the labor involved.
Soak the beans, grind them, strain, bring to a gentle boil, add coagulant, and let it set.
But in this place, without electricity, the process proved far more arduous than one might expect.
“Thank goodness Father is a martial master with such strength! Who would have known that grinding beans into milk could be this exhausting?”
At dawn, when she rose to rinse the soaked beans, she had not foreseen such hardship.
But the moment she drew the old millstone from the Storehouse, she understood: this was going to be far more grueling than she had imagined.
She soon called her parents away from their field work and hastily begged their help.
The three of them took turns rotating the millstone, grinding the beans.
Crunch, crunch. As the millstone turned slowly, the beans transformed into milky liquid that flowed away.
Though not as fine as what a blender might produce, the texture was remarkably smooth—more like thin gruel.
“So this soy milk will really become meat?”
“Not quite meat, perhaps, but something very like it. Wait until it’s finished—you’ll be astounded.”
So Yeon Hui answered her grandmother’s sharp question with exaggerated confidence.
Not that she blamed Hong for her suspicion. Who but a fool would purchase six bushels of beans—not barley, but beans—and not expect a thorough scolding for it?
True, Hong seemed unlikely to take the girl at her word. But as the saying goes, seeing is believing.
So Yeon Hui resolved to prove herself through the result.
“Father, would you squeeze this very hard for me?”
Once enough soy milk had accumulated, So Yeon Hui poured it into a cloth strainer with her mother’s help, then deployed her secret weapon once more.
Sure enough, the former general needed no explanation—he simply set to work without a word.
As he gripped the cloth with both great hands and wrung it tight, the clear soy milk streamed out in rivulets.
‘This is practically a human press! I won’t have to worry about squeezing soy milk ever again.’
So Yeon Hui giggled as she wiped the beads of sweat from her father’s brow with a cloth.
Then she tilted her head with a playful smile and poured on the charm.
“Father, isn’t it pleasant to be together with Mother and me again after so long? In the Capital City, you were always too busy to see us.”
“Pleasant enough, but it seems your mind is elsewhere than simply enjoying my company.”
“Oh, Father! This is all for our family. Sharing delicious food lifts everyone’s spirits, doesn’t it? And tofu is good for the body—so I’m looking after everyone’s health.”
Seeing the considerable amount of soybean pulp that had accumulated, So Yeon Hui quietly exulted.
‘I can make a lovely Bean Pulp Pancake with what’s left!’
She poured the strained white soy milk into a pot and quickly lit the fire.
Stirring slowly as it heated, the moment the milk began to bubble and foam rose to the surface,
she reduced the flame by removing some kindling, then began pouring in coagulant—a mixture of salt and vinegar she had made by hand—in careful drops.
Then, shortly after, something within the pot began to cluster like clouds.
“My goodness, what is that?”
“Indeed. It’s all fluffy and white—just like clouds in the sky.”
At Jang’s and So Jin’s words, the lady Hong stretched her neck forward and peered cautiously into the pot.
So Yeon Hui maintained her confident smile and carefully scooped the curds into a bowl with a ladle.
The white, tender curds settled softly in the dish, and she drizzled them with the seasoning sauce she had prepared in advance, then set the bowl before her grandmother.
“Well? Isn’t it splendid?”
Even the great lady Hong found herself speechless.
* * *
The red sauce trickled slowly down the white surface.
Hong lifted her spoon with doubt, took one taste, and her eyes widened.
The curds dissolved delicately on her tongue, and a clean, savory richness spread across her palate—not a trace of any fishy taste.
Truly, a dreamlike flavor she had never encountered before.
“How on earth did you do this to soy milk? How did this liquid become solid, and why is it so impossibly soft and savory?”
At her exclamation, So Jin and Jang hurried to claim their own bowls and stole a taste.
Why should such exquisite pleasure belong to only one person?
They quickly ladled more sundubu and handed a bowl each to the twins, who were just now rubbing sleep from their eyes.
“Come, So Yeon Woo, try this! It’s warm and so soft—it settles the stomach wonderfully!”
“Be careful not to burn your tongue, So Yeon Soo. Shall Father blow it cool for you?”
Hong did offer a brief rebuke at how the parents had grown overly familiar with their children, but it was not severe.
After all, who could afford to be stern when faced with something so revolutionary?
So Yeon Woo in particular took a great spoonful and the moment it entered his mouth, his eyes bulged and he sprang to his feet.
“Sister, you really made this from beans? Those hard, bitter beans?”
Seeing her twin’s disbelief as he looked between the bowl and So Yeon Hui, So Yeon Soo grew curious and quietly took a taste herself.
But with the curds melting away within moments, what other reaction could she offer?
She could only repeat in shock: “What in the world did you do to these beans?”
“Very well, I concede. You have a true gift for cooking, Yeon Hui.”
Hong murmured this as she gazed at her now-empty bowl.
Jang promptly chimed in with raised shoulders and delight.
“It’s a blessing indeed! Now there’s no need to worry about being looked down upon when you marry. Ordinarily a modest bride price invites contempt, but a mysterious culinary technique like this will be valued far above any ordinary gift.”
Yet the moment those words left her lips, So Jin’s brow drew together sharply.
His spoon clattered against the bowl with such force
that tension rippled through the room.
“However noble a household may be, I will not send my daughter into marriage if they dare slight her.”
So Jin spoke with absolute firmness, and his words brought Jang to laughter.
“If you speak so fiercely to the man who will be your son-in-law, he’ll be so frightened he’ll abandon the marriage before he even tries to win over his father-in-law!”
“Bah. If that’s all the spine he has, it’s better I don’t entrust him with my daughter at all. How could I hand my child to a man who runs at the first sight of his father-in-law? Could such a man ever truly protect our daughters?”
Ah yes—so it was So Jin himself who had once petitioned the Emperor for an Imperial Marriage Decree rather than trouble himself with convincing a father-in-law.
Jang smiled softly as she recalled her husband’s shameless past.
The saying goes that one’s heart changes between entering and leaving the outhouse.
The man who had once come to steal his father-in-law’s daughter had now become a father-in-law determined not to lose his own.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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