I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 45

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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 45. The First Step of Household Manufacturing
Thanks to the carriage that Ju Ha-yoon had lent her, So Yeon-hee returned home far more comfortably, and she promptly announced her victory to her family with triumphant confidence.
In response, So Yeon-su and So Yeon-woo praised their sister’s skill, and So Jin and their mother Jang also congratulated her warmly—but Hong was different.
The social circles of the administrative wives seemed like an exact copy-and-paste of the capital’s official society.
From the perspective of someone who had survived in that treacherous world for decades, the behavior of Wei House was utterly discourteous.
“In the first place, you were the one who showed them kindness, saved their lady’s life, and even developed a new dish that even the elderly could eat. And yet they attach such scandalous rumors to their benefactor without so much as a proper apology? Ha! They’re determined to make enemies of us, it seems.”
“Oh, Grandmother, that’s not it. The lady of Wei House bowed her head and apologized to me. She wanted to step forward from the beginning, but given the circumstances, she had no choice but to be cautious.”
So Yeon-hee hastened to defend Baek, but her words fell short of restraining Hong, whose anger had already risen to her very scalp.
She raised her voice in that distinctive, shrill tone of hers, still bristling with indignation.
“I say this because the matter is settled and you won the cooking competition! But what if you had lost? Would she have stepped forward so readily then? She’d have pretended not to notice and let you fall into trouble—isn’t that obvious?”
“Surely she wouldn’t go that far? We’re not even enemies with her house.”
“Do you think I don’t know what that woman is really like? She may feel personally sorry toward you for saving her life, but not toward our So Clan. That conscienceless creature would do worse and still sleep soundly!”
Grandmother Hong had not forgotten how Baek, the lady of Wei House, had continued to resent So Clan even though her daughter’s own mistakes had broken off the engagement, and she now poured out all the grievances she had harbored in the meanwhile.
Her anger ran so hot that the veins in her neck stood out sharply.
“Whether it’s tofu or bean cakes, there’s no need to supply them. That pittance—we can earn it slowly! Haven’t we already gathered enough from the money received last time to pay the taxes?”
“Still, we should do what we’ve promised to do. Winter is coming soon, and there’s much that needs money—repairs to the house and all.”
“But it’s barely pocket change! Whether we sell the tofu in Jinseong or to Wei House, the price is the same. Why bother? Go tell them tomorrow that there’s no need for further dealings!”
She was so stubbornly insistent. How on earth could one persuade her?
After a moment’s thought, So Yeon-hee drew out a heavy pouch from within her garment.
Then she upended it and poured the money it contained onto the table.
…….
Only then did Hong’s complaints cease.
Twelve taels of Refined Silver, no less.
It was far too large a sum to refuse.
* * *
On the fourth day before dawn, So Yeon-hee headed to the kitchen to check on the soaked beans, only to discover a most surprising sight.
There was her grandmother Hong, already in the kitchen, meticulously inspecting the soaked beans to see if any were damaged.
“Grandmother? What brings you to the kitchen so early in the morning?”
At So Yeon-hee’s question, Hong let out an embarrassed cough, then continued to examine the soaked beans with sharp eyes, occasionally fishing out rotten ones with her hand.
Then, in that characteristic manner of hers—blunt yet sly—she began to lecture So Yeon-hee.
“If you hadn’t taken on the work, that would be one thing. But since you have, shouldn’t you do your best? That’s how Wei House won’t look down on the cooking skill of So Clan.”
She held forth at great length about how, once a woman married off, she would learn that in the Status Competition among women, the next thing that determined victory after her husband’s official rank was the skill to prepare banquet dishes.
She said that So Clan’s banquet cuisine was renowned for being meticulous and refined, and so Yeon-hee must inherit that very spirit.
“Even before cooking rice, if you carefully pick out rotten grains and insect-eaten ones by hand, the rice tastes far better. How could the principle be any different when applied to tofu?”
“I did sift through it once already, though.”
“But look at this. The rotten beans I’ve picked out again already amount to a handful, don’t they?”
Hong held her head high as she spoke of how such small differences determine the grade of taste.
So Yeon-hee looked silently at the handful of beans her grandmother had culled, then let out a quiet laugh.
‘……Much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. The longer-established restaurants are always meticulous about such tedious work in the kitchen.’
The care they took in these small details was truly unreasonable when you considered labor costs.
But that was precisely the secret of a blockbuster establishment—how could one not learn it?
So Yeon-hee laughed softly, washed her hands, then crouched down across from her grandmother and began sifting through the beans alongside her.
“If the two of us do it, it’ll go faster. Let’s do it together, then.”
“Hmph! Speed isn’t everything. It’s more important to be thorough and not miss a thing.”
“Of course. I’ll examine each bean carefully and not overlook a single one, so don’t worry.”
As So Yeon-hee and her grandmother continued to bicker and fuss, picking out the rotten beans,
the kitchen door suddenly opened, and this time their mother Jang entered, her arms laden with something.
“Oh my, Mother. You’re already up?”
“Of course. If the banquet is held late in the afternoon, we must hurry to deliver the goods early. With so much work to do, I can’t sleep in.”
“Still, don’t worry too much. So Jin came up with a truly ingenious trick so that we can make a large quantity of tofu and bean cakes all at once—did you know?”
“So Jin, you say?”
“Yes. Look at this.”
Jang spoke thus and showed her family the items from her garment.
They were two rectangular bamboo baskets, each slightly more than a handspan deep, and several sheets of clean muslin cloth.
“So Jin asked the master of the Sim House next door to make these tofu molds. They’re larger than what we’ve been using and much more evenly shaped, which is good. Since there are two, we can also make them in large batches all at once.”
“But would we have a pot large enough to boil so much soy milk? Our household pot hardly seems sufficient.”
“The Sim House agreed to lend us a pot as well. The only thing is that building the makeshift furnace in the courtyard takes longer than expected, so in the meantime we can keep grinding beans busily, it seems.”
The makeshift furnace takes that long?
No, they’re not doing proper cement work, so it should be done in about fifteen minutes if it’s just a simple setup. What work could possibly take so long?
At her mother Jang’s words, So Yeon-hee paused in her bean-sorting and tilted her head in puzzlement.
As if sensing her daughter’s doubt, Jang chuckled softly and added an explanation.
“The work of distinguishing rocks from the riverbank that won’t crack takes a long time. If you just stack it with mud, it becomes too soft and will crack or crumble when you light a fire, so you need to use stones to form the framework. If you select the stones carelessly, a serious accident could occur.”
Only then did So Yeon-hee belatedly realize that the common people here built their furnaces with stones and earth rather than bricks.
‘But the city walls of Jinseong use ordinary bricks and stone…’
Still, thinking about it, most houses were indeed made of earth.
Those of somewhat better means lived in wooden structures built with timber.
‘It’s not that So Clan is poor—it’s that in this world, most building materials are simply wood and earth.’
She turned to examine the kitchen hearth and found that So Clan’s hearth was also made of tamped mud.
Likely there were several heat-resistant stones inside to withstand the fire for long periods.
Though admittedly, they could never match properly fired bricks.
“I happen to have acquired materials perfect for building a furnace. I should tell Father there’s no need for him to go to such trouble. I’ll be back shortly—Mother, please sort the beans in my place!”
“Huh? You’ve acquired materials for building a furnace? But when?”
When? Why, right now, of course!
But it was always better if fewer people knew of such mysterious abilities.
So Yeon-hee rushed out to the courtyard as if she hadn’t heard a word.
Then, unlike the donkey tied securely in the stable to keep it from running away, she went to the carriage parked casually in one corner of the courtyard and opened her Spatial Pouch.
“Let’s see. Bricks… Ah, there they are!”
Indeed, the Spatial Pouch had everything.
So Yeon-hee, who had purchased a full hundred bricks—costing three Points per ten—at a great expense, now stopped her father just as he was about to shoulder a carrying frame and set out.

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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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