Chapter 64: Sugar

After hesitating and struggling, the Daoist Priest still couldn't resist the temptation of the picture book and gave in.

"I need time to experiment, and besides, the list you made—five types of equipment are simply not enough!" Qingyi Daozhang said with a straight face.

"So let's refine the first batch, and use the results to trade for a few more," Wen Gu replied calmly. "These things are all in the Zhao Family's storehouse; no one has gone to snatch them yet, but there's no telling when some talent might show up, so you need to hurry."

Qingyi Daozhang: "..."

He lowered his head and flipped through the picture book again.

He knew this was the trick of Gou Shusheng.

But, this pie was truly fragrant!

So many good things waiting for me!

Having made his decision, he picked up a brush and circled the equipment he needed: "Five isn't enough, add two more!"

He certainly wouldn't follow Gou Shusheng's requirements; he had to secure more benefits for himself.

Wen Gu looked at what he had circled and nodded: "Fine, I'll go help you get these things. You hurry up, and I'll give you a bit more material too. It's the harvest season, don't delay!"

What lying down, get up and get to work!

I haven't even been idle, and you're being this leisurely!

Wen Gu had Chang Shun take the circled equipment to Zhao Zhai. Soon, the Alchemy equipment was brought by carriage to Qingyun Fang and placed inside the room.

For the sake of those charming Danfang utensils in the picture book, Qingyi Daozhang began to bury himself in work.

Refining coarse salt was old experience, and with a young Daoist as an assistant, it was more efficient and had no challenges.

But this Sugar...

The Daoist Priest was unfamiliar with it, so following Wen Gu's suggestions and his own experience, he refined it first.

Tested, unsatisfied.

Returned to the furnace to try again, still unsatisfied.

Continued to improve and experiment...

The experimental materials provided by Wen Gu included not only the off-white Sugar given by his aunt, but also a portion of mixed-color Sugar provided by Wen Gu himself, for the Daoist Priest to perform decolorization.

The decolorization methods recorded in Wen Gu's memory did not necessarily contain all the details and perhaps even contained slight misguidance, so he only offered a few suggestions; the technical work was left to the professional.

He had already told Qingyi Daozhang the requirements for the finished product; the rest was a matter of technical experimentation and challenges.

Returned to Jingxing Fang.

Wen Gu assigned tasks to the laborers, clearing out debris and building collective dormitories according to his blueprints.

A Fang, even if filled with four hundred people, was still somewhat empty. However, more people could be settled in later.

After a period of time, once the villagers in the Fang adapted to the rhythm of life here, they would bring over the fellow villagers left behind in the Village.

There was nothing to eat left in the Village; even if they didn't freeze to death in the cold winter, they would starve.

Once there were more people in the Fang, there would be more projects to do. Wen Gu wasn't afraid of having too many people!

After the initial clearing and replanning within the Fang, some courtyard walls that were scattered and now dilapidated were all demolished.

The excavated bricks, stones, and the like were sorted and stacked.

Then, using the existing building materials, they began to build the collective dormitories.

During this period, teams from the south arrived in Xinzhou City one after another; the small ones had dozens of people, while the larger teams had hundreds or thousands.

Some arrived by boat at the nearest wharf, escorted by the Xianshou Army.

Those large crates, filled with goods, were enough for people in Xinzhou City to discuss for a long time.

He Da and the others continued to leverage their advantages as street loafers, going out to chat, brag, and watch the excitement, then bringing back the latest news on the goings-on in the city.

As long as he could pass this news to Wen Gu, he could get his own share of the pay.

He Da was very satisfied with this; he and his little partners had no other skills, but they still had some advantages in this area.

Yu Er was busy with matters at the Iron smithy, and He Da didn't have any competitors yet, but he didn't dare to slack off; there would definitely be other talents competing in the future, so he had to take this opportunity to stabilize his position.

Wen Gu listened to the news brought back by He Da.

People traveling north by boat should be concentrated during this period; a few days later, the river water would freeze. Or they would have to wait until next spring when the river thawed to come over.

And these wealthy families brought a great deal of supplies!

Therefore, the target had to be these wealthy families; they had the goods in their hands!

He Da was excitedly telling Wen Gu which wealthy family had arrived in Xinzhou City today and how many carts of goods they were carrying.

The young Daoist from Qingyun Fang came over and told Wen Gu: Qingyi Daozhang had refined another batch of finished products and invited the Ward Chief to come over for inspection.

Seven days had passed; had the Daoist finally refined a satisfactory result?

Faster than Wen Gu expected.

The Daoist was indeed extremely talented!

It seemed he could set up more stages and add more burdens.

Wen Gu arranged his work and walked quickly to Qingyun Fang.

When he arrived, Qingyi Daozhang was sitting on a chair, deep in thought.

Seeing Wen Gu, the Daoist only said faintly: "These should be what you wanted."

On the table in front, there were two round plates.

One plate contained white crushed Sugar, and in the other plate was block-shaped Sugar with the luster of ice.

In terms of quality, it didn't meet Wen Gu's requirements and was still some distance from the products of the industrial age, but for the current level, it was already top-tier.

Wen Gu nodded with satisfaction: "Thank you for your hard work, Daozhang!"

Qingyi Daozhang didn't care about this thanks that even a dog wouldn't listen to.

A look of confusion appeared on his face, puzzled beyond measure:

"Where on earth did you go to study?"

He had always considered himself experienced from his Study Tour, having known many wealthy families, knowing of many luxury items, and having seen sugar frost, but he had truly never seen quality like this.

If Wen Gu hadn't asked him to refine sugar, he would never have imagined it possible to refine sugar of this caliber!

"In the places you went on your Study Tour, is there really sugar like this?" the Daoist Priest said.

"There is," Wen Gu affirmed, "There is too much dazzling wisdom on this land; what you have seen before, Daoist Priest, is merely a drop in the ocean."

Qingyi Daozhang closed his eyes and waved his hand to shoo him away.

"Fine, hurry up and get out with your sugar and sugar frost!"

Wen Gu was not angry; he had the young Daoist attendant pack up the finished product from this refining session, then said to the Daoist Priest in a gentle voice:

"You have been working hard lately, Daoist Priest, so do get some rest. Rest assured, I will go right now and help you get those remaining utensils sorted!"

Walking to the door, Wen Gu remembered one more thing and turned back: "Daoist Priest, do you need to prepare a gift?"

Qingyi Daozhang opened his eyes impatiently and replied: "What gift would I prepare? They aren't my relatives. Are you suggesting I recommend myself?"

Wen Gu pointed to the illustrated catalog of Danfang utensils in his hand: "To have these utensils prepared, one must express gratitude, right?"

Qingyi Daozhang looked at Wen Gu: "Just say it, what do you want me to do? What have you set your sights on in my hands?"

Wen Gu: "I remember, Daoist Priest, you once mentioned Purification Soil..."

The Daoist Priest scolded angrily: "You..."

Before the other could finish cursing, Wen Gu said quickly: "Alright, it's not some technical secret. Come, let me tell you about the soap I saw during my Study Tour; you can improve it and see which processes can be done now..."

After a flurry of chatter, Qingyi Daozhang's expression shifted uncertainly. Finally, he let out a long sigh, picked up a brush to write, and said while doing so: "You had best be able to get these things prepared for me this time, otherwise..."

Wen Gu took the recipe written by the Daoist Priest, checked it over, and replied: "Just wait for my good news!"

He returned to his residence in Jingxing Fang with the new sugar and the soap recipe.

Wen Gu looked at the finished products before him.

The "sugar frost" Qingyi Daozhang spoke of was not the type of prepared sugar product. In this era, what people called sugar frost referred to block-like sugar crystals, amber in color.

"Ice plates offer up amber, how can it compare to the beauty of sugar frost," is exactly what refers to this kind of sugar.

However, the "sugar frost" newly refined by the Daoist Priest before him could already be called rock sugar.

Wen Gu took out three boxes he had prepared long ago and packed them separately.

He then picked up a brush to write for a moment in several exquisite little booklets, folded them, and placed them in the boxes.

He called for Tietou and Chang Shun and took the three boxes to find his aunt.

His aunt had said that whenever he wanted to come over, he could just go straight to Zhao Zhai.

So he didn't have anyone notify them in advance; only upon arrival did he learn his aunt had some other matters to attend to, but he didn't have to wait long.

Seeing his aunt again, there was a hint of fatigue on her face. It seemed too many prominent families had been coming from the South recently, and the socializing had been draining.

However...

Wen Gu set down the three boxes.

Aunt, I have brought you something to refresh your spirit!!

He wore an apologetic look: "I was a bit rude when I first came here. I said I would make it up to you, and now that I've just received these items, I rushed to bring them over!"

The three boxes sat there, very conspicuous. Wen Gu introduced them: "This one is for Aunt, these two are for cousin-in-law and the little nephew; uh... the ones for cousin and uncle are still being prepared."

Lady Shen perked up and laughed: "You child, really..."

Wen Gu opened the wooden box.

Lady Shen's words stalled. She had been leaning back against the chair in exhaustion, but now she sat up and leaned forward, her eyes wide.

"This is?!"

Wen Gu handed the wooden box over so his aunt could see it more clearly.

"This is the white sugar and rock sugar I had the Daoists in the workshop refine."

She gave a few instructions to the maidservant beside her.

Before long, the Kitchen sent over a small dish of sugar.

They placed them together for comparison.

In the box, the sugar was white as snow; this degree of purity made the dish beside it look as if it carried a thick, earthy hue.

At this moment, the cousin-in-law arrived with the little nephew.

Lady Shen came to her senses, full of energy, her complexion even ruddier than before. She said to the two who had just arrived with a slightly excited tone: "Come quickly and see the gifts Wen Gu has prepared for you!"

The cousin-in-law, Lady Xiao, came from a prominent family in the South and had seen many luxury items.

But seeing the gift Wen Gu presented now, she was also greatly astonished.

She knew there had been sugar merchants in the past whose sugar and sugar frost were ranked as tribute-grade, though it seemed that person was with the Du Clan.

In their current status, their Kitchen also had sugar frost provided by that merchant firm, but it was not the kind Wen Gu had brought out.

In her view, what Wen Gu gave was devoid of any impurities, clear and transparent as ice! It was truly rock sugar!

The portion Wen Gu gave to the little nephew was also white sugar and rock sugar, though the quantity was slightly less.

However, the gifts were not just the few things they could see.

Soon, both his aunt and cousin-in-law discovered the small booklets included in the boxes.

The little nephew's portion had one too.

Admittedly, Wen Gu could have made the sugar into more elaborate forms, but...

People of status nowadays were exceptionally cautious about what they consumed.

Especially this nephew; the cousin's household originally had more than just this one child, but after various setbacks, only this one seedling remained, and he was the legitimate heir.

Naturally, what went into his mouth could not be taken lightly, so Wen Gu did not make fancy shapes, but instead wrote the possible ways to play with them on paper.

The portion for the cousin-in-law was suitable for adults, with some more fitting for solemn, elegant aristocratic banquets.

The portion for the child was more whimsical and childlike.

For most people nowadays, sugar is a luxury, but for his little nephew, it is not.

Wen Gu wrote down the tricks that could be played with it in a small booklet, such as fruit candies and lollipops, and it could even be made into various shapes.

A child over five years old, under elite education, already knew many characters; Wen Gu had also included illustrations, so he should be able to understand it.

Sure enough, the little nephew was only slightly surprised when he first saw the sugar, and then he performed a salute in a formal and earnest manner.

But once he saw the illustrated descriptions in the booklet clearly, his whole face became lively again. After all, he was only over five years old, and he could not help but reveal his emotions, grinning as he said, "Many thanks, Cousin!"

Young Mistress Xiao also said, "Cousin has put in much thought!"

Seeing that Lady Shen wanted to speak with her cousin alone, Young Mistress Xiao took her son and excused herself.

Only the aunt and nephew remained in the room.

Lady Shen focused her attention on the small booklet in her hand; it contained the tricks that could be played with sugar, and it mentioned that some medicinal candies could be made according to seasonal changes and bodily needs.

But Lady Shen's attention was on another page of the booklet.

"This recipe for soap and medicinal soap, did you think of this too?" she asked.

"It was not me; I saw such items during my Study Tour and asked Qingyi Daozhang in the Fang, as he had made such things before. The current recipe has been improved by the Daoist Priest, and he is also willing to offer this recipe, but how it will actually turn out still requires the finished product to be certain."

Wen Gu replied.

He would not go so far as to snatch the credit that belonged to the Daoist Priest.

Besides this, the recipes for white sugar and rock sugar improved by the Daoist Priest would also be handed over to his aunt.

The Zhao Family had its own workshops; handing the recipes to his aunt would allow them to obtain the greatest profit in the fastest and most stable way.

This was not just for dealing with the wealthy families in the territory of the Zhao Clan, but also the other five clans.

The powers in the north were in competition, but they often engaged in trade as well.

That level of trade was not something Wen Gu could come into contact with right now.

Next, the aunt and nephew discussed the profits these recipes could earn at present.

Being family, they would certainly not let Wen Gu suffer a loss.

Wen Gu also fought for more benefits for the Daoist Priest.

Such technical talent must be retained!

Thus, Qingyi Daozhang of Qingyun Fang, while catching up on sleep and amidst a mix of sweet dreams and nightmares, waited for a large batch of new equipment.

Upon waking up, Qingyi Daozhang forgot the contents of his dreams, and at this moment, he looked at these pieces of equipment with obsessed eyes.

He was both excited and sorrowful.

The equipment in the Danfang was indeed increasing, but there was no place to put it.

What about the Danguan?

Where is my Danguan?

Gou Shusheng, hurry up and help me get the Danguan!

(End of this chapter)