Chapter 38 Chapter 38 The next morning. Jiang...

Early the next morning.

When Jiang Wan arrived at the Jiang family shop, carrying a basket of purple gold clay and quartz, her three apprentices were already waiting inside. She had originally planned to prepare the celadon embryos herself and fire them first, then have her apprentices come over once they were out of the furnace, so they could get some more sleep. Therefore, she had decided to come at noon.

It's only the morning of the following day, yet everyone is already cleaning the shop and arranging the newly made porcelain as if they have been injected with chicken blood.

As Jiang Wan entered the shop and set up the bamboo baskets, she teased, "You're all here so early? Especially the second child, who's usually the biggest sleeper, but he's so diligent today."

Wang Er blushed and whispered, "Big Brother gets up early, so I don't feel comfortable sleeping in."

Wang Da tapped his brother's forehead, both annoyed and amused. "You're saying that, as if I woke you up. It was you who was so excited that you couldn't sleep this morning, and you dragged me along to sort out the merchandise cabinets, saying you wanted to help Master make more money."

Chen Xi stuck out his tongue playfully beside him: "Second Brother will be fourteen years old after the New Year, but he still acts like he's only four."

"How can you talk to your senior brother like that!" Wang Er snorted and pretended to grab Chen Xi's pigtails. The latter giggled and hid behind Jiang Wan.

Jiang Wan smiled and raised her right hand to block Chen Xi. She said helplessly, "Alright. Today I'll show you a new formula for the clay."

Although she was only a few years older than her three disciples and rarely spoke loudly, her words were particularly effective. The three playful people suddenly quieted down and looked at her bamboo basket.

Jiang Wan signaled Wang Da to take out the materials in the basket and take out some porcelain clay in stock.

Wang Da prepared the materials and tools as she requested. He opened the bamboo basket and looked inside. He was immediately puzzled and asked, "Master, this purple gold soil is soft and sparse. It's not suitable for making porcelain."

Wang Er was also shocked when he heard his brother's words. He went to the side of the bamboo basket and took a look. His face instantly fell.

Chen Xi had just come into contact with celadon and didn't understand the reasoning behind it, so he asked curiously, "Why isn't it suitable?"

Wang Er acted as a guide, saying, "Not only celadon, but also ordinary ceramics and white porcelain mostly use thick clay as their body. This is because porcelain bodies made from solid soil are stronger and can be fired faster."

According to common sense, Jiang Wan should have sought a thicker clay to enhance the firmness of the clay. However, she went the other way and opted for looser purple gold clay, which puzzled her three disciples—at least the brothers Wang Da and Wang Er.

Chen Xi tilted his head and thought for a while, then said "Oh" as if he understood something, and then retorted: "But Master must have her reasons for doing this, I believe Master!"

If it were anyone else, they would definitely think it was ridiculous. But Master was different. So many of his previous successes were due to his innovative skills. Therefore, Jiang Wan's credibility in the minds of his disciples was still very high.

Wang Da and Wang Er nodded in agreement, and then the three of them looked at Jiang Wan expectantly.

Facing the trusting gazes of his disciples, Jiang Wan felt warm in his heart, but he did not explain much. He just skillfully mixed the clay and started making the work.

She didn't want to say more until she was sure of success, which was also the style of Jiang Wan that she had continued in her two lives.

She took out eight and a half parts of ordinary clay and one part of purple gold soil, mixed them in a bowl, and added a little water to wet them.

Pour out another half portion of quartz, grind it into powder with a wooden pestle, add it to the mortar, and mix it evenly with the pestle.

The newly mixed clay looks similar to regular clay, except for being slightly darker in color. If you look closely, you'll find it's even looser than regular clay.

"This...will this work?" Wang Er stared at the clay in the bowl worriedly.

Jiang Wan smiled indifferently at his apprentice's doubts and looked at Chen Xi: "Why don't you make a porcelain bowl? A basic blank one will do. Let Master see how you've been practicing lately."

Chen Xi kept backing away: "Master, the recipe is different this time. I'm afraid I'll mess it up... Let Senior Brother do it."

Jiang Wan looked at the little girl gently. "The recipe is different, but the kneading technique is the same. Don't be nervous. Just follow the method I teach you. Give it a try. No matter what it turns out like, Master won't blame you."

Jiang Wan's comfort was very effective. Chen Xi stopped retreating. After hesitating for a moment, he slowly walked to the bowl and sat down.

Wang Er took out some clay and placed it on a wooden workbench specially used for making bowl bodies. He also prepared tools such as a grinder and a carving knife for her.

In fact, there is a carving knife, but Chen Xi is a beginner and can’t use it yet.

Chen Xi pursed his lips and extended his right hand towards the clay. The tip of his index finger trembled slightly when it touched the clay.

"It's okay, junior sister. You have to practice for two or three hours every night. With your hard work, you will definitely succeed." Wang Er sat down behind Chen Xi and encouraged her.

Feeling the encouraging gazes of his master and senior brothers, Chen Xi felt more confident and picked up the clay and began to knead it carefully.

A cup of tea passed, and the clay was still a lump of clay.

Two cups of tea later, an unidentified object with a sunken center, uneven edges, and a distorted shape appeared on the workbench. It looked neither like a bowl nor a cup.

It looks more like a miniature dye vat, the kind used to dye cloth.

A quarter of an hour passed. Chen Xi wrung his hands and looked at Jiang Wan with an embarrassed expression: "Master, I really don't know how to..."

Wang Er couldn't help but curl his lips, then quickly covered his mouth. Jiang Wan and Wang Da sighed almost at the same time.

Chen Xi lowered his head and said, "Master, I have really tried hard to practice, but I can never catch up with my two brothers."

Jiang Wan certainly understood his own apprentice. A few days ago, Chen Xi helped clean the shop during the day, and at night he went home to practice pinching porcelain bowls. His palms were red from rubbing, and the pain hadn't faded yet.

Thinking of this, Jiang Wan couldn't bear to blame her. He could only pat her head comfortingly: "It's okay, we all see your efforts. Your two senior brothers served as apprentices for three years. How could you catch up in just a few days?"

Chen Xi nodded obediently, but there was still moisture in his big eyes, full of grievance and unwillingness to accept.

I heard that when the eldest brother was just starting out, he could make a decent porcelain bowl in a day. Although the second brother wasn't as good as the eldest brother, he wasn't far behind. But she had already been learning for almost ten days.

I have tried my best, why does it always fail?

Jiang Wan looked at her aggrieved expression and sighed secretly. Porcelain making not only requires hard work, but also a certain amount of talent.

Maybe I should help her find a more suitable path.

However, talent is something that needs to be discovered slowly, so for now, we still need to test whether the new formula can be successful. Jiang Wan quickly molded a bowl with the newly prepared clay and placed it in the combustion furnace.

It took less than an incense stick of time, but the sculptures he made were even more regular than those made with a mold. Chen Xi looked at his master's exquisite technique, and when he thought of the strange creature he had just made, his eyes reddened again.

Wang Er rarely laughed at her. Instead, he quietly leaned over to her and whispered a few words of comfort. It was unclear what he said, but Chen Xi burst out laughing and shifted her attention to the porcelain being fired.

The furnace exchanged by the system greatly shortened the firing time, but it still took half an hour to produce the porcelain. During the anxious waiting period, Jiang Wan and his apprentices were not idle either, each of them going to tidy up the small shop and display the newly made porcelain.

Regardless of the outcome of this improvement, their shop would open at 2:15 PM to welcome customers. Making better porcelain was Jiang Wan's pursuit, but right now, the most important thing for her was to earn seventy taels of silver to give her mother and brother freedom.

Besides, it was already the end of January, and in a few days the wages of the seventeen hired hands would have to be paid. There were also several apprentices, and although they were very considerate of her and refused to share the money, she could not ignore them.

Today is the twenty-sixth day of the first lunar month. To save up four hundred taels of silver within the first month, I must earn the remaining seventy taels today. The silver earned in the next four days will be used for wages and raw materials, as well as a portion for the apprentices.

Jiang Wan was about to lift a celadon basin when Wang Da held his arm. He whispered, "Master, you've been busy these days. Sit down and rest for a while. Leave the moving of the porcelain to me."

It must be said that during this period of time, she had been learning new formulas, inventing new techniques, and even starting her shop from porcelain production to opening and operating it... Jiang Wan was under a lot of pressure, and was busy until late at night almost every day. But she did not show any anxiety, fatigue, or irritability.

In the eyes of her disciples, and in front of her mother and brother, she was always gentle and calm, almost like a working machine that never rested.

In terms of responsibility, Wang Da not only takes care of his younger brother, doing laundry and cooking, but also helps his master run the shop; in terms of enthusiasm, Wang Er cleans the shop and sells porcelain during the day, and practices his skills at night; in terms of diligence, Chen Xi learns both account keeping and porcelain making at the same time... These days, they all have times of fatigue.

Jiang Wan had been working incredibly hard these past few days, yet he never showed a trace of fatigue. His disciples were astonished. Wang Er even secretly complained to his eldest brother, wondering if his master was truly an iron man.

But facing Wang Da's concern, Jiang Wan just shook his head and said lightly: "I'm used to it. I feel okay. I'm not very tired. You go and do your own thing. Don't worry about me."

In his previous life, Jiang Wan faced suppression from his rivals and worked non-stop for five or six days without sleep. He was also assassinated by his enemies and insisted on working while lying in a hospital bed.

Without such perseverance, Jiang Wan in his previous life would not have been able to sit on the top seat in the antique world; and Jiang Wan in this life would not have had the opportunity to turn the tables as a criminal slave.

In two lifetimes, she has never been tired.

Seeing that his master insisted, Wang Da had to give up persuading him.

Half an hour passed unknowingly, and the shop was almost cleaned up and ready to be opened. The fire in the stove gradually went out.

With a beeping sound, the stove door slowly opened, and Jiang Wan and the other three all focused their eyes on the stove.

Can Jiang Wan’s new formula successfully improve the quality of the fetus?