Chapter 24 Chapter 24

While walking back with a large bundle of firewood, Xiao Jingzhao heard the sound of people selling wool again. He stopped and turned to look.

A ragged child was holding wool and selling it to people on the street, but passers-by either ignored him or chased him away out of annoyance.

He remembered that Jiang Huai had asked the shopkeeper for the address of the wool kid seller two days ago, but he had been busy these two days, so Jiang Huai had not gone to buy anything. Now that he saw it, he decided to buy some.

Xiao Jingzhao turned around and walked towards the child.

The child hung his head in disappointment when he found that passersby had no interest in wool. But when he heard someone walking towards him, he forced himself to smile and opened his mouth to repeat what he had just said.

"I want all this wool."

"All, do you want all?" The child was so surprised that he stuttered a little. After he finished speaking, his face was full of regret. If the customer was willing to buy everything, that would be the best. Why did he ask a question in return? What if the other party really bought less after hearing it?

"I want them all. How much?" Xiao Jingzhao was very frugal with his words.

"Thirty cents a pound. Here, six pounds, one hundred and eighty cents." The child quoted the price and looked at Xiao Jingzhao nervously, afraid that Xiao Jingzhao would think it was too expensive.

Xiao Jingzhao simply gave the money.

Looking at the silver in his hands, the child's palms were sweating with nervousness. He had been selling wool on the street for a few days. Before, there were occasional buyers, but they were very picky. After a long time, he didn't sell more than two kilograms of wool. But now, Xiao Jingzhao bought six kilograms by himself. He was a big customer.

Noticing that Xiao Jingzhao was still holding firewood in one hand, the child said, "Sir, the wool is heavy. I'll take it to your house."

Xiao Jingzhao subconsciously wanted to refuse, but when he thought of Jiang Huai, he hesitated for a moment and agreed. If Jiang Huai still needed more wool, it would naturally be much easier to have the other party deliver the goods to his door than to purchase them in person. He was also worried that Jiang Huai would have some questions to ask.

With Xiao Jingzhao's tacit consent, the child quickly followed Xiao Jingzhao with the wool in his arms.

The two turned left and right and returned to the house.

…

Jiang Huai used up the last bit of firewood in the kitchen, which just evaporated and crystallized into a little fine salt. Although it was not particularly white, it was still different from the gray-black salt block just now.

Hearing footsteps outside the door, Jiang Huai took out the salt, put it in a small jar, and went out excitedly to show off to Xiao Jingzhao.

"Look, what is this?" Jiang Huai had a little pride on his face. He wanted to see Xiao Jingzhao's surprised expression, but then he saw the child who followed Xiao Jingzhao in, and his expression froze.

How come you came back with a child after going out?

"Just put the wool here." Xiao Jingzhao signaled the child to put the wool against the wall.

The child obediently put the wool down. Although he was curious about the courtyard, he didn't dare to look around for fear of offending the guests.

"It's you?" A pile of wool was put down, revealing the figure of a child. Jiang Huai took a closer look and recognized that the child was the one who sold wool last time. He was a little surprised.

The child looked up when he heard this, and after thinking about it, he recognized Jiang Huai.

"I saw him selling wool on the roadside, and then I remembered you wanted it, so I bought it all." Xiao Jingzhao said.

The child immediately realized that the younger boy in front of him was probably the real big customer of this family, and he suddenly became a little nervous, because he remembered that the boy did not want wool at that time, and the shopkeeper next to him even said bad things about wool. What if the other party didn't want it anymore?

The child touched the silver in his pocket and clenched his fist. His mother had to take medicine to treat her illness, and the money could not be returned. Anyway, it had already been sold, so he might as well run away now.

After hearing what Xiao Jingzhao said, Jiang Huai couldn't help but give a thumbs up again.

Although Jiang Huai didn't say anything, Xiao Jingzhao already understood the meaning of this gesture. He tilted his head slightly, and the tips of his ears turned a little red. He didn't think about asking Jiang Huai to praise him when he bought the wool.

"Kid, your home is next to the big tree at the entrance of Wantou Village, right?" Jiang Huai still remembered the address the shopkeeper said, but out of caution, he asked again.

The child's steps, which were ready to run, were stopped by this question. If Jiang Huai knew his home address, then even if he ran away now, Jiang Huai could still chase him home, which would only make things more troublesome.

Seeing that the child did not respond, Jiang Huai asked again, and the child nodded stiffly. Jiang Huai did not think much about it, just thinking that he was nervous about facing a stranger. However, Xiao Jingzhao noticed that something was wrong with the child and moved slightly closer to Jiang Huai, just in case.

"How much wool do you have left at home?" Jiang Huai asked. Seeing the child was stunned and didn't respond, Jiang Huai thought for a moment and asked, "Do you have 20 or 30 kilograms of wool?"

"Yes, there are more than this. Do you want them all?" The child finally reacted and heard that Jiang Huai did not want to return the goods, but wanted more wool. He immediately became excited and asked excitedly.

"I don't need so much for the time being. Let me ask first. If you have any at home, I will buy them all from you next time I need them." Jiang Huai said with a smile.

The child was disappointed for a moment, but soon cheered up. The two kilograms of wool he had sold before had no follow-up after they were sold. At least Jiang Huai had expressed an intention, and maybe he would buy again soon.

After asking the question, the child left. Jiang Huai almost forgot about the salt he wanted to show off. Instead, Xiao Jingzhao still remembered what Jiang Huai said when he first entered the door and asked about it.

"What were you just going to show me?"

"Ah, I almost forgot." Jiang Huai suddenly realized what was happening and picked up the small jar he had just put down. "Guess what this is?"

Although he was not very curious, seeing Jiang Huai showing off like this, Xiao Jingzhao still pretended to be curious and looked inside.

"Is this... salt?" Xiao Jingzhao could tell at a glance that the jar contained salt, though it was much whiter than any they had seen before. "Did you just go out and buy this?"

Jiang Huai did not answer, but asked Xiao Jingzhao to taste a little first to see how it tasted.

Xiao Jingzhao didn't understand why, but he still took a little bit. It tasted very salty and had a very light bitter taste. It was the best refined salt.

"How is it?" Jiang Huai asked.

"Let's buy this kind of salt next time, even if it's a little more expensive. I'll see if I can return the previous salt." Xiao Jingzhao didn't think it could be returned. The reason he said this was to reassure Jiang Huai and prevent him from feeling that it was a waste.

"How much do you think this salt costs per pound?" Jiang Huai asked.

"It should be at least 200 coins per catty." Xiao Jingzhao guessed.

"You guessed wrong. I didn't buy salt. This salt is extracted from those gray salt blocks." Jiang Huai teased successfully and shook his head.

"Are these the salt blocks from before?" Xiao Jingzhao was really shocked. Looking at the snow-white salt flowers at the bottom of the jar and then thinking about those gray-black salt blocks, how could this be the same salt?

Jiang Huai pulled Xiao Jingzhao into the kitchen and demonstrated to him the dissolution, filtration, evaporation and crystallization.

"That's it. There will indeed be some losses, but it's still much more cost-effective than buying expensive salt," said Jiang Huai.

Looking at the white salt condensed at the bottom of the jar, and then at the gray salt blocks on the other side, Xiao Jingzhao suddenly felt that he was the foolish one.

"Can refined salt be extracted in this way?" Xiao Jingzhao murmured.

"Yes, it can be refined in this way, but it is a bit wasteful of firewood." Jiang Huai said.

"Is this the money-making idea you mentioned before?" Xiao Jingzhao looked up. He originally thought that the business Jiang Huai was talking about was wool, but compared with refining refined salt, wool didn't seem to have much profit.

The price of two hundred wen he had just guessed was still in Anyuan Prefecture. If he went to some big cities, especially to the noble families in Kyoto, he could sell salt for one tael or one catty.

If this business could be done, Jiang Huai would not only earn prison money, but he would also never be short of money.

Jiang Huai didn't expect that Xiao Jingzhao had such big ideas. No, you are a jailer, facing the crime of smuggling salt, you only see how to make money and don't see the risks involved?

Jiang Huai suspected that it was because he had been too frugal these days that Xiao Jingzhao's worries about money increased.

Forget it, I'd better not be too frugal next time, otherwise I'll lead Xiao Jingzhao astray and I'll definitely regret it.

Jiang Huai warned himself in his heart, then shook his head: "We can't do the private salt business. We need connections, backers, and trustworthy people. We don't have any of these three. If we do the private salt business, it will only become a credit to the local officials."

Jiang Huai's original intention was to warn Xiao Jingzhao, but when Xiao Jingzhao heard it, he thought that Jiang Huai actually wanted to do it, but he had no power to do the business, so he had to give up.

"I understand." Xiao Jingzhao lowered his eyes.

Seeing that Xiao Jingzhao was persuaded to come back so quickly, Jiang Huai breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that he might accidentally lead Xiao Jingzhao astray.

The two of them said their own things, but both thought they understood each other.

However, since there was edible salt at home, Xiao Jingzhao touched the pie he brought back, wondering whether he should take it out.

"Wait a minute, what's that smell on you?" Before Xiao Jingzhao could speak, Jiang Huai smelled the aroma of noodles on him.

Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Xiao Jingzhao took out the pie, which was still warm and brown on both sides. "I was afraid you wouldn't be used to the salt, so I bought some sesame cakes as a backup."

After saying this, Xiao Jingzhao was still nervous, worried that Jiang Huai would think he was wasting money.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Huai did not react at all. Instead, he touched the pie to make sure it was still hot, and shared it with Xiao Jingzhao.

However, the pancake alone was still a bit dry, so Jiang Huai took three eggs, beat them, added water, salt, and a little sesame oil, put them in a ceramic pot, and steamed the eggs with the heat from the evaporating salt water.

Not being too stingy and thrifty is one thing, but it’s also okay to just cook a dish.

Soon, the egg custard was ready. Jiang Huai was about to serve it while it was still hot, but before he could do anything, Xiao Jingzhao had already taken out the bowl from the jar.

Although Xiao Jingzhao moved quickly, the bowl of egg custard was continuously steamed in boiling water, and the temperature was extremely high. Although his finger was only slightly touched, it was burned red.

"Hurry up and pinch your earlobe." Jiang Huai said hurriedly.

Xiao Jingzhao didn't understand why, but he still did what Jiang Huai said. As soon as he pinched his earlobe, he understood why Jiang Huai said that. His fingers were hot, but the earlobe was ice-cold, and pinching it cooled it down.

While Xiao Jingzhao was taking action, Jiang Huai had already scooped out a bowl of water from the jar and asked Xiao Jingzhao to put his finger in quickly.

"Don't be so impatient next time, be careful of getting burned." Jiang Huai couldn't help but say.

"But you were in a hurry to serve it just now." Xiao Jingzhao pointed out Jiang Huai's actions just now. If he hadn't acted quickly, it would have been Jiang Huai's turn to get his hand burned.

"I, I was wrong. Let's be more careful next time." Jiang Huai was a little embarrassed. He was anxious just now because he smelled the aroma of egg custard.

"Now, let's taste this egg custard." Jiang Huai changed the subject, looked at the golden egg custard in front of him, and swallowed hard. He hadn't eaten this delicacy for a long time.

The two bowls were placed facing each other. Jiang Huai used a spoon to split the egg custard in half from the middle, then used a cloth to pad the egg custard and separated it completely. He then handed one of the bowls to Xiao Jingzhao.

"Try it."

In fact, Xiao Jingzhao didn't have any requirements for food. If the food in the palace was good, it was just so-so. If he was wandering outside the palace, the food would be just so-so no matter how bad it was. He didn't have much expectation for so-called delicious food.

Seeing Jiang Huai so excited, he didn't want to spoil his fun, so he took a bite of the egg custard. It had a delicate texture and the saltiness was just right, almost covering up any possible eggy smell.

Xiao Jingzhao had never eaten egg custard before, but he often ate meat custard. However, the meat custard did not seem to be as delicious as the egg custard. If he wanted to find out the reason, it seemed that it was the salt.