Chapter 18 Chapter 18 "You...are you actually a brother?...
"You are actually a man?" Carpenter Liu was still a little bit unconvinced, and asked dazedly: "Then how could you draw this blueprint? Or was this blueprint not drawn by you?"
Shen Xuan smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "Although I am a brother, why can't I draw a blueprint? If you don't believe me, just test me and see if this blueprint is made by me?"
When Shen Xuan said this, Carpenter Liu couldn't help but believe it. He was silent for a while, and after a long while he sighed and said with great regret: "It's a pity that you have such talent in the art of heavenly craftsmanship, but you turned out to be a boy, just like the child in my family..."
"If he wasn't my brother, with his talent, his skills would definitely be better than mine. Why would I be so anxious to find someone to marry into my family?"
Shen Xuan frowned when he heard this, and then he said, “Boss Liu, since Brother Liu has talent, why don’t you pass on your skills directly to him?”
Upon hearing this, Carpenter Liu said, "But he is a boy. Even if he learns a skill, can he still go out and work in public?"
"Why not?" Shen Xuan asked back, "You already have the skills, and your shop has made a name for itself, are you still afraid that no one will come to your store?"
"Besides, Brother Liu has his own skills and can earn money to support himself. Isn't that better than relying on others for support?"
"Now that you have invited a son-in-law into the family, he will naturally be humble in order to inherit your skills. What if after you die, the son-in-law turns against you and divorces Brother Liu? Then the skills and the shop will become someone else's. How will you let him live?"
Carpenter Liu fell into silence, as if he was thinking carefully about Shen Xuan’s words.
Before, when Liu Ge'er wanted to learn carpentry skills from him, he was always scolded by him, saying that he should behave like a gentleman and not get his hands rough, otherwise no one would want him in the future.
But what Shen Xuan said today did give him a big shock.
What if after a hundred years, Brother Liu doesn't know anything and gets bullied? If he really met such a heartless person and divorced him, he would not even have the skills to survive.
At this time, Brother Liu, who had already left, came out again. He came to Carpenter Liu and said, "Dad, he is here to ask you to make something for him, please don't delay his work."
Shen Xuan looked at Liu Ge'er and saw him smiling at him gratefully. Then he continued, "My father is old, and he only wants to marry someone into his family whenever he sees someone. Don't be surprised, brother."
After all, it is quite impolite to mistake a boy for a man. Although Shen Xuan was indeed difficult to distinguish, Brother Liu also felt quite embarrassed.
Carpenter Liu then remembered his business, so he picked up Shen Xuan's drawings and studied them carefully, and discussed with him several areas that could be improved.
Finally, he accepted a deposit of one or two taels of silver from Shen Xuan and agreed to deliver the goods to him two days later.
After finishing the stall cart, Shen Xuan began to prepare the materials needed to make tea.
First of all, the base of citrus lemon tea is tea leaves.
Biluochun is refreshing and fragrant, while Tieguanyin is rich and mellow, each with its own characteristics.
Chen Xuan didn't know which tea base to choose, so he simply bought several kinds of tea in the tea shop. Needless to say, I bought Biluochun and Tieguanyin, and I also bought a pound of jasmine tea for its jasmine fragrance and unique flavor.
The price of tea in Dajin varies greatly. There are tea foams at more than 20 coins per catty, mid-range ordinary tea at 200 coins per catty, and high-end Mingqian tea at more than 5 liang per catty.
In order to save costs, the tea served in tea stalls outside and low-end foot shops is basically made from tea foam.
When Chen Xuan made the tea base, he did not choose the cheapest tea foam, but medium- and high-end tea that cost 500 coins per pound, which was the same grade as the tea in Guiyun Tower.
You have to know that if Shen Xuan wants to sell tea in Jinli Street, the main customers must be the literati in the elegant gathering or the students of the academy.
They have plenty of money at home, and they become picky eaters after drinking plenty of good tea. The aroma and taste of the five hundred wen tea are very different from those of the tea foam, and those who know the difference can tell with just one sip.
Besides, Shen Xuan had long been preparing to make his tea go the high-end route, and the price was not cheap. If things are not used properly, how can you retain customers?
Tea that costs 500 wen per pound may seem expensive, but it can be used to make more than 100 bowls of tea. The cost per bowl is just over one wen, so it is not that expensive.
After buying the tea, it’s time to prepare the fruits and sugar water.
In citrus lemon tea, citrus and lemon are indispensable.
Lemons were transported to Dajin as a spice a long time ago, and later people in Dajin started to grow them. They were basically sliced and dried to sell as spices, and the price of fresh lemons was not expensive.
Citrus fruits are even more ubiquitous. Not only are there many varieties, but they are also much cheaper than lemons.
These fruits are sold in shops located at the South City Wharf in Lezhou. Chen Xuan had already inquired about the price and did some calculations. The total cost of the fruit in a bowl of tea was no more than one penny at most.
Other than that, it's sugar water. In addition to white cane sugar, Shen Xuan also plans to add some honey to enhance the taste.
Although the price is a little higher than using only sugar, this is a selling point that can attract customers and it is not a loss.
Shen Xuan did a lot of shopping in Lezhou City, and finally bought all the ingredients needed to make tea before returning home.
After arriving home, he first boiled a large pot of water, filtered out the scale with gauze, and then used it to brew the tea he had bought.
He first took about one or two ounces of Biluochun and brewed it with boiling water. Because there are a lot of tea leaves and little water, the brewed tea is very dark in color and has a particularly strong aroma.
As soon as the tea was ready, Xue Fenglin came in following the smell. He was also a person who couldn't live without tea every day in the Marquis' Mansion. It was okay that he couldn't drink it before, but when he smelled such a rich tea aroma today, he couldn't help but be attracted.
"What a fragrant tea smell." Xue Fenglin walked into the kitchen and was a little surprised to see Shen Xuan brewing such a large pot of strong tea.
He was very particular about drinking tea in the capital, and every household had servants who specialized in making tea, but he had never seen such a rough operation by Shen Xuan.
"Is this tea too strong?" Xue Fenglin asked as he looked at the thick, dark tea in the pot.
"It's not strong. It's used as the base of tea and will have to be dried up later." Shen Xuan said.
Xue Fenglin didn’t quite understand what the tea bottom was that Shen Xuan was talking about, and stood aside with some curiosity.
Shen Xuan saw that he was looking at the tea in the pot, as if he wanted to drink it. It was a little funny, so I scooped a little with a spoon and put it to his mouth and said, "Would you like to try it?"
Xue Fenglin lowered his head and took a small sip. He immediately grimaced in pain because of the bitterness. The tea was indeed too strong!
Shen Xuan laughed and asked him to stay aside first, then put the tea in an empty can to cool, and then brewed Tieguanyin and jasmine tea in the same way.
"Lin Ye, I'm going to set up a stall to sell tea." Shen Xuan said to Xue Fenglin while working.
Xue Fenglin knew that Shen Xuan was good at cooking, and thought that since Shen Xuan wanted to sell tea, the tea he sold would probably not be the same as others, and he must have some new recipe.
"Is this tea your secret recipe? Then I'll leave first." Xue Fenglin was very self-conscious. He knew that Shen Xuan was going to tinker with the secret recipe, and it would not be good for him, an outsider, to stay around.
"I'll call you when it's done." Shen Xuan said.
I thought Xue Fenglin was indeed a very upright person. If you meet someone who wants to take advantage of you, you might even want to stay nearby and watch.
After Xue Fenglin left, Shen Xuan took out the fruit he had bought. After washing them one by one, cut the lemon, orange and grapefruit into slices with the skin.
But after just a while of cutting, the whole kitchen was filled with a fresh and pleasant fruity smell. The fruity aroma is mixed with the previous tea aroma, and each flavor is more prominent and unique.
Shen Xuan bought two kinds of tangerines this time, one with a thick skin and sour taste, and one with a thin skin and sweet taste.
Shen Xuan threw the thick-skinned ones into the pot together with lemon and grapefruit, and poured in the Biluochun tea base that had just been cooked. It took a whole hour to boil them into a paste.
Chen Xuan scooped up the pot of paste mixed with lemon, citrus, grapefruit and Biluochun flavors, and then boiled it according to the same method to make Tieguanyin flavored jam and jasmine flavored jam.
These jams have fully absorbed the flavors of fruits and tea. Before cooking, it is a big pot, and after the water is evaporated, only a jar as big as a grapefruit is left.
Although aromatic, these jams are not sweet and are not preservative.
After sorting and putting away all the jams, Shen Xuan washed the pot again and began to make syrup for preservation and sweetening.
Sugar and honey are pure natural preservatives. They can be stored in a cool place for two years without going bad. They are best used to keep these jams fresh.
Shen Xuan first added a large amount of sucrose and a small amount of honey to make a pot of thick syrup. These syrups are then mixed with different jams to create tea-based syrups with different flavors.
After it had put the boiled tea syrups into jars, it took a little from each and made three bowls of light yellow tea.
When the thick syrup is mixed with cold boiled water, the taste has the fresh fragrance of citrus and sweet and sour taste, as well as a light tea aroma.
Only then did Shen Xuan throw two slices of sweet citrus slices next to it into the bowl, which made the tea look even better. When customers see the citrus in the bowl, they will also think that the taste of the tea is so good because it is brewed with this sweet citrus.
Shen Xuan tasted some himself first and felt that the taste was very similar to the hand-beaten lemon tea in the modern world. In such hot weather, it is more refreshing to mix it directly with cold water, and you can use hot water when the weather gets colder.
Only then did he call Xue Fenglin back and asked him to taste the tea he made to see which flavor was the best.
It was not the first time that Xue Fenglin had seen tea brewed with fruits, but those teas often had no fruity aroma, which was very different from the one made by Shen Xuan.
He had already smelled the rich fruity aroma in the kitchen when he was outside just now, but he couldn't guess what it was. He could only guess that it was citrus fruit based on his sense of smell.
Xue Fenglin picked up one of the bowls and took a sip. He was immediately amazed by the sweet and delicious taste. After drinking it, his mouth was sweet and full of the aroma of Biluochun.
Then he tasted two different bowls of tea next to it, and he could actually taste the difference in the tea base. One has a particularly prominent jasmine-flavored tea aroma, while the other has a mellower flavor. If you taste it carefully, you can tell it's Tieguanyin.
"How is it? Which tastes best?" Shen Xuan saw him drink several bowls in a row and knew that the tea was made successfully.
Xue Fenglin is actually quite picky about his taste. If the tea can make him drink several bowls of tea in a row, it must be delicious.
"The tastes are different, but they are all very good." Xue Fenglin thought carefully before saying, "But when it comes to tea, I have always preferred Biluochun, so I like that taste more. But if I meet someone who likes jasmine tea, I think I will also have a preference."
"That's true." Shen Xuan nodded.
Anyway, it’s not that difficult to make tea, and a jar of tea syrup can be used for a long time. He didn't mind taking a little more trouble and making a few more flavors.
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