Since three large basins of lychees have been delivered, of course we should eat them to our hearts' content.
Madam Jiang was not a stingy person. She gestured for Tan Yue to send one pot to the west courtyard and another to Madam Jiang and her daughter, emphasizing that "all three pots are exactly the same. Madam Jiang never treats them differently."
The rest were distributed to the maids and servants, a plate was kept chilled, and the rest were all sent to the main kitchen to be cooked.
While Old Madam Jiang was giving her instructions, Jiang Sheng was also busy, pulling Zheng Ruqian aside to whisper in his ear.
"Second brother, how do you know about the relationship between the Jiang family and the Liao family, and how do you know that the Liao family is in charge of the Fengjing lychee industry?" she asked.
Zheng Ruqian chuckled, "You forgot, we have Xiao Wu."
Initially, the idea of transporting lychees from Lingnan was simply to get a share of the pie and make some profit.
When the maid came to inform on him, Zheng Ruqian was more angry than rational, and wished he could carry a sack and storm the Jiang family.
It wasn't until Chang Yan carefully analyzed the situation in Fengjing that he realized this was a great opportunity. He changed the burlap sacks into basins and specifically chose the large, rosy ones.
In business, besides ability, luck plays an even bigger role.
Seize the opportunity, and soaring to new heights is not just a dream.
"Thanks to you, thanks to the Jiang family." Zheng Ruqian grinned. "As long as the lychees sell well and the transportation keeps going, we'll always have lychees to eat."
"Really?" Jiang Sheng covered her mouth and laughed, as if she had already eaten countless lychees.
What wonderful children.
Madam Jiang stood at a distance, her eyes crinkling with a smile, and did not disturb them.
The brother and sister chatted for a good half hour.
As it was almost lunchtime, Jiang Sheng's stomach began to rumble. Zheng Ruqian stood up and said, "Then I'll be leaving now. I'll say goodbye to the old lady."
"You're leaving already?" she asked, her face full of reluctance. "Why don't you have some food before you go?"
Madam Jiang also looked over, "Have a meal before you leave, there's a fine lychee feast here."
Chef Jiang does have some skill; yesterday's meat porridge was indeed delicious.
Zheng Ruqian was also reluctant to part with his sister, so he gritted his teeth and said, "Then I'll have to trouble the old lady."
Completely forgetting that three of his brothers were waiting for him to serve dinner in the second courtyard.
Xu Mo, Wen Zhiyun, Chang Yan, "..."
The kitchen staff worked very efficiently.
In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the lychee feast was served neatly.
The first and foremost is lychee syrup. Whole lychees are peeled, pitted, and placed in honey and heated over low heat. The honey permeates the entire lychee flesh, making it not only sweet and delicious but also allowing it to be preserved for a long time. This is a method of preserving lychees that was used hundreds of years ago.
Secondly, there's lychee stir-fried with shrimp. The sweet and soft fruit paired with the crisp shrimp, simply seasoned with a little salt, makes for a light and delicious dish.
There are also dishes like lychee tea and lychee stewed meat, which can be said to have exhausted the chefs' lifelong skills in making lychees.
Tan Yue watched intently from the side, "Thanks to you, Miss, I've really had my eyes opened. This is a lychee banquet that's priceless. Even the palace might not host it more than a few times."
These words made Jiang Sheng begin to have doubts.
I've only heard that lychees are expensive, but I don't know their exact price, let alone how much money these three large basins would cost.
"The Liao family's selling price is fifty taels of silver per catty," Old Madam Jiang explained to her.
Jiang Sheng was so startled that her hand trembled, and the lychee flesh she had just picked up fell to the ground.
What the hell?! Fifty taels of silver?!
These three big basins must have cost a lot of money!
Does she even deserve to eat?!
Jiang Sheng turned her head anxiously, hoping that her second brother could tell her that lychees were actually not that expensive.
“Lychees grow in Lingnan, and you can buy them locally for less than a hundred coins,” Zheng Ruqian said thoughtfully. “The key is that the journey here is too long, the fruit is too delicate, and the shelf life is too short.”
Fortunately, a former favorite concubine was obsessed with lychees, and the emperor spent his life building the official road in Lingnan, making the journey smooth enough for a fast horse to arrive in ten days.
In order to preserve food, the ancients came up with many ingenious methods.
Some were sealed in bamboo tubes with wax, while others were preserved by mixing straw and wool with ice. In the previous dynasty, an emperor even moved an entire lychee tree here, but the plan was abandoned because it was too much of a burden on the people and a waste of money.
A century ago, someone discovered that if lychees are not separated from the branches, they can continuously absorb water. If they are preserved with ice, they can stay fresh for ten days without spoiling. This gradually allowed established families to taste the flavor of lychees.
It looks like it can be transported in large quantities, but there's a prerequisite: it must not be separated from the branch.
The fruit, along with the branches, and then wrapped in ice and cotton, took up a space that could not be described by basins and buckets.
Zheng Ruqian only discovered when he delivered lychees to the Jiang family that he had brought a full truckload of goods, but only three basins of fruit, weighing about thirty or forty catties, had been harvested.
Based on the Liao family's pricing, that would be...
Jiang Sheng's heart began to clench, and the meat in her mouth no longer tasted good.
Zheng Ruqian smiled and comforted her, "As long as the fruit can be sold, what does it matter if we eat three bowls? The profits are yet to come."
To be a businessman, you need to have a long-term vision; you have to give up something to gain something.
Jiang Sheng nodded with tears in her eyes and swallowed hard.
Since it's already cooked and won't turn into money, it would be a waste not to eat it.
As the meal drew to a close, Madam Jiang took the initiative to pack the untouched dishes in oil paper and bring them to the boys in the second courtyard.
Zheng Ruqian bowed and thanked them, then took his leave with seven or eight oil paper packages, along with Jiang San and Jiang Si, whose lips were gleaming.
Jiang Sheng saw them off at the gate, her face full of reluctance.
The siblings have relied on each other for four and a half years and grown up together. Xu Mo has gone down the path of the imperial examinations and there is no turning back. Zheng Ruqian has also found his own fun in making money. Wen Zhiyun is engrossed in medical studies. It is said that Chang Yan has started to study wood and is trying to become a skilled craftsman.
In the past, Jiang Sheng was able to expand the workshop and manage the Nine Treasures Workshop, and had her own happiness and pursuits.
But now, she can only stand inside the Jiang family's gate, watching her brother walk further and further away, leaving her all alone.
Perhaps in the future I will learn the rules and become a noble young lady from a prestigious family, choosing a suitable husband when I reach marriageable age, continuing my lineage while also taking care of my maternal clan.
Zheng Ruqian was still turning around on the street, waving goodbye with reluctance.
Jiang Sheng raised the corners of her mouth, but the light in her eyes grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared completely.
Behind her, Old Madam Jiang sighed deeply, closed her eyes, and shook her head.
Tan Yue struggled forward, revealing a heavy little bundle in her arms.
What is this for?
Jiang Sheng turned around, puzzled and confused.
"Silly child," Madam Jiang chuckled, "Hurry up and catch up, your brothers still need your help."
That's it. Grandma selfishly kept you here for one more day, but she can't force you to stay forever.
The Jiang family is not a virtuous place, and the Liao family will never be fair and just. Rather than letting Jiang Sheng stay here and suffer, it is better to let her fly freely.
The string between the kite and the kite flyer broke eleven years ago and can never be tied back.
"Go quickly, little girl."
Madam Jiang smiled and gestured towards Zheng Ruqian's figure, which was almost out of sight.
Jiang Sheng dared not hesitate any longer, grabbed the package and started chasing after it, as if she were chasing her own free future.
Her figure moved from near to far, from clear to blurry, from graceful and elegant to shrunken into a swaddled child.
As Madam Jiang calmly turned around, gesturing for the door to close, a single tear finally slid down her cheek and vanished in an instant.
Just like her granddaughter, whom she lost and then regained, only to lose again.
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