Chapter 2 Iced Lemonade
After arranging the various odds and ends on the ground, Jiang Zhi began a new round of busy work.
Make lemon honey water!
As Jiang Zhi washed the lemons, she was still pondering what Grandpa Zhao had said earlier: "Sour and bitter, it's hard to swallow." She couldn't help but feel a little amused.
She knew all too well why:
The bitterness of lemons mostly comes from not peeling them. As for the sourness, it's simply because lemons have a bitter taste mixed with astringency, which wasn't to the liking of ancient people. Otherwise, guess who loved green plums the most in ancient times?
In modern times, due to the widespread availability of sugar, the acidity of lemons can neutralize sugar, and it has gradually been accepted by the general public.
In short, it just so happened to be convenient for Jiang Zhi, a time traveler who had recipes built into her head.
Jiang Zhi moved with lightning speed: first, she used the knife she had just polished to a shine to remove the lemon's yellow "outer coat" along the edge, leaving only the white inner lining, and then cut it open along the center line.
The sour smell spread from the point where the knife touched the lemon, causing Jiang Zhi to sneeze.
That pretty much completes the preparation of the basic ingredients, ginger and sesame seeds. But ginger and sesame seeds can do much more than that:
She started washing the green leaves she had just picked from the roadside!
As she washed, Jiang Zhi chuckled: perhaps because of her past as a livestreamer, she was particularly sensitive to copyright issues. And clearly, this kind of copyright protection didn't exist in ancient times. So she had to resort to some clever tricks—
For example, her once-unique trick:
Mint-flavored lemonade is absolutely refreshing and cooling!
This ingenious idea is extremely simple: pick out the green leaves of mint, crush them with your fingertips, sprinkle some into each jar, let them soak for a while, and the water will be filled with the fragrance and coolness of mint!
This ingenious idea is simple, yet not easy to crack: given that mint is still planted by the roadside in this day and age, it probably means that the value of mint has not yet been discovered!
Then Jiang Zhi continued making lemons:
Jiang Zhi scooped up the wooden spoon, which had been washed with salt water, and repeatedly squeezed the cut surface of the lemon. The juice was perfectly collected in the spoon, and with a flick of her wrist, it was placed into the basin that the old lady had given her earlier.
Jiang Zhi rolled up her sleeves and poured all the honey she had just bought into the container. Then, after stirring it with chopsticks, she poured about three spoonfuls into each of the small jars.
While cutting the lemons, Jiang Zhi noticed that, perhaps due to the pleasant climate or some other reason, the lemons were indeed very sour!
Add some honey, and the chilled well water makes it instantly appetizing.
After Jiang Zhi filled all 50 small jars into bottles, she smiled sweetly, picked up a jar, and skipped out of the kitchen.
As she walked, her eyes suddenly lit up.
She smiled and called out to the elderly woman in front of her who was hurrying back from selling vegetables.
That Aunt Zhao was the wife of Uncle Zhao, who borrowed Jiang Zhi's kitchen. According to Uncle Zhao, she was quite shrewish and fierce.
Jiang Zhi smiled shyly and went to greet her, carrying the jar.
"Aunt Zhao, would you like to try this new drink I just made?"
"Little girl, you're very thoughtful."
When Aunt Zhao heard Jiang Zhi's voice, she looked up and saw the white steam rising from the small hole in the lid of the jar. She breathed a sigh of relief and couldn't help but make a few jokes.
She switched the basket in one hand and scooped it up with the other, tilting her head back as the icy liquid was poured down her throat.
Aunt Zhao initially thought the girl was muttering something about making ice, otherwise it would be difficult to make the jar so cold.
Who knew that the moment the liquid entered her mouth, Aunt Zhao was already shocked again and again—
The sour taste exploded in her mouth before anyone else, bouncing on her tongue, making the fat on Aunt Zhao's cheeks tremble slightly.
Then the sweetness immediately surged up, soothing the taste buds that had been disturbed by the sourness, making this sweetness after the sourness all the more precious.
Finally, after all the flavors were swallowed down her throat, all that remained in her mouth was a refreshing coolness, which instantly relieved Aunt Zhao from the midday heat of summer!
After drinking it all in one gulp, Aunt Zhao looked at Jiang Zhi but didn't praise her; instead, she sighed.
"You're such an honest girl!"
Jiang Zhi was taken aback.
"What's wrong, Auntie? Is it because the taste isn't right—"
"It just tastes too good—sigh, your mother probably didn't have time to teach you these things. Your Aunt Zhao is going to be frank with you now: you have to keep something in reserve when you're doing things."
"If your Aunt Zhao were to harbor ill intentions today and steal this from you to sell, just think about the consequences..."
Aunt Zhao looked at the girl who suddenly looked dejected, but for some reason felt that she was a little too obedient, so she still offered a word of comfort.
"Aunt Zhao knows that you trust her, but—oh well, because of this trust, Aunt Zhao will help you with any difficulties in the future!"
"Auntie, I have a favor to ask. I'm thinking of starting a small food business and would like to rent a room with kitchen equipment. Do you know of any relevant options?"
Aunt Zhao frowned and thought for a moment, then went out to ask a few neighbors before finally giving Jiang Zhi an answer.
Jiang Zhi had been deliberately acting pitiful and cute, but she was genuinely pleasantly surprised after hearing Aunt Zhao's answer.
"In an alley not far from Aunt Zhao's house, there is a young scholar whose family has no income and only has those three rooms left. He wants to find a good household to rent out the rooms."
After quickly considering her options, she picked out the remaining pottery jars and swayed as she headed towards the night market.
*
By the time Jiang Zhi arrived at the night market, she was drenched in sweat, as if she had been soaked in water all over.
She glanced at the direction of the sun, and after confirming the time, she found a street corner and prepared to start selling drinks.
The place Jiang Zhi chose was one she had carefully considered.
People often linger at the end of the street, weighing the value of the goods. At this point, they don't have too many items in their hands, and they're tired and thirsty, making it a relatively suitable spot for her to sell drinks.
Although most of the good exposure spots had been taken by others, she didn't intend to sit there and wait for her fate.
"Grandma, grandpa, brothers, sisters, and everyone else, if you're thirsty, you can try my iced drinks!"
This unusual scene attracted a lot of attention, even though it was a relatively secluded spot at the end of the street. Some girls who were already tired and thirsty slowed down their pace.
The voices, some loud and some soft, gathered around Jiang Zhi, forming a Great Wall. Some of the bolder ones stepped forward and asked questions.
"Young lady, what kind of drinks do you serve? How much do they cost? You haven't said anything."
Jiang Zhi looked slightly embarrassed at this moment. She let out a soft gasp, then smiled and shouted loudly to everyone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I forgot to mention earlier that I sell sweet and sour iced water, super sweet, super sour, and super icy! It's 15 copper coins a can, why don't you all come and try some?"
As she spoke, she smiled broadly, but inwardly she was thinking:
If I had mentioned this during the initial introduction, would I have been able to attract so many people?
Just as Jiang Zhi was inwardly complaining, a woman wearing a veil strode forward, looked the jar up and down, and then raised an eyebrow at Jiang Zhi:
"You're selling this for such a high price, are you sure it tastes good?"
"The sourness should be mostly preserved. As for ice? Sweetness?"
His tone carried a hint of provocation and skepticism.
But this is also the question that onlookers most want to ask.
The reason everyone was gathered here wasn't because they were attracted, but because they were all quite puzzled:
At such a high price, does anyone actually eat it?
Jiang Zhi's smile widened even more. She stood up abruptly, gracefully bowed to the crowd that was casting questioning glances at her, and said with a smile:
"Esteemed guests, I, Jiang, dare to say this: if anyone tastes my sweet and sour iced water at this very moment, and finds it neither sweet nor sour nor icy—"
"I, Jiang, will not only return all the money, but also offer the remainder to the local earth god!"
"What a spirit!"
The woman cheered.
"Then I'll try it out for you all!"
After saying that, she threw out fifteen copper coins, which made a "clanging" sound when they landed on the ground.
Jiang Zhi, as always, smiled radiantly and gracefully picked up a jar, handing it to the woman.
The girl moved swiftly, lifting the veil over her face with one hand and picking up the jar with the other. Without a word, she tilted her head back and drank it down in one gulp.
The first sensation that rises to the tip of the tongue is like a gentle sting from a bee; the sourness surges up the fastest, drilling straight into the gaps between the teeth.
Just as the girl was about to smack her lips and curse, the icy coolness burst forth from her mouth first, instantly dispelling the summer heat. She even felt a chill rising from the top of her head.
Then, sweetness emerged from these two dominant flavors, subtly lingering in every corner of the mouth.
She swallowed too quickly, before the flavor had fully dissipated in her mouth. As a result, by the time the aftereffects finally came over her, her mouth was already empty.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper's jar wasn't small. After swallowing a big gulp, there was still more than half left in the jar. After swallowing the first gulp, the girl subconsciously looked into the jar and thought to herself.
She then began to gulp down her next bite.
As more and more people gathered around, and the girl who had been the first to eat crab kept eating without even taking a break to answer the crowd, Jiang Zhi's smile deepened.
However, noticing the anxious looks on everyone's faces, she calmly coughed, quietly breaking the silence around her.
"Sir, how do you find the taste?"
As soon as she finished speaking, the girl froze, along with the last bite of food in her mouth.
"Give me two more cans—"
The girl coughed lightly, using the veil covering her face to hide the embarrassing blush on her cheeks.
This also indirectly answered Jiang Zhi and the others.
However, while packing, Jiang Zhi really wanted to tell the girl: Your veil can't cover your face, let alone the redness on your face!
However, Jiang Zhi's consistent principle told her: at this time, she should pretend she didn't see it.
Jiang Zhi didn't care, and neither did the girl. After getting the three cans, they hurriedly pushed through the crowd and left.
But the crowd around them was immediately thrown into an uproar by the girl.
Some people thought the girl was probably telling the truth, judging from how engrossed she was just now, and that the boss was definitely something. But others thought the girl might have been deliberately hired by the boss…
In short, Jiang Zhi was surrounded by what looked like a swarm of sparrows having a grand meeting, which gave her a headache.
However, Meizhi maintained that gentle smile, even towards the customers who harbored malicious suspicions about her. Because she knew perfectly well that the louder the noise, the more customers she would be drawn to—
Sure enough, before the argument could continue for long, more people arrived.
A sedan chair bearer, who was sitting in a young lady's sedan chair, came over to ask the price, but no one, including Jiang Zhi, knew exactly who he was asking.
Before Jiang Zhi could even speak, the onlookers had already answered for her.
"Fifteen copper coins? That's expensive!"
Jiang Zhi didn't say anything or refute, but her eyebrows curved, revealing a dimple on her right cheek, as she stared straight at the noblewoman in the sedan chair.
"Miss, why not give this a try? This drink is absolutely delicious, sweet and sour, and refreshingly cool!"
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