Chapter 87: A Thank You Gift
Only Xie Xuan was seen in the military tent.
Jiao entered the tent and knelt respectfully with Su Shengsheng. "I, your humble servant, greet you, General."
"I pay my respects to the General."
At this moment, Xie Xuan was in the military camp, so it was reasonable to address him as a general.
Aunt Jiao's face was filled with gratitude. "We are grateful for the general's repeated assistance. The Su family will always remember it. We have never been able to meet the general in person to express our gratitude. Today, we would like to express our gratitude to the general for saving the Su family."
Although Xie Xuan was still young, he had a dignified aura, and Jiao was respectful and courteous.
"Please sit down." Xie Xuan's answer was still brief and powerful.
Su Shengsheng supported Jiao and sat down at the lower seat.
She secretly wondered what the general's intention was in summoning them to the tent.
Then Xie Xuan told Mu Ze to get winter clothes and gestured for her to explain in detail.
Su Shengsheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief when she heard this.
All the extraordinary things she did were seen by the general. She was really worried that he summoned her to see the elders in order to teach her a lesson.
Knowing that Xie Xuan was just curious about why this winter coat could generate heat, Su Shengsheng explained the principle without reservation.
She originally came here to explain to Cheng Shoubei, and since he refused to listen, she displayed the prepared materials one by one in front of Xie Xuan.
"After a volcanic eruption, a porous volcanic rock formed with minerals and magma bubbles is formed. This rock has a far-infrared band that can accelerate blood circulation in the human body and thus increase body temperature."
Seeing that Xie Xuan was quite interested in this, Su Shengsheng listed a few more principles for reference, as a way to repay him for his many times of help.
After all, they came without any gifts this time, and merely expressing their gratitude verbally seemed a little insincere.
"This self-heating agent is also the result of the interaction of multiple substances. Iron powder, salt, and other substances are added to the heating pack, and activated carbon is used to assist combustion. This causes the quicklime to react rapidly to produce slaked lime, thus achieving a localized temperature increase in a short period of time. The temperature of the water rises when it is heated, enough to cook the rice."
At the end of her speech, Su Shengsheng was afraid that she was speaking too fast and Xie Xuan would not be able to remember everything.
Seeing that he didn't ask any questions, she simply picked up the brush on the table and wrote down the recipe and operation steps one by one.
This way, he could later conduct his own research and make quick and easy individual rations for the soldiers in cold weather.
After Su Shengsheng finished her explanation, she put down her pen and looked at Xie Xuan.
There was only a moment of silence in the tent, and then Xie Xuan's eyes passed over her and looked at Jiao, who was lost in thought.
"This is very good. Since the Su family is already engaged in business, the self-heating lunch box business can be handed over to Miss Su."
Su Shengsheng was a little confused when she saw that he clearly told her to do it but was looking at her aunt.
Jiao seemed to come back to her senses suddenly, and looked at Xie Xuan with a hint of panic in her eyes, "This..." She hesitated to speak.
My grandfather had already instructed that the Su family was not allowed to rely on the powerful backer of King Xuanming.
Firstly, I couldn't repay him, and secondly, I was afraid of implicating him.
After all, this time the current emperor ignored the threat from Baishang Kingdom and ordered the reduction of troops at the border, which shows that he is quite afraid of the old generals.
Seeing her aunt's hesitation, Su Shengsheng took the initiative to speak: "Actually, this method is quite simple. General, you don't need to cooperate with others. You just need to purchase the ingredients and mix them according to the proportions."
What she meant was that there would be no need for the items to be resold through middlemen, thus reducing the cost of military pay and allowing the soldiers to get more benefits.
However, in reality, the Su family has now been targeted by merchants on Pinglai Street, and even merchants on Changhua Street may be eyeing them.
Whenever the Su family went to buy materials, not only did they always have to pay more than others, they were also often rejected.
Fortunately, the route to Zaiqing has been opened, and the high-clay soil they need can be transported from other places.
But this will naturally increase costs.
Now that I have told you this wonderful recipe, it is also to express my gratitude to Xie Xuan for his kindness.
How could she have the nerve to bring up the name of cooperation again?
After all, her visit to the military camp had unexpectedly caused the commander-in-chief to misunderstand her, and she couldn't let this be made public.
After Su Shengsheng finished speaking, she saw an undercurrent surging in the depths of Xie Xuan's eyes, like one under a glacier, making it difficult to understand.
The atmosphere was inexplicably stagnant for a moment.
Su Shengsheng was wearing a simple long dress today, with an elegant lotus pattern embroidered on the hem.
As the breeze from outside the tent swayed gently, the hem of her skirt fluttered, just like a green lotus quietly blooming in a lotus pond.
A few strands of hair on her forehead, in her lightly tied bun, brushed against the jade hairpin by her ear.
There was a sense of coldness and loneliness between Xie Xuan's brows, like an unclimbable peak.
However, deep in those eyes, there is an imperceptible dark light hidden.
Seeing Xie Xuan's gaze lingering on Su Shengsheng's delicate face, Jiao Shi felt a surge of fear in her heart. She hurriedly stood up, a look of shock on her face. "I don't know where this girl learned these new and strange methods from, and I don't know if they really work. I'm really sorry to make you laugh. I came here in a hurry today, and I still have many things to deal with. I won't bother you any more."
Su Shengsheng saw her aunt's nervous expression and understood her worries, so she didn't linger any longer. "Yes, the Consul General has selected the cloth today and asked us to deliver it within five days."
There was a hint of refusal in her words, intending to tell Xie Xuan that they had business to do and he didn't need to worry too much.
Upon hearing this, Xie Xuan just nodded.
Su Shengsheng and her aunt then bowed and retreated respectfully.
When Su Shengsheng came outside, she saw that her aunt was still serious, and she couldn't help but comfort her: "Don't worry, aunt, we will make it in time."
The two were still in the military camp. In order to avoid making a fuss, Jiao Shi hurriedly walked out of the tent with Su Shengsheng.
Although they walked fast, Mu Ze had longer legs and faster feet.
He received Xie Xuan's order and went to the Consul General's office to take care of everything. He then quickly caught up with them: "The general has already ordered me to inform the Consul General. You just need to finish the fabric before the beginning of winter."
At this time, there are still twenty days until the beginning of winter, and only thirteen days until the Cold Clothes Festival.
Xie Xuan's words undoubtedly gave them more than four times the grace period.
Jiao was shocked when she heard this, and Su Shengsheng was also surprised: "This... isn't good, right?"
What she meant was that even after they handed in the fabric and had it made at the Consulate General's Office, the soldiers wouldn't be able to wear the clothes until the end of the month.
The winter here is extremely cold.
However, Mu Ze smiled nonchalantly and said, "What's wrong with that? Who knows the soldiers' situation better than my general? If he said so, he must have his reasons."
As the highest military commander here, Xie Xuan naturally knew the direction and timing of the war very well.
He offered help, and although Su Shengsheng was very grateful, how could she really do it?
It was just not easy to refuse someone's kindness in person, so seeing that her aunt was still in a daze, she bowed and thanked her.
As for the date, that adult was just testing them, it didn't really take five days, a reasonable time should be ten days.
Mu Ze personally sent them to the carriage before turning back.
In the carriage, Jiao remained silent for a long time.
She watched Su Shengsheng take out the token given by the Consul General and examine it carefully, then asked hesitantly, "This General Xie seems to be taking good care of you?"
Su Shengsheng found her aunt's words strange and couldn't help but look away from the token, "Is there?"
Jiao looked at Su Shengsheng's confused expression, which did not seem fake, and swallowed the words in her mouth.
But how could she be wrong about the way the man looked at the woman?
Looking at Su Shengsheng's ignorant expression, she obviously didn't realize how special Xie Xuan was to her.
When she thought about how she didn't seem to care about the young master of the Ji family, Jiao couldn't help but feel a little worried.
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