Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Before I knew it, it was already noon,...
Before I knew it, it was already noon. The fog had dissipated, and the sun shone through from above. The lake reflected the sky, like a sapphire inlaid on green silk.
Jiang Wan stretched and took a deep breath. Being on this vast grassland made him feel relaxed and happy. In his previous life, he ran an antique business in Jiangnan and had no time to visit the grassland. Now that he had traveled through time, he had the opportunity to feast his eyes on it.
She sat down by the lake and beckoned her two apprentices over: "Don't be busy. The soil we chose is quite damp, so it will take a while to dry. Come and have something to eat first. After you're full, you'll have more energy to work in the afternoon."
She pulled out a large paper-wrapped meat bun and waved it in front of Wang Da and Wang Er. The two brothers had only been able to eat steamed buns and porridge before, and on holidays, they would just put a little minced meat in the porridge. How could they have ever eaten meat buns? Seeing this, Wang Da couldn't help but drool. He asked cautiously, "Is this for us?"
"Well, eat it."
Wang Er eagerly picked up a bun and took a bite. The air was immediately filled with the aroma of meat. The pork was delicious, and the bun wrapper was soft and crisp. He could only feel the aroma of the bun between his lips and teeth. He couldn't help but speed up his chewing speed and finished it in just three or five bites. Jiang Wan smiled and handed him another one.
Wang Da watched his brother eat like Zhu Bajie chewing ginseng fruit, swallowed his saliva, and after a long inner struggle, he finally declined, "Master and brother, please eat. I'm not hungry."
Jiang Wan stuffed the buns directly into his hands and said, "Eat them quickly. They're only three copper coins each and they're not something special. Just follow me and work hard. When you make enough money, you can eat them every day."
Wang Da's eyes lit up when he heard Jiang Wan's words. He took the meat bun and ate it in big mouthfuls, mumbling a few words: "Okay, I'll listen to Master!"
After resting for half an hour, the bowl molds he had made that morning were almost dry. Jiang Wan carried the coral water dissolved in coral stone powder and walked to the open space where the bowl molds were drying.
"Oops!" Wang Er slapped his head, "I forgot to bring my brush! Master, why don't you go to my house to dye it? You can put it in the yard to dry after dyeing."
"No need for a brush," Jiang Wan said with a smile, "Just look."
She turned the bowl upside down on the ground, and the coral water slowly poured from the bottom of the bowl, flowing evenly across the entire bowl, quickly staining the dark brown body with a green hue. Jiang Wan controlled the pouring speed perfectly, so that the coral water just soaked into the rim of the bowl, with almost no waste.
"There's a way to do this!" Wang Da was shocked. This method was completely beyond his understanding. It was both convenient and quick. "The colorant we used before was much slower. It wouldn't dye thoroughly if we poured it directly on. Even if we applied it with a brush, it wouldn't be so even."
"Yes, that's the benefit of coral water," Jiang Wan agreed. She handed the millstone to Wang Da and gestured for him to try dyeing the remaining bowls.
Wang Da was doing this for the first time, and he was eager to try, but also a little nervous. He took the stone millstone and placed the mouth of the millstone against the bottom of the upside-down bowl.
"Move it a little forward, and the poured water will flow along the back of the bowl." Jiang Wan reminded.
Wang Da quickly followed his instructions. After repositioning the bowl, the water flowed down near the center of the bowl. He didn't dare relax, carefully watching the flow, adjusting the flow as he poured. Eventually, the coral water completely soaked the bowl. However, because he hadn't properly controlled the flow rate at first, a lot of excess dye ended up on the floor.
Seeing his apprentice blaming himself, Jiang Wan comforted him, "It's okay. It's great that you can dye it evenly the first time. You'll get better control after practicing a few more times."
The two brothers dyed a few more bowls. Under Jiang Wan's guidance, their technique became more and more proficient. By the time they finished dyeing the twenty-sixth bowl, they were able to control the amount of coral water that would flow out.
"Not bad, not bad, you're a quick learner." Jiang Wan praised, "After it's dried, roll the inner edge in coral water as well."
Wang Er looked at the bowl lying upside down on the ground and whispered, "Master, isn't this color a little too dark? I see Master Cheng's dyes are all light blue."
Jiang Wan patted his head. "It just has to be a little darker. Coral stone dye will become lighter after firing, while iron colorant will become darker after firing. They have different characteristics."
Wang Er nodded, not quite understanding.
It was already evening when the dyeing was completed. The setting sun cast a red glow on the lake, creating a scene reminiscent of the saying "half the river is green, half the river is red"[1]. Jiang Wan and the other two packed up their tools, put the twenty-six bowls into a backpack, and sent them to a nearby kiln for firing. The kiln worker took the money, glanced at the bowls, and a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes: "You dyed them so black, why don't you dye them again? Otherwise, they won't sell."
Jiang Wan didn't care: "Thank you for the reminder, big brother, but I don't plan to re-dye it, so let's burn it like this."
The laborer, with a look of "rotten wood cannot be carved," shook his head and said sternly, "It will take a day to burn it. Come and get it tomorrow at noon."
The three of them left the kiln, returned to the city, and found a restaurant to sit down.
"Order whatever you want to eat. I'll treat you today. You've been busy all day and you only had two buns by the lake at noon. You have to eat more for dinner - by the way, what is the name of that lake?" Jiang Wan thought of the magnificent scenery of the setting sun spreading over the water just now, and was a little curious about the name of such a lake.
"Duolun Lake." Wang Er ordered a bowl of beef ramen and eagerly explained it to Jiang Wan. "There's a legend about this lake. It's said that the current emperor and empress met at Duolun Lake. The empress was a medical doctor back then, and she saved the injured emperor. The emperor fell in love with her at first sight and insisted on taking her as his concubine, despite the late emperor's objections."
Jiang Wan ordered some sliced noodles, chewing them in big mouthfuls while nodding vaguely. She didn't tell her apprentice that there was no such thing as love at first sight in the palace. What seemed like deep affection to outsiders was nothing more than the result of intrigue and scheming.
Anyway, they are just a few insignificant civilians in a small border town. What does the affairs of those nobles have to do with them?
"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Wang Da was more focused on learning the craft. Although he didn't know how the bowl base he'd made today would turn out, he had learned a lot from Jiang Wan over the day and had gained a lot of trust in this master, who was only a few years his senior. When he first knocked on Jiang Wan's door and saw a frail, recently demobilized girl, he had doubted whether accepting her as his apprentice was the right decision. But now, his doubts had been greatly reduced.
"Let's buy a cart to display the finished celadon, and take a stroll to see where to set up a stall." Jiang Wan said, already thinking about the best areas to sell celadon. Since he didn't meet the requirements for buying a shop, setting up a street stall would require careful consideration. He had to build a good reputation the first time he set up his stall, otherwise it would only get harder.
Looking at the expectant faces of her two apprentices, Jiang Wan suddenly felt that it would be nice if she could earn enough money to redeem her mother and brother, and run a small shop with her family and her two apprentices, and live a peaceful life without having to be involved in the invisible bloodbath like in her previous life.
Of course, the prerequisite is that she has to earn enough money from setting up a stall to buy a shop.
The fifth day of the Lunar New Year, at noon.
Jiang Wan and his two apprentices walked down the street. The fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the God of Wealth Day, had passed, and many shops were open. Spring Festival couplets and lucky paper were pasted on their doors, creating a festive atmosphere, decorated with lanterns and colorful lights.
"I think this place is pretty good!" Wang Da stopped near the inn, watching the flow of customers coming in and out, and recommended: "There's a lot of traffic here, so it must sell well."
Jiang Wan carefully looked around and shook his head. "Although there are a lot of people here, most of them are from other places staying at the hotel. It's not convenient to travel with porcelain on board. It's not very suitable."
Wang Da nodded thoughtfully, but Wang Er pouted in grievance. Jiang Wan couldn't help laughing when she saw Wang Er's eyes glued to the meat buns that the innkeeper had brought.
"Master will buy you more often in the future. You can have as much as you want and eat until you are full, okay?" She rubbed the little disciple's head. The latter had a head of soft and aloof fur. Jiang Wan couldn't help but rub it a few more times until Wang Er stared at her with resentment, then she retracted her claws.
The three of them walked along the street until they came to a fork in the road, which led to a quiet alley. Jiang Wan glanced around and said with satisfaction, "Not bad, this is the one we'll choose."
"Huh?" Wang Da looked around the quiet, narrow alley, still unable to see what was so good about it. This place was remote, the lighting was poor, the traffic was low, and there were no other shops nearby to attract customers. They were setting up a stall for the first time, and they weren't a well-known shop, so how could they attract customers?
"Don't be fooled by the lack of people here. This alley is lined with shops selling kitchenware, and the alley leads to the West City residential area. Most people living in the west of the city pass by here when they come to buy kitchenware, and this group of people is our main target customer. Furthermore, we're new here, so we're not as well-known as the established merchants. Setting up a stall here means we have less competition than on the main street."
After Jiang Wan's explanation, Wang Da finally understood and nodded. The three of them walked a distance into the alley, surveyed the surroundings, and after deciding where to set up their stall, they marked it. Returning to the main street, they spent three taels of silver to buy a cart to store their wares.
On the way home, I passed by Qianji Tableware Shop. The shop owner stuck her head out and asked, "Little girl, what are you going to sell with this cart?"
Wang Er quickly answered: "Selling a few porcelain bowls."
Unexpectedly, the woman's face visibly darkened, and she sarcastically said, "A little girl who was born a slave, you still want to sell celadon bowls? Do you know how complicated the celadon production process is? One wrong step will lead to failure? Why don't you come to my shop and work as a cleaner for free? I can even give you a meal. If you sell celadon, you probably won't survive for half a month!"
Since celadon production was just beginning, there were only two shops on the street selling celadon. The two shops were far apart, so Aunt Qian's shop was doing so well that she didn't want anyone else to try to get a piece of the action, even if it was just a small stall owner.
Wang Er's face flushed with anger, while Wang Da's face sank as he clenched his fists. However, they were used to being bullied by Cheng Gongshi, so they didn't say anything back. Jiang Wan, however, didn't seem to mind. He patted his two apprentices' shoulders soothingly and said calmly, "Thanks for the reminder. Whether I can survive depends on my ability."
Without saying much, she took Wang Da and Wang Er to the kiln to get the fired celadon. Aunt Qian failed to scare her away, and she couldn't help but feel angry and anxious. She shouted angrily from behind: "Just wait, if you can't sell it, you will know to beg me."
Jiang Wan just treated Aunt Qian as air and didn't even turn his head.
[1] Half the river is rustling, half the river is red: from Bai Juyi's "Song of the Dusk River"
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