Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Jiang Wan and the woman in leather jacket stood opposite each other...
Jiang Wan and the woman in leather jacket stood facing each other. The winter sun rose slowly, and the warm light fell on their faces. There were also dozens or hundreds of curious, anxious, or gloating eyes staring at them.
Jiang Wan met this gaze with a clear and gentle voice, "Sister, you've misread it. The formula I used doesn't contain three ingredients."
"Oh?" The young woman in the leather jacket pretended to be surprised, tilted her head, and a hint of triumph flashed in her eyes. "If there are only two materials, how did Boss Jiang make the body stronger?"
Jiang Wan took in the other person's expression, but remained innocent. "No, no, no, this recipe doesn't require three ingredients, nor two, but four."
This time the woman was truly shocked and blurted out, "Ah? How is this possible?"
Then he realized that what he said was inappropriate, and hurriedly covered his mouth. He didn't know what to say for a moment, and his cheeks turned slightly red.
She had devoted herself to the study of porcelain since childhood, and for nearly twenty years now, she had developed a keen eye. She could discern the ingredients of any piece of porcelain she handled simply by sight and smell. The recipe for this bowl was simple, and the materials used were common, so she was confident she couldn't make a mistake.
The clay used in that porcelain bowl clearly only contains two ingredients: purple gold soil and quartz. How could there be four?!
However, before she could think of an answer, she was drowned out by a burst of contemptuous tuts:
"I was wondering what kind of expert he was. He couldn't even tell the number of materials, yet he's pretending to be an expert."
"Yeah, I'm afraid he's a liar."
"Where did this outsider come from? She even falsely accused our boss Jiang of fraud. I almost believed her. Fortunately, Boss Jiang was smart and exposed her."
The woman in the leather jacket was surrounded by the crowd, unable to stand or walk. Although she tried to maintain composure, her rapid breathing betrayed her panic. The woman she called "Ajie" was hidden in the crowd, shaking her head helplessly.
As a craftsman, there are always some unique skills that are not passed on to others. If they were among businessmen, they would be trade secrets. Jiang Wan's reluctance to disclose them is understandable. Today's audience, whether fellow craftsmen, merchants coming to purchase porcelain, or customers in the small town, why do they side with the woman in the leather jacket?
The emphasis on porcelain safety and the desire for Bai Xuejiangwan's innovative craftsmanship were merely superficial reasons. The initial trust in the woman in leather clothing stemmed from her demonstrated ability to discern the types of materials. Such a skill was rare in the entire Dunhuang Prefecture, so it was easy for people to admire and trust her.
Because she had correctly identified the first two materials, when she fabricated the nonexistent third material, no one except Jiang Wan thought it was a trap. And now, Jiang Wan used her method to fabricate the "fourth material" to undermine the foundation of the group's trust.
If Jiang Wan had been led by the other party before, from this moment on, the initiative would be in her hands. Next, she only needed to put the lies piled on top of the false trap back into place according to her own ideas.
"There are indeed four materials. In addition to the purple gold soil and quartz you mentioned, there is also kaolin and some ores that I brought from the capital," Jiang Wan began to talk nonsense. "As you said, the purple gold soil does not have a hardening effect. It is the ores that really do the hardening."
The three disciples who knew the truth: Where did Master learn storytelling? Could he just tell it naturally?
Wang Er looked at his brother blankly. Although the latter wanted to say, "I don't know either, why not ask the master," but after looking at the huge crowd outside, he could only silently drag his brother to clean the warehouse.
Jiang Wan wasn't exactly kidding. After all, the original formula in the "Celadon Body Improvement Manual" contained these four ingredients. The primary hardening factor was purple gold clay, while the oxides purified from the ore also played a role, but were secondary. People in this time and space believed purple gold clay had no reinforcing effect because they hadn't yet discovered the correct firing method.
According to the manual's instructions, firing with only two materials, purple gold clay and quartz, would achieve a 60% to 70% effect. However, after freeing her mother and brother, she would definitely recruit a shipping team to purchase kaolin clay from the south. She would then accumulate points to redeem them in the system for purification equipment to purify the ore and achieve 100% hardening.
Just as Jiang Wan thought about the system, he heard the system voice:
"Innovation is the source of vitality. Congratulations to the host for improving the quality of the celadon body, completing the task [Ingenuity], and earning seventy points."
"Congratulations to the host for his clever response, which prevented his reputation from declining and earned him 70 points."
Jiang Wan closed her eyes, and the remaining points on the system interface changed from 212 to 352. She entered the tool chest section of the mall and found the ore purification equipment.
When I saw the price, wow! It was exactly 352 points.
Jiang Wan reasonably suspected that this unscrupulous system changed the price at any time.
No matter how much she complained, she still had to deal with the current matters.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the young woman in the leather jacket, her face livid, surrounded by a group of people. From time to time, she could hear comments like, "You think you can compete with our boss Jiang?" and "Don't take on such a job if you don't have the skills."
It seems that she has managed to get the deal done. After this incident, customers have more confidence in the new product. The number of pre-orders has increased a lot, and the pre-orders alone are close to fifty taels of silver. This is a pleasant surprise.
On the other hand, the young woman in the leather jacket realized that it was useless to argue at this time, so she simply shut up.
The woman in the crowd tried to get closer to her while winking at her to flee. However, the crowd was so dense that she couldn't squeeze through due to her frail body, and the woman in the leather jacket was trapped in the crowd and couldn't escape either.
The woman walked against the crowd, her cotton hat and scarf twitching askew, allowing Jiang Wan to see her features clearly. Her face was roughly similar to the leather-clad woman's, with a pale complexion, a straight nose, and slightly sunken eye sockets. The difference was her deep blue pupils, and the tangled hair on her forehead shone a golden-red glow in the sunlight—a typical Wusun look.
As Jiang Wan studied her, he also met her gaze. Across the bustling crowd, across millennia, two similar souls felt a familiar shudder. Jiang Wan's gaze was more wary and probing, while the woman's was scrutinizing and filled with amazement.
The woman stared at Jiang Wan for a long time, then suddenly turned slightly. The sleeves of her thick cotton coat were touched by the winter sun, and a flash of light appeared under the sleeves.
She raised the corner of her mouth very lightly, and her deep blue eyes turned, looking meaningfully at the merchandise cabinet behind Jiang Wan.
Jiang Wan stared at the man for a moment, then suddenly curled her lips, cleared her throat, and gestured for silence to the onlookers. When the crowd quieted down a bit, she said gently, "It's okay. We welcome colleagues to discuss the art of porcelain making, and we appreciate your interest and support. Our new product will be in mass production tomorrow. Interested customers can register for a pre-order in-store. The deposit is only 30%."
Jiang Wan took out another porcelain bowl and continued, "Next, I will show you the glazed colored porcelain. You are welcome to come and appreciate it."
As soon as these words were spoken, many people who hadn't witnessed the glazing yesterday eagerly looked towards Jiang Wan. The woman in the leather jacket also took the opportunity to slip out, disappearing into the crowd with the woman.
The two of them walked all the way to a deserted noodle shop on the street, ordered a bowl of noodles each and sat down.
The woman patted the leather-clad woman on the shoulder. "Alright, Yili, it's just a recipe. You're not going to be angry for so long. When that shop releases its products in a couple of days, I'll buy you a few extra. With your skill level, if you study it for a while longer, you'll probably figure out the trick, right?"
Yi Li said angrily, "It's not the recipe! Look at her, sister. She looks like a harmless little girl, but she's full of evil intentions and doesn't tell the truth. It really makes me so angry."
The woman gently touched Yi Li's hair and advised her to fill her stomach first, but her eyes were looking in the direction of Jiang's shop.
That girl is far from being harmless - it's rare to meet someone as ruthless as herself.
The days in the first month of the year are short; the sun rises and sets quickly.
Before the hour of You, the sky was already mostly dark, with only a hint of red remaining on the horizon.
The customers at the Jiang family shop had all left, and the porcelain on the counter was almost sold out, with only a few pieces left. Wang Erqing counted the porcelain pieces and couldn't help laughing as he did so.
Wang Da knocked his head and said angrily, "What are you laughing at? You look so stupid."
"At the rate Master is selling porcelain, won't we be rich soon?" Wang Er scratched his head. "Then we can leave the county government residence, buy our own house, and save some money to buy delicious food and drinks."
"Then I can find a sister-in-law!" Wang Er smiled wickedly and moved closer to his brother. "Brother, do you have a girl you like? I'll help you find a partner."
Wang Da pushed him away expressionlessly: "You still have time to worry about me, you look like a child, can you find a wife by yourself?"
Wang Er didn't know what he was thinking about. He lowered his head, blushed, and whispered angrily, "I'm not a child."
"Enough, you just keep talking nonsense." Jiang Wan scolded, but his tone didn't contain any blame. "You two should learn from Xixi. She can calculate the accounts quickly and accurately. She's almost finished. Xixi, how many porcelains did you sell today?"
"The shop sold 738 pieces, totaling 36 taels and 400 coins; 576 pieces were custom-made for home delivery, totaling 25 taels; 1,100 pieces were pre-ordered, with a deposit of 22 taels. The total is 83 taels and 400 coins." Chen Xi said to the account book.
Although this amount was less than when she first opened yesterday, it was already more than almost any other shop in the town. If she could maintain this amount in the future, she would soon be able to make a small fortune. The most important thing was that she had made seventy taels today, which meant she had finally collected four hundred taels of silver.
When Lord Shen Jianqing captured and imprisoned County Magistrate Li and the new County Magistrate took office, she immediately redeemed her mother and brother.
Then she gave herself two days off and took them for a walk outside the city to see the beautiful scenery of Lake Duolun.
Thinking of this, Jiang Wan couldn't help but smile happily.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
