Chapter 137: New Ideas for Saltpeter + Making Ice from Saltpeter
Lin Shu also likes money, but she is a person who is easily contented.
In her previous life, she'd been constantly out fighting to survive. She'd said it was nice to defend her home, but the main reason was to save enough points to buy food. There was no other way; her stomach was big and she ate a lot; if she didn't work, she'd go hungry.
In this life, she was just an ordinary young woman, with a normal appetite, easily able to fill herself up, no longer having to fight zombies because of hunger. As for money, of course, the more the better, but who would want to work hard if it could be easily earned?
Lin Shu's past life was filled with hardship and fatigue, and she wanted to live a more relaxed life in this one. So when she was selling chicken mushroom sauce, she went straight to the noodle soup shop. She also partnered with Grandpa Gao's family to sell bamboo lounge chairs. Now that she had the idea of selling ice jelly, she wanted to entrust it to a reliable person so she could earn the money herself while sitting or lying down.
Lin Shu noticed Lin Zhaodi's eagerness and patiently explained, "Any business requires thorough preparation. We use mountain spring water, which has a naturally cool feel, to make this fruit jelly. However, Tianshui Village is too far from Jingxi Town. Even if we took Old Man Liao's ox cart to the town, the icy spring water would be heated by the sun by the time we arrived. The fruit jelly would lack that cool feeling, and the taste would be much worse. Aunt Lin could go early in the morning, but that wouldn't address the root cause."
The mountain spring water in the kitchen can always stay cool because it is placed in a water jar and is not exposed to the sun. If it is brought to the town like this, it will definitely not work.
Lin Zhaodi thought about it and realized it was a problem. Although she thought the ice jelly was delicious even when it wasn't cold, it wasn't as good as the cool, refreshing ice jelly. On a hot day, isn't that the most important thing to have is a cool bite?
But she quickly said, "There's a well in town. The water we just drew is very cold. We can use that water to calm down. When the water isn't cold enough, I'll go get more water."
That's what the people who sell cold noodles and drinks in the town do. The well water is available for use whenever they want. However, the public well in the town is for the townspeople to use. Usually, there are many people using the water, so they have to queue up to get water, which takes more effort.
Lin Zhaodi is not afraid of hard work, her mind is now full of making money.
And she didn't have to worry about whether it could be sold or not. This fruit jelly was so delicious that people would buy it even if it was sold at a higher price, not to mention that it was only ten cents a bowl.
"Aunt Lin, do you have any other ideas? Tell us about them." Lin Shu asked.
Lin Zhaodi thought for a moment and said, "It's not easy for us to go to town. I think we can make more ice jelly. Let's put the green ice jelly in a bucket, the sugar syrup in a ceramic jar, and another bucket for mountain spring water. The ceramic jar filled with sugar syrup can be placed in the mountain spring water to cool it down. When the mountain spring water cools down, I will go to town to fetch well water. Bring a table and benches. I can use the table to serve the ice jelly, and the benches are for guests to sit on. We must also bring enough ceramic bowls and spoons, in case there are too many people buying."
"For the fruit topping, let's bring whole ones. I'll also bring my cutting board and kitchen knife. I'll cut the ice jelly fresh when I sell it, so it stays fresh."
"Oh, and I think just melons and cucumbers aren't enough. There are a lot of peaches and apricots on sale right now. We can buy some. Don't get the sour ones, pick the sweet ones. These fruits don't cost much..."
Lin Zhaodi talked a lot, which surprised Lin Shu.
Aunt Lin is not only thoughtful, but can also think of ways to improve things without her reminders. She is truly a natural at doing business.
"Okay, then we'll do as Aunt Lin says."
Lin Zhaodi: When that time comes?
Lin Zhaodi felt slightly disappointed. "Ah Shu, do we really have to wait until I move in before we start? Although your Third Uncle Zhao and I still live in the Zhao family, we only go there to sleep at night. You see, we're out all day and have almost no involvement with the Zhao family anymore."
Lin Shu smiled and said, "Aunt Lin, it's not because of this. I want to take advantage of these few days to boil some saltpeter. With this saltpeter, we can make our own ice. With this ice cubes, why worry about the ice powder not being cold enough? We can even crush the ice cubes into smoothie and then scoop a spoonful of smoothie into it to add a cool feeling."
When Lin Shu said she wanted to sell ice jelly, He Guixiang was not dumbfounded. She was just surprised that she gave this business to Lin Zhaodi. But when she heard Lin Shu say that she wanted to make ice by herself, she and Lin Zhaodi were shocked.
"Ashu, what did you say? Let's make ice ourselves?" Lin Zhaodi asked.
It's no wonder that Lin Zhaodi and He Guixiang were so surprised. They had rarely seen ice in their lives. Even after winter came, a thin layer of ice would only form on the water surface in Tianshui Village during the cold winter. Most of the years, they didn't see ice.
If it's like this in winter, let alone in summer.
Of course they knew that in those big cities and counties, not only the masters and ladies of wealthy families could use ice, but there were also ice vendors specializing in selling ice and small stalls selling ice drinks in the streets and alleys, but that only happened in the big cities and counties!
Not only in Jingxi Town, but even in the county town above Jingxi Town, you might not find any ice vendors. Those who sell drinks in the town mostly use well water to cool the ice.
Now Ah Shu actually said that she wanted to make ice by herself?
Lin Shu was very calm and explained, "The technology of ice storage and making in our Great Yan Dynasty is very mature. This ice is made from saltpeter. In the capital, many small vendors make their own ice and sell it in the Qiaotou market. It's nothing."
Natural saltpeter is controlled by the government, but it can also be made by yourself, but it is a bit troublesome.
There are many wealthy families in the capital, and they use a lot of ice. Families with officials can receive ice from the court every year, while wealthy businessmen build their own snow cellars and ice cellars to store ice. Those who have ice cellars collect natural ice in winter and store it, and then open the cellars to take out ice after summer.
Ice cellars are expensive to build, so ice vendors can only rent or buy cellar space to store ice, which is quite expensive. As a result, some small ice-making workshops appeared among the people, called saltpeter ice workshops.
This saltpeter is not natural saltpeter, but is artificially refined in a workshop. The saltpeter ice produced is generally supplied to major high-end beverage shops. However, this saltpeter ice workshop is also subject to government inspection and control to ensure that the refined saltpeter is only used for making ice.
Further down are the vendors who don't have their own workshops. They get some saltpeter to make ice and sell it, but because the ice is so scarce, they can't make much money.
"Ashu, can you really make this ice?" Lin Zhaodi's eyes lit up, and she actually thought of a bigger business opportunity.
Lin Shu guessed her thoughts and smiled, waving her hands. "To make saltpeter, you need to collect soil containing saltpeter. The whole process is also troublesome. It's not as easy as Aunt Lin thinks. Besides, you can't make too much saltpeter. If you make too much, it might cause trouble."
When Lin Zhaodi heard this, even her boldest ideas were forced back, and she even backed off. "Since this will cause trouble, why don't we just give up?"
"The trouble I'm talking about is not the kind of trouble Aunt Lin thinks. I'm afraid it will attract other vendors who want to get a piece of the pie, or want my method of boiling saltpeter to make ice." Lin Shu hesitated as she spoke.
But then she started to smile and said, "We'll talk about what to do later."
If someone wants to buy the method of making ice by boiling saltpeter, she will sell it to them. Now that the town has an ice maker, the people will also benefit.
"Ashu, this ice is very valuable. If we add shaved ice, should we increase the price of this bowl of ice jelly?" Lin Zhaodi asked.
Lin Shu paused and sighed, "Forget it, let's not add any more. Just put two pieces of ice in the sugar water. That way, we can sell a bowl of ice jelly for twelve cents."
Lin Zhaodi grinned immediately, "Okay, twelve cents a bowl! Then, Ah Shu, what are the ingredients for making saltpeter that you asked me to prepare? Auntie will help you prepare them!"
Lin Shu didn't hesitate to answer her. "Auntie, can you help me find a family that has an old clay pot that they don't need? I'll buy it cheaply with some copper coins, and then I'll use it to boil saltpeter."
In fact, it is best to use an iron pot to cook, but there is only this precious iron pot in the house, and Lin Shu is reluctant to waste it.
"Okay, leave it to me!" Although Lin Zhaodi's only good friend is Li Chunmiao, it doesn't mean that she has less contact with other village women. She will definitely take care of this little thing for Ashu.
"Ashu, is there anything else?"
Lin Shu shook her head and said, "Just help me find a pot." She had more suitable candidates for the rest.
Lin Shu couldn't help but look at the group of little kids in the yard with a smile on her face.
Ah, child labor is really convenient to use. Anyway, a group of little kids have nothing to do, so they can help her with the work.
Lin Shu yawned with her hands covering her lips, and a tear welled up in the corner of her eye. "Mother, Aunt Lin, it's easy to feel sleepy after eating and drinking too much. I can't hold on any longer. I need to take a nap."
He Guixiang smiled and waved her hand, "Go quickly, I know you won't be able to hold on."
Now that she had finished her linen work, she took out the cloth she had bought last time and prepared to make clothes for Lin Dashan and Zhou Ye. She knew their statures, after all, the coarse linen clothes they wore were all made by her.
After Lin Zhaodi separated from the family, she didn't do any work, so she helped her cut the cloth.
"It's time to change Sanlang's clothes. When this ice jelly business takes off, I'll make him a set too!" Lin Zhaodi's eyes were full of smiles.
As she smiled, her eyes gradually turned red.
He Guixiang was startled and asked hurriedly, "Zhao Di, why are you crying?"
Lin Zhaodi quickly wiped away the tears that had not yet fallen. "I'm sorry to have made fun of you, Sister He. I'm just happy. Sister He, to be honest, I liked Ah Shu the first time I saw her and wanted to get close to her. You see, my approach was really a good one. Ah Shu always thinks of me when she has something good to offer!"
He Guixiang's eyes softened. "Ashu is just like that. When others treat her well, she senses it and will treat them well in return. However, this jelly thing isn't just because she trusts you, it's also because she wants to be lazy. You don't have to take it too seriously. Ashu has a lot of ideas in her head, and she doesn't want to do everything herself, so she has to trouble others."
The two of them were chatting while cutting cloth. In the yard, Lin Xiaopu found that his elder sister had gone to take a break, so he took Wang Yingen and others to play outside the yard to avoid disturbing her.
"Sister Xiao Pu, what do you have for dinner? Don't you want to eat wild vegetable dumplings?" Wang Yingen asked.
He has always been straightforward and doesn't know how to beat around the bush. He still wants to eat the wild vegetable dumplings from yesterday.
Lin Xiaopu was speechless. She was also a glutton, but she would not put food in her mouth. It was really embarrassing to see Wang Yingen eating so greedily.
"I don't know. Sister didn't tell me."
Wang Yingen asked persistently, "Why did Sister Shu ask us to pick up some shrimp today? Isn't she going to use them to make something delicious?"
"I've already dried those shrimps. I'm definitely not going to eat them today. What are you thinking?"
Wang Yingen suddenly felt regretful.
"Well, when my elder sister gets up from her afternoon nap, she'll be preparing dinner. I'll go ask her if there's anything she can do for you. If so, you'll just listen to her and do whatever she tells you to do. If she doesn't need you, you're not allowed to come to my house and beg for food."
When Wang Yingen and the others heard this, their eyes lit up and they called her "Little Sister Pu" willingly.
A triumphant smile flashed across Lin Xiaopu's eyes. "My elder sister taught me this; it's called subtle influence."
As time went by, everyone, including Wang Yingen, got used to listening to her, and she unknowingly secured her position as the boss.
After playing outside for a while, Lin Xiaopu returned to the courtyard when he thought it was almost time. Wang Yingen and others followed him to the outside of the courtyard but did not go in, waiting for news outside.
They thought Sister Shu had no work for them this time, but unexpectedly, Lin Xiaopu returned quickly and waved to them, "Big job is coming, big job is coming! Hurry in and listen to my sister's instructions!"
A group of kids immediately rushed in like naughty monkeys.
"Sister Ashu, Sister Xiaopu said you have something to talk to us about?!" Wang Yingen asked with a smile.
Lin Shu had just woken up and looked a little lazy. She leaned on the bamboo stool and looked at the group of energetic kids with a smile, "I need to collect some soil. It's a bit troublesome to collect this soil, so I'm sorry to trouble you."
Wang Yingen and others quickly said that it was not hard and they were willing to do anything.
However, when Lin Shu finished speaking, everyone was dumbfounded.
ah?
Soil at the base of the wall? Soil from the foundation of the old house? And the soil around the toilet and the chicken and duck pens?
The first two are okay, but the one at the back smells bad. What does Sister Shu want this for?
Lin Shu was, of course, using it to make saltpeter. The soil in these places was rich in nitrates, and only with this soil could saltpeter be made.
With saltpeter, ice can be made. The ice made is not only for making iced drinks, she also wants to make a basin of ice and put it in the house to cool down the room.
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