Chapter 57
Five-spice powder is quite difficult to prepare. Gu Xinxin looked all over the town, but still lacked a very important ingredient - galangal, which is mostly cultivated only in the south.
She had no choice but to go to the county town and ask around. If she couldn't find galangal, she'd use a substitute. Galangal belongs to the ginger family and is also called sand ginger. She planned to try other gingers: big ginger, small ginger, yellow ginger, white ginger—there were so many varieties.
However, the county town only has large-meat ginger. Large-meat ginger is the most common type of ginger. When fresh, it is slightly yellow, and turns white when dried.
This thing was not cheap, so Gu Xinxin bought a large basket and took it back, then asked Gu Chenshi to catch a chicken - she wanted to make chicken essence herself, which was not used for seasoning, but to enhance the flavor.
There are generally two ways to enhance the flavor of the food: one is to add sugar, and the other is to add chicken essence. Sugar is expensive, so she had previously planned to get everyone in the village to grow sugarcane, promising to buy it, but this proposal was rejected by the village chief.
Firstly, she couldn't get good quality sugarcane, and secondly, the village chief at that time couldn't see her ability.
But now she is capable, right?
As Gu Xinxin cooked the chicken soup, she pondered, "What if I could ask the village chief?" After all, controlling the source of sucrose was paramount. At least 60% of all snacks in the world use sucrose as a flavoring.
"Stepmother, come and help me with the work." Too busy, she called out to Gu Chen, who quickly came over and asked, "What are you doing?"
Gu Xinxin gestured to her to crush the various seasonings and then mix them together.
While Gu Chen was busy, she stole a glance at Gu Xinxin. Gu Xinxin asked directly, "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't be so secretive."
"Xinxin, look, you are so generous and kind. Your uncle Chen used to have a hard time, but he still often sent you food." Gu Chen said. Gu Xinxin waved her hand and said, "I am too embarrassed to even mention it. He sent you a basket of wild dates from the field, and you hid it under your bed because you were afraid I would steal it."
Gu Chen's face was flushed, but she was thick-skinned and returned to normal after a moment: "It was my fault, not your uncle Chen's, right? Your uncle Chen is kind after all, and he has a good heart towards you, right?"
Gu Xinxin's face was filled with sarcasm: "Kindness means suggesting that you send me to your mother's village to be a child bride?"
If it weren't for Gu Daniu's conscience at the time, and the disapproval of Second Aunt and First Uncle's family, Gu Xinxin would have been sent away as a child bride. The Gu family couldn't afford to lose face, and Gu Xiangrong was unwilling to leave Gu Xinxin at the time, so the matter was left unresolved.
Mrs. Gu Chen pretended not to hear and continued, "You also said that you have many secret recipes. Then take one out and give it to your Uncle Chen. Don't worry, it's not for free. Doesn't your aunt's family give you a commission of twenty copper coins? Your Uncle Chen will give you thirty!"
Gu Xinxin's mouth twitched: "Only thirty?"
Gu Chen's eyes lit up, and she quickly asked, "What about the forty?"
The emperor is far away, and how much money is earned by then is still up to the Chen family, right? If you earn three taels, you can say one tael. What's the difference between forty and ten?
Gu Xinxin was too lazy to expose Gu Chen's little thoughts and waved her hand: "No matter how many prescriptions I have, I will not give them to the Chen family. Just give up on this idea."
Gu Chen was startled and asked quickly, "Why? Your uncle Chen has never offended you..."
"You've offended me before." Gu Xinxin said bluntly, "If you hadn't refused to pay for my medical treatment, would I have been able to go through that?"
Gu Chen paused and smiled, "Then I did help you. If it weren't for that time, would you have received your mother's guidance? You wouldn't have so many secret recipes, and our family wouldn't be living like this now. No matter what, I have brought you an opportunity, right?"
Gu Xinxin raised her eyebrows. "You still think of chance? Stop flattering yourself. Don't mention the Chen family to me again. If you do, I'll tell my dad to just send you back. Don't you have money now? You can donate your own money to the Chen family. But it's impossible for me to help the Chen family in this lifetime."
Before Gu Chen could say anything, Gu Xinxin said, "I told you, don't mention it. I don't want to hear it."
She stood up and said, "The firewood will burn out soon. Don't worry about it after it burns out. The lid of the pot is still steaming. Wait for me to come back and fix it. I'm going to the village chief's house now."
Gu Chen was shocked: "You didn't even let me mention it, but you can't go to the village chief's house to complain, right?"
"It's not about this, it's something else." Gu Xinxin said, and walked out to find the village chief. The village chief was also busy. It was almost August, the autumn harvest, and it was time to prepare for the harvest.
Seeing Gu Xinxin coming, he paused, put down the grindstone in his hand, and asked kindly: "Xinxin girl, what do you want to talk to me about?"
This is a far cry from the first time's attitude.
But it was no wonder. The first time she had only patronized the Second Lady's family, the village chief had no idea of her abilities. Now, she had made a lot of money, and the village chief had heard of her abilities.
She smiled and said, "It's the same thing as before. I'm going to grow sugarcane. I don't need good farmland. I can plant sugarcane in my own vegetable garden, in the yard, or on the roadside. I'll buy the sugar when the time comes. I might even want to open a sugar-making workshop. Do you think this is feasible?"
The village chief hesitated for a moment and asked, "Do you have good sugarcane seeds?"
"If you agree to let the villagers grow sugarcane, I will go find the seeds right away." Gu Xinxin immediately took on the task. If the county town didn't work, she would go to the provincial capital. If the provincial capital still didn't work... she would go to the south by herself.
"Have you calculated how much sugar this piece of sugarcane can produce?" the village chief asked again. Gu Xinxin pondered for a moment before saying, "It's hard to calculate right now. It depends on the quality of the sugarcane. But even if we lose money in the first year, that's my problem. We can just plant it for one year. But if we don't lose money, I tell you the truth, there might not even be enough sugarcane in the entire village for me to use."
The village chief frowned for a long time, then waved his hand: "Wait for me to think about it. I'll give you an answer after the autumn harvest. This is no small matter after all. If our village wants to plant sugarcane on all the vacant land, we have to inform the village head."
The imperial court had to ensure a sufficient grain income from the people's fertile farmland, so the people didn't have complete say over what to plant. The court had a dedicated yamen responsible for this, and the county government had a Si Nong (Sinong) official in charge of farming, who would come down to inspect the crops from time to time. At least two-thirds of the village's fields had to be used for growing grain.
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