Chen Qingqing knew they would have so many questions, so she gave a brief explanation.
"The methods for boiling white sugar and brown sugar are almost the same, but I will add a special substance to make the brown sugar crystallize into white sugar blocks. White sugar has a wider range of applications and is more popular than brown sugar, so you don't have to worry about sales; it will definitely sell well."
"Really?" Chen Dabao was so happy he almost jumped up. "Sister Qingqing, now that there are no outsiders, please teach us how to boil sugar!"
Chen Qingqing smiled and nodded, "You guys go and prepare fifty catties of beets to make juice. I'll go back and get something and come right back."
"Okay," the group agreed and got to work...
Chen Qingqing returned to her room, entered her spatial storage, opened the trading system, and searched for lime.
I saw that the sales system contained lime water and dry lime.
Lime is not scarce, and if lime water is used, it will be difficult for others to discover the secret of making white sugar, thus keeping the secret.
"Ding~~~ Lime water costs fifty coins a bucket, fifty liters a bucket. Host, would you like to purchase?"
She chose lime water without hesitation.
"Ding~~~The host has 88,186 taels of silver left in the space. Do you want to continue storing?"
"Continue storing."
"Received, Xiao Jie."
Chen Qingqing hadn't opened her spatial storage for a long time; whenever she had silver, she would put it directly into it.
Unexpectedly, she had amassed such a large sum of money.
She found several buckets, and then carried one of the buckets of lime water to the sugar mill.
Chen Zhanliang was pulling the donkey to grind the millstone, and the juice was flowing down the millstone into the bucket. It was almost over.
Lin was adding firewood to the stove, while Sun was filtering impurities from the beet juice with gauze.
Seeing Chen Qingqing carrying a wooden basin in, everyone looked at her curiously.
Chen Qingqing smiled and then poured the lime water into the pot. "This is the secret recipe for making white sugar."
"This water looks like rice water. Can this stuff really make white sugar?" Lin's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief.
Da Bao casually asked, "Yeah, what is this? Will we be able to make sugar without it from now on?"
"This is an essential ingredient for making white sugar, and we'll definitely use it every day. I'll prepare a few large vats tomorrow and stock up on more."
After Chen Qingqing finished speaking, she looked at everyone with a serious expression.
"This water is our sugar mill's last trump card. You must keep it a secret and not let anyone get in touch with it. If someone discovers what it's made of, you all know the consequences."
"Don't worry, my dear. I'll prepare a room tomorrow to store several large vats, and then lock it with a sturdy iron lock. I will never let anyone know about the existence of this potion."
Chen Zhanshan looked solemn. Liang Fugui was starting a new business, and although he acted as if he didn't care, no one knew how anxious he was inside.
He was afraid that his business would be taken away and his source of income would be cut off. He was afraid that his family would become poor. The days of not having enough to eat or wear were maddening, and the feeling of hunger was unbearable.
Chen Zhanliang said with a smile, "Yes, we must keep this secret. If it gets out, there will probably be people like Liang Fugui."
As they were talking, the sugar water in the pot began to boil.
Chen Zhanshan stirred the sugar back and forth with an iron shovel, causing it to shrink and solidify, slowly forming a pile. He kept shoveling it up and grinding it with a wooden stick...
The originally bright red sugar gradually changed, turning into white bubbles.
Seeing this, Chen Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief; the new white sugar was a success.
The worry on Chen Zhanshan and the others' faces vanished instantly, replaced by excited and joyful smiles.
The Liang family.
Looking at the yard full of beetroots, Liang Fugui was so happy his mouth almost stretched to his ears.
"Wife, our days of getting rich are not far away. We'll start making sugar tomorrow."
Madam Liang frowned, her eyes full of worry. "Fugui, don't be too happy yet. There are so many beets, the two of us simply can't handle it all."
"If we can't handle it all, we'll hire people. I don't believe we can't find people to do the work."
"Don't speak too confidently. You're oversimplifying things. You know Chen Qingqing pays her workers thirty coins a day. How much should we pay? If it's less than thirty coins, no one will come."
Even if someone comes, we'll have to hire a few people. The stone mill is at the village entrance, and we have two big pots. Even if we don't rest all day, we can only cook five or six pots.
Don't forget, we don't even have any furry animals yet. That stone mill, pushed by people, would get drowsy in this heat after less than an hour. I feel we were being a bit too hasty in buying so many beets.”
Upon hearing these words, Liang Fugui, who had just been immersed in the joy of making money, was instantly pulled back to reality.
Upon closer reflection, it seemed his wife was right, and he began to panic.
"So what do we do now? Are we supposed to ask Chen Qingqing for help?"
"You're being too naive. Do you really think she'll help us?" After a moment of silence, Madam Liang scoffed. "Back then, Chen Qingqing went through the same thing. I don't believe that just because she can do it, we can't."
"Yes, I love hearing you say that, honey."
“Let’s go, let’s go to the village entrance now and recruit people. Let’s ask who is willing to come and work for us. Forty coins a day, I don’t believe no one will come.” Liang Shi lifted her foot and walked out.
Liang Fugui quickly stopped her, "Wife, our family's total earnings, including the money you earn from working and the money left over from buying beets, are only fifteen taels. Is it too much to pay them forty coins a day?"
Seeing that he was still being stingy at this crucial moment, Liang felt a pang of regret. She shouldn't have listened to the man's instigation in the first place.
If we lose money, things will definitely get tough for us from now on.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at Liang Fugui, annoyed.
"Stop scheming. I'll be grateful if we can even hire someone."
"No, ten coins a day is fine. I don't have any more money to pay." Liang Fugui felt a pang of heartache. He really couldn't bear to part with the money he had in his hands. "Wife, if it really doesn't work out, we can just hire someone next door. It'll only cost ten coins a day. We don't need that much. We can use the money we save to cook meat."
Knowing her husband's character, Mrs. Liang knew that saying anything more would be useless, so she could only sigh helplessly.
"Okay, let's do as you say. Let's give it a try first. If no one can do it, we'll have to hurry up and hire someone from the next village, otherwise, in this heat..."
Mrs. Liang was extremely anxious. The Chen family's cellar was cool and dry; the beets wouldn't spoil even after a month.
But all ten thousand kilograms of their own beets are piled up in the yard, and if they aren't dealt with in time, they'll probably rot...
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