"I never imagined that the tea we drink every day would be so complicated to make," Li Xue exclaimed.
"Sister, do you still want to make tea?"
"Of course we'll make tea. We're not afraid of going to Yuanxi, so what's there to be afraid of when we make some tea? Have Chen Xiaoxiao come over and guide us in making tea."
“Okay, no problem. Sister Xiaoxiao is in the village, I’ll go find her first.”
“Then I will go back with you. I will go to the inn and ask a few guards to pick tea leaves so that we can make more tea.”
After Li Xue finished speaking, she and Li Guang walked towards the village.
Soon, a tea-picking team was formed. Since all the tea trees grew on a hillside next to the mountain and were wild, there was no safety issue, so Zhao Xian felt at ease.
Seven or eight people quickly arrived at the hillside and began picking tea, with Chen Xiaoxiao providing earnest guidance from the side.
It is currently the best season for picking spring tea. There are many wild tea trees on the hillsides, and the branches are full of newly sprouted buds, which are all very good raw materials for tea making.
At first, they weren't very skilled at picking tea leaves, but gradually they got faster. After an hour, each of them had picked a small basketful, which should be enough to make quite a lot of tea.
Chen Xiaoxiao looked at the fresh tea leaves and was very satisfied. They were all tender tea buds, and the tea made from them should be of the highest quality.
It was nearly noon, and we had already picked a lot of fresh tea leaves. We went home for lunch first, as we would be drying the tea leaves in the afternoon when the sun was setting.
After the tea leaves have been sun-dried, much of the moisture has evaporated, but it's not yet time to fry them. Since it's getting late, the tea leaves can be left to dry overnight and then fried the next day.
The next morning, with everything ready, Chen Xiaoxiao began teaching them how to stir-fry tea. The key to stir-frying tea is controlling the heat; too high or too low a temperature won't work, it has to be just right.
Therefore, tea frying is definitely a technical skill. To produce top-quality tea, you definitely need many years of tea frying experience.
Although Chen Xiaoxiao was young, her tea-making skills were excellent. Under her guidance, Li Xue and several guards were diligently making tea.
Making new tea involves a complex process, requiring both skill and patience. The new tea was finally successfully made by evening.
Li Xue picked up the new tea, held it to her nose, and smelled it. The unique aroma of the new tea excited her greatly, as it was the result of two days of hard work by so many of them.
I don't know how the new tea will taste, so I'll brew a few cups first and savor the fruits of my labor.
Although it's not the finest tea, the carefully crafted new tea has a good taste and flavor, and can be considered a premium tea in the market.
These new teas looked like a huge pile, but in reality, there were only three or four catties. Li Xue planned to keep some for Zhao Xian and Li Guang, and pack up the rest to take back to the capital.
The next day at noon, Yang Hong arrived and delivered the playing cards he had made. Yang Hong was very different from before; this brush with death had completely changed him.
Zhao Xian was also very happy; what he cared about most was the quality of the playing cards made by Yang Hong.
In ancient times, there was no special paper for making playing cards, not even thicker pieces of paper. It was really not easy to make usable playing cards.
Zhao Xian picked up a deck of cards and began to examine them intently.
The fact that the designs on the playing cards were printed on indicates that after Yang Hong designed the designs, he had someone make printing templates, making the printing speed many times faster than manual drawing.
As for the material issue, Yang Hong also solved it well. He added a layer of hemp cloth between the two layers of paper and glued it together. It had both toughness and thickness, so it would be perfect for making playing cards.
"You made the cardboard and printing templates used to make the playing cards," Zhao Xian asked in surprise.
“I don’t have that ability. Apart from the fact that I designed the playing card designs, the printing templates were made for me by the village carpenter.”
The playing card paper was made for me by a few women in the village who knew how to make shoes. They needed shoe patterns when making shoes, and these shoe patterns were made of cardboard.
The women in the village all know how to make this kind of cardboard, so I made a slight modification that allows the cardboard to be used to make playing cards.
In order to make playing cards that would satisfy the princess within two days, I spent a lot of money. I not only made a large number of playing card printing templates, but also asked the women in the village to help me make cardboard.
With templates and cardboard, making playing cards isn't difficult. In the future, I want to mass-produce playing cards, turn it into an industry, work hard to earn money, and support my parents.
Zhao Xian was very satisfied with Yang Hong's words; it seemed that Yang Hong had indeed changed.
"Your playing cards are excellent, better than mine. The princess will be very satisfied. If you need any help in the future, just let me know, and I will lend you a hand."
"Brother-in-law, there's something I need to trouble you with. A few months ago, I borrowed fifty taels of silver from Manager Lu. I'm a little embarrassed to face him. Could you help me return the silver to him?"
After Yang Hong finished speaking, he took out fifty taels of silver from his pocket and handed it to Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian was overjoyed. He had originally planned to pay off the fifty taels of silver for Yang Hong, but unexpectedly, the first thing Yang Hong did after getting the money was to repay the debt.
“Okay, no problem. He’s coming to Narcissus Village in a few days, and I’ll help you return the silver to him.”
Just then, Li Xue arrived and immediately spoke to Yang Hong:
"Yang Hong, have you finished making the playing cards I ordered?"
"It's finished. I wonder if the princess is satisfied?" Yang Hong said, then handed a deck of cards to Li Xue.
Li Xue took the playing cards, examined them carefully, and immediately took a liking to them.
"Very good, more exquisite than the playing cards made by the clerk. I like it."
After Li Xue finished speaking, she had her guards take out one hundred cartloads of silver and hand them to Yang Hong.
"Take this silver. We already agreed on this on the ship last time. I hope you can do a good job with this business, and it would be best if you could sell playing cards in the capital."
"Thank you, Princess. I will definitely make this business a success," Yang Hong said excitedly.
It was time for dinner, so everyone went to the restaurant. After they were seated, Zhao Xian asked Yang Hong if he wanted some wine.
Yang Hong shook his head and said, "I won't drink anymore. Drinking will lead to trouble. From now on, I will focus on studying the industry and won't drink easily."
Seeing that Yang Hong really didn't want to drink, Zhao Xian had no choice but to give up.
After the meal, Li Xue said, "I've been away for over a month now. If I don't go back soon, Father might not recognize me."
When Li Xue said she was going back, Zhao Xian finally breathed a sigh of relief. With Li Xue back, he could focus on his work.
For more than a month, I haven't been involved in business matters. Although it's running smoothly, there hasn't been much progress. I still have a lot to do to expand my business.
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