Chapter 139 This is a mountain of gold and silver
Gu Tang held the "four-leaf clover" in his little hand and looked at it carefully. The more he looked at it, the more satisfied he became.
Holding the small leaves, they are carefully placed next to the stove to dry. The thin "leaves" are soon baked into a slightly dry state by the fire.
Gu Tang estimated that it should be almost ignitable, so he took out a lighter and tried to light the "Four-Leaf Clover".
The dark blue flame continued to burn the "four-leaf clover". Maybe it was not dry enough, and the flame burned on the "leaves" for a long time before igniting it.
The incense that is about to be lit has very little fragrance, which just floats around.
When the thin fragrant mist gradually becomes thicker and whiter, after a few breaths, it begins to fall down like a waterfall, just like a wisp of white gauze hanging down, which is very pleasing to the eye.
Gu Tang stretched out his hand and moved it back and forth, dispersing the fragrant mist that was falling vertically.
Looking at the diffused fragrant mist, her eyes were burning, her brows were smiling, and she stood up and ran out to call her father Gu Lianshan.
Gu Lianshan was about to come back from outside. After waking up his eldest son, he went to Li's house, took out ten copper coins, and asked Li Shunzi to drive a ox cart to take Gu Laian to Fengjiazhuang.
The Li family was blinded by the money and did not even ask the reason. They happily accepted the copper coins and said that they would let Li Shunzi drive over to Gu's house later.
Just as he entered the yard, he saw Gu Tang knocking on his door.
"Dad is here." Gu Lianshan called to the west wing, quickened his pace and returned to the west wing. With a look of surprise on his face, he asked Gu Tang, "Dad told you to get up early, but he didn't ask you to get up this early. It's almost dawn."
"I woke up when I heard you calling me brother. If I didn't get up and continue sleeping, I was afraid I would oversleep, so I just got up and didn't sleep."
Gu Tang smiled and pulled her father's clothes, pushing him into her room: "Let me show you something rare!"
"Rare things? What rare things can you have so early in the morning?" Gu Lianshan was very puzzled. Where could there be rare things so early in the morning?
Gu Tang said nothing, just pushed her into the house and pointed at the stove, asking her father to come over and take a look.
Looking in the direction his daughter pointed, Gu Lianshan suddenly froze.
What the hell is this!!!
Why does the smoke from burning float downwards? !
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, thinking he had seen a ghost so early in the morning!
But no matter how he rubbed his eyes until they turned red, it was of no use. The smoke from that thing was indeed floating downwards!
“Girl, girl!” Gu Lianshan was horrified and called out to Gu Tang with his neck stiff. He pointed at the four-leaf clover incense with his thumb and said in a trembling voice, “What are you burning? Why is the smoke floating down?”
"It's fragrant! Didn't you smell the fragrance I made? My room is full of the scent of sandalwood?"
Gu Tang took a deep sniff. The main spice of the Four-Leaf Clover Backflow Incense was sandalwood, which was rewarded by the system. It smelled better than the one she bought in the spice shop.
It smells particularly fragrant, rich, mellow and round.
Gu Lianshan also imitated his daughter and took a few deep sniffs. Sure enough, a fragrance he had never smelled before penetrated his nose and permeated his lungs.
Looking at the burning incense, he walked closer to examine it carefully. It looked strange, like a leaf and a flower, but not like incense!
Whose incense looks like this? !
The key is that the burning incense mist is floating downwards? !
Gu Lianshan suddenly remembered that when he came back yesterday, his daughter was holding a flower and said that it was fragrant...
He turned his head to look at his daughter and asked with difficulty: "Is this thing... the incense you mentioned yesterday?"
"Yes, this is the fragrance I was talking about yesterday. Yesterday it was a flower, today it's 'four-leaf clover', um... it's grass with four leaves! Although the forms are different, they are essentially the same fragrance."
Gu Tang took out the flower that had been burned a little yesterday, lit it on the oil lamp, and then placed it next to the four-leaf clover. Soon, a new waterfall of smoke floated down from above.
Gu Lianshan stared with his eyes wide open!
This scene was truly shocking to him.
In his opinion, water flows to the lower places, and smoke goes to the higher places. But now, the water still flows to the lower places, but the smoke also goes to the lower places!
"This incense was made by me, so I gave it a nice name, called 'Backflow Incense'. Dad, do you think it sounds nice or not?" Gu Tang was shamelessly flattering himself.
Gu Lianshan was still in shock from how his ideas had been overturned. When he heard Gu Tang's words, he just nodded subconsciously, his eyes still staring at Xiang Wu.
"Don't just nod." Gu Tang tugged at her father's sleeve, "Can you say something?"
After being pulled, Gu Lianshan finally came back to his senses, and the expression on his face was hard to describe: "Did your master pass this incense to you?"
Gu Tang paused, then started to talk nonsense: "This incense was indeed given by my master, but when he passed it to me, it was no different from other incense. After it was lit, the incense mist floated upwards.
Later, when I was collecting herbs in the mountains, I dug up some herbs that can repel insects, and I thought of adding them into the recipe to use as an insect repellent.
But you also know that it is not convenient in the mountains. When I made incense, I did not follow the method taught by the master. I just made it randomly according to my own preferences. I didn’t expect to accidentally make this kind of incense with reverse smoke flow…”
Hearing this, Gu Lianshan was not happy, but rather did not quite believe it: "Did you figure this out on your own?"
Gu Tang looked calm and rolled her eyes at her father. "What do you think? If I didn't figure this out myself, could it be that my master passed it on to me? My master wasn't rich when he was alive. If he had this skill, he could either sell his house or teach it to others. With just these two options, who wouldn't make a lot of money? Why would he end up alone in this village?"
Gu Lianshan breathed a sigh of relief.
Indeed, this incense is absolutely unprecedented and will never be surpassed! No matter who it is, as long as they have this skill, they will not pass it on to outsiders.
As long as you master this skill, you will live a rich and powerful life, with servants at your disposal!
Besides, my daughter's master has a distant nephew, but his leg was broken at an early age, so he can't make a living collecting herbs. If he really had the skill of making incense, he would definitely pass it on to his nephew, not to my daughter.
With this calculation, it is very likely that this incense was invented by his daughter!
Looking at the fragrance in front of him again, Gu Lianshan's mood changed.
This is not incense, this is a mountain of gold and silver!
There is no need to bother looking for buyers for this incense. Just sell it to the scholars in Bei'an City! They will buy as many as they can keep!
Gu Lianshan also studied for a few years and had dealings with scholars and teachers. He didn't dare to say anything else, but the scholars in the Bei'an City area loved to imitate those students in the south and pretend to be cultured.
Students from the south hold poetry gatherings, students from the south grow and appreciate flowers, students from the south taste tea and enjoy incense.
As long as it comes from the south, it must be good!
There is no other reason, it is just that Bei'an City is located on the northern border, with vast land and poor resources. Although the literary style is prosperous, it is not strong. The south is where literati gather. Many famous writers come from the south. Even the top three places in each session have always been occupied by students from the south.
In this case, how can we not ask the students in Bei'an City to respect the students in the south?
Therefore, as soon as this incense comes into the world, they don't need to advertise it everywhere, the scholars in Bei'an City will buy it all!
Thinking of this, Gu Lianshan changed his expression and smiled at Gu Tang in a flattering manner: "My daughter is really smart and agile! There are countless masters of incense making in the world, but no one can figure out this method! It can be seen that those who make incense are not serious, and they are not as smart as my daughter..."
Gu Tang got goosebumps all over her body after hearing her father's praise!
If she hadn't been so determined and knew who she was, she might have really gotten lost in her father's praise!
She rubbed her arms and asked her father with an uncomfortable look on her face: "Where did you hear all these sour words? You say one thing after another, and if you don't know, you would be thought to be a serious scholar!"
"Dad has received some education after all, so he can still say a few words to praise people." Gu Lianshan circled around the incense sticks, laughing so hard that his teeth were showing.
Gu Tang raised his eyebrows: "How is it? Can this incense be sold?"
"It's sold! It's sold!" Gu Lianshan slapped his thigh happily.
He came close to Gu Tang and told her in detail what he had just thought. Finally, he asked her opinion: "Is this plan okay, Dad?"
Gu Tang pondered for a while and decided that starting with the scholars was indeed the best way.
Scholars are the best group of people they can currently come into contact with. After all, most people who can afford to read are not from poor families, and the majority are rich.
The richer you are, the more you can do, and when it comes to pretending to be cultured, everyone is willing to spend money!
Just like them, Gu family, supporting two scholars, complaining about the hardship every day, but every year the father and son of the eldest wife need money to study.
Although the Gu family cannot afford poetry gatherings, flower appreciation, tea tasting and fragrance smelling, Gu Liansheng has been using his connections to get into these gatherings, and every year, he spends several taels of silver on these events alone.
Of course, there are also scholars who live a really hard life, but their number is not too large, and they would not bother to learn anything pretentious.
"Okay! Let's do as you say. Now, we just have to wait for the family to be divided. As long as the family is divided, we will start work!" Gu Tang made the decision.
With his daughter's affirmation, Gu Lianshan became full of energy. He asked his daughter to put out the incense while he walked outside to see if his eldest son had gotten up. He also wanted to quickly bring the Feng family over so as not to delay his path to divide the family and make a fortune!
Gu Laian was about to yawn. Gu Lianshan was in a good mood at the moment and looked at him with a rare smile on his face.
Just these few glances made Gu Laian shudder all over, his sleepiness disappeared instantly, and he immediately became alert.
He hadn't seen his father smile at him for a long time. Now when he suddenly saw his father smiling at him, he felt numb all over. He subconsciously wondered if he had offended his father again, so he laughed in anger and was ready to beat himself up!
The more Gu Laian thought about it, the more frightened he became. At this time, Li Shunzi came driving a ox cart.
"Brother Lianshan! Where's my nephew? Hurry up and get him out and get in the car. It's not close to Fengjiazhuang. We have to leave early so we can come back early..."
Hearing Li Shunzi's loud voice, Gu Laian ran out of the yard like a dog without waiting for Gu Lianshan to say anything.
Gu Lianshan also followed.
When he arrived outside the yard, Gu Laian had already climbed onto the ox cart and sat down nimbly, with his head lowered and not saying a word. He looked as well-behaved as possible.
Gu Lianshan first exchanged a few words with Li Shunzi, and then worriedly reminded his son again: "Do you still remember what I told you this morning?"
Gu Laian nodded quickly and replied: "I remember!"
"Just remember it. When you get to your great uncle's house, tell your great uncle everything I told you, word for word, and invite him to come home. Remember, only say what I tell you to say, and don't say anything else!"
Gu Laian kept nodding his head. No matter what his father said, he didn't dare to turn his face away and ignore him.
Gu Lianshan didn't notice that something was wrong with his son. After giving his instructions, he took a few steps back and told Li Shunzi to leave quickly and come back early.
After the ox cart went away, Gu Lianshan went back to the house and said something to Gu Tang, then left the yard and went to the village head to look for the clan leader.
Gu Tang put away all the extinguished backflow incense and opened the doors and windows to let the sandalwood scent spread into the room.
But who would have thought that the sandalwood scent produced by the system would be so long-lasting. The fragrance drifted to the corridor and did not dissipate for a long time.
The same was true in the house. As soon as I entered the house, I could smell a very obvious scent of sandalwood, which was almost no different from just now.
Gu Ping'an came out of his father's room, stretched, and smelled the fragrance.
He didn't know what the fragrance was, but when he saw that his second sister's door and window were open, he hurried over.
Why are all the doors and windows open in this cold winter?
As we approached Gu Tang’s house, the fragrance became stronger and stronger.
As soon as he stepped into the house, the fragrance instantly enveloped him. After a few deep sniffs, he felt his whole body relax.
"Second sister! What's that smell?"
Gu Tang glanced at him with amusement: "I just lit some incense I made. Does it smell good?"
"Great! Do you have any more? Order some for Dad's room. This smells just right for me!"
Gu Tang disagreed: "The clan leader and the elders are coming home today, so it's better not to do anything that will attract attention. If I hadn't proved to my father that the incense I made can be burned, I wouldn't have lit it now. I'm also afraid of attracting attention, so I just opened the doors and windows to disperse the smell in the house..."
Gu Ping'an's heart trembled. He almost forgot that the clan leader and elders were coming home today.
He went out to look for him but didn't see his father. He returned to the house and asked Gu Tang, "Is Dad not here?"
"He's not here. He went to the village to look for the chief."
"It's too early!" Gu Ping'an looked surprised. It was almost dawn outside, so he couldn't ask the clan leader to come back right now, right?
"Invite the clan leader first, and then the clan elders. The clan leader and the clan elders must gather and discuss in advance. After they have discussed and finished their meal, it would be great if they can arrive at our house at 9:00 p.m."
Indeed, if you calculate it this way, his father didn't die that early.
Gu Tang added: "Let's cook first, and eat early today. After dinner, while no one is here yet, come with me to the village to ask who has decent dishes at home. It doesn't matter what they are, as long as they can be served on the table.
There is also the matter of inviting people to cook at home. I remember that there are a few aunties in the south of the village who cook very well. Although the food may not be delicious, it tastes the best. Let's go and book them early, otherwise they will be away from home due to something and it will be difficult to find someone now."
That's the truth. If you want to invite someone, you should go and make the final decision early.
Gu Ping'an came out of Gu Tang's room and walked quickly to the kitchen.
Gu Laian was not around, so Gu Mei didn't have to worry about it. Gu Ping'an only had to cook three servings of rice. He opened the large vat behind the stove and found that there was only enough rice and flour left for one meal.
He was shocked. He used the rations his second sister brought back to cook last night, and he didn't even open the jar to check. He didn't expect that when he checked today, the jar was almost empty!
No, it's only been a few days, and dozens of kilograms of rice and flour have been consumed?!
Before they went to Bei'an City the day before yesterday, there were 30 kilograms of white rice and 20 kilograms of wheat flour in this jar. The whole family of the eldest wife, together with the eldest brother, eldest sister and the old man in the main hall, ate up all the 50 kilograms of rice and flour in two days?
Gu Ping'an didn't quite believe it. Thinking about the eldest wife's style, he guessed that the rice and flour were brought into the house secretly.
Last night, no one from the eldest family came to the kitchen to cook. I only saw a window in the east wing open, and faint smoke coming out of it. It was obvious that someone was cooking on the stove in the room.
Looking at the remaining rice and flour, Gu Ping'an felt relieved for a moment. Fortunately, when he left the day before, his second sister said that she was worried about the eldest wife, so she moved the important oil and salt into the house and hid them.
Look at the situation now. Fortunately, his second sister hid the oil and salt. If they were left in the kitchen with the rice and flour, the same thing would happen. Only enough for one meal would be left in the full jar.
If he only made one thing out of this little bit of rice and flour, it might not be enough, so Gu Ping'an simply cooked all of it together, leaving no single bit behind.
White rice is used to make porridge, and wheat flour is used to make pancakes.
The skill of making pancakes was told to him by his second sister. He learned it slowly through experimentation and makes progress every time he makes it.
The three of them didn't eat much, and Gu Ping'an was quick and efficient, so in a short while, the meal for their second room was ready.
He covered the pot tightly to prevent the porridge from getting cold, then lit the stove and used a clay pot to cook a bowl of porridge for the old man in the main room.
His father said that from now on, the old man should just eat porridge.
When the porridge was cooked, his father had not come back yet.
Gu Ping'an wanted to take the porridge to the main room himself.
Just as he was about to scoop out the porridge, Gu Tang on the side suddenly took over the job: "My master must be really angry with our second wife right now. You are not good at talking, and if he scolds you, I guess you won't dare to talk back. It's better for me to go. My master is still a little cautious about me, and he dare not get too angry even if he wants to."
Hearing this, Gu Ping'an's mind instantly flashed back to the scene when his grandfather was angry. To be honest, he was indeed a little scared.
"Then be careful, this paste is still hot. If I splash it on you, it will definitely burn you!"
Gu Tang smiled. This was what she was guarding against.
He found a tray, put the porridge on it and went to the main room impatiently.
Gu Ping'an was guarding in the kitchen. The house was full of thieves. If he didn't keep an eye out, the rice porridge and pancakes he made would probably disappear!
Gu Tang regretted her decision soon after she entered the main room, especially after she lifted the curtain at the door of the east room. The strong smell of feces and urine hit her in the face, catching her off guard. She quickly stepped back and vomited a few times!
Is this room a toilet?!
No! Even the pit toilets in winter don’t stink like this!
Putting down the tray, Gu Tang's face twisted.
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