Zhao Ce looked at the things Zhao Youcai brought. Inside was enough white rice to last for a few days, with two small cloth bags on top. One bag contained salt, about the size of pigeon eggs, while the other bag was a small bag of black and yellow sugar cubes.
Looking at these, Zhao Ce felt a warmth in his heart. The moldy white rice in the kitchen was also brought by Zhao Youcai before.
Except for Zhao Wenhua, who was studying in the city, the rest of Zhao Youcai's family only ate white rice during the New Year. But because Zhao Ce was a student, he was given white rice.
These sugar cubes and salt were even more precious in the countryside. When rural people talked about "nourishing the body," they were referring to drinking a bowl of light sugar water. Only those with money would buy meat for their reading children. This small bag of sugar, when mixed with water, could last for quite a while. In short, these three things were all things that ordinary farmers couldn't afford, so Zhao Ce was very moved.
Remembering the hurtful things he had said to Zhao Youcai before, Zhao Ce thought that when he became successful, he would definitely show filial piety to him.
But...
Looking at these two small bags of salt and sugar cubes, an idea suddenly came to Zhao Ce's mind. He thought of a fast way to make money! If we talk about the profitable industries in ancient times, then none other than the salt industry.
The salt that rural people ate was all coarse. Even if we don't talk about refining coarse salt into refined salt, the method of refining rock salt from salt mines, Zhao Ce knew them all.
However, even if he knew how to do it, he didn't dare to enter this industry. Nowadays, salt is not allowed to be produced privately. Even if he made it himself, there would be nowhere to sell it. If he was accidentally reported, he could lose his life in a minute.
He was now a powerless little student, with no one to protect him. So he didn't want to do this kind of thing. However, these sugar cubes could be used in many ways!
At this time, most sugars were not like the clean crystal-like sugar in later generations. It contained a lot of impurities and was black and yellow. Even white sugar, or sugar with fewer impurities, was not something that wealthy families had every day. Because at this time, only a few people had mastered the technology of refining white sugar.
Zhao Ce remembered that he had once read on the Internet about Marco Polo's travels, which described how several people from Babylon taught the Chinese to refine white sugar using wood charcoal. However, this method was not as effective as the activated carbon in later generations.
Therefore, white sugar could not be mass-produced. Later, it was not until the end of the Ming Dynasty that the book "Tiangong Kaiwu" appeared, and a more simple and advanced method for refining white sugar than using wood charcoal was spread.
That is the yellow mud water dripping sugar method. After this method was developed, white sand sugar finally appeared, similar to that of later generations. Zhao Ce had also seen this method, but he couldn't use the yellow mud water dripping sugar method for now. So he could only use the relatively backward wood charcoal method.
Although this method was ancient, it could still refine almost the same quality of white sugar with today's production technology, and it could probably sell for a good price.
After thinking it through, Zhao Ce took the bag of things and happily walked towards the kitchen.
The hardworking little girl had already cleaned up the room and had returned to the kitchen. She stood in front of the large water tank that reached up to her chest, seemingly contemplating how to wash it.
She stretched out her small hands, calloused and slightly cracked, grabbing the edge of the tank. Her eyebrows furrowed tightly. "One, two, three, lift!" After some effort, the tank remained unmoved. Su Caier took a few breaths and frowned, squatting down.
Underneath the tank, there was a lot of dry mud that had accumulated due to neglect. She thought that this mud was limiting her ability to lift the tank.
She turned around and went into the kitchen, finding a stick. Squatting down, she began to dig out the mud from the base of the tank. As she worked, she heard the footsteps of her husband approaching from behind. She raised her sweaty little head and called out to Zhao Ce, "Husband." Zhao Ce nodded and said, "Uncle came over again earlier and brought us something." "What are you doing?"
Su Caier pointed at the tank. "The tank is too dirty, it needs to be washed and filled with water." Zhao Ce looked at the heavy tank he had seen before in the countryside when he was young and thought he could handle it.
He handed the bag he was holding to the little girl on the ground. "You take this inside, I'll wash the tank." Su Caier looked at her husband's hands, which had never done any manual labor before, and refused, "I'll do it." "Husband, you're a scholar, you shouldn't be doing this kind of rough work."
Then Su Caier felt her hand, which was holding the stick, being grabbed by a warm and large hand. Zhao Ce directly lifted the little girl, who was holding the stick, up from the ground. He handed her the bag and said, "Take it inside." "The things inside are valuable, so you need to put them away."
When Su Caier heard that the things inside were valuable, she hugged the bag tightly. However, she also felt that her hands were dirty and had soiled the contents inside. "Go inside, wash your hands, and then deal with it." Su Caier quickly nodded her head, took the bag, and went into the kitchen. She didn't even think about her own legs and feet, walking quickly to the courtyard to wash her hands.
When she turned around, she saw her husband lifting the tank with ease, his robe's hem tucked into his waistband. "Huh? Is it that light?" She looked down and saw a circular imprint left by the tank over the years, surrounded by a ring of dirt. There were also many small reptiles inside that were scurrying around due to the sudden brightness.
Zhao Ce didn't say anything about it being dirty. He was amazed that he was able to lift the tank so easily. Was it because his body had been strengthened after crossing over? However, the tank was still too heavy to carry. He simply rolled the tank to the edge of the well.
Su Caier looked at her husband's body and then down at her small frame. She touched herself and realized that men and women really had such a big difference. Not only in body shape but also in strength. After coming back to her senses, she said, "Husband, let me wash it?"
Zhao Ce waved his hand. "I can do it, you can go."
"If there's anything heavy to move, just call me."
After saying that, he picked up a bucket and poured bucket of water directly into the water tank. Although his movements were a bit awkward, the process was almost complete.
Seeing that her husband could indeed wash, Su Caier no longer hesitated and went straight to the kitchen.
Zhao Ce cleaned the water tank and moved it to a new place. He fetched water from the well and filled the water tank. He clapped his hands and wiped the sweat off his forehead. This way, he would be able to go out tomorrow and the little girl at home could directly take water from the water tank. Zhao Ce nodded in satisfaction and walked into the kitchen.
The little girl was putting the moldy rice from the rice bin into bowls. When she saw Zhao Ce come in, she kindly poured him a bowl of water to drink. Zhao Ce took a sip of the ice-cold and sweet well water, and the little girl sat next to him.
The two small cloth bags were placed on the table, and Su Caier happily said, "Husband, Uncle brought salt and sugar."
Hearing the little girl's happy tone, Zhao Ce's mood also improved and he nodded. He said, "There isn't much, let's use it first. When we make money, we can buy more to stock up at home."
As he spoke, he seemed to have forgotten that he was currently very poor. The only property left in the house was a piece of land contract for two acres of low-quality farmland.
After thinking about it, Zhao Ce asked the little girl across from him, "Have you ever seen white sugar?"
Su Caier shook her head honestly. Not to mention white sugar, she had only seen this kind of sugar block at her aunt's house. At that time, her aunt had caught her looking at the sugar blocks in her house and was afraid that she would take them, so she quickly hid them.
Zhao Ce smiled and said, "It's okay, today you not only get to see it, but you also get to taste it."