Jiang Sheng was beginning to doubt that the ancients were just making things up.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xianglian was stubborn. She rolled up her sleeves and said firmly, "Since this is the case, I will give it a try!"
As the weather grew hotter, the production of cured meats at Hairpin Courtyard gradually decreased. By July and August, they were basically selling the stock from the winter. She didn't have much else to do.
Making meals for the children became Zhang Xianglian's favorite thing to do.
Since Jiang Sheng was curious, she rolled up her sleeves to try it out, even using her own private money to buy ten chicks.
Killing and cleaning the chickens was simple, but when it came to curing them, Zhang Xianglian ran into some trouble. Jiang Sheng had only said to cure the chicks for a day, but didn't say what to cure them with.
Luckily Jiang Sheng had read through the miscellany again last night, and confidently said, "The book says to fry the spices in salt."
Unfortunately the miscellany only gave a simple description, and wasn't a cookbook, so it didn't mention which spices were used.
So Zhang Xianglian just used all the spices for curing meat, fried them in salt, and evenly coated the ten chicks.
After curing for a day, she shook off the salt and hung them to dry next to the cured meats and sausages.
After about ten days, the skins of the chicks were dry, but they were still some ways away from being ground into powder.
Just then, weather conditions meant that if they dried any longer they would rot.
Zhang Xianglian had no choice but to switch to baking. After charring two chickens, she finally baked eight chicks until crispy, then ground them into a fine powder with a roller, and added it to the noodle dough.
When cooking the noodles, she really did just use clear water, but the noodles with chicken powder certainly wouldn't lack flavor.
The plain white water noodles described in the ancient text, which Zhang Auntie had painstakingly recreated after Jiang Sheng brought them up, now sat in the center of the table, awaiting tasting by the five children.
"Is this really the legendary white water noodles that are so delicious people can't stop eating them?" Jiang Sheng curiously circled the bowl of noodles.
Zheng Ruqian was exhausted after days of hiring workers. Listlessly he said, "If you're curious just try some."
Before his voice faded, the noodle bowl was pushed in front of Xu Mo.
Jiang Sheng obediently and cutely said, "Big brother worked the hardest, big brother should try first."
Xu Mo smiled and said, "Little sister brought it up, little sister should try first."
Seeing the noodles were doomed to be passed back and forth,
Zhang Xianglian came to the rescue with four more bowls of noodles. "Stop deferring, there's enough for everyone."
Five children, five bowls of noodles, perfectly divided so everyone had their share.
Jiang Sheng finally picked up her chopsticks with peace of mind, fished out a noodle, and carefully placed it in her mouth to taste it.
At first it just tasted like an ordinary noodle, but upon careful chewing the rich chicken flavor emerged, combining the chewiness of the noodles with the chicken's richness, and occasionally you could taste little bits of chicken that enhanced the mouthfeel of the entire bowl.
"How is it, delicious?" Zhang Xianglian, who had worked hard for over ten days, anxiously asked.
Jiang Sheng nodded sincerely.
Delicious was secondary. Most important was that something from an ancient text had truly appeared before her eyes. Although Auntie Zhang had made it, it was her idea that had discovered the existence of white water noodles.
For the first time, Jiang Sheng felt the appeal of learning.
At the same time, Zheng Ruqian put down his empty noodle bowl. "Auntie, do you have any more of these noodles? Could you give me some?"
Zhang Xianglian smiled and responded, "There's still a lot, I've sliced them up and put them on the cutting board."
When Zheng Ruqian went into the kitchen, Zhang Qiquan and Liu Cui were also tasting the white water noodles, praising them endlessly. Seeing him pick up the remaining noodles, Zhang Qiquan reacted the fastest. "Second young master, are you planning to sell these noodles to You Ran House?"
"To let Shopkeeper Hao have a taste." Zheng Ruqian grinned, refusing to mention anything about selling.
Zhang Qiquan knew this kid must still want to raise the price.
White water noodles were not easy to make, so they certainly couldn't be sold cheaply. As for how high the price could go, that depended on Zheng Ruqian's glib tongue.
The next day.
Zheng Ruqian went to You Ran House again, and got an order for fifty pounds of white water noodles. Just the deposit was ten taels of silver, and there would be forty taels left upon delivery of the goods.
In other words, the white water noodles were being sold at the astronomical price of one tael of silver per pound.
Zhang Xianglian was shocked, and so was Jiang Sheng.
The road ahead was obscured, the path covered in fog. Everyone was taking it step by step, either testing the waters or taking losses.
But a chance bowl of white water noodles allowed Jiang Sheng and Zhang Xianglian to gradually see the way forward, and feel out a path that belonged to them.
Of the two, Zhang Xianglian's path was clearer.
She knew she didn't have many skills, and was a divorced woman, who for the rest of her life didn't want to remarry again or bear more children.
She treated all the children at Hairpin Courtyard as her own, but as the children grew up, the role of mother alone felt too thin. Especially going from cured meats to sausages to cured fish, and now to white water noodles, Zhang Xianglian was no longer satisfied with just caring for the children well.
She wanted to live her own life beyond just "mother" and "wife". She wanted to play a role other than those two.
The white water noodles were just a beginning. Zhang Xianglian secretly decided she would make more delicious foods, expand the workshop's business, and if she lived long enough, open her own shop - nothing could be more wonderful than that.
Jiang Sheng's thoughts were much simpler. After appreciating the benefits of learning, she studied much harder than before.
Not only did she finish reading the miscellany her big brother had sent, she asked for two more books.
Considering she didn't need to study for the exams, Xu Mo had given her books that could broaden her horizons and increase her knowledge, rather than the Four Books, Five Classics, or books on women's etiquette.
Perhaps time flies when you're studying.
In a flash, it was time to post the rankings.
Jiang San and Jiang Si had already come back with new roast duck, the two martial arts practitioners had rushed back and forth day and night, and had even lost some weight.
Zheng Ruqian told them to rest well, and arranged for some newly hired men, led by Wang Xiaosong, to continue transporting roast duck to Anshui Prefecture, while he accompanied everyone else to await news at Hairpin Courtyard.
According to Anshui Prefecture's custom, the top three were not posted on the boards, but personally notified at home.
But today, though there had already been several rounds of wailing and sobbing, some overly excited, some incredulous, there was no sound of gongs and drums.
Jiang Sheng wondered, "Could big brother not be in the top three?"
If so they'd have to go check the boards themselves.
As noon approached, the siblings could no longer sit still. They tidied up and rushed straight to the boards at the gates of the tribute academy.
Starting from the back, they counted up one by one, but Xu Mo's name never appeared.
As they neared the top, with only two or three names left, Jiang Sheng's back was drenched in sweat.
Just then, a clamor of gongs and drums sounded behind them.
