The three large basins of lychees were delivered, so of course they had to indulge in eating them to their heart's content.
Old Lady Jiang was not petty. With a wave of her hand, she had Tan Yue deliver one basin to the west wing, one basin to Madam Jiang and her daughter, and stressed, “The three basins are identical. This old lady has never played favorites.”
The rest were divided among the palace maids and errand boys, another platter was iced to serve later, and the remainder was all sent to the main kitchen to be made into dishes.
While Old Lady Jiang was giving orders, Jiang Sheng was also not idle and pulled Zheng Ruqian aside to whisper to him.
“Second Brother, how did you know about the relationship between the Jiang family and the Liao family? Also, how did you know the Fengjing lychees were the Liao family’s responsibility?”
Zheng Ruqian gave a mischievous laugh. “Did you forget that we have Little Wu?”
Initially, when the lychees were transported back from Lingnan, it was just to get a piece of the profit.
When the little maid came to snitch, Zheng Ruqian was more furious than rational, wishing he could rush into the Jiang house with the sack.
It was not until Chang Yan carefully analyzed the situation in Fengjing that he realized this was a great opportunity. So he changed from a sack to basin packaging and specially picked the reddest, biggest ones.
In business, one looks not only at capability but also luck.
Seize opportunities as they arise can lead to great success.
“It's all thanks to you, thanks to the Jiang family,” Zheng Ruqian bared his teeth in a grin. “As long as the lychees sell well and transportation continues, we'll have a steady lychee supply.”
“Really?” Jiang Sheng laughed happily behind her hand, as if she had already eaten countless lychees.
What good children they were.
Old Lady Jiang's eyes crinkled into crescents from a distance. She did not disturb their tête-à-tête which lasted a full half a hour.
When it was almost dinnertime and Jiang Sheng’s stomach began rumbling loudly, Zheng Ruqian stood up. “I should get going now and bid Old Lady farewell.”
“Leaving already?” She was filled with reluctance. “Why not eat dinner first before you go?”
Old Lady Jiang also looked over. “Stay for dinner. We’re having a fine lychee feast.”
The Jiang family head chef did have some skill. Yesterday’s meat porridge was truly delicious.
Zheng Ruqian also couldn’t bear to leave his sister. After hardening his heart, he gritted out, “Then I'll impose on Old Lady.”
He had completely forgotten that his three younger brothers were still waiting for him back in their courtyard to start dinner.
Xu Mo, Wen Zhiyun, and Chang Yan: “......”
The main kitchen worked efficiently. In just one teacup of time, the lychee feast was neatly presented.
The first dish was pan fried lychees. Whole peeled lychees without pits were placed in honey and slowly heated to allow the warm syrup to suffuse the entire fruit. Not only was it sweet and delicious, it could also be preserved for a long time. This was a method used hundreds of years ago to preserve lychees.
Next was stir fried lychee and shrimp. The soft sweet fruit and the crispy shrimp paired simply with a bit of salt for a light refreshing taste.
There was also lychee tea, lychee stewed meat and other dishes, fully utilizing the lifelong lychee cooking skills of the chefs.
Tan Yue watched without blinking. “Thanks to the young miss, my horizons have expanded. It’s a feast that even those in the palace can’t enjoy that easily.”
Upon hearing this, Jiang Sheng started feeling doubtful. She had only heard lychees were expensive but didn’t know specifics or how much these three basins cost.
“The Liao family sells them for fifty taels of silver per catty,” Old Lady Jiang explained to resolve her confusion.
Jiang Sheng was so shocked her hand shook and the piece of lychee she had picked up with her chopsticks fell down.
What?! Fifty taels of silver?!!!
For these three overflowing basins, how much would that be? Was she even worthy of eating this?
Jiang Sheng anxiously turned hoping her second brother could tell her lychees were not actually that expensive.
“In their native Lingnan, lychees can be bought for just a hundred wen,” Zheng Ruqian carefully explained. “The key is transportation since the journey is too long and the fruit is too delicate with a short shelf life.”
Thanks to a favorite concubine from a previous dynasty who loved lychees, the emperor spent a lifetime constructing the Lingnan Official Road. Coming and going now took only ten days by fast horse.
To preserve freshness, ancient people had all kinds of ingenious methods.
Some packed the lychees in bamboo tubes sealed with wax. Some mixed ice and straw or wool when storing. A past emperor even tried transplanting entire lychee trees over at great expense to the people before abandoning the plan.
It was discovered a hundred years ago that as long as lychees remained on the branches, they could continue drawing moisture and paired with ice storage, would stay fresh without spoiling for ten days. Only then could the nobility also try this exotic southern fruit.
While it seemed easy for large scale transportation, there was one prerequisite - the lychees had to remain on the branches.
With branches included and everything wrapped in ice and cotton for padding, the space taken up was far more than could be described by basins and buckets.
It was only when Zheng Ruqian delivered lychees to the Jiang family that he discovered the full cart he transported only yielded three basins of fruit, around thirty to forty catties.
By the Liao family's pricing...
Jiang Sheng’s heart started palpitating and the meat in her mouth no longer tasted good.
Zheng Ruqian smiled reassuringly. “As long as the fruit sells, what’s three basins eaten? The profit comes after.”
As a businessman, one needed vision and strategy, sometimes giving something up to gain something later.
Jiang Sheng nodded with tears in her eyes and swallowed mouthfuls rapidly.
Since it was already cooked, it couldn’t turn back into silver anyway. Not eating it would be wasteful.
At the end of the meal, Old Lady Jiang took charge and had the untouched dishes packed in oiled paper to be given to the young masters of the other courtyard.
Zheng Ruqian bowed and expressed thanks. Carrying seven or eight packages, he bid farewell with the gleaming Jiang San and Jiang Si and Wang Xiaosong.
Jiang Sheng sent them all the way to the main entrance, reluctant to part.
The siblings had relied on each other to survive for four and a half years. Growing up together until now, Xu Mo was lost on the path of the imperial examinations. Zheng Ruqian had also found his money making amusements. She heard Wen Zhiyunwas buried in his medical studies while Chang Yan had started researching wood in hopes of becoming a master craftsman.
Previously, Jiang Sheng could expand the workshop and manage Jiuzhen Workshop, having her own happiness and pursuits.
But now, she could only stand inside the Jiang family gates watching her eldest brother walking farther and farther away while she wandered around alone.
Perhaps she should learn the rules and become a noble young miss from a good family. When she came of age, she would choose a suitable husband to have children and continue the family line while still caring for her maternal clan.
Zheng Ruqian was still turning back on the street waving reluctantly.
Jiang Sheng raised the corners of her lips, but the light in her eyes grew dimmer and dimmer until it completely disappeared.
Behind her Old Lady Jiang heaved a long sigh and slowly closed her eyes as she shook her head.
Tan Yue struggled forward holding a bulging package in her arms.
What was this about?
Jiang Sheng turned, confused and puzzled.
“Silly girl,” Old Lady Jiang said gently. “Go catch up to him. Your brothers still need your help.”
Let her be selfish and keep you one more day, but she could not keep you forever.
The Jiang household was not virtuous grounds and the Liao family could never achieve fairness. Rather than let Jiang Sheng stay and be wronged, it was better to set her free.
The string connecting a kite and the kite flyer had been severed eleven years ago. It could not be rebound.
“Go now, my dear,” Old Lady Jiang urged with a smile as she gestured at the nearly disappeared figure of Zheng Ruqian in the distance.
Jiang Sheng did not dare hesitate anymore. Grabbing the package she took off in pursuit, as if chasing her own free future.
Her figure drew from near to far, from clear to blurred, from dignified maiden to swaddled babe.
Old Lady Jiang calmly turned and a teardrop finally slid from the corner of her eye before instantly vanishing without a trace, just as her lost then found then lost again beloved granddaughter had.
