Jiang Sheng was furious, but she swallowed her words. She was about to say that no one should buy Liao's lychees, no matter how cheap they were. But in the blink of an eye, her fifth brother Chang Yan suggested that they go to buy lychees from the Liaos.
He must be crazy.
"I'm not crazy. The Liaos are willing to lower their prices. We'll take them up on that price. Anyway, it's about the same. We can buy all of the Liaos' lychees and then resell them..." As Chang Yan spoke, his eyes grew brighter.
As long as they could sell for over ten taels, they would make a steady profit without any extra effort. They could make money without lifting a finger.
It was a good idea.
"But there's one key thing - lychees don't keep overnight," Zheng Ruqian doused them with a bucket of cold water. "If lychees could keep for a long time, they wouldn't be so expensive."
Chang Yan fell silent.
It turned out that even the invincible fifth younger brother had moments of failure. He looked disappointed and unwilling, opening and closing his mouth several times before sighing, "If only lychees could keep for longer."
Yes, if only they could keep for longer.
Everyone kept sighing despondently, wracking their brains and thinking hard.
Zhang Xianglian felt bad for the kids and brought over some tea and a few handfuls of lychees. She took the lychees outside, rinsed them clean, and casually flung the dirty water onto the bare earth.
The person hiding there was startled. They scrambled out, revealing a thin face and slightly sunken belly.
"Master Kong?" Zhang Xianglian exclaimed in surprise and some awkwardness.
She had thought her heart was decided, and she hadn't felt regret or longing on ordinary days. But seeing him like this, her heart roiled despite herself.
Especially seeing the emaciated state of the master chef, she truly felt guilty and a little sad.
"What are you doing here?" Zhang Xianglian took out a handkerchief and wiped the dirt off him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you were there just now. Do you want to go to Jiuzhen Store and change your clothes?"
"No need." The master's voice was hoarse. "I thought Miss Zhang wouldn't bother with me anymore."
Zhang Xianglian's wiping motion halted, and she silently put away her handkerchief.
Master Kong regretted his words immediately. "I didn't mean it that way. Miss Zhang, please continue... No no, give that to me and I'll wipe myself."
"A handkerchief can't wipe you clean," Zhang Xianglian forced a smile. "I'll go grab a towel. Master Kong, please wait here."
As she turned to leave, Master Kong frantically stopped her. "Miss Zhang, I can't even talk to you now? I... I can't even come buy pastries anymore?"
"Of course you can." Zhang Xianglian drew back, putting some distance between them. "Jiuzhen Store always welcomes customers."
She got up with the lychees in hand and went inside.
Master Kong agonized over it before following her in.
At that moment, Zheng Ruqian was pounding the table. "How can we preserve lychees? Should we dry them? But dried lychees are a completely different price from fresh lychees."
There were countless dried lychees in Lingnan that didn't require ice and took up less space. A single trip could transport hundreds of catties.
Wen Zhiyun timidly raised her hand. "I know - dried lychees can be used in medicine and go for two taels of silver per catty."
Zheng Ruqian frustratingly turned his head and listlessly greeted Master Kong when he noticed him. "Master Kong is here."
"What are you all discussing with such excitement?" Master Kong made idle chitchat, his eyes stuck on Zhang Xianglian like glue.
Zheng Ruqian was in no mood to answer.
Jiang Sheng looked up. "We're trying to figure out how to preserve lychees, ideally for a couple months."
"That's easy - just put them on ice," Master Kong responded absently.
The five siblings sat up straight.
Ice storage had already become popular since the previous dynasty. Iced milk pudding and iced mountain hawthorn jelly were aristocratic favorites, and even commoners could drink a bowl of chilled mung bean soup.
But that kind of ice usually half-melted immediately on contact, turning into water with just a trace of coolness.
"Master Kong, putting them on ice doesn't work!" Jiang Sheng sidled up to him. "The lychees were iced for ten days during transport, but they still go bad no matter how long you ice them."
Zheng Ruqian nodded along beside her.
"You transported the lychees in wooden crates with ice in between layers. That's not the same as putting them directly on ice," Master Kong said dispiritedly. "Do you know what can be preserved the longest in this world?"
It was still ice.
Ice from winter could be kept until summer, then kept again from summer until the next winter. As long as it was properly insulated, even ice a few years old could be found.
Chang Yan caught on to the key point. "Does Master Kong mean we should also turn the lychees into ice so they can be stored like ice?"
This time, Master Kong didn't reply. He gazed blankly at Zhang Xianglian's back, his eyes brimming with tears.
Exchanging a look with Zheng Ruqian, Chang Yan neatly stood up and had Mrs. Zhang take a seat.
"What's going on?" Zhang Xianglian was completely confused.
Chang Yan smiled. "Auntie, it seems we've found a way to preserve lychees thanks to the master chef."
"Really?" Zhang Xianglian was both shocked and delighted. "Master Kong, you really know how to preserve lychees?"
Before Master Kong could open his mouth, Zheng Ruqian cleared his throat. "Auntie has known the master chef for so long, there's no harm in calling him Brother Kong. Always calling him Master sounds too formal."
"That's right, we should call him Uncle Kong too," Jiang Sheng chimed in with nods.
These calculating rascals!
Sensing something off, Zhang Xianglian still softly called, "Brother Kong."
"Yes, yes, I'm here!" Master Kong was revived.
Chang Yan smiled. "It's simple to preserve lychees - just ice them thoroughly," he directed like a strategist. "With enough quantity, you can freeze the flesh into ice blocks too. As long as the ice supply lasts, you can store them for however long you want. That's how You Ran House makes its iced milk puddings and jellies, which are very popular."
In other words, they needed ice, lots of ice.
Zheng Ruqian started calculating. He had to ensure that even including ice costs, there was still profit to be made on the lychees.
Otherwise, all their efforts would be profitless.
"But ice is expensive," Jiang Sheng muttered. "For twenty days of lychees, we'd need a thousand taels of ice."
The kids fell silent, heads bowed as they puzzled over calculations.
Zhang Xianglian felt bad for them and looked hopefully to the master chef again.
"Now now, ice can't be calculated that way," Master Kong quickly stepped forward. "A block of ice melts at very different speeds in a carriage versus a cellar."
Especially with massive quantities, the melting was almost imperceptible.
Zheng Ruqian had an epiphany, his face lighting up excitedly.
If enough ice could preserve lychees, he could buy up the Liaos' entire month of lychees and sell them at inflated prices in September. That would be a steady profit.
Now there was only one question left.
Would lychees still taste good after being frozen then thawed?
"Why thaw them?" Master Kong was baffled. "Can't you just eat the lychee ice directly? Best to pit them, mix in some osmanthus honey, cheese cubes, or other fillings. As long as it tastes good, there will still be buyers."
As expected of a master chef from a fancy restaurant. Just a few casual sentences cracked the puzzle the kids had been wracking their brains over.
Zheng Ruqian's eyes shone as he eagerly told Wang Xiaosong to prepare ice blocks, osmanthus honey, cheese, and more.
Zhang Xianglian was filled with gratitude and took the initiative to say, "Brother Kong really has good ideas to even think of such an unusual preservation method."
"Oh, not at all." Master Kong's face visibly reddened. "I've made lychee banquets at You Ran House before. One dish was lychees pitted and filled with osmanthus honey, then frozen into ice to be served."
Unfortunately, the banquet's hostess Lady Jiang had poor teeth and awarded the thawed lychee ice to the servants after trying it.
At the time, Master Kong regretted it for a long while. But later he figured few could afford lychees or ice, so he discarded the dish from memory.
"I just happened to recall it today." He suddenly became serious. "Miss Zhang, I can only provide the method, but I can't guarantee if anyone will buy this or if it'll sell. I can't make any promises."
This was the time when one's integrity showed through.
Master Kong didn't have to say this. He could have kept enjoying Zhang Xianglian's fawning.
But for the sake of his conscience and righteous character, he decided to be honest even if it meant closing the door on this opportunity.
"I understand, Brother Kong," Zhang Xianglian's heart stirred slightly. "Thank you anyway."
Only then did Master Kong relax.
After some time, Zheng Ruqian brought over a plate of lychee ice.
Due to time constraints, it wasn't frozen solid, but it had an icy mouthfeel. Biting into it was refreshing, pairing beautifully with the light but unsweet osmanthus honey inside. It was an uncommon flavor.
The version with cheese was also delicious, providing another texture.
There were also apple stuffed, pear stuffed, and even stuffed with meat, but because it was overly dark, only Jiang Sheng was willing to try. Then she spit it out with a "wow".
"It looks like meat can't be put in," Xu Mo summarized. "Apples and pears are just okay, cheese cubes taste the best, followed by osmanthus honey."
Now there was only one question left.
"Will anyone buy this lychee ice?"
It was thought more hard thinking would be needed, but Zheng Ruqian gave a decisive answer, "They will, trust me."
Under the White Water Surface Workshop was a cellar, filled with ice that could store thousands of catties of lychees.
Now, it was their turn to take action.
"Let's go, collect Liao's lychees!"
