To make sugar from beets, the most important step is to add milk of lime, and the proportions need to be carefully controlled, similar to making tofu which requires experimenting with the amounts.
First, wash the beets clean, then remove the outer rough skin and roots.
After bringing the cleaned beet roots home, grate them into shreds and soak them in warm water. After that, filter the juice and start adding the milk of lime.
Once this process is done, filter again, and the juice can then be placed on the heat to be boiled down. The liquid will become thicker and the color will darken.
The sugar water will turn into a paste, and eventually into sugar crystals. During the frying process, keep adding a little sugar water to the pan and continue frying.
When all the liquid has turned into brown sand-like grains, it means success has been achieved.
The first two times were thin sugar syrup, while the third time is brown sugar crystals. Wen Qian thought this should be considered brown sugar.
Wen Qian packed the sugar into jars, and did not waste the sugar syrup either, collecting it as well.
The homemade sugar was not as fine as the white granulated sugar she had stockpiled, but it could still be traded. The first person she traded with was her neighbor.
To make white sugar, the process would be even more complicated, though it was possible but unnecessary, as industrial sugar production before the calamity had achieved that level of quality and yield.
But in all honesty, for her alone to produce sugar in large batches would be extremely laborious.
So she didn't plan to build a sugar refinery afterward, and just intended to finish processing the beets in her space.
After all, the demand here was limited, and it was time-consuming and laborious. Compared to making sugar from beets, she preferred the taste of malt sugar.
However, now that she had mastered this skill, it wouldn't be too difficult for her to do it again in the future.
Often, she was training her hands-on abilities. The methods and techniques she knew were only on paper, and if not put into practice, would forever remain mere theory.
When truly needed, there were few chances of success on the first try, so she practiced in advance so that whenever it was needed, she could execute immediately.
As the saying goes, you're never too old to learn. Since she had ready methods and books available, she tried everything the conditions permitted.
Beets, sugarcane, and malt - apart from honey, she had tried all the other sugar sources.
Of the brown sugar she made, she kept only a portion for herself and traded the rest at the market. The surplus was bought by the grocery store owner.
The grocery store owner suggested that if Wen Qian had more of this kind of sugar in the future, she could consign it with him, so he wouldn't need to bring as much sugar back when restocking goods.
The grocery store owner was probably the one in this area who went into town most often. Whenever the topic of the town came up, he became more talkative.
Wen Qian had never been to town before, so she was a bit curious and talked to the owner for a while.
The owner told her that if she ever went to town to buy goods, she could go with them.
Traveling alone on the road these days meant there was a chance of running into bandits and ruffians, just like depicted in old TV shows.
Those who managed to escape recounted their experiences, while many more likely died silently on the road, their bodies never found.
Spring and autumn were generally peak seasons. In spring, many people would take the furs and animal skins collected over winter to trade for money, while in autumn, many stocked up on supplies for the winter.
In spring, they would be robbed of their furs on the way out, and of their money on the way back.
In autumn, they would be robbed of their money on the way out, and of their winter supplies on the way back.
Those traders going around buying things usually had bodyguards, otherwise it would be impossible to take a single step.
After staying at the grocery store for a while, Wen Qian left empty-handed.
Sometimes she would make plans with her neighbors to go out together. Ni Sha would set out early and call out when she reached near Wen Qian's house, while the Big Jin Family would come a day in advance to make arrangements.
Most of the time they went together, but Wen Qian was different. Sometimes there was no market day but she needed to go to the grocery store to trade things, so she would go alone.
More importantly, at times the things she carried exceeded her capacity. If she went with others, it would be inconvenient for her to transfer items into her space.
So the more she carried, the more likely she was to go alone. When going with her neighbors, she would carry less.
Since she had the opportunity to trade, Wen Qian no longer put all her belongings into her space like before, instead taking them to exchange for money or other goods.
However, with so many items for trading, she inevitably drew unwanted attention.
Some people had no real business and spent their days scheming to steal and rob. On this day, they had set their sights on Wen Qian.
A not tall nor sturdy woman, alone leaving this village. Although she had a gun, if ambushed, they would surely succeed.
They thought since she didn't carry anything out of the store, she must have exchanged her previous goods for money.
Wen Qian took the main road, while they took the small path, following her from a distance.
Initially they didn't act when near the village, as the terrain was too flat and open.
One should know that at this time, whether stealing or robbing, if caught, everyone would cry for their beating.
They could only wait until she went further before acting. But unexpectedly, after passing through a small path, they lost sight of the woman's trail.
Their heart sank, wondering if they had been discovered. But she couldn't fly, so how could she have shaken them off so quickly?
They calmed down, thinking she must be hiding. After all, she was the one afraid, so she hid.
Their mood lightened, imagining her hiding in a panic, not daring to move or breathe. If they found her now, she would be startled.
For some reason, they felt like a cat playing with a mouse. Cats don't usually catch mice to eat, but to play. Now they could relate to the cat's curiosity.
The next second, they pushed through the bushes with their gun, spotting a faint hat tip in the distance, and quickened their pace.
Pushing through the last bush, they saw a hat - the woman's hat, now stuck on a wooden pole embedded in the ground.
Wen Qian was indeed playing cat and mouse, but she was the cat.
As they angrily reached out, grabbed the hat and threw it to the ground, a hand grenade fell out from inside.
This type of stick grenade was once very common in TV shows. The person felt their heart skip a beat in shock.
His instinctive reaction was to take three steps back and jump into the nearby bushes. As he fell to the ground, Wen Qian shot him.
The man who was shot immediately lost all his strength, and at that moment, he deeply regretted not realizing that the woman had such a bomb.
Powerless, he tried to roll over, but his back was excruciatingly painful. Lying on the ground, he gripped a gun in his hand but couldn't find a target to shoot at.
Unable to raise his head, his vision was limited to the nearby grass. If someone were to approach from behind...
He kept trembling, but to no avail. He seemed to hear rustling sounds from the bushes.
He felt blood on his body, but it appeared to be only one wound. It was then that he realized he was not injured by a bomb but rather by a gunshot.
