Da Zhuang prepared the rabbit meat, He Xiaoya cooked the rice, and Li Yao took the opportunity to take a nice bath and change into clean clothes. She then personally chopped the rabbit meat into pea-sized cubes, put them in a bowl, and tossed them with salt and pepper powder before adding some starch to marinate.
The side dish was naturally a big plate full of fresh green chili peppers.
He Xiaoya had never seen chili peppers before and found them very novel.
"Mother, what are these?"
"These are called chili peppers, they are very tasty. You can try them later."
Li Yao poured oil into the wok and heated it to 70% hot before frying the rabbit cubes briefly and taking them out to drain.
She left some oil in the wok and added lots of Sichuan peppercorn, garlic, ginger, and green onion. After the aromas came out, she added the chili peppers and rabbit cubes and stir-fried them over high heat.
The firewood stove's flame was very strong. Soon the wok was steaming and the familiar, appetizing aroma filled the entire kitchen.
Once the rabbit was thoroughly cooked, a plate of fragrant and spicy Kung Pao rabbit was ready.
Li Yao couldn't wait to pick up her chopsticks and put a piece of rabbit in her mouth. The first thing she tasted was a strong flavor of freshness.
The fresh ginger greatly reduced the gaminess of the rabbit meat and made it taste fresher, an effect that other cooking methods could not achieve.
Next was the tenderness. The oiled rabbit cubes locked in moisture and tasted just like fish.
Finally came the numbness and spiciness. It was like a fire igniting in her mouth, recklessly stimulating her tongue and lips. It felt like all her pores were blasted open at once, and tiny beads of sweat instantly appeared. She felt refreshed all over.
It had been so long since she last ate such spicy chili peppers. Li Yao admitted she couldn't quite take the heat, but strangely enough, the spicier it was, the more she wanted to eat it. Though the spiciness was already too much to bear, her chopsticks honestly reached for the plate again.
"You should try it too," she said.
Da Zhuang and He Xiaoya picked up their chopsticks and carefully ate a little. As if on cue, they both cried out at the same time.
"So spicy!"
"Ow... too spicy, can't take it..."
The two quickly drank several big gulps of water to recover.
"Mother, this is way too spicy, we can't eat it at all," He Xiaoya said.
Li Yao just smiled without replying.
You think it's too spicy now, but later you'll be fighting over it.
By now, the rice in the pot had also steamed thoroughly. Li Yao scooped out a big bowlful. The tender rabbit cubes and chili peppers perfectly complemented the rice, an absolute delight.
Unconsciously, she had polished off the entire plate of Kung Pao rabbit, and the rice in the pot was all gone too. Still wanting more, Li Yao used the crispy rice crust to soak up the oily soup, and each bite was fragrant and crispy, as good as Peking duck!
After eating her fill and drinking a bowl of refreshing lemon honey water, Li Yao suddenly felt her life was perfect.
The only regret was that there were too few chili peppers.
Not daring to indulge further, Li Yao pickled the remaining green chili peppers and put them in jars to use for seasoning dishes later.
She divided the red chili peppers into two portions. One portion she made into chili oil, and the other she threaded onto thin strings to hang under the eaves to dry.
Dried red chilies could be used not only for cooking but also for hot pot. The seeds could be planted next year. Just thinking about hot pot made Li Yao drool again.
She had been away in the mountains for so long, the dam was already half built. At this rate, it would be fully completed in a month at most.
During her absence, the Song County Magistrate had also been busy with infrastructure projects, and inspired by her, he also planned to mobilize villagers to build small reservoirs in each village.
But ideals were plentiful while reality was short on funds.
The Song County Magistrate racked his brains but couldn't figure out where to get the money. When he heard Li Yao had returned home, he immediately went to visit her with his wife and the county lieutenant.
Li Yao thought the magistrate's plan was good, but a rough calculation showed that even with just 22 small reservoirs built to minimum standards, it would cost at least 70,000 taels of silver.
Unless they beat up all the local tyrants in Baichuan County, there was no way they could raise so much money in a short time.
"I know it's difficult," the Song County Magistrate said, "but if we miss this chance, we'll have to wait until next winter. There are too many variables if we delay until then. We must seize the moment and act decisively now."
"There is a way," Li Yao said, "I'm just not sure if the magistrate is willing to do it."
The Song County Magistrate quickly asked, "What is it?"
"Sell soap and cosmetics in the capital city."
The capital had a huge population with countless wealthy households. As long as they had enough goods, selling wouldn't be a problem. But the capital's powers were complex, so the magistrate would need to help coordinate.
The Song County Magistrate was hesitant.
His family came from a scholarly background, his father was currently the director of the Imperial Academy, and they inherently looked down on merchants. He would never agree to help. As an official, the magistrate could not leave Baichuan County either.
"Sir," the magistrate's wife then said, "why don't I go instead?"
"You..."
"Don't worry sir, I can handle this small matter," the wife said. "It would also allow me to do something for the people of Baichuan."
"Very well, I'll have to trouble you then!"
With intent aligned, next was implementation.
First was capital.
The Song County Magistrate could not contribute much. Li Yao was still building the dam, so her family certainly didn't have enough either.
She then thought of Mr. Lai and Zou Boss. If the three families worked together, they should be able to raise the initial investment.
The Song County Magistrate would be responsible for procuring raw materials, transportation, and sales.
As for profits, Li Yao felt there was no need to be so petty. They would take 80,000 taels to build reservoirs from the earnings, and she would split the rest with Mr. Lai and Zou Boss.
The Song County Magistrate was essentially getting a free ride, so he readily agreed.
Two days later, large quantities of materials began flowing into River Bend Village nonstop, and Li Yao’s side immediately started work.
Villagers who were not working on the dam became temporary workers. They set up 10 large cauldrons in the yard to continuously boil lard and stir-fry tea seeds.
On the first day, they boiled 600 jin of lard to make 8,000 bars of soap.
They pressed 150 jin of tea seed oil to make 2,000 bars of cosmetic soap.
After the first batch of goods was produced, the Song County Magistrate immediately dispatched carriages overnight to deliver them to the Yizhou Prefecture docks, to be shipped to the capital city. His wife accompanied the shipment back to the capital to handle sales.
Li Yao took the time to teach her some marketing techniques and negotiation skills. For this venture, they didn’t aim to maximize profits, only to sell the goods as quickly as possible.
The magistrate's wife did not disappoint her expectations, sending back news on the fourth day that supply could not meet demand and to produce faster and in higher volumes.
Upon hearing this, the Song County Magistrate sent more people to procure materials, scouring almost the entire Yizhou Prefecture. The common folks of Baichuan County had also picked the mountains clean of tea seeds.
In Li Yao's yard, there were people working nonstop day and night.
In this way, they produced 110,000 bars of soap and 30,000 bars of cosmetics in 10 days. The magistrate's wife was still urging for more supplies...
