Chapter 336

At the Jiuzhen Store.

Zheng Ruqian wore a thin cotton robe. He cupped his hand towards the young man in brocade robes and said, "Thank you, Young Master Zhu. Young Master Zhu's great favor, Ruqian will never forget."

Who could have thought that in the end it was Zhu Sihuan from the Zhu family who helped buy all the lychees from the Liao family, even the whole nests.

A full one hundred catties, all here.

"Helping a bit of a friend, it's nothing," Zhu Sihuan said with a laugh as he waved his hand. "I just hope that when Brother Xu passes the imperial examination in the future, he won't forget about me, his friend."

"Definitely, definitely," Zheng Ruqian said with a smile as he chatted.

Although the Zhu family were vassals of the Fang family, Zhu Sihuan was quite a sincere person. Hampered by the conflict between the two sides, he didn't dare get too close. Now being able to help secure the lychees was not easy.

Zheng Ruqian gave tit for tat and gave him ten catties of lychees and some pastries.

After the Jiuzhen Store quieted down, Jiang Sheng came over with her chubby, red face, expecting, "Big Brother, can we start now?"

From deciding to buy lychees until now, they had already invested a full three thousand and seven hundred taels of silver, almost equivalent to their current net worth. Even with Jiang Sheng’s bold personality, she couldn’t help but feel a little afraid.

Afraid of losing money, afraid that they wouldn’t make back their capital, afraid they wouldn't sell them.

But the lychees were already bought and stored underground. The ice cellar was constantly adding ice. With things having already progressed this far, they had no choice but to continue.

Rather than anxiously waiting, they might as well hurry up and see the result.

Zheng Ruqian touched his little sister's head and softly responded, "Okay, let's start now."

Aside from business battles, going back to just buying and selling, things became lighter.

To show thanks, and also to raise the price of the iced lychees, Zheng Ruqian ordered that the Yao, Dou, Qi and Zhao families each be sent a serving. Even Zhu Sihuan was secretly given a platter.

Of course they couldn't overlook the Jiang family. Not only did they send some over, but they sent extra.

Two servings to Madam Jiang, two servings to Jiang's second room.

Lychees freshly taken out from the ice cellar were initially somewhat hard. After a short pause they softened considerably. When the fruit meat showed a hint of frost, it was best for tasting. Girls from prestigious households would gently bite into half a lychee, first feeling the sweet and crisp flesh before tasting the fragrant sweetness and richness of osmanthus honey, and finally the cool crunchiness and sharpness of the ice that directly dispelled all sensations of heat.

The more unbridled could stuff a whole lychee in their mouth to feel the ice crystals on their tongue and lips, enjoying the sweet saliva secreted from the stimulation before gently biting to break the fruit meat and combine the sweetness with fragrance into one.

No matter the method, it was enough to dazzle and indulge the distinguished families of Sucheng.

Of course, what was most precious were still the lychees themselves.

Thanks to the Liao family's tireless efforts over the past few years to raise lychees’ status, getting to eat a few lychees in season was already an honor. Lychees after the season were comparable to precious gems in jewelry.

In addition, because of the unique taste, Yao Sijing was amazed and came to order five servings the very next day.

Yes, they were sold by the serving.

Jiang Sheng felt lychees’ current pricing was awkward - calling them expensive was undeserved considering their former expensiveness, yet calling them cheap shortchanged their profit. Therefore, she suggested simply selling them by the serving instead. Each serving held about thirty lychees, around one and a half catties, and was priced at forty taels.

After deducting the weight of the ice and filling, the profit was quite substantial.

After the Yao family, other distinguished families also came to place orders one after another. In just a few days, they had earned back the three thousand seven hundred taels invested. Even Jiang's second room ordered several servings.

In the second courtyard.

Jiang Sheng picked up a piece of red braised fish with her chopsticks, somewhat disappointed. "We've only earned back the capital?"

"Out of three hundred and forty catties of lychees, we've only sold a bit over a hundred catties and earned back the capital. That's pretty good," Zheng Ruqian said as he helped pick out the bones for her. "What's left is all profit."

Only then did Jiang Sheng feel relieved as she earnestly ate the fish.

Zhang Xianglian was skilled at stewing pork elbows but wasn't as adept with fish, so the dishes in the second courtyard tended to feature more meat than fish.

After finding out, the head chef enthusiastically volunteered to come over and help stew fish.

The children understood his intentions and good-naturedly nodded in agreement, but didn't expect the head chef's skills to be so remarkable that Jiang Sheng finished the entire red braised fish and still craved more.

Feeling distressed for her niece, Zhang Xianglian had no choice but to thicken her skin and invite the head chef to come help again.

Since he was already helping out, it would be too insensitive not to keep him for the meal.

And so the head chef could also properly sit at the second courtyard's dinner table and add dishes for Zhang Xianglian.

"Sister Xianglian, try this. The meat under the fish eyeballs is the tastiest and tenderest." The head chef happily used his chopsticks to transfer some fish meat onto her plate.

Initially, Zhang Xianglian passed the fish to Jiang Sheng, but later shyly ate it herself.

"This part is also delicious. The fish lips are the essence," the head chef said as he picked up another piece with his chopsticks.

Zhang Xianglian waved her hand.

As someone who knew propriety, he quickly changed course and dropped the fish into Jiang Sheng's bowl instead, "Child, eat up."

"Many thanks, Head Chef," Jiang Sheng crisply responded as she cleaned out the red braised fish. After the meal, there was still work to be done.

With all the families placing orders for the iced lychees, the formerly deserted Jiuzhen Store became a hub of activity.

Both familiar and unfamiliar faces came to buy the iced lychees.

Jiang Sheng had just collected money from the Zhao family when another maid suddenly appeared before her, annoyance evident on her frosty face. "I also want a serving of iced lychees."

"Address. Forty taels. We'll send it over right away," she said without even raising her head as she wrote it down.

The maid was silent for a moment before spitting out four words: "Liao Family on East Street."

Jiang Sheng's handwriting was messy to begin with. At this point it staggered to an abrupt stop, becoming completely illegible.

She regretfully set aside the stationery and took out a new sheet, "Forty taels. We'll arrange delivery shortly."

Because of its special nature, ordinary wooden boxes were inadequate for transporting iced lychees. It required a whole block of ice wrapped in quilts to prevent melting.

The maid let out a cold snort before shaking out fifty taels worth of silver ingots.

Using large scissors, Zhang Xianglian snipped off two pieces and weighed out ten taels to push over.

"No need," the maid didn't reach out to take them. "These ten taels are the Liao family's reward for you."

What a word: reward.

Only masters to servants, or the noble to the lowly, could use such a word.

Although the Jiuzhen Store was just a pastry shop, belonging to the merchant class, they had never received such blatant contempt in Sucheng.

Zhang Xianglian was a little unhappy at the time.

Jiang Sheng on the other hand remained calm as she accepted those ten taels of fragmentary silver, indifferently saying, "The Liao family is generous. Please convey my thanks."

Seeing that her verbal barbs had no effect, the maid angrily turned to leave.

Leaving Zhang Xianglian extremely worried, she said, "Little Jiang Sheng, go get your second brother. This Liao family is surely harboring malicious intentions. We can't deliver iced lychees to them!"

Business at the Jiuzhen Store progressed vigorously, and Zheng Ruqian’s impatience made it so he had gone off to handle other matters long ago.

Jiang Sheng pondered for a moment before shaking her head. "I won't get Second Brother or let the aunties go. I'll go myself."

Perhaps it was the courage bestowed by Grandmother, or perhaps it was knowing that sooner or later Zheng Ruqian would have to travel far and wide while she remained protected behind her brothers’ backs. The young girl who was once sheltered started to stand on her own.

It was only the insignificant Liao family. There really wasn’t anything to fear.

Moreover, Jiang San and Jiang Si were accompanying her.

After Jiang Sheng finished handling the money, she had the older maid record everything while she herself got on the carriage and hurried to the White Water Noodles Workshop to retrieve the iced lychees before speeding to the Liao residence.