As soon as Zhao Yuande, Zhao He, and Shao Yunan arrived at the door of Yizhang Xuan restaurant, shopkeeper Xu came out. None of them knew if he specially waited for them, but after Shao Yunan introduced both sides they went to the office behind the Yizhang Xuan restaurant with shopkeeper Xu. Zhao Yuande and Zhao He took out four bottles of jam from their back basket while Shao Yunan explained that these four jars of jam were all made by Zhao He and two of them contained sweet-scented osmanthus. Shopkeeper Xu immediately brought a spoon to taste.

The taste of two jars of jam without sweet-scented osmanthus was naturally not as good as that given by Shao Yunan to shopkeeper Zeng, but it was still very good so shopkeeper Xu still charged according to the price agreed yesterday. The jams with the sweet-scented osmanthus had a different taste. But shopkeeper Xu also accepted it, adding an extra 50 copper coins on the basis of the original one. After all, sweet-scented osmanthus could also be regarded as a cost. Zhao Yuande and Zhao He had no problem with it, so shopkeeper Xu immediately ordered someone to write the contract. 

Shao Yunan also mentioned the matter of preserving freshness again. If Zhao Yuande completed the preservation treatment first, it would be difficult for shopkeeper Xu to inspect the goods after he got them. If shopkeeper Xu could complete the preservation treatment themselves, they could avoid issues where some jars of jam did not meet their requirements and affected the other person’s integrity. After Shao Yunan said that he would provide the preservation method for free, shopkeeper Xu said that it was still up to the Zhao’s to do the preservation. 

The restaurant would still check the quality of each batch, but in a way that would allow them to keep it fresh as long as possible. In addition, they would provide the jam jars so there would be no need for Zhao Lizheng’s family to pay for them. Zhao Yuande and Zhao He really didn’t know how to thank Shao Yunan. In this way another freshness contract was signed and Shao Yunan explained the method of preserving freshness. Since he could not write many words, he let shopkeeper Xu write it down.

The best way to preserve the jam’s freshness was definitely canning. The method provided by Shao Yunan was to cook the jam jars in hot water, covered with a layer of cloth or paper for about ten minutes before sealing it quickly with paraffin or mud, similar to the preservation of wine. The other was to pour paraffin wax at the top of the jar, then slowly seal the jar to expel the air and then finally seal it. You just needed to scoop out the paraffin wax first before eating it. Of course, the paraffin wax used must be edible paraffin wax, but in ancient times there were no oils, so basically all refined paraffin wax was non-toxic and harmless.

The two contracts were written and the shopkeeper expressed his hope that the first batch of jam would be delivered as soon as possible. As long as the quality of the jam could meet the standard of the one he ate today, they would buy as much as was delivered. It was also stated in the contract that Yizhang Xuan restaurant would only buy jam from Zhao Lizheng’s family. If the jam with the sweet-scented osmanthus became more popular, then the order would also be increased. Shopkeeper Xu also immediately paid a deposit of 50 taels of silver.

Just handing over the four jars of jam got them fifty taels of silver, Zhao Yuande who went out of the office and into the ox cart still felt his hands trembling. Zhao He was also not much better. This time Shao Yunan taught him the method of making jam directly, making Zhao He very grateful. He was a male wife and only had one child. Although Zhao Yuande loved and cared about him, he could not help being a little sad in his heart. But now that the jam would be mainly made by him, Zhao He became much more confident than before.

When they returned to the village, Shao Yunan first told Zhao Lizheng’s family members about the matter. He then went to instruct Zhao He on how to make the jam in large quantities, while Aunt Zhao Liu, Zhao Yuande, and Zhao Lizheng handled the fruit. So much fruit was collected that they needed to be processed urgently. This batch of fruit was not prepared with other people except Zhao Lizheng’s family members, so they became very tired. But since the first batch was already sold, they didn’t worry anymore.

The official from the land division came in the morning, while Shao Yunan was still at home. Led by Zhao Lizheng, the official sent his people to measure the house site, plus ten acres of mountain land, which totaled only 98 taels, much less than Zhao Lizheng’s previous estimation. 

The life of the people at this time was not easy, many places have been affected by disasters or suffered from the chaos of war, so a lot of land was deserted with no one to plant it. So now, land was sold cheaply. The imperial court also hoped that people would return to their hometowns to cultivate the land without fear. Seeing this, Shao Yunan immediately expanded his new homestead by one more circle and bought ten more acres of mountain land. He also bought ten acres of dry land, not far from the new house, adding an additional 46 taels. Shopkeeper Xu gave him a hundred and fifty taels of silver as thanks, so Shao Yunan was not short of money, even without touching Wang Shijing’s ‘private money.’

The administrator kindly reminded Shao Yunan that there would be a fine if they bought so many fields, but did not grow anything on them. The ten acres of dry land also did not have a one-year tax-free period. Shao Yunan said that he would plant the fields and pay taxes on time. However, seeing him spend more than a hundred taels of silver in one breath without blinking an eye, the administrative official seemed to know that Shao Yunan and the county magistrate seemed to have a good relationship and did not say much in the end. He immediately went to Zhao Lizheng’s house to write the deed of sale in three copies, which was respectively given to Zhao Lizheng, the land department, and Shao Yunan. Wang Shijing was not at home, so Shao Yunan just pressed his own handprint and wrote his name. Zhao Lizheng didn’t comment on it. Wang Shijing had said before he went up the mountain that the land for their future house land and mountains should be written down under Shao Yunan’s name, since Shao Yunan was the master of their house.

The administrative official took his man away. Before they left, Zhao Lizheng gave them a small jar of jam to return the favor for Shao Yunan, making the administrator immediately smile and speak more politely. Shao Yunan did not follow after Zhoa Lizheng and just took his two children home. Once inside the house, while the two children were not with him, he put the land and house deeds into the space.

Wang Shijing came back in the evening and was confronted with the ‘rumor’ that his family had spent more than 140 taels of silver to buy more than 30 acres of land. Wang Shijing just ignored it and took the group of young men with full back-baskets back home. Shao Yunan, who saw that they returned with full loads, smiled so big that even his eyes bent.

Wang Shijing let Wang Qing borrow a scale and weighted everything on the spot while paying money. The tea they picked was alsoLongjing. Wang Shijing asked the seven or eight young men who went with him to be paid in accordance with the grade of the tea they picked. For the best fresh leaves, Wang Shijing gave 150 copper coins per kilo and for the worst 50 copper coins per kilo. Medium quality was 80 copper coins per kilo, but Shao Yunan did not care and just gave Wang Shijing the money bag.

Waiting for everyone to leave satisfied, Wang Shijing then explained, “You said the tea is best picked in the spring, so the price should be increased at that time. But since they just started tea picking there naturally will be some bad places, so I did not pay them too much. If the difference between the worst and the best is large, they will naturally try for the best in the future. You also said that as long as you make the tea, even the worst tea will be bought. The good fresh leaves are after all the minority, so I added the price for the inferior tea leaves.” Shao Yunan kissed his index finger and pressed it on Wang Shijing’s lips. “Very business-minded. I’ll leave all the tea collection to you from now on.” Wang Shijing pulled Shao Yunan over and pressed his somewhat dry and cracked lips on Shao Yunan’s lips. Wang Qing hurriedly pulled Nizi into the kitchen not wanting to be rude.

Edited by: Jaisland

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