Xiao Hanzheng knew that sugar could be made from sugar cane.

“We can also get sugar from this beet?”

Shi Qingluo nodded. “Of course. Other than sugar cane, beets are good at making sugar.”

These two kinds of raw materials were the main ingredients in sugar making in the modern era.

“Let’s dig some of them back home and make some sugar first.

“Then, we’ll hire people to dig more beets back.

“After that, we can let the people in the village clear some land to grow beets.

“In the future, we can use the profit to open a sugar workshop.”

Shi Qingluo was an agricultural science expert.

“Opening a few more mills can also boost developments in our village and those villages nearby. Letting everyone live a good life would tie their interests with us.”

In ancient times, it was very important to have a good reputation before uniting their interests with others.

Don’t underestimate the strength of a community.

For example, if not many people knew about you, no one would care even if you died.

But if the entire county knew about you, and most people’s interests overlapped with yours, when something happened to you, they would speak up and lend a helping hand to ensure that their benefits weren’t affected.

Xiao Hanzheng understood his little wife’s meaning immediately.

This was good. Grabbing others along to make more money after earning some.

If he wanted to open a variety of workshops, he had to hire others.

As the Chinese saying goes, “it was better to have fun together than have fun alone”.

This way, they wouldn’t be easily targeted, or viewed as thorns by others who were jealous.

On the contrary, because everyone’s interests were tied together, they could maintain a good relationship.

He nodded and smiled. “Okay!”

Be it paint or sugar, they were all expensive things.

It was very profitable to open a workshop.

The two of them dug up the beet and filled up the basket before returning down the mountain.

Xiao Hanzheng took the initiative to hold Shi Qingluo’s hand and walked away. “Where do you want to build the house?”

“I suggest that we transform the old residence into a workshop. We can choose a new place to build a new house.”

His recollection of the old residence wasn’t that great.

Shi Qingluo smiled and said, “I already found a suitable place. The environment is good and the location is also ideal for our paper making.

“Isn’t there a bamboo forest near the river? We can buy that area and build a new house in the open field in the middle of the bamboo forest.

“The environment is also very elegant since it’s surrounded by bamboo trees. We can build a scaled down paper workshop next to it. We can gather the materials nearby so that no one will know that we are making paper with bamboo.”

“We can replant the chopped bamboo. It would be best if we buy the entire hillside and plant bamboo everywhere.”

Xiao Hanzheng was a literate person.

Even though he had learned martial arts and fought enemies in his past life, he still preferred cultured and refined things.

Therefore, he was very supportive of Shi Qingluo’s suggestion. “Alright, it is very artistic to build a new house surrounded by the bamboo forest.”

Shi Qingluo said, “We’ll buy the mountain behind the old residence and use it specifically for breeding.”

She added, “Now that we’re discussing further, we’re quite short of money.”

They were lacking money to channel their initial investments.

With a farming mountain and these workshops in operation, they wouldn’t have to worry about making money.

Xiao Hanzheng smiled and said, “Just take it slow. Let’s build the house first.”

Right now, he just wanted to give his little wife, his mother, and his younger siblings a comfortable living environment to live in.

Shi Qingluo especially agreed, “Old Xiao, we always think of the same things.”

Xiao Hanzheng chuckled, “Somehow fate decided that we would be husband and wife.”

Shi Qingluo with a smile, “Also right. When the husband and wife think alike, it is more than gold that they can buy.”

She thought for a moment and asked, “Are you going to study in the county town later?”

Studying at home is like learning to build cars behind closed doors.

Even a genius would struggle to achieve stellar results.

Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “I’m preparing to report to the college in the county next month.

“Soon, one of the first-grade officials will retire. He was once the top scholar and will visit his family in the county.

“He will also stay at that college for a period of time. I want to become his disciple.

“It’s not difficult for me to become a high scholar, but it won’t be easy to take another step forward. My knowledge is still quite lacking.”

In his previous life, he had missed the opportunity to continue with the imperial examinations.

Later on, when he rose to a high position, he still browsed through the questions bank annually after quitting school.

He had used these questions to write his own essays, but the comments he received from others were somewhat lacking.

What he lacked was a teacher to guide him.

Be it going to school or finding a talented person to be his teacher, they were both necessary.

Shi Qingluo agreed. “It would definitely be better if he could be your teacher.”

A teacher’s guidance was also very important in modern times.

Otherwise, why would everyone want to go to a prestigious school?

The first-grade official who was resigning knew the imperial court inside out.

He was also a reputable scholar with zhuangyuan (状元: a title given to the candidate ranked first in examinations) or equivalent title.

He must be very knowledgeable.

Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “Mmm, I’ll try my best.”

That’s the best plan.

If that didn’t work out, it wasn’t a big deal.

Just take it as if he wasn’t fated.

Shi Qingluo raised her hand and made an encouraging gesture to him. “I support you!”

Xiao Hanzheng held her hand tightly. “Thank you, my wife!”

In this life, he was finally not fighting alone anymore.

This felt really good.

Today, more people in the village brought tofu out to sell, and they were all sold out.

Xiao Dashu’s and his two brothers even borrowed donkey carts and rushed to the county town to sell it.

The people in the county town were more willing to spend on food, so they managed to sell all 60 catties of tofu by noon.

This made them even more excited.

When they went back to the village to promote it, more people were tempted.

More people wanted to buy and sell it, so more people ordered tofu today.

This time, Xiao Dashu’s and his two brothers brought 100 catties.

The people in the nearby villages also heard about tofu as a kind of food.

The next morning, they also came to exchange for tofu, or bought them for resale.

The tofu workers’ workload increased tremendously.

Some also wanted to sell them or get their family members to do so after finishing their work.

Ultimately, selling tofu was obviously easier to make money than making tofu.

It wasn’t that hard, and she was afraid that people would run away.

Therefore, in order to increase their enthusiasm at work, she promised that their families would be charged 3 wen per catty if they bought 10 catties or more.

In other words, they could earn two cents more per catty than others.

However, they had to continue working in the workshop.

They will lose this benefit when they quit.

The few people who were initially considering selling tofu no longer hesitated.

Of course, they continued to work.

Because the tofu was easy to sell, all the tofu made in the morning was sold out.

Some people didn’t even get a chance to exchange for it.

Everyone kept urging Mother Xiao to make more tomorrow.

Mother Xiao agreed cheerfully.

The business of the tofu workshop was getting better every day, which made her more motivated at work.

Not long after the tofu was sold out, Xiao Hanzheng and Shi Qingluo went to the county town with an ox-cart.

There was a person in the neighbouring village who pulled ox-carts into the county town for a living, and was paid 2 wen for every return trip.

It took them about an hour to walk to the county town.

It didn’t save much time with the ox-cart, just that they didn’t have to walk.

After getting off at the county town, Shi Qingluo rubbed her slightly numb waist. “When we have money, let’s buy a horse carriage.”

The horse carriage only took 20 to 30 minutes to travel to and fro the county town.

If there weren’t that many people in the county town, Xiao Hanzheng would have stretched out his hand to rub his little wife’s waist. “Alright, I’ll buy it!”

When Shi Qingluo heard his heroic words, her heart was filled with joy.

The more they got along, the more she felt that her little husband was good.

Fortunately, she enjoyed the first mover advantage and didn’t shortchange Xiao Hanzheng.

Footnote:

zhuang yuan 状元: a title given to the top scorer in examinations