Jiang Sheng didn't know the answer.
At this moment, she was crouching behind the crowd, and her palms were stinging. Only then did she realize that the skin had cracked.
There was no other way. She struggled to get up.
Just got off the palanquin, the third young lady who was being supported by the maids heard the noise and glanced at Jiang Sheng indifferently.
She happened to meet Jiang Sheng's pure and inquisitive gaze.
One was from a prestigious family, spoiled young lady.
The other was a little beggar who stole food and drank to survive.
Although they were of similar age, their fates were as different as Heaven and Earth.
The third young lady glanced at Jiang Sheng's overly large gray coat, walked into You Ran House indifferently.
The owner followed her obsequiously, "Does the third young lady want to have a meal? When will the young master arrive? How long does he plan to stay in Anshui this time?"
From afar, I could only hear the maid next to the third young lady scolding, "Is it something you can ask about the young lady's affairs? The young lady is only here on behalf of the Jiang family to check on their properties today, nothing else needs to be taken care of."
As the voice faded away, the maids who were clearing the way at the door also quickly left.
Jiang Sheng rubbed her cracked hands and hopped back to her brothers.
"What's wrong with your hand?" Zheng Ruqian's face changed drastically when he saw the blood stains at a glance, "Did they just push you?"
Jiang Sheng quickly shook her head.
The Jiang family was large and rich, and Zheng Ruqian still had to do business with them, so he couldn't offend them over this.
"I just fell down by accident." Little Jiang Sheng smiled, "Second brother, let's continue walking around, I want to see more."
Zheng Ruqian was no fool.
On the contrary, he was becoming more and more shrewd.
He could guess that Jiang Sheng was pushed by the group just now, and he could also understand why Jiang Sheng was lying. As a smart person, he shouldn't destroy the relationship that his sister had painstakingly protected, but Zheng Ruqian still felt resentment in his heart.
Why should an eight-year-old young lady from another family be able to wear shoes embroidered with pearls and be waited on by several maids wherever she went?
Yet his sister Jiang Sheng had to wear a gray and dirty big coat and was pushed down but still had to make excuses for them.
There was no reason for this in the world!
Jiang Sheng was the best sister in the world and deserved the best treatment in the world.
Zheng Ruqian's heart clenched tightly, then spread open fiercely. He told himself that in the future he must make his sister more noble, richer and more arrogant than the third young lady he just saw.
"Let's go, second brother will buy you new clothes." He took Jiang Sheng's hand.
Fang Heng followed closely with a stick.
Wen Zhiyun ran with small steps.
Chang Yan glanced coldly at You Ran House and snorted contemptuously through his nose.
The mere Jiang family, humph.
Xu Mo took the provincial examination for three days, and the Zheng siblings wandered around the prefecture for three days.
They observed prices, dug up new and cheap things, and wholesale items that local people in the county might buy.
Finally, when the woodshed was full of leftover firewood, the gate of the Examination Yard opened.
Countless students swarmed out.
The waiting relatives rushed over, some hugged the students and lamented how thin they were, some took out pastries for the students to eat a little, for fear that they didn't eat well these three days.
Jiang Sheng also searched for Xu Mo in the crowd.
This time she didn't have to look for long before the limping teenager appeared with a bamboo basket.
"Big brother!" Jiang Sheng shouted and rushed over, "How was it, how was it? Is your body okay?"
Like all relatives, they cared more about their loved ones' health than the exam results.
Xu Mo smiled slightly, his face slightly pale, "I'm fine."
The observant Wen Zhiyun saw the blood on his elder brother's butt and rushed over to check it out.
Fang Heng quickly stopped him, "Let's go back first."
The siblings returned to the small woodshed, Wen Zhiyun pulled down Xu Mo's pants, and the wound had indeed split open a little.
He quickly applied golden sore medicine and changed the new gauze, and finally let Xu Mo lie face down on the bed to recuperate.
Xu Mo wanted to take out a book to read, but Jiang Sheng snatched it away.
"The exam is over, what's the point of reading now?" The little girl put her hands on her hips, "Get your butt healed first, otherwise it will leave an ugly scar in the future."
Xu Mo didn't know whether to laugh or cry, he could only lie down obediently.
In a flash, seeing the bloodstains on Jiang Sheng's palms, his eyes darkened slightly, and he asked, "What did you guys do these days?"
Zheng Ruqian lowered his head without saying a word.
Wen Zhiyun, Fang Heng and Chang Yan were also silent.
Because they knew that with Jiang Sheng here, there were no secrets.
Sure enough, the little girl babbled on, recounting everything that had happened.
She first mentioned Zheng Ruqian's regret over the pork, then talked about the many pearls on the third young lady of Jiang family's shoes, and finally boasted about the treasures she had found with her brothers.
"These scarves are so beautiful, and the price is cheap too. They will definitely sell well when we take them back to the county. And these wooden hairpins, the patterns are so beautiful. I heard they came from Fengjing. I also gritted my teeth and bought a hundred or so. They will definitely sell..."
She chattered on and on, pointing at the small mountain in the woodshed.
Xu Mo kept smiling as he listened. It wasn't until Jiang Sheng got tired from talking and went to get some water before he looked at Zheng Ruqian and said lightly, "I've read in books that there is a way to preserve pork in the Shu region. It is said that the pork is pickled, dried, and smoked with fruit tree smoke, so it can be preserved for a long time and the flavor is excellent."
Zheng Ruqian's eyes lit up immediately.
Over the past few days, he had already inquired that ordinary pork with the essence cut off sold for only five or six wen per catty. Transporting it to Xieyang County was a sure profit. The only problem was that the distance was too far for preservation.
If he could really learn the Shu people's method of curing pork, transporting this pork to Xieyang County could sell for a price of ten wen per catty.
"However, I cannot guarantee whether the taste produced this way will be accepted by the Xieyang county people." Seeing his younger brother eager to try, Xu Mo gently reminded, "No matter how good a thing is, it's useless without a market."
Zheng Ruqian nodded that he understood.
But for the goal in his heart, he would try any sliver of possibility.
Just in time before the provincial exam results were announced, Zheng Ruqian took Chang Yan to buy twenty catties of pork from the landlady, and asked Xu Mo to look through ancient books for guidance. They started making cured pork.
First, they washed the meat with strong white liquor, then fried salt and pepper and applied it to the meat. When the meat started oozing liquid, they could take it out and hang it in a breezy place.
The salt used for proper curing was low-priced salt applied from the government. It could only be used to cure goods, not for stir-frying or cooking, nor could it be privately sold.
But they were just trying a small amount, using expensive salt. Zheng Ruqian, whether too stingy or lacking cooking skills, spoiled three catties of pork.
Xu Mo was helpless and was about to go help with his injury.
The previously silent Pang Dashan rolled up his sleeves, "Let me do it."
The sturdy teenager cured the pork very carefully. In order to observe whether the meat was cured properly, he even tasted the raw bloody water.
Finally, after hanging all the cured meat to dry until the skin was crisp, it was time to smoke it.
This process was even more delicate and relied heavily on manpower. It required fruit tree burning to repeatedly smoke the meat from white to deep brown before it could be hung for preservation.
When they tasted it, everyone ran into trouble.
Eating it directly, the pork was still raw. Slicing and stir-frying, it was too salty and unpleasant.
Xu Mo was helpless, and looked through the ancient books, but they only recorded how to make it, not how to eat it.
Just as the siblings were at a loss, Pang Dashan murmured, "Why not try boiling it in water?"
Boiling the dried cured pork in hot water, then slicing it, was indeed less salty, but eating it was unlike pork anymore, instead it had a different flavor.
Zheng Ruqian was both shocked and delighted, pinching the translucent slices of meat. He exclaimed, "Dashan, how do you know these things?"
Pang Dashan pursed his lips, looking rather lonely, and said, "I used to have a mother who married here from the Shu region."
Later when mother passed away and the family was gone, Pang Dashan wandered for more than a decade, almost forgetting everything from the past.
Only the cured pork his mother made, he could still remember some of it.
"We definitely don't do it authentically here. If we ever get to travel to the Shu region someday, I'll take you to taste the authentic cured pork." Zheng Ruqian patted Pang Dashan on the shoulder.
The two smiled at each other and started working on the new pork again.
When all twenty catties of meat were dried enough to be stored long term, it was time for the exam results to be posted.
This time, none of the siblings went to the notice boards to check.
Instead, they all huddled in the small woodshed, patiently waiting beside the piles of cured pork.
Until a gong sounded...
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