“This is called sugarcane. It’s sweet, juicy, and delicious, and it can be used to make sugar.”
At the mention of sugar, surprise flashed through Xie Yuan’s eyes.
“You’re saying this is the raw material for sugar?”
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t know?” Now it was Zhou Xing’s turn to feel puzzled.
Surely this era already possessed sugar-making techniques. But after thinking about it, she realized such secrets were probably controlled by powerful aristocratic families.
Xie Yuan shook his head and looked at her deeply, his eyes filled with confusion and curiosity.
Zhou Xing did not mind. In any case, she could always blame everything on her already deceased family members.
“Is there a lot of sugarcane? If there is, we should cut more and make sugar from it. Couldn’t we sell the sugar?” Zhou Xing threw out a series of questions.
No matter what Xie Yuan thought, they were now a community of shared interests. Simply put, they were partners.
Aside from Xie Yuan, she had no one else she could trust.
After thinking for a moment, Xie Yuan answered firmly, “There’s quite a bit of sugarcane in that mountain hollow. During the previous dynasty, sugar and salt were both regulated goods. I doubt the new dynasty’s policies will differ much.”
Zhou Xing understood immediately. Selling sugar openly would definitely not be possible.
“Then could I sell jam instead?” There were many raspberries and wild strawberries in the mountains.
When summer arrived, there would be even more fruit. If she turned them into jam, sales would surely be good.
“What’s jam?” Xie Yuan asked directly.
After living two lifetimes, he understood well that there was always someone more knowledgeable.
Zhou Xing explained carefully, and Xie Yuan soon understood.
So-called jam was simply fruit mixed with sugar to create a sweet-and-sour spread.
Thinking about it that way, it truly was a clever idea. It would make proper use of the sugar. Weren’t those candied fruit shops doing essentially the same kind of business?
“The sugarcane patch is rather far away in the mountain hollow. If we transport the stalks back directly, it’ll attract too much attention,” Xie Yuan analyzed.
According to A’Xing, sugarcane first had to be pressed for juice, and each stalk did not produce much liquid. Most of the cane would become waste afterward.
Since the mountain hollow was not close to Dashi Village, transporting everything back by manpower alone would be extremely labor-intensive.
Zhou Xing also agreed that this was a problem.
Suddenly, Xie Yuan said, “How about this? We process the sugarcane there in the hollow and extract the juice first, then carry the juice back instead. The only issue is figuring out how to squeeze the juice more efficiently.”
Zhou Xing thought this was a brilliant idea. “I roughly know what the juicing tool should look like. I can draw it for you.”
Although Xie Yuan was a scholar, the family currently did not even own brushes, ink, paper, or inkstones.
So Zhou Xing snapped off a branch and carefully began drawing on the ground.
In her previous life, she had traveled to Xishuangbanna, where she had seen old-fashioned sugarcane pressing workshops.
The locals had told her stories about people getting their arms crushed in the machines.
Back then, Zhou Xing had stood before one of those machines for a long time, fascinated by its structure. She had been amazed that a wooden machine could generate such enormous force.
As her drawing became more detailed, Xie Yuan gradually understood the concept.
The principle was similar to a stone mill. It required two rollers with the sugarcane stalks fed between them, using leverage to squeeze out the juice. It was an ingenious design.
It seemed his wife truly knew far more than ordinary people.
Aunt He had said he found a treasure, and he secretly agreed.
“How is it? Can this thing actually be made?” Zhou Xing looked at him hopefully.
Xie Yuan nodded. “This isn’t difficult. I should be able to make it. But there are too few people in our household. It’ll be hard to scale up the business with only the two of us.”
Logically speaking, being able to make sugar already gave them a huge advantage. Whether they produced jam or preserved fruits, the profits would be enormous.
But the Xie family lacked manpower, and Xie Yuan felt helpless about that.
“It’s alright. Little by little, small accumulations become great wealth. We’ll take things slowly,” Zhou Xing said.
She understood this was their biggest obstacle at the moment. But because their family was small, there were also fewer problems. As the mistress of the household, having authority mattered more than anything.
Otherwise, dealing with unreasonable relatives would only drive her mad.
As for manpower, once they had money, labor would naturally come. That was not a true problem.
Besides, making jam was only her first step. She still had many ideas for the future, all of which could gradually become reality. After all, this body was only eighteen years old.
“Oh no, I need to get those two boys out quickly!”
Zhou Xing tossed aside the branch and rushed into the house in a panic.
Xie Yuan smiled before lowering his head again to study the drawing on the ground, pondering how to make the machine even more efficient and practical.
With so little manpower at home, they could only rely on mechanical assistance.
Just as she expected, the two little troublemakers were inside happily splashing around in the water.
The moment Xiao Zong saw her enter, he hurriedly covered himself below the waist, looking completely startled.
Pretending not to notice, Zhou Xing simply hauled both boys out of the tub. Seeing every rib clearly visible on their thin bodies, she sighed.
“Look how skinny you both are. And these streaks of dirt—how long has it been since you last bathed? Auntie’s going to scrub you properly.”
Feeling that the water was still warm enough, she quickly grabbed the loofah sponge and vigorously scrubbed their bodies.
The two boys alternated between laughing and crying.
Being scrubbed with a loofah sponge truly felt indescribable.
Zhou Xing herself also found the experience indescribable.
After all, the same loofah sponge was normally used for washing pots and bowls.
But there was no helping it. The family was poor and could not afford separate items for everything.
By the time the two children finished bathing, Zhou Xing herself was drenched in sweat.
The water in the wooden basin had practically turned into mud soup.
After quickly rinsing them off, the children looked much cleaner and fresher. But once they put on their clean clothes, it became obvious that the garments were patched upon patched and almost unbearable to look at.
Still, the children thought this was perfectly normal and did not mind at all.
Whose clothes did not have patches?
“Put these on for now. Later I’ll wash the other clothes so you can alternate between them. Once Auntie earns money, I’ll make you new clothes.”
“Hurry outside and drink some ginger soup. I already boiled it.”
Even in weather like this, Zhou Xing did not dare be careless.
The ginger was wild ginger dug from the ground, so it cost nothing.
After making ginger soup, she continued heating water one clay pot at a time.
She still needed to bathe herself, which was a major undertaking.
The original owner’s hair had likely never been cut before. It already reached below her waist.
Though the body itself was so thin it lacked any curves, the hair was surprisingly thick—only dry, yellowed, and split at the ends. When loose, it resembled a tangled mass of wild grass.
After entering the room and shutting the door, she removed her clothes, only to realize she had forgotten to prepare a clean change.
She hurriedly rummaged through the cabinet and eventually found a set of clothes stuffed inside a small bundle.
The original color was no longer recognizable.
Judging by the style, it was similar to what she currently wore: an upper garment and skirt. Like everything else, this set was also patched upon patched, to the point where she feared it might tear apart accidentally.
There was no shampoo, no conditioner, and no body wash.
Everything relied entirely on nature’s powerful cleaning agent—plant ash.