Transmigrating with a Five Million Dollar Retirement Life

Chapter 88 Dried Apricots

Liu Xuewen knew about milk; it was used by ladies and young women of wealthy families for washing and bathing, and it was said to make their skin fair and delicate.

"I know about milk, I have some at home, but what is butter? Is lard also an oil?"

It seems there's no butter in this era, so there probably isn't any heavy cream either. "Well, butter has a milky flavor. Since we don't have it, we'll just have to wait until I figure it out. Milk can be added to cakes; you just need to replace the water with milk. But the milk here has to be boiled milk. That way, the cake will have a milky flavor and be more fragrant."

It seems Song Jiaojiao won't tell us what happened next, but it seems pointless anyway, since we can't make it without the raw materials. "Madam Song, since that's the case, I can only wait for your good news. Although this recipe isn't complete, how about 500 taels?"

Song Jiaojiao slowly said, "Although the formula is not everything, it is the most important. If you don't even have the basics, it won't be of any use even if you know more later."

"Well then, I'll add another hundred taels. Any more and I'll be at a loss," Liu Xuewen said pitifully.

Song Jiaojiao's lips twitched. How could she possibly lose money? It was just a matter of whether she could recoup her investment sooner or later. "Alright, considering how long we've been working together, I won't haggle with you. This is the price."

"Alright, Madam Song is a straightforward person. Wang Zhu, go to the carriage and fetch my writing brush and ink." Liu Xuewen wanted to sign the contract immediately.

"Mr. Liu, there's no rush. Let's go see what the purpose of our visit is today." Song Jiaojiao got up and led them to the candied fruit shop, where the aunties were cutting fruit and marinating it with sugar.

Song Jiaojiao led them to the room where the clothes had already been dried and packed.

"This is dried apricot, made from apricots. Want to try some?" Song Jiaojiao opened a bag for everyone to sample.

The dried apricots are dried very well. They are chewy but not very hard, with a sweet and sour taste that is very appetizing. They are perfect as a snack.

"As long as it doesn't get wet, it should last for six months without any problems. What do you think, Mr. Liu?" Song Jiaojiao looked at Liu Xuewen expectantly.

"It's really good, and it's easy to preserve. How much does Madam Song plan to sell it for?" Liu Xuewen nodded in satisfaction.

"It definitely can't be cheaper than the jam. It takes ten catties to make one catty of this, and ten catties also require one catty of sugar. Plus, the labor cost isn't low. It takes at least four days to produce a batch, and that's under good weather conditions. If the weather is bad, it will take even longer." Song Jiaojiao thought that the jam had already sold for 600 coins, so this couldn't be 600 coins cheaper.

"Besides, this is much easier to preserve than jam."

After listening to Song Jiaojiao rattle off a long string of words, Liu Xuewen knew he couldn't offer too low a price. "How about this, 100 more coins than the jam. How much do you have here? I'll take it all."

"Alright, this is the only place we have this year. The ones outside are the last batch. Do you want to wait until they're ready and then bring them all together, or take these first?" Song Jiaojiao was overjoyed. Although the cost wasn't low, it was only around 150 coins. This was several times more than the previous price. Unfortunately, it was seasonal and couldn't be available all the time.

"I'll take this part first, and you can just hand the rest over to Manager Liu. This trip has taken up a lot of time, and we need to get home as soon as possible," Liu Xuewen said after thinking for a moment.

“Okay, there’s a scale here, let’s just bring it over and weigh it.” After weighing the items, Song Jiaojiao led the two back home, leaving Meng An and Manager Liu to direct the loading onto the carriage.

"The recipe calls for 600 taels, and the dried fruit is 218 catties. At 700 wen per catty, that's 152.6 taels in total, making a total of 752.6 taels. You can give me 753 taels."

Liu Xuewen: ...How can you do the math like that!

"Alright, all I have today is silver notes. I'll have to trouble Madam Song to exchange them herself later," Liu Xuewen explained. However, he hadn't expected to spend so much money. If he hadn't been in the habit of carrying a thousand-tael silver note with him, it probably wouldn't have been enough.

"It's alright, I can run the errand myself. If it weren't for the usual need to pay wages, using banknotes would be just as good." Song Jiaojiao took the banknotes, counted them, and put them into her bosom, but actually put them into her spatial storage.

"There's nothing else, so I won't bother you any longer. Thank you for your hospitality today, Madam Song." Liu Xuewen thought that it was getting late and he had to travel tomorrow, so he had to go back and prepare his things today. He then submitted his resignation to Song Jiaojiao.

"Okay, I know you're busy, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll treat you better next time you come." Song Jiaojiao gave Liu Xuewen the picture of the cake model and also gave him one of the egg beaters that Xu Da had made.

After seeing Liu Xuewen off, Song Jiaojiao went back to her room. More than a month had passed since the last upgrade of her space, and she hadn't been inside to check it out yet.

After returning to her room and closing the door, Song Jiaojiao entered the space and immediately saw Fei Hu's mournful face.

"I thought the host had long forgotten that he had a space?" Fei Hu's resentment was almost heavier than that of a cow or a working person.

"Hehe, here I am! Look, I even brought you a cake." Song Jiaojiao cut a piece of the freshly steamed cake and brought it in.

Flying Tiger swallowed hard when he saw the cake. It was rare to see his host bring in something from outside. "At least you have a conscience."

Flying Tiger took the cake and hid to the side to savor the delicious treat.

Song Jiaojiao looked at the changes in the space. The most obvious change was that a patch of red soil had appeared next to the yellow soil. She didn't know what its effects were, and since Fei Hu was eating, no one was there to answer her questions.

The thatched house had been replaced with a tiled house, and the warehouse looked unchanged. Song Jiaojiao went into the small house to take a look. The layout and size of the house had not changed, except that the ground was no longer soil but paved with blue bricks.

Two fifty-tael silver ingots lay quietly at the foot of the bed in the bedroom. Presumably, these were the silver coins that could be unlocked by upgrading. Song Jiaojiao picked them up and placed them on the table.

It seems the biggest change is still that extra piece of land, but I don't know what it is.

Song Jiaojiao first looked at the medicinal herbs she had planted last time. She couldn't tell anything from the leaves, so she pulled one up. The root she pulled out looked like a sweet potato, but it was bumpy and uneven. The stem was quite tall, and there was only one fruit at the bottom. Song Jiaojiao looked at it carefully and thought it looked a bit like Gastrodia elata.

Song Jiaojiao put this one aside and went to pick another one. This one looked even more like a sweet potato, only smaller. The largest one was only about two fingers wide. She didn't recognize it at all. She had never seen it before. In her previous life, she mostly took Western medicine when she was sick. Besides, even if it was Chinese medicine, it was processed, so she still couldn't recognize it.

Forget it, I'll just ask Manager Liu in town next time. He should know him.

"Feihu, come quickly and tell me what this red soil is for?" Song Jiaojiao shouted into the air in front of her, knowing that Feihu could hear her.

Sure enough, Fei Hu appeared in front of Song Jiaojiao upon hearing the sound, with cake crumbs still on his lips.