Chapter 359: A Big Surprise

Chapter 359: Chapter 359: A Big Surprise

Following the scent, Ji Huan found her way to the end of a side street. There, by a corner, a young man was squatting in front of several broken jars, holding his head in his hands and looking utterly dejected.

Ji Huan walked up and asked, "Where did you buy this vinegar?"

The young man looked up, his face a mask of frustration. "I didn’t buy it anywhere. It’s my own brew, for sale. But the young master of the Wan Family... SIGH!"

He’d been having a terrible string of bad luck.

The last time, the two large jars he’d brought were smashed to smithereens by that young master’s horse. This time, he had switched to smaller jars and moved to a different spot, thinking he’d finally be in the clear. But who would have thought he’d run right into the fuming young master again? Without rhyme or reason, the boy had raised his horsewhip and started lashing wildly at the bottles and jars on the ground.

Even though he could go to the Wan Family to demand compensation later, what was ruined was ruined.

’Then again, even if they hadn’t been ruined, it’s not like I could sell them anyway...’

Ji Huan thought he looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t immediately place where she’d seen him before.

"Is it really your own brew? Do you have any more? Can I buy some?"

Seeing a potential customer, the young man forced himself to perk up.

"I have two bottles left—one of soy sauce and one of vinegar. Do you want them?"

The young man took the only two remaining bottles from the two-handled basket behind him.

The bottles weren’t large, similar to the kind used for wine. Guan Shan reached out to take them, pulled out the stoppers, and held them in front of Ji Huan.

Ji Huan lowered the hand she had held out, as it was no longer needed.

She peered into the mouth of each bottle, then ran her finger along the rim of each, bringing a sample to her lips to taste. She couldn’t help but nod in approval.

The soy sauce was a deep red, and the vinegar was clear. Both tasted pure and mellow. ’Although they still can’t compare to modern ones,’ she thought, ’they’re leagues better than what that shop in town sells in terms of color, aroma, and flavor.’

’Coming to the county seat was definitely the right decision. I’ve stumbled upon a wonderful surprise.’

"This vinegar of yours, it’s not made from glutinous rice?"

To be honest, Ji Huan didn’t know a great deal about the process, but her passion for gourmet food meant she had a basic understanding of the qualities of various soy sauces and vinegars, as well as their core ingredients.

The young man scratched his head. "To be honest, miss, glutinous rice is too expen... I make it with sorghum and bran, but the flavor is just as good."

Ji Huan nodded thoughtfully. ’No wonder...’

The Northern Land was rich in sorghum, making it much more cost-effective than glutinous rice. Sorghum itself had a dark, translucent reddish-black hue, so vinegar brewed from it needed no artificial coloring. Its color and sheen already resembled that of a well-matured vinegar.

’In modern times, the most common ingredient for brewing aged vinegar is sorghum, I think.’

However, truly aged vinegar usually needed to sit for one or two years, which clearly wasn’t the case for the contents of this bottle.

"This is a new vinegar, isn’t it? Brewed not too long ago."

The young man grew even more astonished. He hadn’t expected her to be able to tell just from the scent.

"You’re clearly a connoisseur, miss. I won’t hide it from you. This batch was ready just three months ago. I asked around for advice—once it’s made, you can mature it for three months, six months, or over a year. That’s how you get the difference between new vinegar, matured vinegar, and aged vinegar. But my family... we can’t afford to wait that long..."

Matured vinegar lost a great deal of moisture through sun-drying and concentration, which is what gave it a rich fragrance, a mellow sourness, a purplish-black color, the ability to coat a cup, and the quality of long-term preservation without spoiling.

Aged vinegar, after a year of solar evaporation and having ice skimmed off its surface in winter, could become more than three times as concentrated. This significant increase in potency created its uniquely delicate aged aroma and gentle sourness.

But judging by the young man’s clothes, he clearly didn’t come from a wealthy family. He truly couldn’t afford to wait that long.

The young man watched her cautiously. "S-So... do you still want it?"

Ji Huan nodded. "Of course. How much is it?"

The young man grew even more anxious. "Thirty cents..."

Before Ji Huan could say a word, he quickly blurted out, "I’m not trying to price-gouge you or make a dishonest profit, it’s just... how do I put this... this stuff is incredibly troublesome to make."

"There are a dozen or two steps in the process alone! You have to pound the grain, stir it, soak it, and steam it. Then you have to watch it day after day, turning the mixture and airing it out to prevent bad mold. Finally, it has to be sun-dried and the dregs have to be pressed..."

"And everything that goes into it is good quality."

"I used my family’s entire sorghum harvest from last year to brew this vinegar. And the soy sauce has salt, soybeans, flour... just think how much that all costs!"

"And it’s not something you can make in a day or two. The soy sauce, for example, takes over three months to brew and another three months to sun-dry at a minimum. And don’t even get me started on the vinegar—three months is the absolute shortest maturing period..."

"If you don’t believe me, you can ask around. Others sell it for much more."

"I used to be an assistant at a grain and oil shop in town. They sold it for even more, and the taste wasn’t nearly as good as this..."

The more the young man spoke, the more dejected and helpless he sounded.

He had to repeat this speech countless times every day. Yet even if he talked himself hoarse, almost no one ever bought his wares. ’Thirty cents for a catty? You might as well buy two catties of salt. You can cook just fine without vinegar, can’t you?’

In the end, it was because neither product was common in the Northern Land. On top of that, he couldn’t afford to rent a proper shop, so he was stuck with a roadside stall. Few wealthy people stopped by, and those who did were reluctant to spend money on what they saw as non-essentials.

"Never mind. If you think it’s too expensive..." The young man started to reach for the bottles to take them back.

"Wait," Ji Huan said suddenly.

’She finally remembered where she’d seen this young man before!’

"That grain and oil shop you mentioned... is it in Juyong Town?"

The young man froze. "Yes, it is. And you are...?"

"Have you forgotten? Around September of last year, I visited that shop. I asked about these two items back then but ended up not buying them... You even helped me carry a big pile of things to the blacksmith’s shop. Do you remember?"

The young man’s memory was jogged, but he didn’t dare confirm it.

’The girl he’d helped back then was sallow and thin, not nearly this beautiful... But her voice and her expression are so similar.’

"It really is you! You’ve changed so much, I almost didn’t recognize you!"

"A girl changes a lot as she grows up," Ji Huan said with a smile. "By the way, I went back to that shop later, but you weren’t there. The new assistant said you’d been fired. What happened?"

At the mention of this, the young man sighed.

"Our Shopkeeper sourced some vinegar and soy sauce from elsewhere to sell, but almost no one bought them."

"Most people lost interest as soon as they heard the price. Others reacted just like you did—they’d have a sniff and a look, seem unhappy with the quality, and that would be the end of it."

"When the products didn’t sell, the Shopkeeper took it out on me."

"I told him the flavor was off and asked if we could maybe improve the product or lower the price."

"The Shopkeeper gave me a vicious tongue-lashing, said I was being fanciful, and told me to pack my things and get out that very night."

’The reason she remembered him so clearly was because he had been so attentive and courteous to customers, and was warm and helpful even to strangers.’

’Besides, his suggestions had been very reasonable and were made with the shop’s long-term interests in mind.’

’That Shopkeeper had to be blind to fire an employee like that.’

"So you decided to strike out on your own?"