Goldfield
Chapter 209: Starch Jelly

By the time the others arrived, the twin brothers and Zhuang Xiaomo, who was a free worker, had picked up a large pile of red sea algae.

Fang Zizhen and Yu Hang had always followed Xiaocao's orders without hesitation. They both put the collected seaweed into a basket and dragged it back home. They then ran back to help the children collect more algae. Yu Xiaocao was so happy picking seaweed that he even forgot lunch.

The harvest today was good! Satisfaction flourished within Xiaocao's heart as he looked at the bamboo basket filled with seaweed lined up neatly in the courtyard. If only red sea algae could be harvested regularly, then he would really make money!

Fang Zizhen was busy stuffing a delicious and satisfying red sea algae salad into his mouth. He looked at the basket full of seaweed and asked, “Princess, this red seaweed tastes quite good but I guess we can't use everything that has been collected ah! Even though we eat it every day for every meal for the next few months, we still won't be able to spend everything here! ”

Xiaocao had already entered the kitchen to light a fire. He peeked his tiny head out of the room and smiled mysteriously at Fang Zizhen, “Godfather, keep a little space in your stomach. Soon, something good will come out! ”

Fang Zizhen rubbed his stomach and grinned, “The Godfather's stomach can stretch and shrink as needed. Even though I was full, I could still eat a few more bowls. Don't worry, I'll be able to taste your new food. ”

In fact, the process of making starch jelly is quite simple. The important part is to have good control over the heat of the stove so that the ingredients boil slowly for at least four hours. After that, once the red sea algae have completely melted into a liquid, all you need to do is filter the residue out and let it harden into a clear starch jelly. Starch jelly made from algae is more clear and feels cooler than jelly from sweet potato starch or green bean starch. It was very similar to agar. After the sea starch jelly was made, Xiaocao planned to wrap it with garlic paste, hot chili oil, chopped mustard pickles, sesame oil and some other herbs. The resulting combination will definitely arouse one's appetite.

Yu Xiaocao would not only try to make sea starch jelly, but he would also try to make sweet potato starch jelly and green bean starch jelly when the seaweed was simmered on the stove.

Using green bean starch is rather troublesome. First of all, green beans should be soaked in water until they expand. After soaking, they need to be ground into a thick, filtered green bean pulp for the starch to settle. Although these steps seem easy, practicing them is another matter. Filtration of the slurry should be done a dozen times before you can let the starch settle. After that, you should also pour as much liquid as possible carefully before you dry the green bean starch in the sun. Only if the starch is completely dry can it be used.

The making of gelatinous green bean starch is required using the correct proportion of starch with water. The water needs to be warmed until warm and then given kanji until thick and thick. Pans filled with clean water should be boiled and a sticky starch mixture should be dripped before stirring vigorously so as not to stick in the pot and burn. Once the starch has matured, the thick dough should be poured into a mold similar to that used in tofu making. Then it should cool down without interruption until it hardens into its final form.

Most of the work involved in making green bean starch jelly comes from the filtering steps required to produce green bean starch. So, gelatin sweet potato flour is easier to make. After all, they already had a stockpile of ready-made sweet potato flour, whether it was at Xiaocao's house or at the Zhou Family's vermicelli factory. With yam flour in hand, the next steps to make starch jelly are more or less the same as those used to make green bean flour gelatin.

The yam starch jelly has a slightly red color while being clear, resembling a sparkling red jade and ice-cold. While green bean starch jelly is bright white and soft like gelatin. No matter what type of kanji jelly it is, it is all soft and tasty and very effective in cooling a person and quenching thirst.

With Xiaocao's secret wrapping on a sparkling and transparent starch jelly, someone who ate his bowl in the summer would feel very fresh. It feels so addictive that people want to eat it continuously. That night, everyone in the Yu Family ate a bowl of soft starch jelly. With the slightly moist sea breeze billowing around them, they felt quite satisfied and happy.

Xiaolian refilled her bowl and poured herbs on it with a smile, “Adik, this starch jelly is perfect to eat during the summer! Tomorrow, let's take some to the docks for sale. I'm sure it will be very popular! ”

Fang Zizhen finally did not eat dinner because his stomach was so full that it bulged. He commented, “Daughter, what is in your little head that ah? Where did all these weird ideas come from? I never thought that the sweet potato flour and seaweed taken from the beach could be used to make something so delicious! Haha, I must have done many good deeds in my past life to have a good goddaughter like you! You really make me proud.My wife, tomorrow, when you go to the city, bring a little to Princess Empress Jing and her second son. They should also try our daughter's food! ”

Fang Zizhen had always been a rude person. Under the influence of the atmosphere in Dongshan Village, he no longer used a polite form of greeting to talk to Madam Fang. Instead, he used the exact same term that Yu Hai and the other villagers used, such as ‘istri’! However, once it gets used to it, it sounds quite friendly and familiar.

Starch jelly was quite delicious, so Lady Fang ended up eating two large bowls even though she tried to restrain herself. He reluctantly put down the spoon and laughed lightly, “You ah! Aren't you just trying to show that you have a good daughter in front of Princess Empress Jing? I know your way. ”

Fang Zizhen chuckled and did not even bother to hide his original purpose. What's the point of trying to hide the fact that she has a talented and capable daughter? She wanted everyone to know that she, Fang Zizhen, had a godly smart daughter in cooking!

Xiaocao smiled brightly at his godfather and then continued the starch jelly sales business discussion with Xiaolian.

Since they plan to sell starch jelly, they also need to prepare bowls and spoons for customers. Of course, they also needed to get some tables and chairs as they could not let their customers crouch down to eat food! They also need a tent. Now it is the height of summer and there is no shade on the pier. Who wants to eat in the hot sun ?!

Xiaolian suddenly thought of something and clapped her hands, “Really! Grandfather Liu mentioned that his son had made a lot of money from doing business and planned to move him so that he could meet the needs of his elderly father! They need to sell their noodle stall to someone. If we take over, won't that solve our table and bench problems? ”

Xiaocao thought for a moment and then nodded, “Oke! In addition to starch jelly, we also sell cold noodles. I know several methods for making cold noodles, and they taste great. Tomorrow, I can build a tent first. Grandpa Liu's grass hut did not let the wind in, which was good in winter, but in summer, it would be slightly stuffy. ”

“Good! Right now the sun is still rising so I will cut down some bamboo. ” Yu Hai was the type of person who did what he said, so he immediately stood up.

Yu Hang followed him from behind and said, “I'll go mow the long grass!”

In another way to make money, Yu Xiaolian became much more excited and exclaimed in excitement, “Tomorrow, let's bring everything we need to the dock for the opening before noon !! Absolutely right! Tomorrow, we have to go to the dock early. I need to buy bowls, chopsticks, and spoons from the store and you can start making starch jelly! Since this business is a collaboration between the two of us, let's split the fifty-fifty money. Is that okay?”

Naturally, Xiaocao would not reject that proposition. However, it was likely that he and Xiaolian would not be able to handle the manufacture of starch jelly and cold noodles. It might not be a bad idea to involve their Eldest Mother Aunt. Ever since the melon shop closed, their oldest maternal aunt couldn't find a suitable job, so she only occasionally went to the dock and sold food.

However, now his family has more breathing room. When she helped the melon shop for over a month, she discovered she had more work than she could handle, so she also brought her eldest daughter along. After that was over, Xiaocao only put fifty taels into his hands to show his gratitude in helping this difficult job.

A healthy man in his prime doing forced labor in the city would not be able to get one tael for a month's work. Madam Han felt that she did not have a difficult job by working in a melon shop. All he had to do was move the melon to the shelf and manage the money box. When Xiaocao gave him fifty taels for his work, he was frightened and dumbfounded. How could he possibly receive that much money?

That being said, Oldest Mother Uncle Xiaocao also made a lot of money from selling watermelons in the prefectural city. All of this was the result of Xiaocao's kindness and benevolence. As her family's circumstances got better, she also never forgot to help them. Liu Pei and his brother have been back and forth to the prefectural city at least ten times in the past month.

The first time they went to the prefecture city, they almost had an evil tyrant oppressing them from their belongings. Fortunately, Fang Zizhen quickly came to their rescue and caught the bully and his minions. Criminals were given to the authorities and Fang Zizhen also brought the two brothers to meet with the prefectural magistrate. News spread quickly, whether intentionally or not, among the rich and powerful families in the prefectural city. They all knew immediately that the Liu Brothers, who were selling watermelons, were under the protection of the imperial envoy, General Fang. Naturally, from then on, no one had tried to oppress the two brothers with their wealth or status.

There are more people with money in the prefecture city! As soon as the cart full of watermelons arrived at the prefectural city gate, all the watermelons sold quickly to the servants of this wealthy family. Although the price of watermelon is twice as expensive as that sold in Tanggu City, its sales have never slowed.

Within a month, the two brothers each gained seven to eight hundred taels. Before this, the Liu Family often did not even have seven to eight taels to take, let alone seven to eight hundred taels. Now that they have ‘a huge amount’ money in their hands, none of them really know what to do with it.

Then, Xiaocao gave them some financial advice. The brothers then decided to use their money to invest in the shops to be built in the new port. Nowadays, more and more people are traveling through the raw docks nowadays. Once the construction of the new port is completed, then the real estate prices will definitely skyrocket!

With Xiaocao's godfather present, they also did not have to worry about whether they could buy a shop in a good location. Originally, Xiaocao wanted to ask Third Young Master Zhou for help to buy a shop, but he suddenly remembered he could give this task to his godfather. The thinking process is simple, ‘With my current income, buying ten stores will not be a problem now!’

Okay, back to the topic! So, Xiaocao combined his money with the rest of his family and the next day Yu Hai brought his two daughters along with two carts to the dock! Fang Zizhen rode his horse casually behind them. Yu Hai sat on the handle of the wagon while driving the horse carriage stacked high with the construction materials needed to build the hut. Xiaocao and his sister were on a donkey cart, which was stacked with pots, bowls, spoons, and basins. A basket full of seaweed is also balanced on the wagon.

Right, they're planning on making sea starch jelly first. After all, they did not need to spend money on raw materials. Once the seaweed supply is depleted, they can consider making sweet potato flour jelly. Green bean starch jelly is considered too difficult to produce on a mass scale and is also the most expensive method as well. Therefore, the two sisters decided not to use green beans!

Before they left this morning, Xiaocao had specifically visited the Zhou Family for Zhou Shanhu to help them pass on the news to the village children that the Yu Family was buying a large amount of red sea algae for the long term. They set the price of one copper coin for each kati seaweed and there is no limit to how much you can sell to them. Yesterday they could have collected a dozen or so baskets full of seaweed from one place, so it's likely that other beaches have more.

In this season, village children usually have no activities. If they worked hard to collect seaweed, even a half-grown child could collect more than a dozen catties of seaweed in a day. Currently, the people in Dongshan Village were no longer as poor as the church rats, needing to skimp and store every bit of copper. Thus, adults can now allow their children to have a deposit of about a dozen copper coins for an allowance. Of course, the village children were even more interested in the prospect of collecting seaweed to earn more personal money!