Exiled to Lingnan, the Crown Prince's wife raises children, cultivates the land, and leads the

"I tripped and fell."

Zhenmei said with utmost seriousness, "So, now it's Master Leng's son who's making sugar."

Cheng Qiqi: "..."

She was certain that everyone in Guihua Village, except for the Jin family who had just arrived and knew nothing, knew about this news!

What kind of inside information is this?

"What's wrong? I'm telling the truth!"

Seeing that she was unhappy, Zhenmei quickly tied the hairband up her hair and said, "Now it's mine."

"your."

Cheng Qiqi smiled as she looked at the sugar workshop, which was divided into several sections. From juicing to boiling, crystallizing, and packaging, everything was done in one large hall.

When burning firewood to start a fire, dust filled the air, and juicing was done in a very simple and unhygienic manner, with absolutely no awareness of hygiene.

Also, how can you precisely control the heat when boiling sugar in a large pot?

The crystallized brown sugar isn't evenly distributed...

Cheng Qiqi looked around the sugar workshop, somewhat curious. Could the sugar they made be sold?

"Of course they'll sell! Our candy shop sells very well!"

Upon hearing Cheng Qiqi's question, Zhenmei immediately replied, "The sugarcane from our village, as well as from the neighboring villages, is all sent to our sugar pit. Only the Leng family can make sugar from it!"

"oh."

Cheng Qiqi thought to herself, it seems that the sugar-making technology in Lingnan is not very good, at least, it is far inferior to that of Kyoto!

Kyoto's candy, while not as good as modern candy, is still quite good overall.

Sugar from Lingnan...

Cheng Qiqi looked down at the dark red brown sugar, which had a faint burnt smell. This process... if it were improved, it could definitely make a lot of money.

"Smack."

Get to work quickly.

Granny Leng swung a ruler at her, and Cheng Qiqi looked up and smiled, "Granny Leng is right."

Reason told her that being assertive now would only lead to losses and absolutely no benefit!

"Song Zhenmei, what are you laughing at?"

The old woman struck Song Zhenmei with a ruler. Song Zhenmei's smiling face instantly fell. She wasn't angry at all, but instead said with a grin, "Auntie, I did the work, I didn't slack off."

All right.

The old woman's ruler was used to discipline everyone equally.

"Qiqi, it's alright. Everyone gets beaten up when they first arrive," Wen whispered, trying to comfort her. She had been beaten up many times in the few days she had been at the sugar shop!

Cheng Qiqi smiled faintly. She'd even gained experience from being beaten?

Suddenly, a burnt aroma wafted over.

Cheng Qiqi looked at the sugar pot; the man seemed somewhat flustered.

"Xiaoyu, quick, get out of the fire!"

The old woman, who had been stern just moments before, strode forward and excitedly urged the man on.

"Withdraw the fire, withdraw the fire quickly."

After Leng Yu finished speaking, he looked at the pot of sugar with a face full of self-reproach.

That's it?

Shouldn't we try to save her?

Cheng Qiqi was amazed and stood up, walking towards the pot.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you going to work?" Granny Leng frowned as she looked at Cheng Qiqi.

Cheng Qiqi ignored it and stared at the pot full of sugar, saying, "Immediately put a cold pot on top; this pot of sugar can still be salvaged."

"Prepare the bamboo charcoal powder, and hurry!"

Cheng Qiqi's voice was commanding, and her eyes were fixed on the pot of sugar. How much sugarcane would it take to boil this pot of sugar water?

It's such a waste to just throw it away like this.

"Don't be ridiculous," the old woman frowned.

Leng Yu asked, "Do you understand?"

"Whether I understand or not, at least I can try. It's better than letting the whole pot of sugar go bad, right?"

Cheng Qiqi pursed her lips and said, "I've already taught you the method. Whether you do it or not is up to you."

After saying that, Cheng Qiqi turned and left. If she didn't want to get involved with the sugar shop, she wouldn't have bothered to show her face.

"Qiqi, this candy is burnt. Why are you doing this? What if it really goes bad? You'll be blamed for it."

Wen looked anxiously at Cheng Qiqi, who had sat back down beside her, and said, "You don't know, on my first day here, I burned a whole pot of food. Back then, Granny Leng cursed everyone out."

"Qiqi, you..."

Wen looked at Cheng Qiqi with concern; she had really acted rashly this time.

"They can salvage at least half a pot of sugar now."

Cheng Qiqi turned around and saw that Leng Yu had listened to her and started to put the cold pot on the stove, transferring the sugar from the pot to the cold pot. At the same time, someone started to grind bamboo charcoal powder.

"How much bamboo charcoal powder should I sprinkle?"

Leng Yu ran over to Cheng Qiqi and asked her questions, his eyes filled with anxiety.

"The finer the powder, the better; the more, the better."

Cheng Qiqi walked to the pot and said, "Sprinkle the charcoal powder while stirring with the stick to make sure it mixes evenly with the sugar."

Bamboo charcoal has a strong adsorption capacity and can quickly absorb the burnt smell.

"it is good."

Leng Yu was now desperate and was doing whatever he could, following Cheng Qiqi's method. He asked, "How do we filter out this bamboo charcoal powder later?"

"Prepare several clean cotton cloths, wood ash, clean fine yarn, and seven or eight layers of clean fine cotton cloth!"

Cheng Qiqi listed the ingredients needed to filter the syrup and reminded him, "Be quick!"

"daughter."

Leng Yu turned to look at Granny Leng. Granny Leng, who had been cold and stern just moments before, immediately went back to get cotton cloth. There happened to be a lot of fine cotton cloth at home, which was prepared for Leng Yu to use when he got married!

In the cold pan, there was about two-thirds syrup. After the caramelized smell of the syrup had mostly dissipated, Cheng Qiqi began to teach how to filter it.

First, filter the syrup through a fine cotton cloth; the syrup color lightened slightly.

After filtering the first layer, the second layer, consisting of fine sand and wood ash, is filtered.

Next came seven or eight layers of clean, fine cotton cloth. Finally, the syrup was filtered out little by little, and the sugar color became clear and bright, with the red luster reappearing.

"It actually worked! The burnt smell is almost gone."

Leng Yu squatted down, carefully smelling the aroma of the syrup, and then looked at the cotton cloth that had just been filtered; it was entirely made of bamboo charcoal powder.

"Don't move."

Seeing that Leng Yu was about to start, Cheng Qiqi immediately reminded him, "Wait until the last bit of charcoal powder settles to the bottom, and this batch of syrup will be ready."

"However, compared to regular brown sugar, this rich and fragrant old-fashioned sugar is a bit cheaper, so it can still be sold!"

Cheng Qiqi thought that it was slightly inferior in quality to the brown sugar they were currently selling.

"That's good too."

Leng Yu breathed a huge sigh of relief; all that pot of sugar from a few days ago was now useless.

"Who are you?"

Leng Yu belatedly realized what was happening and looked at Cheng Qiqi's face as something completely unfamiliar!

"She's an exiled prisoner, new to the area," the old woman introduced, saying, "What's her name again, Cheng something?"

"Cheng Qiqi".

Cheng Qiqi spoke.

"Do you know how to make sugar?"

Leng Yu stared at Cheng Qiqi and asked, "I've seen many prisoners exiled from the capital in Lingnan. Most of them are women, and even fewer can adapt to the climate of Lingnan. Many of them are sick."

Most of them used to be high-class ladies and young ladies who never lifted a finger and couldn't even tell the difference between scallions and chives. Someone like Cheng Qiqi who can make sugar is simply... a miracle!

Song Zhenmei felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the way Leng Yu was staring at Cheng Qiqi.