Courtyard House: Is Xu Damao a childless man? Let me help.

Chapter 212 Seeking help from Sha Zhu to learn how to make butter

Since Ye Jianchuan had said so, Factory Director Zhou, though still curious, trusted Ye Jianchuan quite a bit, so he readily nodded in agreement.

He then said directly, "Okay, Jianchuan! If you can figure this out this time, I'll make the decision. You'll go directly to the new workshop and become the workshop director!"

Don't be fooled by the fact that it's just a promotion from deputy director to director. The difference between a deputy and a director is huge. The salary alone will increase by more than ten yuan.

As for rights and privileges, that goes without saying. And the most important point is that being promoted to director means you've overcome the toughest hurdle.

After all, the workshop director is considered a 'high-level' position in the food factory. When the leaders hold meetings, the workshop director is required to be present, while the deputy workshop director... doesn't need to be.

This shows that even at the deputy director level, one still hasn't entered the 'inner circle'.

Of course, this didn't make much difference to Ye Jianchuan, since he really didn't care much about 'power'.

However, since Factory Director Zhou 233 has already said so, Ye Jianchuan naturally has no objection. After all, who wouldn't want a raise?

Moreover, the reason why it took two days to design everything was because Ye Jianchuan wanted to make some slight improvements to the flavor.

Compared to the popcorn that Ye Jianchuan was used to eating, the popcorn he made today lacked a certain aroma.

This is actually related to the oil used. Ye Jianchuan used vegetable oil this time. Whether it was the oil he used to pop corn at the beginning or the oil he used to make syrup later, it was all vegetable oil.

While there's nothing wrong with vegetable oil, butter still produces a stronger aroma.

Especially the smell; the difference is quite significant. With the butter, there's a milky aroma that you can smell from a great distance.

Before this product became 'famous', its milky aroma became the most important advertisement; otherwise, it would have been quite difficult to promote it.

Of course, the correct way to sell popcorn is actually the way it was sold at the movie theater entrance (blank) 698925850. In that case, not only popcorn, but also Arctic Ocean soda can be sold together.

Unfortunately, this approach is not particularly suitable for the current environment, as it carries a connotation of promoting hedonism. Therefore, it is certainly unrealistic to promote popcorn through official channels.

But it's okay. At worst, we can just wait until this thing is made and then send a few employees to the cinema every day at company expense. When the smell of popcorn comes out, we won't have to worry about people coming up to ask what it is.

The sales method is no longer a concern, but how should we make the aroma of the popcorn, or rather, the butter?

Although butter can be bought for just a few dollars in supermarkets in later generations and is readily available abroad, not many people in China know how it is made.

Ye Jianchuan knew how cream was made, but he really had no experience in making butter.

Fortunately, Ye Jianchuan quickly came up with a solution. Although he himself did not know how to make butter, it did not mean that others did not know how to make butter!

Among Sha Zhu's chef friends, there are quite a few who have access to foreign culinary techniques. It shouldn't be a problem for Sha Zhu to inquire about how to make butter, right?

If that still doesn't work, then Ye Jianchuan might really have to find a way to get the food desiccant out.

With food desiccants, the shelf life of various foods can be extended to a certain extent.

For example, sandwich bread from food factories can usually only be stored for three or four days, but with a desiccant, it might be possible to extend its shelf life to a week.

Take popcorn, for example. It's very easy for it to absorb moisture, but it doesn't spoil easily, so theoretically, its shelf life should be very long.

However, because it is too easy for popcorn to reabsorb moisture, and the taste will drop significantly after it reabsorbs moisture, if the problem of moisture absorption can be solved, then popcorn can be made into a ready-to-eat snack and sold!

Unfortunately... Although Ye Jianchuan knew the working principle of this desiccant and had come into contact with it many times before, he had never really paid attention to what it was made of before.

So this is something that can only be thought about. At most, one can only outline the ideas and then let a more professional person study it properly. As for Ye Jianchuan to study it himself? That would be too difficult.

Evening arrived quickly. After returning to the courtyard, Ye Jianchuan immediately approached Sha Zhu and said, "Brother Zhu, there's something I need to trouble you with."

You know quite a few chef friends in Beijing, do you know anyone who can cook Western food?

Sha Zhu frowned and looked at Ye Jianchuan. "Western food? Why would you ask that? You'd better be careful lately!"

I heard from the big boss that things haven't been peaceful lately. If you've had any contact with those foreigners, you might be in trouble!

Ye Jianchuan waved his hand and continued, "No, I don't want to have any contact with foreigners. I want to find someone who knows Western cuisine and ask them who can make butter."

Our food factory has designed a new snack, and I think using butter to adjust the flavor might make it even better.

To Ye Jianchuan's surprise, Sha Zhu clapped his hands and said, "You want to learn how to make butter? Hey! You should have said so earlier!"

I don't know how to cook other Western dishes, but I have learned how to make this butter. A friend once asked me to help out, and they needed this kind of butter to fry meat.

As it turned out, he didn't have enough butter, so he made some more on the spot. That's when I learned what it was called—"bart," right?

"Butter?" Ye Jianchuan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, then he instantly realized that Sha Zhu must have been talking about 'butter', right?

Since Sha Zhu knew how to make this, he didn't need to go through all that trouble and immediately started asking Sha Zhu for instructions.

Ye Jianchuan was stunned by Sha Zhu's words, because making butter basically only requires one thing, which is milk, and at most a small amount of salt or something similar.

Chapter 213 The fragrant popcorn is ready!

Ye Jianchuan actually had some milk on hand; it was the kind of milk given as a system reward, served in boxes, perfect for the experiment.

Then... Ye Jianchuan was dumbfounded. In this era without electric mixers, it was quite difficult to separate the fat from milk by hand through stirring.

Ye Jianchuan and Sha Zhu each held a stirring stick and stirred the milk in the bowl for more than ten minutes. They worked hard for nearly half an hour before they finally saw some changes in the milk's appearance.

Then comes the simpler part: rinse with cold water to remove impurities, drain the water, add some salt or something, and you're done.

Seeing the butter he had made himself, Ye Jianchuan couldn't help but sigh, "Technology is the primary productive force!"

This process, which would only take two minutes with a blender in later generations, took me and Sha Zhu, two grown men, almost half an hour to complete.

And their hands were numb from shaking so much; it was incredibly tiring.

Now that the butter was ready, the next step was naturally the experiment. Since the pot at home was relatively small, Ye Jianchuan simply made some popcorn and then used the butter to make some syrup.

Now, the aroma of butter was infused with the scent of syrup, and the fragrance instantly changed, filling the entire backyard with the aroma emanating from Ye Jianchuan's house.

Ye Jianchuan didn't waste any time and quickly mixed the popcorn he had just made with the syrup, then let Sha Zhu taste it.

Sha Zhu picked up a few and popped them into his mouth, then began to 'savor' them.

"How is it?" Ye Jianchuan smelled the aroma and felt that it was very close to the feeling later on, but he still asked Sha Zhu, who was a professional chef.

But Sha Zhu didn't say anything. Instead, he took a few more and stuffed them into his mouth. Ye Jianchuan got anxious and quickly grabbed two more and stuffed them into his mouth as well.

The taste is pretty good! It not only has the texture of popcorn, but also has a subtle salty taste from the salt added when making the butter, making the flavor richer than before.

Now Ye Jianchuan was finally satisfied. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this product should be no worse than sandwich bread.

Even... as time goes on, the sales of this product will only increase, and at this point, Sha Zhu finally spoke up.

"Jianchuan, this stuff of yours is quite interesting. If you say it's sweet, it's not the kind of sweetness that comes with sugar. If you say it's not sweet, the flavor is quite rich."

"And seeing how much oil you added, yet it didn't taste oil at all; it tasted more like a snack, which is quite interesting."

Ye Jianchuan smiled and said smugly, "Right? I also think this is a very good snack, but although it looks like a lot, it's not very filling."

After all, all you get is a tiny bit of corn kernels; in reality, it might not even be as filling as a whole ear of corn.

Sha Zhu nodded, then asked, "Is your food factory planning to mass-produce this? But this kind of popcorn probably won't last long, right?"

The current fluffy and crispy texture can only last for five or six hours at most. Your food factory's products take at least a day to reach the store; will they still maintain their texture by then?

Ye Jianchuan shrugged and said, "How could I not have considered what you're saying? But what if we're not selling finished products, but these raw materials?"

With just corn kernels, some oil, some butter, and some sugar, let the buyer make it at home. Whether they eat it when they go to the movies or when they entertain guests at home, it's up to them.

Even... although this thing can't be preserved for very long after it's made, the raw materials themselves can be preserved for quite a while!

So maybe this stuff won't just be available in Beijing and its surrounding areas, but even in other provinces?

After hearing this, Sha Zhu nodded, then reached out and grabbed two more handfuls to take back for Ran Qiuye to try as well, but Ye Jianchuan stopped him.

"Brother Zhu, wait a minute. You've seen how to do it. I only have one stove and two pots at home, so I can't manage it all. I'm thinking of using up all the remaining butter. Shall we go to your place later and do it together?"

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This was a trivial matter for Sha Zhu, so he readily agreed, and soon the two of them arrived at the Intermediate People's Court with the materials.

The rest was simple. Ye Jianchuan and Sha Zhu started working at Sha Zhu's doorstep, and in less than half an hour, they had popped two large bowls full of popcorn.

At this moment, the entire central courtyard of the siheyuan was filled with the creamy aroma of butter and syrup, and several children were so tempted that they pressed their faces against the windows to look out.

Meanwhile, on the Jia family's side, Bang Geng was even more insistent, demanding that Jia Zhangshi go out and get him some to try.

.. ... ...

However, before Jia Zhangshi could even come out, Ye Jianchuan started a big giveaway. He called Sha Zhu over and, carrying two bowls of popcorn, knocked on the doors of each household in the central courtyard, distributing some to each family.

It wasn't that Ye Jianchuan wanted to be a 'great philanthropist,' but rather that he felt this was a promotional opportunity. After all, each family only gave him a small amount, and all of this wouldn't cost Ye Jianchuan much money.

But once these people know about this product, they'll know what it tastes like when popcorn enters the workers' stores. Some of them might even recommend it to their fellow workers.

Isn't this also a form of advertising? It's just that this form of advertising is a bit old-fashioned, relying on word of mouth.

That's why Ye Jianchuan always says this when he's "sending warmth".

"This is a new product that our food factory is researching. I made it today for everyone to try. If the feedback from our staff is good, it should be ready for production soon."

If you think it tastes good, then when this product is produced and sold in the workers' store, everyone can buy some to try and recommend it to their colleagues.

After saying that, Ye Jianchuan handed the basin over, letting the other person reach out and grab some dried food.

Chapter 214 Classic Marketing Methods

Although most of the residents in the courtyard are called "birds," that's relative. It's mainly because of their indifference to various matters in the courtyard that they are called "birds."

However, in reality, this group of people was not as disgusting as Xu Damao and Jia Zhangshi. Because of this, when they reached for popcorn, they were generally quite restrained, grabbing only a handful or two.

In this way, the other neighbors would also have a chance to get some. However, Ye Jianchuan also knew that there would definitely be exceptions when it came to Jia Zhangshi.

So Ye Jianchuan saw off this large group of people from the Intermediate People's Court, and even saw off Uncle Yi's family, but he did not go to the Jia family.

Now, seeing Ye Jianchuan "two three three" go around distributing popcorn at home, the boy who had skipped over his own family's popcorn was unhappy and immediately opened the door and rushed out.

"Ye Jianchuan! What about our family?! They all have them, why don't we?"

Ye Jianchuan glanced at Bang Geng and then said, "Your family? Think about what your grandma did at Brother Zhu's wedding banquet."

I'm definitely not going to give it to the Jia family. There's no need to be a good person and get scolded. If you want some, go ask your great-grandfather!