Chapter 426: Too Extravagant
The salt workers pushed their heavily laden carts, moving slowly. After only a few miles, dawn was already breaking.
Everyone was tired and decided to find a place to rest.
The salt workers proactively led the way, guiding Xing Honglang and Tie Niaofei on a slight detour northwest. They arrived at an inland lake, much smaller than Xie Lake, stretching only a dozen miles long and a mere two miles wide at its narrowest point.
This was Xiao Lake.
From ancient times, the salt produced at Xiao Lake had never matched the quality of Xie Lake's, possessing a slightly bitter taste.
Neither the government nor private citizens had ever managed salt production here. Moreover, because the lake water was too rich in salt and nitrates, no fish could survive, and there wasn't even a fishing village along its shores. The entire area around Xiao Lake lay barren and desolate.
Xing Honglang took one look at the place and loved it!
It was far from the official roads and devoid of human presence, meaning it would be less vulnerable to harassment from government forces and marauding bandits. They could hide away and quietly develop their operations.
Although it was somewhat desolate, that wasn't a problem.
The Heavenly Lord especially enjoyed seeing them build and build; every time something new was constructed, the Heavenly Lord would be very pleased.
A salt production site counts as something new, doesn't it?
The Gudu Ferry in the early morning!
As soon as the common folk woke, they rushed to unload the three large cargo ships...
They loved this unloading work! Not only because their employer provided meals and paid them three catties of flour, but more importantly, because when they moved the grain from the ships and stacked it in the dockside warehouse, they felt a profound sense of security.
After years of drought, they had grown terrified of hunger, constantly worrying if one meal would be their last. They worried not only about their own food supply running out but also about their employer's.
But now, seeing their employer's immense strength, how could they not be happy?
While the workers toiled diligently, the elderly, weak, women, and children were also busy. The previous day, they had drawn water from the Yellow River, filling it into wooden barrels. By the next morning, the silt had settled, allowing them to scoop out the clear upper layer to boil water for a flour porridge.
Although their diet consisted solely of monotonous flour, being able to eat their fill of it was already a divine blessing.
A clever woman kneaded the dough, then stretched and twisted it, remarkably shaping it into a 'mahua' (fried dough twist), before placing it into the pot to boil...
But the pot contained only water, not oil; mahua needed to be deep-fried.
An old man nearby couldn't help but chuckle and scold, "What in the world are you doing? Why are you twisting dough into mahua shapes?"
The woman gave an embarrassed smile. "It's been years since I've eaten mahua, and I miss it. But without oil, I can't actually eat it, so I just made the shape for a bit of fun."
The old man chuckled, "That's true enough. Let's just pretend this pot of water is oil, and we'll eat our boiled noodles as if they were mahua. They'll taste just as good."
The woman sighed, "Ah, I truly wish the drought would pass soon so we could plant some rapeseed, press some rapeseed oil... and fry a few mahua to eat."
Just as they spoke, they heard the workers by the cargo ships suddenly erupt in cheers.
The old man wondered, "Huh? What's happening over there?"
The woman also put down the dough in her hands, stood up, and looked toward the cargo ships.
A man jumped down from one of the cargo ships, astonishingly cradling a large jar in his arms, and excitedly shouted, "Everyone, look! It turns out one of the cargo ships was carrying jars of oil! I smelled it, it's all rapeseed oil in here! Such a big jar of oil!"
"Whoa!"
The others erupted in an uproar.
Then another porter leapt from the ship, incredibly carrying two poles laden with cured meat on his shoulder. With a look of disbelief on his face, he roared, "Everyone, look what I brought down from the ship! Meat! Cured meat! It smells so delicious!"
The people nearby erupted in another uproar.
Not just them, but other porters also discovered, one after another, that this time the cargo was no longer merely flour. There were only two and a half ships' worth of flour; the remaining half-ship astonishingly carried sugar, vegetables, lard, rapeseed oil, cured meat, beef jerky, chicken jerky...
As these goods were brought off the ships, the eyes of the Shanxi common folk widened in disbelief.
Could this be true?
Several large ships of grain already represented an incomprehensible display of power, yet Big Boss Xing could actually transport *these* as well?
What terrifying power was this?
A porter excitedly rushed up to Zhan Seng, laughing loudly. "Master, Master, quickly look! Such a big piece of beef jerky! So big! And so fragrant! Smell it, Master..."
*"Whack!"* Zhan Seng swept the man to the ground with a single staff strike, scolding, "This humble monk is a Buddhist! What do you mean by bringing meat for me to smell?"
The man scrambled up from the ground, an embarrassed look on his face. "Ah, I forgot."
Though Zhan Seng didn't eat meat, he understood the immense power that such a quantity represented. He glanced at the large cargo ships from afar, then looked at Lao Nanfeng, who was calmly directing things not far away, and mused to himself: *If these people are truly just salt smugglers, this humble monk will pluck off his own head and let them kick it like a ball. It's becoming increasingly clear that Xing Honglang, the salt smuggler, is merely a front they've put forward. I just don't know what they're truly planning.*
Ah! What did their true intentions matter? As long as they weren't harming people but saving them, that was more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda.
At that moment, Lao Nanfeng carried a large string of rapeseed oil jars down from the ship and approached the woman who had been twisting dough. Placing a jar of oil into her hands, he chuckled, "I saw from afar just now, it looked like you know how to make mahua?"
The woman quickly nodded. "Sir, this humble woman was born in Yongning Village, Zhangying Township. Everyone in our village is skilled at making mahua."
Lao Nanfeng was overjoyed. "What are you waiting for, then? This jar of oil is yours! Hurry up and fry those mahua! Damn it, I've been craving mahua for years!"
The woman asked, "Sir, have you also not eaten mahua for many years? Oh dear, this humble woman hasn't had it in four years."
Lao Nanfeng chuckled, "Only four years? That's nothing! I haven't eaten it in almost ten years!"
The woman was speechless.
Lao Nanfeng's face clouded with melancholy. "It's been almost ten years since I left this vibrant Central Plains world... I even dream of it... *cough*... What am I telling you all this for? Quickly, get those mahua made!"
The woman immediately got to work, setting up another pot and pouring rapeseed oil into it.
Half a pot of oil! It was truly extravagant!
The woman felt a little nervous. If she accidentally knocked over this pot of oil, even her own head wouldn't be enough compensation. The people nearby clearly shared the same thought; they all retreated far away, fearing their clumsy hands might overturn the oil pot.
Being burned would be a minor issue; wasting half a pot of oil was an absolute capital offense! A capital offense!
The oil came to a rolling boil.
With trembling hands, the woman stretched the dough, twisted it, shaped it into a mahua, and then carefully placed it into the pot. *Sizzle...*
An incredibly fragrant aroma instantly filled the air, and Lao Nanfeng's gulping could be heard clearly from several yards away.
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