A Visit

Although the taste wasn't as good as the roasted chestnuts they ate in their previous life, it was roughly the same. As for how to improve it and make the chestnuts taste even better, that would have to be figured out by the Xu Family themselves.

When Sister-in-law Li came over, Zhao Ruxi asked her to explain the details to pay attention to when making roasted chestnuts. She rewarded her with ten taels of silver and sent her away. Zhao Ruxi then took a pen and summarized the details, and also wrote down the place where Zhou Chun bought the quartz sand.

After returning to Beijing that day and having dinner, Zhao Ruxi took a bag of chestnuts roasted by Aunt Li to the Xu Family.

"Miss Xi."

Xu Yongyi's family was having dinner when they were overjoyed to see Zhao Ruxi arrive.

"I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to visit my uncle and aunt," Zhao Ruxi said apologetically.

"We all know you're so busy these days that you don't even have time to go to the academy, and you're being forced to memorize things by Teacher Cui. Poor child," Madam Xie said, looking at Zhao Ruxi with affection. "Look, you've lost weight."

Zhao Ruxi: "..." Please don't bring this up.

Also, she's not thin. She's just grown taller.

"How's business lately?" she changed the subject.

"It's great. With your family always looking after us, no one has been foolish enough to cause us trouble. Business is doing very well," Xu Yongyi said with a smile.

This is to avoid worrying her, so I only report good news and not bad.

Seeing that they had finished eating and were about to clear the table, Zhao Ruxi took out the bag of chestnuts. "Try some. If they taste good, you can sell chestnuts."

Madam Xie thought Zhao Ruxi had brought them some snacks again and was about to decline when she heard Zhao Ruxi's words. She then took a chestnut and tasted it.

Before she could speak, Xu Xue exclaimed, "Wow! It's so delicious, so fragrant and sweet!" As she spoke, she reached into the bag and took another one.

Xu Yongyi never ate this kind of snack, but he tried one after hearing what Zhao Ruxi said.

Seeing that his wife and children all said it was delicious, he looked at Zhao Ruxi and asked, "These chestnuts have a shiny outer skin, were they fried in oil?"

At that time, oil extraction technology was not advanced, and oil was very precious. The chestnuts were so shiny; who knows how much oil had been used? It's fine for personal consumption occasionally, but if you're using them for business, you have to consider the cost.

Zhao Ruxi took out the piece of paper she had written and handed it to Xu Yongyi: "Uncle, look, this is the method I used."

Xu Yongyi took it and examined it carefully. Apart from Madam Xie, who was illiterate, Xu Chongwen and Xu Xue both crowded around him to look at the prescription.

Xu Chongwen glanced at it and noticed something he didn't understand, so he asked, "What is quartz sand?"

Xu Yongyi also raised his head and looked at Zhao Ruxi.

Qingfeng then presented her with the two bags of quartz sand she was carrying.

"These are the kinds of stones. They're not expensive and can be reused. I've already written down where Steward Zhou buys stones on a piece of paper. When you go to buy them, make sure they're all the same size and don't have any sharp edges," Zhao Ruxi said, pointing to a bag.

"But before you roast the chestnuts, you need to roast the quartz sand first. This bag contains the roasted stones." She pointed to another bag, "The method for roasting the stones is also written on the paper. However, this is only a rough method. You can see if there's anything wrong and make improvements. For example, white sugar is too expensive, you can try maltose; if the flavor isn't rich enough, you can try adding a little salt or other seasonings."

Sugar-roasted chestnuts taste sweet, but you actually need to add a tiny bit of salt while roasting them. No other seasonings are needed.

Zhao Ruxi said this to inspire them to roast spiced melon seeds, peanuts, and the like.

Quartz sand can be used to roast chestnuts, so it can naturally be used to roast sunflower seeds and peanuts as well. Modern roasted nut shops offer an incredibly wide variety of products.

Xu Yongyi, a man who doesn't eat much snacking, initially didn't see the business opportunity in this product. He thought that raw chestnuts were readily available on the streets, and people could simply buy some and steam them at home to eat. Who would want to spend money on these obviously expensive roasted chestnuts?

But when he saw Xu Xue eating chestnuts like a little hamster, she couldn't stop. At first, Xu Chongwen was mindful of Zhao Ruxi and didn't want to reach for them, but when he saw that the bag of chestnuts was running low, he couldn't help but join in eating them.

Madam Xie was usually frugal and reluctant to eat good things herself, but after cleaning up the dishes, she couldn't resist grabbing a couple of pieces herself.

Then he realized that these chestnuts could be sold at cold dish stalls without incurring any additional sales costs, and Xu Yongyi's eyes lit up.

"Okay. If this business is successful, I'll still give you the same percentage as the cold dish," he said.

Zhao Ruxi waved her hand. "Uncle, you know I'm not short of money right now. Besides, these methods are all things I heard about. I had steamed chestnuts yesterday, but they weren't quite right, so I asked the cook at Beining Courtyard to try them out. This recipe isn't complete, so you'll have to improve it. Given our relationship, please don't stand on ceremony with me."

Even though she knew that Xu Yongyi had made a lot of money and bought estates, shops, houses, and servants, he still gave her a share of the profits every month. Every month, Zhao Ruxi felt uneasy when she received the dozens of taels of silver that Xu Xue transferred to her, thinking about how Xu Yongyi worked from dawn till dusk every day.

People are strange and contradictory. If Xu Yongyi felt that she had become rich and stopped giving her dividends, Zhao Ruxi would definitely feel uncomfortable and would not give him the new formula again; but if Xu Yongyi actually gave her the money, she would feel guilty.

"That won't do. This quartz sand alone—without someone pointing it out, it's something you'd never even think of in your entire life. As long as it's kept secret, no one else can learn it. That's a unique formula. Uncle can't just take your secret formula for nothing."

After much arguing between Zhao Ruxi and Xu Yongyi, Madam Xie said, "Alright, since Miss Xi doesn't want to accept this money, you can keep it. You can use it to help with her dowry when she gets married."

Xu Yongyi then fell silent.

As Zhao Ruxi was leaving, she reminded him, "Uncle, you could also try roasting melon seeds and peanuts."

Xu Yongyi paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

Xu Xue Zhao Ruxi leave, Xu Xue rushed out after her, saying, "I'll see my sister off."

Following Zhao Ruxi outside, she chattered on and on. "Sister, my new storybook sold! I tried negotiating with the shopkeeper like you did, insisting on a price increase, and he actually did!"

"Really? That's amazing!"

Hearing Zhao Ruxi's praise, Xu Xue's big eyes immediately crinkled into crescent moons with laughter. "Sister, I've already earned two taels of silver for my first storybook!"

"There will be more and more in the future. Keep writing, I'm waiting for you to become a great writer," Zhao Ruxi encouraged.

"Yes, I'll definitely write it well. Sis, you don't know, my dad praises me to everyone he meets, it makes me so embarrassed."

Xu Yongyi was Xu Yongyi proud that his daughter had earned money at such a young age, and not through embroidery, weaving, or making snacks, but through the refined art of writing storybooks. He boasted about her to everyone he met, practically becoming a daughter-bragging maniac.

Recalling that scene, Zhao Ruxi couldn't help but chuckle.

She patted Xu Xue on the shoulder. "Calm down, you'll get used to it."