Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 122 Cooperation

In present-day Great Chu, even if one uses their own fat to render oil, it costs sixty cents to render one jin of oil, while the fatty oils sold on the market are even more expensive, selling at seventy cents per jin. The jar of fatty oil their family last sent to the Gu family, just five jins plus the cost of the jar, amounted to three hundred and eighty cents.

Pine oil requires going into the mountains to collect resin and then refining it, so it is no cheaper than fatty oil, also selling at seventy cents per jin.

Not to mention candles, which are quite precious.

A pair of candles sells for two hundred cents, affordable only for nobility, scholarly families, and wealthy households. Ordinary farming families only buy a couple of candles during New Year, weddings, or ancestral rituals.

Considering this, the cost of soybean oil is much cheaper.

After calculating the figures, Scholar Shang’s excitement grew, and he asked Gu Jinli, "Can this soybean oil be used for lighting? And does it consume a lot of oil?"

Gu Jinli nodded: "Naturally, it can."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Shang picked up his tea cup, gulped down the tea, set the cup on the table, and said to Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, pour the soybean oil from the wooden bowl into it."

Ah Jiu had taken the jar of soybean oil to the kitchen for cooking, but Gu Jinli still had a wooden bowl of soybean oil. Upon hearing this, he poured the oil from the bowl into the tea cup.

He then took a piece of coarse hemp fabric about half a finger wide, twisted it into a wick, placed it into the tea cup, and waited for the wick to soak up the soybean oil. Then, he took a fire stick and lit the wick.

The wick caught fire quickly and burned steadily.

Scholar Shang watched the burning flame, waiting silently for quite some time. The flame kept burning, and it seemed the soybean oil in the tea cup had not decreased much.

"This soybean oil really is like fatty oil; it can be used for cooking and lighting." Scholar Shang was pleased, as this would increase the value of the soybean oil.

During this conversation, Ah Jiu came in carrying a food container, "Old Master, the dishes are ready."

Ah Jiu opened the container, placing a plate of stir-fried meat, a plate of stir-fried bean sprouts, a fried egg, and fried meatballs on the table in the main house and set out five pairs of bowls and chopsticks.

"All these dishes were cooked using the soybean oil Miss Xiao Yu brought. Old Master, please taste them."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Shang called out to Third Grandpa and the others, eagerly picked up his chopsticks, and started tasting the dishes on the table.

"...Although it’s not as richly flavored as fatty oil, the taste is quite good, and it can be used for cooking." Scholar Shang tasted all four dishes on the table and the more he ate, the more satisfied he became, and the more optimistic he was about this soybean oil.

Citizens of Great Chu are poor, and in many places, farmers can only afford to eat boiled vegetables and only buy some meat during festivals to savor a bit of the meaty flavor.

With this soybean oil, one can’t say that all citizens of Great Chu will have oil-cooked meals every day, but at least the farming families in Jianghuai can stop eating just boiled vegetables.

Scholar Shang put down his chopsticks, rinsed his mouth with tea, then looked at Third Grandpa and the others, asking, "Third Uncle Gu, Brother Gu, what are your plans regarding this soybean oil?"

Although Third Grandpa and Gu Dashan’s family were close, they were not biologically related to Gu Jinli, so they did not impose high expectations, instead saying, "Let Dashan and Xiao Yu decide."

Gu Dashan, upon hearing this, was somewhat flustered. He had no special skills but was aware of the importance, seeing Scholar Shang’s excited demeanor and understanding the value of the soybean oil.

After some thought, he looked at Gu Jinli and said, "Xiao Yu, you created this soybean oil, so you make the decision."

Having fled from famine all the way here, Gu Dashan sincerely felt that his daughter was more capable than him, and generally, her decisions were beneficial for them.

Gu Jinli was straightforward, without any delay; she directly addressed Scholar Shang, "Uncle Shang, what do you think about the Gu, Shang, and Jiang families collaborating to produce soybean oil?"

"If Uncle Shang and the Jiang family agree, our three families will cooperate to run an oil workshop. My family will provide the recipe for making the oil, and we won’t concern ourselves with anything else. As for the profits, the three of us will share them equally."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Shang was genuinely surprised, "Xiao Yu, do you realize how much profit soybean oil could bring to your family? Are you truly willing to collaborate and share the slim profits with the other families?"

And so directly, stating that he only wanted the profits, and that he would have nothing to do with the oil workshop affairs in the future.

Gu Jinli laughed, "Uncle Shang, one must have life to spend the money."

Her family is just an ordinary farming household, with no significant backing. If she wanted to venture into the soybean oil business, she would need partners and currently, the best candidates are the Shang family and the Jiang family.

The Jiang family has the County Magistrate, a powerful local figure in Tianfu County. Tying such a figure to her family’s cause could guarantee safety for her family.

Scholar Shang didn’t expect Gu Jinli to be so direct, but she was right. Although money is important, life is more so. If giving up a portion of wealth can secure the safety of one’s family and their business, then why not?

However, Scholar Shang did not agree immediately; instead, he said, "I need to discuss this with the Jiang family before I can give you an answer."

He was indeed willing to help the Gu family and was interested in the soybean oil business to benefit the citizens of Great Chu, but he did not yet know what his father-in-law thought and had to discuss it first.

Gu Jinli knew there was no rush, so she replied, "Alright, we’ll wait for Uncle Shang’s response."

After finishing discussing the soybean oil matter, Taozi came by and said that Ms. Jiang and Yuanyuan wanted to see Gu Jinli.

Gu Jinli followed Taozi to the back courtyard of the Shang residence, spoke with Ms. Jiang for a while, played with Yuanyuan for a bit, then took her leave.

Third Grandpa went to the town to sell tofu, Gu Jinli and Dashan returned to Da Feng Village, Jin’an stayed in the Shang family home, studying with Scholar Shang.

...

Da Feng Village.

As Gu Dashan and Gu Jinli arrived at the edge of the village, they saw a crowd surrounding their home.

Elder Qin, Qin San Lang, father and son of the Luo family, and Gu Dafu were stopping these people from entering Gu Jinli’s house.

The crowd was anxious, persistently saying, "Fellow brothers, we are not bad people. We are from the neighboring villages. We heard about the great tofu from the Gu family and came to discuss the tofu business with the head of the household."

There were quite a few of them, more than a dozen, and all were grown men; only women and children were at Gu Jinli’s home, so Father Luo and others did not allow them to enter, merely saying, "The head of the household is not here, and we don’t know you. Please leave."

These people had specifically come to the Gu Family, and without even entering, they were not willing to leave.

When Gu Dashan saw the crowd surrounding his home, he was terrified and quickly ran over to join Father Luo and the others in stopping the people, asking, "Who are you people? Why are you surrounding my home?"

Gu Jinli had a dagger tucked in her sleeve and followed them, her gaze menacing as she stared at the crowd.

Upon hearing Gu Dashan’s words, the fifteen or so people realized he was the head of the Gu family and immediately smiled, "Brother, you must be the head of the Gu Family’s tofu stall, right? Don’t be scared, we are not here to cause trouble, we just want to buy some tofu from you and talk about the tofu business."

The speaker was a middle-aged man wearing a coarse cloth jacket with patches of grey fabric on the sleeves and trousers. As he spoke, his face bore a placating smile. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ