After I traveled through the book, I fought back in the Hou Mansion

Chapter 160 It’s done

Chapter 160

Next, the soaked wheat grains are taken out, drained, and allowed to grow to the appropriate length before use. However, they skipped this step because the wheat grains had already grown into malt on their own.

The next step is to add the soaked glutinous rice to the steamer and steam it over high heat. Stir the rice properly during the steaming process to ensure that it is evenly heated. Continue steaming until the rice is cooked through and there is no hard core.

After the glutinous rice was steamed, Zhuangzi volunteered to stir it for her.

Chun Xing hurriedly brought the tea prepared early in the morning and asked her to rest for a while under a big tree not far away.

In this way, Liu Yu was responsible for adding firewood and controlling the charcoal fire, while Zhuangzi kept stirring. With their cooperation, a pot of glutinous rice was soon steamed.

After the glutinous rice was steamed, she asked Zhuangzi and Liu Yu to carry the glutinous rice to the stone table nearby and let it dry for a while.

Afterwards, Luo Shuiyao and Chun Xing chopped the malt, poured out the water from the pot, and cleaned it. Next, they poured the steamed glutinous rice and malt mixture into the pot, adding an appropriate amount of water to make the mixture thinner and softer, which would facilitate the saccharification reaction.

After the saccharification is completed, she takes out the soft gauze that she has prepared in advance and separates the glutinous rice and malt mixture from the solid residue so that all the liquid is filtered out.

Then pour the filtered liquid into the pot and simmer it over low heat. As the water evaporates, the sugar liquid becomes thicker and thicker.

During this process, Liu Yu, Chun Xing and Zhuang Zi took turns stirring continuously to prevent the food from sticking to the pan or burning, which would affect the taste.

After stirring and simmering for a full hour, the sugar liquid began to thicken. Luo Shuiyao dipped a little of the sugar liquid with chopsticks and then put it into cold water. The sugar liquid quickly solidified into a soft candy.

She then signaled Liu Yu to take out the firewood from the stove and put out the fire with cold water.

Chun Xing stepped forward and took the candy from the chopsticks in her hand, looked at Luo Shuiyao and asked, "Miss, may I have a taste?"

Luo Shuiyao nodded, "Of course. Try it and see if it tastes good."

Chun Xing couldn't wait to take a small bite and found that the candy had cooled on the outside, but was still warm on the inside. She gently sipped the mellow, sweet candy in her mouth and felt that it was better than any candy she had ever eaten.

Zhuangzi looked at it eagerly and said, "Miss, I want to eat it too."

Luo Shuiyao looked at him and couldn't help laughing. "Didn't I just tell you that if you want to eat it, just dig some for yourself. Remember to soak it in cold water for a while, otherwise you will burn your tongue."

Zhuangzi casually broke off a branch, snapped it in half, and used it to scoop out two lumps of sugar. He then placed them in the cold water he had just soaked the sugar in. He was too impatient, so he took them out after only a short soaking time. He handed one to Liu Yu, who was watching curiously, and held the other in his mouth. Because the sugar had been soaked so briefly, the center was still a little warm, and he stuck out his tongue as he ate it.

Even in this situation, Zhuangzi still mumbled, "It's delicious, sweet and fragrant."

Liu Yu, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but smile when he saw him like this.

Liu Yu wasn't as anxious as Zhuangzi. He took a sip, his eyes instantly lighting up. If he hadn't just been there, he wouldn't have believed that such delicious candy could be made with all that effort. Then he thought, if he sold this candy, he wondered how much money he could make.

Luo Shuiyao looked at their actions with amusement but did not stop them.

Seeing that they had all tasted it, he continued, "Hurry up and put the candy into the clay pot we prepared earlier and seal it tightly. If you wait until it cools down, it will become very hard and will be difficult to handle when you want to eat it."

After hearing this, Zhuangzi immediately threw away the branch in his hand and started working with Liu Yu.

After this simmering process, the resulting sugar filled five large jars, each larger than a human head. If this amount of sugar were stored in an average household, it would probably take years to finish.

After all this hard work, it was already three quarters past midnight. When the sun was high in the sky, they carried the sugar and tools back home.

Just then, Manager Liu, who had already counted the number of people, came over. Seeing what they were carrying, he was quite curious. After Liu Yu explained, Manager Liu's eyes widened and he said, "This is bizarre! I've lived half my life, and I'm half buried in the ground, and I've never heard that malt can be made into sugar."

Zhuangzi looked very pleased with himself and said, "Of course. How could my young lady be the same as others?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Liu stroked his goatee and chuckled, "That's true. This old servant is ignorant."

Then he looked at Luo Shuiyao, "Miss, did you ask me to count the number of young and strong laborers in order to complete this task?"

Luo Shuiyao nodded, "Yes, that's exactly why."

Then she asked, "I wonder how your statistics are going, Manager Liu?"

Steward Liu bowed slightly and spoke humbly, "According to statistics, there are less than thirty young and able-bodied laborers on the farm. I wonder if that would meet your requirements, young lady? Furthermore, all the fields on this farm are rented out to tenants, and they haven't harvested this year, so the rent hasn't been paid. When the tenants heard the farm had a new owner, they asked this old servant about it. Would you like to meet them, young lady?"

Luo Shuiyao nodded and said, "Thirty people will be enough for the initial production. Bring those thirty people here and let Zhuangzi and Liu Yu make malt sugar."

Then she turned to look at Liu Yu, "I'll leave this matter entirely to you. Just like the method and storage method I just used, make full use of the malt in the cellar, then put it in jars and stack them all in one cellar. Also, if there are not enough pottery jars, find a pottery jar maker as soon as possible and ask them to make more pottery jars to meet the subsequent demand."

Hearing this, Liu Yu looked serious and said, "Don't worry, Miss. I will definitely fulfill my mission."

Luo Shuiyao looked at Zhuangzi and said, "You should assist Liu Yu well. If there is anything you don't know or don't understand, please come back and report to me immediately."

Zhuangzi nodded, "Yes."

Luo Shuiyao signaled everyone to take their belongings back and put them away, then she stopped interfering. As someone in a higher position, one must know when to let go. She had already taught them how to make malt sugar, and as for the subsequent production process and personnel arrangements, they would leave it to them to decide. If they encountered any issues they truly couldn't decide or didn't understand, it wouldn't be too late to ask her for advice.

Manager Liu led Luo Shuiyao to the outer courtyard, where dozens of tenants were already waiting. The door opened, and Manager Liu walked in with the beautiful Luo Shuiyao. Most of the tenants were honest and honest. After just a quick glance, they were startled by Luo Shuiyao's gorgeous appearance and hurriedly lowered their heads, not daring to look any further.