The Heir

Сhарtеr 59: Тhe Doctrinе оf the Mеan

Aftеr bеing hеlреd bу Ma Sаo to walk a round, Zhen Niаng lеft the wоrkshoр shеd. Shе rеmovеd thе сlоth striр from hеr eyes аnd blinkеd sevеral times befоre her visiоn adjusted tо thе light. Shе thеn gаvе Wu, thе shed forеmаn, somе instruсtiоns regаrding fire соntrol during smokе gеnerаtion beforе departing.

Аftеr Zhеn Niang lеft, the men in the wоrkshор shed bеgаn whisреring аmоng themsеlvеs: "This Мiss Zhen is trulу remarkаble..."

"Dоnе fоr, donе fоr. With Мiss Zhеn being such an еxpert, it'll be evеn harder to slаck off frоm now оn." Nеedlеss to say, these words could only have come from Er Gou.

"Alright, everyone focus on your work. Control the fire properly—medium heat is best. Keep the oil topped up. I don’t want the soot pigment our shed produces to end up as inferior quality. If that happens, it’ll be a disgrace to all of us," Wu Mingquan addressed the group.

Stimulated by Zhen Niang’s earlier demonstration and motivated by Wu Mingquan’s words, the smoke generation workers in the shed buckled down. Each of them buried themselves in their tasks, eyes fixed on the flames, adjusting immediately at the slightest fluctuation. They remained highly alert, carefully sniffing the scent of the soot pigment to accurately determine the timing for smoke soot collection.

By noon, the quality of the soot pigment produced in the workshop shed had indeed improved by one grade compared to usual, leaving Wu Mingquan grinning with delight.

Just then, the kitchen maids arrived with the meal.

"Miss Zhen has instructed that everyone has worked hard today, so each bowl gets an extra spoonful of meat," the plump kitchen maid announced with a wide smile.

Upon hearing they would have meat today, the smoke generation workers didn’t even bother washing their soot-blackened faces and hands. With grimy faces and hands, they grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and rushed to serve themselves, earning a round of playful scolding from the kitchen maid.

The rough-and-tumble men paid no mind to such teasing. The more mischievous ones even retorted with some cheeky remarks, provoking the plump kitchen maid to threaten withholding their meat. Only then did they shower her with sweet talk.

"Uncle Quan, I’m going to check on Chou Po," Er Gou said casually, holding his bowl as he squeezed next to Wu Mingquan.

Wu Mingquan glanced at him sideways, noticing the untouched piece of meat in his bowl. He knew this rascal intended to give the meat to Chou Po. Though Er Gou could be quite annoying, he did have a bit of filial piety. Wu Mingquan nodded and said, "Go ahead, but come back soon. If you’re late, I’ll deduct this month’s wages."

"I promise I won’t be late," Er Gou raised his hand in a vow. His monthly wages were his lifeline—how could he let Uncle Quan deduct them?

With that, Er Gou cradled his bowl and dashed off toward the back gate of the Li residence.

The Li family’s rear courtyard had a back gate connected to the Ink Workshop, originally built for the convenience of the old mistress. The gatekeeper was none other than Chou Po.

Chou Po’s face was covered in burn scars, making her appearance terrifying. She had been taken in by Old Master Li years ago and usually guarded the back gate. Eccentric and difficult to get along with, she kept to herself like a ghost, speaking to no one except for shameless fellows like Er Gou, who could manage to exchange a few words with her.

"Granny, have some meat. Miss Zhen added this to our meal today," Er Gou said, scraping the meat from his bowl into Chou Po’s.

"Miss Zhen? I heard you all tried to put her in her place today, but instead, she ended up putting you in yours," Chou Po remarked, picking up a piece of fatty meat with her chopsticks and placing it in her mouth. She then returned the lean meat to Er Gou’s bowl—her teeth were no longer good enough to chew it."Oh dear, this matter has reached your ears. Alas, our reputation is utterly ruined," Er Gou sighed with a heavy heart.

"This is actually quite good. It'll teach you young rascals that there's always someone better out there, so you don't get all cocky just because you've learned a little smoke generation technique," Chou Po said coldly.

"Yes, yes, you're absolutely right," Er Gou replied with a grin, clearly not taking it to heart. He then quickly shoveled the rice from his bowl into his mouth and mumbled toward Chou Po, "Take your time eating, I'm off. Manager Quan is getting harder to talk to these days."

With that, he set down his bowl and chopsticks and dashed off like a streak of smoke. He had to hurry back; if he was late, Manager Quan really would dock his wages.

"Er Gou, I heard your smoke shed tried to put Miss Zhen in her place today, but instead, she ended up putting you all in yours. You lot are really getting more and more impressive, aren't you?"

As Er Gou was running, he heard these words. Looking up, he saw it was Zheng Fuli speaking and couldn't help but spit in disdain.

Zheng Fuli was Steward Shao's grandson and Manager Zheng's son, nineteen years old this year.

Relying on the influence of Steward Shao and Manager Zheng in the Ink Workshop, Zheng Fuli had carved out a comfortable niche for himself there. Especially since two years ago, when he apprenticed under Master Qin, he had now taken over matters in the Ink Mixing workshop. Usually, he looked down his nose at laborers like them who worked in smoke generation.

Naturally, the smoke generation crew looked down on him too. Over time, conflicts often arose between the two sides, each finding the other unbearable.

Now that this incident had occurred in the smoke generation shed, it naturally became fodder for Zheng Fuli and his group to mock.

"Of course we're impressive. Today, thanks to Miss Zhen's guidance, the grade of our oil soot pigment has improved another level. Now it's up to your Ink Mixing workshop. If you still can't produce good oil soot ink like before, you'll have to explain it to Miss Zhen yourselves. Don't blame it on our soot pigment anymore," Er Gou whistled dismissively, shooting a scornful look at Zheng Fuli.

The Li family was renowned for pine soot ink, where Ink Mixing emphasized light glue. In contrast, oil soot ink often required heavy glue. With different glues, the Ink Mixing formulas naturally differed greatly. However, the Li family's development of oil soot ink was still in its early stages, so the quality of the produced oil soot ink was often unsatisfactory. In such situations, both sides used to shift blame—Zheng Fuli and his crew would accuse the oil soot pigment of being poor, while the oil soot workers would naturally point fingers at the Ink Craft being inadequate. Over this, the two sides had privately bickered countless times.

Now, Er Gou's retort was clearly mocking the Ink Mixing workshop's lack of skill.

"Who's using you as an excuse? I think you're all hopeless mud that can't even stick to a wall. Miss Zhen's guidance is probably wasted on you," Zheng Fuli and his group jeered back.

"Enough talk. We'll see when the soot pigment grading is done," Er Gou said with a "wait and see" attitude. This morning's soot pigment had come out, and Manager Quan had already declared it absolutely top-grade. This time, it would be their turn to laugh at Zheng Fuli and his crew.

With that, he waved his hand, ignoring Zheng Fuli and the others, and hurried back to the workshop.

"Hmph," Zheng Fuli snorted coldly as he watched Er Gou's retreating figure."Master Zheng, Steward Shao sent someone this morning to have us prepare for the ink mixing and glue preparation, saying Miss Zhen intends to make re-blended ink. Could it be that she's also planning to come to our workshop for the soot collection process?" At that moment, a worker leaned close to Zheng Fuli's ear and whispered.

"Just prepare as instructed. We'll wait and see how things unfold," Zheng Fuli replied with a grim expression. Having been trained as a key technician in the ink workshop since childhood, he harbored a certain degree of pride. He was determined to see what kind of re-blended ink Miss Zhen would come up with this time.

With that thought, he led a few men back to the Ink Mixing Workshop. Preparations still needed to be made.

At noon, Zhen Niang had lunch at the Li residence. She chatted with Chen Shi and others about matters concerning the ink workshop, then went to visit Seventh Grandmother. The old woman remained unchanged, her condition a sight that tugged at one's heartstrings.

Remembering she had to work on the re-blended ink in the afternoon, Zhen Niang did not stay long. After bidding farewell to Chen Shi and the others, she entered the ink workshop through the rear courtyard. Passing by the well platform in the backyard, she saw an elderly woman hunched over, struggling to lift a bucket of water.

"Granny, let me help," Zhen Niang hurried forward.

The old woman raised her face, and Zhen Niang gasped sharply. The face was covered with reddish-brown scars, and the mouth was twisted due to the scarring, resembling something out of a horror film.

"Ah, it's Chou Po," Zhen Niang took a deep breath before greeting her, realizing this was the old woman who guarded the back gate, known as Chou Po.

Occasionally, she would come and go through this back gate, but Chou Po was known for her eccentric nature and usually hid inside, avoiding people. This was the first time Zhen Niang had actually seen her.

"What? Scared you, did I?" Chou Po let out a strange, hoarse chuckle, her voice raspy and unpleasant.

"Yes, I was startled at first glance," Zhen Niang admitted without denial. With a face like that, anyone claiming not to be frightened upon first seeing it would surely be lying.

As she spoke, Zhen Niang took the lead and lifted the water bucket, following Chou Po along the way.

"Put it down. I don't need your hypocritical pity," Chou Po said in her gravelly voice, her tone devoid of any discernible emotion.

Zhen Niang turned her face toward her and smiled. "Granny, this isn't about pity. It's just a small gesture. Do you think you need others to pity you? Clearly not, right? I'm helping you carry the water simply as a gesture of respect from a younger person. Besides, this bucket is too heavy for you to lift alone. Is there any harm in me lending a hand?"

"Hmph," Chou Po snorted.

Zhen Niang paid no mind and simply observed Chou Po, her thoughts drifting to what might have caused the old woman to end up like this.

"No conspiracies, no intentional harm. Just an accident," Chou Po remarked coldly, as if reading Zhen Niang's thoughts.

"Mmm," Zhen Niang nodded calmly. Perhaps from having seen too many dramatic stories in the past, she often found herself imagining all sorts of melodramatic scenarios behind such situations. But upon reflection, the world wasn't filled with so much drama—most things were simply accidents.

Knowing that Chou Po disliked talking and preferred to keep to herself, Zhen Niang said no more. They walked in silence, and after helping Chou Po carry the water back, Zhen Niang returned to the ink workshop. Ma Sao was already waiting for her, and the two of them headed to the Ink Mixing Workshop together.

Master Qin served both as the chief craftsman of the ink workshop and the master of the Ink Mixing Workshop. The Ink Mixing Workshop was the most crucial part of the entire ink production process, encompassing both ink mixing and glue boiling.The waste ink had been processed, so the first step naturally was steaming and soaking to remove the old glue. After steaming out the old glue and blending it with new glue, it could be made into re-blended ink. Of course, the most crucial part of this process was the ink mixing and glue application. As for the glue method, each master had their own unique technique. It couldn’t be said which was better than the other, only that each had its own characteristics.

"Who will handle the glue application?" Steward Shao asked.

Master Qin stroked his beard and was about to take over when Zheng Fuli suddenly spoke up, "I think re-blended ink is different from making new ink, so the glue method for re-blended ink is likely different from that for new ink as well. Since none of us have a clear idea, why not let Miss Zhen try first?"

"Miss Zhen, what do you think?" Master Qin understood Zheng Fuli’s intention, and he himself wanted to see what expertise Miss Zhen had in ink mixing and glue application.

"Alright, I’ll do it," Zhen Niang replied. After all, it was she who had proposed making re-blended ink, so it was only reasonable for her to handle the glue application. The reason she hadn’t spoken up earlier was simply because she intended to follow Master Qin’s arrangements, as he was the master craftsman of the Ink Workshop and held authority in this area.

Thus, Zhen Niang took the tools and began to proceed step by step.

At first, Master Qin, Zheng Fuli, and the others paid little attention, but the more they watched, the more serious their expressions became.

Some applied the glue in one step, while others did it in stages.

Zhen Niang’s method was also a staged glue application, which was the same as Master Qin’s. However, he noticed that the order in which Miss Zhen applied the materials during the glue process was different from his own.

"Miss Zhen, why do you apply glue to green vitriol, indigo powder, and musk first?" Zheng Fuli asked from the side. He had learned Master Qin’s methods, so naturally, he shared the same doubts as his master.

"Green vitriol and indigo powder are easy to handle, but musk is prone to moisture absorption. Applying glue to them first is to stabilize their properties early on, ensuring they are less likely to absorb moisture. This way, the final ink produced will be less prone to spoilage or damp softening," Zhen Niang explained, her hands never stopping their work.

The stabilization of glue requires oxidation. Applying it first allows the glue to oxidize more fully.

For the second glue application, Zhen Niang added coptis and soap pods. For the third, she added gardenia seeds.

Finally, the ink mixing and glue application were successfully completed.

"Coptis enhances the ink’s color, and applying glue in the middle stage allows the color to penetrate the ink’s core. Gardenia seeds remove the glue’s color and repel insects, so they are applied last. That makes sense, but why are soap pods also applied in the middle stage?" This time, it was Master Qin who asked. He usually applied soap pods during the final stage.

"Soap pods remove moisture, but if placed in the final step, their properties can become too external, causing the ink to dry out. Dry ink leads to cracking. Therefore, it’s best to apply them in the middle stage. This preserves their properties without letting them become too exposed, achieving the most balanced approach," Zhen Niang explained.

These methods were all researched by her grandfather in her previous life. Of course, not all of them were entirely correct, but they still had their unique merits.

Upon hearing this, everyone present exchanged glances. The Li family’s oil soot ink had a known flaw—it was prone to drying and cracking. In the south, the ink held up well, but in the north, it would crack after not long in storage. Could the problem actually lie here?