Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Fat Chef came running out when he heard the commotion. The moment he saw the water gradually turning into ice, his plump face filled with shock.

Only one thought was running through his mind.

So when Little Yunsui said she was going to make ice, she meant turning water into ice!

The way everyone looked at Jiang Yunsui changed.

“Yunsui, you… you really are human, right?”

Someone asked in a trembling voice.

Otherwise, how could a person possibly conjure up ice?

Jiang Yunsui blinked. She was not the sort of child who would panic over a single question anymore.

Hmph. Shocked, aren’t you?

Little Yunsui planted her hands on her hips, looking very pleased with herself.

“This is made with saltpeter.”

As for the principle behind it…

Jiang Yunsui scratched her head. She didn’t know. All she had in her head were the formula and the steps.

Oh well, she was still just a child. How was she supposed to know things like principles?

Fat Chef crouched down and carefully examined the ice in the basin, then stared at the saltpeter still left on the ground.

“Can this ice be eaten?”

Jiang Yunsui shook her head. “This ice can’t be eaten.”

Everyone immediately looked disappointed.

Fat Chef said, “Go bring over some water in a thinner container.”

Very soon, someone brought over a porcelain bowl filled with water.

Fat Chef carefully placed the porcelain bowl into the basin that had already frozen over.

The ice was not entirely solid yet. It was more like slush, but it could still support a bowl of water.

Everyone’s eyes lit up at the sight. Right, the ice in the basin couldn’t be eaten, but if they placed a bowl of water inside and let it freeze, that ice should be edible.

For a while, everyone began chattering excitedly. Some asked Jiang Yunsui how she had thought of this.

Jiang Yunsui played dumb the whole time and said she didn’t know.

Fat Chef shooed them away. “What are you all crowding around here for? Don’t you have your own work to do?”

In a way, he was helping Jiang Yunsui out of the situation.

In truth, any clever person who spent enough time with Jiang Yunsui could notice that there was something unusual about her. The little girl was too silly to know how to hide it properly.

But none of them said anything.

It could be said that the people who were now able to interact with Jiang Yunsui often had all been carefully selected by Ji Yan’an.

There was Fat Chef, and the three people currently working at Jiang Yunsui’s residence.

They might not have much status or money, but they valued loyalty and friendship, had honest and dependable natures, and most importantly, knew how to keep their mouths shut.

Besides, Ji Yan’an had also arranged for people to protect Jiang Yunsui from the shadows.

And after spending so much time together, which one of them didn’t dote on Jiang Yunsui as if she were their own child?

Fat Chef sighed inwardly. Fortunately, Little Yunsui had met a master like Ji Yan’an and lived in the Ji Mansion.

At the very least, here in Mobei, Ji Yan’an was capable of protecting her.

Otherwise, even if Jiang Yunsui had been born into an ordinary commoner’s family, if something like this were discovered by someone with ill intentions, her entire family would be in danger.

By the time the water in the bowl had frozen, the sour plum drink had also been brewed and cooled.

At that moment, Jiang Yunsui and Fat Chef had moved the basin of ice into the room. The two of them sat on chairs around the ice, each holding a palm-leaf fan, and immediately felt much more comfortable.

Fat Chef said, “Having ice really is refreshing.”

“Fat Chef, I want to drink icy-cold sour plum drink.”

“All right, I’ll make it for you right away.”

Fat Chef got up, broke the ice in the bowl into pieces, and added them to the sour plum drink.

After a quick stir, a bowl of thirst-quenching sour plum drink was ready.

It was sweet and tart, and with the ice added in, one sip made the whole body feel at ease.

“So refreshing!”

Fat Chef drank a bowl himself too.

Of course, they couldn’t forget the master of the residence.

They used up most of the remaining ice, then set another bowl of water to freeze.

“Come on. Let’s go deliver sour plum drink to the Young Master.”

Jiang Yunsui suddenly felt like eating a popsicle.

But there were no popsicle molds here.
She would have to use a smaller bowl.

She poured a small bowl of sour plum drink into it, then stuck a clean little wooden stick inside.

Mm. Now all she had to do was wait for it to freeze.

Once that was done, she happily trotted along behind Fat Chef.

Oh, and she even carried a tiny oil-paper umbrella.

It was a plain white oil-paper umbrella. The oil-paper umbrellas of this era tended to be yellowish, the dull, earthy kind of yellow that really wasn’t very pretty.

One of these days, she was definitely going to make one she liked!

Ji Yan’an was at the estate today, and Song Jin and Shen Qingzhu were there as well.

At that moment, the small group of would-be rebels was secretly gathered inside, discussing important matters.

“Nanshu, Nanshu, is Ji Yan’an inside? I brought him something yummy!”

Everyone in the room heard Jiang Yunsui’s childish yet boisterous voice.

Nanshu said, “Wait here. I’ll go ask…”

The people inside were discussing business, after all. He wasn’t sure whether they would let the little one in.

“Let her in.”

Ji Yan’an’s voice came from inside.

Nanshu opened the door, and Jiang Yunsui lifted her little skirt and ran in.

“Ji Yan’an, it’s so hot.”

“I brought you something to cool off with.”

Song Jin sat with one leg crossed over the other. “You brought something good? Let me guess-is it cold melon?”

Jiang Yunsui shook her head, the end of her soft little voice rising smugly. “Wrong~”

Cold melon was what later generations would call watermelon, but the cold melons of this era had thick rinds, little flesh, and lots of seeds. The pulp inside wasn’t very red either, and they didn’t taste all that good.

Having eaten watermelons from later times before, Jiang Yunsui looked down on them a little.

Still, in order to have delicious watermelons in the future, she had carefully picked out several kinds of cold melon seeds. Every time she absorbed moonlight, she would hold them in her palm.

Hopefully, the cold melons grown next year would taste good.

“It’s sour plum drink, and I put ice cubes in it too.”

Jiang Yunsui walked to Ji Yan’an’s side, her soft, milky little voice carrying a hint of pride.

Sour plum drink, huh.

This sort of thing did exist now, but it was mostly only found in the noble households of the Capital.

Naturally, Ji Yan’an had drunk it before, but he always felt sour plum drink had a strange medicinal taste, so he wasn’t very fond of it.

“Ice cubes?”

His attention was mainly on the ice.

“Where did the ice come from? Who’s selling ice?”

There were ice cellars in this era, but very few people could afford to dig one and store ice.

And the days here in Mobei were truly scorching. Families who could afford to use ice would never bear to sell it; after all, they needed it themselves too.

The Ji Mansion also had an ice cellar, but Ji Yan’an had only recently arrived and hadn’t yet had anyone store ice.

“No, I made it myself.”

Little Mushroom grew proud again.

As they spoke, bowls of sour plum drink were brought before everyone. Looking at the ice cubes floating in the bowls, Song Jin was the first to eagerly start drinking.

After all, it really was hot.

Inside, the room was like a sweltering furnace. Outside, it was even more like a blazing furnace.

Ji Yan’an lifted his bowl and first gave it a sniff. Surprisingly, that smell wasn’t there.

The reason sour plum drink was mainly used to relieve summer heat was that people liked adding heat-clearing medicinal ingredients to the recipe, so it smelled a little like medicine and didn’t taste very good.

This one seemed to have a different recipe. It hadn’t been made with any of those strange additions.

He took a sip.

Even Ji Yan’an, who suffered from a poor appetite, had to admit that this was indeed wonderful in the blazing heat of summer.

Song Jin said, “Give me another bowl.”

The sour plum drink was quickly finished off.

“You still haven’t told us how you made this ice.”

Song Jin, Shen Qingzhu, and the others were all very interested in that.

And so, everyone’s gaze fell on Jiang Yunsui.