Chapter Nine: The Clay Decolorization Method, White Sugar!

Watching the black syrup bubbling in the pot, Gu Zhengchen wore a look of confident satisfaction.

The Gu family had set up a support frame to hold an earthenware basin. They plugged the funnel-shaped hole at the bottom of the basin with wheat straw and placed a clean black pottery jar underneath. Once Gu Zhengchen was satisfied that everything was in order, he and his mother took turns stirring the syrup. Gu Qingqing was responsible for tending the fire. After nearly an hour of boiling, Gu Zhengchen used a palm-leaf fan to waft away the steam. Seeing that the syrup droplets had formed fine beads, he took a bit of syrup from the stirring rod and pressed it between his thumb and forefinger. Finding it sticky enough, he told Gu Qingqing, "It's ready."

Gu Qingqing dropped the fire poker and hurried over to look, saying with some disappointment, "Brother, it doesn't seem to have worked. It’s still a dark, yellowish-black color..."

Gu Zhengchen fetched a ladle, scooped the syrup into a clean wooden bucket, and said to the disheartened girl, "This is only the first step. It doesn't happen that quickly."

After all the syrup was transferred, Madam Gu added a little water to the pot to prevent the remaining syrup from sticking.

"Brother, what do we do now?" Gu Qingqing asked.

Gu Zhengchen pointed to the bucket: "We wait for the syrup to crystallize into sugar paste. Come, let me tell you about the history of sugar. The *Classic of Poetry* says, 'In the plains of Zhou, the sowthistle and tea are as sweet as syrup.' There is an idiom, 'sweet as syrup,' where 'syrup' refers to the maltose of ancient times..."

Gu Qingqing sat on a stool, resting her chin in her hands, listening intently.

"Before the Tang Dynasty, people didn't know how to make sugar from sugarcane; they either ate the stalks directly or drank the juice. During the Dali era of the Tang Dynasty, a monk from the Western Regions named Monk Zou traveled through Suining in Shu and began teaching sugar-making techniques. From then on, sugar mills appeared, and cane sugar was born..."

Gu Zhengchen spoke eloquently, checking on the sugar paste from time to time. After nearly an hour, the paste had basically set. Madam Gu steadied the basin while Gu Zhengchen lifted the bucket and poured the paste into it. They waited for another half-hour until the paste was completely set, then removed the straw from the bottom. He turned and brought over half a bucket of yellow mud water, stirring it constantly.

"Wait! You don't mean to pour yellow mud water into the sugar paste, do you?" Madam Gu stopped him in a hurry.

Gu Qingqing’s eyes widened. This was muddy water filled with silt; how could anyone eat something mixed with that?

Gu Zhengchen nodded. "That's exactly right."

Madam Gu said anxiously, "How can that be? If you pour it in, won't all the sugar be ruined? This is made from five catties of black sugar! Brother Zhengchen, let’s not add the mud water."

Gu Zhengchen blinked. The yellow-mud decolorization method—if not yellow mud, what else?

"Mother, you have to trust your son. Qingqing, do you trust your brother?"

Gu Qingqing nodded subconsciously, but when she saw the half-bucket of muddy water, she shook her head, her little braids swaying. "Brother, Mother is right. If you add mud water to the sugar, it won't be edible."

Gu Zhengchen placed the bucket on the ground and said to his mother, "Let your son try."

Madam Gu hesitated, then reached out to steady the basin. "Very well. Although I don't know where you learned this method, if you want to try—then try."

"Mother!" Gu Qingqing cried out in distress.

Gu Zhengchen lifted the bucket and poured the muddy water slowly into the basin. He set the bucket down and looked at his mother and sister, who both wore expressions of regret. "Just wait."

Neither woman spoke; they had never seen such a wasteful act. Five catties of black sugar, just like that, ruined. Feeling low, the two of them barely touched their dinner.

Night fell.

Madam Gu and Gu Qingqing checked the basin with a candle several times but saw no change. They only heard a dripping sound, and upon closer inspection, the liquid dripping into the jar was entirely black, with not a trace of white. Both were convinced that their labor had been in vain.

Gu Zhengchen had no time to check the courtyard; he continued writing the latter part of *The Legend of the White Snake*. He had already taken the money, so he had to provide a complete play script. By the time he finished, it was the third watch, and he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

Drip—
Drip—

The black molasses dripped into the jar, and the muddy water in the basin slowly diminished...

Madam Gu rose early and checked the basin in the courtyard. She sighed bitterly, fetched water to wash up, and prepared breakfast. As she passed the basin, she glanced at it and froze.

"Qingqing! Qingqing, come look at this quickly!" she called out.

Gu Qingqing rubbed her eyes and ran out. She reached the basin and, seeing the snow-white substance on top, instantly woke up. "Mother, what is this?"

Madam Gu shook her head in disbelief.

Gu Qingqing cautiously pinched a bit of the white sugar and tasted it. Her eyes lit up, and she shouted with joy, "It's sweet! Mother, it's white sugar! We really made white sugar!"

"White sugar?" Madam Gu had never seen sugar so white; it was as pure as snowflakes.

"Brother! Brother!" Gu Qingqing grabbed a handful of white sugar and ran into the house, waking the sleeping Gu Zhengchen. "Brother, it worked! White sugar!"

Gu Zhengchen yawned, glanced at the sugar in her hand, and said with a smile, "If you didn't trust your brother, you wouldn't get any."

"No!"

"I'm in charge."

"I don't care!"

Gu Qingqing popped the sugar into her mouth, eyes squinting in enjoyment.

Gu Zhengchen got up and went to the basin. He told his puzzled mother, "Mother, this is just a craft for making white sugar. Let’s scrape it out and see how much we have."

Madam Gu didn't ask further. The basin was filled with white sugar, though the top five inches were the whitest, while the layer beneath had a slight yellowish-brown tint. The liquid in the jar was just the impurities.

After weighing, there were eight taels of pure white sugar, and another one catty and four taels of slightly inferior sugar. From five catties of black sugar, they had obtained two catties and two taels of white sugar.

Gu Zhengchen was quite satisfied with the result. He arranged for his mother and sister to boil more syrup while he made a trip to the county town to deliver the *Legend of the White Snake* manuscript to Liang Heng and purchase another twenty catties of black sugar.

For three consecutive days, the Gu family boiled white sugar, resulting in four catties of pure white sugar and over ten catties of secondary quality.

With the sugar packed, Gu Zhengchen headed to the county town early the next morning.

At the Zhao residence in Teng County, the steward Zhao Shun found Zhao Feng and reported, "I heard that a few days ago, Gu Zhengchen bought a large fish and also purchased some black sugar from the Yang family shop."

Zhao Feng looked at Zhao Shun in confusion. "Where would Gu Zhengchen get the money? Could he have sold his sister to the Wang family?"

Zhao Shun shook his head. "I haven't heard of that."

Zhao Feng picked up his teacup, blew on it, and said coldly, "Gu Zhengchen made Ya'er cry for two days; I will never let him off lightly! I heard that Gu Zhengchen has a seven-day deadline with Wang Fugui. Is it almost up?"

"It is the day after tomorrow," Zhao Shun replied.

Zhao Feng pondered for a moment. "The matchmaker is currently negotiating a marriage between Ya'er and the scholar Zhang Shiping from the east side of the city. If I recall correctly, Yaowen, Zhang Shiping, and Wang Youcheng are classmates, aren't they?"

"That is correct. The Second Young Master and they are all students at the county school," Zhao Shun said with a grin.

A cold, sinister smile appeared on Zhao Feng's lips. "The Zhang family is a wealthy one, and Shiping has been recommended by the Magistrate. Within three months, the official appointment papers from the imperial court will arrive. This marriage needs to be settled soon. My nephew Shiping has yet to meet Ya'er, so let’s create an opportunity for them."

Zhao Shun's eyes brightened. "What does the Master mean?"

Zhao Feng looked grimly determined. "On the day the Wang family comes to collect the debt, have Aunt Zhang accompany Ya'er to take a stroll by the riverside in Dayan Village. Have Yaowen invite Nephew Shiping to go there as well, so they can catch a glimpse of each other from afar. That will kill three birds with one stone!"

"And what are those three things?"

Zhao Feng took a sip of tea. "First, once Shiping and Ya'er have met, the marriage can be settled quickly. Second, when Ya'er sees Gu Zhengchen humiliated by the Wang family—begging on his knees in a wretched state—her emotional attachment to him will surely dissolve. Third, the rumors in town say the Zhao family broke the engagement, and the Zhang family has likely heard them. Let Nephew Shiping see that it was not the Zhao family who broke the engagement, but rather Gu Zhengchen, who knew he was unworthy of the Zhao family and withdrew himself. We shall use this opportunity to restore the Zhao family's reputation!"