Chapter One: Perplexity

  Xue Yan's injury recovered quickly under the careful care of Gao Huaiyuan and Liu Er, and before the year was over, he could already walk on the ground again. He himself felt depressed, one leg had just healed, and another leg was injured, was it destined that he would follow Gao Huaiyuan with two lame legs forever?

  When he had nothing to do, he would stroll around the backyard and saw Gao Huaiyuan mysteriously busy in the kitchen, bringing a lot of lard, mutton oil and other things, constantly simmering over the fire in the kitchen, which again aroused his curiosity, what was this young master brewing?

  Isn't he going to cook for himself in the future? But there's no reason, is there? Besides, these things aren't even good to eat, at most they can only extract some oil! Is it to extract oil and feed those young people on the mountain estate? That doesn't make sense either! They also bought pigs and sheep over there for New Year's, they don't lack that! How strange!

  Xue Yan stretched his neck and slipped away, sticking his head into the kitchen to take a look. As a result, he saw thick smoke rolling inside, and a black figure like a Kunlun slave coughed and crawled out of the kitchen, scaring Xue Yan so much that he almost fell and hurt his leg again, thudding to the ground.

  "Cough...cough...I didn't know cooking was a skill too! I'm choked to death! Huh...huh..." The guy, as black as coal, stood at the door, panting heavily and muttering.

  "So it's Young Master! You scared me half to death! What are you doing, Young Master?" Xue Yan finally got a clear look at the identity of this guy who came out of the kitchen.

  Gao Huaiyuan coughed for a while, then turned his head to see Xue Yan, and smiled: "Don't say anything! Anyway, I'm trying out new tricks, you're injured, so go back and rest!" Gao Huaiyuan was completely trusting of Xue Yan's performance this time, so he showed concern for him.

  "Thank you, young master! My injury is nothing serious. Lying in bed for a few days was really unbearable! Are you thinking of making money again? Why not find someone to help?" Xue Yan stretched his head towards the kitchen filled with thick smoke.

  "This thing I don't want others to know, since you want to move around, then come in and help me burn fire! It seems that from now on we will use charcoal instead of this firewood, it's really too choking!" Gao Huaiyuan said with a completely black face, without realizing what state he was in.

  Xue Yan looked at Gao Huaiyuan, wanting to laugh but not daring to, so he hastily agreed and went into the kitchen to tend to the firewood in the stove. As a result, one look made him burst out laughing. No wonder Gao Huaiyuan was smoked into such a state - he really didn't know how to light a fire! He had stuffed the stove full of wood, with the result that the flames were smothered and couldn't get started, only smoldering inside. With this kind of burning, it would be strange if there wasn't any smoke!

  Under Xue Yan's quick manipulation, the fire in the furnace immediately lit up, and the smoke decreased a lot. Gao Huaiyuan touched his nose awkwardly and said: "It seems I'm really not cut out for this kind of thing! Haha!" As a result, his face became even more flushed and embarrassing to look at.

  Xue Yan couldn't help it and burst out laughing: "Young master, you'd better wash your face, you look... haha... Young master, forgive me, I really can't hold back!"

  Gao Huaiyuan only then realized that his face must have turned into a flower cat, so he rushed out in a flurry, wiped his face, and then turned back.

  Xue Yan saw a pot of bubbling oil inside, and Gao Huaiyuan was stirring it constantly with a large iron spoon, paying close attention to the situation in the pot. The two people spent half a day messing around in the kitchen, and Xue Yan eventually gave up on trying to figure out what Gao Huaiyuan was doing. He could only be certain that Gao Huaiyuan was not cooking anything edible; this stuff must have some other purpose.

  Gao Huaiyuan was also very depressed, not knowing where the problem lay. The things in the pot just didn't appear as he had imagined. Could it be because there was no sodium carbonate? That shouldn't be! Without sodium carbonate, he had added a lot of potassium carbonate, which should have been enough to produce a reaction.

  The experiment ended in failure again, and Gao Huaiyuan poured away the sticky stuff once more. After lunch, he grabbed Xue Yan again and started bustling around in the kitchen.

  Xue Yan's body was injured, but his physical strength was still good. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to withstand Gao Huaiyuan's torture and continue to work as a cook in the kitchen. He wanted to see what kind of tricks Gao Huaiyuan could come up with.

  Hard work pays off for those who are diligent, and two days later, Gao Huaiyuan let out a loud whoop, facing the large pot as he burst into maniacal laughter: "Hahahaha... it's done! Oh heavens, my earth! Buddha, my God! Thanks to my old man, thanks to my chemistry teacher! Haha..."

  This shout almost scared Xue Yan to death, and for a moment he thought that Gao Huaiyuan's brain had become muddled again. He hastily asked: "What happened? What's going on?"

  Gao Huaiyuan didn't answer him, instead busily scooping out the sticky stuff from the pot and pouring it into a small wooden box. After finishing up, he told Xue Yan to keep an eye on the fire, making sure it wasn't too big, then grabbed the wooden box and ran out.

  Xue Yan came out of the kitchen in the evening, exhausted. Gao Huaiyuan was holding a black rag and asked Liu Er: "Liu Er, can this cloth be washed clean?"

  Liu'er took the cloth with a difficult expression and replied, "Is this piece of cloth very important to Young Master? If so, I'll try my best to wash it clean! I'll go find some soap fruit to try. Probably won't be able to get it too clean though!"

  "It's okay, just give it a try! Hehe!" Gao Huaiyuan followed Liu'er to the well with his butt up, then watched as Liu'er washed this dirty cloth.

  After washing for a while, the soap was also used, and it was said that no matter what, it couldn't be washed clean. Liu'er said with some disappointment: "Young master, I'm incompetent! It's really only possible to wash it like this!" After spreading it out, the cloth still looked a bit dirty.

  "Go ahead, go ahead! Try it with this!" Gao Huaiyuan took out a soft and fluffy, yellowish thing that still emitted a faint scent of pine, and handed it to Liu'er.

  Liu'er took it and looked at it strangely for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what it was. After smelling it, she thought it smelled good, so she followed the instructions to rub it on the dirty cloth a few times, then used her hands to scrub it, and soon the dirty cloth started foaming. Liu'er became more and more surprised, quickly grabbed it again and scrubbed for a while, put it in the basin to rinse the dirty cloth clean, took it out and looked at it, immediately shouting in surprise.

  "Oh my! It's really clean! Young master! What is this thing? How can it be so magical? And it smells good too! This is a great thing!" Liu'er unfolded the dirty cloth again and looked at it, only to find that the dirty cloth had become very clean. She exclaimed in surprise, grabbed the thing, and examined it again.

  Xue Yan couldn't help but hobble over, carefully examining the thing. One look and isn't this exactly that stuff Gao Huaiyuan had been messing around with for days, simmering away in a pot? It actually has an effect? This is really too unbelievable!

  "Haha! Of course it's a good thing! This is the rarest and most precious thing under the sun! I dare say, there's nothing like it in this world! What should we call it? Let me think... Ah, yes! Let's call it Red Sun Soap! No, that won't do. Let's call it China Brand Soap!" said Gao Huaiyuan with a big grin on his face.

  Soap? This name is quite fitting, something made from lard, with the same function as soapberry and soapnut, combining two into one isn't bad either. Zhonghua brand? With the addition of "Zhonghua" (China), it's clear that this is a Chinese product! Not bad! Xue Yan nodded in agreement.

  "This thing is a waste for washing clothes, it's great for bathing! Hurry up and boil some water, I want to take a bath!" Gao Huaiyuan exclaimed excitedly. Since coming to this era, he hadn't had a refreshing bath, at most just using soap beans, and after bathing, his body still felt uncomfortable with an oily feeling. Now that he had this thing, Gao Huaiyuan couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart and wanted to quickly take a refreshing bath before anything else.

  "That's not going to happen! Young Master's wounds haven't fully healed yet, and now you want to take a bath? No way! Absolutely not!" Liu'er immediately spoke out in opposition as soon as Gao Huaiyuan mentioned taking a bath, her tone extremely resolute, as if not allowing Gao Huaiyuan to disobey.

  Xue Yan rubbed his nose, limped and turned to leave. It's better for him not to get involved in this matter. As for Gao Huaiyuan's body, although he is the master now, but when it comes to his own body, he can't even control it as much as Liu'er, a maid. Although Liu'er usually follows Gao Huaiyuan's orders, she has more say over his body than he does! Whoever wants to boil water can go boil it themselves, anyway, it's better for him to hurry up and rest, otherwise he'll be blamed by Liu'er again and end up suffering losses himself!

  Gao Huaiyan looked down at the wounds on his body and smiled: "My wounds have all scabbed over, it's nothing, Liu'er is the most obedient, let me take a bath! This body can almost rub out mud balls! Hehe!"

  "No way! I'll go get some hot water to wipe you down, young master! Forget about taking a bath!" Liu'er immediately turned around and ran off with a swaying waist to prepare the hot water, ready to help Gao Huaiyuan clean up.

  Gao Huaiyuan's heart skipped a few beats at the thought of Liu'er wiping his body, and a certain part of him seemed to be swelling up. This matter had become somewhat erotic for him...

  Feeling the gentle wiping of Liu'er, Gao Huaiyuan awkwardly covered his lower body with a towel. Now that he had some hair, he was considered a man, but Liu'er still insisted on treating him as before, refusing to acknowledge any changes!

  Liu'er was rubbing Gao Huaiyuan's back while gazing at his broad and sturdy back, as well as his robust muscles. No matter how she looked at him, she couldn't see that he was still a young man. In less than half a year, Gao Huaiyuan's body had undergone earth-shaking changes. Not only had he grown taller, but his entire body seemed to be filled with explosive power, and his physique was extremely beautiful. Liu'er's heart couldn't help but flutter at the sight.