Chapter 7: Golden Leaf

  The next day, after breakfast, Liu Yu and his wife, Liu He, Ao Lie and Shuang Er came to the small courtyard where Ao Lie usually practiced.

  Liu Yu looked at the hundreds of small cigarettes that Shuang'er took out and was even more surprised, asking Ao Lie: "Lie'er, can this thing really have a fragrant effect?"

  Ao Lie nodded solemnly: "Yes, it's just that there is still one last step that hasn't been completed." Liu Yu nodded and said: "Then let's begin."

  Ao Lie beckoned to Shuang Er, who walked up with a brazier. Ao Lie took the brazier and placed it on the ground, then picked up an iron plate and covered the brazier with it. He put some incense on the iron plate. Before long, the iron plate was heated by the brazier, and the incense on the plate began to melt, emitting a fragrant aroma. Ao Lie took out a cigarette and placed it on the melted incense, repeatedly fumigating and flipping it back and forth more than ten times before considering it done.

  According to the above method, Ao Lie carefully smoked more than a hundred cigarettes one by one, then wiped the sweat beads on his forehead, and only then smiled: "Well done, great success, this is the roasted type, hum, Jin Si Ye, its name will be Jin Si Ye." Liu Yu was very interested, picked up a Jin Si Ye, turned it over in her hand several times, and asked: "How do you use this Jin Si Ye?"

  Ao Lie handed the flint to Liu Yu, who lit one end of the Golden Silk Leaf and then passed it back to him, saying: "Put the unlit end in your mouth and take a gentle puff." Liu Yu did as he was told, putting the Golden Silk Leaf in his mouth and taking a slight puff. His eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed: "Wonderful! Extremely wonderful! At first, the taste is slightly bitter, but afterwards it's bitterness turns to sweetness, making one feel carefree and joyful!" Liu He heard his father's praise and couldn't help but walk forward, take a Golden Silk Leaf, light it like Liu Yu did, and start puffing. A moment later, Liu He also burst into praise: "Indeed extremely wonderful!"

  Ao Lie was praised by his father and older brother, and he was also very happy in his heart. Although the materials were limited during this period, and technology was not developed, it was impossible to produce tobacco like later generations. However, there were advantages to this approach - Ao Lie's handmade tobacco could be considered purely natural, without adding any industrial raw materials, and it did no harm to the human body.

  Ao Lie looked at Frost and said, "Father, I usually practice swordsmanship and archery, so I don't have much time to make tobacco. Therefore, I plan to let Frost sister do this thing, so that we can make tobacco to sell for money, and also prevent the method of making tobacco from being passed on."

  Liu Yu turned his head to look at Shuang'er, smiled and said: "Very good." Shuang'er hastily bowed and thanked him: "Thank you, sir." Liu Yu waved his hand and said: "To think about it, Shuang'er has been a maid in my Liu family since Lie'er was born that year. In the blink of an eye, eight years have passed. My wife and I didn't treat you as an outsider either. This matter is handed over to you, and I can rest assured."

  Ao Lie picked up the remaining golden silk leaves, thought for a moment, and then took out more than 30 roots from them. He divided them into three portions and handed them to Liu Yu, Liu He, and Ao's wife, saying: "I'll go with Xue Er to sell these golden silk leaves at the market. These three portions are for Father, Big Brother, and Grandfather."

  Jiuyuan Market, Ao Lie and Shuang'er stood side by side, with a package of golden silk leaves in front of them. Shuang'er shouted loudly: "Golden silk leaves for sale, top-quality incense, not fragrant no money! Don't miss it if you pass by!" Then she turned her head, slightly tense, and asked Ao Lie: "Did I shout correctly?" Ao Lie smiled and nodded, encouragingly saying: "That's right, just shout like that!" Actually, Ao Lie had never seen vendors selling things in this life, but he taught Shuang'er this sales technique according to his memories from his past life.

  Before long, a lavishly dressed merchant walked over and stopped in his tracks upon hearing Frost's calls. He glanced at the golden silk leaves on the ground and asked, "How much for this stuff?" Just as Frost was about to respond, Ao Lie cut in, "This noble sir, it's our sister and brother's first time selling things at the market, so we'll give you a discount - each golden silk leaf is only 100 coins."

  "One hundred coins? Why don't you go rob?" The merchant scolded. His scolding immediately attracted a lot of onlookers.

  Ao Lie calmly picked up a gold silk leaf and handed it to the customer, saying: "Why don't you try it first? If it's not good, I won't charge you." The customer hesitated for a moment before taking the gold silk leaf from Ao Lie, putting it in his mouth and sucking on it. He immediately showed an expression of enjoyment. After finishing the whole gold silk leaf, he said: "Wonderful! Wonderful! It's beyond words. One hundred coins is indeed worth it, give me ten more."

  Fang Er was shocked by Ao Lie's outrageous pricing, but what shocked her even more was that the elegantly dressed merchant didn't hesitate to buy ten. She was stunned, but Ao Lie wasn't. He quickly picked up ten golden silk leaves, wrapped them in a small bundle with cloth, and handed it to the merchant while saying: "Here are ten, take good care of them, the total is one thousand coins, and the one you tasted earlier doesn't count towards your payment."

  The merchant took the bundle of cloth, smiled and said: "You little guy, you're really good at doing business." After finishing speaking, he pulled out a large sum of money from his sleeve and handed it to Ao Lie.

  The onlookers saw the merchants happily spending money to buy golden silk leaves, and some curious ones came forward to ask Ao Lie: "Young man, we also want to buy, but don't know what flavor the golden silk leaves are. Can we try one first?" Ao Lie didn't hesitate, grabbed a handful of golden silk leaves, about seven or eight roots, and handed them to the people in front of him, saying: "At home rely on parents, outside rely on friends, our siblings' small business is all dependent on you noble men, how can we not comply?"

  Everyone saw Ao Lie's refreshing and generous gesture, and they took the golden silk leaves one after another, lit them up and started puffing. Those who finished first suddenly shouted "good", and scrambled to buy more; those who hadn't finished yet wanted to rush forward to grab some, but holding the lit golden silk leaves made it inconvenient for them to move, and although they wanted to throw away the remaining leaves, they couldn't bear to do so, and were thus stuck in a dilemma.

  It didn't take long for Ao Lie to sell the golden silk leaves, and they were almost all gone, with less than ten left. Shuang Er was delightedly counting the large sum of money in her hands, and while counting, she excitedly said to Ao Lie: "Second Master... uh, Lie Er, we made over 4,000 taels today! A full 40,000 taels! I've never seen so much money before."

  Ao Lie also raised his head with excitement, just about to speak to Shuang Er, but suddenly changed his expression and looked solemnly towards the street corner.

  At the corner of the street, a figure slowly approached. Xue Er saw Ao Lie's expression change and followed his gaze to see a young man in his twenties walking at a steady pace. The young man was tall and sturdy with a handsome face. Although he was only wearing ordinary clothes, he gave off an extraordinary feeling.

  Of course, this is just Frost's feeling. At this moment, Ao Lie's heart has set off a shocking wave. He felt that since the young man appeared, there seemed to be an invisible aura centered on him, constantly spreading around. It seems that between heaven and earth, he is the core, the master. What makes Ao Lie even more surprised is that behind the young man's back, he carries a weapon, a weapon that makes Ao Lie feel extremely pressured - a long spear!

  The young man walked up to Ao Lie and the others, looked down at Jin Si Ye with a low voice and asked: "What is it? How much?" The language was concise and precise, directly pointing to what he thought. Feng Er was asked by this young man, suddenly feeling as if there was an invisible long sword pointing at herself, unable to speak for a moment.

  Ao Lie activated his past life's Wudang ultimate skill, the Nine Yang Skill of the Extreme, to resist the young man's aura. Only then did he open his mouth to answer: "This thing is called Golden Thread Leaf, one hundred coins per root." The young man looked at Ao Lie with a hint of surprise and said again in a low voice: "You're not wrong. Five roots."

  Ao Lie handed over five golden silk leaves to the young man, who took them and looked at Ao Lie seriously again, saying: "Tomorrow, go to Zhengyang Valley in the suburbs to get the money." After finishing speaking, he didn't stay and turned around to leave.

  Until the young man disappeared from view, Frost spoke with a sigh: "This person is so overbearing, how can he take things without paying?" Ao Lie did not respond to Frost's words, but instead stared thoughtfully in the direction of the young man's departure, muttering to himself: "A skilled spearman, over twenty years old, could it be him?" Frost asked puzzled: "Who is it?" Ao Lie shook his head and said: "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, I'm not sure either. Anyway, we'll know tomorrow, no need to make wild guesses. By the way, Frost sister, our Golden Silk Leaf has sold out for today, why don't we just go back?"

  As for the golden silk leaf, Frost's interest was raised again, and she smiled and said: "Good, Master will be delighted to see that we have sold four taels of silver in half a day."

  The two of them gathered up their things and returned to the county governor's mansion with a day's worth of gains, feeling very satisfied.

  In the main hall of the county government, Liu Yu and Mrs. Ao sat upright in the middle of the hall, looking at Ao Lie and Shuang'er who had returned after half a day. Liu Yu spoke up, "You're back so soon? Is it that those golden leaf silks aren't selling well? No matter, our family isn't lacking in food or clothing, if they can't be sold then so be it. To be honest, I'd like to savor the taste of golden leaf silks every day, why not just leave them for me?"

  Ao Lie was taken aback, turned his head and glanced at Shuang'er, and couldn't help but exchange a smile with her. It seemed that Father thought the two of them had returned empty-handed. Shuang'er let out a soft giggle and said: "Reporting to Master and Mistress, today I and Young Master have sold all the Golden Leaf, making a total of four taels of silver."

  Liu Yu responded casually: "Huh, no matter how much is sold, it's good to have this experience, don't mind... what? Four taels of silver?" He turned his head to look at Mrs. Ao, who was also surprised and covering her mouth, looking like she couldn't believe it. Liu Yu asked again: "Fang'er, how much did you say was sold?" Fang'er simply put the package in her arms on the ground, then opened the package, revealing the four taels of silver inside.

  "Exorbitant profits, this is exorbitant!" Liu Yu covered his forehead, looking like he had been defeated by the huge sum of money. Yu Guang, on the other hand, glanced at Ao Lie, a faint, almost imperceptible smile playing on the corner of his mouth.