Chapter 299: Things Women Naturally Love! Hard to Resist!
“Sister Zi, how much do you think half a bowl of white sugar should sell for?”
Li Mo had already washed his hands and feet and set down his clothing.
He sat in the pavilion, sipping tea.
On the stone table in the pavilion was a porcelain bowl, and several women gathered around, marveling at the white particles in the bowl.
From the tough sugarcane that was hard to chew to that dark, sticky syrup.
In the end, it transformed into these snow-like particles.
If they hadn’t witnessed Li Mo’s step-by-step process, no one would believe that this item was made from sugarcane!
Sister Zi extended her delicate fingers into the bowl, gently pinching a few grains of white sugar, contemplating, “It depends on the use of this item.”
“If it has a wide range of uses, it could sell for a good price. By the way, what do you call this?”
The value of an item determines its price.
If this item is just beautiful but useless, and not many people want to buy it, then the price will naturally not rise.
Li Mo finished the tea in his cup in one go, wiped his mouth, and said, “White sugar.”
“As for its uses, it can be used for seasoning, making desserts, and as snacks.”
“It can also be used for siege warfare and expanding territory.”
Several women were instantly stunned!
Hong Liang scratched her head in confusion, thinking she misheard.
“What did you say? Edible, and can also besiege cities?”
Yan Lingji interjected, “What do these two things have in common?”
“Of course there’s a connection. I’ll show you in a bit, come, want to taste this flavor?”
Li Mo picked up the porcelain bowl on the stone table and held it out to them.
The ladies exchanged glances, and one person reached out to pick up a small pinch.
“Go ahead, you definitely haven’t tasted this flavor before.”
As he spoke, Li Mo pinched a bit himself and tossed it into his mouth, smiling as he savored the taste.
Hong Liang’s big eyes darted around, and she extended her delicate pink tongue to gently lick it.
Immediately, she seemed to be entranced, her eyes widening in shock, frozen in place.
“How is it? Is it hard to swallow?”
Yan Lingji nudged her with her shoulder.
Seeing her like this, the other women immediately hesitated to try it.
It definitely wasn’t poisonous.
How could Li Mo let them taste something toxic?
“Say something, what does it taste like?”
Sister Zi urged, noticing Hong Liang had not reacted for a long time.
The first one to be a guinea pig, Hong Liang, finally took a breath under the gaze of several beautiful eyes.
Then, she suddenly exclaimed, startling everyone.
“It’s so delicious! So sweet!”
She vowed this was the best dessert she had ever tasted in her life!
The sweets she had eaten in the royal palace were simply bland compared to this.
“Is it for real? You’re not lying to us, are you?”
Yan Lingji was well aware of Hong Liang’s mischievous nature.
If she had eaten something bad, she would also pretend it tasted good.
We all suffer for the same crime!
“Really, Master, it’s so sweet, so sweet, I want to have more!”
Hong Liang lunged at Li Mo, reaching for the bowl in his hand.
Li Mo lifted his arm, causing her to miss.
He still needed this for something important.
There wasn’t much of it to begin with, and he couldn’t let someone like Hong Liang, who was addicted to sweets, waste it.
“Just a little bit, just a little bit!”
Hong Liang hung onto Li Mo’s arm, standing on tiptoes to grab it.
A pair of swaying big lights made his heart race.
“Just a little, there’s no more, open your mouth, I’ll feed you.”
“Ah!”
As soon as Hong Liang heard this, she quickly opened her mouth, waiting for Li Mo to feed her.
Never eat it even if I die?
Who said that?
Anyway, it wasn’t Hong Liang who said it!
The others looked at Hong Liang’s performance, which didn’t seem like an act, and finally felt relieved to taste it.
As soon as the white sugar entered their mouths, a rich sweetness instantly filled their entire mouth.
Everyone’s eyes lit up!
They all exclaimed in surprise!
“This flavor is so unique, it’s a bit like sugarcane, but much richer than sugarcane’s sweetness.”
“It melts in the mouth, delicious and makes one salivate.”
Yan Lingji had limited vocabulary, and the few adjectives she could think of were all used by Jing Ni and Sister Zi.
She pondered for a moment and heavily nodded, “Delicious!”
Duanmu Rong bit her lips, her tongue licking in her mouth.
From her radiant gaze, it was clear that she was also amazed by this thing.
Girls seem to have a natural love for sweets.
The few girls only took a small bite, feeling it hard to extricate themselves.
“This thing has an excellent taste; if sold on the market, it won’t lack customers. As for the price…”
After tasting, Sister Zi finally gave her evaluation.
But how to determine the price puzzled her.
This thing was a new product, and there was nothing to reference it against.
“One tael of white sugar is worth one tael of gold; it might be a bit exaggerated, but it’s not far off.”
Li Mo observed the remaining white sugar in the bowl.
Several large bundles of sugarcane yielded twenty pounds of juice.
Twenty pounds of juice boiled down to four pounds of syrup.
But four pounds of syrup only produced less than half a pound of white sugar.
After all, sugar is a consumable.
After being drenched in yellow mud water for that long, while removing impurities, a considerable amount of syrup was also dissolved.
He finally understood why white sugar was so expensive in ancient times.
The production cost was already so high, plus the principle of scarcity, it would be a miracle if the price were low!
“Is it really one tael of gold for this?”
Even Sister Zi was startled by this price.
One tael of gold is enough for an ordinary family to live for several years; this is no small amount!
If this price is set, those nobles would probably hesitate to buy it for consumption.
“It is a bit excessive; I’ll tell you the cost later, and you can decide.”
Li Mo nodded as he spoke.
If the price is set too high, there won’t be many buyers, so they wouldn’t earn much.
After all, this item is a luxury, not a necessity like salt.
“Well, that does make sense.”
Sister Zi didn’t say much about this suggestion.
At this time, Jing Ni suddenly asked, “Husband, does this thing really expand territory?”
Hong Liang stared covetously at the bowl in Li Mo’s hand, feeling an impulse to snatch it.
Hearing this, she was taken aback: “Right, this thing is delicious, but besides eating, what else can it do?”
Li Mo shook the white sugar in the bowl and asked with a smile, “Do you remember what we made yesterday?”
Hong Liang blinked: “Are you talking about the clay jar for blasting stones?”
“Yes, that’s called gunpowder.”
Hong Liang nodded seriously: “Oh~ But how is that related to this?”
Li Mo pointed to above his head and said, “With this, a single clay jar can blow away this pavilion.”
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