Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Zhu Chenxi gave her husband a sweet look, then picked up a chicken leg and put it into Yuansheng's bowl.

Sheng Guihua happily ate her chicken wing. She often eats meat these days, but this chicken wing tasted especially delicious today. Her son had put it on her plate, and her eldest daughter was sitting next to her. She looked around at her family with satisfaction. They were living such a good life.

Yuan Pan'er took a bite of the chicken wing. The chicken was smooth and flavorful. How many years had it been since she had eaten chicken wings?

Since marrying into the Zhou family, she has hardly ever eaten meat. When she does have some, it's only for the children. Chicken wings are a rare treat. As she ate the chicken wings her younger brother had put on her plate, she felt a bittersweet feeling in her heart.

She took care of her younger brother the most when he was little; he was like half a son to her. He was always immature and got into trouble, and she and Changlin worried themselves sick over him, just like their parents. Now that he's finally grown up, he respects and loves her and takes care of her, which makes her very happy.

Seeing his family enjoying their meal, Yuan Sheng felt at ease. Perhaps happiness is simple: it's just about having a delicious meal with family.

"Mom, try this! This is the braised meat my uncle made. Isn't it especially delicious!"

Yuan Pan'er picked up a piece of braised pig's head meat. It was so fragrant. It was a completely new and unique flavor. No wonder her younger brother was able to cooperate with Donglaishun.

Yu Feng and Yu Zhu also started eating braised pig's head. The taste was so delicious. They were so happy to be at their uncle's house. They wished they could stay there forever and eat such delicious food all the time.

Yuzhu, in particular, was initially hesitant to freely pick up food, but amidst the laughter and chatter, she dared to reach out with her chopsticks to pick up the dishes she wanted to eat.

After dinner, Yuansheng told the younger children to keep the braised meat a secret, otherwise the family wouldn't have money for such delicious food. The two little foodies immediately declared they would never tell.

Yu Chuan, being older, knew that his uncle's wealth lay in his unique recipe. Therefore, he privately gave his younger siblings extra instructions.

Yuan Laifu went to the brick kiln to order bricks.

Yu Feng was sent to find Zhou Chunsheng's grandfather to discuss building a house. There was a lot of preparation work to be done, such as getting approval for the land, since there was only half an acre of land on the hillside before. They also had to find someone to look at the feng shui and find someone to build the foundation.

Yuan Sheng then began to study the purification of crude salt, having already figured out the steps involved.

The purification of crude salt mainly involves four steps: dissolving, filtering, evaporating, and crystallizing.

First, Yuansheng put the coarse salt into clean water and stirred it with chopsticks to fully dissolve the coarse salt.

Then, Yuansheng passed the dissolved crude brine through a filter.

The filter, made of cotton cloth, charcoal, and fine sand, was completed by Yuansheng yesterday. It filters out insoluble impurities from the coarse salt.

Then, he put the filtered salt water in a pot and boiled it to evaporate the water. During this process, Yuansheng kept stirring with chopsticks to prevent the salt water from splashing out.

Finally, after most of the moisture had evaporated, Yuansheng took the remaining solid out to dry in the sun. Once it was fully dried, he could obtain fine salt.

This experiment was very simple, and Yuansheng succeeded on their first attempt.

Zhu Chenxi and Zhou Yuchuan remained silent, carefully observing Yuansheng's every move.

When Yuan Sheng was focused on his work, Zhu Chenxi felt that he was shining brightly and even more handsome than usual.

Finally, after Yuan Sheng finished everything, Zhu Chenxi asked, "My lord, what are you doing?" She already had a guess in her mind.

"I'm refining coarse salt. I don't know if you've noticed, but the salt tastes a bit bitter. So, I'm trying to see if I can refine it and make a better-tasting fine salt."

Zhu Chenxi and Zhou Yuchuan nodded.

"Uncle, did you succeed?"

"It's a success. Although the moisture hasn't completely evaporated, you can try the taste."

Zhu Chenxi and Zhou Yuchuan pinched a tiny bit of the white crystal and put it in their mouths. It had a slightly salty taste, but no bitterness at all.

Zhu Chenxi's eyes were filled with admiration; her husband was a genius!

She already knew it.

He always has so many ingenious ideas.

"My lord, how did you do that?" Zhu Chenxi asked, and Zhou Yuchuan was also full of curiosity.

Yuan Sheng took some coarse salt, put it in the water, stirred it with chopsticks, and said, "You see, when you put coarse salt in water, some substances will dissolve in the water, while others will not. Just like when you put a stone in water, the stone will not dissolve. We call this kind of substance insoluble impurities."

"I filter out these insoluble impurities, and then heat the remaining brine to crystallize it."

The principle behind evaporation crystallization is based on the fact that the solubility of salt does not change much with temperature; heating causes the water content to decrease rapidly, leading to crystallization. However, Yuansheng could not explain the changes in salt solubility and temperature, so they simply ignored it.

Zhou Yuchuan's eyes lit up. "Uncle, every household needs salt. If we have this method to purify salt, won't we be rich?"

Yuansheng knew this, of course. "It's a pity we don't have salt permits, so we can't become salt merchants, at least not in the short term. But we can use fine salt to make braised meat, which will further improve the quality of the braised meat and increase the technical barriers to making it. Of course, most importantly, our own cooking will taste even better."

"Uncle, is it more important that we enjoy our food?"

"Yes, whether we sell braised meat or are salt merchants, it's all about making our families live a better life and ensuring they eat well. That's the most important thing."

Zhou Yuchuan nodded. Money and power are not as important as family. In particular, one cannot abandon family in the pursuit of these things. Just like his grandfather, who abandoned his uncle's family without hesitation so that his uncle could study and change his social status.

"Uncle, it's really hard to turn your life around quickly without power. Just like now we have the method to make fine salt, but we can only use it secretly."

Yuan Sheng said, "A common man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure. He may have no power, but he may have a way to make a lot of money. If he is not careful, he may bring disaster upon himself. Therefore, it is the most difficult for people at the bottom to turn their lives around. They may live a mediocre life, or they may have their money-making ideas taken away for no reason and bring trouble upon themselves."

"Yes, Uncle, I understand. In any case, it's always good to be low-key."

Yuan Sheng patted Zhou Yuchuan's head. Yuchuan is a smart kid. His intelligence lies not only in his studies but also in his understanding of people and things.

Yuan Sheng thought about it. This method of refining salt might bring him better profits. Donglaishun had always been a good partner, but he needed to find an opportunity to contact the owner of Donglaishun before making a judgment. After all, in the owner's eyes, his current cooperation with Donglaishun was still at a small-scale level.

"Chenxi, are you busy today? If not, come with me to Qingfeng Study."

Zhu Chenxi was busy making undergarments for her husband, but when she heard that she was going out with him, she said, "My lord, I'm fine."

Being able to go out and do things with my husband is also a kind of happiness.