Chapter 17
Picking the Moon Tower, the backyard.
The Yueyue Building is located in the center of the capital, covering a very large area. In addition to the main building facing the street, there are gardens, rockeries, ponds, pavilions, and some individual small pavilions behind it.
Lin Xiu stood in front of a well, several barrels of well water were placed under her feet, and the waiters from the Moon-chasing Building kept bringing water up.
Because the weather was too hot, under the sun, the well water soon lost its coolness.
Lin Xiu washed her hands, and then put her palms on the water in the bucket.
After bursts of cold air emanated from the barrel, the water surface began to freeze rapidly.
Soon, the whole bucket of well water was frozen into one piece.
The shopkeeper of Jieyue Tower watched this scene, and couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart.
This summer is extremely hot. It is not an exaggeration to say that ice is more expensive than gold. The ice cubes used to cool off the heat are priceless and hard to find. As long as this person is kept, it is conceivable that their business will be in the next period of time. what will happen.
For Zhaiyuelou, this is not just a matter of profit.
When other restaurants are like steaming baskets, Moon Picking Tower is the only summer resort. It can please those noble people, and it will be of great benefit to Moon Picking Tower in the future.
Compared with these, a few tens of hundreds of taels of silver are nothing.
After Lin Xiu froze several buckets of water one after another, she sat aside to rest, waiting for the recovery of Yuanli. Although it is much easier to directly freeze the water, but the more times, it is not a small consumption.
It's not that he has never thought of using other ideas, such as using the principle that saltpeter dissolves in water to absorb heat, but first of all, this method of ice-making is not efficient, the output is extremely low, and it is easy to be imitated by others, directly using the ability, not only It is more convenient and efficient.
And this method, except for Lingyin, no one wants to copy it.
At this time, a waiter from the Yueyue Building had already chiseled out the ice cubes in the bucket and put them in the ice mirror.
Bingjian is a cooling tool for rich people in Wangdu. It is a square object similar in shape to a tripod. There are small holes on the four sides and the bottom. Just put ice cubes in, and the cold air will escape from the holes. Room circulation.
In later generations, even in summer, ice is worthless.
But Daxia is the same as in ancient China. There is no summer ice-making technology here. All ice cubes are stored in ice cellars in winter. In summer, they have actually melted and consumed a lot. One piece is less than one piece, and the price Naturally, it is expensive. It is not too much to say that ice is as expensive as gold. The average family can't afford it, including the former Lin family.
Therefore, even if ice cubes were not in such a short supply in previous years, the price of a piece of ice cubes about the size of a bucket would generally be around one tael of silver, which would cost a family of five a month if they had meat for their meals.
For this bucket of ice, Lin Xiu sold the Yueyue Building for five taels of silver, which was five times the usual ice price, but Lin Xiu believed that the Yueyue Building would definitely not lose money, and would even earn more than him. Yuelou took advantage.
However, Lin Xiu didn't care about these things. There was endless money to be made. Directly cooperating with Zayuelou would save most of his troubles, and naturally he would also lose some benefits. He was already mentally prepared for this.
An hour later, Sun Dali walked out with Lin Xiu from the Moon Building with a wooden box in his arms.
Lin Xiu's face was pale, his footsteps were weak, and he looked like his body had been hollowed out. The truth was that his body had indeed been hollowed out. Although it would not take much energy to freeze a bucket of water, fifty buckets of water could be frozen within an hour. Now he can't squeeze out a drop of energy from his body.
But the rewards are also huge.
In the box that Sun Dali was carrying, there were twelve silver ingots, a total of thirty.
In addition to the fixed daily fifty taels, Lin Xiu earned three hundred taels of silver in one hour, which is like making a lot of money every day. With a little savings, it is enough for the family's expenses for several years.
This is the advantage of different magicians. Even if most capable people don't join the imperial court and use their own abilities, they can become rich and rich, and have no worries about food and clothing for a lifetime.
Sun Dali hugged the suitcase, and smirked as he walked: Three hundred taels of silver, if only I could do this every day...
Lin Xiu shook her head. It is impossible to do this every day. The weather will turn cold soon. Such days will not last long, and the money will be lost every day. And this winter, the big Xia dignitaries who have suffered losses, as well as the royal capital The major stores in the country will definitely hoard ice in retaliation. By next summer, the price of ice will inevitably drop sharply. By then, it will not be so easy to make money through ice making.
When Lin Xiu and Sun Dali returned home, they happened to see A Yue walking outside with a brocade box in her arms. Lin Xiu asked, Sister A Yue, where are you going?
Ah Yue followed Mrs. Ping'an very early on, and she was a few years older than Lin Xiu. When she saw Lin Xiu, she stopped and said, Mrs. asked me to pawn these things, and exchange some money for subsidies. home use.
Lin Xiu walked over, opened the brocade box and looked, and found some jewelry inside, including jade bracelets, gold hairpins, earrings and the like.
At this time, Mrs. Ping'an came out and said with a smile: Xiu'er is back, it's hot outside, you should stay at home these few days, it's best not to go out.
Lin Xiu noticed that the jade bracelet on her hand was gone, and the golden hairpin on her head was also replaced by a wooden hairpin.
Lin Xiu said to Ah Yue: Put these jewelry back first.
Zhou Yun stepped forward and said, It's useless to keep these things. It's better to pawn them first to supplement the family.
Lin Xiu smiled and said, Mother, don't worry about Yinzi, Dali...
Sun Dali walked forward with a smile, and opened the box in his arms. Under the sun, the neatly arranged silver ingots shook Zhou Yun a little dizzy.
The silver was probably several hundred taels. She looked at Lin Xiu in shock and asked, Xiuer, where did the silver come from? You can't do anything bad...
Although the Lin family is in decline, they are still among the rich and powerful. The clerks of the Qing Dynasty are also officials in the court. If they want to get money, there are countless ways, but none of them is the right way.
Lin Xiu knew what she was worried about, and comforted her, Mother, don't worry, I earned the money myself, if you don't believe me, ask Dali.
Sun Dali immediately said: Madam, I testify that this is really earned by the young master!
Zhou Yun didn't believe it for the first time, and said, Don't collude to deceive me. What did Xiu'er do to earn so much money in such a short period of time?
Lin Xiu had no choice but to explain in detail: Mom, have you forgotten that I have awakened the ability of strange magic, the weather is so hot these days, it is hard to find ice in the capital, I just use my own ability, I helped the Yueyue Building make a lot of ice, this is the reward they gave me.
After finally convincing her, Zhou Yun looked at the rows of silver ingots in the box, and said in disbelief, But, but this is too much...
Lin Xiu smiled and said, Don't worry, mother, every money I earn is clean. From now on, you and dad can enjoy life at home.
Afterwards, he said to Ah Yue: Sister Ah Yue, wait until it's cooler outside, you and your mother go out for a walk, her jewelry has been worn for a long time, and it's time to get a new batch of jewelry.
Ah Yue's eyes bent into crescent moons, and said, Good sir.
Zhou Yun was a little depressed. She looked at Lin Xiu guiltily and said, Xiu'er, it's because your parents are incompetent that they let you do these things with different skills...
In any dynasty, magicians are noble existences, and will be supported by the court or various forces. Very few magicians will lower their status to do such lowly things for money.
Lin Xiu held her hand, and said indifferently: Mother, where have you been talking about, making money with your own ability is not shabby at all, you put away the money first, and there will be more and more in the future... ...
...
A trace of cold air leaked from the ice mirror, making the whole room extra cool.
Zhou Yun collected the money, walked slowly to the table, and said to her husband: Master, have you noticed that Xiu'er has changed...
Lin Ting nodded and said, I also think that he would actually ask to cancel his engagement with the Zhao family. Isn't he always looking forward to this?
That's not what I'm talking about. Zhou Yun shook his head, with a hint of relief in his eyes and a bit of distress, and whispered: Xiu'er has grown up...
She is gratified that her son has grown up. Even if they are gone in the future, he can live a good life with his own ability.
What made her feel distressed was that he was only eighteen years old, and most of the rich and powerful children of his age were still at the age of riding horses and enjoying the shadow of their parents, but he had already supported a family.
Lin Ting also sighed slightly, and said, It's all because of my incompetence as a father...
Zhou Yun held his hand, his expression suddenly became relieved, and said: Actually, this may not be a bad thing, at least we don't have to worry too much until we are a hundred years old...
Yesterday, her body was hollowed out, and after a good night's sleep, Lin Xiu was revived with full blood.
At noon the next day, after lunch, he and Sun Dali went out together, heading all the way to the Yueyue Tower.
The two of them had just walked into the gate of the Yueyue Tower, when a figure in white paused slightly on the street, and then followed.