What should be a blush-inducing compliment sounded oddly mundane coming from his lips, as if he was discussing salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.
Gu Youyou responded irritably, "I know, look at how much you care, huh, it’s just a sachet!"
Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were giving away a diamond ring.
Despite her sharp tongue, Youyou was secretly thrilled.
She had heard that in these parts, a woman gifting a man a sachet was like a token of love, but a man giving one to a woman... well, let’s just say it could serve the same purpose.
Lately, Gu Youyou had been very busy, gathering herbs in the mountains and picking chili peppers to make sauce at home.
The mountains stretched for thousands of miles, with occasional appearances from wild men. Given Youyou’s extraordinary luck, she dared not venture too deep alone, limiting her chances of finding good herbs and leaving her to collect only wild peppers to take home.
Ever since she successfully made a bowl of chili sauce, she had started picking large quantities of peppers.
When June rolled around, the weather turned hot, marking the perfect season for harvesting red chili peppers.
Freshly picked, the peppers only needed a day or two of sun to dry out.
In those times, without a specialized agricultural system, the handful of peppers on the mountain wasn’t much; even after collecting all she could, she only managed to make a potful.
Youyou planned to save some seeds to grow her own next year.
After all, "clothes make the man as gold makes the Buddha," and without decent packaging, even the best products won’t fetch a good price. She couldn’t very well sell her sauce by the spoonful in a basin—that would cheapen the whole affair. So after much consideration, she decided to make a trip to town to see if she could find some nice clay pots.
Since her last visit to Lotus Village from Qingshui Town, Youyou hadn’t gone back. The herbs she usually picked were sold by Jin Zijin, so this was only her second trip to Qingshui.
Youyou casually approached a woman selling insoles and asked, "Excuse me, ma’am, where can I find clay pots for sale in this town?"
The woman pointed and said, "Turn left at the junction up front—it’s the third shop."
"Ah, thank you so much!"
Just as the woman had directed, Youyou easily found the shop selling clay pots.
The shop mainly featured various fired clay jars and bowls. The type of pot she needed was not in abundance, so after some looking, she selected a few with decent appearances.
Covered in dust, she wiped them down to reveal their true form.
Apart from being a bit heavy, they were quite nice, some even decorated with patterns.
"Shopkeeper, how much for these pots?" she inquired.
The shopkeeper glanced at them casually. Those small pots weren’t in high demand and weren’t worth much. He said, "Take all six for fifty wen."
Youyou was surprised by how cheap they were!
She paid the money, tied the six pots together with the straw ropes the shopkeeper used for bundling bowls, and carried them off.
Back home, she washed them clean, dried them outside, and then filled them with chili sauce.
After filling the six small pots, there was some sauce left over for personal use.
The next day, she left the house early again, even before Jin Zijin had a chance to get going.
Zijin, who was washing dishes, saw Youyou leave mysteriously with a bamboo basket on her back. He sped up his work and soon followed her out.
This year, Youyou wasn’t making these few jars of chili sauce to sell for money, but rather to penetrate the market—primarily targeting the wealthy. The real earning would begin next year once she started growing chili peppers on a large scale.
In that era, chili peppers were considered as rare as Chinese herbs for treating weak stomachs and cold spleens—and her business was the first of its kind.