Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 201 Request
Zhu Shenzhui was very satisfied with the performance of the Yao brothers. These two were indeed experts in making fireworks, and it was a good decision to invite them.

After the fireworks were over, the group went straight back from the workshop to the small courtyard where the Yao brothers were temporarily living. Although there was some distance between the two sides, they were not far away and there was a small path connecting them, so lighting a lantern at night did not hinder their travel.

Yao Liang's wife had prepared food and was waiting for them at home. Usually the two brothers would come back at dusk, but today they waited for a long time before they came back. Seeing them come back, Yao Liang's wife was relieved, but she saw Zhu Shenzhui coming too, so she hurried forward to greet them.

Waving his hand, Zhu Shenzhui said in a friendly manner that there was no need to be polite. Although he was the boss, he was just the boss. Coming here now would only cause them trouble, so he asked Sister-in-law Yao to forgive him.

After a few polite words, Yao Liang saw that it was getting late and his family had already prepared food. He had also felt the kindness of Zhu Shenzhui during these days, so he suggested that they cook some food at home. Although there were no fancy dishes, just some home-cooked meals, if Zhu Shenzhui didn't mind.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said that of course he would not dislike it. He had never eaten the Yao family's food, so today he would try the cooking of Yao's eldest sister-in-law.

Just like that, the Yao brothers invited Zhu Shenzhui into the house, and soon the eldest sister-in-law of the Yao family brought the food. There were not many dishes, just a few ordinary home-cooked side dishes, which were not very sumptuous.

"Boss, would you like to have some wine?" Yao Yuan asked with a smile.

"Is there any wine at home?"

"Yes! I brought a few jars of rice wine from my hometown. I wonder if the boss can get used to it."

"Yellow wine? Okay! Just drink some. I haven't had yellow wine for a long time." Zhu Shenzhui nodded with a smile.

Yao Yuan quickly got up and went into the house. After a while, he came back with a jar of wine. The jar was not very big, only about three palms high. Judging from the color of the outside of the jar, it seemed to be quite old.

"This wine was brewed by my father a long time ago and has been buried in the courtyard of the old house since it was brewed. There is a custom in my hometown that when a child is born, the family will brew wine and bury it in the courtyard. When the child gets married, the wine will be dug out and served to guests."

"In our place, if it's a son, this wine is called Zhuangyuanhong, and if it's a daughter, it's called Nv'erhong. Haha, originally there was quite a lot of this kind of wine at home, but my brother used half of it when he got married, and later on, he took some more. This jar was originally meant for my wedding, but then something happened at home..."

Yao Yuan shook his head and sighed: "It's all in the past. Let's not talk about it anymore. Come, boss, have a try."

As he spoke, Yao Yuan broke the mud seal on the wine jar. After removing the mud seal, he peeled off the oil paper underneath, and immediately a strong aroma of wine wafted into his nose.

Yao Liang went to get three bowls, and Yao Yuan carefully poured out a bowl from the jar. Under the candlelight, the wine was amber in color and had a strong aroma, which looked really good. Yao Liang respectfully gave the bowl of wine to Zhu Shenzhui, smiling and asking him to taste it. Zhu Shenzhui took a sip of the wine, raised his eyebrows and praised it as a good wine.

Huangjiu is rarely drunk by ordinary people in the north. Most ordinary people usually drink home-brewed inferior wine, among which rice wine and stronger white wine are more common, after all, these wines are more suitable for the cold weather in the north. However, among the nobles, many drink Huangjiu, and the mellowness of Huangjiu is their favorite. In some places, some other things are added to Huangjiu to make it, such as adding osmanthus to make osmanthus wine, or adding other things to make it a more distinctive "cocktail" in the Ming Dynasty.

The rice wine of Nanzhili is famous, and good rice wine can also be sold at a good price in the capital. Although the wine that the Yao brothers brought out is not top-grade, it still tastes very good because it has been stored for many years, and it can be called a good wine.

Although rice wine is good, it is quite strong and suitable for slow drinking. It is not winter now. If it were winter, boil a pot of rice wine and add some ginger or green plums, it would be even more delicious.

Drinking wine and eating home-cooked dishes, the diet in Southern Zhili is different from that in the north, and the tastes of the two are different.

It is said that Zhu Shenzhui went to college in the south in his previous life, so he was quite accustomed to southern food. However, he had never been to the south in all these years. The food here in Shanxi has a strong northern flavor, and he often travels to the grassland, so his diet is even rougher. Today, he tasted the southern side dishes made by Yao's eldest sister-in-law and drank rice wine, which reminded him of his student days in his previous life.

While drinking and chatting, Zhu Shenzui was quite satisfied with the fireworks made by the Yao brothers today. Judging from the way the fireworks were set off, the two brothers were indeed experts in this field.

Zhu Shenzhui had said before that as long as the Yao brothers were capable, he would definitely reward them generously. He immediately asked them with a smile what rewards they wanted, and they could ask for them themselves.

The two brothers didn't expect Zhu Shenzui to say this, and they didn't know how to respond for a moment.

"Why? If it were someone else, they would be eager to hear the word reward, but you brothers hesitated? Haha, don't worry, I'm a man of my words, just ask boldly!" Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile. The Yao brothers looked at each other, Yao Liang calmed down, stood up and saluted Zhu Shenzhui, saying: "I am grateful for the kindness of the boss, but I just came here and didn't do anything for the boss. As for those fireworks, the boss originally paid me and my brothers to come here, and the boss has promised me generous wages. I took the boss's wages, lived in the house provided by the boss, and even the food was provided by you, the boss. These are what my brothers should do, how dare I ask for any reward."

"Hahaha, Yao Yuan, what about you?" Zhu Shenzhui laughed a few times and then asked Yao Yuan who hadn't spoken.

Yao Yuan's attitude is the same as that of his elder brother Yao Liang. They are craftsmen. Although craftsmen do not have a high status, they also have industry norms and bottom lines. The Yao family has made a living from fireworks for generations, and the Yao family workshop is also quite famous in Nanzhili.

There is nothing shameful in making a living by craftsmanship. They pay for their skills and labor, which is a matter of course. Of course, sometimes, the buyers of their fireworks are satisfied with their products and give them some tips. But like now, the two brothers have just arrived and have done nothing. They just took the materials given by the boss to try out some fireworks and asked for a reward. This is really unreasonable.

Zhu Shencui was quite satisfied with the attitudes of the Yao brothers. To be honest, he did not mean to test them by offering to reward them. The effect of the fireworks today was good and Zhu Shencui was very happy. Moreover, the brothers came from the south and were special technical talents. Zhu Shencui had intended to win them over and appease them so that they could work wholeheartedly for him. Talking about some rewards was just a waste of time for Zhu Shencui now.

But he didn't expect the Yao brothers to refuse and answer him like this. This made Zhu Shenzhui look up to them. As a craftsman, they have such principles. The character of these two brothers is good, which makes them better than most people.

Zhu Shenzhui took a sip from the wine bowl in front of him, then put it down and said to them, "Since you don't want a reward, I won't force you. I'll remember this for now. When you do well in the future, I'll reward you all. How about that?"

Now, the two Yao brothers no longer refused and immediately accepted Zhu Shenzhu's suggestion happily.

Then they started talking about fireworks. After chatting for a while and drinking some wine, Zhu Shenzhui brought up the key point and asked them, since they were proficient in making fireworks, how could it be impossible for them to make something that could explode by hitting something without ignition.

When the question was asked, the Yao brothers were a little confused about what Zhu Shenzhu meant. Seeing their puzzled expressions, Zhu Shenzhu smiled and explained his request in detail. After he finished speaking, the Yao brothers finally understood what Zhu Shenzhu wanted.

"This..." Yao Liang frowned. He thought about it carefully and asked, "Boss, what is the use of this thing? Can we set off fireworks without lighting them? Just to hear the sound? But why do we need to do this? Even if it's firecrackers, lighting them doesn't take much effort..."

Before he could finish, Zhu Shenzhui waved his hand and said, "It's not your business to consider how to use it. I just need to know whether this thing can be done or not. This is the key."

Although Yao Liang didn't understand why Zhu Shenzui wanted such a thing, since his boss had made it so clear, he stopped asking questions and immediately began to think about it carefully.

He was so absorbed in this thought that seeing Yao Liang's expression Zhu Shenzhui didn't disturb him. However, after waiting for a long time, he was still thinking blankly. Zhu Shenzhui couldn't help coughing and was about to say that there was no rush and he would think about it slowly tomorrow. It didn't matter if he thought about it for a few more days. As long as he could do it, he would wait for a longer time.

But at this moment, Yao Liang raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he thought of something.

"Boss, you can try this small thing you mentioned."

"What? Do you have a way? Do you know how to make it?" Yao Liang's words surprised Zhu Shenzhui. He never thought that he had just made this request, and in the blink of an eye Yao Liang said that he could give it a try. Originally, Zhu Shenzhui thought that this was a difficult task. Although the Yao brothers were experts in this field, no one had ever done this before. Even if they wanted to research it out, it would take at least some time.

"I am somewhat confident, but I cannot be sure at the moment. I need to try it to know." Although Yao Liang answered like this and did not say it definitely, one can guess from the expression on his face that he is very confident.

"Brother, do you know how to make this thing?" Yao Yuan couldn't help asking. He had been thinking hard after Zhu Shenzhui made the request. He had been thinking about how to make it explode just by knocking without lighting a fire.

But before Yao Yuan could figure out what was going on, his elder brother seemed to have come up with a solution to the problem, which made Yao Yuan very curious.

"Second brother, do you still remember the time when dad mixed fireworks a few years ago?" Yao Liang nodded and asked his younger brother.

Yao Yuan recalled carefully, and suddenly seemed to remember something. He nodded suddenly: "I remember, you are talking about that time when something almost happened, right?"

(End of this chapter)