Volume One: A Farmer at Dawn Chapter 25: A Twenty Percent Profit

It was not just that these few people were staring in astonishment; after all, white granulated sugar had never existed in this world before.

In the Great Yan dynasty, the sugar industry was still in its infancy. People in the south would boil the sugarcane they cultivated into dark brown sugar for sale.

A few skilled craftsmen could use plant ash, duck egg whites, and the like to decolorize it, producing red sugar, which would instantly sell for more than three times the price.

As for white sugar, no one in the Great Yan had ever seen such a thing.

Su Biao exclaimed in disbelief, "Chu Liu, how is it that after pouring the yellow clay slurry, the black sugar turns into red sugar and then even white sugar? Are you some immortal from the old tales?"

"I am..." Chu Liu was about to explain that the yellow clay slurry adsorbed the pigments and other impurities from the black sugar, but realizing he would then have to explain terms like adsorption and pigment, he simply said, with an air of mystery, "The Buddha said: Unspeakable, unspeakable... Just taste it yourselves and tell me what you think of white sugar."

Su Biao was the first to pinch a bit of the white sugar and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up immediately, and he cried out, "This is the sweetest sugar I've ever tasted! It's so much sweeter than black or red sugar... Let me have another bite!"

"You two try it as well," Chu Liu said again, seeing Han Zai and Granny Huang hesitant.

Watching the two of them swallow nervously, Su Biao waved his hand and said, "Chu Liu told you to try it, so just try it. Why are you looking at me?"

The two mustered their courage, carefully pinched a little, and tasted it. Their expressions froze instantly.

Sweet.

Unbelievably sweet.

In truth, they had rarely tasted sugar before.

Sugar was a tonic, something common folk could not afford, much less servants like them who had sold themselves to a household.

Only during festive occasions would the master reward them with a taste, and even then, it was black sugar.

As for red sugar, that was reserved for the wealthy. A pound cost as much as over twenty pounds of rice—an ordinary person wouldn't dare to indulge.

"Separate the sugars and package them up," Chu Liu instructed.

Granny Huang and Han Zai quickly sorted the sugars, and Chu Liu took all of them away, not letting Su Biao eat any more.

He wanted to wait for the sugars to dry completely, weigh them, record the data, and estimate their market value.

...

As soon as Su Laibao stepped over the threshold, Su Biao rushed over, grabbing his arm and saying anxiously, "Father, Chu Liu has made a treasure! Hurry and have a look!"

"What treasure?"

"Just come and see, I can’t even explain it!"

Su Laibao was pulled into Chu Liu’s room, where Chu Liu was writing a story.

"Chu Liu, Biao’er says you’ve made a treasure—what is it, exactly?"

"It’s sugar," Chu Liu replied, producing two trays of sugar. Su Laibao’s gaze was instantly riveted by the white sugar. Pointing at it, he asked, "You mean... this is sugar?"

"Yes, white granulated sugar."

It seemed Su Laibao could hardly believe it. He picked up a pinch and put it in his mouth.

"Heavens! It really is sugar!"

He tasted a few more bites, then turned and asked, "Chu Liu, I've only been gone three days—how did you manage this?"

"Uncle Su, this white and red sugar were both refined from black sugar," Chu Liu explained calmly. "I’ve calculated that ten pounds of black sugar yield about three pounds of red sugar, five pounds of white sugar, and the rest is residue."

"I’ve also found out the retail prices: black sugar is a hundred coins per pound, so ten pounds is a string of cash. Red sugar sells for over three hundred coins per pound; with just the red sugar, you recoup your costs, and the five pounds of white sugar are pure profit..."

Su Laibao’s eyes went wide, disbelief all over his face as he stared at Chu Liu. "Is this... is this real?"

Su Biao couldn’t wait to interject, "Father, I was right there when Chu Liu refined the white sugar. It’s as real as it gets—more real than gold..."

Hearing this, Su Laibao murmured, his fingers unconsciously making calculations in the air, "If white sugar sells for five hundred coins a pound, five pounds is two and a half strings... That’s pure profit—we’re going to be rich..."

Chu Liu shook his head lightly. "Uncle Su, that price is too low."

"Oh? What do you think is appropriate?"

Chu Liu slowly pronounced a figure, "One string per pound."

At this, Su Laibao fell into deep thought. He paced back and forth, frowning, then slowly shook his head. "That price is too high, no one will buy it."

Chu Liu suddenly asked, "Uncle Su, red sugar is over three hundred coins a pound—can ordinary people afford that?"

Su Laibao shook his head. "Very few do. If they buy sugar, it's black sugar."

"Exactly. The target consumers for white sugar are always the wealthy. For them, five hundred coins or a full string makes little difference. In fact, the higher the price, the more it excites their desire to buy. For such people, buying expensive things is a way to highlight their status and prestige."

"White granulated sugar is something new, appearing for the first time in the Great Yan. Set the price too low, and it won’t stand out as special or precious."

"I’m certain that at one string per pound, it will sell like crazy, and demand will exceed supply."

Su Laibao was quite amazed by Chu Liu’s insight—he hadn’t expected a child to have such a business mind.

After a moment, he grew excited again, his spirits soaring. "We’ll sell at that price. If we refine two hundred pounds a day, I’ll be the richest man in Xuanyi County within a year..."

"Uncle Su, rarity makes things precious. If too much white sugar appears on the market, it will lose its value, so production must be controlled," Chu Liu cautioned coolly. "Also, never reveal that your family can refine white sugar—just say it’s goods acquired from merchants from the Western Regions. Otherwise, you’ll invite trouble..."

Su Laibao took the lesson to heart. He felt his business acumen had suddenly improved by leaps and bounds, and he said gratefully, "Chu Liu, sell me the refining method for white sugar—name your price, I’ll pay it."

"Uncle Su, I’ll give you the refining technique, but I won’t sell it."

Chu Liu spoke slowly, "I’ll invest with the technology, taking a twenty percent share of the profits from white sugar. As long as the Su family refines white sugar, I’ll share in the dividends..."

Chu Liu was testing Su Laibao.

The Legend of the White Snake had been bought out for ten taels of silver, and Su Laibao didn’t have to give him such a generous cut, yet he’d paid more than a hundred taels in royalties.

Chu Liu trusted Su Laibao’s character, but who could guarantee that, in the face of such enormous profit, he wouldn’t be blinded by greed and abandon his former honesty and conscience?

If his vision was that short-sighted, there would be no need to cooperate in the future.

"I agree completely! I’m making eight hundred coins per pound for nothing—why wouldn’t I?" Su Laibao agreed without hesitation. "Chu Liu, twenty percent is too little. I’ll give you thirty percent—let’s sign an agreement right away."

"Uncle Su, I said twenty percent, and that’s enough. I don’t want any more," Chu Liu replied with a smile, seeing that Su Laibao had passed this test. "As for a contract, there’s no need. I trust you..."

Su Laibao began to truly admire Chu Liu.

A child with such integrity—he must have Su Biao learn from him in the future.

Afterward, Chu Liu wrote out the method for sugar refining with yellow clay in detail and handed it over to Su Laibao.

Su Laibao set aside a large room in the back courtyard as the workshop, forbidding any idle hands from entering.

He personally selected two craftsmen who had sold themselves to the Su family, and Chu Liu taught them the refining technique himself.

Watching the white sugar produced, Su Laibao declared confidently, "Tomorrow, I’ll go to the county town and sell all the white sugar we’ve refined..."

Chu Liu smiled lightly, "Uncle Su, if you want to sell it all quickly, don’t sell it tomorrow..."