Chapter 257: Chapter 191: My Mouth is So Spicy, I Want a Kiss

After returning home, Jiang Cai’Er was very diligent, helping out with all sorts of chores. After all, she was now a Tier Two Transcendent. She was remarkably agile, and while her strengths didn’t lie in raw power or Martial Arts, she was still far beyond what an ordinary person could handle.

Her mother shooed her away. "I don’t need your help, I don’t need your help! Go take a break and do your homework. If there’s anything you don’t understand, go ask Li Xiang."

This was the family’s precious daughter. Her grades were excellent, and her teacher had even called to say she had a great shot at getting into Qingbei. The hopes were high. How could Aunt Jiang dare to delay her daughter’s studies? Besides, just look at her daughter’s hands! They were as delicate as jade. It would be a terrible shame if they became rough from manual labor!

Jiang Jianguo felt the same way. In the future, his daughter was destined to transcend their social class.

Resigned, Jiang Cai’Er had no choice but to go back to her room to read and do her homework.

Doing homework was incredibly boring. It was like a college student doing elementary school math problems—what challenge was there to speak of?

And when she tried reading for pleasure, her reading speed felt frustratingly slow.

She was now like a supercomputer with top-of-the-line hardware and a massive storage drive like her "Memory Palace," but input was still limited to a keyboard or a scanner.

She had no USB port, nor could she connect to a network.

Humanity had produced so many books. How long would it take to read them all, one by one, with just her eyes? Jiang Cai’Er was anxious, burning with a thirst for knowledge.

She took a deep breath, centered herself, and continued to mull over the "technical problem" of how to connect her "Quantum Computer" to a regular one.

After lunch, she slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and went to find Li Xiang.

When she arrived at Li Xiang’s house, his cousins Shen Wenqian and Shen Zimo were also there.

"Sister Cai’Er, you’ve gotten even prettier!" Shen Wenqian exclaimed, overjoyed to see her. She threw her arms around Jiang Cai’Er in a big hug.

"Haha!" Jiang Cai’Er laughed, lifting Shen Wenqian up and spinning her in a circle.

"Whoa, Sister Cai’Er, you’re so strong!" Shen Wenqian said in surprise. She had put on quite a bit of weight in the last six months. After all, she was only a freshman, so her studies weren’t that demanding yet. She wouldn’t have to really start buckling down until the second half of her sophomore year.

Jiang Cai’Er thought, ’Your cousin is the one who’s really strong. He could toss me to the moon.’

Li Xiang brought out a few old tables and chairs. The three of them settled down to do their homework under the covered walkway in the backyard, surrounded by an array of snacks and tea.

Among the fruit platters was a plate of fresh peaches, picked that very morning from the tree in the backyard.

When his cousins came over, they saw the luscious peaches and said they wanted some, so Li Xiang naturally obliged. Although this peach tree had "Extraordinary potential," the Apocalypse had not yet begun and Mysterious Particles had not yet emerged on Earth. Therefore, it hadn’t mutated, and the fruit it bore was still ordinary.

Even so, because it was a fine variety, the peaches grew large and beautiful. A few had even split their skins, looking irresistibly pink and tender.

After picking them, Li Xiang tried one himself. It was crisp, refreshing, and wonderfully sweet, with a rich peach fragrance.

He had to admit, this peach tree was incredible. It had survived a lightning strike, been transplanted, and had many of its branches and leaves trimmed, yet it still sprouted numerous new shoots and even produced nineteen fruits. Its life force was off the charts.

Li Xiang picked the eight largest and reddest peaches, as the rest were clearly not yet ripe.

"Do you want milk tea? I can have three cups delivered," Li Xiang offered.

"Yes, please!" Shen Wenqian said cheerfully.

Li Xiang then took out his phone and shared a picture of the milk tea shop’s menu with them. The three of them each picked one, and Li Xiang placed the order. About ten minutes later, a delivery girl brought over three cups of milk tea.

After a bit of homework, Shen Zimo said he wanted to go see the giant pandas. Shen Wenqian had to go with her brother, and she dragged Jiang Cai’Er along with them.

Jiang Cai’Er had been hoping to sneak in some private time with Li Xiang, but she couldn’t refuse their enthusiastic invitation, so she had to go along. ’It would be better to sneak out for a date in the middle of the night,’ she mused.

The two of them spent more time apart than together, and now that Jiang Cai’Er had a taste of their intimacy, she naturally wanted some alone time with Li Xiang. But who could have predicted his cousins would show up the moment their break started?

When they returned, Li Xiang was getting ready to make Spicy Strips.

He wanted to train his fine control over his strength, so he had gone out and bought a large block of tofu for carving. While he was out, he also picked up the main ingredients for the Spicy Strips, like dried tofu skin and chewy tendon noodles. As for seasonings like dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, and cumin, he already had those at home.

All three of them wanted to come and help.

After all, what young person doesn’t love Spicy Strips?

Shen Zimo was practically drooling. "I always want to eat these, but my grandpa won’t let me."

Shen Wenqian said, "That’s because the store-bought ones are unhealthy. Our cousin is making these himself, so they’ll be clean and hygienic. We’re in for a treat today."

In reality, Spicy Strips are just soy products with chili and other spices. The store-bought ones are said to be unhealthy because you don’t know what kind of additives they use. When you make them at home, you have complete control over the ingredients and know exactly what’s in them.

Jiang Cai’Er led the two younger ones in preparing the ingredients. The long tofu skins they bought were the wider variety, so she first cut them into small sections with scissors, then cut them open into individual sheets. The tendon noodles were also cut to a suitable length, and then everything was washed clean.

Meanwhile, Li Xiang went to fry the aromatics.

He took fresh scallions, cilantro, and an onion from the garden, washed them, and did a rough chop. The onion was sliced, while the scallions and cilantro were just cut in half. He poured some of his home-pressed, traditional rapeseed oil into an iron wok and heated it up. Then, he tossed in the scallions, cilantro, and onion, adding a good measure of other spices like bay leaves, star anise, cumin, and Sichuan peppercorns.

As they fried, a tantalizing aroma filled the air.

Once the onions were fried to a golden brown, he strained out the solid aromatics. To the side, a basin of chili powder was ready. It contained a mix of coarse and fine dried red chili flakes, to which he had added Sichuan peppercorn powder, cumin powder, white sesame seeds, and a bit of salt and sugar. He then ladled the scorching-hot aromatic oil and poured it over the mixture.

He poured a few ladlefuls first, stirred it all together, and then added the rest.

Because he was using a countryside wood-fired stove, the heavy iron wok was not easy to lift. The fire in the stove was continuous, so the oil remained searingly hot.

It’s worth noting that the chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, and cumin powder weren’t ground by a machine. Even though there was a small, compact electric grinder in the house, this was Li Xiang, after all.

He simply rubbed the spices between his hands, and they turned to powder. This was another way he trained his fine control over his power. For instance, when he ground the chilies this way, he could produce both coarse and fine powders with uniform granularity.

By practicing grinding chili flakes, Li Xiang felt his control over his power become even more "refined."

Cultivation was everywhere. As long as one was mindful, every aspect of life could be a form of practice.

Moreover, through these unique methods—making Spicy Strips, carving tofu, tilling soil, pulling weeds, chopping wood—he could not only advance his Cultivation, but also temper his mind, allowing him to center himself and become less impetuous.

Without that impetuousness, the efficiency of his practice actually increased. That state of being overly eager and anxious was a perfect example of the saying, "haste makes waste."

By the time Li Xiang was done, Jiang Cai’Er and the others had finished preparing the tofu skins and tendon noodles. After being cleaned and soaked, they were removed, drained, brushed with a bit of rapeseed oil, and placed in a steamer basket.

The oil was to prevent them from sticking together.

They were steamed over high heat for three to five minutes, just until the tendon noodles no longer had a hard core. Then, they were taken out to cool before being mixed with the chili-infused oil. And just like that, the fragrant Spicy Strips were ready.

There was a huge basin full, and everyone eagerly dug in to have a taste.

"Whoa, so fragrant! So spicy! It really hits the spot!"

"Brother, did you add a little too much chili? It’s so spicy my mouth hurts," Shen Wenqian said.

"Haha, it’s my first time making them. I don’t have the experience yet. I’ll add less next time," Li Xiang replied.

Shen Zimo kept eating as he exclaimed, "It’s no good if it isn’t spicy!"

Shen Wenqian rolled her eyes at him. "Listen to you, acting tough. I’m going to find some water." With that, she ran off to the table where they’d been doing homework to gulp down some tea. It was just too spicy.

A moment later, Shen Zimo couldn’t handle it anymore either and ran out to find some water.

That left only Li Xiang and Jiang Cai’Er in the kitchen. As Extraordinary Beings, their tolerance for spicy food was much higher.

"This is way too spicy, isn’t it? Did you buy these peppers or grow them yourself?" Jiang Cai’Er asked, sticking her tongue out to cool it down.

"I grew them myself," Li Xiang said. "The variety is definitely a bit hotter than other peppers, and on top of that, I really did add too much."

If even a native Sichuanese said it was spicy, then these peppers were truly on another level.

"My mouth is so spicy, Xiang... I need a kiss," Jiang Cai’Er said, sidling up to him now that they were alone in the kitchen.

Li Xiang leaned in for a light kiss. ’Hmm, a kiss after eating super-spicy strips... a truly unique experience,’ he thought. ’The layers of sensation are surprisingly rich.’

They were both inwardly reveling in the moment when, unfortunately, the two little third wheels outside seemed to be running back in. They quickly pulled apart.

"Brother Xiang, why are your faces so red?" Shen Zimo asked.

"It’s from the spice!" Li Xiang said.

Jiang Cai’Er’s face flushed an even deeper red. She quickly began fanning her face with her hand, exclaiming, "So spicy, so spicy!"

Shen Zimo laughed heartily. "Serves you right for not drinking any water! You just had to act tough!"

Shen Wenqian, being a bit older, sensed something was off. That flush didn’t look like it was from spicy food. She gave Jiang Cai’Er and Li Xiang a curious, assessing glance.

Feeling a pang of guilt, Jiang Cai’Er quickly fled the kitchen. "I’m going to get some water too! I can’t take it anymore!"

There were far too many Spicy Strips for them to finish, so Li Xiang took some to share with Granny Li Xiang.

"They look nice, but you kids go ahead and eat them." Granny Li Xiang waved him off; she wasn’t a fan of such snacks. So, Li Xiang packed the rest into food-safe bags and took them over to the National Tea House, the tavern, and the coffee shop for Zhao Xueqing, Yao Yao, Lei Xiaohui, and the other girls to try.

After the initial hype died down, and with the addition of continuous overcast and rainy weather, business at the shops was just so-so. On a good day, revenue could exceed 30,000 yuan, but on a bad day, it was only three to five thousand. One day, during a downpour, the revenue was zero.

However, that was just for their physical locations. Online sales were a different story. The girls livestreamed every day without taking weekends off, and even on their worst day, they still managed 150,000 yuan in sales.

If Li Xiang participated, the numbers were even more astonishing.

During one of his livestreams, Li Xiang mentioned to his fans that he was preparing to enter the jadeite industry. He even showed off a few items, such as bracelets, ring cabochons, necklaces, and pendants.

A few of the bracelets were gifts from Xu Xuan and Zhang Youyou, but most were finished pieces of exquisite quality that he had acquired directly from Myanmar and the Royal Jewelry Center of Thailand.

Yao Yao, Zhao Xueqing, and Lei Xiaohui acted as models, wearing the pieces on their wrists, necks, and fingers to display them personally. It was, admittedly, a very appealing sight.

Of course, Li Xiang also had a price advantage, since his costs were so low.

In addition, he had a large quantity of sliced material and rough stones that needed to be processed.

Li Xiang called Xu Xuan and He Zhixiang separately to discuss a partnership. Both men were very interested and readily agreed. Li Xiang asked He Zhixiang to help him lease a warehouse on the outskirts of a border city in Yunnan Province, not too far from Myanmar.

The processing plant would also be established in a nearby city. When he bought rough stones, he would store them in that warehouse, and the factory could simply pick up materials from there as needed.

As for their own retail stores, they would naturally be opened in major cities in Yunnan Province and Sichuan Province. They would start by opening one in each of the two provincial capitals to test the waters. Meanwhile, sales would also run concurrently on Li Xiang’s livestream channel.

Li Xiang would be responsible for supplying the raw materials, while He Zhixiang and Xu Xuan would handle the processing and offline sales in their respective provinces.

For the two separately established Jade Merchant Houses, they ultimately agreed on an 80-20 equity split. Li Xiang would take eighty percent, and the other two would take twenty.