Chapter 36: Chapter 34 William’s Choice
Early the next morning, at the Williams household.
The warm winter sun flickered across the branches, descending from the heavens with lingering warmth, illuminating every particle of dust in the air, gently steaming the cold of the night into a mist.
Today is the first day of a new week, and William Asku did not plan on doing anything too laborious.
Taking advantage of the comfortable morning sun, he moved his somewhat aged recliner outside,
squinted his eyes, wrapped in a somewhat darkened blanket, and enjoyed a rare moment of leisure.
However, he hadn’t relaxed for long before his ears caught a huge sound in his foggy state – to be precise, the sound of a fence being broken through.
Everyone knows the nature of fences, whether abroad or locally, they can’t withstand much violent force, but generally, people don’t do such things under normal circumstances.
It was broad daylight, and even if there were thieves, they wouldn’t come knocking at this time, thus, in his daze, William Asku had only one thought running through his mind:
Oh my, could it be the Netherlands coming to attack?
It was 1665, the midpoint of the famous Anglo-Dutch Wars, where John Bull and the Netherlands fought four major battles and countless smaller skirmishes.
Even though Woolsop was inland, you never know if some small squad would sneak in to create havoc behind enemy lines.
Thinking of this, William Asku instinctively let out a low growl.
Just as he was about to get up and head to the barn to wield a stick of cow dung like Lu Bu, an excited, somewhat distorted face appeared before him, yet familiar in the eyebrows and voice:
"Uncle William, Uncle William! Wake up! Wake up!"
Faced with this, William Asku’s mind froze for several seconds, and then his voice suddenly rose:
"Little Isaac? Are you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, also betraying Great Britain?"
"?"
Little Niu’s face showed a visible trace of confusion, but he quickly cast it aside, gently tugged at William’s sleeve, and whispered:
"Uncle William, let me tell you, we’re going to get rich!"
With Little Niu’s pull, William came to his senses, and asked with a furrowed brow:
"Little Isaac, what exactly is happening?"
Little Niu didn’t answer directly but cautiously glanced around, then gestured towards the house with his chin:
"Uncle William, let’s go inside and talk."
"What are you up to?"
William looked at Little Niu puzzled, then glanced at Xu Yun who was carrying a package behind him, hesitated, and let them into the house:
"...Fine, come with me."
Just as they entered the house, Little Niu darted to the window and with a swish, pulled down a somewhat tattered curtain.
Unusually, he did not chit-chat with Lisa, but led Xu Yun straight to the dining table where they previously ate.
At this time, besides Xu Yun, Little Niu, William, Lisa, and Mrs. Williams, only Lilani was present among the three sisters.
It’s worth mentioning that compared to last time, this little rascal seemed a bit more well-behaved, at least there wasn’t much dirt on her face.
Then Little Niu placed Xu Yun’s package on the table and quickly took out a few baked potatoes, dipped them in sauce, and handed them to William and the others:
"Uncle William, try this first. Auntie, Lisa, Lilani, please have a taste too."
William took the potato, held it close to his nose, and slight flares in his nostrils occurred:
"What is this, strawberry sauce?"
Little Niu shook his head and teased him:
"You’ll know once you try it."
Seeing this, William hesitated for a moment but, trusting Little Niu, eventually ate the half potato.
The potato, freshly taken from the oven by Little Niu not long ago, although slightly cooled during the walk, remained warm thanks to Xu Yun’s careful protection, perfect for eating.
As soon as the sticky potato entered his mouth, a marvelous blend of sweet and sour flavors danced on William’s taste buds.
This flavor wasn’t as refreshing as mint but unexpectedly lifted his spirits, opening his appetite instantly.
William’s left hand holding the potato and his lips seemed uncontrollable, as they shoved and bit, swallowing the whole potato before his brain could send the next feedback.
He then mechanically chewed the potato, somewhat dazedly looking at his fingers, still coated with a hint of bright red sauce.
After a while, he looked at Little Niu and asked:
"Little Isaac, what is this stuff?"
This time Little Niu didn’t tease, he gently touched Lilani who was licking her fingers, and said:
"Tomato sauce."
When Little Niu said tomato sauce, it wasn’t ketchup but the phonetic translation of tomato sauce, thus William understood the ingredients immediately and whispered in surprise:
"Tomatoes? Oh God, isn’t that stuff poisonous?"
Upon saying this, he stepped forward to stop Lilani’s further actions.
Seeing this, Xu Yun, well-prepared, smiled softly and stepped forward to repeat the words previously said to Little Niu.
As previously mentioned, William is also a graduate of the University of Cambridge, and he obtained a degree in natural science.
Given the educational levels of 1665, this is almost equivalent to a doctoral degree from a top university in later generations.
Coupled with some insights from the early years of his rise, William was quickly guided by Xu Yun to follow the same thought process as Little Niu and was successfully persuaded.
"Tomato sauce?"
William glanced at Lilani, who was happily munching on potatoes dipped in tomato sauce, and asked Xu Yun:
"Mr. Feiyu, are you saying this is a specialty sauce from the East, and are you willing to share its recipe with us?"
Xu Yun nodded, looking at him calmly:
"That’s right. This sauce was developed by a chef named Yuan Prefecture from the East. It’s very simple to mix. If Mr. William is willing, we can partner up for this business."
William looked deeply at this young man from the East, his face still filled with doubt:
"Mr. Feiyu, since you possess such a technology, why not choose to go solo?"
"Of course, because of my friendship with Mr. Newton."
Xu Yun patted his chest, putting on a look of loyalty and camaraderie with Little Niu, then sighed and said:
"Given the current situation of the Black Death in London, I’m afraid I need to stay in Woolsop for a while. I can’t even contact my parents temporarily. I can’t just freeload here, right?
Besides, the market for tomato sauce is absolutely huge, possibly even at a European level, but the replication cost is really low. It can’t be monopolized.
If I choose to go solo, I fear I might not even sell to Grantham before the market is flooded with imitations.
Rather than making less money myself, it’s better for all of us to come together and think of ways to earn more guineas before the technology is uncovered."
After saying all this, Xu Yun looked at William frankly, no longer speaking.
His explanation had both truths and lies, not entirely deception nor were they complete truths.
The false part was naturally the reason for sharing the technology, while the true part was his judgment on the replication market.
Currently, in the United Kingdom—or rather in all European countries except Italy and Spain—the biggest production barrier for tomato sauce is not the recipe but the ingrained notion that tomatoes are poisonous.
The method for making tomato sauce is pretty simple: first cook the tomatoes and mash them, then add sugar, salt, and blending oil (Xu Yun initially used butter), and slowly stir in a certain proportion.
This technique won’t be deciphered in just a day or two, but probably within a couple of weeks at most.
If it were truly some complex craft, Xu Yun wouldn’t have been able to handle it so easily, right?
Once people’s perception of tomatoes being poisonous begins to shift, tomato sauce will be everywhere in no time.
Just like local cold noodles, while the national market for cold noodles is undeniably vast, have you seen any person or company monopolize it?
In some small counties, you can even encounter "Shan Province cold noodles" spoken in the local dialect.
This is the inevitable result of technology with no barriers, and it is one of the reasons Xu Yun chose tomato sauce:
The taste of tomato sauce inherently fits with Europeans, but due to the short replication window, the time to make money is relatively limited.
This way, it can improve the living conditions of Little Niu and William’s family, without skewing Little Niu’s future life trajectory.
If it were something with technological barriers—like soap or something like a pocket toy—Little Niu might spend his whole life chasing money.
The view returns to the room.
Looking at the tomato sauce before him, William pondered for a moment and said:
"Mr. Feiyu, I have no objection to going into business together, but the specific profit-sharing ratio..."
"Mr. William."
Just as William intended to discuss profit distribution, Xu Yun suddenly interrupted him:
"Mr. William, we can talk about the distribution ratio later because we are still missing one person, an essential partner."
Upon hearing this, William and Little Niu exchanged a glance and simultaneously asked:
"Who?"
"Think about it."
Xu Yun pointed to the tomato sauce on the table and explained:
"For educated individuals like you two, understanding why tomatoes are ’deadly’ requires guidance. Now, what about ordinary people?
With the knowledge base of commoners, they probably couldn’t even grasp the concept of acid dissolving lead. How would you persuade them to buy tomato sauce?
Simply because it tastes good? That’s clearly impossible. No one is willing to risk their life for a delicious treat."
Seeing the two in front of him pondering, Xu Yun smiled and shrugged:
"So we must find a highly respected person who can win others’ trust with the simplest words, for example..."
"Pastor Yarlin of Saint Titus Church."
.....
Note:
Heard that a bunch of place names yesterday were suddenly reduced to pinyin abbreviations. Some protagonists in books are named Li (Luo) (Yang), but readers see it as Li LY, which is really tragic.....