Chapter 57: The First Client Feedback

For someone who has lived two lives, using distillation to turn the low-proof spirits of the Great Yan Kingdom into high-proof liquor is hardly a challenge. Mixing this strong alcohol with floral extracts to create the simplest of perfumes is an even more trivial matter.

Yet Zhao Hengyi was acutely aware that the things he and his sisters had crafted so playfully would drive the noble ladies and high society women of Great Yan absolutely mad! Ah yes, not to forget young Wang Erhu, who had also contributed his share of effort. But these were trifles, of little consequence.

What Zhao Hengyi needed to consider now was: how to guard the secret of perfume?

This luxury, which Zhao Hengyi positioned as a high-end commodity, was fundamentally different from the spinning jenny in the textile workshop, which had already increased output by eightfold! The spinning jenny, no matter how tightly guarded by Zhao Hengyi, would inevitably have its manufacturing technique leak out in the near future. As the workshop expanded, the number of female workers would only grow. No matter how ruthless Zhao Hengyi might be, he could never do something as outrageous as confining all the workers!

If even one skilled worker was bribed, an expert could easily deduce the key technology behind the spinning jenny. What Zhao Hengyi could gain was no more than the advantage of being the pioneer.

Perfume, however, was different. Such a luxury did not require high production volume; it could even be marketed through scarcity, raising its value ever higher. The process and technology posed real barriers and difficulties in Great Yan. As long as there were no traitors within, the art of making perfume would remain Zhao Hengyi's unique secret recipe!

At the outset of his business, perfume would be a money-making machine that even the textile workshop could not rival!

After swearing Wang Erhu to secrecy, Zhao Hengyi finally led his elated little sisters home.

The six little ones were happier than ever today; their brother-in-law, usually so busy he was never home, had spent the entire day playing with them! Moreover, he told them that they had accomplished a great feat, helping him create something immensely valuable!

Children are simple at heart—they just found the "perfume," as their brother-in-law called it, so lovely to smell. A little dab on their clothes would make them fragrant all over!

Miao Xiaoyu, busy tallying work points all day, returned home exhausted that evening.

In the village, there were no fussy customs forbidding daughters-in-law from showing themselves in public. Miao Xiaoyu was now the recognized lady steward of the family, her word carrying more weight than even the old village chief.

At dinner, something was different—a small porcelain bottle graced the table, though the weary Miao Xiaoyu did not notice it at first. Only when her sisters started chattering and nudging did she realize her husband had given her a gift.

The six little ones, fragrant from head to toe, acted like connoisseurs, disdainfully instructing their eldest sister on how to use the new "scented water" from the little porcelain bottle.

After each received a playful flick to the forehead, they quieted down.

But when Miao Xiaoyu, following her sisters’ guidance, opened the thumb-sized bottle, she was instantly astonished!

What was this cool, refreshing liquid, with such a rich fragrance? Why did the scent, once applied to clothes or wrists, linger so tenaciously?

No wonder the little ones were all so fragrant—who knows how much of this new scented water they had wasted!

Unlike her sisters, Miao Xiaoyu had already been a young lady when the Miao family was prosperous, accustomed to the finest cosmetics. Yet nothing in her memory could compare to this "perfume" her husband had given her!

“Xiaoyu, if you found this kind of new scented water for sale outside, how much would you be willing to pay for it?”

Confident as he was in this perfume’s potential to drive women mad, Zhao Hengyi still wanted first-hand feedback from his wife.

“If I saw it outside, I’d be willing to spend… two taels of silver?” Miao Xiaoyu replied, a little uncertain, for this was a rather extravagant sum. “You don’t know about women’s things, husband—the county’s best powder shops sell their top items for a fortune. But in my view, even the finest powders can’t compare to the perfume you’ve given me!”

If even the wife of a small village merchant would pay two taels for a thumb-sized bottle, what about the wives of the great families in the county? What about the ladies and mistresses of Jiangling Prefecture?

Even in a nation where many go hungry, if one wishes to make a fortune, one must find a way among the women of high society!

As if afraid her sisters would snatch it away, Miao Xiaoyu, after trying the perfume, stealthily hid the little bottle on her person.

To her surprise, her sisters seemed not to notice at all, eating quietly as if they had all been replaced!

It wasn’t until her husband pointed to a half-human-tall porcelain jar in the corner and told her it was filled with perfume that the little ones realized the bottle she had hidden was not quite so precious after all!

Still, when bedtime came, Miao Xiaoyu insisted that the big jar of perfume was hers alone!

“Don’t be ridiculous! With a jar that size, you could use it until you’re a grandmother!” Zhao Hengyi, adept at handling his wife, teased her with a remark that brought a blush to her cheeks. “These are just test batches, made with all sorts of petals mixed together. The scent is muddled, not anything special.”

“That’s not the point!” Even with her face flushed, Miao Xiaoyu insisted, “Scented powder is a woman’s domain. Everything for the women of this house is my decision!”

Zhao Hengyi shrugged and gave up arguing.

When better perfumes appeared, Miao Xiaoyu would naturally scorn these crude experiments.

But then, who should be entrusted with the secret of making perfume?

“Husband, there’s no need to worry,” she said. “As you described, making this new scented water involves many steps. We can split up the process, assign each part to reliable hands. In fact, we can ensure that those working on each step have no idea what they are really making!”

Indeed, with a wise wife at home, one avoids disaster—the ancients did not lie!

With a single task not troubling two masters, Zhao Hengyi decided to hand over the perfume business to Miao Xiaoyu, supplying only technical guidance himself.

At the thought that such a marvelous scented water would, under her supervision, soon flow endlessly into the world, Miao Xiaoyu, though tired from the day, found herself wide awake. She chattered with her husband deep into the night.

The next morning, Zhao Hengyi, sporting a pair of dark circles under his eyes, had no choice but to endure Sun Xiuying’s teasing smile as he headed to the blacksmith’s shop to discuss improvements to the distillation equipment with Zhang Daniu.