Gu Jinli put away the invitation and said to Jiang Puzi, "Uncle Pu Zi, rest assured, we will definitely go tomorrow." The Jiang Family invited her, Gu Dashan, Third Grandpa, and Third Grandma together. After hearing this, Jiang Puzi laughed and said, "Alright, I’ll come to pick you all up tomorrow morning." He added, "It’s not far, just in Hukou Town. A ride on a mule cart will get us there in about two hours." The Soybean Oil Workshop wasn’t opened in Qingfu Town, nor in the county, but in Hukou Town. Hukou Town was close to both Qingfu Town and the county. Mrs. Jiang had a manor in Hukou Town; the manor was full of the Jiang Family’s servants, which made opening the Soybean Oil Workshop there both safe and convenient. After Jiang Puzi finished speaking, he cracked his whip and drove the mule cart away. That evening, Gu Jin’an came back and talked about his visit to the Soybean Oil Workshop with Scholar Shang the next day. "The teacher said that if one wants to be an official, one cannot just stick to the books; one must see new things. This soybean oil is a novelty that benefits the state and the people. And that wooden oil press machine, Uncle Ah Ji made it exceptionally well; he told me to go and open my eyes." Upon hearing this, Gu Jinli became interested. Considering Ah Ji’s unfathomable demeanor, she wondered if the wooden oil press machine he made was the same as the one she imagined? Early the next day, Jiang Puzi came to pick them up with a mule cart. Then, after meeting with Ah Jiu and the others at the entrance to Shang Family Village, the two mule carts dashed towards Hukou Town. An hour later, they arrived at a manor just outside of Hukou Town. The manor was quite large, resembling a small village, surrounded by a wall made of green bricks, with only one gate for entry and exit. There were two Protectors guarding the gate, and inspections were conducted upon entry—much like a small fortress. Ms. Jiang arrived with Yuanyuan and, seeing Gu Jinli and the others’ surprise, smiled and explained, "This place was the fortress of a scholarly family in the former dynasty. After Great Chu was established, that scholarly family fell, and the fortress changed owners several times. By the time my mother bought it, the original fortress had completely collapsed, leaving only this circle of green brick walls." In the previous dynasty, noble families could maintain private troops, and these fortresses were places to shelter the troops from military disasters. "Sister Xiao Yu, hug me~" Yuanyuan liked Gu Jinli very much and stretched out her arms for a hug when she saw her, also saying, "I want some tasty food." Gu Jinli laughed and asked her, "Do you want a hug, or do you want tasty food?" Yuanyuan frowned in thought and then said, "Want tasty." Well, that’s a little foodie. Third Grandma laughed and said, "Yuanyuan, Grandma Gu has brought you some tasty food, it’s marinated dishes and roast duck." The Gu Daya family was grateful for the Jiang Family’s help, and knowing they were visiting the Soybean Oil Workshop, they brought over all the marinated dishes and roast ducks they made today, amounting to three baskets of marinated dishes and ten roast ducks. "Tasty food?" Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up as she reached out to Third Grandma, "Hug~ Want tasty." Ms. Jiang’s face turned red, and she scolded Yuanyuan softly, "Are you starving at home? Why are you so greedy?" Scholar Shang, who wasn’t particular about formalities, lifted the mule cart cover, pulled off a roast duck leg, and gave it to Yuanyuan, "Eat up, little glutton." "Wow~ it’s a red duck leg." Yuanyuan had also eaten roast duck several times recently and was very fond of these red ducks, and she began to munch on the duck leg right away. Jiang Jiao had already come out to greet them and saw Yuanyuan eating the duck leg, teasing her, "You’ve got tiny millet teeth, can you even bite into it? Or should Second Uncle eat it for you?" "Second Uncle, greedy!" Yuanyuan, afraid that her own uncle would snatch it, quickly turned away, not looking at Jiang Jiao. Jiang Jiao laughed heartily and no longer teased her, turning to Gu Jinli, "Little Xiao Yu, everyone is waiting; come with me." "Okay." Gu Jinli nodded and followed Jiang Jiao to the Soybean Oil Workshop. The Soybean Oil Workshop was quite large, consisting of five rows of houses about five meters apart from each other, each house with three rooms, and each room quite spacious. Inside the room, the workers were pounding wooden rods forcefully with heavy mallets, the wood under great pressure to squeeze oil out of the pressed bean cakes. The soybean oil flowed like rainwater into the wooden troughs. Gu Jinli watched the falling soybean oil with slightly furrowed brows... Ah Ji had improved the wooden oil press, increasing the pressure on the press barrel, which allowed oil to be extracted quickly once hammered. "How is it? This wooden oil press isn’t bad, right?" Jiang Jiao asked with a smile, very satisfied with the wood oil press improved by Ah Ji: "Originally, it took six men to pull the mallet to extract oil, but after Ah Ji modified it twice, only two people are needed to do the same. Moreover, the extraction efficiency is high - twenty catties of soybeans can produce four and a half catties of oil, which is three taels more than what you produced." Jiang Jiao then had workers bring over a few jars of soybean oil, saying, "This is the soybean oil refined after Ah Ji’s improvements. Take a sniff." Gu Jinli smelled the three jars of soybean oil, frowning again: "These have been infused with Sichuan peppercorns and sesame seeds, and this jar of soybean oil even had lard added into it during the cooking process." "Haha, Little Xiao Yu, your nose is indeed sharp, that’s exactly right. The oil fried with Sichuan peppercorns and sesame is more fragrant, and the method was also thought up by Ah Ji. Not bad, right?" Gu Jinli paused, then said, "Uncle Ah Ji is very smart." "You’re not dumb either." Dressed in a sky-blue long robe, Ah Ji stepped into the room, asking Gu Jinli, "So, are there any areas that need further improvement in the Soybean Oil Workshop?" Gu Jinli answered, "There is one. Great Chu has many Daoist temples and shrines, as well as numerous wealthy families and old ladies who are vegetarians. The Soybean Oil Workshop must retain some pure soybean oil with nothing added to it, so that it can be sold to those who practice asceticism or are vegetarian." She continued, "If the two uncles wish to expand the soybean oil business quickly, it would be best to deliver some soybean oil to the Daoist temples and shrines. In this way, the common folks who visit these places will get to know about soybean oil and will be more inclined to buy it." "Haha, we were just worrying about how to get the people of Great Chu to accept soybean oil, and here you are giving us suggestions. Truly smart." Jiang Jiao clapped and praised, then said to Ah Ji, "Ah Ji, you were right to have us invite Little Xiao Yu over to see the workshop. Look, the girl has been such a great help to us since she came." Ah Ji’s face darkened slightly. He had Jiang Jiao invite Gu Jinli to the workshop to let her see the achievements there, to make her understand that she wasn’t the only smart person in the world, that he, Ning Ji, could also create new and innovative things. But unexpectedly, she had outdone him again. Quickly, Ah Ji put on a smiling face and followed with a compliment to Gu Jinli. Unfortunately, Gu Jinli had already seen his previous expression. She was puzzled, wondering why Ah Ji would have Second Uncle Jiang invite her to the workshop? Her puzzlement didn’t last long. After she finished lunch and was playing in the manor with Yuanyuan in her arms, Ah Ji arrived. He didn’t bother to hide his thoughts and directly asked her a question: "Do you know that people hold views on social status? Especially noble families, which care a great deal about matching marriages within one’s social rank. If someone forcefully breaks through these social norms to marry someone they should not, the consequences can be very severe." Gu Jinli listened, confused, and asked, "Uncle Ah Ji, are you sick?" He must be seriously ill; otherwise, why would he be asking her such a nonsensical question? What matching marriages within one’s social rank, she was so young, and he was bringing this up with her. And what’s more, was it his place to say? He wasn’t her father!