Chapter 42

With someone taking the lead, a few other curious students also stepped forward to accept the challenge. However, most of the students treated it as a joke, just watching for the fun of it. As a result, three more people joined Xu Qixian to go to his house. Xia Hongsheng secretly sneered, thinking, "These cowards didn't dare to come when they heard it was a bet of one string of coins, not a bit of curiosity!"

The group left the academy, and Xia Hongsheng pulled aside Xu Qixian's servant, Liu Qing, and whispered a few words to him. Liu Qing nodded and looked at Xu Qixian, who had already seen Xia Hongsheng talking to Liu Qing but didn't know what he said. Seeing Liu Qing's inquiring gaze, Xu Qixian nodded, thinking it was just a command from Junior Brother Xia, no different from his own. With the young master's approval, Liu Qing bowed to Xia Hongsheng and then ran off.

The other few people chatted and laughed as they walked to the Xu residence. Xia Hongsheng saw that these people had indeed followed, and while he inwardly criticized them for being idle, he also secretly smiled, thinking that the money for buying saltpeter at home was now secured, and he wouldn't have to spend his own money.

The night before, his sister-in-law had already started to worry. She said that while the scallion oil pancakes and other noodle dishes could be stored, the addition of mutton soup and braised pork meant that they couldn't cook so much raw meat at once, and the leftover cooked meat and soup bones wouldn't keep in the increasingly hot weather. If they didn't sell it all, it would go bad, which would be a real waste. The sister-in-law was so worried about this issue that she couldn't eat dinner, and she had tried to hide it from Xia Hongsheng to avoid troubling him. However, Xia Hongsheng noticed her worry and asked about it. When he heard, he laughed and said that a refrigerator would be great, but since they didn't have one, he could make one! As long as there was ice, it would be fine. Xia Hongsheng then reassured his sister-in-law, saying he could easily solve the problem and even add some cooling and refreshing items to her stall for the hot weather.

The method Xia Hongsheng thought of was, of course, the traditional method of making ice with saltpeter, which is still used in some remote rural areas in the modern world. Xia Hongsheng didn't know this at first, but he learned it from novels where the protagonists used saltpeter to make ice. One day, he mentioned it to an old man in the village near the school, who confirmed it was true and even demonstrated it for Xia Hongsheng, leaving him impressed by the wisdom of the ancients.

The instruction he gave to Liu Qing was to go to the market and buy "wall frost," which is saltpeter.

It didn't take long for the group to reach Xu Qixian's house. They first paid respects to Xu Qixian's father, which was a matter of etiquette that couldn't be overlooked. Upon hearing about their bet, Xu Qixian's father and uncle were also intrigued and decided to go along to see. Xia Hongsheng naturally led the way, while Xu Hui, who believed Xia Hongsheng was bluffing, was happy to let him be embarrassed and led the way with a smile.

The group arrived at the spot where the evaporation apparatus had been buried the previous day, and the lotus leaf was still there.

"Hehe, they say spilled water can't be retrieved, but once the water is poured out and absorbed into the soil, it can't be recovered. Today, I, Xia Hongsheng, refuse to believe this. I will retrieve the spilled water. Everyone, be my witness. This is the moment of witnessing a miracle... cough, cough!" Xia Hongsheng quickly stopped, thinking, "Damn, I'm used to bluffing in the modern world, and the words just slipped out."

Everyone stared at Xia Hongsheng, afraid he might do something tricky. Xia Hongsheng rolled up his sleeves and muttered, "By the command of Laozi, water come!"

He then pointed his fingers like a sword and thrust them into the air, patted his hands, squatted down, and brushed away the dust covering the lotus leaf. He gently lifted the leaf, and everyone rushed forward. They saw a pit in the soil with a large bowl inside, and in the bowl was a clear, fresh bowl of water!

Everyone was stunned. Xia Hongsheng smiled and lifted the bowl from the pit, took a big sip, and said, "Ha, it's sweet and refreshing, like drinking sweet dew! Would any of you like to try?"

"Heavens!..."

Suddenly, everyone erupted in shock, like water splashed into hot oil. Xu Hui's face turned as white as if it had been painted with lime, and her bright eyes became dull. The maids around her trembled, pointing at Xia Hongsheng and stammering, "Monster, monster!" Xu Qixian and the other students had the same reaction, their hands trembling, mouths agape, and eyes wide with disbelief and a strange kind of excitement. The entire corridor was in chaos, with people shouting and crying, some laughing, some rubbing their eyes in disbelief, some drooling, and even two people kneeling and kowtowing. "Damn, how scary!"

The two who shouted to become disciples quickly stopped, thinking, "At least we are academy students, can we have a bit of scholarly dignity?"

"This... this is really..." Xu Qixian's father and uncle looked at each other, speechless. They had already heard from Xu Hui that a basin of water was poured there yesterday, and Xia Hongsheng dug a pit and placed an empty bowl inside. Today, the bowl was full of water. Could it really be some kind of magic?

Xia Hongsheng handed the bowl to Xu Qixian, who took it, looked at the water, and mimicked Xia Hongsheng by taking a sip. He exclaimed, "It's really clear water!"

"Little girl, what do you think?" Xia Hongsheng flicked open his fan and said with a smile to Xu Hui.

"Hmph! You... you must have done something, did you come back and pour water into the bowl later?!" The little girl couldn't believe what she saw.

Xia Hongsheng laughed and rolled his eyes, "Hey, do you believe that yourself?"

The little girl bit her lip, turned her eyes, and said, "Hmph, what about making ice from the soil? If you can make ice from the soil, I'll be convinced!"

Xia Hongsheng knew this cunning little girl would try to back out, so he chuckled, snapped his fingers, and closed his fan with a click, shouting, "Liu Qing! Liu Qing, come here!"

"Hey! I'm coming!" The servant, excited by the crowd, responded loudly and ran over with a large bag, placing it in front of Xia Hongsheng. Xia Hongsheng opened the bag, poked around, and nodded in satisfaction, thanking Liu Qing for his hard work.

"Everyone, look, this is soil, right?" Xia Hongsheng deliberately opened the bag for everyone to see. They nodded, and one of the students even reached in to grab a handful, confirming it was ordinary soil.

"Please bring two copper basins, one as large as possible, and the other a regular one." Xia Hongsheng looked around and politely asked the two maids nearby.

"Go quickly!" Xu Qixian's father, intrigued, urged them. The two maids ran off and soon returned with two copper basins, one very large and the other much smaller.

Xia Hongsheng directed the filling of the two basins with water. The students, worried about any tricks, filled the basins themselves and placed them in front of Xia Hongsheng.

Xia Hongsheng lifted the smaller basin and placed it inside the larger one, then scooped out some water from the larger basin.

"Watch closely!" Xia Hongsheng said to the crowd, then lifted the bag and plunged it into the water, releasing the soil into the larger basin.

Immediately, the water in the larger basin began to react violently, bubbling and making loud popping sounds. Xia Hongsheng held the edge of the smaller basin to keep it stable and prevent the water from spilling. After a while, when the water calmed, he released the smaller basin, letting it float on the surface of the larger basin.

Soon, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, white ice patterns began to form on the surface of the larger basin. After a bit more time, the entire surface was covered in white ice, and the water in the smaller basin began to freeze into a clear block.

Xu Qixian looked around, then carefully touched the water in the smaller basin, gasping, "This... this is really ice! Junior Brother, how did you do it? In such hot weather, the water in the basin actually froze! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, who would believe it?!"

If the crowd had been shocked when Xia Hongsheng retrieved the spilled water, they were now speechless, their mouths agape, unable to make a sound as they watched the water freeze after he poured the bag of soil into the basin.

"Willing to lose, please bring the one string of coins tomorrow. I thank you all for your generosity!" Xia Hongsheng smiled and bowed to the students, who looked like they had lost a loved one, then lifted the small basin and turned to the stunned Xu Hui, saying arrogantly, "Little girl, go find some fruit, I'll make you some shaved ice, ha!"

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