The effect was still quite good. At this moment, Li Wanqing was hugging Ye Ming and crying.
“I knew it, my third child is smart. You’ve really grown up now, you understand what’s right and wrong, you can even think for your mother.” Li Wanqing said while crying.
Ye Ming raised his hand to wipe away Li Wanqing’s tears and said, “Mother, I’ve grown up, you should be happy.”
Now Ye Ming had completely integrated into the original body. Having a mother who loved him so much, he felt very happy. The word “mother” also came out naturally, with emotion.
“Mother isn’t crying, mother is just happy.” Li Wanqing wiped away her tears and said with a smile.
“Then Mother, shall we go back?” Ye Ming said.
“Alright, let’s go home.” Li Wanqing took Ye Ming’s hand, and they walked out together.
“Mother, what about this place?” Ye Ming asked while supporting Li Wanqing as they walked.
“Hmph… you bunch of charlatans, Father will deal with them. We don’t need to worry about it.” Li Wanqing looked back at the temple and said fiercely. These charlatans actually dared to trick her; if she didn’t teach them a lesson, she wouldn't be able to vent her anger.
“Alright, Mother, let’s get in the carriage.” Ye Ming knew this temple was finished. It had offended royalty, so what good could come of it?
“Third child, why don’t I ask your uncle to arrange for you to study at the Imperial Academy? After a few years, your uncle can help you get an official position.” In the carriage, Li Wanqing quickly forgot about the temple. A small temple wasn’t worth her remembering. Now that she saw Ye Ming had returned to the right path, she wanted him to study again.
“Mother, how old am I? I’d be studying with a bunch of kids. Besides, I can’t focus. I just want to sleep whenever I see books.”
Look at what power is. Some people study hard for ten years and might not even secure an official post, but in his mother’s words, it was just a matter of asking. He was also certain that the official position his mother mentioned would not be a small one.
However, he still refused. He had studied for nearly ten years in his past life; if he studied any longer, he would probably turn into a bookworm.
“Fine, if you don’t want to, you don’t want to. What do you want to do in the future then?” Seeing Ye Ming’s resistant look, Li Wanqing didn’t dare to force him too much. If he reverted to his old ways, it wouldn’t be worth it.
“Mother, I want to do business. I think making money is pretty good,” Ye Ming said with a grin after thinking for a moment.
“You want to be a merchant? Learn to do business? Can you do it?” Li Wanqing frowned, her face showing doubt and distrust.
“Mother, I want to try. If it doesn’t work out, we can talk about it then. Anyway, I don’t want to be like Father, waking up so early every day to attend court. That’s too tiring.” Through the original body’s memories, Ye Ming knew that the time officials attended court was similar to ancient times in his previous life, having to wake up at four or five in the morning. For someone who had transmigrated, this was worse than killing him. In his past life, he sometimes only just fell asleep at four or five in the morning; how could he possibly get up?
“Alright, then try it first. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll have your uncle give you an official position. You mustn’t refuse then.” Li Wanqing knew she couldn’t persuade Ye Ming, so she started negotiating.
“I promise you, if I can’t make money, I will listen to you and honestly become an official.” Ye Ming also knew this was the final condition. If he didn’t agree, he probably wouldn’t be able to do anything in the end.
“Okay, then it’s settled. You mustn’t go back on your word.”
“I know, Mother.”
After settling this matter, Li Wanqing and Ye Ming chatted a lot on the way. Most of the time, Li Wanqing was talking about his childhood. Ye Ming would chime in with a few words if the original body’s memory had them; if not, he would just respond with “mm-hmm” or “uh-huh” to get by.
Unconsciously, they had already reached the entrance of their home. Ye Ming helped Li Wanqing down from the carriage, and then they entered the house together.
Li Wanqing went into the house and, after telling Ye Ming to go back to his room, started busying herself preparing Ye Ming’s favorite dishes, saying it was a celebration.
Watching Li Wanqing’s busy figure, Ye Ming felt a surge of warmth in his heart. At this moment, he truly felt the warmth of home and his determination to work hard to give his family a better life grew stronger. Even though he didn’t know what a better life looked like.
After Ye Ming returned to his own courtyard, he began to plan his future life. Since he had decided on business, he had to plan it well. He went back into his room, took out paper and pen, and started thinking.
Since he was going to do business, he should create some things unique to this era. After all, monopolies were the most profitable. Therefore, the first step was to thoroughly understand his family’s land and shops. After understanding the specific situation, he could start creating some small inventions.
For example, soap? Many transmigrators’ first pot of gold came from soap. If he were to make soap, he would need alkali. Alkali could be extracted from plant ash, but it was too troublesome. Then he thought of Yuanjue, whom Li Wanqing had captured today. He must have gotten some alkali, which was why he could stir up such a scene today.
So, he had to go find him again tomorrow and find a way to get him to reveal how he obtained the alkali. Once he had alkali, there would be so many things he could do. Almost all industrial products were inseparable from the Three Acids and Two Alkalis. The three acids were sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and nitric acid. He wouldn’t think about these three for now; they were too difficult to obtain, and he would deal with them later.
Alkali refers to sodium hydroxide, commonly known as caustic soda, which is a strong alkali. There is also sodium carbonate, commonly known as soda ash and baking soda. Although it is a salt and not an alkali, its aqueous solution is alkaline and has important uses in the chemical industry.
He guessed that the monk Yuanjue had gotten soda ash. It was unlikely that strong alkali could be produced in this era.
Since that was the case, it was decided. He would start with the simplest, soap, to test the waters and see how it went.
Then he recalled the materials needed to make soap: alkali, lard, and lime. With these few ingredients, it should be enough.
“Young master, it’s time to eat.” Just as Ye Ming finished writing, Li Tianbao’s voice came from outside.
Ye Ming put down his pen, looked at the sky, and it was already evening. He didn’t expect to have sat there for the entire afternoon.
He stood up and stretched lazily, saying, “I know. Go tell Mother I’ll be right there.”
“Yes, young master.” After Ye Ming finished speaking, he organized the things he had written that afternoon. There wasn’t much content, but he used quite a bit of paper. In his previous life, he had never learned calligraphy, so he couldn’t write small characters. His handwriting was large and bold, so the not-so-much content took up many sheets of paper.