CHAPTER 67: CHAPTER 67: THE FAMILY ISN’T STRONG ENOUGH YET

Upon hearing Lin Mengbo’s words, Lin Wanwan smiled and said, "That’s because you didn’t extract the impurities inside. It’s actually quite simple. I’ll tell you carefully how to extract salt from seawater when I’m done with class this afternoon."

Lin Mengbo hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, no, you shouldn’t say. Such a secret recipe isn’t meant for a countryside fisherman like me to hear."

After pausing for a moment, he couldn’t help but ask, "Wanwan, can you really turn seawater into salt?"

Lin Wanwan replied, "Why would I lie to you? It’s not boiled, it’s sun-dried."

Upon hearing this, Lin Mengbo didn’t waste a moment and ran outside, saying as he went, "I’m going to find the Clan Leader Uncle."

By the time Lin Mengbo dragged the gasping Lin Clan Leader to Lin Wanwan’s house, she had already gone to the front yard to teach the children today’s afternoon class.

The Lin Clan Leader’s face was full of excitement, wanting to speak but not knowing how to, pacing around at the entrance of Lin Wanwan’s kitchen for quite a while before gradually calming down.

"No, this isn’t something our small Lin Family Manor can control," the Lin Clan Leader thought of the times of war chaos in former years and suddenly felt timid.

Salt involves too many interests, definitely not something we rural folks can touch. If the Gate Valve big families covet it, our Hou Tao Lin Clan would probably be devoured until nothing but bones remain.

The Direct Lineage of Hou Tao Lin Clan perished due to having too much wealth and insufficient strength, and now only forty-two households remain in the branch. How could we dare get involved in such matters?

The calm Lin Clan Leader stood blankly for a while, then slammed a palm on Lin Mengbo’s arm, saying heavily, "Let’s go, pretend you didn’t hear anything today."

Lin Mengbo’s face reddened with urgency, "Why, Clan Leader? It’s salt, it’s fine salt! Wanwan is also part of our Lin Clan."

The Lin Clan Leader shook his head, "You don’t understand. Without power, we can’t touch this thing, it would bring disaster."

This statement was like a basin of cold water poured over Lin Mengbo, chilling him to the bone. He said dispiritedly, "I understand, Clan Leader Uncle."

When the two walked out the west side door, their backs seemed to have bent a lot.

Yun Shang, who was doing embroidery under the eaves, curiously glanced at the two but said nothing, while Hua Nong quietly said to her, "Why is Lin Clan Leader sometimes happy, sometimes downcast?"

Yun Shang said, "Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask, don’t see what you shouldn’t see, just do our own work."

Hua Nong obediently said, "Oh."

By the time Lin Wanwan finished her class and went next door to find Lin Mengbo, he had already gone to the fields, leaving only Qin at home "clicking and clicking" weaving cloth.

After the onset of winter, some cold-resistant cabbage (which is modern-day Chinese cabbage) can still be planted in the fields, but the yield is very low. Apart from planting some unheard-of, unseen new vegetables with Lin Wanwan, the Lin Clan couldn’t do without cabbages, which can still be traded for some money in town after harvest in winter.

Lin Wanwan thought saying she’d make sun-dried salt would have excited Lin Mengbo to lose interest in work! Yet he went calmly to the fields, which was unexpected.

When Lin Wanwan found the Lin Clan Leader and was about to bring up the salt matter, he interrupted her, "Wanwan, the interests in salt are too great. It’s not something our poor Hou Tao Lin Clan can deal with."

Lin Wanwan didn’t expect the Lin Clan Leader to say this, so cautious. If she were to speak further about making soap, glass, etc., it might scare people to death.

Yet upon further thought, she realized the Lin Clan Leader had a point.

Lin Wanwan, after all, was modern, never having truly experienced war and pillaging, helpless pleas, official collusion, without fear of the nobility.

But the Lin Clan Leader, who led the clan through tumultuous times, naturally had his wisdom in handling affairs—even having fought in wars himself.

During the Sui-Tang era, the poor couldn’t go to war. At least one needed their own weapons to go. That is to say, even in the late Sui, Lin’s branches weren’t as impoverished as now. But one war brought further poverty to Hou Tao Lin Clan.

Lin Wanwan suddenly thought of something else. Maybe the Lin Clan split back then not to keep all the eggs in one basket. Otherwise, why would the Direct Lineage abandon the ancestral home? Surely understand being wealthy made it harder to escape war.

She laughed and said, "Clan Leader Uncle, I get it. We’ll just use the salt ourselves after making it, not selling contraband salt outside, ok?"

"No, Wanwan, you must either never bring it out or ensure no one can take it. There’s no wall in the world without chinks we lack the grounds."

Lin Wanwan fell silent, wondering if she should develop some influence. Modern weapons weren’t available, but the ratio for black gunpowder was easily found.

"Clan Leader Uncle, don’t worry. I’ll think of a solution."

He looked at Lin Wanwan and pondered, "You are different, learned a lot, know much, but beware wicked hearts."

Saying farewell to the Lin Clan Leader, Lin Wanwan already had an idea. Since Hou Tao Lin Clan couldn’t handle it, she would seek those who could.

In public, Xiao Chong’s Lanling Xiao Clan Qi-Liang lineage was quite prestigious; privately, Lin Wanwan had saved Xiao Chong’s life, and he generously gifted her an Ancient Zither and jade, plus a painting now. To repay him with salt-making knowledge, it was definitely worth enough.

Though distantly related as cousins, if interests were enough, why fear estrangement?

Lin Wanwan drew a diagram with a pencil, then took the drawing to Third Uncle and requested several sealed-edge wooden boards.

Third Uncle’s family was particularly grateful to Lin Wanwan for sheltering them during the typhoon and helping with building a house afterwards. This time Lin Wanwan came to ask for help, and he naturally agreed wholeheartedly, treating it as his priority.

Third Uncle’s father-in-law had once been a state-employed old craftsman, classified as a craftsman household.

Since the old craftsman had only one daughter, he also taught his son-in-law some woodworking skills. Nearby, when poor folks needed furniture, they would mostly seek Third Uncle for help, usually offering some edibles as payment rather than work wages.

In his youth, Third Uncle primarily engaged in fishing at sea. Now, older, unable to battle big fish and the sea, he stayed home, doing some woodworking to supplement the family income.

Of course, to avoid becoming a lowly craftsman household, he never expanded his business, casual about his woodworking, mostly doing small jobs within ten miles.

In Lin Wanwan’s view, if Third Uncle had boldly become a craftsman, he could earn a living from the state. The family could have built a house of oyster shell stone long ago.

Yet in this vile feudal society, craftsmen’s status was so low, ranked below farmers. If Third Uncle truly chose this, he might have been expelled from the clan long ago.

All along, the Hou Tao Lin Clan’s branch considered itself gentry. How could they lower themselves, tolerate clan members as craftsman households?

Once classified as a craftsman household, it’s a generational dead end. Sons and their sons all must be craftsmen. Class rigidity is this cruel! Unless one avoids having sons, leaving no descendants, like Third Uncle’s father-in-law.