Diana was pretty confident in herself after everything new that Zach had taught her. Even Zach had begun to trust her completely because she was able to get used to his methods faster than anyone he had ever seen.
"Ok…after purification heat it all up. Heat it until there is no water left and only solid crystals are left behind. Then leave the crystals to dry up for a while and then bring them here. I will let you see how incredible they taste."
Diana was colored in his excitement and Bruce grew hopeful as well.
Zach handed her few of the tools and experimental equipment that she might need to carry out the experiment. Due to their previous lessons, Diana was already aware of some of the methods. She just familiarized herself with the new apparatus that Zach prepared for her and did what she was told based on the method Zach described to her.
She religiously followed each order until she was able to produce a crystalline structure as the end product. The crystals were not as separate as Zach had previously enunciated.
After a suffering failures a few times and refining the practical process a few times, Diana deduced that the reason for her failure was due to the impurity of the extracted juice.
She filtered the collected juice more than three times before finally obtaining the first crude result. It gave her hope that Zach was really telling the truth. The juice really did solidify into crystals upon being heated so much.
A small amount of sugar was produced after a few days of work. Diana had to put in a lot of work these days in order to not let down Zach's expectations of her.
Bruce had come over to see the progress of the experiment a few times and was holding on to the same belief that Zach wouldn't lie to them.
The moment she managed to extract the transparent white crystals from the heating dish, she felt exhilarated from the joy of success and the fulfillment of all her hard work.
She called Zach over to show him the results.
Bruce tagged along with Zach as well.
Zach picked up a few crystals and put them in the palm of both Diana and Bruce.
"Since you have worked hard, I will let you taste it as well." said Zach to Diana with a smile on his face.
"And you should give me an honest opinion about the business proposal we talked about earlier."
Zach was focused on Bruce this time as he asked seriously.
Diana didn't waste a single second once she knew that it was a good thing.
She brought her palm to her mouth and threw the few crystals into her mouth.
The sweetness spread from the tip of her tongue and filled all her mouth. The more she sucked on the crystals the sweeter the taste became. She couldn't believe that there was something sweeter than honey and she had made it with her own hands.
Diana was clinging on to Zach as if he was the source of the sweet taste in her mouth. Zach tried to get rid of her at the first instance but the girl was inseparable from his body. It was like an octopus was making use of all its tentacles to stick to his body.
Bruce on the other hand didn't appear to be as excited as Diana. It was either that he didn't think the sugar had much business potential or that he was capable of shielding his true emotions from leaking on to his face.
Either way, the truth was that he had already somewhat expected the result ever since Zach told him about it. Therefore, the surprising taste of the sugar didn't affect him as much as Diana.
"You have already proven that the thing you call sugar can be produced from this sugar cane. What do you intend to do next? Do you have a plan regarding the promotion of the product and the investment?" asked Bruce once he was sure that the business proposal that Zach had previously proposed was in fact quite feasible.
…
These days Bruce had been working hard to develop the perfect way to handle the sugar production business that Zach had pioneered.
Although Zach had shown him the path and was the person responsible for the business, he didn't seem as interested in the project. Instead Zach was pouring his heart into the construction on Greenland. The sugar project was therefore being spearheaded by Bruce who was overly passionate about it. He was busily making plans in order to attract proposals so as to build a basic foundation for the Smith family in Byzantium city.
Zach had in fact not been interested in the production of sugar from the very beginning. The only reason he was so passionate about the production of sugar was so that he could drink sweet coffee instead of the one explosively spicy or the dark bitter coffee that the people here were used to. They not only drank the terrorist coffee but also drank it with relish like it was a national delicacy that was hard to come by.
Just when Bruce was about to go out to attract investments, he decided to ask for Zach's opinion regarding it.
"I am thinking of asking the Windsor family to invest in this project. This way we can also pay them back for the favor of letting us stay here. Even our servants can tell that this business is going to be a success so the Windsor family should be able to profit from it. What do you think? Would the old leader of the family agree to invest?"
"How would I know if that old master would be willing to invest in your project or not?"
"You know the Windsor family better than I do. You must have some idea as to what the old master's attitude towards this might be."
Zach made a disgruntled face as if he couldn't understand what Bruce was trying to get at.
If by being close he meant the fake relationship he had with Clara, then Zach felt like Bruce needed to be taught a lesson.
"Bruce, what if I ask you to hand over the sugar production business to the Windsor family? Would you agree?"
Bruce's pupils quaked as he felt uncomfortable on the inside. He had worked hard on the project and there were several ideas in his head that he wanted to implement for the marketing of their product but Zach just asked him to let it all go. If he had an option, he would definitely be unwilling to give such a big and juicy fruit basket to the Windsor family without any remuneration.
Zach felt Bruce's hesitation as he shifted his gaze to Diana in order to seek an objective opinion on the matter.
Bruce too was hopeful that Diana would support him in this matter. Unlike how she looked, Diana wasn't one to suffer a loss when she wanted to do something. Therefore, Bruce was sure that she would support his decision instead of Zach's that was emotionally biased.
But he had no choice but to be disappointed when his sister sang a totally different tune from the one he had been expecting. She offered her complete support and all her faith to Zach and didn't spare a single thought for her brother's feelings.
Since her faith in Zach was close to blind, she didn't doubt a single decision that he made. She not only maintained her calm demeanor as her brother panicked but she also felt confident that Zach wouldn't disappoint her even if the decision seemed arbitrary or harmful to the Smith family at the first glance.
Bruce didn't have the guts to openly resist Zach's decision. The former didn't want to offend the latter because the survival of the Smith family was heavily dependent on the Zach's continued support and assistance.
Despite the possibility that Zach might mind his nosiness, Bruce gathered his courage and asked, "Why would you do such a thing? This is such a huge opportunity for us to develop in this city and you want to give this opportunity to the Windsor family. I don't have the intention to stop you if you intend to do that but I am entitled to an explanation at the very least as to why you are doing this; don't you think?"
Zach considered his question for a few moments before nodding thoughtfully as if judging it to be logically correct. But the very next second he burst into a smile and replied, "Our Smith family can't be tied down by such a small project. We have greater things to do. We can't waste our time working on such trivialities that won't even matter in the long run. Why do you want to look at the shit on the ground when the heavens are raining rainbows and sunshine?"
Bruce finally let out the breath he had been holding in his chest for fear that Zach would mind his questioning. Thankfully, Zach didn't feel offended and even stated his reasons for the decision.
For the first time since they had left Elizabeth city, Bruce felt excited to the core. He could feel Zach's intentions for the development of the Smith family.
Although Bruce could build a huge business empire if he wanted to by using the sugar production business model and stretching it across the empire, Zach thought that Bruce was still thinking too small. The things he had in mind for the Smith family were far greater than this.
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