The poor little girl who traveled through the book, her father was lazy, her mother was stingy, and

At this time, Lin Xiaoman only wanted to study soap for her own use. After all, she had only heard of saponification reaction and had never made soap by herself.

Instead, Lin Dajiang secretly bought a box of rouge and hid it.

Lin Xiaoman saw it but pretended not to see it, while Lin Dahai was so dazzled that he didn't know what to look at.

After that, they went to the jewelry store, and Lin Xiaoman suddenly became energetic.

Baohezhai is the largest jewelry shop in the county, with two floors. The first floor mainly sells gold and silver earrings and hairpins. There is a carved screen in the corridor leading to the second floor. I guess the wives and daughters of officials are frequent visitors to the second floor of Baohezhai.

Lin Xiaoman took a fancy to a gold hairpin with an orchid pattern, and happened to have a set of orchid earrings.

"Father, come and take a look at this orchid hairpin."

Lin Dajiang thought Xiaoman had taken a fancy to it, "It looks good. Dad will buy it for you. Your mom told me before we left that you can buy whatever you like."

"Dad, I'm only fourteen, why should I wear a gold hairpin? I want to buy one for Mom."

The waiter nearby saw that the three people were dressed in ordinary clothes and thought that they must be from some remote village. They would definitely not buy such an expensive gold hairpin, so he didn't bother to try to persuade them.

"Young man, take out this gold hairpin and let me see it." Lin Xiaoman liked it more and more the more he looked at it.

This gold hairpin is elegant in style, and it won’t be too conspicuous when my mother wears it outside on a daily basis.

"This is pure gold, are you sure you want to see it?" Not only Lin Xiaoman, but even the usually slow-witted Lin Dahai could sense the waiter's contemptuous look.

He spoke awkwardly, "How can you talk like that!"

Lin Dajiang was used to seeing such a snobbish waiter, so he said in a deep voice, "Why, Baohezhai is open but not doing business?"

The waiter was shocked. In the past, some country people who came to the city would be so ignorant as to want to see jewelry, but after hearing what he said, they would shrink back and refuse to look.

The three in front of me are obviously different.

"Sir, I'm just giving you a kind reminder." The waiter was used to reading people's expressions, and when he saw that Lin Dajiang and the others were not afraid, he felt a little puzzled.

But after all, the tone of his speech improved a lot.

Lin Xiaoman was too lazy to haggle with the waiter and just asked the price directly.

The waiter said proudly: "This orchid gold hairpin is not cheap, I'm afraid the young lady can't afford it."

Looking down on others again and again, Lin Xiaoman's stubborn temper was brought out.

"Young man, are you deaf or hard of hearing? Just tell me the price when I ask you. It's just a waste of time to talk about irrelevant things."

Lin Xiaoman deliberately raised her voice, alarming the customers around who were looking at jewelry.

The waiter was now scared, and the shopkeeper was already glaring at him.

"My dear, this orchid gold hairpin costs sixty taels."

After the waiter told the price, he looked up with a frown, and he was sure that the young lady would be shocked by the price of the gold hairpin.

Sure enough, one of the middle-aged men was dumbfounded when he heard the price.

Unexpectedly, the young lady said nothing, and looked at the hairpin carefully, "Young man, we are sincere in buying it, so you have to give us a real price."

"My dear lady, our Baohezhai is a century-old shop. We only quote real prices when we are open for business. If you don't believe me, just ask other customers." The waiter was already muttering in his mind, if you can't afford it, then don't afford it, why show off.

"Then add this pair of orchid earrings and do the math again."

Now it was the waiter's turn to be dumbfounded. "This pair of orchid earrings costs ten taels of silver, a total of seventy taels."

"Sixty-eight taels. I want it."

"Young lady, we are doing business here, not peddlers at the village entrance. How can you bargain like that?" The waiter refused to give in no matter what.

Lin Xiaoman really likes this gold orchid hairpin. It will look beautiful on her mother.

"Sixty-eight taels, everything goes smoothly, money comes from all directions, everyone wishes for good luck."

The waiter wanted to say something more, but was stopped by the shopkeeper, "Young lady, you are very eloquent! But we at Baohezhai have never made an exception. Why don't you give the young lady an eight-treasure Ruyi silver hairpin, so that we can wish each other good luck."

Seeing that his niece really wanted to buy a hairpin, Lin Dahai hurriedly pulled Lin Dajiang aside and asked, "Brother, you really let Xiaoman sell the hairpin? It's too expensive!"

Lin Dajiang was not surprised, as Xiaoman had no less petty cash than them.

The Lin'an tabloid earned more than one hundred taels a month, enough to buy a gold hairpin.

"Da Hai, you don't know that the preserved eggs and Chinese sausages in our house are all from Xiao Man's idea. If it weren't for her, your brother and I would still be working hard on the farm!"

The Lin'an tabloids cannot reveal it, but it doesn't matter about the preserved eggs and sausages, because almost everyone close to them knows about it anyway.

Lin Dahai did not doubt him and nodded, "That's right. When Xiaoman was born, didn't the elders in the village say that she was blessed?"

"So, it's not easy to come to the county town. Xiaoman can buy whatever you want. Besides, the gold hairpin was given to your sister-in-law by Xiaoman."

Lin Dahai nodded quickly, "Xiaoman is such a filial child."

"You're not going to buy some jewelry for your sister-in-law?"

"Brother, I won't buy it. Don't you know my current situation? Chunxiu gave all the money saved in the family to my mother-in-law. Now the family has finally saved some money. That is for Lichun to marry a wife. You can't touch it!"

While the two were talking, Lin Xiaoman had already paid the money and watched the shopkeeper pack up the things.

Lin Xiaoman bought the gold hairpin she wanted, humming an unknown tune, "Dad, let's go."

"Xiao Man, your mother will be so happy when you get home."

-

It was already dark when the three of them rushed back to Shanglin Village.

Lin Dajiang first went to the old house to tell his parents the news about Lin Dahe, and listened to Old Lady Lin's chatter for a while before going home.

As soon as Lin Dajiang drove his carriage into the village, Goudan ran to the end of the village to report the news. When Lin Dajiang and Lin Xiaoman got home, they were just about to eat hot shredded pork noodles with an egg on top.

"Mother, your cooking is the best!"

"You little rascal, you're probably enjoying yourself out there, aren't you? How can you have time to think about the food I cook?"

"How could that be? Daddy is my witness."

Lin Dajiang chuckled, "Xiaoman is telling the truth. The food outside is not as delicious as yours. It's always a little lacking."

When they went out, the father and daughter's mouths were as sweet as honey.

Lin Xiaoman took out the gold hairpin and earrings and said, "Mom, I'll put them on for you."

The orchid gold hairpin was so dazzling under the oil lamp that the orchid carved on it was so lifelike that it looked just like the real thing.

"Xiao Man, why did you buy a gold hairpin? This... this must have cost a lot of money, right?"

"Mom, don't worry about the silver. Come, I'll put it on you." Lin Xiaoman helped Li Taohua sit down, took off the hollow silver hairpin with apricot blossom on her head, and replaced it with a gold hairpin.

Li Taohua looked at the silver hairpin in her hand with mixed feelings, and said touchedly: "Xiaoman, this hollow apricot flower silver hairpin was also bought by you. It is the first silver hairpin I wear."

"Mom, now you are the first lady in the village to wear a gold hairpin." Lin Xiaoman teased.

Li Taohua smiled from ear to ear and looked left and right in the bronze mirror. No matter how she looked at herself, she looked more and more beautiful.

She touched the orchid on the golden hairpin, and couldn't let it go, saying: "Master, I am only this old, but I can also receive filial piety from my daughter."

"Xiaoman, you really are making a fool of myself as your father!" Lin Dajiang pretended to be angry.

"Dad, didn't you buy something for Mom too? Why don't you take it out?"

Lin Dajiang, who had secretly bought the rouge, originally planned to give it to her secretly, but when Lin Xiaoman said it out loud, he felt embarrassed and stammered, "Wait a minute, the things are all in the back room, and they haven't been sorted out yet!"

"Oh~" Lin Xiaoman smiled, "Mom, Dad wants you to put on rouge and only show it to him."

"Xiaoman!" Lin Dajiang was quite helpless. He really had no way to deal with his daughter.

"Haha, forget it, forget it. I also brought some goodies for Guyu and Lidong. Come on, I'll show you around."

Lin Xiaoman took a little kid by the hand and walked towards the wing room. When she was almost at the door, she turned around and blinked at Lin Dajiang.

Before Lin Dajiang could scold him, he pulled the two children into the house.

Lin Xiaoman took out two pairs of flowers, "Guyu, this one is a butterfly, and this one is a peach blossom."

"Sister, it looks so good, help me tie it on."

Li Dong leaned next to Lin Xiao Man and said enviously, "Sister, I want a butterfly too."

Guyu groaned, "Lidong, you are a boy, you can't wear a hair flower."

Lin Xiaoman took out a bamboo dragonfly and a Kongming lock, "Lidong, sister bought these for you, do you like them?"

"Sister, what is this?"

"This is a bamboo dragonfly. Come, I'll teach you."

The bamboo dragonfly turned in Lin Xiaoman's palm and flew out immediately.

"Lidong, is it fun?"

"It's fun." Lidong was eager to try it out. He took the bamboo dragonfly and placed it in his palm. He imitated his elder sister's movements, and the bamboo dragonfly turned in his palm and flew out with a whoosh.

But he was not strong enough to fly high, so he fell soon.

But Lidong is still very happy.

Now it was Guyu's turn to be envious. He looked at Lidong and shouted.

Lin Xiaoman braided Guyu's hair, tied a butterfly headband on it, and then like a magic trick, she took out an identical bamboo dragonfly from behind her and said, "Go play with Lidong."

"Wow! Thank you, sis."

Guyu was overjoyed. He took the bamboo dragonfly and couldn't wait to try it out.

"Lidong, let's compete to see whose bamboo dragonfly flies higher."

Li Dong was unhappy, "You are stronger than me, it's not fair, I won't compete."

Lin Xiaoman sat on the bed and watched the two children bickering. She smiled and said, "Don't bicker, or I won't bring any toys back next time."

"Okay, sister, I won't compete with Lidong. I'll compete with Goudan and the others tomorrow."

If it wasn't dark at night, Lin Guyu would have wanted to go out and call Miaomiao, Goudan and the others to have a bamboo dragonfly race, which would be so exciting!

Lin Guyu sat next to Lin Xiaoman, holding her hand and acting coquettishly, "Sister, you are so nice to me. I want to sleep with you tonight."

Lidong was unhappy, "I want to sleep with my sister too."

Lin Guyu refused: "No, you are a boy, you can't sleep with us."

"Sister..." Li Dong blinked his big black eyes and looked at Lin Xiaoman pitifully, "Sister, I want to sleep in your room tonight, too."

"Okay, I'll sleep with these two little piglets tonight!"

Lin Xiaoman carried Lidong to bed, went to the kitchen to fetch some water, wiped the faces and feet of the two children, and threw them into the quilt.

"Sister's quilt is so soft." Lin Guyu shouted to Lidong.

Lin Lidong was not to be outdone, "Sister's quilt smells really good."

Lin Guyu: "Sister's bed is so warm."

Lin Lidong: "Sister's pillow is beautiful."

......

Lin Xiaoman, who had just returned from fetching water, saw the two men starting to talk nonsense again, and silently took out a quilt from the cupboard.

"Two little piglets, go to sleep quickly. Don't roll around at night. My bed is small."

Fortunately, one side of the bed was against the wall, so Lin Xiaoman hung a layer of soft cushion stuffed with cotton on the wall, so Guyu wouldn't feel cold when sleeping against the wall.

Perhaps they were tired from playing, and the two little ones soon fell into a deep sleep.

The speed of falling asleep is really enviable.

After waiting for a while and seeing that the two kids were already fast asleep, Lin Xiaoman went into the space and took a comfortable bath.

When she came out of the space and looked out through the window of the wing room, she found that the oil lamp in the main room had gone out.

-

The next day.

Lin Xiaoman has nothing to do so she decides to research soap making.

The alkaline water and oil are heated and mixed, and through continuous stirring, a saponification reaction occurs to form soap.

She once watched several soap-making videos shot by handmade soap bloggers. The made soap needs to be kept in a ventilated place for three to four months.

As for the ratio of lye water to oil, she didn't care at all.

Since baking soda is needed to make preserved eggs, there is plenty of rice straw at home.

Lin Xiaoman can make alkaline water with her eyes closed.

It’s too familiar. Last year, I made alkaline water many times to make soda ash, heating and burning it in pots to make soda ash.

She started again with the same steps.

Li Taohua passed by and said, "Hey, Xiaoman, we still have enough baking soda at home, why did you start making it again? Before we went to the county town, didn't you say that the weather was getting hot and the preserved eggs would go bad easily, and you were going to stop in May?"

"Mom, I don't want to make baking soda. I want to make something else."

Li Taohua thought, Xiaoman was starting to make trouble again.

I wonder what good things she can come up with this time.

Lin Xiaoman saw that Li Taohua was still wearing the same silver hairpin with hollowed-out apricot blossoms on her head, "Mom, why aren't you wearing the gold hairpin I gave you yesterday?"

"You silly child, it's not a festival, wearing a gold hairpin will be too ostentatious. The gossipy women in the village will gossip about you again." Li Taohua said with a smile.

"Mom, hairpins are bought to be worn. Next time I go to the county, I will bring you another jade and gold hairpin."

Li Taohua was so happy that she couldn't stop smiling, but she said, "Xiao Man, don't buy it. Jade is only worn by wives of officials. We have to work on weekdays. It will be troublesome if the jade is damaged by knocks and bumps."

Lin Xiaoman rolled her eyes and said teasingly, "Mom, if you encourage your brother to study every day, even if you can't become an official's wife, you can definitely become the mother of a Shangguan master one day!"

Li Taohua didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"You kid, you'll laugh at us when you find out later."

......

Lin Xiaoman spent the whole morning making lye water and boiling lard.

I also used a mortar and pestle to grind last year's dried osmanthus flowers into osmanthus powder, and planned to add it to the soap to increase the fragrance.

The mold is a hollow bamboo tube. Lin Lichun is deft and he helped Lin Xiaoman polish it in no time. There is really no thorn at all.

Let the hot lard cool to the touch, then pour the alkaline water filtered with gauze into a basin and mix.

In order to test the ratio of lard and lye water, Lin Xiaoman made it four times.

Now, after making the soap, her hands were so tired that she couldn't even lift them.

It's really a sin to endure the hardship without any suffering!