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

"Brother, this is the soap, but it needs to be left to dry for a month before it can be used."

Lin Xiaoman took a rag, dipped it in water and rubbed it a few times with the soap that had not yet been completely saponified. Then he gently pinched it with his hand and foam came out.

"Xiao Man, what did you put in there? It's yellow and has the scent of osmanthus."

"Last year, the osmanthus flowers that were dried in the sun turned into powder. They turned yellow, didn't they? And they also had a light and elegant osmanthus fragrance. Isn't it nice?"

"Of course not, it definitely smells good. Let me see, have you done anything else?"

Lin Jingzhe didn't believe that Xiaoman only made one kind. His mother just said that Xiaoman had a lot of medicinal herbs left over, which meant that she also used the herbs to make soap.

"Hey, brother, did you see the bamboo basket under the corridor?" Lin Xiaoman pointed with a smile, "It's all in there. I'll show you."

After saying that, he went to the inner room, got a stool, and was about to stand on it.

Lin Jingzhe stepped forward and said, "Let me get it. You're small, don't fall!"

Lin Jingzhe took down a bamboo basket, which was exactly the one that Lin Xiaoman took to Jialin County a few days ago. There were soaps of various colors in it.

Lin Jingzhe was dumbfounded, "Xiaoman, why is this soap so beautiful!"

As he said that, he jumped off the bench and handed the basket to Lin Xiaoman.

Lin Xiaoman did not take the basket, but pointed at the black soap and said, "This is made of Polygonum multiflorum, Angelica sinensis, Morus alba bark, and Platycladus orientalis leaves. It has the effect of promoting hair growth and nourishing hair."

"The purple soap on the side is made of comfrey, it's itchy and moisturizing. This one is made of Poria cocos and honeysuckle, and this one is made of mugwort. How do you think? The colors are all good, right?"

"After a month or so, the soap will become harder, the foam will be finer, and the efficacy will be stronger."

Lin Xiaoman's eyes were shining, as if saying, "I'm so awesome, I'm so awesome!"

The king of support, Lin Jingzhe, never disappoints.

"Xiao Man, you should be amazed when you are away for three days! How did your little brain grow? How can you come up with so many strange things? I really want to take a closer look! Don't tell me, this soap is much better looking than soap. According to you, medicinal herbs and flowers can all be used to make soap?"

"Yes, the peach and apricot blossoms all over the mountains can be used to make flower soaps, which are the favorites of the ladies. There are also roses and orchids. Anything you can think of can be made into soap.

Lin Jingzhe sighed, "Wouldn't it be that the whole mountain is full of treasures? In spring, there are peach blossoms, pear blossoms, apricot blossoms, and jasmine blossoms; in summer, there are lotus blossoms and jasmine blossoms; in autumn, there are osmanthus blossoms and hibiscus blossoms; in winter, there are narcissus blossoms and wintersweets."

"Yes! If we can meet a businessman as generous as the young master, we can open a soap workshop. The materials we use will include dried flowers. The villagers in the surrounding villages can pick them and sell them to us, which will allow us to earn more money."

Lin Xiaoman talked about the soap business, and her thoughts flowed endlessly. "I've thought about it. Magnolia fruit can be cultivated, and all kinds of flowers can also be cultivated. In the future, we can plant more osmanthus and peach trees in the fields. When the time comes, our family will buy another piece of land at the foot of the mountain and plant peach and apricot trees. When spring comes, the mountains and fields will be full of flowers, and we will be in a good mood just looking at them."

"Xiao Man, it seems your wish is to become a landlord's wife! Hahahahahaha."

"So what? Isn't it good to be a landlord's wife? Just do whatever you like!"

In the past, she liked to plant flowers and plants. The yard was full of roses, hydrangeas, bougainvilleas, and lilies. She also learned how to propagate and graft. The hydrangeas in her home were all grown by her from cuttings in the spring.

"Okay, okay, okay, it's fine as long as you like it, but the prerequisite is that you have to find a cooperative owner, right?"

These words hit the nail on the head for Lin Xiaoman right now.

"Yes, it's hard to find a good boss. How come the young boss has so much money that he can make endless money?"

"It's okay. Good things are easy to sell. But mother just said that these soaps are made of lard? Isn't that very expensive? Add to that the Chinese medicinal herbs you added, such as Polygonum multiflorum and Poria cocos, how much do you plan to sell a piece of soap for?"

"Brother, soap is not sold to ordinary people. Do you see ordinary people coming and going in the rouge shop? Even if it is soap, haven't we never bought it before?"

"Not counting other materials, two kilograms of lard can only make ten bars of soap of this size. However, two kilograms of lard requires four kilograms of pig suet, which costs more than 120 wen. If you add in other materials and labor, the cost of ten bars of soap is about 300 wen."

"So ten pieces cost three hundred coins?"

Lin Jingzhe stared at the soap, as if he wanted to make flowers appear.

I didn't expect that four pounds of lard can only make ten bars of soap. It turns out that it is something used by rich people and ordinary people really can't afford it.

"Yes, when we make it in large quantities, if the proportions are slightly wrong, the soap will either have cracks or not take shape, or have other problems. So, I plan to sell these soaps made of osmanthus, mugwort, and comfrey for 150 wen each, and the ones made of tuckahoe and honeysuckle for 200 wen. As for the hair-growing soap made of Polygonum multiflorum, it takes longer to make and uses more sophisticated medicinal materials, so I'll sell it for 300 wen each."

Lin Jingzhe was stunned when he heard this.

A piece of mugwort soap costs 150 coins, which can buy four pounds of pork.

Four pounds of pork. A poor family might only buy this much pork to supplement their income throughout the year.

The rich are feasting and drinking, but the poor are freezing to death on the streets.

"Brother, we are going to make money from merchants and rich people. We will open a workshop at home, and young and strong people from the surrounding villages can come to work in the workshop. The older ones can also go to the mountains and fields to pick mugwort and osmanthus, dry them and sell them to us. Isn't this the best of both worlds? We make a lot of money, and the villagers also make money."

Lin Jingzhe reached out and touched the back of Lin Xiaoman's head.

Lin Xiaoman frowned and dodged, "Brother, did you wash your hands just now?"

"dislike me?"

"That's right, you grab beggar's chicken with your hands, it's greasy."

Lin Jingzhe coughed uncomfortably, "Let's get back to the point. When do you plan to go to Lin'an Prefecture? If you go, I suggest you go ten days or half a month later, wait until the results are announced and the students leave Lin'an Prefecture one after another, otherwise it will be difficult to find a hotel."

"I plan to go again in a month."

After the soaps are completely saponified, she will display them as samples and accept pre-orders. This way, even if there are problems with the pre-orders, her costs will not be lost.

After all, making soap out of lard was considered too luxurious by the ancients, and even she felt the pain!

"Xiaoman, look, what is this?" Lin Jingzhe took out a golden hairpin with auspicious clouds on it like a magic trick and waved it in front of Lin Xiaoman as if presenting a treasure.

"Brother, is this for me?"

"Yes, doesn't it look good? The owner of the jewelry store said that this is the style that the young lady from Lin'an Prefecture loves the most. Try it on and try it on!"

Lin Xiaoman took it with a smile. After a closer look, he found that the gold jewelry in the county town was exquisitely crafted, but it was still far behind that of Lin'an Prefecture.

Don’t be fooled by the simple auspicious cloud pattern. If you look closely, you will find that there is a peony carved in the center of the auspicious cloud pattern, which represents prosperity.

The carving is exquisite and the brushwork is brilliant.

"Brother, it's so beautiful, thank you~"

"Hehe, I didn't buy it just for you. I also bought it for A Niang and Gu Yu."

"This is my first gold hairpin, given to me by my elder brother."

After saying that, Lin Xiaoman casually tied her hair into a bun, inserted a lucky cloud hairpin, and trotted in to ask her mother, "Mother, look, this is the gold hairpin my brother gave me."

"This kid," Li Taohua praised, "was so happy that he bought a gift for his own sister. Not bad, not bad."

It was Lin Jingzhe’s first time giving a formal gift, and he felt quite uncomfortable.

Now that A Niang had said so, he simply took out the hairpins he had given to A Niang and Gu Yu.

The one given to Li Taohua was a gold-inlaid jade hairpin, and the ones given to Guyu and Lidong were a silver bracelet.

It was the first time for the two little ones to wear bracelets and they were very curious.

Especially Lidong, she kept shaking her hands with bracelets and giggling.

Lin Dajiang reminded, "Jingzhe, why don't I have it?"

"Dad, who said you don't have it?" Lin Jingzhe reached back and took out a golden abacus, about a quarter of the size of Lin Jingzhe's palm.

"Dad's gold hairpin is easy to lose when he is working, so I bought this golden abacus. With this golden abacus in hand, Dad will surely make a fortune in the future."

"Good!" This gift touched Lin Dajiang's heart.

The golden abacus has beads that can be moved flexibly. Except for its smaller size, it is no different from the real abacus.

Lin Dajiang couldn't put it down and played with it. "It's really a jewelry store in Lin'an Prefecture. How did the abacus gold beads get inlaid? Wonderful, wonderful!"

Lin Dajiang said two "wonderful" words in a row.

Li Taohua estimated that two gold hairpins, two silver bracelets, and a gold abacus must be very expensive!

At least two hundred taels of silver.

When she first heard Xiaoman say that they had started a tabloid, she thought it was just a small thing. But now she finally sees clearly that the tabloid really makes money.

Xiaoman is really amazing.

Li Taohua thought happily that her life had finally come to an end after all the hardships she had endured.

Children are filial, husband and wife are harmonious, and there is no need to be bullied by the mother-in-law...

Lin Jingzhe spent almost all of his small treasury on giving gifts this time.

He took thirty taels of silver with him when he went out, but spent two hundred and ten taels on gifts, and even had to borrow the silver for the jewelry from Gu Changsheng.

He estimated his own small treasury and bought something for each member of his family.

Later, he asked Lin Xiaoman for the silver, and the next day he sent the silver to the town to return it to Gu Changsheng.

-

Two days later, the head of the village gave a message and the village elders agreed to set up a village school.

After getting the confirmation, Lin Dajiang told Li Taohua about it.

"This is a good thing!"

Li Taohua was still thinking about her sisters-in-law saying they wanted to teach the Li family's boys to learn to read, but she was worried about where to send them.

As for the third brother, although his character is not very good, he is more than capable of teaching others enlightenment.

"I was wondering how this would end if you didn't agree."

Lin Dajiang chuckled. Actually, if Taohua disagreed, he planned to cheat his daughter. After all, his daughter had a rich small treasury, unlike him, whose pockets were jingling with money. A few dozen copper coins were his entire fortune.

"How much is the tuition? Have the elders decided?"

"That's not decided yet, but with Da He's current reputation, if the tuition is too high, I'm afraid no one will be willing to send their children here. Why not charge 600 coins for the first year's tuition? There's no need to teach all at once, even every six months is fine. Tao Hua, what do you think?"

"Compared to other village schools, it's not expensive, but you also told me about my third brother's situation. When he went to town before, he couldn't even get a job writing letters for people. Do you think the villagers are willing to send their children here? Besides, pens, ink, paper and inkstone are not cheap."

Li Taohua was a little worried. Life in the village had indeed gotten better in the past two years, but studying was not just about paying tuition. Writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone all cost money.

Take the Enlightenment book for example, which cost three hundred wen each, but was only five hundred wen per copy in a bookstore.

Later there are "Youxue Qionglin" and "Xiaoxue Canzhu", and after that there are the Four Books and Five Classics and the Hundred Schools of Thought, which cost even more money.

Lin Dajiang saw that Li Taohua was wavering and said with a smile, "It's okay. Let Jingzhe copy a few copies of the 300,000 words for enlightenment on rough paper and put them in the private school. In the future, new children entering the private school will not need to spend money to buy books. Most families send their children here just to learn a few words so that they won't become blind. Two or three years will be enough. If they continue to study, they will be extremely talented. I think their families will do their best to support them."

"You are very kind." Li Taohua said with a smile. It turned out that the head of the family could be so meticulous.

"Then I will ask my eldest brother to help me build a private school. Didn't my eldest brother want to go out and find a job at the beginning?"

"You decide."

Li Taohua had no objection, and Lin Dajiang went to the head of the village the next day to decide on the location of the village school.

The village school was planned to be located in an open space near the ancestral hall. The headman said that this was a great thing for Shanglin Village, and that the children would be able to study in the future with the blessing of their ancestors.

The position was decided, and Lin Dajiang immediately told Li Shan about it.

Li Shan immediately became excited when he heard there was work to do.

He called a group of experienced men from Shadi Village, and more than a dozen people started working right away.

"The ancestral hall is going to be expanded?"

"Haven't you heard of it? Look, the man who built the house seems to be Li Taohua's elder brother."

"Brother Dajiang is not going to build a workshop again, is he? Could it be that he has also bought this piece of land?"

"Building a workshop? When will you hire people to work? I can prepare in advance."

"Let's go ask the head of the village."

A group of villagers rushed to the headman's house, talking in a flurry.

When the village head heard the villagers' intention, he smiled and said, "How can you build a workshop near the ancestral hall? That's the village school. You know what a village school is? It's a place where children learn to read and study."

"Village school?"

The villagers didn't believe it.

Shanglin Village is building a village school? The tuition fee for a village school is one or two taels of silver per year. Who can afford to send their children there?

"Why don't you believe it?" The village head laughed. "That village school was built with money from Dajiang, so naturally the tuition fee won't be as expensive as other private schools."

"Village head, how much is the annual salary? If it's cheap, I'll let our Goudan learn a few words. You don't know how much Goudan envies Dajiang's little girl Guyu. Guyu's learning to read makes Goudan so anxious that he cries loudly."

"What? Guyu can read? What's the point of a little girl learning to read?"

"That's right. It's okay for boys to learn to read, but girls have to be married off. Isn't that a bargain for people with other surnames?"

The head of the village frowned, "Superficial, superficial, look at Dajiang's daughter Xiaoman, she is so smart, why is the girl so cheap to someone from another family? Aren't the preserved eggs and Chinese sausages all Xiaoman's ideas?"

"Uncle Lizheng, you said that it was Lin Xiaoman, so it's no wonder she's smart. The older generation of fortune tellers said that Xiaoman was blessed with great fortune. She might have lost a soul in the past twelve years. The lost soul must have gone to practice with the gods. Now that the lost soul has returned, she is no longer stupid!"

"Tsk~ Really, why do you think Young Master Gu wants to recognize Lin Dajiang as his godfather?"