I trade in both worlds

A few days later, all the materials arrived.

Xu Ziqing and Xu Xu started making handmade soap.

In order to make handmade soap, Xu Ziqing specially bought a large iron pot, a small gas tank for outdoor use, and a small single-burner gas stove.

They set up a pot in the yard, put the wood ash in a large iron pot, added appropriate amount of water, and started to boil it slowly over low heat.

While stirring the wood ash in the pot, Xu Xu asked, "Can this wood ash really be turned into lye? It feels a bit magical."

Xu Ziqing explained with a smile: "Of course. Wood ash contains potassium alkali, which is one of the raw materials commonly used by ancient people to make soap. We just need to boil it for a while to get lye."

After a period of boiling and filtering, they finally obtained clear lye.

Next, they began to process the camellia flowers. They first picked the petals, then washed them clean and put them in a cool place to dry.

After the petals were dried in the shade, Xu Xu took out a mortar, put the fresh camellia petals into the mortar, and carefully crushed them into juice.

As she pounded the petals, she said with emotion: "This camellia is so fragrant, the handmade soap made from it must smell great too."

Xu Ziqing was busy preparing for the next step of work. She poured the lye into the pot and continued to heat it, stirring until the water became transparent.

After the caustic soda was completely dissolved, she gradually added the camellia oil while stirring.

The oil and lye met, making a sizzling sound, mixed with the fragrance of camellia, filling the entire yard.

"It smells so good." Xu Xu couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Now, we are going to introduce the floral juice into this mixture." Xu Ziqing said, slowly pouring the previously mashed camellia juice into the pot.

Xu Xu helped stir it, and she found that the liquid began to thicken gradually, emitting a richer floral scent.

"Okay, now you can pour it into the mold." Xu Ziqing said.

Together, they pour the thick liquid into prepared molds, and then leave it intact for one to two days to allow it to cool and solidify naturally.

"Is that all?" Xu Xu asked curiously.

Xu Ziqing shook his head: "It will take two more days for it to solidify."

Two days later, they couldn't wait to take the handmade soap out of the mold.

Xu Xu looked at the pink camellias and said excitedly, "This handmade soap mold is so beautiful."

After saying that, he picked up a piece of handmade soap and sniffed it hard. A scent of camellia came to his face, and he couldn't help but exclaimed: "What a nice fragrance! This smell is so good."

Xu Ziqing also nodded with satisfaction: "Well, it's really good. Now put it in the garage to dry in the shade."

"It still needs to be dried in the shade." Xu Xu thought it was ready to use now: "How long does it take to be considered ready?"

"One month." Xu Ziqing replied.

"That's a long time." Xu Xu was a little disappointed: "Then we have to wait a month before we can go to Sister Feng to try the mask."

"A month is indeed a bit long." Xu Ziqing pondered for a while and said, "How about we take a piece and try it out to see if it works?"

Xu Xu's eyes lit up, and she asked hesitantly, "Are you sure it can be used now?"

Xu Ziqing thought about it, she was not too sure, but she still wanted to give it a try: "I don't know, let's try it first, wait a minute, I'll go get a bubble net."

After saying that, Xu Ziqing walked out quickly.

Xu Xu was left alone there, gently stroking the handmade soap, feeling its texture and temperature, her heart full of anticipation.

After a while, Xu Ziqing came back with the bubble net.

They went to the faucet in the yard and began to try using the handmade soap.

Xu Ziqi put the handmade soap in the foaming net, tied the bag, wet it and rubbed it gently.

She found that the handmade soap easily produced rich foam, which was dense and long-lasting.

She put her hand into the foam, feeling the slippery, creamy feeling.

Xu Ziqing applied the foam on his face and began to rub it gently.

She closed her eyes, feeling the fineness of the foam and the scent of camellia.

After washing her face, she opened her eyes and touched her little face, and felt that her skin seemed to become smoother and more tender, without any dryness.

"How does it feel?" Xu Xu asked expectantly.

Xu Ziqing smiled and said, "It's very useful, better than I expected. This facial soap has a very good cleaning effect, and the foam is very fine. It is very comfortable to use, and it is not inferior to those facial cleansers that cost hundreds of dollars."

After saying that, he touched his face again: "I feel my face has become smoother, do you want to try it too?"

"Okay." Xu Xu picked up the foaming net, began to rub the foam, and then rubbed the foam on his hands onto his face.

The foam was very delicate and the fragrance was so strong that she felt as if she was in a sea of flowers.

After washing her face, she also felt that her skin became softer and smoother, and felt tender to the touch.

"Wow, it's really good. My face feels moisturized after washing, not dry at all." Xu Xu said in surprise, "It seems that our handmade soap is really good. I don't have to go out to buy facial cleansers anymore. I can just use our own."

Xu Ziqing smiled and nodded: "Yes, although it will take another month to be fully completed, it will not affect giving it to Sister Feng for trial use."

"Go tomorrow?" Xu Xu was a little impatient to share her good products with others.

Xu Ziqing shook his head and said, "No, the masks are not ready yet. I'll make a batch of masks in the next two days and bring them to Sister Feng later."

"That's fine. We can wait a few more days so that the handmade soap can dry in the shade for a few more days." Xu Xu thought for a while and said.

Next, Xu Xu and Xu Ziqing worked for three consecutive days and made ten cans of mung bean facial masks. They planned to send eight cans of facial masks and ten bars of handmade soap to Jinxiu Pavilion.

After sending Xu Tiantian to the kindergarten's daycare class in the morning, Xu Xu and Xu Ziqing went to Xiezhuang to catch the bus.

As I stepped into Jinxiu Pavilion, I saw Sister Feng behind the counter, with her head lowered, concentrating on dialing the abacus.

Xu Xu and Xu Ziqing smiled at each other and decided not to disturb her for the time being. Instead, they went to look at the fabrics and replenish the fabrics that had run out in the warehouse.

It was not until Fengjie finished her work and looked up that she noticed two familiar figures in the rest area.

She walked forward with a smile and greeted, "Xuxu, Xiaoqing, when did you get here? Why didn't you call me?"

Xu Xu looked up and smiled at her: "Sister Feng, are you done? We just got here not long ago, and we didn't disturb you because we saw you were busy. We just bought some fabrics and were planning to sort them out."

Fengjie's eyes fell on the backpack placed next to the table and she asked curiously, "What are these? What new things have you brought?"