Space Food Storage: Daily Travel

The soap workshop started recruiting workers.

During the recruitment period, preparations were done in advance. Liu Shihu and his "apprentices" were responsible for making soap boxes. One type was an ordinary soap box, square, about 8 cm long and 4 cm high, the size of a five-year-old child's palm.

The other type is a soap box, which has simple flower or bamboo leaf shapes carved on the bottom of the wooden box, and is about the same size as a soap.

Liu Daling has already told the villagers who went to the mountain to cut bamboo shoots that they can pick flowers if they see them on the mountain and his family will collect them.

For example, the azaleas on Beishan Mountain are in full bloom right now! Azaleas bloom from April to May, lasting only about a month. When in bloom, the flowers are vibrant and come in a variety of colors, including rose, dark red, and bright red, each with a beautiful, graceful appearance.

The rhododendrons all over the mountain are enough for them to use for a long time. They press the juice of the flowers and store it in space for future use.

There is also Viola yedoensis, also known as wild violet, which blooms in the fields in spring. The small purple flowers look very cute. It also has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, and can be used as medicine.

Arabian speedwell will bloom small blue flowers. The peak flowering period is from March to April every year. It is particularly easy to reproduce. If you drop one plant on the ground, it will quickly spread into a large area, like a blue carpet. It grows very tenaciously!

Morning glories can often be seen in the fields outdoors. When they bloom, they look like small trumpets, opening towards the sun in the morning and closing at night. They come in many colors, including red, pink, and blue... They look unattractive when they are not blooming, but they are super beautiful when they bloom.

Mirabilis jalapa is also called the mine flower because after it blooms, the small black seeds hidden in the middle of the flower look like mines. Mirabilis jalapa comes in many colors, mostly red, and grows very fast. You can often see it at the gate or in the wild.

There are also the common sweet-scented osmanthus and peach blossoms, which are in full bloom at this time. Two sweet-scented osmanthus trees were transplanted to the gate of the Liu family.

In the spring in the south, there are abundant wild flowers in the mountains and fields.

As long as they are not poisonous, you can put flowers of the same color together, boil the juice of the flowers and add it to the soap.

At that time, you can give the soap some elegant names according to its color, and prepare some exquisite boxes to package it more beautifully. You can also offer a higher price, so that slightly wealthier people can use it for themselves or give it as gifts.

Add some honey to the soap and use it for bathing, washing your face and hair.

When making soap for the common people, the materials used will be simpler than before, and the price will be as favorable as possible.

The packaging and soap pigments were already settled. As for the pig fat, they had already made arrangements with the butcher in town. They needed some in large quantities. They'd sign a six-month contract and, once they agreed on the price, they could place their order with him. The Liu family could handle the wood ash problem themselves.

The soap workshop is divided into three workstations and three large rooms.

The first workstation is a large, well-ventilated kitchen with five stoves. One stove is dedicated to boiling lard, and the other four are used for boiling the soap.

The second workstation is the soap filtering, boxing and shaping workstation.

The third station sorts the shaped boxes and places them on marked fixed shelves. Two shelves are dedicated to ordinary soap, which is produced in larger quantities.

The other two shelves are specially for soap. One shelf is for soap of three colors. The soap is divided into six colors and placed separately: white, yellow, pink, purple, green, and blue.

The color will be adjusted according to the flowering period. If there are not enough colors, just make fewer.

White soap contains goat milk, so the resulting color will be light yellow. If you want a whiter color, add some cooked rice when boiling it.

These have all been tested repeatedly by Liu Yuhan in the past few days. These soaps are suitable for a relatively complex group of people, so they will be tried on family members first. If there is no irritation or discomfort, they can be officially launched.

Liu Mang came to help recruit workers. Liu Yuhan still trusted the village chief and hoped that he could serve as the chief foreman.

Liu Mang was naturally willing. His uncle's family was really getting better and better. He bought Shatian and a mountain. Now he opened a workshop and also ran a pig and chicken farm.

He was very happy for them and was willing to help. They had settled down in Fulai Village. If everyone in the village had a job and a salary thanks to the old man's business, wouldn't that be even better? They had little land to begin with, so with the salary, their lives would be more secure, wouldn't they?

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. He had been the village chief for a long time, and wherever he went, he still hoped that everyone would be well. Even though he was no longer the village chief, he still hoped that the villagers would live better and better.

It can be said that he is really a person with great feelings.

The tofu shop was run by Liu Mang's wife, Yan, his brother Liu Zhuang and his wife, as well as helpers from the village, and they were fully able to handle the work.

Liu Mang already had experience recruiting workers. He knew the villagers well enough to know who could get things done and who was honest.

Liu Yuhan had already told him that if he wanted to apply for the job, he had to sign a contract. He also told them the contents of the contract. If they agreed, they could sign it and come to work. If they did not agree, they should not apply.

The contract is nothing more than a confidentiality agreement. If you breach the contract, you will be punished. In addition to fines, you will also be arrested and taken to the county government. Of course, the punishment is written in a serious manner.

After all, most of the work in the workshop involves recipes. Those who can understand signed the contract readily. For those who can't write their full names, Liu Yuhan will write it for them, as long as they put their own fingerprints on their names.

They pressed their fingerprints to promise not to say anything, and as long as they walked out of the workshop, they would not tell even their families and partners.

When signing the contract, Village Chief Lin served as the witness.

Huo Dong had already privately told Village Chief Lin about some of the "ties" between the Liu family and the Huo family.

I hope that Village Chief Lin can help the Liu family when they need it. Village Chief Lin is a subordinate of General Huo, so he is accustomed to obeying orders.

Moreover, he found that the Liu family was a good family and could greatly promote the development of the village. Their village had only been relocated for a few months, but Fulai Village had seen such great changes.

Not only are the houses in the village now complete and bustling, but the rice fields are now being planted and the village has even built a tofu shop. Now, what about a soap workshop? A pig and chicken farm?

He had a feeling that Fulai Village would soon be completely transformed. The source of the transformation of Fulai Village was still the Liu family, especially the little girl from the Liu family.

It seems that General Huo still has some interest in that little girl? But this is just a guess from a lonely man like him, so I don't know if this feeling is accurate.

In short, if there was anything going on with him, what was happening in Fulai Village, or any major movement in the Liu family, he would bring a message to the prefecture, to General Huo. Otherwise, how could he be worthy of this beloved carrier pigeon that General Huo had given him?

This is a priceless carrier pigeon. You have to know how much effort and time it takes to train one! They are usually only used in military matters. Could it be that General Huo is protecting the Liu family?

For the sake of this carrier pigeon, he even practiced writing big characters, fearing that General Huo would not be able to recognize his handwriting.

In the past, General Huo required his subordinates to learn to write Chinese characters. They worked hard to learn Chinese characters under General Huo, but the most common thing they did was to write for his grandson.

Speaking of recruitment, the first station was specifically for boiling water, and 8 people were hired. This position was quite hard, and it was best to have strong men or women. Considering the gender differences in this dynasty, it was best not to have men and women working in the same room, so the first station was recruited with strong men.

The four stoves need to be stirred constantly with spatulas, and eight people take turns, which takes at least eight hours of work, which means each person has to work for at least four hours. This is laborious and sweaty work, and the pay is a little higher, 40 cents a day.

They also work part-time as a cook of lard, but lard does not need to be cooked every day.

At the first station, Liu Sinan personally taught them how to boil the rice. He explained how to cook it, and how high the fire should be. As for the ratios and amounts of the ingredients, his daughter would prepare them the night before, or he would just prep the ingredients and let the workers boil it. This also reduced the chances of the recipe being leaked.

The second workstation is filtering and boxing for shaping. We found a few women who are more careful and dexterous, because when packing, the soap must be shaken evenly, not too full or too little, otherwise the soap will not be full enough and the size will be difficult to be consistent.

The third station is mainly responsible for setting up the frame and removing the molds. Five women are enough for the second and third stations.

After it sets, leave it overnight, or for a day and a night, depending on the weather and the condensation of the soap.

In the morning, they could remove the molds and package the soap. In the afternoon, when the strong men had finished boiling the soap, they could start filtering and packing it into boxes. This way, the work didn't conflict and they could handle it all. The daily wage was 30 wen, and the workday was four hours long.

The workshop does not provide food and accommodation, but does provide free tea. When the weather is hot, Liu Yuhan will ask his family to cook some mung bean porridge, and then go home to eat and rest for an hour at noon.

Liu Daling found an auspicious day, set off firecrackers, distributed malt sugar and copper coins to the onlookers, and started work.

When working, the workshop door is closed and cannot be seen from the outside.

The village began to become busy, with people picking flowers, chopping wood, and experienced hunters looking for honey. No matter how much honey there was, the Liu family would buy it and sell it if they thought the price was right.

Therefore, the elderly people who used to be free to take care of their grandchildren are rarely seen chatting under the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.

They all take their grandchildren to the fields to pick wild flowers. Picking flowers easily means they can earn only 10 or 8 cents a day, which is still income, right?

The half-grown children would also choose to chop firewood. A bundle of firewood cost five cents, and they could easily get two bundles a day, which was 10 cents! They had never thought about making money before!

Honey is not cheap. If the hunters can find honey, the Liu family will buy as much as they can, and each pound is a few cents more expensive than the one sold in the town.

In short, Fulai Village fell into an unprecedented busy scene.