It's hard for my elder sister. I rely on the mountains to farm and pay off my debts.

As soon as these words were spoken, the merchants who had just surrounded Mr. Xue looked at Song Zhi with a burning gaze.

Song Zhi had no choice but to nod, "I did bring it, but it was only over 300 yuan."

Mr. Xue was very happy to hear this and happily invited Song Zhi to go into the shop first.

Song Zhi followed Mr. Xue into the government-run shop. Under the enthusiastic gazes of the crowd, she unloaded the backpack and handed the mugwort soap to him. "Please check the amount first."

While the other party was placing their goods, a bold merchant approached Song Zhi directly and said, "Excuse me, is this mugwort soap made by you, young lady?"

There was nothing to hide, so Song Zhi admitted generously: "I did it!"

One of the reasons why she chose to supply goods to government-run shops was to expand her own reputation.

The merchants became excited as soon as they heard this. Some of them even expressed their desire to pre-order mugwort soap without caring that they were still in the shop.

Song Zhi shook her head and said frankly, "It's not that I don't want to do business with you. The county magistrate and I have agreed that this mugwort soap will not be sold to the public for the next three months. If you want to buy mugwort soap, please come directly to this government-run shop."

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but feel disappointed. These merchants would only stay here for a short time and would definitely not be able to wait for three months.

There was a smart merchant who didn't give up and said, "Then you can supply more goods. We can buy from the government-run shop just as well."

"That's right, that's right! I think this mugwort soap is very useful. It can clean and relieve itching. It should be easy to sell. You might as well make some more."

Song Zhi said truthfully, "It's not that I don't want to make more. Firstly, the raw materials are hard to come by, and secondly, the mugwort soap needs time to settle. Right now, I'm doing my best to supply it!"

What Song Zhi didn't say was that this was under the condition that others would provide the raw materials. If she was not provided with lard, I'm sorry, with just her daily purchases of three to five kilograms, she could only provide dozens of pieces of mugwort soap a day.

Seeing the merchants' obviously disappointed expressions, Song Zhi suddenly came up with an idea. "Besides mugwort soap, I have some other good stuff, like tooth powder for cleaning teeth and herbal ointment for mosquito repellent and swelling. If you'd like, you can buy some and try them back."

"What tooth powder?"

"Green Herbal Cream? What is that? Can it really repel mosquitoes?"

Song Zhi's words instantly ignited the curiosity of the merchants. They had traveled to many places, but this was the first time they had heard of these two things.

Seeing the other party's interest, Song Zhi couldn't help but smile knowingly and explained slowly, "My tooth powder not only cleans teeth and protects gums, but also strengthens teeth and prevents ulcers and sores."

"As for the herbal ointment, it's a kind of ointment that can be applied to insect bites to quickly relieve itching. If you're walking outside in the summer, applying it to your exposed arms or legs can also help prevent mosquito bites."

The merchants were attracted by the effects described by Song Zhi. They no longer cared about staring at the mugwort soap on the shelves. They all told Song Zhi that they wanted to take a look at the product. If it was really as good as Song Zhi said, they would definitely buy it!

Song Zhi smiled apologetically. "It's not possible today. If you are interested in these two goods, she can bring them tomorrow and we can meet here then."

The merchants had no objection to waiting for just one more day. Three of them stated on the spot that they would wait for Song Zhi here at this time tomorrow.

"Okay, it's a deal." Song Zhi agreed readily.

With the new goods, the merchants no longer felt as anxious when they heard Mr. Xue say that each person could only purchase 20 yuan of mugwort soap.

After the merchants took their mugwort soaps away, Mr. Xue settled the payment with Song Zhi.

Before leaving, Elder Xue called Song Zhi over and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Could you also supply some of the two kinds of goods Miss Song mentioned to our shop?"

The government-run shop spread so quickly among merchants thanks to the mugwort soap provided by Song Zhi.

Although mugwort soap is good, its quantity is limited. If we can provide two more new items, it will definitely be beneficial to the development of the shop.

Song Zhile had someone to promote her, so she agreed without hesitation, "Okay, then I'll bring more goods over tomorrow!"

Seeing Song Zhi agreed, Mr. Xue was very happy. He personally sent the person out the door and only returned to the shop after the person walked away.

After Song Zhi left the government-run shop, she went to the pharmacy in the east of the city to buy Chinese medicine bags for insect repellent and herbs needed for making tooth powder.

For example, to make an insect repellent herbal bag, the Chinese herbs needed are 'wormwood leaf, clove, mint, patchouli, tangerine peel, and perilla.' You need about one penny of each, grind it into powder, and it's not only effective, but also smells great.

The herbs needed to make tooth-strengthening tooth powder are salt, gypsum, psoralea corylifolia, Sichuan peppercorns, angelica dahurica, mint, herba scutellariae, saposhnikovia divaricata, and asarum.

As Song Zhi walked towards the medicine store, she was thinking about what herbs she needed to buy. There were many herbs like mugwort and mint near her home, so she didn't need to buy them.

In addition, we dug a lot of Asarum and Saposhnikovia divaricata in the mountains, and now we still have some at home, so there is no need to buy them again.

For the remaining herbs that needed to be purchased, Song Zhi went to two pharmacies to buy them.

Since they were all common herbs, the little medicine boy was surprised that Song Zhi bought so many, but seeing that she was very familiar with the medicinal properties of each herb, the medicine boy did not ask too many questions and directly weighed them out to Song Zhi.

After Song Zhi put the medicine into the backpack, she thought about the containers she needed to hold the tooth powder and herbal ointment.

Song Zhi then went to a shop selling porcelain.

At this moment, the shopkeeper in front of the counter was clattering his abacus.

When the shop assistant saw a customer coming in, he immediately came forward with a smile and said, "Madam, what would you like to buy?"

Song Zhi looked around and asked, "Do you have rouge boxes for sale here? How much would one be?"

Upon hearing this, the waiter led Song Zhi to a shelf nearby and pointed at the dazzling array of rouge boxes and introduced them to her:

"This is a bamboo-patterned lidded box, which costs thirty coins each. This is a lotus-leaf-patterned lidded box, which costs forty-two coins each. This is a small lidded box with silver flower and bird patterns, which costs one hundred and twenty coins each..."

"Stop, brother, just help me choose the most affordable one."

These rouge boxes look exquisite in shape, and the prices are indeed very attractive.

She is still in the stage of casting a wide net and promoting her product. Song Zhi doesn't want the high cost of the rouge box to reduce her profits.

When the clerk heard this, he pointed to a small round box without any patterns or carvings and said, "This is a small round lidded box. It costs ten coins each."

Song Zhi still felt it was expensive, but there was nothing she could do. She had already promised those customers and she needed it urgently. After hesitating for a moment, Song Zhi decided to try to bargain with the other party.

So she said with a smile on her face: "Brother, if I buy more, can you give me a cheaper price?"

Without waiting for the boy to answer, the shopkeeper, who was clacking away on his abacus, stopped and asked, "How much do you want?"