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

What Song Zhi didn't know was that everything she said to her younger brother was heard by Zhou Yu who was standing by the door.

He stood by the door, staring at Song Zhi's back in a daze.

This girl doesn't look like a farm girl at all. When her family is bullied, she can argue with her clever words.

Even when she was attacked at night, she showed extraordinary calmness and decisiveness.

From generously providing him with the recipe for Forsythia tea, to proactively suggesting the opening of a government-run shop, every little thing she did demonstrated the girl's character and wisdom.

Not only that, she is also very calm and objective. Even when she is in an advantageous position, she can lower her posture and see the reality clearly.

The more Zhou Yu interacted with her, the more his thoughts were unconsciously influenced by the person in front of him.

He could even imagine the first time he met her, when she was alone with her two children and was arguing with the fat woman.

Old Xue, who was following Zhou Yu half a step behind, saw that his master had been standing by the door for a long time without any movement. He wanted to remind him, but then he caught a glimpse of the corners of his lips raised.

In the end, he shrank back obediently.

Song Zhi waited and waited, why hadn't he come back yet? Just as she was about to get up, a low cough came from behind her.

When Song Zhi turned around, she saw Zhou Yu standing by the door.

Song Zhi was startled at first, secretly complaining about how this person walked without making any sound, but she stood up calmly to greet him and said, "County Magistrate, what brings you here?"

Zhou Yu only saw a hint of regret on her face, which disappeared in an instant.

He raised the corners of his lips in a good mood and smiled faintly, "I heard from Mr. Xue that you brought two new goods. Come and take a look."

When talking about business, Song Zhi immediately became excited. She took out the herbal ointment and tooth powder and introduced them to Zhou Yu in detail.

Zhou Yu nodded in satisfaction. "That's right, I'll follow your offer, but I have one condition."

"Since you have chosen to cooperate with the shop, my government-run shop cannot always be out of stock. Therefore, 30% of the goods you sell must be supplied to the shop."

This was not a demanding request. After all, she needed to use the government-run shop to create publicity, so Song Zhi agreed without much hesitation.

But she was a little surprised that when she delivered the mugwort soap, Zhou Yu only asked his shop to be the exclusive supplier three months in advance.

Why do you want her to supply her with goods for a long time now?

Could it be that he heard me say that the government is unreliable?

Song Zhi felt a little guilty at this moment. She handed the goods to Mr. Xue and checked them with him first.

After confirming the amount, Song Zhi accepted the payment, said goodbye to the two men, and turned to leave.

But when one foot was about to step out of the shop, Zhou Yu called her again.

Zhou Yu paused and asked, "Is the kang in your village ready?"

When Song Zhi heard this, she nodded repeatedly, "Your Excellency is welcome to bring the village heads and village heads to visit our village."

Hearing her say this, Zhou Yu's broad eyebrows were also filled with smiles.

He nodded and agreed to Song Zhi's invitation.

Song Zhi, feeling that she had done something great, happily led her younger brother away.

On the way back, Song Zhi first went to the grocery store and asked the owner to buy a small scale for weighing.

This way, I can be more precise when grinding herbs and making herbal pastes next time.

Then Song Zhi asked the shopkeeper if he had a medicine grinder.

"This thing is usually only used in pharmacies, so it needs to be pre-ordered. The shop doesn't have it in stock. But if you want it, I can help find it."

"I want one. How much is it?"

The shopkeeper immediately replied, "That depends on what material you want to buy. There are pottery, stone, and iron. Stone ones are the most popular and cost three hundred coins each. Iron ones are the most expensive and cost several taels."

"Then I'll order one made of stone! Boss, give me another ten kilograms of sesame oil. By the way, do you sell any other kinds of vegetable oil?"

A pound of sesame oil costs two or three cents more than lard, but it can save you some time to do other things.

And since she also wanted to use lard to make mugwort soap, Song Zhi thought it would be best to use other vegetable oils as a substitute.

Seeing Song Zhi buy so many things at once, the shopkeeper smiled and said, "I do have another kind of camellia oil in my shop. It's shipped from a place a little further away, and the price is a bit higher, thirty-five coins per pound."

When Song Zhi heard this, she immediately ordered ten kilograms.

This is so expensive that it is not suitable for use in herbal ointment, but she may also launch some whitening skin care, anti-freeze, and anti-chapped ointments that may be useful.

Song Zhi waved her hand and took all of them. She paid the full amount for the goods and then said to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, I still need to go to the meat market to buy some more. I'll leave these goods here for now. I'll come back to pick them up when I leave the city!"

The owner of the grocery store nodded repeatedly and assured Song Zhi with a pat on his chest that there would definitely be no shortage of things in their store.

Song Zhi thanked the shop owner, then took her younger brother to the meat market again. This time, Song Zhi went to the stall selling mutton first.

She first bought a few pounds of mutton, and saw that there was still some mutton fat on the stall, which looked like about three or four pounds, so Song Zhi asked for some as well.

Because mutton fat and lard are both necessities of life for the people, the prices are almost the same.

However, because Qishui County is adjacent to the border, there is no shortage of people raising sheep, so the price of mutton is relatively affordable.

After the stall owner weighed the sheep, Song Zhi paid promptly and said to the stall owner, "Stall owner, you killed the sheep for meat, but I don't know what to do with the wool?"

The stall owner took the money with a smile and said without hesitation: "That stuff is dirty. My wife swept it all into the cesspool and made it into compost."

After hearing this, Song Zhi felt a pang of heartache. She said calmly, "Boss, next time you kill a sheep, you must keep the wool. How about I pay you to buy it?"

The stall owner was stunned for a moment, scratched his ears, and asked unsurely, "You said you wanted to collect wool?"

Song Zhi nodded. "I'll pay three cents for a pound of wool. How about that?"

The mutton vendor nearby also heard what Song Zhi said, and he immediately retorted, "I'll sell it, I'll sell it! How much do you want, young lady? I have this wool at home."

After the sheep were killed, they were sold with the skin and bones. The dirty wool was of no use and was thrown away.

Now if someone is willing to pay three cents to buy it, it is equivalent to picking it up for free. You can get more than ten cents by killing a sheep, which is also very tempting.

The weather is hot now, so it doesn't matter if you shear the sheep now if they are going to be slaughtered later.

Thinking of the butcher, he was afraid that if he agreed too late, the good thing would be gone, so he quickly echoed: "Young lady, are you true to your word? Can you really give us three cents for a pound of wool?"

"Of course. I live in Xiaohezi Village. Once you've prepared your wool, just come to my house and exchange it for silver!"

The stall owners in a row were all very excited after hearing this and said that they would collect wool when they returned home.