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

Mrs. Wu ran excitedly to the home of Patriarch Song and told him the plan her granddaughter had just mentioned.

Clan leader Song was stunned.

Zhao, who was spinning hemp yarn nearby, stopped working. She scratched her ears and asked in disbelief, "What? You want to teach us how to make jelly?"

Mrs. Wu pretended that the other party didn't hear clearly and repeated it again, emphasizing that he needed to go home and help with the work for half a month.

Zhao automatically blocked out the thought of going to work, and the only thing she could hear in her mind was that she was going to teach everyone how to make jelly. Could it be that Dashan was injured today and suffered a big blow?

Otherwise, how could this unique and profitable business be handed over to others?

Zhao quickly put down the work in her hands and came to Wu's side, "Oh, you really have to leave it to us..."

“Ahem…”

Patriarch Song put his hand to his lips and coughed a few times, interrupting his wife's next words.

He glanced at his old wife with a stern face and saw her retreat.

Then he asked Wu, "I heard that this jelly is doing very well in the county town, but Dashanshou is injured and can't take care of it at home?"

Mrs. Wu nodded decisively, "That's certainly the reason. To be honest, Ah Zhi agreed to the county magistrate's request to set up stalls in the East and West Markets, so we really can't spare any help from home!"

When Clan Leader Song heard that it was related to the county magistrate, he felt even more nervous.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Since it's the order of the county magistrate, we must not neglect it. How about this? I'll help you find a few quick and hardworking helpers in the village."

Patriarch Song also had good intentions. In his opinion, the Dashan family was very poor.

The family owes a huge amount of money and has a little kid who gets sick from time to time. Now Dashan and his son have lost their jobs and Dashan has broken his hand.

The family was already in a very difficult situation. As the patriarch, he should not add insult to injury and exploit the family when they were in the most difficult time.

Mrs. Wu waved her hands repeatedly. "No, no, maybe I didn't explain it clearly. You come to my house to do the work. Besides making jelly, you also have to go up the mountain to pick forsythia leaves."

"Azhi, that girl, met a merchant while selling medicinal herbs with Doctor Zheng in the county town some time ago. The merchant happened to place an order with Azhi."

Zhao became excited when she heard this. She knew Forsythia suspensa. She heard that it was a medicinal herb. Every autumn, some people who knew about it would pick it and sell it to the pharmacy.

But this thing is not very valuable. I heard that picking a basket of it would only earn you two or three cents.

Now that he heard that the leaves could be sold, he couldn't help but get excited. "Why is this person buying forsythia leaves? Do they want a lot..."

Clan leader Song interrupted his wife and said, "Alright, don't ask about irrelevant things. Why would they tell you?"

Zhao unhappily resumed her spinning, mumbling, "I was just asking out of curiosity, and I'm getting in your way again!"

Mrs. Wu was very embarrassed. She quickly smiled and changed the subject, saying, "I know that my brother means well. It was Ah Zhi's idea to give the jelly to everyone."

"She said that thanks to everyone's help over the years, Xiaokang has been able to grow up.

"She didn't have much to give back to everyone, so she taught everyone this method so that everyone could make a living."

"Even though I can't make a lot of money, I can still make some small money."

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhao was deeply moved. "They say that when faced with a great adversity, a person's personality changes. Ah Zhi has grown up and become sensible!"

It was rare for Patriarch Song not to refute his wife's words.

He stood up and said, "In that case, I will go around the village and ask any villager who is interested in learning how to make jelly to participate? The condition is to help you at your house for half a month?"

"Apart from these, are there any other conditions? For example, are men or women the only ones who want to learn how to make jelly accepted? Is this something that's particular?"

Mrs. Wu shook her head. "That's not a big deal. Men and women are welcome. They just have to follow instructions. They don't necessarily have to make jelly every day. This needs to be made clear to the villagers!"

Patriarch Song nodded, "This is what I saved. Is there anything else you want to add?"

Mrs. Wu originally wanted to say that, but suddenly she thought of something else and said a little embarrassedly, "Well, there's one more thing."

She hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke with a firm look on her face, "That's right, you know there's some rift between my daughter-in-law and Hu Lan."

"Over the years, Hu Lan has been constantly instigating quarrels between Ah Zhi and her aunt. I don't know how many times I've cried because of this."

"Although I'm a gentle person, I also hold grudges. Don't call me Hu Lan anymore. People like that are not welcome in my family!"

Hu Lan was well-known in the village for her gossip, and Chief Song was well aware of it.

He knew very well that every family has its own problems, and since this had not happened to him, it was difficult for him to persuade others to be magnanimous.

The most important point is that they are going to hand over their money-making business to everyone, which is out of consideration for the kindness of their fellow villagers.

If we continue to force others to do things they don't want to do, it would be too unreasonable.

If you want to blame someone, blame Hu Lan for not behaving like a human being. She said some gossip out of no reason and made others feel uneasy.

Now, this is what you sow.

Given her current attitude, he couldn't open his mouth even if he wanted to plead for her.

Patriarch Song sighed softly and said nothing more.

Then, he turned the topic to Song Youtian's family. "Should we notify Youtian?"

"They have split up, and it was so ugly back then that the sisters-in-law would have a few arguments whenever they met."

Wu thought for a moment and nodded, "I'm not unreasonable. This is Hu Lan's fault. I won't involve anyone else. If he wants to come, he can come."

This meant not to stop him. Clan leader Song understood and said with his hands behind his back, "Okay, you go home first. I'll go tell the villagers right away. If anyone is willing to go, I'll go to your house tomorrow."

Time is tight and the task is heavy, so we already missed a day of tea picking yesterday.

Wu was worried that she wouldn't be able to deliver the goods by the due date, so she hurriedly said, "Let's not wait until tomorrow, let's start today."

There was nothing to argue about for Patriarch Song. The sooner they could learn, the sooner the villagers could make money. After he agreed, he walked back to the village with his hands behind his back.

After discussing the matter of jelly with the clan leader, Wu also returned home.

As soon as we got home, the children were helping to peel mung beans, while Song Zhi was looking through the malt and the fermented black beans she had made last time.

The malt is growing well and can be used to make malt sugar.

White hairs have also grown on the fermented black beans. Take them out and dry them in the sun for two or three days, then they can be pickled.

When Mrs. Wu came back, she saw her granddaughter busy at work.

She called the man over and told him what she had just discussed with the head of the Song clan.

"There's no time to waste picking forsythia leaves. The clan leader has already gone to the village to notify them, and people should be here soon. You can take them up the mountain to pick the leaves later."

Song Zhi stopped what she was doing, thought for a moment and said, "Let's see how many people come first!"

"What I mean is that in addition to picking forsythia leaves, we also need to leave some people to build a simple thatched shed and a stove."

“It takes a lot of effort to make jelly, and with just one pot, you can’t make too much!”