Don't worry about traveling through time, she has an all-powerful senior sister to help her

Half an hour later, the long-lost aroma of fresh and fragrant broth wafted outside the temple gate.

Shen Xianzhu held her flat belly, not even looking at the fish soup her second sister was making with wild ginger and scallions, which was meant to nourish her mother and sisters.

He moved closer to the small stove made of stones on the other side and stared at his third sister stirring the peach flesh with a wooden spoon. He could see with the naked eye that the whole pot of water and peach pieces had cooked into a transparent gelatinous substance.

He didn't understand and asked, "Xiao Zhuzi, what is this thing that looks like jelly?"

"It's jelly! Big brother, try it." Actually it was pectin, Shen Lingzhu said, and scooped some from the bowl beside him.

Shen Xianzhu took it and shook it before eating it curiously. "It has a hint of sweetness. If I add some sugar and chill it, it can be as good as the iced drinks outside the academy..."

Seeing the third sister looking at him with wide eyes, he was embarrassed to continue, but the next moment, the third sister clapped her hands on her thighs and stood up: "Brother, this is a great idea. I didn't think of it when it rained for the past two days.

Second sister, I have thought of a way to make money."

Shen Lingzhu took two steps at a time and jumped to the side of her senior sister: "Make ice, buy Glauber's salt and make ice to sell to the wealthy families."

"That's a good idea." The senior sister covered the pot, put down the spoon, and pulled her back.

He added: “But the raw material is wrong. Saltpeter is what can be used to make ice.

The founder of the Maoshan sect, Tao Hongjing, distinguished between the two in his Annotated Compendium of Materia Medica.

"How did you know, second sister?" Shen Xianzhu remembered clearly that the only medical books in his hometown were "Huangdi Neijing" and "Shennong Bencao", and he didn't know whether they would be confiscated by the county government.

He had no doubt that his sisters could read. When his grandmother was alive, she often taught his sisters and other girls in the clan to read at home. Because she was the daughter of the Shen family and was looking for a son-in-law, she always said that people learn from books and girls have fewer opportunities to go out, so they should read more and gain more knowledge.

The two sisters exchanged glances upon hearing this. The elder sister smiled and said, "I heard this from a Taoist priest when I accompanied my grandmother to a nearby Taoist temple for a ceremony."

Shen Xianzhu seemed to be thinking, is there a Taoist priest in the small Qixing Temple in his hometown who is very knowledgeable about the pharmacopoeia?

Shen Lingzhu didn't dare let him think too much, and hurriedly asked him if there were many wealthy families he had heard of in the town in the past two days, and whether they were generous.

Naturally, he couldn't answer. Seeing his third sister frown, he quickly said that he would go and ask in the afternoon.

Shen Lingzhu took advantage of the situation and asked to go into the town together. Last time after seeing the doctor, she was hurriedly sent back before she could even see the appearance of the ancient town.

He wouldn't agree to this, "Xiao Zhuzi, you are small and your body can't walk long distances.

Actually, I was wondering if I could teach the fruit farmer how you make jelly so that I can exchange it for some rice, flour and salt for lunch.

I saw a lot of peaches in their orchard that had been knocked down by the rain, and it was such a pity to see them rotting in the ground."

"That's feasible." The senior sister nodded in agreement. He was able to quickly put aside the previous unpleasantness and weigh the pros and cons of which side was more important, proving that he was not pedantic.

If the uncle teaches his son well, the Shen family will have more opportunities to return to the capital in the future.

Shen Lingzhu also agreed deeply, and said that if the other party was willing to pay to learn, she could also teach them how to make peach jam and dried peaches.

They get to work right away. After the pectin cools down, they try their best to remove the pulp residue to keep it moist and translucent.

The senior sister wanted to go, but considering that the two people, one big and one small, neither of them could cook, she had to give up. The orchard was only two or three miles away.

After reminding Shen Lingzhu to explain clearly which ones can produce glue better, she let the two siblings go.

They quickly found the entrance to the orchard. The old farmer who had been chasing Shen Xianzhu was worried about several baskets of rotten peaches.

However, the peaches in his basket were much better than those picked by Shen Xianzhu. There were only a few with rotten spots, and most of them were uneven or not ripe. They only looked different.

As soon as he saw them coming with their bowls stacked together, he immediately said, "Why, if you want to pick peaches, go outside the ditch. I won't pursue you."

When Shen Xianzhu heard this, he was so embarrassed that he forgot what to say.

Shen Lingzhu gave him a look that said, "Big Brother, you're not going to do that!" Then he lifted the covered wooden bowl and handed it to him, saying, "No, I want to trade you for some rice and flour for my secret recipe for peach jam."

"What is this? Peach jam doesn't look like this." When the old man came closer to take a look, Shen Lingzhu suggested that he try it. It didn't matter if he didn't have a spoon, he could just break off a branch and use it.

She praised the various benefits of peach gum and said that the methods of making dried peaches could also be exchanged.

After tasting it, the old man simply asked, "How long can it be kept? The peach jam we made at home used to go sour after just two days. Dried peaches can be kept for a long time, but that wastes both firewood and sugar, so it's not cost-effective."

Having grown peaches for decades, his family had to think of other ways to make money from them.

Due to the continuous rain this year, many peaches were damaged, so he had to consider buying sugar to make dried peaches, which are bitter.

Shen Lingzhu said that the weather was good and that the well would last an extra day, but he shook his head and said, "I'll make it at home and then run dozens of miles to the county town the next day to sell it. I can't sell it all, so it's a waste of money and time."

"Father-in-law, you don't have to make it yourself. You can go to the county town and find a food store. They will buy you peaches and give you the secret recipe.

You can also exchange them for good peaches and sell them in front of wealthy families’ doors.

Making jelly doesn’t require much sugar and firewood. If you don’t try it, will you use all the precious white sugar to make rotten dried peaches?

"Thanks so much." Shen Lingzhu also realized that she had underestimated others before. The little skills she knew were all passed down by her ancestors.

So he tried his best to give advice and asked his elder brother to analyze the location of his orchard, which was good, right between two county towns, only about thirty or forty miles away, so he could sell goods from both ends.

After trying to persuade the old man for a long time and seeing that he was still hesitant, she gritted her teeth and stamped her feet, saying, "If you think it's inappropriate, I'll buy you a basket of rotten peaches on credit and go to town to help you."

"What are you thinking about!" After hearing this, the old man immediately felt that he could not make as much money by selling it to her as by selling it himself.

But he had the cunning of an old farmer. "Come with me. If you succeed, I'll give you more than ten kilograms of coarse flour, not just a few kilograms."

Shen Lingzhu nodded quickly: "Okay."

"No." Shen Xianzhu refused to change. It was too tiring to exchange for two kilograms of noodles, so he pulled his sister and left.

"Big brother." When she pulled and refused to leave, the old man quickly called out to her, "Young man, you can still tire the little girl out. We have a car, you can come and ride with us."

"You can pick up uncle and take a ride together when you come back." Shen Lingzhu pulled his eldest brother's sleeve.

Shen Xianzhu thought for a moment and said he would tell his second sister before leaving.

The old man also turned around and asked his family to harness the cart to load the peaches. He was not greedy and only loaded one basket each of good and bad peaches.

It took nearly half an hour to reach the town by driving the donkey cart.

If it weren't on the street, Shen Lingzhu really wanted to rub her buttocks that were shaken into four pieces.

Fortunately, there was a market today, and there were many more people coming and going in the town than when she left the pharmacy that time.

She didn't waste any time, picked up the basket from the car, filled it half with good peaches and half with bad peaches, and then she and her brother squeezed into the busy stall to choose their targets.

I tried to promote the secret recipe of jelly for free with the purchase of peaches to several food stalls, but no one was interested. They said that if you gave it away for free, what was the secret recipe? Besides, peaches were expensive.

Only a vendor selling jelly told her that the owner of the embroidery shop not far ahead was a person who liked to try new things.