Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Wang Qing'er put down her basket, took out an orchid, and placed it in front of the two children. "Smell it, doesn't it smell good?"

"Well, it smells good."

"Sister-in-law, can essential oil be extracted from this too?"

"Hmm, this essential oil smells even better than the peach blossom one."

"Really? I saw a lot of mushrooms when I was picking mushrooms with my mom today. I'll go pick some tomorrow."

"Okay, but you need to be careful."

"Well, I'll pay attention."

Wang Qing'er helped each of them put two orchids in their hair, and also put one on her own ear, asking the two girls, "Does it look good?"

"It looks beautiful! And it smells wonderful."

"Mom is so beautiful!" Mu Yao became much more cheerful, and her words became very sweet!

Wang Qing'er poured everything she had brought back into a bamboo sieve, then carried the orchid to the backyard.

She went to check on the rabbit and found that it had indeed given birth to six baby rabbits. The newborn rabbits had not yet grown fur and their skin was red.

They were all lying on their mother's belly, drinking milk. It was the first time she had ever seen rabbits drink milk, so she watched them for a while.

After looking at the rabbits, I went to look at the potatoes. The potato leaves and stems were growing very lushly, but I didn't know if they would grow into potatoes.

The red beans, mung beans, and cowpeas growing along the edge of the potato field also have a high germination rate.

The other seedlings are also growing well; the amaranth and water spinach should be ready to eat in a few days.

Other seedlings that need transplanting should be transplanted when it rains, as this will increase their survival rate.

After taking a stroll around the vegetable garden, Wang Qing'er went to extract orchid hydrosol, using the same extraction method as for peach blossom hydrosol.

She asked Muqin to keep an eye on things while she went to the stream behind the mountain and picked half a basket of wild mint. There was a large patch of wild mint growing very lushly there, and she decided to come back in a few days to pick some to extract some mint hydrosol, or dry some mint to make tea.

When she came back, she saw that it was still early, so she wandered around the back mountain. She had never been to this area before; she always went up the mountain directly from the small path.

She saw a few orchids, but didn't pick them because they weren't fully open yet.

There are so many dove trees and ice jelly trees in this area. The dove tree leaves are already very lush. She decided to try making leaf tofu after returning from the county town.

Wang Qing'er saw a few mugwort plants and picked some mugwort leaves. Just as she was about to go back, she caught a glimpse of a few familiar trees out of the corner of her eye.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed a mulberry tree, as thick as a small bowl, laden with green mulberries. It seemed that there would be fruit to eat again in a while.

There are very few fruits here, although there are many kinds of wild fruits in the mountains, but none of them are in season.

She saw many kinds of wild berries, wild plums, bayberries, loquats, and dried plums. Since they were not yet ripe, she just noted their locations and planned to pick them when they were ripe, hoping that no one would take them from her then.

Yes! There are also many hawthorn trees.

Wang Qing'er was looking forward to the fruits ripening soon; she really wanted to eat fruit.

I wonder if I can buy fruit in the county town?

"Qing'er..."

"Brother Mu Nan, I'm here." It turned out that Mu Nan couldn't find her at home. Mu Qin said that she had come to the stream in the back mountain, so Mu Nan hurriedly went to the back mountain to find her.

Mu Nan took the basket from her and led her home, saying, "It's getting dark, don't come up the mountain alone."

"Okay, I'll ask you to come with me from now on."

"Okay. We won't go to the county town tomorrow. I'll take you to pick soapberries instead."

"Huh? Why aren't you going?"

"My cousin went to the county town on business and won't be back until the day after tomorrow, so we need to postpone our trip by a few days."

"Okay, Brother Mu Nan, are the carriages expensive?" She really knew nothing about these things. The original owner was a complete novice, and the memories left to her were of no use at all.

Wang Qing'er thought it would be good to go to the county town in a few days, since she could pick soapberries and orchids during those days.

"The cheapest one used to cost sixty taels of silver."

"Then we'll buy one when we have the money."

"it is good."

The two walked and talked.

When they reached the back gate, Wang Qing'er reached out to push it open, but Mu Nan suddenly pulled Wang Qing'er aside and pinned her against the wall.

"Brother Mu Nan, what are you doing?" Wang Qing'er asked, looking at him blankly.

"I...Qing'er, can...can I kiss you?" Mu Nan stammered for a long time before finally managing to say these few words.

"Huh? Here?" What's this man thinking? But this feeling is actually quite nice, it's the feeling of being in love. This man has finally come to his senses!

"Um, is...is that okay?"

"Oh my god? Is this man an idiot? Does he really need me to agree before he'll kiss me? Couldn't he be a little more assertive and just give me a thrilling wall slam? Looks like I'll have to take the initiative."

Thinking this to herself, Wang Qing'er moved her body in perfect unison, tiptoeing to offer her red lips and hooking her arms around Mu Nan's neck.

Mu Nan cupped the back of her head in his hands and kissed her gently, the tender kisses gradually turning into a passionate kiss.

A fire seemed to be slowly burning in Mu Nan's heart. His breath, slightly ragged, left her lips, and he whispered breathlessly in her ear, "Let's go home!"

Wang Qing'er, "..."

Mu Nan pushed open the back door and went in, and Wang Qing'er had no choice but to follow her in.

Mu Nan bolted and locked the back door, then chased after Wang Qing'er, took her hand, and led her towards the stove.

"Sister-in-law, I've filled a bottle with hydrosol! This hydrosol smells so good!" Mu Qin exclaimed excitedly as she saw her return from afar.

Wang Qing'er hurried over, picked it up and smelled it. A faint fragrance wafted into her nose, refreshing her heart!

The only downside is that it's impossible to extract the essential oils separately.

She ran to the front yard and saw Wang Cuiying cooking; it seemed she didn't need any help.

She took a small basin and soaked some soapberries. Although they were picked up from the ground, fortunately they were all intact and brownish-yellow. She picked out the ones that were slightly black and set them aside to use as soap for washing clothes.

I just picked some mugwort and mint, and I was planning to try making mint and mugwort flavored soap tonight.

However, the soapberries are too dry and need to be soaked before they can be peeled and pitted. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to make them. I'm really looking forward to it.

After dinner, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law started braising meat. With two pots in use at the same time, Wang Qing'er felt that there weren't enough pots, so she suggested, "Mom, do we need to build another stove?"

“I’ve been wanting to build another stove and buy two more big pots for a while now. I’ll talk to your dad tonight and ask him to go to the village tomorrow and ask your Uncle Liu Gen to come and build one at our house. Anyway, the kitchen is big enough.” Wang Cuiying had been thinking about building a new stove ever since she started selling braised meat, but she hadn’t mentioned it before because she wanted to save money wherever possible.

Wang Qing'er added, "Mother, since we're going to build one, let's build three big pots. We might need to increase the amount of braised meat in the future."

"Okay, it's up to you."

The two were busy until late again. When Wang Qing'er returned to her room, Mu Nan had already prepared a bath for her.

The peppermint hydrosol extracted that evening was also placed on the table for her. As soon as Mu Nan saw her come in, she immediately went to help her prepare bath water.