Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

Mu Qin was a little dazed by Wang Qing'er's kiss. After a while, she cried out, "Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, let me go! Let's go pick flowers!"

Muqin couldn't stand Wang Qing'er's excessive enthusiasm, so she could only remind her to pick flowers to distract her from her passion.

"Oh, let's go pick flowers, I completely forgot!" Wang Qing'er then let go of Mu Qin and walked towards a magnolia tree.

Wang Qing'er unfolded the A-frame ladder, shook it a few times to make sure it was stable, and then climbed up and sat on it to start picking flowers.

Muqin picked the flowers she could reach from below.

The snow-white magnolia blossoms were hidden among the green leaves. A gentle breeze carried their fragrance, which spread out in bursts. Wang Qing'er took a deep breath, and the fragrance was soothing and refreshing.

Many hardworking little bees flew around the tree, flitting about and dancing around the magnolia blossoms, as if singing the most beautiful songs and performing the most graceful dances. Even they were captivated by the fragrance emanating from the magnolias.

After picking from one tree, the two moved on to another. They still couldn't reach the top of the tree. Wang Qing'er originally wanted to climb up the tree to pick more, but Mu Qin refused. When she saw her sister-in-law climb up the tree, she was so anxious that she cried. She was worried that her sister-in-law would fall from the tree, so Wang Qing'er had no choice but to come down.

"Sister-in-law, if you climb the tree again, I won't tell you where the flowers are anymore!" Mu Qin said, sobbing.

"Alright! I'm down now, I promise I won't climb the tree again, so please stop crying." Wang Qing'er gently wiped away her tears and coaxed her, and Mu Qin then began picking magnolia flowers again.

Wang Qing'er found a few small magnolia trees, climbed up the tops onto a wooden ladder, and soon her two baskets were full.

"Muqin, take me to see the peach grove."

"it is good."

The peach grove and magnolia trees were not far apart, and the two quickly arrived at the peach grove. "Muqin, does this peach grove have an owner?"

Wang Qing'er looked at the peach orchard in front of her. It stretched as far as the eye could see, with at least several hundred peach trees, if not thousands, and they didn't look like wild ones.

The peach trees are covered with pink buds, and they should bloom in a few days.

"They should be unclaimed. No one picks the peaches here every year, and they just fall to the ground and rot every year."

"Why isn't anyone picking them?" Wang Qing'er asked, puzzled.

"Because the peaches here are very sour!" Just thinking about the taste of the peaches made Mu Qin's mouth water; they were so sour and refreshing.

"Uh, okay!"

Since the peaches are unclaimed, she can pick them without any distractions.

As Wang Qing'er led Mu Qin through the peach grove, her heart pounded with excitement.

"Sister-in-law, you can't go any further." Mu Qin called out to her sister-in-law as she continued walking forward, about to reach the beehive ahead.

Wang Qing'er asked, puzzled, "Why?"

"There's a beehive ahead, and my brother won't let us get close," Mu Qin explained.

"A beehive, is it made of bees?"

"Yes, my older brother comes here every year to collect honey to sell."

"Did he get married this year?"

"Not yet, sister-in-law, let's go back quickly, it's time for breakfast."

"Okay!" Wang Qing'er was still a little afraid of being stung by bees, especially a beehive. Just thinking about the dense swarms of bees made her feel a chill down her spine.

Just as the two arrived home carrying magnolia blossoms, Mu Nan also returned carrying two large sacks.

Mu Qin asked, "Big brother, what's in your sack?"

"Soapberry".

Muqin asked again, "Soapberry? Brother, are you picking so many to sell?"

"Your sister-in-law wants it."

Mu Qin then asked Wang Qing'er, "Sister-in-law, what do you need so many soapberries for?"

Wang Qing'er said mysteriously, "Well, I'll keep it a secret for now. You'll find out in a few days!"

Muqin was very curious and pleaded coquettishly, "Sister-in-law, please tell me first, okay? I really want to know!"

"Let's go eat first, and I'll tell you after we eat."

Mu Qin sighed helplessly, "Fine!"

After breakfast, Wang Cuiying went to the back mountain to pick mushrooms, while Zhou Shi and Mu Yao stayed at home to help extract hydrosol and peel bamboo shoots.

Today someone set up a stove, so Wang Cuiying moved all the things that were drying in the front yard to the middle yard to dry.

Zhou was busy taking care of both the front and back yards, but she was full of energy because she thought that life was getting better day by day and she had something to look forward to.

Fortunately, Master Liu, who was setting up the stove, brought two apprentices with him, so it should only take half a day to finish.

Now that Wang Qing'er has found the magnolia flowers, she has completely forgotten about the soapberry trees she had been longing for. After eating, she picked up two bamboo baskets and took Mu Qin to pick flowers.

Mu Nan watched his wife's retreating figure, wanting to say something, but ultimately held back and remained silent, carrying two large sacks as he walked towards the back mountain.

One morning, Wang Qing'er and Mu Qin made several trips back and forth to carry the picked magnolia flowers home.

Worried that Mr. Liu, who was setting up the stove, would see them and ask them all sorts of questions, they went around to the back door and placed the flowers directly next to the stove.

Several bottles of magnolia hydrosol and about half a bottle of essential oil were already on the stove.

Following Wang Qing'er's instructions, Zhou used a small spoon to gently scoop the layer of yellow essential oil floating on top of the hydrosol into a separate bottle.

This was a method she came up with to extract essential oils; without separation tools, this was the only simple and crude way to extract them.

When they returned, Zhou was in the front yard, and Wang Qing'er washed the flowers herself and put them in a wooden tub to be distilled.

She also set aside some to dry into flowers, which she would use to make scented soap.

Yesterday, Wang Qing'er asked Mu Lin for paper and a pen. She wrote small labels and stuck them on the bottles so that she wouldn't get confused when there were many varieties in the future.

"Sister-in-law, your handwriting is so beautiful." Although Mu Qin had never been to school and could not read, she could tell that Wang Qing'er's handwriting was very pretty.

Although her grandparents in her previous life were from the countryside, her maternal grandfather was a professor of classical Chinese literature at a university and a calligraphy enthusiast. Wang Qing'er started practicing calligraphy at the age of eight, and her small regular script was so skillful that she could recognize almost all the traditional Chinese characters.

In addition, her mother felt that since he wrote well, he should also be proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. So, at the age of nine, he began to learn traditional Chinese painting and guzheng.

She can paint landscapes, flowers, birds, fish, and insects with ease, but she prefers to paint figures.

I'm alright at playing the guzheng, I can play a few pieces, and I've also gotten to the basics of Go, but I'm not an expert.

If she had transmigrated into the body of a noble lady, then all of this would have been useful. But now that she's transmigrated into the body of a peasant woman, the only thing she'll need is to be able to read and write!

Seeing Mu Qin's envious look, Wang Qing'er asked, "Do you want to learn?"

Mu Qin said somewhat embarrassedly, "I can't read."

"Didn't your older brother and the others teach you?" Wang Qing'er knew that women in this dynasty were not allowed to go to school, and wealthy families would hire people to come to their homes to teach their young ladies to read and write.

The original owner learned by following his older and younger cousins, which is why he could recognize the characters in the Three Character Classic and the Standards for Being a Good Student and Child, and his handwriting was quite good.