Travel to the mountains and make a fortune in silence

"Okay." Mu Nan quickly went to the front yard to move potatoes. Soon, Wang Qing'er saw Mu Nan carrying a bag of potatoes back, followed by Wu Zihao carrying a bag of potatoes, and then Wu Zixuan and Wu Zihao carrying a bag. Mu Lin followed behind with a knife and a cutting board.

Well! There really is strength in numbers!

Wang Qing'er had Mu Nan pour the potatoes on the ground. She then taught the two girls how to pick out the potatoes: those with sprouts should be put in one pile, those with damage in another, and those without sprouts or damage in yet another.

She started cutting the potato seeds with sprouts herself, while Mu Nan led a few boys to dig pits in the fields behind the mountain.

Wang Qing'er chopped some and sprinkled it with wood ash, then mixed it well.

These potatoes weren't rotten, but far too many had sprouted. The shopkeeper even said only a small portion had sprouted. Sigh! Merchants, oh merchants, none of them are honest!

There was no other way but to plant everything, and in the end, only a few dozen kilograms were left that were edible.

Before long, Zhou Shi also came to help cut the potatoes. The two of them quickly finished cutting the potatoes, and then left the rest to Mu Nan and the others.

After breakfast, Wang Qing'er took Mu Qin and Zi Tong to pick peach blossoms, and Wu Zihan also volunteered to go along.

She didn't stop her; in fact, she kindly gave her a basket. She was happy to have another person to help with the work, so why would she stop her?

Mu Nan continued planting potatoes with Zihao and Zixuan.

Zhou took Mu Lin and Wu Zihao to the private school. It was Wu Zihao's first day at the private school, and Zhou was a little worried, even though Old Man Mu had made arrangements and paid the tuition fee when he sent the carriage there the night before.

Each potato has several sprouts, with the smallest having three or four sprouts and the largest having six or seven sprouts. So, more than 400 kilograms of potato seeds were planted on two acres of land, with a relatively wide spacing, which is conducive to the growth of the potatoes.

Cowpeas, mung beans, red beans, and soybeans were still intercropped along the edges of the field.

Not many peach blossoms were in full bloom; most were still buds. This gave them time to pick the flowers, otherwise, in such a large peach orchard, they would have withered before they could pick many.

The peach trees in this grove are generally not tall, so picking them while standing on the ground is not tiring. Besides, there is such a large area that they cannot possibly pick them all, so they automatically give up on the parts that are out of reach.

Perhaps because girls love flowers, Wu Zihan picked them with great enthusiasm, and her speed gradually increased.

The four girls spent the whole morning picking peach blossoms. Mu Nan and Zi Hao helped them pick some to take home twice, so by noon, their baskets were only half full.

On the way back, I found more than a dozen orchids, all of them very large, although many of them had already withered.

Wang Qing'er still picked quite a lot. This kind of orchid is even more precious than the white magnolia. She only extracted a few bottles of hydrosol in total. The fragrance was really nice. She would apply a little to her neck each time as perfume.

Zhou still brought Mu Yao home to help her extract hydrosol, but now she had a little follower, Zi Yuan.

Whether it was Zhou Shi who reminded them or not, Wu Zihan and Zitong placed the peach blossoms directly in the front yard without asking Wang Qing'er what she wanted them for!

Wang Qing'er used her lunch break to finish making the fragrant soap. She had already brought back some of the molds that Old Man Mu had ordered.

I made several different shaped molds. Once all the molds were made, I could make more than two hundred pieces of soap every day.

While rendering lard, she asked Zhou to watch over it. She took Muqin to the stream to pick mint leaves and mugwort leaves, as these were the only two types available for making more.

Fortunately, during the two days she went to the county town, her mother-in-law took Muqin with her to help pick magnolia flowers, which were then dried.

Old Man Mu and Mu Xiao also came back when they saw the orchids, and Zhou helped them extract the hydrosol.

I have dozens of bottles of white magnolia flower hydrosol. I kept a few for my own use and used the rest to make scented soap.

There are still some flower buds on the magnolia tree. We can pick some in a few days and then use the fresh flowers to make scented soap.

Next, we can make more peach blossom products, but the fragrance of peach blossom hydrosol is too faint, and it will have even less fragrance after being made into scented soap.

However, the skincare effects of peach blossom hydrosol are really good. If it weren't for the fact that hydrosol can't be stored for too long, she would have planned to sell peach blossom hydrosol directly.

Since the fragrance isn't appealing enough, she can add some flower petals as a garnish. What young lady wouldn't love a pink and delicate soap?

The dried peach blossoms she dried last time looked quite good, still a lovely pink. She was initially worried the petals would change color after drying.

This was quite an accident, so we decided to use most of the peach blossoms to dry and preserve them. Later, we can grind them into powder to make scented soap, which will definitely be pink and delicate.

There are only a few fragrances available right now, which is really too few. After the peach blossoms are picked, we'll have to go to the mountains to find other flowers.

Wang Cuiying cooked lunch: steamed white rice, a platter of various braised meats that she had specially saved from the morning, and a stir-fried mushroom and pork dish.

Now there are more and more fir mushrooms in the mountains. Every day, after sending some to restaurants, there are still quite a few left over. We stir-fry them at home or make mushroom soup, and the rest are dried and stored.

Yesterday, Wang Qing'er picked too many red amaranths, so Wang Cuiying stir-fried the rest, making a big bowlful.

The rest were leftovers from last night, including braised pork, bone broth, and a table full of other dishes.

Seeing that everyone enjoyed the cold pork heart salad that Wang Qing'er made last night, Wang Cuiying asked her daughter-in-law how to make it. Then, at noon, she tried making one herself, and it tasted pretty good too.

After the family finished lunch, Wang Qing'er brought out two cantaloupes, washed them clean, cut them open, took out the seeds, and put them in the yard to dry. She wanted to try growing cantaloupes.

The cantaloupe was cut into small pieces and placed on the table. Everyone ate two pieces. The family had never eaten such fruit before, and they all buried their heads in their food, enjoying it immensely, and no one had time to talk.

Wang Qing'er finally got to eat fruit after a long time. Seeing that she liked it, Mu Nan gave her all of his, and he only ate one piece.

Although this man isn't good with sweet words, his actions truly show how good he is to his wife.

After everyone finished eating the melon, they dispersed.

Seeing that only Grandma, her parents, and her daughter-in-law were still sitting, Mu Nan said, "Grandma, Mom and Dad, I want to buy the peach orchard in the front mountain and the mountains in the back mountain where we cut sugarcane and dug up he shou wu last time."

Wang Cuiying exclaimed in surprise, "What? Why buy so many mountains? Besides, where would we get so much money to buy mountains?"

Zhou glanced at her daughter-in-law with displeasure and said, "Cuiying, don't make a fuss. Let Mu Nan have her say first."

"I didn't have time to tell you yesterday, but the he shou wu we dug up last time sold for 2,900 taels of silver in the county..."

Zhou and Wang Cuiying asked in unison, "How many did you sell?"

These two, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, are really in sync. Who just said not to make a fuss? How could they have forgotten?

Sigh! Who made He Shou Wu (Polygonum multiflorum) sell for such a huge sum of money?