Reincarnation and Rebirth

The next day, as usual, Su Wan'er took her younger siblings up the mountain to pick flowers, improve their meals, cut pig feed, and gather firewood. With Su Youlu at home, Old Madam Su was more restrained and wouldn't leave all the work to her, so Su Xiang'er felt more at ease coming out. However, she was a little absent-minded while eating.

"Xiang'er, are you feeling unwell?"

"Big sister, if our parents find out what we're doing, won't they be sad?"

Su Wan'er thought for a moment, "Xiang'er, do you think that if your parents have something delicious, they would immediately think of secretly hiding it for us to eat? Or would they give it to the public so that everyone can eat it together?"

Su Xiang'er replied without hesitation, "Of course I'll hand it over." This kind of thing had happened before. Whenever Su Youlu got something good outside, he would hand it over to Old Madam Su immediately so that she could distribute it. The same was true for Madam Wang. Whenever they found something delicious on the mountain, Madam Wang would hand it over without hesitation. She never thought that once those things were in Old Madam Su's hands, they would be distributed to the second branch of the family and wouldn't even be enough to fill a tooth gap.

If the two elders were fair, Su Wan'er would naturally not mind sharing good food with everyone. But every time they finally got their hands on food, it ended up in the stomachs of the eldest and fourth wives. How could she be willing to accept that?

Su Zhao'er was young and spoke frankly, "Second sister, if you take these wild eggs back, Mother will definitely give them all to the milk. Then, eldest sister will have to argue with them again just so we can have a bite. I don't want eldest sister to suffer."

Su Xiang'er nodded, "I'm sorry, eldest sister, I was wrong. I just felt sorry for Mother."

Su Wan'er said solemnly, "Xiang'er, there's always a reason why someone is pitiful. If Mother could stand up and protect us, I would certainly want her to eat these nourishing foods. But Mother can't. Perhaps she will change in the future..."

"Big sister, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things and made things difficult for you."

"Xiang'er, it's good to be kind, but you have to be careful about who you're dealing with. For those wicked people, your kindness is like handing them a knife so they can turn around and stab you a few times. Do you think that's worth it?"

"Big sister, I understand, I won't mention it again."

"Okay, don't worry, with Daddy here, Mommy's days should be a little easier these next few days. Hurry up and eat, let's go home early today."

"why?"

Su Wan'er blinked. "To make perfume balm."

Su Xiang'er and Su Zhao'er immediately shook their heads, "Big sister, we have to do that secretly. What if our aunt and fourth aunt see us and learn how to do it?"

Su Xiang'er smiled mysteriously, "Big sister's skills are not so easy to steal, don't worry."

Xiang's family wasn't as wealthy as the Chen family, but they were still considered well-off. They owned over twenty acres of land and had four brothers; she was the youngest daughter and therefore extremely pampered. From a young age, her mother sent her to learn embroidery, hoping she would marry into a wealthy family in town. As for why she married Su Youcai, it was because Su Youcai had a good speaking voice, and at the time, Su Youfu was a scholar. Her family felt that the Su family was also a scholarly family, which is why they agreed to the marriage.

When they first got married, Old Lady Su also wanted to control Xiang Shi, but Xiang Shi had four older brothers. In their first confrontation, her brothers came to the door and beat Su Youcai up without saying a word. Old Lady Su immediately backed down and never dared to control Xiang Shi again.

Su Wan'er was so confident because her product contained a crucial ingredient: beeswax. This substance had not yet been researched in this dynasty, and she had also specifically looked at the face creams sold by vendors when she was shopping that day. They had a strong smell of lard and were very greasy when applied to the face, making them unsuitable for use in the summer.

I used a small amount of lard in the perfume balm I made before, because I couldn't find coconut.

However, after the space was upgraded, there were a few more coconut trees on the mountain stream. Now Su Wan'er was more confident in making better perfumes and even developing lipsticks and face creams.

When Grandma Su saw that the three of them had only taken two bundles of firewood, and that the remaining baskets were filled with nothing but pretty but useless flowers, she was furious.

"You three lazy good-for-nothings, you've been up in the mountains for so long and all you've brought back is this junk. I'll teach you a lesson today..."

"Grandma, I'm sorry. The balm I made for Zhao'er the other day was given to Aunt and my eldest cousin, wasn't it? So I thought I'd make some more for her today. Grandma, don't worry, we'll go up the mountain to gather firewood again this afternoon." Su Wan'er's voice was loud, and Su Youfu from the eldest branch of the family heard it, so he quickly put down his book and came out.

"Mother, it's nothing serious, stop arguing, you're disturbing my reading." After saying that, she turned to Su Wan'er and said, "Wan'er, ask your aunt to help you."

Su Wan'er's eyes were full of teasing. "No need, no need. Auntie is quite busy too. I wouldn't dare to trouble Auntie."

Madam Chen swayed her barrel-like waist to Su Wan'er's side, took down her basket, examined the flowers inside carefully, and said with a smile, "Oh dear, I thought that perfume smelled really good the other day. Today, Wan'er is going to make it, so I'll learn how to make it too. If Qing'er wants it in the future, I can make it too."

Upon hearing this, Madam Xiang's eyes lit up, and she jogged over to Su Xiang'er's side, taking down her basket. "Fourth Aunt, come and help too."

When Grandma Su saw that these people were wasting firewood to make those useless things, she was so angry that she was about to start cursing again. Su Youfu quickly signaled for the old lady to go back inside.

"Eldest son, what's wrong with your wife? She's usually so lazy she wouldn't even pick up a fallen oil bottle, so why is she making some perfume for those brats today? That stuff can't be eaten or drunk, and it's a waste of firewood. No way, Mother won't allow it. Winter is almost here, we can't waste the firewood at home."

Seeing that Old Madam Su was about to get up again, Su Youfu quickly stopped her, "Mother, don't you want the money anymore?"

"Silver? What silver? Where did the silver come from?" When it came to silver, Old Mrs. Su's eyes practically popped out to be used as a microscope as she scrutinized Su Youfu.

"I don't have any silver on me, it's that balm." After saying that, he softly told his father-in-law the story they had agreed on in town, of course, that it could be sold for twenty taels.

The old lady was short-sighted and was immediately stunned by the number twenty taels.

Old Man Su, standing to the side, glanced at Su Youfu with a shrewd look. "Boss, which big shot has taken a liking to you and is willing to offer twenty taels to buy it? I remember you only went there for one day yesterday, and someone has already taken a liking to it so quickly?"

Su Youfu's alarm bells rang loudly. How could he have forgotten that his own father was not someone to be easily fooled?

"Hey, it's like this, Dad. At yesterday's banquet, the girl sitting next to Qing'er was from the bride's family who came to escort her to the wedding. She smelled the fragrance on Qing'er and insisted that she tell her where it came from. Qing'er had no choice but to say that it was made by her own sister. The girl then insisted on buying the recipe, and she offered twenty yuan, which is no small amount."

Old Master Su asked with a serious expression, "Whose family does that girl belong to? You took the prescription, how are you going to give it to her?"

Su Youfu hadn't expected the old man to ask such detailed questions, and he couldn't continue making up a story.

Old Man Su slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, "Youfu, as the eldest son, I have had high expectations for you since you were a child. Now, I never expected that you would even deceive me and your mother."

Seeing that Old Man Su was angry, Old Woman Su also realized what was going on and slapped her son hard, "You lied to me? You even lied to your own mother? Tell me, how much money did they actually offer?"

Old Su frowned as he looked at the crazy woman. This wasn't about the amount of money.

Su Youfu said that an unmarried young lady had taken a fancy to the perfume and wanted to pay for it? Putting aside whether an unmarried woman would even think of selling her son, how could they hand over the recipe to someone else after they got it? Su Youfu was clearly stammering earlier and couldn't say which family's daughter it was. Besides, those who accompanied the bride had already gone home after the banquet and couldn't possibly have stayed in town.

Moreover, the county seat of Sunset City is only ten miles away from the town. This is why Su Wan'er once mocked the town for having such a grand city gate. In fact, it was because the town was too close to the county seat, so they simply enclosed it as well and made it into a city gate.

They were only fifty or sixty miles from the prefectural capital, and they could return to the city that day. Su Youfu couldn't say where the man came from, but that meant he wanted to keep the prescription for himself and profit from it.

As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father, and Old Man Su had a firm grasp on Su Youfu's thoughts.