Chapter 131

131. "What are you thinking about?"

While pondering, Jiang Xiaoxiao heard her mother's voice from behind.

She instinctively turned her head to look. Her mother had already finished bathing and was dressed at some point, standing behind her with her hands covered in shampoo, preparing to help her wash her hair.

"..." Jiang Xiaoxiao silently looked at her mother and said, "Mother, the soap we use for bathing is fragrant and smells good, and it cleans well too. Why don't we make some soap to sell?"

Soap was a transmigration artifact, an indispensable item for getting rich!

Every transmigrated woman in the novels she had read in her previous life would make soap as soon as she arrived in ancient times. The materials for this were not expensive, and it was simple and easy to make. It was the must-have choice for earning the first pot of gold in ancient times!

She thought for a moment and added, "Mother, I saw how to make soap in those encyclopedias yesterday. The method is very simple..."

Jiang Wei's fingers didn't stop rubbing her hair. Hearing this, she glanced at her and said, "You think about these things all day in that little head of yours. I gave you those books to broaden your knowledge and horizons, but you, on the other hand, think about how to make money all day."

Jiang Xiaoxiao smiled and said, "Mother, once we earn enough money, we can do whatever we want, buy whatever we want, and go wherever we want to play..."

"Alright, alright." Jiang Wei rinsed the foam off her head with water and then applied a thick layer of conditioner to her hair, saying, "In a few days, when we buy the shop in town, we'll sell the soap you mentioned."

Listening to her mother's words, Jiang Xiaoxiao finally closed her eyes with satisfaction, enjoying her mother's finger massage.

The next day arrived.

Jiang Wei got up early, boiled two eggs in the kitchen, made some white porridge, and had a beautiful breakfast with pickled vegetables.

After eating, Jiang Wei took a firewood knife to the bamboo grove in the backyard to cut some bamboo to repair the sheep pen and rabbit nest that had been smashed by the hail yesterday.

Jiang Xiaoxiao moved a few small stools and placed them under the shade of the tree in the courtyard, moving the books that hadn't dried yesterday outside to air.

While airing them, she sat down at the table, spread out a brand-new sheet of Xuan paper on the tabletop, and used a brush to write down the soap-making method she had looked up in the books.

She was learning from her mother's way.

When Jiang Wei had previously manufactured cement, she had also written down the overall steps like this, and finally modified them according to the limitations of this era. Through such step-by-step improvements, she had finally successfully manufactured cement.

This was a good method, and even more so, a good habit.

Jiang Wei finished her work and leaned over to look, her tone involuntarily carrying a bit of praise: "Your handwriting has improved."

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao lowered her head and smiled shyly.

Ever since she learned to read, her mother had started buying Xuan paper, brushes, and ink for her to practice writing.

Although she had absolutely no problems with reading, and even Jiang Wei had to praise her for "having talent," the characters she wrote were like dog scratches, blurred into a ball, and it was impossible to see what was written at all.

In the past, she had mocked Liu Dagang's handwriting for being ugly, but now that she looked at it, what she wrote herself wasn't even as good as his...

Jiang Wei urged her to practice every day.

Thus, her daily tasks had increased by one more: besides training her abilities, she had to practice calligraphy.

However, after these few days of hard practice, she had made some progress.

Although the characters she wrote were still a bit crooked, at least it was possible to see what was written.

Jiang Wei pointed to the characters on the Xuan paper and said, "Soap making mainly requires two types of materials: oil and alkaline substances. You wrote here to use lard for oil and plant ash for alkaline substances. Besides that, can't you add other things?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao was stunned when she heard this: "Ah, what else can be added?"

Jiang Wei added, "The bath beans used by some wealthy families are fragrant. If we want the soap we sell to enter the eyes of those people, we must add some unique things, such as some spices, flower petals, and medicinal herbs..."

Following Jiang Wei's hint, Jiang Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up: "Mother, I understand!"

She picked up the brush again and wrote a line on the Xuan paper.

Although ordinary soap alone could kill the bath beans used in this era, if they wanted to make this business big and strong and thoroughly enter the circles of those wealthy families, they could add some marketing methods.

For example, soap with spices and flower petals could not only clean better but also protect the skin and beautify it, and soap with medicinal herbs could nourish and protect the skin...

Summarizing it this way, the soap produced could be divided into many types.

But...

"Mother, where are we going to get the flower petals?"

Medicinal herbs and spices were easy to talk about; they were sold in town. But flower petals... flowers in this era were rare, and they were very difficult to raise. Ordinary families had problems even with food and clothing; where would they have the spare time to raise flowers?

Generally, only those wealthy families had the leisure to raise some flowers and plants in their courtyards.

Jiang Wei said, "I do have many flower seeds in my space, but it's too late to plant them now..."

"It's okay, Mother. We can plant good flowers now and use them next year. This year, we'll first make a batch of ordinary scented soap to test the waters." Jiang Xiaoxiao said.

"Alright." Jiang Wei touched her head and asked again, "What flowers do you like?"

"Roses, jasmine, roses, tulips... I like them all!" Jiang Xiaoxiao said without hesitation.

But after saying it, she regretted it. It seemed like these flowers didn't exist in this era.

Jiang Xiaoxiao couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. If she were to say it, she should have said something like cloves, peonies, or peonies that existed in this era...

Jiang Wei, however, had no doubts and only said, "Alright, I have all these flower seeds in my space. After the house is built, I'll fence off a flower garden in the courtyard for you to plant them."

After saying this, she asked again, "You saw these flowers in books, right?"

Jiang Xiaoxiao nodded repeatedly: "Yes, Mother. I saw in those encyclopedias that these flowers are both beautiful and fragrant, and can be used to make sachets or perfume."

She breathed a silent sigh of relief in her heart, thanking those encyclopedias; otherwise, she really wouldn't have known how to round off the lie...

Just as the mother and daughter were discussing the relevant steps of soap making, the Li Zheng arrived.

"Yo, Xiaoxiao's mother, are you teaching Xiaoxiao to read?"

"Uncle Liu, why are you here?" Jiang Wei got up to open the courtyard gate, while Jiang Xiaoxiao calmly covered the Xuan paper on the table with a book.

The Li Zheng had read some books, so even if the characters she wrote were ugly, it wouldn't be hard to recognize them.

Fortunately, the Li Zheng's attention wasn't on her side either. He turned his head to look at the repaired sheep pen and rabbit nest in the courtyard and couldn't help but sigh: "Sigh, this big hailstorm has really harmed us peasant folk..."

Last night, the people in the village worked all night and almost didn't close their eyes. Most people didn't go home to sleep until dawn.

(End of chapter)