Chapter 179

After eating and drinking their fill, Jiang Xiaoxiao trained her abilities for a while as usual before going to sleep.

At dawn, the people from the soap workshop came to work.

Everyone was very diligent; from the unfamiliarity of the first few days to the proficiency now, they were getting better and better at it—burning plant ash, rendering lard... the efficiency of their work was also getting higher and higher.

This resulted in the firewood Jiang Wei had chopped in the mountains yesterday not being enough again.

With no other choice, Jiang Wei could only buy firewood from the villagers.

Once the news was released, the villagers were all shocked and ran to the Jiang house to inquire.

Jiang Wei took this opportunity to purchase firewood from the villagers on a large scale.

"Everyone, as long as you have firewood at home that you can't use up, you can sell it to my family; my family is willing to purchase it at the price of one wen for two jin!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone was shocked.

One wen for two jin of firewood—isn't this giving away money for nothing!

You have to know that firewood is everywhere in the mountains, and you can have as much as you want; the Jiang family was actually willing to spend money to buy it—it was simply too cheap for them!

Everyone didn't have time to sigh and ran home one after another to move firewood.

Jiang Wei moved a small table for Jiang Xiaoxiao and placed it at the courtyard gate, with paper and brushes on the table, as well as a heavy money bag.

Every villager who came to sell firewood was weighed and recorded by Jiang Xiaoxiao.

"Grandma Hua, this bundle of firewood of yours is twenty jin, exactly ten wen." Jiang Xiaoxiao counted out ten copper coins from the money bag and handed them to the ragged old woman in front of her.

Grandma Hua was a lonely old woman in the village with no children, barely maintaining her livelihood with only two mu of thin fields.

At the end of the year, she couldn't earn much money at all, and if she encountered a bad harvest year, even eating was a problem, and she had to rely on the help of the villagers to survive.

Now, holding these warm ten copper coins, her cloudy old eyes were almost filled with tears of gratitude, and she said "thank you" several times in a row.

She was old, and even if she wanted to do chores, no one wanted her.

But this job of picking firewood could be done as long as you had hands and feet.

The Jiang family's purchase of firewood from the village was undoubtedly giving people like them a way to survive.

Seeing that even Grandma Hua had earned ten wen with a bundle of firewood, everyone became even more excited and brought the firewood they had stockpiled at home to sell.

"This bundle of firewood of yours is ten jin, that's five wen..."

"Your family's is thirty jin, fifteen wen..."

"..."

Soon, a long line formed outside the Jiang family's courtyard.

Jiang Xiaoxiao was also busy, her hands and feet not stopping, recording while counting money for the villagers.

Chunya had just finished feeding the chickens, sheep, and rabbits in the backyard, and when she came out and saw this scene, she hurriedly came over to help.

Chunya was diligent, and she counted the copper coins very quickly; with her help, Jiang Xiaoxiao felt that the pressure was much less.

The speed of purchasing firewood also increased significantly.

In no time, the line shortened by a large chunk.

Those villagers who had sold their firewood at home picked up their wood-chopping knives and ran up the mountain impatiently.

Such a good thing as exchanging firewood for money didn't happen often, so they had to seize the opportunity to earn money!

For a time, the villagers who had become idle because the autumn planting was over became busy again; the whole family, as long as they were free, all went up the mountain to pick and chop wood...

Throughout the day, people were constantly coming in and out of the Jiang family's courtyard, and it was very lively.

It wasn't until evening, when everyone went home satisfied with their money, that Jiang Xiaoxiao had time to calculate the income and expenditure for the day.

In just one day, their family had purchased nearly two thousand jin of firewood, spending one tael of silver!

Jiang Xiaoxiao felt it was very cost-effective.

This firewood could not only be used to burn plant ash and render lard, but also as fuel for the kiln, and firewood was indispensable for cooking meals and dishes; also, burning the kang in winter would require a large amount of firewood... calculated, this firewood was not enough at all!

Jiang Xiaoxiao discussed with her mother that before winter arrived, their family could purchase firewood from the villagers long-term.

Jiang Wei naturally agreed.

In fact, in the matter of purchasing firewood, Jiang Xiaoxiao also had her own little selfishness.

As a book transmigrator, she knew the original plot; this winter would be very difficult to endure, and perhaps through this method, she could make the villagers consciously stockpile a large amount of firewood.

When the winter blizzard arrived, the villagers wouldn't be too miserable.

Moreover, through this matter, the villagers could earn a large sum of money before winter arrived and have a beautiful winter, and her family wouldn't have to worry about the lack of firewood anymore—it could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.

Thus, the next day, when the news of long-term firewood purchase was released, the villagers were excited again.

They had originally thought that such a good thing would only last for a few days, but they didn't expect the Jiang family to purchase firewood long-term—that was truly a great thing!

Now, everyone's enthusiasm for chopping wood in the mountains became even higher.

An adult man could carry two bundles of firewood down the mountain in one trip, and could run back and forth three or four times a day; one bundle of firewood was worth about ten wen, so he could earn sixty or seventy wen a day.

There was still a month and a half before winter, so earning two or three taels of silver wouldn't be a problem!

In less than a day, the news of the Jiang family's firewood purchase also spread to the neighboring village.

People in the neighboring village couldn't sit still and also carried their own firewood to the Jiang house to sell.

Jiang Xiaoxiao naturally welcomed them.

Things that cost two wen per jin weren't worth much anyway, so naturally, the more, the better.

People were constantly coming in and out of the Jiang family's courtyard, as lively as a market.

The amount of firewood stockpiled at home also reached an unprecedented high!

Fortunately, their firewood shed was built very large, and storing tens of thousands of jin of firewood wouldn't be a problem.

Even if it couldn't be stored, there were plenty of vacant places in the corners outside the courtyard wall; building a rain-proof shed would be enough to stack the firewood.

With sufficient firewood, the efficiency of the soap workshop increased by a large chunk.

Batch after batch of soap was produced and transported to the fifth cement room to dry in the shade, waiting to solidify...

Soon, the first batch of soap was ready to leave the factory.

Jiang Wei drove the family's horse carriage to the soap workshop and arranged for people to move the first batch of soap onto the carriage and transport it to the shop in town.

With the first batch of soap, the shop in town could open immediately.

Jiang Xiaoxiao also wanted to go to town, but she was responsible for purchasing firewood at home and couldn't get away, so she could only wait for the next time.

However, in the matter of purchasing firewood, even with Chunya's help, she was sometimes too busy to handle it.

She was too young, and there were too many people coming, so it was inevitable that there would be some oversights.

Jiang Xiaoxiao thought for a while and decided to hire someone to do this.

As for who to hire...

Jiang Xiaoxiao had originally planned to hire Zhao Dasao, but after thinking about it, she decided against it.

Recently, Zhao Dasao had been hit hard by the Zhao Wulai incident and was in a bad state of mind; purchasing firewood involved silver, which couldn't tolerate any mistakes, so she should find someone else.

Just then, Liu Dagang walked in carrying a twenty-jin bundle of firewood.

"Xiaoxiao, I went up the mountain and chopped quite a bit of firewood; calculate how much money it is for me."

Jiang Xiaoxiao looked up subconsciously, but saw someone behind Liu Dagang.

It was Zhao Ergou.

He was carrying a ten-jin bundle of firewood, his head lowered in embarrassment, as if he didn't dare to look at her.