Exiled to Lingnan, the Crown Prince's wife raises children, cultivates the land, and leads the

"Dong'er, why didn't you stop me?"

Zhou Shanhu stared at Dong'er.

Dong'er smiled wryly, "Miss, I couldn't stop her!"

"you……"

When Zhou Shanhu thought about what Cheng Qiqi had just said, only one thought came to her mind: Pay up and buy it!

"Then why didn't you remind me to buy less?"

Zhou Shanhu looked at the two bottles of fragrant dew and two bottles of summer dew in the box. The thought of spending the money at the shop across the street, letting others earn it, made her heart ache!

"Miss, I gave you a wink."

Dong'er felt extremely wronged; she had given him a meaningful look when they were paying!

"you……"

Zhou Shanhu recalled what Dong'er had said when she saw her desperately trying to signal to her.

"Dong'er, is your eye sick?"

Zhou Shanhu grew angrier the more she thought about it, puffing out her cheeks as she said, "You can't just say you didn't bring that much money, can you?"

"Miss."

When Dong'er brought this up, she felt even more aggrieved and said, "You said it was only a little over one tael of silver..."

"..."

Zhou Shanhu fell completely silent, then waved her hand and said, "Never mind, Sister Miaoyi bought more than me."

"Yes, yes, Miss Sun bought five portions."

Dong'er's eyes darted around, and she quickly changed the subject, saying, "Miss, I asked how the taro balls are made, but none of the people at the shop are willing to tell me. Should I send someone to the village to inquire again tomorrow?"

"Go."

Zhou Shanhu looked down and fiddled with Xia Qinglu. To be honest, the cool and refreshing fragrance was much more comfortable and pleasant than the mosquito-scaring tree.

And that fragrant dew.

Zhou Shanhu raised her hand and wiped her wrist with the fragrant dew. A subtle fragrance wafted around her, and compared to the scented clothes she used to use, this fragrance seemed to be more special.

"No wonder people don't mind that her shop is so small!"

"They are indeed quite different."

Zhou Shanhu said thoughtfully, "Dong'er, do you think it's possible to invite the incense maker to our shop?"

Wouldn't their shops be even more successful then?

Dong'er: "..."

"Never mind, you wouldn't understand anyway. I'll ask my brother when I get back."

As Zhou Shanhu was talking, she returned home and ran into her brother Zhou Chengyu, who was about to leave.

"Brother, are you going out drinking again?"

Zhou Shanhu stopped Zhou Chengyu and said, "Haven't you had enough of the family discipline last time?"

"Zhou Shanhu!"

Zhou Chengyu covered her mouth, pulled her to the side gate, and stuffed a silver note into her hand: "Be good, when I come back, I'll buy you clothes."

After saying that, Zhou Chengyu mounted his horse and headed straight for the brothel.

"..."

Zhou Shanhu held the silver note in her hand, her lips twitching: Did she look like she was short of silver notes?

……

The Jin family.

Just as dawn broke, Zhuang Sanmei and Song Zhenmei arrived.

"Qiqi, today's Miss Sun is the daughter of the magistrate, and Miss Zhou is the daughter of a well-known wealthy merchant in the area. She owns a cosmetics shop. We..."

Zhuang Sanmei and the others thought about it all night, but they were still worried!

What if Miss Zhou ruins their business this week?

"We run our small business honestly and peacefully, we don't steal or rob, what are we afraid of?"

Cheng Qiqi didn't take it to heart at all, saying, "Besides, she mostly tries to poach our master chef who makes fragrant balms, so she can probably do it, right?"

A master craftsman who makes perfumed dew?

Then he's not a member of the Jin family?

"That's not possible."

Zhuang Sanmei and Song Zhenmei exchanged a glance and said, "Qiqi, we misunderstood. But, what if she... resorts to some underhanded tactics?"

"Either they slander our products as poisonous, or they claim our products don't repel mosquitoes, or they say our products are of inferior quality, or they cut off our supply!"

With each word Cheng Qiqi spoke, Zhuang Sanmei and Song Zhenmei felt increasingly reassured.

"Don't worry about the cassava. We've already harvested almost all the cassava flour in Mita Prefecture, tens of thousands of kilograms!"

Zhuang Li and Granny Leng were rushing over when they overheard this. Granny Leng added, "Sweet soup and mixed fish? We have plenty of those."

"So, as long as we do what we said before, do it conscientiously, and don't try to fool our customers, we have nothing to fear!"

Cheng Qiqi nodded affirmatively and said, "The cassava flour harvest is almost complete. Next year, our village will have to find a way to grow some too, otherwise the price will definitely be even higher!"

"Don't worry, Qiqi. We've inquired about cassava; it's inexhaustible. We even have it in our village. It's easy to grow. We used to think it was poisonous, which is why we didn't dare eat it!"

Zhuang Lizheng said, "Qiqi, someone asked about what our taro balls are made of yesterday. Don't worry, we're keeping it a secret. Nobody in the village will tell!"

Nowadays, the villagers are united as one. Whether it's the sugar mill or the shops in Guihua, they all make money together as a village!

"By the way, we didn't reveal your identities either. If anyone asks, just say you're from Guihuali Village!"

Zhuang Lizheng added, "Qiqi, we have so much tapioca flour, won't it spoil?"

"Don't worry, if it's dried into powder and stored properly, it'll be ready to last until next year!"

As Cheng Qiqi spoke, she went to check out the cassava workshop next to the sugar mill.

As soon as I entered the workshop, I heard Song Wu Niang's voice: "This cassava still has some skin left on. It's cassava chunks that have been soaked for two days, so don't mix them up!"

"And here, the skin wasn't peeled off, peel it again."

Song Wu Niang's stern voice rang out, her serious demeanor making Cheng Qi Qi feel completely at ease. Despite Song Wu Niang's youth, once the standards were explained to her, she would strictly adhere to them!

"Madam Cheng".

Upon seeing Cheng Qiqi, Song Wuniang immediately asked, "Madam Cheng, please take a look. Are all these cassava chunks suitable?"

"OK."

Cheng Qiqi nodded with great certainty, looking at the peeled cassava chunks without a single skin, feeling completely at ease. Suddenly, her gaze fell on the top of the cassava chunks soaking in water, where seashells were strung together, some with one seashell and some with two seashells.

A thought struck her, and she asked, "Does this seashell represent the number of days it was soaked in water?"

"right."

Song Wu Niang nodded shyly.

"One seashell represents one day, two seashells represent two days, and three seashells represent three days?"

Cheng Qiqi nodded thoughtfully and praised, "That's really clever. Even if someone breaks in, they won't know how many days the cassava chunks have been soaking in water."

Cheng Qiqi looked at the beautiful seashell, a palm-sized seashell that looked nice and could be used to make a unique mark.

The complimented Song Wuniang smiled shyly: "Madam Cheng is too kind. I... I just can't read. I just strung together some seashells I found."

There's nothing about this process that would make others not understand.