During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

Now, Ye Qingqing's status in the Ye family is considered god-like by everyone.

Over the next few days, Ye Qingqing ate and slept, and once she was done sleeping, she started thinking about soap.

She started working with Ye Dazhuang and Li Chunyan, setting up a large pot in the yard to make "Soap 2.0".

She asked Ye Dazhuang to go up the mountain to cut some pine branches and cypress leaves, dry them, and burn them to ashes.

This type of ash has a high alkali content, making the soap harder.

She also asked her older brother to drive to town to buy some spices, such as cheap mugwort and mint, to grind into powder and mix in, in an attempt to mask the smell of wood ash.

As for lard, that's a major consumer of it. Ye Qingqing simply asked her older brother to buy several large slabs of the cheapest fatty pork when he went to town, and then render the lard himself.

This process can yield dozens of kilograms!

The aroma of lard wafting from the Ye family's house filled the entire Kaoshantun village. Neighbors peeked around, wondering what delicious food the Ye family had prepared this time!

"Brother Dazhuang, drain this pot of oil."

Ye Qingqing directed, "Big brother and sister-in-law, hurry up over there, or we'll be late!"

"Um!"

Ye Dazhuang responded and quickly filtered the lard.

"Sister-in-law, clarify the lime water again, make sure there are no residues, otherwise there will be granules in the soap, which will damage the fabric when you wash your clothes."

"I know, I know, I'll be careful!"

Li Chunyan was now completely obedient to Ye Qingqing, nodding repeatedly and saying, "That's good!"

After several days of repeated experiments, Ye Qingqing finally produced the first batch of "improved" soap.

The soap has turned a light yellow color, no longer that frightening blackish-gray.

It has a faint grassy scent. Although it doesn't produce as much foam as the first one, its cleaning power is still strong.

Ye Qingqing specially found an old piece of clothing covered in soot and grease to try it out, and the result shocked the whole family.

"It's done!"

Ye Qingqing held up a square bar of soap, a satisfied smile on her face.

"Qingqing, you're amazing!" Ye Dazhuang looked at her, his eyes shining.

"That's right!" Ye Qingqing proudly raised her chin. "Just wait, Kaoshantun will soon be bustling with activity because of our Ye family!"

She looked at the small bar of soap in her hand, already having a plan in mind.

In winter, when washing clothes relies entirely on a washing stick, this thing is absolutely a game-changer.

Moreover, the production cost is extremely low, mainly consisting of lard and wood ash. As long as it is mass-produced, the profit is much higher than that of wild vegetables!

Another source of revenue!

"Father, elder brother and sister-in-law, Cuicui, there are some things I need to tell you."

Ye Qingqing gathered her family together and said with a serious expression, "No one else can make this soap. Although the formula is simple, we must keep it a secret and not let it be passed on to outsiders."

Furthermore, since this is something family members do, we can't let outsiders see it. These next few days, have the Zhao brothers keep a close watch on the yard and prevent any unauthorized personnel from approaching the backyard.

"Second daughter, do you even need to tell me? This stuff is our family's path to wealth! Don't worry, your sister-in-law isn't stupid!"

Li Chunyan immediately raised her voice, patting her chest, and said, "Before this thing came out, I wouldn't let anyone see it!"

Although he didn't know how to do business, he did know the principle of "not flaunting wealth".

She nervously hid the soap in the cupboard, as if it were not a bar of soap, but a piece of gold.

"Sister-in-law, don't be so nervous..."

Ye Qingqing couldn't help but laugh, and waved her hand, saying,

"Soap, to put it simply, is a reaction that occurs when lard, wood ash, and lime water are mixed together."

The principle is not difficult, but if the heat, the proportions, and the concentration of the lime water are slightly off, the result will not be the same thing.

Even if a layman puts something right in front of him, he still won't be able to figure it out.

"It's best to be careful!"

Ye Youliang tapped his pipe and, unusually, expressed his opinion: "There's an old saying that you shouldn't flaunt your wealth. If word gets out about our soap, who knows how many people will be envious."

"Father is right."

Ye Qingqing nodded. "That's why I said we should close the door and make the soap in the backyard these few days. The soap needs to be air-dried first to allow it to fully saponify."

You need to wait at least seven or eight days for the vegetables to harden completely and for their alkalinity to drop before washing clothes without burning your hands.

"Seven or eight days is such a long time..."

Ye Cuicui was immediately deflated. "I was thinking of taking it to town to exchange it for silver tomorrow!"

Ye Qingqing tapped her little head.

"You little money-grubber, you know you can't rush things!"

She paused, then looked up at the sky.

It snowed heavily for two days in a row, and neither she nor Ye Dazhuang went up the mountain. They also sent Zhao Laoda to Fushunlou to let them know that there were no wild vegetables available these days.

I haven't picked any in two days, and I bet a lot more wild vegetables have sprouted up in the cave.

Now that the snow has stopped, it's a good time to pick some wild vegetables and also grab a bar of soap to give myself a good bath.

Ye Qingqing has a slight obsession with cleanliness. She used to hide in her room and wash with water. But as someone who is used to using soap, she feels that rinsing with water is almost the same as not washing at all.

The sticky, greasy feeling on the body cannot be washed off with water.

Last time she went to the hot spring cave, she only took a short soak. This time, with soap, she's going to have a good, long bath!

"Big Zhuang..."

As Ye Qingqing came out of the house, she quickly caught up with Ye Dazhuang, who was about to go back inside.

"Um."

Ye Dazhuang stopped opening the door and turned to look at her with his deep eyes.

"The snow has stopped, let's go to the cave again tomorrow."

Ye Qingqing smiled faintly and said, "The soap will take seven days to arrive. Since we're just killing time anyway, let's go dig up some wild vegetables. There are a lot of customers waiting in town."

Ye Dazhuang nodded lightly: "Okay."

"Hey, Er Yatou, are you going to pick wild vegetables with Brother Da Zhuang?"

Li Chunyan listened intently to one sentence, then immediately frowned and said, "Don't go! Last time we were stuck in the snow all night, and it almost scared my family to death!"

What if it starts raining again tomorrow?

Ye Qingqing smiled faintly, pointed to the sky, and said mysteriously,

"I asked God, and it won't snow tomorrow. It'll be sunny for several days!"

Li Chunyan rolled her eyes at her, "..."

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the snow indeed stopped.

As soon as Ye Qingqing opened her eyes, she focused her mind and first retrieved the divination slips.

Last time she was lazy and didn't check the fortune sticks, and as a result, the mountain was blocked by heavy snow and she was stuck all night. This time, she dared not be lazy at all.

"Clang..."

The shimmering divination sticks appeared before my eyes, and after a few shakes, golden characters appeared:

[Xiao Ji: There is an underground river downstream from the hot spring. Go there to catch fish and you can make a small profit.]

[Xiao Ji: Wild fruits are beginning to ripen in the cave; go and harvest them to sell for a high price.]

[Extremely ominous: Bears are known to roam the North Peak; provoking them could be fatal.]

The catch!

Ye Qingqing's eyes lit up; these were all good stuff!

She had almost finished eating the mandarin fish she caught with the divination sticks last time, and she was thinking of getting some more, but unexpectedly, her wish came true!

As for wild fruits, let's not even mention them!