Qin Fang picked up a piece of pig intestines, and his eyes lit up. This awful woman could actually make such delicious food. He ate the food faster, and finally used the steamed bun to dip the soup from the pig intestines, and almost licked the bottom of the lunch box clean. There were also pig trotters, which were stewed very soft and glutinous, and felt like they melted in the mouth.
Qin Fangxin thought that people from wealthy families were different and their dishes were especially delicious.
After lunch, the story of Qin Fang's wife committing suicide by taking poison on their wedding night had a sequel. The soldiers under his command praised their sister-in-law's cooking skills. Everyone also knew that Qin Fang's wife did not commit suicide, but took the wrong medicine due to poor health.
Yang Haiyan naturally didn't know about these things. She and Lu's wife arrived home, and soon after, the people who came to wash clothes and fetch water came. It was the eldest daughter-in-law of that family, named Tang, who came with her ten-year-old daughter, pulling the cart.
This cart is very special. It has four small wheels underneath and is covered with wooden boards. In this way, a large wooden barrel filled with water can be placed on the wooden boards and pulled back. Even women can pull it.
Tang: "Madam, you have to take out the laundry. We have to wash it over the sink. Otherwise, the sheets and quilts are very large, and it will take too much time to carry buckets of water back and forth."
Yang Haiyan: "That makes sense. I'll go with you. I have some clothes to wash." She went back to her room to get the sheets and quilt, and bought some soap for washing clothes on the platform. Ordinary soap costs two yuan a piece, Yang Haiyan bought a piece and then cut it in half. She was not worried that someone would recognize the soap, because this was the border, and the border was the center of trade, and merchants from other countries could often be seen. If someone asked, she would say that she bought it from merchants from other countries. In this country, merchants from other countries are called traveling merchants.
But when she saw the soap, she thought of another way to make money.
Yang Haiyan put this thought aside for the time being and followed Tang's mother and daughter to wash clothes.
Next to the sink, which is also the well, there is a place for washing clothes. Tang's mother and daughter helped her wash the quilt and bedsheets, and she washed the clothes she changed yesterday. She washed quickly and went home first. After another quarter of an hour, Tang's mother and daughter came back with a cart. They spread out her quilt and bedsheets, and then carried two buckets of water to the kitchen.
The bed sheets and quilts weighed four catties in total, and cost four cents. I fetched water fifteen times a month, which was equivalent to ten cents for a day's hard labor, so the total was fourteen cents. After paying, one tael of silver was only eleven cents.
Tang took the money but did not leave immediately. She hesitated for a moment and asked a little embarrassedly, "Mrs. Qin, what is the name of this laundry machine? It looks a bit like soap, but it is very useful. Not only does it wash very cleanly, but it also has a nice fragrance."
Yang Haiyan: "I don't know what it is. This morning when I went to the market, I saw a vendor setting up a stall. There was this thing on the stall. It was called soap. It was a fat thing that looked like a soapberry. I thought it was interesting, so I bought it."
When Mrs. Tang heard this, she felt a little sorry: "Then you definitely can't buy it now. You don't know, some ladies' clothes are quite exquisite, but soap can't wash them clean. I think yours will definitely wash them clean."
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "This thing is expensive. One piece costs twenty cents."
When Mrs. Tang heard this, she said: "It is expensive, but it is durable and the clothes washed in it are clean and smell good." If they use this to wash clothes, they can charge a few more cents each time, and the ladies will not mind. In this way, their family has an advantage over other families.
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she understood what she meant: "You want this?"
Tang: "Isn't it impossible to buy it?"
Yang Haiyan: "I'll buy a few for you later when I get them."
Tang shook her head: "A few dollars are not enough. It would be nice if I could buy it for a long time." After all, their family has to do laundry every day.
Yang Haiyan: “That’s a pity.”
Mrs. Tang: "Madam, we are leaving first. We will come back to fetch you some water after dinner the day after tomorrow."
Yang Haiyan: “Okay.”
After Tang's mother and daughter left with the cart, Yang Haiyan figured out that making soap required wood ash, a filter, clean water, a pot, salt, and lard. Among these materials, lard was the most expensive.
After coming up with the idea, Yang Haiyan immediately took action.
She spent 18 platform coins to buy an old-fashioned wooden scale on the trading platform, which was the same as the wooden scales used in vegetable markets. She also spent 10 platform coins to buy a filter bag, a very ordinary filter bag, the same white filter bag used to filter soy milk.
Then I spent another twenty platform coins to buy a bottle of rose-scented perfume.
Then he bought another fifty grams of silver, which is one tael, or one thousand coins.
Afterwards, she went to the market. She first went to the meat stall and ordered five catties of pork fat for tomorrow. Finally, she went to the carpenter's shop and ordered wooden grids, which were soap models. There were twenty rectangular models on a wooden board. So the one tael of silver that Lu's wife gave her, plus the one tael of silver she bought on the platform, totaled two taels of silver. She only had less than one tael left after spending these days.
In the evening, Yang Haiyan fried cabbage and cooked brown rice, eating a light meal. After dinner, she began to filter the lime, added water and stirred it, then boiled the lye in a pot, took it out and precipitated it, and went to bed.
The next day, before daybreak, five pounds of pork fat came from the butcher's stall. So Yang Haiyan simply boiled lard and made three pounds of lard.
The wooden mold has not been delivered yet, but Yang Haiyan has become interested, so she plans to give it a try first.
She first took 100 grams of lard and tried it, a little less. The first step was to stir the lard and lye together and heat it during the stirring process, and then drop a few drops of perfume and salt in the middle. The second step was to take out the soap solution after half an hour and put it in a bowl. She didn't care about it anymore. She had to prepare lunch and deliver it to Qin Fang at noon.
Thinking of Qin Fang, Yang Haiyan decided to make do with this for now. She was unfamiliar with the place and Qin Fang was not her type, so she was willing to try to get along with him first. If she felt that they were not suitable for each other later, she could find another way.
I boiled lard this morning, so there are a lot of lard residues. I sprinkled a little salt on them and they were ready to eat. The staple food was cabbage noodle soup, the soup was the leftover pig's trotter soup from yesterday, and then I made three poached eggs, one for myself and two for Qin Fang.
She thinks it is good to deliver groceries every day, and that proper digestion exercises after meals are good for health.
After dinner, she went out with a basket. When she passed by Mrs. Lu's house, she said, "Sister-in-law, I'm going to deliver food to my husband. Please help me look after the yard." In fact, because this is the family quarters of the soldiers in the barracks, it is very safe and no one will come here to cause trouble. After all, in the minds of ordinary people, soldiers are also officials, which means they are civil servants in modern times.
Mrs. Lu: "Hey, don't worry."
Today Yang Haiyan delivered the food alone, because Lu Saozi told her yesterday that she would not go today. I accompanied Yang Haiyan yesterday to show her the way.
Yang Haiyan felt relieved when she went alone. The distance from the family quarters to the military camp seemed to take an hour, but in fact, there were not many roads, and it was safe here. After all, no one would do bad things near the military camp. Would they want to save their heads
When Yang Haiyan arrived at the back gate of the military camp, the soldier on guard recognized him and said, "Sister-in-law of Mr. Qin, are you here to bring food to Mr. Qin?"
Among military wives, it is very rare to find someone as beautiful as Yang Haiyan. After all, the original owner followed the eldest daughter, so her etiquette was good, not compared with the daughters of rich families, but ordinary people could not compare with her. Even the daughters of the seventh-rank county magistrates' families were probably not as polite as her. Now it is Yang Haiyan's soul again. She is more confident than the original owner, and lacks the original owner's inferiority complex as a servant. That temperament is that of a lady from a wealthy family.
Yang Haiyan smiled slightly: "Yes, I told my husband yesterday. Can you please call him for me?"
Soldier: "Sister-in-law, you are too polite. Please wait a moment."
The soldiers ran towards Qin Fang's military camp.
Qin Fang had already woken up, lying on the bed and looking at the top of the tent. Before leaving yesterday, the annoying woman said that she would come to deliver lunch today. Would she really come? Qin Fang was very hesitant. If she didn't come, he would be hungry if he waited. But if he went to eat lunch and she came again, then two meals at noon would be a waste.
Damn.
"Boss Qin... Boss Qin... Sister-in-law is here to bring you food."
The other soldiers outside heard this and laughed and said, "Boss Qin, your wife is here to bring you food."
Qin Fang picked up the basket from yesterday, which he had already washed, and strode out of the tent. His face was expressionless, but in fact, his heart was beating a little fast. Did that annoying woman really bring him food
"Boss Qin, what did your sister-in-law give you? Let's go and take a look."
"Yes, Boss Qin, my sister-in-law is such a good cook, she must have sent some delicious food."
Qin Fang glanced at them. These people wanted to eat, didn't they think he didn't know? Qin Fang saw the woman standing at the door from a distance. She was wearing the same aqua blue dress as yesterday. Her face was clean, not to mention powder, and even lip balm. She looked like a painting. Unconsciously, he took bigger steps.
It is undeniable that he was somewhat happy to hear that she came to deliver food today, because... maybe she didn't break her promise.
“Husband…” Seeing Qin Fang approaching, Yang Haiyan waved.
Qin Fang thought, is he so happy to see me? After approaching, Qin Fang said, "Why are you here again? It's too tiring to go back and forth. Don't come tomorrow."
Yang Haiyan said coquettishly: "You are here to defend your country, and you don't allow me to nourish your body and make you something delicious?"
Qin Fang pursed his lips, but... his mouth couldn't help curling up again. It was always a pleasure to be praised like this.
Yang Haiyan: "Today I made something simple, just noodles, and brought you some snacks. I don't know if they suit your taste. Did you like what I made yesterday?"
Qin Fang: “Yeah.” After a pause, he added, “Everyone says it’s delicious.” They even brought him snacks. He’s not a child.