Chapter 20: Boxes for Buns

The large army set out again.

Because Tang Zhan had asked Xie Yong for help in the morning, Xie Yanyan paid more attention to the grandparents and grandchildren.

Tang Xiaolin was old, hungry and tired, and he caught a cold last night. He couldn't walk, so Tang Zhan carried him on his back.

My 8-year-old sister followed quietly, carrying reed roots and wild vegetables.

It rained yesterday and the road was very muddy. Everyone rolled up their trouser legs and tucked their robes into their belts. However, those who did not have a carriage kept getting mud and hay stuck on their shoes, so everyone had to pick up sticks and pry the mud off the soles of their shoes.

Tang Zhan carried his grandfather barefoot on his back, with his shoes strung together with straw and hung around his neck.

My sister would often stuff the snow-white reed roots in her hand into Tang Zhan's mouth, and also stuff a few for my grandfather. The three of them, grandparents and grandchildren, would walk in silence, chewing the reed roots.

Xie Yanyan only glanced at it for a few seconds before looking away.

Because the road was bad, there was no way to rest along the way and they could only keep moving forward. The exiles' mood was also slowly changing.

No one complained on the road anymore, except for the sound of coughing. Everyone walked silently with their heads down, so as not to fall behind and get whipped.

Finally, they got out of yesterday's rainy area and the ground became dry. Li Rong asked everyone to rest on the spot.

Many people collapsed to the ground and used small sticks to pry the mud off the soles of their shoes. Cloth shoes are particularly prone to getting mud, and there was a thick layer of mud on them.

The horses' hooves were also covered with thick mud and hay, and the horses moved around snorting, and the wheels of the carriage were also covered with thick mud mixed with grass.

Tang Zhan put his grandfather and sister down, and immediately took two wooden sticks. He came to Xie Yanyan's cart, quickly got under the horse's belly, grabbed the horse's hooves, and pried the mud off the hooves.

Horses are naturally wary of humans and they circled around wanting to kick or trample him.

Xie Anfeng pulled the reins hard, and the horse could not run away, but it did not stop.

Tang Zhan pried the mixed mud off the horse's hooves and began to pry the mud off the cart wheels.

Xie Ning and Xie Yong did it themselves and didn't ask Tang Zhan to do it. They were not stupid and no one would work for free. They must have wanted to eat.

Tang Zhan refused and just kept working.

Xie Yanyan watched him work and asked, "Why are you helping us pry the mud?"

Tang Zhan looked up at her, his eyes were clearly black and white, and were defiant.

"Because you are trustworthy."

Xie Yanyan looked into his eyes, and he looked at her stubbornly. Xie Yanyan lowered the curtain and did not give him any cakes or other food.

After he finished his work and went back, Xie Yanyan didn't say anything else.

Xie Yun was beaten last night. Today, he sat on the shaft of the cart and saw Tang Zhan returning empty-handed. He almost laughed himself to death: "We are all prisoners. Who is nobler than who? We rushed to do so much work, but didn't get a single vegetable. You are just flattering the horse's hoof!"

Tang Zhan and Tang Xiaolin didn't say anything. His sister Tang Ranran was so sad that tears fell down. Tang Xiaolin touched her head weakly and grabbed a piece of straw and put it in front of her.

Tang Ranran grabbed the thatch root, folded it a few times, cut off a piece of the white and plump part in the middle and stuffed it into Tang Xiaolin's mouth: "Grandfather, you eat it."

Everyone around sighed and looked into the distance, with a hint of despair.

Because the first batch of soap has already been formed in the mold, the second batch is mixed and put into the mold to wait for it to be formed.

Xie Yanyan placed the mold and the soap in the space and only took them out when taking a break, ensuring that the molding process was not affected by the vibration of the car outside.

The first batch of soaps looked really good. She, Song Lingling and Jiang Shuang wrapped the soaps one by one with beautiful oil paper.

Now that there is no printing technology, those beautiful wrapping papers cannot be used. She can only find some simple gift boxes in the space.

A wooden box lined with shredded paper and satin. A paper gift box tied with a ribbon bow.

Suddenly I had an idea.

During the lunch break, they walked to a small market town called Aigou, and all of them rested on the roadside outside the market town. Xie Yanyan showed the small wooden box and paper box to Li Rong, Xie Anfeng, and Xie Ning.

"We promised the peddlers 10 taels of silver for each piece, excluding packaging. We can make some with packaging, and then increase the price a little bit."

Xie Anfeng looked at the boxes and thought they were so exquisitely crafted that they might not be cheap if bought individually.

Li Rong thought that the soap could be sold directly and it was not cost-effective to add packaging.

"Ask the exiles to make these boxes. They will serve as models. If anyone is good at handicrafts, they can make boxes in exchange for steamed buns."

As soon as Xie Yanyan said this, Li Rong and Liu Mingjie immediately understood that letting everyone participate in labor and support themselves would not affect the current profits.

"Then how much are we going to sell it for if we add the packaging box?" Liu Mingjie was only concerned about the money. He would not do it simply for the prisoners.

"The soaps with packaging boxes are a little bigger. The wooden box ones are 15 taels of silver each, and the paper box ones are 12 taels." Xie Yanyan took out a few pieces of the latest soaps she had made. These pieces were very delicate and had words printed on them.

"Auspicious combination of dragon and phoenix", "A house full of gold and jade", "Live as long as the Southern Mountains", and "Be the best".

It is used for weddings, birthdays, childbirth, and studies, and it is a symbol of good luck.

Xie Yanyan suggested that auspicious items like these should be placed in wooden boxes, and the others should be placed in paper boxes without any special printing.

The escorts immediately thought it was feasible. A steamed bun only cost a few cents, and they could make a lot of money.

These exiles need to eat even if they do nothing. If they don't eat well, they will get sick and die. They also have mortality assessments when escorting prisoners.

Li Rong immediately gathered the prisoners together and told everyone the decision: boxes could be exchanged for steamed buns, one wooden box for five steamed buns, and one paper box for one steamed bun.

If something goes wrong, you have to pay compensation because the materials also have costs.

This work will not affect the speed of progress because it is done during rest time.

It is simple and easy to use, and it is no problem to make one or two paper boxes a day.

A large number of people are signing up immediately.

As expected, the two people who could make wooden boxes were Tang Xiaolin and Tang Zhan. The others all signed up to make paper boxes.

Old Shen looked at these prisoners with shining eyes as they tried to make boxes in exchange for steamed buns and looked at them with disdain, thinking they were a bunch of poor bastards.

As the former wife of a marquis, she disdained to make a box to exchange for steamed buns, especially to make a box for the soap of that cheap girl Xie Yanyan.

At her instruction, no member of the Xie family of the Shen clan signed up.

The concubines of Xie Anhuai and Xie Qingmu were both tempted. They could only watch their direct descendants eat and drink every day, and their own children had sunken eye sockets. If they could make paper boxes in exchange for steamed buns, they would be willing to do it.

But due to the pressure from Old Shen and Little Shen, he could only watch helplessly.

The prisoners gathered outside the town, and Xie Yanyan, Xie Anfeng and Liu Mingjie went to the market together to buy tools and materials.

There was a carpentry shop in the market. Liu Mingjie ordered a piece of wood and had them saw it into wooden box blanks. He filled three large baskets with them and then went to buy paper.

Xie Yanyan "bought" four carving knives, several pairs of scissors, glue, several rolls of bow ribbons, and sandpaper for polishing. She bought everything.

At present, the cloth dyeing technology has been very developed and the colors are very rich. Xie Yanyan took out five colors of ribbons: red, yellow, green, blue and purple, which are enough for current use.

All the materials were placed on Li Rong and his team's carriage. In order to reach the destination as quickly as possible to make the boxes, everyone walked faster than usual today. It was not long after the afternoon when they arrived at the expected Nanzhao County.

Li Rong and his companions found an inn. Shen proudly took out some silver and gave it to Li Rong: "Master Li, we will book four rooms."

Dear babies, please help me. This is the first round of promotion today. Please help me with three pushes. If it is convenient, please help me recommend it.