Jiang Zhi sighed inwardly, "Eight coins a pound is not cheap, but it's actually better than the income from crops that require heavy farm work."

Before the Ming Dynasty, the production of tung oil was extremely scarce, and the production areas were only concentrated in the southwest and other regions. Large-scale cultivation was nowhere to be seen.

It was only after Zhu Yuanzhang forcibly included the planting of tung trees and cotton in the law that they were planted in various places.

Finally, the idea of ​​"growing tung trees to obtain tung oil" became a common traditional handicraft in China for six hundred years during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and also a trump card for China's struggling foreign trade exports.

Before 1937, China was the world's only producer of tung oil.

Because tung oil, a preservative, was essential for Western machinery, and where did tung oil come from? China!

However, although tung seeds are expensive, there are not many wild tung trees in the mountains now, and the amount that can be collected is limited and cannot be carried out on a large scale.

When it comes to food that can fill their stomachs, people prefer to focus their attention on the fields.

Jiang Zhi had a lot to say about tung oil seeds.

The tung blossoms are very beautiful in May, hence the name "May Snow".

In summer, when the tung fruit is still green, it will ooze a milky white sap when picked, which can be used to glue paper fans.

If you accidentally get it on your hands or face, it'll be disastrous; the milky white sap dries into a hard, black substance.

When the round fruit peels turn from green to light brown and gradually begin to fall off naturally, it's time to harvest them.

All you need to do is take these fruits back to a shady place and pile them up until the outer green skin rots and falls off. Then you can pick out the tung seeds inside, dry them, knock off the outer shell, and sell them for money.

Previously, due to limited manpower on the mountain, the tung seeds were not picked in the fall. Now that the tung seeds have fallen to the ground, all that is needed is to pick them up and knock off the kernels, which saves the step of rotting them.

Now, when I go into town, I just ask about the prices of various items.

Jiang Zhi, Xiang Dejin, and Wu Hongmao quickly toured several main streets, visiting silver shops, cloth shops, restaurants, tea shops, wineries, blacksmith shops, porcelain shops, pottery shops, and general stores.

There were many things to buy, but Jiang Zhi only picked the ones she needed most.

First, they picked out two sets of earthenware bowls. As the grain on the mountain increased, the bowls became fewer and fewer. They dared not throw away the chipped bowls. Xiaoman even prepared to dig out wooden bowls to use.

Then I spent fifty coins at the bookstore to buy a second-hand copy of the Thousand Character Classic and a few discarded manuscript calligraphy practice sheets. These were not expensive.

Xiang Dejin and the others were curious about why Aunt Jiang would buy books. Jiang Zhi said that she needed to learn to recognize the names of medicines, otherwise she wouldn't be able to keep good accounts in the future, which made the two of them respect her.

Then came the general store. When they returned to the rouge shop, Xiang Dejin and Wu Hongmao were already carrying heavy loads.

Xu Errui and Xiaoman were already waiting on the street. When they saw Jiang Zhi and the others coming over, the two of them quickly helped take some things from them.

"Mom, what did you buy?" Xu Errui was very interested in the various small paper packets.

Jiang Zhi carefully put the paper package away: "It's just some baking soda, alum, and yeast."

What surprised everyone the most was the stack of sieves of different thicknesses.

This is Jiang Zhi's most satisfying harvest. From the medical shed, she got a steelyard, and now she has these sieves. In the future, she can finally process various kinds of medicinal powders.

Having bought almost everything they needed, Jiang Zhi picked out a few more packets of dried fruit and pastries before having Xiang Dejin fetch the mules and horses from the inn. The group then returned to Xujia Village.

Xu Errui and Xiaoman are also leaving.

The kang (heated brick bed) in the medical tent had already been mostly finished by others; all that remained was to smooth it out and patch up the mud, so the two of them didn't need to waste time here.

To Jiang Zhi's surprise, in just one day, at least half of the refugees who had gathered outside the village had left.

The remaining people no longer showed much fear and sorrow; they were mostly packing their things, preparing to leave.

This is a really good sign.

It was almost dark when the group returned to the mountains, and they were greeted with the warmest welcome as soon as they entered the courtyard.

Leading the pack was Peppa Pig, screaming and running wildly. It was the first time it had been away from Jiangzhi for so long.

I didn't see anyone last night. I searched frantically on the mountain until midnight. Finally, I took a big dump outside those wounded soldiers' shacks before coming back.

Now that they've met the person in question, they're behaving like the most wronged child.

Qiaoyun, holding her child, complained, "Peiqi hasn't eaten all day and has thrown away all of Chunfeng's things."

Jiang Zhi and Er Rui were not home last night, so Chun Feng came up the cliff to keep Qiao Yun company.

Unexpectedly, the little wild boar thought she was taking up the kang (heated brick bed), so it carried her shoes and clothes outside and threw them away.

Jiang Zhi was both amused and exasperated. The little wild boar already weighed several dozen kilograms and had the intelligence of a two or three-year-old child. If it started acting up, no one could control it.

She was touched and gave the little wild boar some of the snacks she had bought, which calmed it down.

Everything that was bought was laid out, except for the earthenware bowls, sieves, snacks, and sweet candied fruits.

There's also a big box of skincare cream, which is for several women.

Working in the fields every day makes their hands and faces very rough, especially since Qiaoyun and the others also have to spin yarn and weave cloth, so their hands need to be well taken care of.

Xiaoman's grandmother and Chunfeng Qiaoyun were overjoyed. No woman, young or old, dislikes these fragrant and sweet things.

Once back home, Xu Errui took out what he had bought: a small, red velvet flower.

Xu Errui said nervously, "Mother, Qiaoyun, she's always wanted a velvet flower. This is for you, and we have twenty coins left."

He then took out a headband from his bosom. It was made of black velvet with copper plates attached to it, and several embroidered threads were used to fix the copper plates in place. The workmanship was not exquisite; it was just shiny and dazzling.

The remaining twenty coins were placed to the side.

Jiang Zhi didn't look at the money. She took the headband and held it up to her head: "It's been so cold these past few days that I have a headache. I was just thinking of getting a headband, and Errui bought it just right. You can keep this for yourself when you go to town."

Seeing that his mother liked it, Xu Errui breathed a huge sigh of relief, fearing that his mother would scold him for buying something useless.

This was the first time he had bought these things. The shopkeeper selling hair accessories had recommended that he buy them, saying that old ladies in the city didn't wear headscarves, they used these instead.

Qiaoyun liked the velvet flower even more; it was the first time Errui had ever bought one for her.

She wore it on her head every day after that, and couldn't bear to throw it away even when the color faded.

The next day, Chunfeng came up the cliff, and Jiangzhi also knew what Xiaoman had bought.

He bought thirty coins' worth of tobacco for Xiaomanye and a small copper bracelet for Xiaonini, and then all his money was gone.

"Grandpa said he spends money recklessly, spending whatever Auntie gives him without knowing how to be frugal!"

Xiaoman was so angry that she didn't say a word all night, and now she's gone out again before dawn.

"Clearly... I spent the whole night touching those tobacco leaves, I couldn't bear to put them down!"

Chunfeng frowned. Xiaoman had bought the bracelet for Nini, and now she was being scolded, which made her feel bad too.

Jiang Zhi felt somewhat speechless.

Although Xiaoman ran out of money, it was spent on the elderly and children in her family.

Since Xu Dazhu's fall and injury, in order to save money, Xiaoman's grandfather has not smoked anymore, but enjoys smoking an empty pipe every day. Xiaoman had already noticed this.

Nini is almost four years old and doesn't have a longevity lock yet, so her uncle giving her a bracelet is a token of his affection.

Throughout history, elders have been ashamed to express their affection for children and have always tried to suppress their true feelings.

It seems I need to give Xiaoman more guidance and not let her go from one extreme to the other.