Before we knew it, it was the end of the twelfth lunar month again, another Lunar New Year.

We don't see each other often, but when we do, it's just one more day. The war broke out in February, so it's been almost six years since Jiangzhi came here.

Life had basically settled down. That year, he tied the pharmacy to the Huo family's pharmacy and opened a daily chemical store with the Nie family in Jincheng Prefecture.

Mr. Li honestly said that both the expensive and cheap soaps sold exceptionally well, and urged him to send as many as possible.

They also said that opening a shop was too easy, no one caused trouble, and there weren't even beggars coming to their door to ask for money by performing lotus flower ballads.

This time, he insisted that the letter be written exactly as he instructed, and what Jiang Zhi saw was just a string of rambling nonsense.

Nobody caused any trouble, and the daily chemical store was doing even better business than the Nie family's cloth shop?

It was clearly the male lead's people who played a role. Jiang Zhi didn't ask any more questions; as long as it was a good thing, that was all that mattered.

The task of making soap has now been handed over to Chunfeng and Dazhu.

Because the soap-making process uses waste oil that smells terrible, even the good oils used for soap making have a odor. The residue and wastewater from the addition of caustic soda also pollute the environment. Therefore, the factory is temporarily located on the mountain to facilitate landfilling.

All that's needed now is for oil mills throughout Pingchuan County to sell their waste oil sludge to Jiangzhi, who will then take cattle up the mountain to make soap and extract glycerin.

Pi and Lianhua stopped working at the mosquito coil workshop. Their child was sent to a daycare center, and the two of them made medicated oils and skin care products in a specially prepared room in Sishuitang.

After school, Da Xiang and Xiao Xiang also need to come over to help with odd jobs. After get off work, they go to the daycare to take the children home.

Jiang Zhi wasn't proud of any of these things; making money was just a survival skill.

Fortunately, she finally has the courage to say, "I don't love money!"

In the first year, three schools were built, and five children were brought back.

The youngest is two years old, the oldest is eight, there are both boys and girls, besides orphans, there are also those whose families are too poor to raise them.

Jiang Zhi said she would help raise them and then return them to their respective families. Those families knelt down and wept bitterly, crying out: "Help, Auntie!"

People are settled in the nursery to eat and live, those who are supposed to go to school go to school, and those who need to work also work. The older children also have to take care of the younger children.

Aside from a few clothes and meals, raising a child this age doesn't cost much.

Now there are several more children. In addition to Li Ersao taking care of the children, there is also Wuyang's mother and another woman.

The three of them helped with laundry, cooking, and childcare during the day, and took turns staying with the children at night. Jiang Zhi paid for their work.

No one in the village gossiped about Jiang Zhi raising other people's children; they thought it was a good deed.

Xu Changming would occasionally stroll along the official road.

If a passerby strikes up a conversation with him, he'll always mention, "My nephew's wife is the village chief's wife. She's so generous, raising other people's children for free. People in other villages are saying she's a Bodhisattva who descended to earth to overcome her tribulations. Have you heard that?"

If the person being asked doesn't know, he immediately explains in detail.

If the other party knew, they would naturally offer a compliment: "Oh, I've heard people say that Village Chief Jiang is truly a good person!"

Xu Changming's mood instantly brightened!

The news of building three schools spread quickly, and when other villages came to pay their respects in the first month of the lunar year, more villages submitted applications.

Jiang Zhi agreed, but only two villages would be built. The villages would have to compete first, and the village with the best agricultural progress would be the one to be built.

In fact, all these villages knew this, because Jiang Zhi had said from the very beginning that only the best villages could be built, and the money wasn't much; this was an honor.

All the villages have come to Xujia Village to learn from each other, and the result is that it is even more fragrant.

Jiang Zhi actually built fewer than ten schools, but with her leading the way and setting an example, other wealthy families in other villages also donated money to support education, using the same method.

For investors, this method requires less money, has a good reputation, and won't leave them stuck for long. Businessmen value returns, and nobody wants to waste their time.

For farming families, sending their children to school doesn't interfere with farm work, and the benefits are immediately visible. As long as their children can read and do accounting, that's enough.

Whether someone has the aptitude for studying can be determined in just one year; it's not too late to invest in nurturing them later.

Although Jiang Zhi had to raise several children, with the thousand taels of silver given by the Prince of Zhou, the profits from selling medicine at the pharmacy, the sale of soap and hand soap, and face wash that cost one tael of silver per bottle, money was no longer a problem.

Moreover, it's a new year, and we need to provide new products to Huo Family Pharmacy.

The first year was mosquito repellent, the second year was Tibetan incense and distillation technology, and this time Jiang Zhi handed over the formula and method for making antipyretics.

Although these things were given to the Huo family, they were actually given to Nie Fantian as well.

Nie Fantian did not mistreat his aunt. Last year, she sold a year's worth of antipyretics, plus a commission from new technologies, and at the end of the year, she received eight hundred taels of silver.

There was no corvée labor in Xujia Village last year because the mosquito coil workshops and medicine shops paid taxes and enjoyed special treatment by paying money.

Instead of performing corvée labor, the villagers would replace the roofs of their houses with tiles in their spare time and even use the broken tiles to pave the roads throughout the village.

At each intersection leading to the official road, a pavilion was specially built so that Xu Changming, who loved collecting manure along the official road, could sit and rest.

Now that Grandpa Xiaoman spends more time in the village, two tigers cannot share one mountain, so Xu Changming can only stay by the roadside.

In April, all the workshops in the village were busy, and Jiang Zhi was preparing to go to Jincheng Prefecture.

Qin is about to give birth, and I promised her I would be there for her.

In the past six months, Xu Genqing has made two trips to Jinchengfu to deliver goods.

He went again this time, bringing Lianhua and the two children with him. Qin had always wanted to see her grandchildren.

In addition, Jiang Zhi also brought Xu Dazhu and Chunfeng with her.

Dazhu can now move around while holding someone's hands, but it's still difficult for him to walk on his own.

He'd had a back injury for eight years; for most people, it would be like being reborn, and he was content.

But Jiang Zhi wanted to take him to Jincheng Prefecture to find a good doctor for treatment, no matter how much it cost, she could afford it.

Grandpa and Grandma Xiaoman are getting old, and Jiangzhi, Errui, Qiaoyun and Xiaoman are busy with their own things, so they can't even get everyone together for a meal.

With Ms. Tan doing the housework, the two elderly people still had to stay at home to take care of the two families' houses and their three children.

Knowing that they were going to take Dazhu to the prefectural city to seek medical treatment, Xiaoman's grandmother grabbed Jiang Zhi, her eyes brimming with tears: "Errui's mother, you have helped my family too much, I can never repay you in my next life!"

Jiang Zhi comforted her, "I won't do this. Xiao Man will take Da Zhu to the city for treatment. I'm free and have plenty of time. Xiao Man is too busy now, not only managing the pharmacy but also the affairs of Lihua Town."

Xiaoman is in charge of public security. He used to just have a nominal position in the patrol battalion, but now he has opened a public house in Lihua Town to handle various disputes. Even if he goes to Jincheng, he won't stay there for long.

There are three carts to Jincheng Prefecture. Two carts carry people, and one cart carries goods. Apart from mosquito coils made in the village, the rest are full of soap and lotion, which can be sold for over a hundred taels of silver.

In order to make time for their medical treatment, Chunfeng and Dazhu worked overtime until late at night every day for several months.

The soap left on the mountain needs to sit for a month. By leaving the cow on the mountain to guard the house, the couple can have some free time to go there.

The group traveled slowly, changing stations along the way, until they reached Jincheng.

Qin, who was heavily pregnant, was a little embarrassed when she saw the lotus.

But when she saw her two-year-old granddaughter Nan Nan and her seven-month-old grandson, she was overjoyed: "Your little auntie is coming too!"

Li Laoshi originally planned to have Dazhu and his wife stay at the shop, but Jiang Zhi told him to find another place: "Your shop is already cramped. One of them has a bad leg, and the other is heavily pregnant. It's inconvenient for them to brew medicine and give acupuncture."

In the city, money makes everything convenient. That day, Li Laoshi found several rental rooms nearby and even hired a cook, so Chunfeng didn't have to bother finding a market to cook for her.

As for the doctor he needed to find, Li Laoshi had already inquired about him long ago.

Jiang Zhi had mentioned last time that she should keep an eye out for good doctors who could treat bone injuries, since Da Zhu was coming to be treated.