It was obvious that everyone in the village knew about this matter. After the brigade cadre and his family left, several young and old women came over to ask the old man about his situation.

The old man said in frustration: "It's not appropriate."

Qin Huai said, "Grandpa, why don't you tell everyone the truth? It's that silly girl who doesn't like me."

"You say others are stupid, but I think you are the stupidest one." Old man Qin said angrily.

Grandma Gui said immediately: "What a pity! The girl's father is a cadre in the brigade. The food at home is not eaten up every year and has become infested with insects." The focus of rural people is always so simple.

Qin Huai thought to himself: I’m not marrying her father.

But I can only follow everyone's tone and say: "Alas, it's all my bad luck."

Sister Hong said, "I don't think this match is very good. The girl in that family shakes her head every few steps as she walks. It shakes like a rattle. You can tell she's a fool even from ten miles away. And she doesn't like Qin Huai. Our Qin Huai is such a good guy. He won't have trouble finding a partner in the future."

Qin Huai thought to himself, "Finally, there's someone with normal values."

People gossiped for a while, and finally criticized Qin Huai in unison for not being proactive and not paying attention to his own affairs. How many good things can a brigade cadre's daughter do?

Qin Huai humbly accepted all the criticisms, and then everyone dispersed. The girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said, "Brother, it's a good thing she didn't like you. I don't like her either, what a fool."

Qin Huai said, "Girl, you are my biological sister."

The old man got angry again and scolded the two of them for a while. Then he saw Qin Huai fiddling with a pile of things in front of him and asked him, "What are you doing?"

Qin Huai said, "I'll rely on these things to get a wife in the future."

When the old man heard that his grandson was going to use this stuff to make soap to supplement the family income, he immediately became interested and came over to ask if he wanted help. Qin Huai said, "We are in need of a pot to boil this stuff, and we also need to make some soap molds."

"There is a big clay pot behind the house, which should be able to do it. What kind of mold do you mention?" the old man asked casually.

"It's so big, and three sides are smooth. It would be best if there were patterns on the bottom. But it's useless to say anything. How can there be such a coincidence?" Qin Huai gestured.

"That's not easy. I can do it." The old man said casually.

Only then did Qin Huai realize that Old Man Qin was actually an old carpenter when he was young. Later, he was not allowed to do any work. As he got older, he gradually put his skills aside. It was as if God was helping him.

"Grandpa, please hurry up and make me some molds. They don't have to be complicated, as long as they're smooth inside. The more the better."

"Okay, come with me to the mountain to chop some wood, and I'll get started right away."

Qin Huai also saw a field of wild camellia flowers on the mountain, which were blooming brightly, and he happily picked a lot of them.

I have to say that craftsmen these days are all really skilled. In just one day, twenty sets of molds were placed in front of Qin Huai, and the old man also carved patterns on them according to his requirements.

"Grandpa, thank you for your hard work."

The old man sighed and said, "Why are you so polite? Aren't you also trying to support your family?"

The girl was even more excited than Qin Huai and said, "Brother, tell me what to do. I'll do it first."

The whole family worked together. Old Man Qin was worried about his two children, so he watched them work even very late. Qin Huai mixed caustic soda water and salt water in proportion, added water and chemical waste, and started to boil over high heat. Although the smell was unpleasant, it was nothing compared to being hungry.

Soon, Qin Huai's worries became a thing of the past. Soap liquid had already precipitated out of Wagang and was scooped out and placed in a bucket. The small half bucket of chemical raw materials he brought back actually produced the same volume of soap liquid.

The old man watched with curiosity as Qin Huai stirred the soap liquid. While boiling the raw materials, he also steamed half a bottle of camellia essential oil, which he poured into the bucket and continued to stir.

The girl said, "Brother, can we make soap like this?"

"Yes, you'll see it tomorrow morning."

He had mastered the exact chemical ratios, and estimated the soap would solidify in about three hours. He expected to see the finished product by tomorrow morning.

The girl reluctantly went back to her room to sleep. The old man said, "I can't sleep, so I'll stay here to help you. Don't worry about me. I'm old and I don't sleep much."

Qin Huai understood that he was being stubborn. He was definitely worried about the mold being damaged by something outside, so he stayed to watch it. He was grateful to the old man but said calmly, "That's great. Let's go to bed first."

The next morning, Qin Huai was woken up by the old man and said, "Hurry up, get up and take a look."

As the livelihood of the whole family was at stake, Qin Huai lost his sleepiness all of a sudden. He came to the mold and saw that the soap in the mold had already taken shape. Perhaps because of the addition of camellia essential oil, it looked much better than ordinary laundry soap. He picked it up and smelled it, and the fragrance hit him in the face.

The old man and the girl both asked anxiously, "Is it done?"

"I don't know yet. It's already formed. We can open the mold and take a look."

"Then open it quickly."

The old man urged anxiously, and Qin Huai was also full of anticipation. He carefully opened the mold, and a piece of slightly red soap appeared.

Qin Huai picked up the soap, weighed it in his hand, and handed it to Old Man Qin. Old Man Qin took it in his hand, smelled it, and said, "It's soap, and it smells good. You made soap already?"

The girl said anxiously, "Grandpa, let me see. In our village, only the captain and Xiaozui's family use soap to wash clothes. I've never even touched it."

Old man Qin gave it to her casually. The girl sniffed it and said happily, "This is more fragrant and better than the captain's."

Qin Huai said, "Girl, don't take this thing out. We still need to rely on it to make money in the future. If outsiders find out and they accuse us of speculation, we'll be finished."

The old man was startled and said quickly, "Put these away quickly and don't let anyone see them."

Qin Huai then opened the remaining soap molds, cut off a piece and asked the maid to try washing hands and clothes.

The girl said, "Can I use something this expensive?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? What's the point of making something if you can't even use it yourself?"

The girl then happily took it for experimentation, and the experience of using it was that the foam was rich, which was actually within Qin Huai's expectations. What he made was laundry soap, and people would like it if it had a lot of foam.

When the old man saw the girl's hands were washed white, he became excited and said, "Qin Huai, with this skill, you can support this family. From now on, I can close my eyes even if I die soon."

Qin Huai said, "Grandpa, how can you talk like this? Now that I can support the family, you should enjoy your life."

Old Man Qin's eyes moistened as he said, "I'm old and it doesn't matter. As long as you can all live well, I'll be relieved."

The whole family was very excited about making soap. Qin Huai counted and found that the long soap cost 19 yuan. The laundry soap in the department store cost 80 cents, but you need soap tickets. His soap was sold at one yuan a piece, so there must be a market for it.

He didn't have time to eat at home today, so he headed towards the city in the dim light.