"Is this soap?"

Gu An'an nodded, "I made this for myself. I found an ancient recipe in a book before, and when I had nothing to do, I made it to try. The result was better than expected."

Actually, Gu An'an made this because she simply looked down on the soap from the supply and marketing cooperative, so she asked Xiao Yuheng to collect some materials for her to make a batch.

Aunt Zhang was surprised to find that the soap in front of her was made by Gu An'an herself. After washing and drying her hands, she picked up the soap and smelled it. "It smells so good."

Gu An'an nodded, "This is an essential oil soap I made. It not only cleans but also moisturizes the skin, and it smells wonderful too."

"I was saying that Da Bao and Er Bao always smell better than other children. I thought you were applying lotion to them, but I didn't expect it was this stuff."

Gu An'an then took out three more soaps that were the same shape. "This one is for washing clothes, and these two are for bathing, but they smell different."

Aunt Zhang picked them up one by one, smelled them, and immediately fell in love with them.

"They smell good, they all smell good, but I wonder how well they remove stains?"

Since she genuinely wanted to build a career, Mrs. Zhang showed 100% patience and dedication.

"Sister-in-law, please try on these two outfits."

Gu An'an took out the smocks for Da Bao and Er Bao. After all, the children's clothes were bound to be dirty.

Aunt Zhang took the clothes and carefully washed them. In no time, she found that the dirt on them was gone.

"Wow, this thing is much better than what you get at the supply and marketing cooperative."

Everyone who has children has washed their children's clothes before, so this effect proves that the product is of excellent quality.

“If my sister-in-law thinks it works well, that’s fine. I think the cost is not high and the operation is not very complicated. We can start with a small workshop, make a batch, and then negotiate orders and expand the business.”

The more Gu An'an talked, the brighter Zhang Sao's eyes became. "An'an, I'll give you the soap and bar soap at the supply and marketing cooperative's price. Take one of each to show everyone, and try to set up our family compound's bar soap factory as soon as possible."

Gu An'an made a batch of these things, and her family doesn't need them at all, so why would she accept this money?

"Sister-in-law, what are you doing? Take the soap back and take the money back too. If you give me more money, you can leave the stuff with me."

Knowing that she was a woman of her word, Aunt Zhang didn't pursue the matter further and went to find the political commissar's wife with the soap.

"Sister-in-law, what do you think of this?"

The political commissar's wife picked it up and smelled it, then washed two pieces of clothing at Zhang Sao's direction. "Where did you get this? The supply and marketing cooperative doesn't seem to have this kind of stuff. You didn't buy it at the Friendship Store, did you?"

Nowadays, supplies are scarce. Whenever something good appears that is not available on the market, people will think of the Friendship Store, where there are many imported goods that ordinary people cannot afford.

"Do I look like the kind of person who would buy soap from a Friendship Store? This was made by Xiao Gu herself, what do you think?"

"Did Xiao Gu do this himself?"

The political commissar's wife looked surprised, but thinking about what the other party had done in the past two years, she composed herself and put on a smile. "Just how many good things does that kid Gu still have up her sleeve? Compared to her, we're like people who've just come into this world to waste our lives."

"I think she has a lot more good stuff to her."

The two of them looked at Gu An'an as if she were their own daughter or niece, their eyes filled with affection.

After praising Gu An'an, Aunt Zhang finally revealed her purpose for the visit: "Do you think this kind of soap would sell well?"

The political commissar's wife nodded directly, "Anyway, I'll definitely buy it."

"Then let's set up a soap factory in the family compound."

Are you serious?

Aunt Zhang felt she had never been more serious than she was now. "Our family compound has no shortage of people. If we can set up the soap factory, everyone can make some money and won't have time to gossip. Isn't that better than ever?"

Her suggestion was accepted, "but setting up a factory isn't that easy; we have neither money nor space."

"What's there to be afraid of! There's still some empty space in our residential compound. Let's see if we can requisition it first, and then build a new site once we make some money. As for funding, let's ask the men to think of a solution."

The two hit it off immediately and went straight to the regimental commander and political commissar. Although they were each other's husbands, it was important to discuss business, so they went directly to the office.

"You really want to do this?"

"Of course, if we didn't want to do this, we'd come here to mess around with you guys."

"That's right, hurry up and think of a solution. We're trying to solve the employment problem for military spouses, so can the military provide some support?"

"Yes, we don't need much. We can use any unused space first. We can start with a small workshop, which won't cost much."

Aunt Zhang took out the cost budget that Gu An'an had given her, "This is what An'an calculated for us. You two, take a look and see if you can help us with this money?"

The political commissar took a look and indeed, setting up a small workshop didn't cost much, but the two of them couldn't make the decision directly.

"We need to have a meeting to discuss this, and we'll let you know when we have a result."

The reason they were willing to hold a meeting and discuss the matter was not because the person who came was their wife, but mainly because of the point of view: to solve the employment problem for military families.

In fact, solving problems for military families is one of their jobs, but there are indeed very few job opportunities. Most military families cannot find suitable jobs, especially those with low levels of education.

Now that there's a solution, they naturally want to take it seriously.

"Alright, then we'll go back and discuss other things first. You two need to hurry up, there are so many military wives waiting to get things done."

After saying that, the two women left hand in hand. They needed to find An'an to discuss other details so that they could get started as soon as the funding came in.

The three women chatted for an entire afternoon. The two sisters-in-law were more attentive than ever, taking notes on the key questions Gu An'an raised, as well as the various materials and methods needed to make soap and bar soap.

"Don't worry, An'an. The formula is yours. You'll be a technician in our soap factory, and we'll definitely pay you as a technician."

Gu An'an wasn't short of money, and these prescriptions were all things she had found online in her later life, so it only cost her a little data usage. She simply refused, saying, "No need. I don't go to work, so I don't need to take any money."

"That won't do. If you don't pay, we won't run this soap workshop. Without you, there would be no soap workshop. Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

“Your wife Zhang is right. We definitely have to pay wages. Technicians are there to provide technical solutions, not ordinary workers who have to work every day. You don’t have to worry about what others might say. Anyone who dares to say anything shouldn’t work in our workshop.”

"Take another look at this."

Aunt Zhang shook the paper in her hand. "What you just said is something we two old folks could learn for a lifetime."