After lunch, Liu Yingying told everyone that she was going back to Taoyuan Village today.

Zou Xiuzhi: "Have all the grafting work on the cotton trees been completed?"

Liu Yingying: "There's a little bit left, just leave it to Lao Song and the others to do."

She has been leading everyone up and down the mountain for two days, personally demonstrating to them how to do these tasks.

In addition, since Lao Song was originally a cotton grower, he understood the improvement work very quickly.

Liu Yingying left the remaining finishing work to Lao Song and the others, and she felt at ease.

While cleaning up after dinner, Liu Yingying told Zou Xiuzhi and Li Chunmei that the milk tea shop in the city would open after the New Year and needed a few young girls. She asked if they had any recommendations.

"I only want girls who are twelve or thirteen years old and haven't reached marriageable age yet!" Liu Yingying emphasized.

Most girls in this era do not have the opportunity to go out and work.

They usually get married after reaching marriageable age, and soon enter the process of getting pregnant and giving birth repeatedly. They stay at home to take care of their husbands and children, and manage household chores, so they can't take time off to go out and work.

The conditions were somewhat demanding, and Zou Xiuzhi and Li Chunmei couldn't think of a suitable candidate for the time being.

Liu Yingying wasn't in a hurry; "Anyway, we won't open until after the New Year. You can keep an eye out for suitable girls and ask them for their opinions. The salary is fifty coins a month, and room and board are provided."

This treatment alone made the people present pause slightly, and their hearts burned with excitement!

Ah, if only I had a girl of the right age in my family!

"My cousin has a daughter who is only thirteen years old this year. She is quite pretty. I wonder if Madam Liu would be interested in her?" Old Song suddenly asked cautiously.

Liu Yingying nodded; "You can go and ask first. If the girl is willing to come out and work, then take her to meet Sister-in-law Zou."

After saying that, he gave Zou Xiuzhi a look.

Zou Xiuzhi understood immediately and said with a smile, "Yingying, don't worry, I will definitely help you choose. If the girl is of good character, hardworking and capable, I will keep her for you."

Liu Yingying had originally planned to return to Taoyuan Village in the afternoon, but as she passed the stream at the foot of the mountain, her attention was drawn to the stones in the water…

She immediately took off her shoes and socks, rolled up her trousers, and walked into the stream. It was the dead of winter, and the stream was icy cold, making her teeth chatter.

I pulled a stone out of the water, and upon closer inspection, it was indeed true!

This is the raw ore of alum!

Liu Yingying looked up and followed the water source upstream; the stream flowed out from deep in the mountains.

If she guessed correctly, the raw alum ore was also washed out of the deep mountains by streams.

Without much hesitation, Liu Yingying took advantage of the early hour and immediately headed into the mountains…

She and Ye Qingyuan had a cooperative relationship; she needed to regularly supply alum to the Ye family's dyehouse.

Tie-dyeing techniques were not very advanced at that time, and many darker colors could not be achieved.

Because people did not yet know how to refine and use alum.

Since Ye Qingyuan started working with her, the fabrics produced by Ye Family Dyehouse have become highly sought-after items throughout the Xia Kingdom.

But Xia Kingdom is so vast that even if the Ye family is incredibly capable, they cannot swallow up the entire fabric market.

Liu Yingying was thinking that if she could own an alum mine, all the cloth merchants in the Xia Kingdom would come to her for cooperation. It would be a sure-fire way to make money!

Liu Yingying walked for more than an hour, and the road in front of her became narrower and narrower, even overgrown with thorns.

It was obvious that even the villagers from the surrounding area rarely set foot here.

The calls of unknown birds could be heard from afar, and a wind began to blow around them.

Liu Yingying raised her hand and pulled her collar, trying her best to block the cold wind from getting into her neck.

For the past two days, she had been leading Lao Song and the others up and down the mountain, wearing rather thin clothes. Now that they were deep in the mountains, where the temperature was much lower than outside, she finally felt the chill of the cold.

They should be arriving soon!

Liu Yingying suddenly stopped and looked down at the foot of the mountain in front of her.

There is a pool of water there, and the stream outside just now originated from here.

Tanshan is crystal clear, and you can see with the naked eye that there are many raw alum ore stones sinking at the bottom of the water.

"This should be it!" Liu Yingying stared intently at the towering mountain before her.

Just as she was planning how to buy the mine, she suddenly heard the sound of weapons clashing violently.

This immediately alerted Liu Yingying, who had already faced several crises, and she quickly found a safe place to hide.

Soon, four or five people fought their way to the edge of the pool.

Specifically, it is a group of three who are now besieging the lone, outnumbered man.

Because it was already dark, Liu Yingying felt that the man looked somewhat familiar, but she couldn't make out his true appearance.

"Surrender! Otherwise, you'll only face death today!" the three men on the other side shouted, sounding completely confident of victory.

The man was stabbed in the chest, and blood kept flowing from his fingers, but he still refused to give up.

"If you have the guts, just kill me. Why waste so much breath!" he said through gritted teeth, his gaze resolute.

"Even if you kill me, General Huo will not let any of you leave Great Xia alive!"

When Liu Yingying, who was hiding behind the rock, heard the name General Huo, her expression changed slightly.

Zhennan Pass is located in the southwest of Ningzhou, not far from here. Could that person be his subordinate?

She didn't want to meddle, but if the other party was Huo Huaizhi's person, then she had no choice but to get involved.

After all, I still owe them a favor.

At this point, one of the three spoke up again: "Since you are so stubborn, then we'll just have to send you on your way!"

The man was already seriously injured and unable to protect himself, so he simply closed his eyes and waited to die.

But the opponent's swords did not fall on him for a long time. Instead, three loud "bang bang bang" sounds came from the air.

When he opened his eyes again, the three masked men were lying dead on the ground, each with a bloody hole in the center of their forehead, from which blood was gushing out.

"Who was the hero who came to our rescue? Come out and show yourself!"

"It's me!" Liu Yingying blew on the still-smoking gun barrel, put the gun away, and walked out, frowning slightly as she looked at the seriously wounded man.

"Dongqing, is that you?"

She only recognized him as Dong Qing, one of Huo Huaizhi's two personal bodyguards, when she got closer.

"The Lady of Ning'an County?" Dong Qing suddenly came to his senses after seeing Liu Yingying's face clearly and quickly bowed to her.

"This humble servant has met with officials from Ning'an County..."

But before he could finish speaking, he fainted.

Liu Yingying sighed softly and had no choice but to treat his wounds first. By the time Dongqing woke up, it was already midnight.

Liu Yingying set up a makeshift tent on the spot and gathered some dry firewood to start a fire.

When Dongqing opened his eyes, he saw Liu Yingying with her back to him, roasting a sizzling rabbit in front of the fire. It was almost done roasting.