Right now, they're the only ones in the small depression; there are no annoying relatives. Everyone is doing well and peaceful—this is what the New Year should be like.
Liu Xiaoyun and Wang Fengqin sighed, but their hands didn't stop moving; they were filled with both emotion and joy.
Jiang Yimian glanced at Zhao Xing'er unexpectedly. Zhao Xing'er had always been a fiery and impulsive person, and it seemed that nothing could make her unhappy.
It was the first time she had ever seen the other person say those things with red eyes; she guessed it was because they were also affected by the New Year's atmosphere.
She just smiled and said, "Today is the New Year, a happy occasion. Aunt Xing'er, don't think about the unhappy things from the past. Every New Year from now on will be a happy one."
Zhao Xing'er quickly smiled and nodded, "Yi Mian is right, from now on all will be happy days."
I ate yesterday's steamed buns for breakfast, but lunch can't be so simple.
Xinghua Village places great importance on lunch. The lunch on New Year's Eve is a family reunion dinner. The whole family sits together to eat a sumptuous lunch, chatting while firecrackers are set off outside, symbolizing a prosperous and smooth year ahead.
Because Zhao Da had brought wine today, everyone except the younger children had some wine in their bowls.
Everyone was very relaxed, and there were no toasting rituals. After Gou Sheng set off firecrackers outside, everyone started eating.
The table was laden with a large spread of dishes, a mix of meat and vegetables, and a big bowl of sliced braised meat that Zhao Da had brought—it looked delicious.
There's also a pot in the middle simmering lotus root and pork rib soup, so the food won't get cold.
The firecrackers outside quickly stopped popping and crackling outside, but the fun inside continued.
Everyone ate and chatted, and time flew by.
*
On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Li and Zhao Da also went down the mountain together.
Before going down the mountain, Old Liu specifically asked about the household registration issue, and only breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that it would be resolved at the beginning of the year.
They can't enter the county town because their household registration issues haven't been resolved.
After the two left, the first heavy snow of the winter began to fall outside.
Without Zhang Li telling stories about the yamen, everyone sat around the stove busy with their own things, while the children continued their tedious task of learning to read.
It left Gou Sheng and Wang Xiaohei drowsy, longing for the days when Zhang Li was around.
Jiang Yimian started making soap, planning to sell it at Huichuntang and see if she could close a deal.
She knew she would need money for many more things in the future, and the five hundred taels in her spatial storage were far from enough. She needed to find a way to make money.
The method for making soap is very simple. She used to watch various beautiful soaps on short video bloggers, which made her eager to try it herself.
Although those bloggers all used readily available lye and oil, she still knew the traditional soap-making method.
She first took out some small seashells from her spatial storage, which she had collected from a pharmacy but now had other uses.
Crush the seashells into a fine powder, sift it, and set it aside. (The seashells are used to make the soap more delicate.)
Then Jiang Yimian took some wood ash from the stove, added water and stirred it, then filtered out the residue and set it aside.
After doing all this, she took out a piece of pork fat from the cellar that hadn't been rendered yet.
Cut the pork fat into small pieces, put them in a pot to render the oil, and once the oil has been rendered, remove the residue and pour out the oil.
Once the oil has cooled slightly but before it solidifies, add the shell powder and wood ash water, and stir continuously in the bowl with chopsticks.
To make the soap fragrant, she also added some osmanthus powder.
The sweet fragrance unique to osmanthus can be smelled from afar.
Jiang Yimian only took out a clean bamboo tube and poured the soap paste into it, waiting for it to solidify, once the contents of the basin had turned into a paste.
After making one without color, Jiang Yimian made several more with color.
A basin of soap paste was filled with more than a dozen bamboo tubes. Jiang Yimian covered the bamboo tubes with a dust-proof cloth before she began to clean the kitchen.
The snow outside was falling even harder, and the cold wind carried the snowflakes, which drifted and fell, quickly covering the ground with a thin layer of cold clothing.
As soon as Old Liu opened the door, he saw Jiang Yimian busy in the kitchen. He curiously came over and asked, "Yimian, what are you doing? It's snowing outside. Aren't you cold?"
The Jiang family's kitchen was just a thatched shed, with a draft on one side. He had only been out for a short while when the cold wind gave him a headache.
This girl is something else, staying here quietly for so long.
As Jiang Yimian tidied up the kitchen, she smiled and said, "It's not cold. There's a fire by the stove. Grandpa, come in quickly, don't catch a cold."
Old Liu, smelling only the lard in the air, asked curiously, "Yimian, what are you making? Is it that soap we were talking about a few days ago?"
If he had known, he wouldn't have given the other party the bamboo sections to split so quickly; he would have started working on it in this freezing weather.
Jiang Yimian simply responded, tidied up the kitchen, and then followed Old Man Liu into the house.
This time, Ono stopped teaching the others to read and instead quietly read a book. Gou Sheng and the others, now free, started talking, showing none of their previous drowsy state.
Jiang Yimian found it amusing and called Gou Sheng aside to ask about making soap molds.
She could make soap from bamboo tubes, but she wanted to make some nicer soaps, which required larger boxes for painting.
Although she wasn't sure if the soap would sell well, making the mold would take time, so she needed to prepare first.
Gou Sheng listened to Jiang Yimian's description, nodded, and said with a smile, "A square box, right? It's very simple. I can make it for you quickly. Don't worry, Sister Yimian, leave it to me."
Seeing that Gou Sheng was so confident, Jiang Yimian was relieved and no longer worried about making soap, and settled down to warm herself by the fire.
It snowed for several days in a row, and the temperature in the mountains was even lower than outside, so everyone stayed indoors and warmed themselves by the fire for several days.
Jiang Yimian's soap finally solidified. She took out the cylindrical soap, cut it into one-centimeter-thick pieces, and then placed it in a well-ventilated place.
Although the soap has solidified, the saponification reaction is not yet complete, and it will take another half month before it can be used.
Everyone stared at the colorful things with great curiosity.
Gou Sheng glanced at it a few times, sniffing the pleasant fragrance, and asked curiously, "Sister Yi Mian, is this soap? What can it be used for?"
This was the first time he had ever seen this thing; it had the same fragrance as the bath soap Sister Yimian had given them.
Jiang Yimian simply smiled and said, "Taking a bath or washing clothes is fine."
This stuff is much better than soap pods and the bath beads sold in town. Although it can't compare to modern toiletries, it's all-natural and won't harm your skin.
Upon hearing that it could be used to wash clothes, everyone gathered around, curiously asking about the attractive color and pleasant smell of the product: "This can wash clothes? Is it as good as soap pods?"
They were all used to using soap pods and simply couldn't believe that these colorful things in front of them could clean clothes.
Jiang Yimian simply smiled and remained mysterious: "You'll find out when the time comes."
Half a month passed quickly, the intermittent heavy snow finally melted, and the sun finally came out after many days of gloomy skies.
Zhao Da is the one who went up the mountain today.
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