The village of Lijia was bustling for two or three days before it finally calmed down.
The Li family workshop has grown much larger now. At the beginning of this year, it recruited workers twice, and now the workshop has more than 200 workers, making it a truly large-scale workshop.
By processing bean products, the Li family's business has indeed grown significantly.
The surrounding villages have benefited greatly from the existence of the Li family workshop, and the hardworking villagers have become wealthy.
Sun Xing from Futian Village is a case in point.
He had previously cut off the water supply to Lijia Village out of jealousy and got into a fight with the villagers. After learning his lesson, he even went to apologize.
Because he realized his mistake, he changed his mindset and honestly went to work to earn money to apologize to the villagers of Lijia Village.
This year, I was successfully selected to join the Li Family Workshop, and life is completely different from before.
Nowadays, if anyone dares to speak ill of the Li family, his father will come knocking on their door and berate them. They dare not say another word, and things have completely changed.
Li Qingyao has indeed been busy these days. Although his mother takes care of the family's social interactions, he is the one who is responsible for establishing those connections.
Only after all matters were settled did he prepare to set off to visit Lin Can in Changfeng County.
Changfeng County is quite far from Shao County. Li Qingyao set off with Wang Jiao, Li Qingyi, and Li Qingduan.
They set off in their family carriage, with a driver.
The brothers strolled along as if on a spring outing, enjoying the bright spring sunshine and the joy that followed.
Changfeng County.
When the brothers arrived in Changfeng County, they paid the entrance fee and were stopped by a servant.
"Excuse me, are you Scholar Li and the young masters of the Li family?"
"Indeed, are you from the Lin family?"
Li Qingyao poked his head out to respond.
When the servant saw that it was indeed a member of the Li family, he was immediately overjoyed.
"I am a servant of the Lin family. My young master said that the scholar should arrive in the next few days, so he ordered the family to wait at the city gate every day. Today, we have finally waited for him."
"Your young master is so considerate."
Li Qingyao couldn't help but praise.
"Please come with me."
The coachman immediately followed the Lin family servant and headed towards the Lin residence.
The Lin family's residence is located in Changfeng County. It occupies a large area and is surrounded by members of the Lin family, making it a gathering place for the Lin clan.
Upon arriving at the Lin residence, the gatekeeper had already sent someone to inform Lin Can.
Before long, Lin Can and his father, Lin Zhongfu, came out to greet them.
Li Qingyao and her companions, carrying gifts for the Lin family, stepped off the carriage with youthful exuberance; it was only natural to bring gifts when visiting someone's home.
"Greetings, Uncle. It's nice to meet you again, Brother Lin."
"Come on in, my dear nephews, there's no need for you to bring any gifts. You're too kind."
"Indeed, Brother Li is too kind."
Lin Can was very happy to see Li Qingyao and naturally took the things they were carrying and handed them to the servant behind them.
Lin Zhongfu had a square face and looked more like a businessman than a scholar.
"They're nothing expensive, just homemade."
"I have long heard of the Li family of Shao County. Your nephews are all quite extraordinary. Please come in quickly."
The four of them followed them through the gate, and the coachman was also taken inside and settled by the Lin family's servant.
After entering the hall, the group exchanged pleasantries. Lin Can's father then told Lin Can to take good care of them and told Li Qingyao and the others to settle in comfortably. He quickly excused himself and left, much to the relief of the younger generation.
"Don't worry about my dad, he's always very busy. Let's just have fun by ourselves."
The Lin family had already prepared accommodations for Li Qingyao and his group, a separate courtyard that was also close to Lin Can.
On the one hand, Li Qingyao and the others could stay more comfortably, and on the other hand, it would be convenient for them to discuss academic matters with Lin Can.
"Sir, there's something unusual among the gifts that Scholar Li brought."
Just as Lin Zhongfu was about to leave, the steward came looking for him.
"What is that? You've seen it before?"
Lin Zhongfu became interested and sat back down in his seat.
The butler took out an elegant wooden box, opened it, and inside were two round bars of soap, plain and unadorned.
What is this?
Lin Zhongfu was also a bit confused; it didn't look like a pastry at all.
"There's an instruction inside that I've read. It says it's for cleaning, which sounds the same as bath beans."
Bath powder is a powder made from spices such as cloves, agarwood, and musk, as well as various fragrant flowers.
Because it uses precious materials and is very expensive, it is a luxury item that only high-ranking officials and nobles can afford.
The Lin family also uses bath powder, but it's limited. Only the head of the family has some; the young masters and ladies don't.
Ordinary families would at most gather some soap pods from the wild to use as cleaning agents.
"What is this made of?"
Lin Zhongfu picked up a bar of soap, which felt smooth to the touch. He examined it from all angles, but couldn't make out anything about it.
Bath powder is a powder, but this stuff is a paste with the right consistency.
"Fetch a basin of water."
Lin Zhongfu couldn't tell the difference, so he ordered his servants to fetch water. Since it was similar to bath beans, the method of use must be no different. He decided to give it a try.
The servant quickly got to work and soon brought in a basin of water.
Lin Zhongfu put his hands into the water, then rubbed the soap on them, making them slippery. He then rubbed them a couple more times, creating a lot of lather.
Lin Zhongfu was filled with surprise. This thing was actually quite useful?
The foam was dense. Lin Zhongfu rubbed his hands a couple of times, then immersed them in the basin to wash away the foam.
The butler quickly handed over a dry towel to wipe Lin Zhongfu's hands.
"Good stuff, really good stuff!"
Lin Zhongfu looked at his clean hands. To be honest, he had used bath beans before, but they didn't seem to be as effective at cleaning as this.
Did they say what it's called?
"Reporting to Master, they said it's called soap."
Lin Zhongfu read the name aloud; it sounded rather strange.
His hands felt cool when he washed them, and they still felt cool now. He could smell the minty scent, which was not pungent but rather faint.
"Keep this safe. Send one to the old lady, and keep the other one in my room. Take good care of these young masters from the Li family, and make sure they feel at home."
"Yes, sir."
This "soap" is no ordinary soap.
Lin Zhongfu was very interested in the soap. If he knew it was just made of wood ash and lard, he would be even more shocked.
The gift was prepared by Pan Jinhua. Pan Jinhua and Li Qing had actually made soap, so naturally they didn't intend to keep it at home. The Lin family would naturally be their potential customers.
Pan Jinhua had considered whether to use a different name, but after coming up with a few, she felt that none of them were quite right. In the end, she decided to call herself "Soap".
The fat in soap is lard.
Pan Jinhua felt that there was no more suitable name than this.
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