Miss Huo was in her early twenties, with an oval face and a red dress. Her eyes were lively when she spoke. Although she wasn't stunningly beautiful, she had a special charm, the kind of mature, professional woman that Jiang Zhi was very familiar with.
At first glance, Jiang Zhi thought she had seen the vice president of her hospital, and reflexively reached out her hand: "Hello! My name is Jiang Zhi!"
Miss Huo looked at Jiang Zhi's outstretched hand with surprise, and tentatively took it: "Mrs. Jiang, what is this...?"
"Haha!" Jiang Zhi suddenly realized that she was shaking hands with someone.
But her outstretched hand was already grasped by Miss Huo the Second. She could only pull Miss Huo the Second back and say with a smile, "It's rare to see such a well-behaved and capable girl. I just want to touch you!"
Miss Huo laughed out loud. Hearing Jiang Zhi's rude words, she didn't let go of Jiang Zhi's hand. Instead, she took her hand and walked into the courtyard: "I heard from my uncle that Madam Jiang is quite capable. She wants to sell medicines in our shop in the future?"
Jiang Zhi nodded: "Yes! The Huo family's business is doing so well, I'd like to benefit from it too..."
To everyone's surprise, the two met for the first time, yet they acted like old friends, holding hands and walking side by side, chatting as they went!
Miss Huo came specifically to pick up Jiang Zhi and take her to the Huo family's pharmacy. It was originally agreed that she would instruct the Huo family's pharmacists on how to make medicine. However, before going to the pharmacy, Jiang Zhi needed to go to the county government office first.
Before Jiang Zhi could finish speaking, Miss Huo said with a smile, "I heard that Madam Jiang went to the county government yesterday and talked with Magistrate Zhang for quite a while!"
Her tone was certain, indicating that she had clearly received the information from the county government.
It's quite normal for the Huo family, who were originally large merchants in the city, to have connections in the county government.
Jiang Zhi didn't hide anything, smiled slightly, and only said half of what she meant: "Magistrate Zhang is very satisfied with the contract between our two families. He said that things that benefit the people should be encouraged and supported!"
Miss Huo blinked: "Madam Jiang is very familiar with the people in the county government!"
Some things should be said only briefly.
The woman in front of me was dressed in rather rustic clothes, but the composure in her eyes and the overall demeanor of her was far beyond that of an ordinary village woman.
Miss Huo did not mention the county government again, only saying that she needed to change the time.
The group first went to the pharmacy.
The Huo family's pharmacy was also located in the city, and the thick walls of the courtyard reduced the losses suffered by migrants when they entered the city.
Once inside, you'll find that the pharmacy is quite large, with several tall warehouses built independently. In the middle of the warehouses, there's an open space for fire prevention, where rows of shelves are placed, holding medicinal herbs that need to be dried.
Walking along the corridor beside the courtyard wall, the back room is the medicine preparation room.
Jiang Zhi, being an outsider, certainly couldn't enter the Huo family's pharmaceutical workshop; they simply cleared out an empty room next door for her to use.
The Huo family sent four medicine workers, two men and two women, of varying ages.
Miss Huo pointed to the four people and introduced them to Jiang Zhi: "These are all pharmacists from the Huo family. They know their place. Madam Jiang, please do it once first, and they will learn from you. If there is anything you do wrong, please point it out."
Although the four men didn't show anything on their faces, they were somewhat perfunctory when they bowed to Jiang Zhi.
Jiang Zhi seemed not to notice, still smiling broadly.
People with skills are like that; they're not servants who need to read between the lines.
All the tools in the pharmacy were in perfect order.
Bamboo sieves come in several types, including chrysanthemum sieve, corydalis sieve, large-medium mesh sieve, small-medium mesh sieve, large-tight mesh sieve, and small-tight mesh sieve.
Luo used different materials—horsehair, copper wire, and silk—to sift out medicinal powders of varying fineness.
Then there are various sizes of winnowing baskets, pig bristle brushes, refractory ceramic pots (used for forging medicine), drying ovens, copper steamers, and steamers for steaming and drying medicinal materials nine times.
Jiang Zhi's eyes practically sprouted claws as she watched, wishing she could grab them all.
My belongings on the mountain were far too simple.
Envy was useless; Jiang Zhi honestly began making Banlangen granules.
She didn't need to use anyone from the Huo family; she had enough people around her.
The following day, Jiang Zhi led Er Rui and Xiao Man to weigh, grind, and boil the medicine.
Once the medicine is removed from the pot, it can be mixed with powdered sugar to form granules.
The Huo family's pharmacist was watching from the side!
Jiang Zhi asked, "Where is your usual pellet mill?"
She thought the Huo family had all the necessary equipment, including a pellet-making machine.
But the Huo family pharmacist shook his head: "We only have these sieves and winnowing baskets. Use them as you like. We don't have any for shaking granules. We don't know anything about granules!"
That's a bit sarcastic!
Xiaoman had spent the whole day tending to the medicine, and had long since lost her patience. She glared at him and said, "Such a big pharmacy, and you don't even have a granule shaker!"
The Huo family's pharmacist's face immediately darkened.
Jiang Zhi stopped Xiao Man, who was about to complain, and said, "Don't say anything, it's nothing!"
I'm here to teach, so it's better to avoid trouble.
She adjusted the powdered sugar to the right consistency, making sure it could be formed into a ball by hand but crumbled easily when pressed lightly. She then placed it in a suitable sieve and quickly shook out uniform small granules.
Because it was for teaching purposes, Jiang Zhi didn't need to make many grains. It only took five hours. After the finished product was ready, Miss Huo Er drank her first cup of "bitter coffee".
"Xin Yu, how is Madam Jiang doing?" Miss Huo put down the medicine bowl after only taking a small sip.
Xin Yu is the youngest pharmacist in the program, and looks to be under twenty years old.
Xin Yu said, "Second Miss, there's nothing special about this. It's a waste of money."
Spending 150 taels of silver to learn how to brew medicinal soup seems like a huge waste.
The four pharmacists from the Huo family felt a sharp pain in their hearts, so when Jiang Zhi wanted to use the machine, they said they didn't have one.
That's true. Jiang Zhi's operations didn't require any advanced skills from these pharmacists.
Miss Huo smiled and shook her head: "You guys are still the same. You should know that learning a new drug is like breaking through a thin layer of paper."
It seems simple, but if no one demonstrates it to you, you won't know how to apply the force.
If it were that easy, why didn't our Huo family think of it before? Don't you think so?
Seeing the second young lady's ambiguous smile, Xin Yu blushed and obediently shut her mouth.
However, she was still unconvinced: the second young lady was too generous, and she was easily swindled out of a large sum of money.
After the lesson ended, Jiang Zhi declined the invitation from Miss Huo to host a banquet for her and returned to the small courtyard where she was temporarily staying with Er Rui and Xiao Man.
When she returned, Xiaoman was still a little angry: "What is the Huo family trying to do? They came to the village to learn from us, and now they're acting all high and mighty, who are they trying to impress?"
Jiang Zhi rubbed her lower back and said indifferently, "If you don't like it, then don't look at it. Our business is over. We'll go shopping tomorrow and buy whatever we want."
She didn't do anything today.
But having gotten used to this freedom, suddenly spending a whole day in a small room caused me to experience backaches and leg pains.
It wasn't that she didn't want to go out for a walk; it was the Huo family's medicinal herb warehouse, a heavily guarded area that outsiders were not allowed to enter.
As soon as he moved his foot, the Huo family members next to him stared at him with wide eyes.
But it was worth the trip.
Learning is always a two-way street.
In modern pharmaceutical manufacturing, everything is automated and controlled by machines, and the most primitive tools are rarely seen anymore.
Having seen it today, I'll know what to add in the future.
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