Jiang Zhi assigned Xu Gensheng to go to the town to purchase oak powder, elm bark, camphor leaves, charcoal powder, and other materials.
To make your own pills, mosquito coils, and mosquito repellent, you not only need Baicaotang's help in purchasing herbs, but you also need to buy ingredients such as oak powder and charcoal powder at the market.
Jiang Zhi originally planned to send Li Laoshi, but then thought that it would be a waste of resources not to use Xu Gensheng's argumentative tongue, so she simply arranged for him to go instead.
Xu Gensheng was delighted when he heard that he would be responsible for purchasing the goods himself, as this was much more interesting than grinding herbs at the pharmacy every day.
It was originally said that three people needed to be recruited. In addition to Tian Tao and Li Ersao, Jiang Zhi also chose Xu Genqing, so that there would be enough manpower.
Seeing that her son could work, Qin was delighted and boasted to Lianhua, "The rice I cooked on the eighth day of the month was the best. Jiang's wife only called Genqing over after she ate it."
Lianhua no longer argues with her mother-in-law. She just goes along with whatever she's told, and even adds, "Then you can bring me food every day from now on. Genqing loves your cooking the most when it's hot!"
Qin twitched her lips and murmured, "Walking this far every day is still a bit too much!"
Lianhua touched her already showing belly. She heard Xu Genqing say that Aunt Jiang actually wanted her to go, but she was pregnant, so she let Genqing go instead.
Xu Genqing told Lianhua to relax and just focus on her pregnancy: "Lianhua, I'll reserve a spot for you. After you finish your confinement period, your mother will take care of the baby every day, and then you can go to the pharmacy."
The number of people going to the pharmacy has been determined, so it won't affect the village's life.
News from Xiaoman's family soon arrived: the Tian family girl is nice, we can talk about her here first, but she is still young, so we shouldn't rush to discuss this matter.
Tian Gui shared the same idea. Tian Tao had just entered the pharmacy and was still apprenticing under a master, which was causing quite a stir in the village.
If word gets out that I'm arranging a marriage, people will definitely think I'm selling my daughter to curry favor with someone else.
With Jiang Village Chief's reply, Tian Gui felt more confident.
When Liu mentioned Tian Tao again, Tao'er's mother said, "My husband once had Tao'er's fortune told. She has a tough fate and should find someone older!"
Liu was not a bad person. Seeing that the Tian family had no intention of forming a marriage alliance, and since the child was still young, she dropped the matter and didn't say anything more.
Tian Gui and Xu Genyou still lead the villagers to plant early-season tender corn and sow various vegetables.
Because Village Chief Jiang said that now that transportation is convenient, we should grow as many vegetables as possible, and the more varieties, the better.
In the future, we can send them to the city for sale in a unified manner, and also arrange for merchants to come and buy them.
Everyone in the village was busy, but one family was still living by the same old rules that hadn't changed in a thousand years.
While the villagers were repairing their houses, the Shi brothers and their two families were also busy.
The brothers' shack has expanded by two more sections, making it a large-scale illegal structure, and it seems to be spreading and expanding.
The area is large enough, but it's very short. The two brothers, who are nearly ten people in total, have to duck to get in and out.
The firewood piled up outside was high again, neatly stacked, and no one could find fault with it.
The oak trees that got rained on all sprouted and fell into the ditch next to the shack, growing into a bunch of lush green saplings. If nothing unexpected happens, there will be an artificial forest there in a few years.
Jiang Zhi and others had suggested that his family join the villagers in farming.
But the two brothers seem to have an automatic defense mechanism in their minds. Their lives are self-contained. You say something, I listen, and then I forget what you said. Nothing changes.
It has the air of "a gentle breeze caresses my face, yet I remain unmoved."
Jiang Zhi gave up after a few talks, which is also a traditional way of life. We can't say it's wrong just because someone is content with the status quo.
The Shi brothers' family is also special; one of them married his own cousin.
It's highly likely they encountered a couple with identical genes, both looking alike, and all three of their daughters are not very bright!
One of them used his younger sister to exchange for a wife. The wife he got in return had a hand disability and gave birth to a healthy boy named Shi Houzi, who can be considered a contributor to the continuation of the Shi family line.
Every time Jiang Zhi passed by the Shi family, she saw the disheveled figures busy outside the shack, and those few faces that looked remarkably similar, like owls with blank expressions. She couldn't help but laugh and cry.
After finishing her work in the village, on the first day of April, Jiang Zhi led the first batch of employees from Jiang's Pharmacy into Qingquan Bay.
The trees at the valley entrance are covered with new leaves, standing in a row more than two meters high, with a wooden fence separating the inside from the outside.
A stream flows gently through the valley, and various flowers and plants left by the original owner have grown there.
The three newly renovated buildings are a warehouse, a medicine preparation room, and a staff rest room. In the open space, brand-new bamboo curtains are neatly placed on drying racks, inside which are medicinal herbs ready for use.
Like plants and trees, spring has come again. Whether it's the bright sunshine or the vitality brought by these new life forms, the desolation here has vanished without a trace, leaving only prosperity.
The most striking feature is that a section of the former ecological stream has disappeared and been transformed into a narrow channel with a small water mill spanning it.
After more than a month of renovations, apart from repairs to three houses, the main project in Qingquan Bay was still the water mill.
The waterways that were blocked by landslides caused by heavy rain in the back mountain have been cleared, and the streams are now full of water.
A shallow dam was built over the stream, controlled by a sluice gate. The continuous flow of water impacted the wooden wheel through the channel, causing the stone mill above to roll in the mill trough.
Water mills were the most commonly used grinding tools in the south. They used water power and in the Song Dynasty, water-powered spinning wheels could spin up to 32 spindles of hemp. However, they were later phased out because they were not suitable for spinning cotton.
Jiang Zhi once considered building a water mill on the mountain, but due to the water shortage and the enormous scale of the project, it remained just a thought.
Therefore, people still need to use their feet to pound rice and medicine with wooden pestles on the mountain.
There is a water mill here, so there is no need for manual pounding; the grain can be crushed here and then sent up the mountain.
Online image, describing harsh conditions
While grinding herbs has become more convenient, other aspects still need to be addressed.
The medicine preparation room has a row of seven stoves, which allows sixteen pots to boil medicine at the same time.
A row of large water vats lined the wall. This water was piped in from a cave behind the mountain using bamboo tubes. You could simply pull out the plug to release the water.
Next to it was a row of wooden shelves, on which were baskets filled with various medicinal herbs.
In addition, there are large scales and small balances used for weighing medicinal materials and formulating prescriptions.
As for the various sand pots and copper basins, large and small sieves, and water and sand timers, they were all perfect. Jiang Zhi had to make several trips to the county town to acquire all of these items.
After everything was ready for the pharmacy, Jiang Zhi had spent almost all of her one hundred taels of silver. Fortunately, the rest, after deducting wages, was her income.
Xiaoman, Errui, and Xu Genqing had arrived long ago. They not only prepared firewood and water, but also started grinding out some medicinal powder using a water mill.
When it was the first time her family's pharmacy was making medicine, Qiaoyun brought Caixia and Nini on an old mule.
Watching the water mill grinder turn, two little girls ran excitedly between the buildings, with Li Laoshi chasing after them, saying, "Hey, you two little ladies, slow down!"
He's so worried!
When I take care of children in the village, the boys all follow me around and listen to whatever I say. If I tell them to go left, they won't turn right.
Now, not only are the two little girls disobedient, but I have to follow them around!
Despite his complaints, Li Laoshi still had to follow them closely, otherwise those two short legs would run so fast that they would be playing in the ditch in the blink of an eye.
The AI-generated illustrations provided on the Tomato Writers platform are not perfect or up to standard; just make do with them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com