Nowadays, everyone takes a simple bath. Even in the Tang family, the richest family in Jubao Village, people like Mrs. Sun and Mrs. He still use wood ash to wash their hair occasionally.
There is a separate "ash basket" at home. Two layers of mats are placed at the bottom of the basket, and then burnt wood ash and grass ash are put in. Water is added and the ash water filtered from the bottom of the basket is collected. It can be used to wash your hair and take a bath.
From a modern perspective, wood ash contains natural alkali, which has a good cleansing function. It can not only be used for washing hair and taking a bath, but also for washing clothes.
Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can also use rice washing water to take a bath. During festivals, you can buy some soapberries. If you are particular, you can peel off the skin and seeds of the soapberries, leaving only the soapberry flesh to dry, and then boil it in hot water to make soapberry soup.
There are no soapberry trees locally, but soapberry is not expensive. A more advanced product is bath beans.
Wash the blood from the pig's pancreas, remove the fat, grind it into a paste, add bean powder, spices, egg white, and even various Chinese medicines, such as Angelica dahurica, Radix Aconiti Lateralis, Bombyx Batryticatus, Bletilla striata, etc., mix them evenly, and dry them naturally to make a ball slightly larger than a glutinous rice ball. This is the bath bean, which should be the prototype of soap. One piece costs between 60 and 200 wen, and Tang Shiyue picked four pieces after bargaining.
There are also facial creams and facial medicines. Facial medicines are in block shape, while facial creams are stored in small porcelain jars with lids. A box costs one or two hundred coins. Most of them are made from medicinal materials, and each has its own effective uses. Some say it “treats facial chapped skin” and some says it “relieves aging wrinkles”. Tang Shiyue simply couldn’t stop reading.
Finally, I carefully selected four boxes of products such as "makes a centenarian's face look like a young girl, shiny and white" and "makes the face white, radiant and rosy". I also weighed some soapberries. Even if I didn't buy rouge and lip balm, I still spent nearly two taels of silver.
Madam Zhou had never seen such a shopping spree before, and she kept winking at her, but she bought the items without changing her expression. Because she was so generous and neat, the shopkeeper even gave her a small jar of facial cream as a gift.
As a movie queen who has been beautiful for half her life, she has never been stingy about spending money on this. It is hard for these people to understand this kind of thing. Fortunately, Wang Shi took the blame for this kind of thing, so she said obediently: "My mother asked me to buy it."
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In the eyes of the whole village, Mrs. Wang was a synonym for a troublemaker. Madam Zhou believed it instantly, clicked her tongue a few times, and said nothing more.
These things were not heavy, so I packed them up carefully and put them into the backpack, then went to buy some cloth.
Now there was no place to sleep at home, and everyone had only one set of clothes. He counted the cloths one by one and bought them. He also went to the clothing store and bought a decent robe for Tang Shirong, spending nearly two taels of silver. He also had to buy pots, bowls, and utensils.
After all, she was only twelve years old, had been bedridden for a long time, and was malnourished. Even with Madam Zhou's help, she was still out of breath by the end of the shopping.
Fortunately, she bought a lot. Labor was cheap these days. The boy followed behind her pushing a cart. She also bought some rice and flour, some seeds, three pounds of mutton, a few meat cakes, and some snacks.
All in all, this trip cost more than five taels of silver, and the car on the way back was full of her things.
In the car, when Madam Zhou told the story of the snake tongue grass, the envious village women's eyes turned green. They were as envious now as they despised it in the past. Several people asked her repeatedly, wishing she could take out the silver to see it.
When they arrived at Jubao Village, the ox cart drove them directly to the doorstep. Fourth Uncle Tang helped unload the goods. Tang Shiyue handed a small packet to Madam Zhou and said, "Take this and eat it."
Madam Zhou said anxiously, "This is unacceptable."
"Take it quickly, Auntie," Tang Shiyue said with a smile, "Auntie has been running around with me all day, running errands and worrying about everything, and saving me a lot of money. This is just a small token of my appreciation. If you don't take it, I won't bother you next time."
Madam Zhou said a few more humble words before accepting it.
She was not a stingy person, she prepared this specially, a pound of mutton, two Hu cakes and some snacks. A pound of mutton was 120 wen, and a meat Hu cake was 20 wen each, plus the snacks, it was a very generous thank-you gift in the countryside.
Favors are acquired through getting along with others. Since she knows how to behave, Zhou Niangzi will naturally return the favor. After giving the things to Tang Sishu, Tang Sishu drove the ox cart home, and Zhou Niangzi helped her carry the things into the house.
As soon as they pushed open the gate, they saw Xiao Yaoer squatting in the yard playing with branches. When she saw them, she came out happily: "Sister, Aunt Zhou! You are back!"
"Hey!" Madam Zhou said with a smile, "Yao girl, where is your mother?"
The door suddenly opened and a man walked out. It was Tang Yongfu. Wang came out trotting behind him with flushed cheeks: "Yuer is back!" She pulled her clothes in panic.
Tang Shiyue was so angry that her eyes were blazing with fire!
A man and a woman alone in broad daylight with the door closed, are these two people really shameless? !
Seeing that Madam Zhou looked unhappy, Tang Shiyue felt even more depressed.
Tang Yongfu also looked extremely uncomfortable. He coughed and said in a pretentious manner, "That's it for now. I'm leaving first!" He stumbled and walked out in a square step.
Tang Shiyue glared at his back fiercely, and her teeth were itching with anger.
Madam Zhou recovered quickly, smiled and chatted for a few words, then was about to go back. Tang Shiyue walked her to the door, took out the small bottle of facial cream from her bosom, stuffed it into her hand, and said with a smile, "Thank you for your trouble, Auntie."
Her thank-you gift had just been delivered. Although this small jar of facial cream was given as a free gift, it was worth thirty or fifty coins. Madam Zhou was also a smart person and immediately understood. With a complicated look in her eyes, she hesitated for a moment before accepting it and said, "If you don't accept it, you will be worried, so I will take it. Don't worry, I know what's going on... It's really hard for you."
She touched her head and turned away.
Wang Shi was unusually diligent. Together with Xiao Yaoer, she moved all the things into the house. The more annoyed Tang Shiyue was, the calmer her expression became. She watched coldly as they took out the facial cream and bath beans, and each family member got one.
When Xiao Yaoer heard that she had a separate one, she was overjoyed.
There is one good thing about Mrs. Wang. As long as the things are good enough for her, she doesn't mind sharing them with others. She just grumbled a few words about not buying rouge and lipstick, and then happily put them away.
It was also afternoon and everyone was hungry. Tang Shiyue bought noodles today and boiled them with wild vegetables. Then she stirred the batter and made a small noodle soup. The mother and her two daughters ate it with meat pancakes. They then spread out the cloth and selected the pieces, dividing the pieces and deciding which was for whom and which was for whom. They were so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.
Tang Shiyue remained silent. It was not until late at night, when Xiaoyao fell asleep, that Tang Shiyue called out, "Mother."
Wang responded in a daze, and Tang Shiyue said coldly: "I sold herbs today and made ten taels of silver."
"Oh?" Wang was excited: "Then why don't you buy rouge and lip balm for mother? If there is any left, buy her a hairpin to wear..."
"Okay," Tang Shiyue said word by word, "I said I would lead you to live a good life. I will buy you everything you want. But mother, tell me first, what did Tang Yongfu come here for today?"
"What Tang Yongfu!" Wang said angrily, "Do you have any manners at all? He's your uncle!"
Tang Shiyue sneered: "I don't know the etiquette, a married man, with my widowed mother, closed the door in broad daylight, do you think this is polite?"
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