Chapter 24: Teaching Huo Bing to make soap
After arranging the chores for the family, Shen Qing and Huo Bing were left alone in the kitchen.
Shen Qing thought it through. It was impossible for one or two people to do the work of making brushes, such as trimming the hair, polishing the bamboo, tying the silk thread, and installing the brushes. At that time, everyone in the family would choose a link according to their expertise and form an assembly line to do the work.
Making soap is different. It requires skills to know what temperature the oil should be heated to before pouring alkaline water, how much alkaline water to pour, and how much to stir it...it all requires skill.
If you are good at it, you can do it from beginning to end by yourself.
It doesn't require too many people, and Shen Qing doesn't want too many people at home to know.
The more people know about it, the greater the possibility of it being leaked. Core technology is of course in the hands of a few people.
Huo Bing also understood this truth. After listening to it, her words trembled with excitement: "Mom, such an important matter, shouldn't it be left to the head of the family or the third and fourth brothers?
I, let me, is it inappropriate to let my daughter-in-law do it?"
Shen Qing asked back, "Why wouldn't it be appropriate? You have such steady and careful hands, it's perfect for you."
Huo Bing lowered his eyebrows and said gloomily, "Mother, my daughter-in-law is from another family after all."
My mother is very good. Entrusting such an important matter to her shows trust in her. But the words she has heard for more than ten years have already taken root in her heart. How can she, a person from an outsider and a woman, do this job?
Such an important job should be done by the head of the family or the brothers-in-law.
Shen Qing smiled and asked, "What's my last name then? We're the only two of us in this family with a different surname, aren't we?"
Huo Bing's drooping eyebrows immediately lifted up, and his eyes were as dark and bright as the stars in the sky.
"From now on, there will be no outsiders or outsiders. Once you enter our home, everyone is a family. Our main thing is to live a good life and strive to have meat and eggs for every meal! And also flour and rice!" Shen Qing said boldly.
Huo Bing was infected by the atmosphere, and his bright black eyes flickered, "Mom is right!"
She didn't dare to imagine the days when every meal would have meat, eggs and white flour, not even in her dreams, but her mother was right, they had to live a good life.
Three meals a day, and I can eat my fill every time.
·
There wasn't even a stove in the kitchen. There was just a hole dug in the ground, surrounded by a circle of stones, with a large iron pot on top.
There was a small fire burning in the stove, and Shen Qing carefully poured a small bowl of sesame oil into it.
Sesame oil is cheaper than lard and comes in larger quantities. Start with sesame oil and it will withstand failure.
She had made handmade soap before, so she had a good idea of the temperature and how much to heat it to. However, she couldn't control the amount of alkaline water extracted from wood ash, so she needed to try many times.
"We use a small bowl each time. You only need to heat the oil until it's slightly hot, slightly hotter than bath water, but not hot enough to burn your skin.
Then pour in the alkaline water while stirring, and then stir quickly to allow the alkaline water and oil to fully blend together. Once they are blended together, you can pour it into the mold. If they cannot be blended together, it means failure;
At the same time, too much alkaline water is not good either. This is even more troublesome because it cannot be discovered when stirring, but after it is poured into the mold and solidified. At that time, there will be dark brown lumps on the soap, which is extremely ugly.
Furthermore, it will burn the skin when used, which means it is a failed product and cannot be sold, otherwise it will affect the reputation. "Shen Qing demonstrated and taught.
These days, reputation is the most important thing. Although Xingcheng’s business may not last for a few months, we must not lose our conscience.
Huo Bing watched carefully, listened carefully, and concluded, "In other words, we shouldn't worry about putting too little, but we should worry about putting too much."
Shen Qing gave a thumbs up and praised: "Smart! You're right."
It's good to talk to smart people.
She now discovered another advantage of her eldest daughter-in-law: she was smart and had a strong ability to understand.
This is extremely important. If you meet a stupid person who still doesn't understand even after you teach him dozens of times, he will get so angry that he might even smash the pot.
Fortunately, after stirring the oil and water together, you can stop immediately and pour in the alkaline water. The two of them tried it three times each and then stopped. They waited for a day for saponification and demolding. Then they could tell how much alkaline water they needed to pour by looking at the appearance.
After pouring everything into the mold, Huo Bing stayed to clean the kitchen and tidy it up, while Shen Qing moved the mold back to her room.
Just as I put everything in place, I heard Jiang Xiangzhong's blaming voice coming from outside.
"My food is cold! You knew I was coming back for dinner, but you didn't even put it in the pot to warm it up for me?"
"Xiang Zhong, I'm sorry. My sister-in-law was using a pot and couldn't keep it warm. Don't worry, I'll heat it up right away."
"I've been to school all day and I'm exhausted! What's more important to you than my food? I think you did it on purpose. You saw that Mom treated me badly yesterday and you immediately ignored her. In the past, would you dare to neglect me like this?"
Jiang Xiangzhong's words were clearly filled with anger, and he became angrier as he spoke.
"You were just bought by our Jiang family."
"Jiang Xiangzhong!" Shen Qing walked out and shouted gloomily.
The sound was not loud, but it was extremely terrifying to everyone's ears!
Jiang Xiangzhong's short body froze, and he looked over with his neck stiff and his head raised stubbornly.
"I know you're tired from going to school." Shen Qing said slowly.
Jiang Xiangzhong's stiff body relaxed a little. Is his mother giving in?
Others had completely different ideas. For some reason, they believed that this was the calm before the storm.
As expected, Shen Qing said casually: "Fishing and catching eels, plowing the fields, sowing, weeding and harvesting, picking wild vegetables, feeding chickens and ducks, and washing clothes are not tiring at all, it's so easy;
From now on, you will be like your brothers, sisters, and sisters-in-law, and you won’t have to go to the academy to study.”
Jiang Xiangzhong was completely stunned.
He never expected that his mother would say that he didn't need to study.
He likes reading and has never complained about being tired, but his mother often says that studying is tiring and difficult for him, so the delicious food at home must be eaten by him and he doesn't have to do the housework. Over time, he began to believe this from the bottom of his heart.
He stammered, "Mom, I, I want to study."
"Oh? Aren't you tired from studying? You're so tired that you can't even heat up your own food. Your brothers, sisters-in-law, and sisters are tired after a day of work. Let alone heating up the food, they can even cook a meal!
How can I let you be so tired at home? Of course you have to enjoy the same happiness as them. "Shen Qingyin said.
She clearly enjoys all the resources allocated to her by the family, but she is not grateful and even takes it for granted. That's why she can't even speak to her in a friendly manner!
The others understood Shen Qing's words, and Jiang Xiangzhong understood them even more. He turned around and bowed deeply to Huo Bing: "Sister-in-law, I was wrong just now. I hope you don't take it to heart.
Thank you for leaving some food for me, I will heat it up myself."
Huo Bing waved her hands quickly. After all, this was her mother's most beloved youngest son. She looked up at her mother over Jiang Xiangzhong's head.
The latter just nodded at her.
She understood and stepped aside: "You're welcome, go in, and ask me if you have any questions."
Since the mother asked Xiangzhong to go to the kitchen, she must have her reasons. The previous head of the household never participated in taking care of the baby. She never changed Xiaohua's diaper or fed her porridge. Even so, whenever Xiaohua cried, he would first blame her for not comforting the child.
The child was sick and he blamed her for not taking good care of the child.
The child was thin, and he also blamed her for not feeding him well...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
