An Shuyi nodded, "Okay, then you guys do it. The boss will bring people to deliver the ice to the village entrance tomorrow morning." It was already midnight, and she wanted to go to sleep.
"Don't worry, sisters-in-law, we know."
An Shuyi and Xia Hua went back to sleep, but they got up before dawn. The ground was still wet, so they couldn't bring the sewing machine back. As for making paper, they would have to wait for the tribesmen to clear the land first, but it was almost finished now, and they could start making paper tomorrow.
Before that, she and Xia Hua had to go up the mountain to see what would be the most suitable material for making paper. Paper mulberry bark was what they most wanted to find, and it was also the most suitable material for making paper. Bamboo and wood could also be used, but the process was more complicated. If they couldn't find paper mulberry bark, they would have to use the other two materials.
I covered Xiao Liu and Xiao Qi with the blankets. These past few days, the two children have been sleeping with them, but they go to bed late. Xiao Wu takes care of them during the day. It seems I need to buy some books for Xiao Liu when I go to the county town tomorrow, and also some embroidery thread for Xiao Qi so she can learn to embroider.
She didn't mean that Xiaoqi had to learn it; she just wanted to buy it to see how it went. If she liked it, she could learn it; if she didn't, it didn't matter. The third brother was digging in the ground with the second brother every day. Although he complained a lot, he didn't dare to resist.
The eldest son delivers ice every day, and when he gets back, he still has to dig the ground. In the evening, he has to pay the villagers of Xinglin Village their wages. Zhao and Wu are still making clothes for their families. Thinking of this, she remembered that she hadn't given Zhao the hairpin that Huahua had given her yet.
She opened the jewelry box next to her sleeping area, took out the three silver hairpins, and then took out a ruby hairpin and a sapphire hairpin. These were for her and Hua Hua, so that Zhao Shi could comb their hair.
After handing the three silver hairpins to Xia Hua, she began to get dressed, fetch water to wash up, and quickly applied skincare products to her face while no one was around. Then she sat on a stool and waited.
Xia Hua also called over Song Shi, Zhao Shi, and Wu Shi. "Zhao Shi, these are the hairpins I promised you, and also some for the two of you. Although you can't help me and Shu Shu with our hair like Zhao Shi can, I can't be biased, so I'll buy some for you too."
Looking at the hairpin in front of her, Zhao's face revealed surprise. Her mother-in-law and aunt hadn't given her one when they came back yesterday, and she wondered if they had forgotten. She didn't expect that they hadn't forgotten and had actually bought it for her.
She took the hairpin and carefully inserted it into her hair. "Thank you, Auntie."
Xia Hua nodded, "You're welcome, go and comb your mother's hair!"
Madam Song and Madam Wu took the hairpins and thanked them, saying they thought only their eldest sister-in-law had one, but they didn't expect them to have one too.
After An Shuyi and Xia Hua finished packing, they carried their baskets and headed up the mountain. It was only dawn, and the villagers had already started digging the ground. The villagers of Xinglin Village were also digging the foundation, and they believed that the foundation would be completed in a few days.
Xia Hua bought some bread from the mall, and the two of them ate as they climbed the mountain, while also looking for any precious saplings or paper mulberry trees.
Unsure of what animals lived on the mountain, the two stayed together. The mountain was behind the village, and they decided to visit the mountains on either side of the village another day. After climbing halfway up the mountain, An Shuyi not only found several precious spiritual plants and flowers, but also a paper mulberry tree. She peeled off a piece of bark to take back to show her people so they could come on their own next time.
After the bark of the paper mulberry tree is peeled off, the tree will not die. After a few months, the paper mulberry tree will grow new bark again. Paper mulberry trees can be peeled three times a year. She found quite a few in this place. When she has time, she will go to the other two mountains to take a look. However, she guessed that there were definitely more.
As long as you have it, you can peel the bark of the paper mulberry tree separately, and you don't have to worry about it being useless. It's late February now, and March is just around the corner. The weather is almost like summer now, and it's unbearably hot.
The higher you climb, the taller the trees become. When you reach the top of the mountain, you can only see trees and nothing else. However, there are many more precious flowers inside. You can see two Clivia plants and one Ghost Orchid. At first, she thought it was just an ordinary weed, but she didn't expect it to be a Ghost Orchid, which can be sold for a thousand taels of silver.
They also found two tea trees, but they could only sell them for 200 taels each. Seeing that it was getting late, the two decided to go back. If they sold everything they found today, they would have more than 3,000 taels of silver, and maybe they could even light up 30 more of her grids.
She discovered that the number of squares lit up in the trading system varied each time; 500 taels would unlock five squares, and a little over 1000 taels would unlock ten, instead of 15 squares for a little over 1000 taels. Furthermore, no squares would light up if she didn't have 500 taels.
As they were about to leave, they heard howling in the distance. The two women exchanged a glance, their eyes full of smiles. Now they wouldn't have to buy meat. Before they even got close, they saw a wild boar running towards them. It weighed about two or three hundred pounds, with black bristles and long tusks.
Although wild boar meat is tough and has a strong smell, the tribespeople probably wouldn't mind. The two men pulled out the sharp knives tied to their waists in unison and waited for the wild boar to come over.
Then the two of them leaped up at the same time and stabbed at the wild boar's neck. The wild boar was pierced through the neck by the two sharp knives, blood flowed out, and then it fell to the ground, twitched, and then fell silent. An Shuyi and Xia Hua hurriedly retreated after succeeding, without getting a drop of blood on them.
After cleaning the dagger and putting it back in its sheath (which was actually made of a piece of leather and was quite soft), Xia Hua pulled the wild boar up by its hind legs, and An Shuyi put a rope around the boar's neck and pulled it along.
This is just one wild boar. If there were more, they would have to make a frame and drag it away. As for carrying it, forget it, it's too smelly.
The two of them dragged the wild boar down the mountain. When they got there, some tribesmen were digging in the ground. "Wenlang, Dahu, come and carry the wild boar."
Hearing their aunt calling them, Lin Wenlang and Zhu Dahu ran over, followed by some onlookers. "Auntie, is this the wild boar you hunted?"
Looking at Zhu Dahu, the somewhat simple-minded son of the hunter Zhu, An Shuyi said, "Yes, your Aunt Xia and I made it. You take it to the workshop, and then let the village chief arrange for someone to cook. Each family will contribute two jin of grain today."
Although she has plenty of grain, she can't be taken advantage of. Now that she's already selling meat, shouldn't they be the ones to pay for the grain?
Lin Wenlang looked up at her in surprise, "Auntie, are you making the meat from last night again?"
"If you like it, then make the braised pork from last night. If you don't like it...!"
"We love it, we love it!" Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Dahu said, "Auntie, let's carry it over now." After saying that, the two of them carried the wild boar, which weighed more than 300 pounds, towards the workshop.
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