“Sister-in-law Jiang, these are all the best workers in our village, look…” Zhao Erleng’s wife didn’t finish her sentence, glancing at Jiang Ling with timid eyes.
Jiang Ling smiled and welcomed the village women, along with Zhao Erleng's wife, into her home. Jiang Suihe obediently brought stools for the women, while Jiang Ling placed the tools and spicy herbs in front of them.
"Sisters, just follow my method to process these spicy herbs!" Jiang Ling said to them after demonstrating.
The village women looked at each other, hesitant to make a move. Jiang Ling thought that her demonstration was not detailed enough and was about to demonstrate again when Zhao Erleng's wife suddenly stood up and pulled Jiang Ling to a corner.
“Jiang… Sister-in-law Jiang, um… didn’t you say you could give us copper coins in advance? I told them, so… you…” Zhao Erleng’s wife was usually quick-witted, but this was the first time she had spoken so hesitantly.
Jiang Ling immediately understood what Zhao Erleng's wife meant. She smiled and patted Zhao Erleng's wife on the shoulder, saying, "Sister-in-law Erleng, don't worry, I'll go get the money right away!"
Zhao Erleng's wife scratched her head embarrassedly, blushed, and sat back down. As soon as she returned, the village women next to her immediately gathered around and whispered among themselves.
Jiang Ling went inside, carefully took out ten copper coins from the shop, and walked over to Zhao Erleng's wife and the others.
The village women immediately shut their mouths and showed a nervous expression when they saw Jiang Ling come out.
"Sisters, this is what I told Erleng's sister-in-law before, two copper coins for each person for one hour!" Jiang Ling said, placing the copper coins in the hands of the five village women.
They were usually quiet, but after receiving the money, they sat on the chairs with some unease and swayed slightly.
After placing the last two copper coins in Zhao Erleng's wife's hand, Jiang Ling said, "Sisters-in-law, did you all understand my demonstration just now?"
The five village women all nodded and silently began to work on their tasks.
With the help of five people, Jiang Ling's workload was greatly reduced. Children began to appear at Jiang Ling's house one after another, carrying spicy grass. Jiang Ling glanced at Jiang Suihe next to her and waved to her, signaling her to come in.
"Suihe, here are twenty copper coins. You're in charge of collecting the spicy herbs," Jiang Ling said, placing the twenty copper coins in Jiang Suihe's hand.
"What? Mother? Me? This? This? Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Jiang Suihe had never touched a copper coin before. Although she had seen copper coins when she went out to do business with Jiang Ling before, she was still a child and was so shocked by the fact that Jiang Ling suddenly gave her so many today that she stood there helplessly.
Jiang Ling smiled and encouraged him, saying, "Suihe, I believe in you. You can definitely do this job!"
Jiang Suihe looked up at Jiang Ling's encouraging eyes, hesitated for a moment before glancing at the twenty copper coins in her hand, and finally bit her lip, nodded, and said to Jiang Ling, "Mother, I won't let you down!"
As she spoke, Jiang Suihe held the copper coins in both hands and walked towards a group of children.
Jiang Ling stood outside the door, leaning gently against it, her eyes slightly narrowed as she looked intently at Jiang Suihe not far away.
Jiang Suihe carefully examined the mint and called Jiang Wenxi over. Jiang Wenxi quickly took the basket and poured the mint into a corner. Jiang Suihe returned the two copper coins and the basket. In a short while, Jiang Suihe collected all the mint from the children at the door.
"Mother! There are still four copper coins left!" Jiang Suihe, who had just tasted success, ran excitedly to Jiang Ling's side, holding up the remaining copper coins.
"You and your sister can divide these four copper coins; consider it your earnings!" Jiang Ling did not accept the coins.
"Really? Really?" Jiang Suihe's mouth was so open it could almost fit an egg; she never expected to have a coin.
Jiang Ling smiled and nodded at Jiang Suihe, who looked surprised.
Jiang Suihe looked very happy, her eyes crinkling into crescents, which was quite adorable.
She took out two copper coins and placed them in Jiang Wenxi's hand, then took the remaining copper coins in front of Jiang Ling and said to her, "Mother... how about... how about you save them for me?"
After hearing this, Jiang Ling shook her head and said to Jiang Suihe with a slightly serious expression, "Suihe, you need to learn to take care of your own things now, no matter what they are, even if they are just coins!"
Although Jiang Suihe didn't understand, she knew that whatever her mother said was right and for her own good. She nodded and carefully stuffed the two copper coins into her pocket.
An hour passed quickly, and Jiang Ling looked at the crushed mint in the basin, examining it carefully.
Perhaps it was because Jiang Ling's expression was too serious, but the five village women, including Zhao Erleng's wife, looked somewhat uneasy.
"Okay, today's work is satisfactory. Thank you all for your hard work, ladies." Jiang Ling said after checking the last pot of crushed mint.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Zhao Erleng's wife leaned close to Jiang Ling and asked, "Sister-in-law, then...then tomorrow?"
Jiang Ling nodded in understanding and said to everyone, "Come back at this time tomorrow. This job will take at least a month!"
"What? Sister-in-law... Sister-in-law, you... you mean I can come all month long?" one of the village women asked incredulously.
Jiang Ling nodded and repeated, "Of course, sisters-in-law, don't worry. I can't guarantee it will be too long, but you should all come over for at least this month!"
After hearing the whole story, everyone showed happy expressions, and with smiles in their eyes, they thanked Jiang Ling again and again before leaving.
Jiang Ling looked at the mint in the basin and started working. She worked until 9 PM before she finished making the mint syrup and mint paste, her back aching.
Looking at the basins of peppermint syrup and peppermint paste on the ground, Jiang Ling began to think about which step could be delegated to others.
The next morning, Jiang Ling felt soreness and swelling in her arms, but she still forced herself to sit up in bed despite the discomfort.
While the three children were all asleep, Jiang Ling quietly picked up her basket and pushed open her front door.
Following the system's prompts in her mind, Jiang Ling dug up a lot of mugwort and cocklebur in the back mountain, and also bought some alum and realgar from the system's shop when no one was around.
After returning home, Jiang Ling put all four ingredients into a pot and boiled them according to the proportions in the book. Then she threw the woven grass balls into the water. After about half an hour, Jiang Ling put all the grass balls in the sun to dry.
"Mom, what are you doing?" the three children asked in a low voice, looking at the clumps of grass scattered in their yard.
"Come here, you three, I have something to tell you." Jiang Ling called all three children to her side.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com