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Chapter 559: Chapter 563 A Bit of Selfishness_1
"Don’t worry, with me here, nothing will go wrong. But... there’s one more thing I need your help with."
Qiao Duo’er was patient. "Just tell me what you need."
"We’ve decided that I’ll be responsible for delivering the herbs. Different kerchiefs will be used to wrap the harvested herbs, and when that time comes, I’ll need you to put the copper coins in the kerchiefs," said Fat Aunt hesitantly.
They were acting out of self-interest, so she felt a bit ashamed to ask.
It was really bothersome to have the Tan Family weigh each bundle and hand out money individually.
Qiao Duo’er agreed readily. She didn’t want unreliable people getting involved either.
After all, the quality of the herbs directly affected the quality of the facial mask powder, and she didn’t want to ruin the hard-earned reputation.
After discussing the herbs, Qiao Duo’er invited Fat Aunt to stay for dinner.
"My family is waiting for me to eat at home. Oh, how is it that your house feels warm after just a few words?"
Fat Aunt looked around curiously; there wasn’t even a brazier in the room.
It was truly magical!
Qiao Duo let her in on the secret: "It’s the ground dragon system that Ah Hong installed. They’re used more in the north where it is colder." 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Fat Aunt, planning to rebuild her house next year, inquired further.
Qiao Duo didn’t keep any secrets and shared all she knew.
In this area, people typically used braziers to keep warm during winter, but braziers were dangerous, as they could easily lead to suffocation or fire. Ground dragons didn’t have these issues.
The only downside to ground dragons was that they used up a lot of firewood, but that wasn’t a problem for farmers. The men just needed to gather more wood from the mountains.
"Thank you. I’ll talk it over with my husband. If he agrees, I’ll ask Zheng Hong to install a ground dragon for us too!" Fat Aunt said cheerily, looking forward to easier winters.
Qiao Duo’er responded, "Sure, just let Ah Hong know when you’re ready."
"Then it’s settled for now. Wife of Zheng Hong, I’ll head back now. Come and visit when you have some time," said Fat Aunt before hurrying off.
If her husband agreed, she’d start the construction when spring came.
After she left, Tan Zhenghong brought dinner, a hot chicken soup dumpling perfect for the cold weather.
While eating, Tan Zhenghong shared his thoughts.
"Wife, I’ll learn how to process those herbs from you tomorrow," said Tan Zhenghong seriously.
The weather was getting colder, and he couldn’t let Duo’er handle the washing and chopping.
Qiao Duo’er didn’t insist on doing it herself, knowing she couldn’t handle it all alone.
The next day, Qiao Duo put wood ash in a basin, poured in a bucket of water, and stirred with a wooden stick.
After letting it sit for a while, the wood ash settled at the bottom, and what she needed was the water above it.
The water filtered through the wood ash was alkaline and could remove the dirt from the herbs.
As dusk fell, Fat Aunt arrived as promised.
The herbs weighed about thirty pounds, a large quantity, but were only wrapped in white cloth, with no markings—a bit different from what was discussed yesterday.
"I discussed with everyone and we decided we don’t read well, it’s hard for us to identify so many herbs, and we were worried about mixing them which might affect their properties. So I divided them into groups, each responsible for picking only one type. We split the money we get," explained Fat Aunt. Everyone knew each other well and no one was the type to cheat, so there were no objections.
This way, Qiao Duo’er only had to weigh the total and settle the silver coins all at once, saving a lot of trouble.
"It’s a total of thirty-two pounds. I’ll give you two hundred wen money, which will be easier for you to divide when you get back."
