The chirping of insects and birds echoed in the mountains, and the morning air seemed to have been washed by water, making it fresh and moist.
The girl walked back and forth, dew hanging from the ends of her hair.
Jiang Ling'er took a deep breath and put the newly picked herbs into her basket. After picking up the last load of water, she happened to meet her grandma who came to check.
"Mommy, the water came a little late today. I picked some herbs on the way." She glanced at the other tanks. Except for the tank she was responsible for, the other tanks were not full. "Yesterday, my face was cracked by the wind. Daokouzi, I picked some medicine on the mountain and prepared to apply it."
"Oh, you little maid, do you know anything about pharmacology?" Aunt Hua's face turned from uneasy to surprised, and she looked back and forth at her several times and asked.
"Some little tricks can't be put on the stage." Jiang Ling'er smiled, "If it is really done, I will give it to you in a box. If you use it well, I will tell Ling'er."
Grandma Hua raised her eyebrows and felt comfortable, "You have your heart too. I don't have anything good, so just keep it for yourself."
When she returned to the yard with the empty bucket, a whimper came from the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Jiang Ling'er raised the curtain and asked doubtfully.
The three of them were sitting around the stove. The left side of Li Xinran's face was swollen, and the other half of her face looked miserable.
Seeing her coming back, Li Huarui sighed, "Ling'er, you've finished carrying water. Did grandma say anything to you?"
Seeing her shaking her head, Li Huarui breathed a sigh of relief.
"We are still saved. Xin Ran, please stop crying. Tian Zhu, go soak some well water in a cloth and apply it on your second sister's face."
After watching the girl run out with the white cloth, she immediately sat down on the stove and suppressed her anger and said, "Xinran, I know you are angry, but you are too unruly! Grandma is kind-hearted, so she only gives you one slap." Eat, if it were any other nanny, your head wouldn’t even be on your neck.”
Li Xinran shrank and muttered, "I just asked a question, what about..."
"With your current face, my wife and I won't let you embarrass this person! Just listen to grandma, stay in the woodshed, and wait until the immortal master leaves before you come out to do anything."
Li Xinran stood up and said anxiously, "That won't work...I heard that the eldest lady is taking several capable maids with her. I can't stay in the woodshed!"
Li Huarui sneered, "Then go out with this face on your face and see which lady will take you away first or if grandma will take off your head first!"
"What you have to do now," apply the wet cloth Tian Zhu handed over to her face, "quickly apologize to grandma. Maybe there is room for improvement."
Jiang Ling'er slammed the basket on the ground, and several herbs popped up.
Among them are the most common mint and foxtail flowers at the foot of the mountain. During the change of seasons, their maids often pick them for the people in the kitchen, and they are mostly used for coughs and sore throats.
"Ling'er, does your throat hurt?" Li Huarui asked worriedly, handing the wet cloth that had become normal temperature to Tian Zhu, "Sister will make some medicine for you later."
"This is for applying on my face. My face is cracked. I want to make some facial ointment myself and rub it on."
She looked surprised, and seemed to remember that Ling'er was not a local maid in the house, but maybe some kind of help from her family, so she nodded and concentrated on reducing Li Xinran's swelling.
I saw her taking 2 taels of stems and leaves of Setaria japonica and boiling them into oil, stir-frying them repeatedly until they were no longer sticky, pounding the mint grass to get the juice, pouring it into the pot in three batches, then grinding a few dry herbs into powder, and adding them with the mint. Pour in batches of grass, and finally fry it into a black and gray paste.
"Ling'er, you're the weirdo." Tian Zhu stuck out his tongue and looked closer.
Jiang Ling'er didn't say anything, but turned to look at Li Xinran who was covering her face, "Second sister, do you want to give it a try?"
Li Xinran rolled his eyes, stamped his feet, and stopped looking at her.
Back in the courtyard, she first opened the facial ointment in the porcelain bowl, took a little and swirled it in her palm, then applied it carefully on her face.
This is the method her father taught her.
Since she was a child, her father had asked her to do horse walking and boxing exercises. She would jump up and down like a boy, climb trees to dig out bird's nests, and go down to the river to fish for fish and shrimps. Her body and face were covered with scars and wounds.
In order to prevent her from being troubled by this when she grew up, her father gave her this recipe.
Unexpectedly, it is used here.
Jiang Ling'er smiled and put the cream on her face carefully.
…
"Why hasn't the swelling gone down yet? I'm not going to live anymore!"
Jiang Ling'er was awakened by Li Xinran's crying. She pinched her eyebrows and stood up helplessly.
There is not much work in Li's house, but there is not much time for rest.
Li Huarui took off the wet cloth that had been changed countless times and sighed, "Mommy, she wants you to have a better memory, so she won't give you this medicine."
"I don't care! Sister, you have to help me think of a way. I have to go with the eldest lady!"
Jiang Ling'er sighed, "Second sister, try the facial ointment I made and see if the wounds on my face are much better?"
The three of them looked at the girl who had just come in. The cracks on her dry and flaky face were smoothed, and her cheeks that were red and swollen from the cold became normal.
"Ling'er, did you apply the medicine yesterday? Come and give it to me. Second sister is in so much pain! Good sister, go quickly!" Li Xinran said with a bright smile and coquettishly.
"Ling'er gave it to you before, but you didn't want it. Now he's here to torment you again early in the morning." Tian Zhu muttered softly.
She pretended not to hear, and after applying the facial ointment to her face as Jiang Ling'er asked, she felt that the swelling and pain had subsided a lot, and she felt refreshed one after another.
There was no work in the afternoon, so the maids spent the afternoon chatting and gossiping. The center of today's conversation was naturally Li Xinran, the maid who swept the west wing.
"I saw that she was slapped by grandma yesterday and her face was so swollen. How come she is fine today?"
"Not only is it better, she brags about the benefits of that facial cream to everyone she meets. I've waited for her to talk about it several times. How about we try it too?"
Ever since, Jiang Ling'er's face cream became an instant hit among the maids.
The maids each had a bottle, and the reputation spread to the ears of the eldest daughter of the Li family.
In the main courtyard, Li Fengyun was admiring the plum blossoms, holding a small copper heater and listening to the maids telling her interesting things about the house and outside.
"Miss, the facial ointment made by the little maid in the west wing is really good. My sister used it and the scars on her face have faded a lot. Even grandma is praising her. She is a diligent and clever child." The eldest maid Qingguo smiled and fed her the warm ginger and jujube tea.
Feeling the warm sweetness in his mouth, Li Fengyun narrowed his eyes with satisfaction, "It's really as good as you said. Just call this little girl to come over and see me."
"Find that girl to order a unique one for the master. You can't use the same thing as the maid." Qingguo handed the sweet dates to her, wiped the tea stains on the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, and turned to give instructions to the servants. road.
…
Jiang Ling'er put today's white porridge and thick-surface steamed buns on top of hot water to warm them, preparing to chop the firewood for tomorrow.
"Ling'er, your face cream is really good. Isn't my face much whiter and tenderer?"
"Li Xinran, if you are really grateful, come over and help your sister chop some firewood. Don't hang around there." Li Huarui shouted with her hands on her hips, taking a thick-faced steamed bun and adding it to Jiang Ling'er's bowl.
Jiang Ling'er saw it in her eyes and remembered it in her heart. She smiled at Li Huarui and continued to chop wood.
The four of them were talking for a while, and suddenly there was the sound of footsteps at the door.
It's Aunt Hua.
The four of them saluted.
"Come with me, the eldest lady wants to see you."
Jiang Ling'er, who was pointed at, nodded. After her grandma left, Li Xinran stood up immediately, her expression changed several times, and she was held tightly by Li Huarui.
"Why don't you let me go?" He pushed the hand away from his waist and asked angrily, "Why are you so pretentious and pretending to take care of me, just so that your little sister can use me to spread the reputation of facial cream for convenience? Is she close to the eldest lady?"
Li Huarui's face turned from anxious to indifferent, and she looked straight at the girl in front of her, "Ling'er gave you the facial cream but you didn't get a penny for it. You spread the word everywhere and charged a few pennies for a bottle. Now, Even if you bite back, I'm even ashamed of you!" After saying that, he hugged the basin and left.
"Second sister, why are you angry at the eldest sister? It's obvious that Ling'er's face cream is good, and the eldest lady likes it..." Tian Zhu asked doubtfully while chewing melon seeds.
"What's the matter with a little girl like you? Are you here to laugh at me too?" Li Xinran picked up a thin piece of wood on the ground and struck it down, and the Tianzhu man ran away like a ghost.
