In less than three days, the soap workshop slowly took shape.
A large house was built next to the original house, which attracted great attention and many people in the village talked about it.
Mrs. Zhao couldn't hold it in anymore, so she pulled Cheng Wanwan and asked in a low voice: "It cost a lot of money to build this house. What are we going to do?"
Cheng Wanwan knew that everyone would know about this sooner or later, so she decided not to hide it. She said, "I am planning to do another business."
She brought out a basin of water and placed it in front of the old lady. Then she handed over a piece of soap and said, "Mom, wash your hands."
Old Mrs. Zhao has a pair of rough, wrinkled hands. The backs of her hands are criss-crossed with grooves, and the gaps between her palms and fingers are full of black stuff. This is dirt accumulated over many years. In an era when there were no cleaning products, these stubborn stains could not be washed away at all. Don't fall off.
She glanced at Cheng Wanwan's white hands and felt a little embarrassed for no reason.
In fact, everyone in the village had hands like this, and she used to think it was okay, but when her eldest daughter-in-law suddenly asked her to wash her hands, she felt ashamed instantly.
"Mom, wet your hands first, and then rub this thing on your hands."
Cheng Wanwan demonstrated a little.
Mrs. Zhao did as she was told. The stuff on her hands felt slippery, and a layer of fine white foam formed on her palms. It seemed that some of the black stuff on her palms had been rubbed off. She quickly put her hands in the basin. , took it out again, and sure enough, my hands were all clean.
"W-what is this?" Old Mrs. Zhao was surprised, "It's not the kind of bath beans used by wealthy families, is it?"
She had heard of this thing, but she had never seen it before, let alone used it.
In her opinion, only bath beans can have such a good cleaning effect.
"When I was cooking that day, a can of lard on the stove was poured into the plant ash, and it condensed to form this kind of thing. I tried it, and it worked very well. It was much better than simply using plant ash to wash things." Cheng Wan Wan smiled and said, "Mom, tell me, if I make this and sell it, will there be a market?"
"Lard? A can of lard?" Mrs. Zhao's eyes widened. "This thing is made of lard. Oh my god, I just washed my hands with lard!!"
One can of lard can last their family for a year!
How can this eldest daughter-in-law be so capable of ruining things!
Cheng Wanwan: "..."
Why is the old lady’s focus always so weird!
She explained: "Mom, please calm down. Let me ask you, do you know how much a bath bean costs?"
Old Mrs. Zhao shook her head. She didn't know where bath beans were sold in town. How did she know how much they cost? She couldn't afford them anyway, and she didn't care about the price.
"I asked Xiao Zheng, a bath bean as big as a baby's fist costs about one tael of silver." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, "Xiao Zheng said, our product is better than bath beans, but it has no fragrance... …When I find a way to add fragrance to it, I can sell it for at least one tael of silver a piece. Do you know how much lard can be bought for one tael of silver?”
Old Mrs. Zhao quickly calculated the accounts in her mind. Pure fat pork costs more than 20 cents per catty. One tael of silver can buy almost fifty catties, and can make forty catties of lard... After calculating the accounts like this, her old man's mentality became more and more serious. He was unsteady and even his breathing became rapid: "Can this thing really be sold for a tael of silver?"
She grabbed Cheng Wanwan's sleeve.
Cheng Wanwan nodded seriously: "As long as this thing is on the market, it will definitely sell for this price."
"Boss, wife, you can't tell everyone how you discovered this thing in the future. What if people follow your example and make it with lard and plant ash?" Mrs. Zhao lowered her voice and said, "This thing will definitely work. Sell it, but if the formula is leaked and everyone rushes to make this thing, how can you still make money?"
Cheng Wanwan knew that the old lady was really thinking about her, and she didn't want the old lady to worry about this every day. She smiled and said: "I have been studying and improving the formula these days. This is made by adding some other things. Lard and plant ash alone won’t have such a good effect.”
High alcohol and salt water are the basis of soap business.
Mrs. Zhao breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. You have to keep the secret recipe in your own hands. The children in Dashan are still young and can be easily fooled. Don't tell them yet..."
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were talking in the house.
Ah Fu suddenly rushed in: "Auntie, it's bad, something happened!"
Cheng Wanwan walked out quickly: "What happened?"
"Several carriages came at the entrance of the village, and the patrols couldn't stop them. Those people came towards my aunt's house!" Ah Fu gasped, "Those people were wearing silk and satin fabrics. They must not be ordinary people. Auntie, be careful. "
Cheng Wanwan stood on the stone in the yard and looked around, and sure enough she saw three carriages coming in from the village entrance. The village patrol team and Li Zheng followed the carriages, trying to stop them, but the carriages went faster and faster.
"Stop!" Li Zheng trotted after the carriage, "This is Dahe Village. Outsiders are prohibited from entering. Who are you? Tell us your name, otherwise I will report it to the county magistrate!"
A woman in the carriage opened the curtain and came out with a sneer: "A small villager dares to stop the Cao family's carriage. How impudent. Someone, hold him down!"
Two guards jumped out of another carriage and rushed towards Zheng without any explanation.
Three or four people from the patrol team quickly came over to protect Li Zheng.
Taking advantage of this gap, the carriage drove forward quickly and stopped in front of Cheng Wanwan's house.
Li Zheng's chest surged: "Even the patrol team can't stop these people, it's really hopeless! It seems that our patrol team still has too few people!"
Wang Yongcheng said: "It's not that there are few people, it's that we don't have the skills. Those two guards are very skilled at first glance. Even if ten of us come together, we are no match for these two!"
Why doesn't Li Zheng understand this truth?
He sighed deeply. The village was full of farmers. Apart from their strength, they had no other advantages. The patrol team could stop ordinary people, but it could not stop the rich and powerful...
Li Zheng didn't have time to think about this and quickly followed the carriage to Cheng Wanwan's house.
The woman in the first carriage jumped out of the carriage. She was dressed in silk clothes, with a silver hairpin in her hair, and a green bracelet on her wrist. She looked like a lady from a wealthy family. .
She said coldly: "Is this the Zhao Cheng family's home in Dahe Village?"
Cheng Wanwan stepped forward and said quietly: "I am Zhao Cheng, who are you?"
"I am the housekeeper of Mrs. Cao of the Cao family. My surname is Xu." Mrs. Xu said with a smile, "I heard that there was a young girl in Zhao Cheng's family recently. Is this possible?"
Cheng Wanwan smiled: "There is no need to report our family's affairs to a servant, right?"
This group of people is coming fiercely. Since they are the Cao family, they are here for Cao Yingying.
The Cao family is considered to be a member of the upper class in Hekou Town. She thought she would be able to find Cao Yingying's hiding place in ten days at most. Unexpectedly, more than half a month had passed before she came to her door. It was obvious that the Cao family had no idea at all. Take this legitimate eldest lady seriously.
Mrs. Xu was furious: "Ignorant village woman, how dare you despise the Cao family, come here, hold her down, go in and search her!"
