Lin Suhe tilted her head in confusion and asked,
“There was still some distance between us, and we didn’t even touch. What’s the problem?”
Seeing her innocent expression, Jiang Wangchuan could only sigh inwardly. He decided he would explain it to her properly after they got home.
The shopkeeper, who had been left waiting, asked,
“Does this thing last long? Can it really clean dirty clothes?”
Lin Suhe nodded quickly.
“It lasts a long time. You only need to rub a little to make foam, and it can remove most stains.”
The shopkeeper stroked his goatee and thought for a moment before asking,
“How many of these do you have? And how much are you selling them for?”
Jiang Wangchuan replied,
“There are twenty-four small ones and eighteen large ones. The small ones are two copper coins each, and the large ones are three.”
The shopkeeper quietly calculated the total, then said,
“How about this? I’ll give you eighty copper coins for the whole basket. What do you think?”
Lin Suhe looked at Jiang Wangchuan in surprise and delight.
She could tell from his eyes that he was asking for her opinion, so she nodded and said to the shopkeeper,
“Deal!”
The shopkeeper pulled open a wooden drawer beneath the shelf and asked them to place all the soap inside. Then he went behind the counter to get their payment.
As Jiang Wangchuan and Lin Suhe carefully stacked the soap into the drawer, the shopkeeper counted the coins and called out,
“This soap seems better than wood ash. What’s it made from?”
There was no way they could reveal their secret recipe. That would ruin their own business.
Jiang Wangchuan answered mysteriously,
“It’s a family recipe that’s been passed down for generations. The process is very complicated. It’s hard to explain in just a few words.”
Hearing him make up such a story, Lin Suhe quietly covered her mouth and giggled.
The shopkeeper continued,
“The workmanship is still a little rough. If you could make it look more refined, it would probably sell even better.”
Jiang Wangchuan nodded.
“Then we’ll improve it when we get back. If we make better-looking ones, we’ll bring them to you.”
“Sounds good.”
The shopkeeper handed Jiang Wangchuan eight strings of copper coins, then pointed at the paper and brush on the counter.
“Can either of you write? Write the name of this item on the paper.”
Lin Suhe immediately stepped forward, dipped the brush in ink, and neatly wrote the two characters:
Soap.
The shopkeeper picked up the paper and smiled.
“Oh! I didn’t expect that. Your handwriting is quite beautiful, little girl.”
Jiang Wangchuan leaned over to look as well.
The characters were neat, straight, and elegant—far better than his own, even though he had actually spent three years studying in school.
He stared at her in astonishment.
His little wife kept surprising him.
She was nothing like a girl raised in the poor little village of Wenhe.
Lin Suhe smiled proudly.
She happily thanked the shopkeeper for the compliment, then she and Jiang Wangchuan put away the money and left the store.
“Brother Jiang, now we can buy meat buns!”
She skipped happily down the street.
Seeing how cheerful she looked made Jiang Wangchuan happy too.
“Not just meat buns. What else do you want to eat? Just tell me today.”
“Really?”
Lin Suhe’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
Jiang Wangchuan smiled warmly.
“Of course.”
Even though they had just earned eighty copper coins, Lin Suhe still hated spending too much.
She only bought one piece of date paste cake from a pastry shop.
Since he knew she liked sweets, Jiang Wangchuan made his own decision and bought some preserved fruit as well.
That alone cost over ten copper coins.
Although Lin Suhe felt a little heartbroken over the money, she was also touched by how thoughtful he was and gladly accepted his kindness.
Besides…
The preserved fruit really was delicious.
Jiang Wangchuan also bought some rapeseed oil, coarse salt, and other seasonings, along with some pickled vegetables.
Finally, they stopped at a bun shop and bought two big, fluffy meat buns.
Only then did they head to the town entrance to wait for Ding Zhifu.
The meat buns were best eaten while hot.
Lin Suhe carefully wrapped up the date cake for later and ate the meat bun together with Jiang Wangchuan.
“Brother Jiang, last time we earned more money selling animal pelts, but you only bought one meat bun. This time we only earned eighty copper coins, so why did you buy two?”
She asked curiously.
Jiang Wangchuan swallowed his bite before answering.
“Last time, after selling the pelts, I didn’t know when we’d have income again, so we had to save every coin. But now we’ve learned a way to keep making money. We don’t have to worry about not being able to afford buns anymore.”
His reasoning made sense.
Lin Suhe nodded.
“That’s true. But the shopkeeper was right. Our handmade soap really is a little ugly. If we could make it look nicer, we might be able to sell it for more.”
Jiang Wangchuan asked,
“Suhe, do you have any good ideas?”
Lin Suhe chewed thoughtfully on her bun.
In modern times, handmade soap was poured into ready-made molds. In this era, they would have to make their own molds.
Suddenly her eyes lit up.
“I’ve got it! Brother Jiang, just cut a few more sections of bamboo.”
Jiang Wangchuan quickly understood what she meant.
His face lit up with excitement as he gently rubbed her head.
“Your little brain is amazing. You always come up with such clever ideas.”
Lin Suhe gave him a bright, radiant smile.
When they climbed back onto Ding Zhifu’s ox cart, all of the vegetables had already been delivered.
“So? Did you sell all that… what was it called… soap?”
Ding Zhifu asked with concern.
Jiang Wangchuan answered,
“We sold everything. We earned eighty copper coins.”
Ding Zhifu looked pleasantly surprised.
“Wow! That’s quite a bit! Now that you’ve got a skill to support yourselves, your aunt can stop worrying.”
Jiang Wangchuan smiled.
“The ingredients for this soap are hard to find. We can’t make much in a year. It’s nothing compared to you and Aunt steadily farming.”
Ding Zhifu laughed.
“Well, farming depends on the weather too. But at least you’ll always have food to eat.”
Then he suggested,
“Once you two save enough money, you can buy some farmland of your own.”
Jiang Wangchuan nodded.
“I’ve thought about it before. But I’m the only able-bodied man in the family. I wouldn’t be able to farm much land.”
Lin Suhe gently nudged his arm and protested,
“I can help too!”
Ding Zhifu laughed.
“Haha! That’s right! Suhe can help too. Chuanzi, don’t underestimate her.”
Jiang Wangchuan smiled at Lin Suhe affectionately.
“I just don’t want you suffering under the wind and sun.”
Sitting at the front of the cart, Ding Zhifu shivered dramatically and turned back with a grin.
“You two youngsters are so sweet. This old man can’t take it anymore.”
Blushing, Lin Suhe shot Jiang Wangchuan a silent glare, blaming him for speaking so openly.
Jiang Wangchuan simply chuckled foolishly.
Ding Zhifu continued,
“Actually, even if you don’t grow crops, you can clear a little land on the mountain to grow vegetables. Some vegetables grow easily from seeds and don’t need much work. It would also give your family some fresh food to eat.”