Chapter 91: That’s a must
Shi Qingluo was rolling up her sleeves and teaching her little husband and mother-in-law how to make mosquito incense.
Little did she know that collecting eels from others would give her additional manpower in the future.
Shi Qingluo didn’t make those mosquito coils found in modern times.
Instead, she made those that look like incense sticks.
It would be more convenient to burn a stick each night.
Aside from wormwood, wild chrysanthemum, and powdered fishbone powder, they also had to source for paper.
They had already started making paper before Xiao Hanzheng went to the prefectural city.
Recently, they had air dried some of it.
It still wasn’t very smooth and had a yellowish hue. Hence, they had to constantly improvise.
However, the current yellowish-brown paper was good enough to make mosquito incense.
This time, they made paper from straw and tree bark. The paper was a little coarse.
It was mainly for experiments. After they moved into their new house, they would use bamboo to make paper that was whiter and thinner.
A few of them gathered to make a few bundles of mosquito incense.
That night, the two rooms were lit up.
The next morning when Shi Qingluo woke up, she did not find any mosquito patches on her.
Neither did she hear the mosquitos’ buzzing in the middle of the night. She had a good sleep.
Xiao Hanzheng also slept very well. “This mosquito incense is really effective.”
Shi Qingluo smiled. “Just in time. The previous batch of beets had just turned into sugar. Let’s recruit some women to quickly make some mosquito incense in that workshop for sale.”
Xiao Hanzheng changed out his pyjamas into a robe. “Are you still working with Bai Xu?”
Shi Qingluo stood up as well. “I can sell some to him, but I want to attract more merchants to come to our village to buy mosquito incense in bulk.
“Coincidentally, there are a lot of people buying saltpetre recently. We have to maintain the flow of people so that the village will become livelier and more prosperous in the future.
“The soy sauce and soy sauce that I made previously are almost done. After furnishing the shop at the entrance of our village, we’ll bring in new stocks for wholesale.”
Now, she didn’t want Bai Xu or the other merchants to monopolise the things that she made.
She wanted to use these goods to attract and sell them in bulk to many merchants from other places.
She wanted to boost Nanxi county’s economy first.
Xiao Hanzheng was used to hearing new jargon from his wife’s mouth from time to time.
She was only like this in front of him.
She was still very cautious with her word choices when she was outside.
“We can try this. I think your idea is very good.
“We can also discuss with Mo Qingling and bring Nanxi county to life together.”
If they wanted to do this, it would be even better if they received the magistrate’s support.
Shi Qingluo nodded. “Indeed, we should discuss it with Mo Qingling.”
She smiled at him. “I’ll leave this glorious task to you, Old Xiao.”
She preferred handling practical things, while her young husband was better at the diplomatic aspect.
Xiao Hanzheng pulled her up. “Alright, I’ll go.”
He asked, “You’re going to employ women to make mosquito incense?”
Shi Qingluo replied, “That’s right. It doesn’t take much effort to get the women in the village to earn more money and have more say at home.
“Sometimes, if you want to buy food for your children, you no longer need to be scolded by your in-laws or do it sneakily anymore.
“I want to improve their lives bit by bit. They will be able to buy more clothes every year, and even start buying cosmetics and accessories.”
She had seen a couple of times when the mothers-in-law scolded their daughters-in-law in the village.
In ancient times, men were superior to women.
Women didn’t enjoy a high status at home and in the and society.
Shi Qingluo wasn’t that unrealistic. She wanted to improve gender equality.
However, she still wanted to try to improve the women’s living environment if she could.
She felt that in both modern or ancient times, if a woman could earn an income, her meals wouldn’t be determined by other people’s mood of the day.
She could also live with more dignity.
In modern times, she had seen many cases where one’s financial ability determined one’s status in the family.
Of course, there were exceptions of some who after receiving some support from others, but still struggled at home.
Although her county wasn’t very poor, it wasn’t rich either.
Many women in the village had two or three sets of clothes to change into all year round.
If there were some holes in it, they would constantly patch them up.
So were the children’s. Not only were their clothes worn out, but she also saw many children running around barefoot in the village.
In Shengyuan’s memories, villagers who were able to wear a pair of cloth shoes in winter were considered the more well-to-do families.
Most villagers wore straw sandals during rain and snow.
She wanted to change these things, even if they were very minor.
She would just start from her sphere of influence and do as much as she could.
Xiao Hanzheng’s was quite touched by her words.
His little wife was very special. She was so generous.
“Alright, I’ll support you no matter what you do.”
He reached out and hugged Shi Qingluo. “I’ll definitely work hard in the imperial examinations next year to support you.”
He was even more determined to excel in the imperial examinations and become an official.
As his wife’s provision shops continued to expand, he had to quickly buck up so that he could let her hug his thigh.
Shi Qingluo hugged Xiao Hanzheng’s waist and smelled the faint scent of ink on his body. “That’s a must. Old Xiao, you’re my biggest supporter.”
Then, she even pinched little hubby’s waist. Not to mention, it’s quite elastic.
After her little husband woke up, he ate well and exercised every day.
His body shape was really getting better and better.
As his little wife’s hand continued to play tricks on his waist, Xiao Hanzheng suddenly thought of something.
He let go of Shi Qingluo embarrassingly. “I’ll go wash up first.”
Seeing Xiao Hanzheng running away to wash up, Shi Qingluo couldn’t help but laugh.
Aiya, her young husband was so innocent.
After washing up, Shi Qingluo saw that Xiao Hanzheng had already brought Xiao Baili and Xiao Erlang along for Taiji.
She also walked over to join in with a smile on her face.
While eating breakfast, Xiao Baili asked curiously, “Sister-in-law, I see that you’re very happy today!”
Shi Qingluo retracted the curvature of her lips. “Yes, I’m in a good mood today.”
She immediately changed the topic. “You guys didn’t get bitten by mosquitoes last night, right?”
Xiao Baili smiled and said, “No, sister-in-law, the mosquito incense that you asked us to make is really useful.”
Xiao Erlang also said, “That’s right. I used to get bitten by mosquitoes every day. Today, I don’t have any mosquito bites.”
He then looked at Shi Qingluo in admiration. “Sister-in-law, you’re really amazing.”
Shi Qingluo chuckled. “I’m your sister-in-law. Of course I’m amazing.”
Xiao Hanzheng was drinking his porridge with a smile in his eyes.
Indeed, his little wife was never humble. She was so straightforward and cute.
Then, Shi Qingluo said to Mother Xiao, “Mother, I want to recruit a group of women to specially make mosquito incense. I’ll have to trouble you to take care of them then.”
Her mother-in-law was a diligent woman who didn’t like to idle around.
She hoped that Mother Xiao would stand on her own feet and become stronger.
So, she had to start training her from now on.
By letting her mother-in-law oversee the mosquito incense production team, she should be able to get a lot of training.
Not to mention that she would become a strong woman or a tigress in the future.
If she encountered a scumbag man or woman in the future, she could at least give them a few slaps or directly scold them until they could not raise their heads.
Xiao Hanzheng still didn’t know that his little wife wanted to start training his mother now until she became a tigress