The vendor, seeing her ask for pig lard, looked up again and assessed the woman in front of him.

Though her clothes were patched with patches, even the cuffs and shoulders had patches.

Would a family so poor really buy pig lard to eat?

He kindly advised, “Little miss, the price of pig lard has gone up recently. It’s over eighty wen per pound, and you only get six or seven taels of lard from a pound. It’s much cheaper to buy sesame oil or vegetable oil.”

Sesame oil costs thirty to forty wen per pound, and vegetable oil is just over twenty wen for a pound.

The difference in price is something a poor family would understand.

Shen Qing finally understood.

The vendor didn’t quote the price of the pig lard mainly because she wasn’t his target customer.

However, since she couldn’t make a living from selling braised food, she was thinking of trying her hand at making soap.

The key ingredient for soap was oil, and the vendor had reminded her she could also buy sesame oil.

She had made handmade soap before and was successful at it, but there were no readily available alkali chemicals here.

She knew that she could extract alkali from rice straw ashes, though she hadn’t tried it yet, and wasn’t sure about the exact quantities.

She would have to experiment several times.

So, she also had to buy the pig lard, and not too little of it.

She politely said to the vendor, “I’ll take three pounds.”

Hearing that she wanted three pounds, the vendor’s face lit up with joy.

He quickly began cutting and weighing the lard.

When it came time to pay, he not only gave her pig bristles but also the big marrow bone that Jiang Xiangnan had been thinking about.

Jiang Xiangnan, carrying a large water bucket with pork, pig lard, and the marrow bone inside, didn’t mind the weight of the load on his shoulder.

But in his heart, the burden grew heavier.

His mother had bought so much.

Was the money from selling fish and yellow eel this morning enough?

Once they got home, he would immediately go catch fish and yellow eel.

No time to slack off!

He had to live up to his mother’s sacrifice of giving him meat and lard!

As Shen Qing walked along the street, she passed a spice shop and immediately went inside.

Before entering, she still held on to a faint hope for her braised food business, but by the time she came out, she had completely abandoned that idea.

She had originally thought that if she couldn’t braise pig offal, she could try braising goose or pig’s feet, but after asking about the price of star anise, cinnamon, and other spices from this dynasty, her hopes completely died.

Spices were so expensive!

No wonder ancient spices were used to pay officials’ salaries.

Jiang Xiangnan followed closely behind his mother, watching her walk confidently into the spice shop, then into a general goods shop.

When she came out of the spice shop, her brows were furrowed, and she looked as if life had no meaning.

But after coming out of the general goods shop, her face was bright with joy.

Yet, not long after, her expression turned sour again.

He couldn’t understand; her mood changed so quickly.

Shen Qing couldn’t care less about Jiang Xiangnan’s confusion.

She was busy calculating the feasibility of the soap business in her mind!

Here, soap was called “Yi Zi,” and one block cost 180 wen.

After subtracting the profit from the general goods shop, the purchasing price was probably between 100 and 120 wen.

One pound of pig oil cost around 100 wen. She looked at the size of the Yi Zi in the store and figured it could produce five or six finished bars. That meant that with a 100 wen cost, she could make 500 wen in profit!

She even asked if there was a special soap for washing hair, and the shopkeeper said there wasn’t.

Sesame oil was 30 to 40 wen per pound, and the cost was even lower.

She could lower the selling price a bit to increase the profit margin for the general goods shop. Even if the soap didn’t do well, sesame hair soap could still succeed!

However, Shen Qing was a bit worried.

Regardless of the type of soap or the production process, they all required curing time.

The technical term was “matured,” meaning the saponification reaction would gradually decrease irritating substances over time, making it gentler and more suitable for the skin.

The soap wouldn’t cause irritation to the skin.

But when she first sold it, the owners of the general goods shops would want to test it. If it caused irritation, wouldn’t it ruin her reputation? Which shopkeeper would dare to sell her soap?

So, the soap had to be left for at least a month to be safe.

It was already mid-March, so even if she worked tirelessly, she wouldn’t see any profits until the end of next month.

A little over a month, which wasn’t too long in a stable and prosperous time, but with the flood expected in June, everything would be submerged. She had to get moving before that.

Grain, property, the elderly and children couldn’t walk far, so she needed a lot of money to buy transportation tools—carts, wheelbarrows, ox carts, donkey carts, or even horse-drawn carts if they were wealthy.

The time to make money was too short…

Short as it was, Shen Qing still went to buy ten pounds of sesame oil and five pounds of vegetable oil.

Carrying the jar out, Jiang Xiangnan had a look on his face that could fit an egg in his mouth.

Jiang Xiangnan, carrying the large water bucket with pork, pig lard, and other items, was clearly not comfortable with the weight.

Shen Qing, holding the jar, didn’t feel like walking around any longer.

She spoke up, “Let’s go home. I remember there’s a sugar shop on the way. Let’s buy two pounds of brown sugar.”

Huo Bing had over twenty days left before her month-long confinement ended. Now that they had oil, they could fry eggs.

According to the customs of Shen Qing’s hometown, adding a spoonful of brown sugar would make it taste great.

The traditional handmade brown sugar was especially good for women who were recovering from childbirth.

Jiang Xiangnan had no objections. As they passed a bookstore, he hesitated for a long time before asking, “Mom, are you sure you don’t want to go in and check out some brushes?”

Shen Qing looked at him in confusion.

Why would she need a brush?

Jiang Xiangnan bit his lip and eventually reminded her, “Little brother said his brush is worn out. What if the teacher scolds him if we don’t buy one?”

The teacher’s words were more important than imperial decrees to Shen Qing.

Little brother was the most pampered child, and last night Shen Qing had already scolded him harshly.

She was afraid that after returning home, she might regret it. What if the city gates were closed when they went to buy the brush?

“No, we’re not buying!” Shen Qing replied impatiently.

It would take a month before they saw any profit from the soap, but in the meantime, they couldn’t just wait around.

Continuous production meant continuous investment, and their savings were only about eleven taels of silver.

Oh no, she had given more than one tael to Huo Bing yesterday, and after what she had spent today, they were down to just over nine taels.

With just over nine taels left, there was no way they could afford expensive items like paper, ink, and brushes!

Expensive items?

Ink and inkstones were difficult to make, but paper and brushes were doable. Especially paper—she had seen videos where paper could be made from bamboo, weeds, trees, vines, and so on.

The process of making brushes was much simpler than making paper.

Shen Qing’s mind shifted, and she quickly shoved the jar into Jiang Xiangnan’s hands, saying, “I’ll go in and have a look. Wait for me here!”

Jiang Xiangnan couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

He knew his mother would go in.

She had pampered his little brother for over ten years.

Little brother was the only scholar in the family. In the future, the Jiang family would rely on him. How could she not care about him?

Shen Qing had already made sure to take care of them all, so she would certainly spoil her most beloved little brother even more.

While Jiang Xiangnan was lost in thought, Shen Qing had already gathered all the information she needed inside the bookstore!

A brush cost 150 to 160 wen, only a little cheaper than the Yi Zi soap.

But the Yi Zi was expensive!

A brush costing 150 to 160 wen was made from either pig hair, sheep hair, or rabbit hair.

The profit was indeed considerable.

It might even be more profitable than the Yi Zi soap!