Chapter 61: Refining Pills

Lu Rong glanced at the address Jiang Li had given her.  She was surprised to learn the girl was a rural educated youth. However, since Jiang Li knew so much about their family, Lu Rong believed she possessed genuine abilities.

  She put the slip of paper in her pocket. She would first use her husband’s and family’s connections to find a master. If that failed, she would consider Jiang Li as a last resort.  Jiang Li, after leaving the address, looked worriedly at the heavy ghostly aura emanating from Lu An’s ward.  The situation was critical.

 She left the hospital to finish her errands.  She had sold the game, bought the herbs, and now needed to buy oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other daily necessities.  She went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The county’s supply and marketing cooperative was small compared to Beijing’s department stores, but it had most daily necessities.  Jiang Li bought some condiments and daily necessities and headed home. She had a bicycle, making travel convenient. Before eleven, she returned to the educated youth center.

 Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong were still working.  Jiang Li took out ten jin of mutton from her spatial ring.  She hadn’t sold all the mutton from the wild goat; she’d kept one whole goat. Ten jin was plenty for several meals.  She cleaned and processed the mutton, planning a mutton hot pot.  She sliced the mutton, ready to be cooked and dipped in sesame sauce.

  She sliced several plates, about four or five jin—plenty for Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong.  Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong returned and saw Jiang Li.  “Sister Jiang, you’re back?” “Yes.” “Sister Jiang, what delicious food are you preparing? Mutton?” Bai Ziyong smelled the strong mutton aroma. Jiang Li nodded, “Yes, mutton.” Bai Ziyong swallowed. Mutton was rare and precious. 

“Sister Jiang, where did you get this?” Jiang Li fabricated a story, “I met a woman selling mutton on the road, and I bought it all.

About ten jin. Enough for several meals. Let’s have mutton hot pot for lunch.”  Despite the strict regulations against speculation, some people still traded goods secretly. Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong were delighted. They loved mutton hot pot but hadn’t had it since coming to the countryside. Bai Ziyong eagerly said, “Sister Jiang, tell me what to do.” Jiang Li smiled, “The mutton is sliced.  Just prepare the broth.

You can light the charcoal for the hot pot.” Bai Ziyong happily went to do so. Mu Jingxun also wanted to help, “Comrade Jiang, what can I do?” Jiang Li looked at him; he was handsome, so she didn’t want him to work too hard.

 “Wipe the table, set the bowls, and bring the mutton over.” Mu Jingxun started working. Jiang Li prepared the broth and three sesame sauce dishes.  Bai Ziyong brought the hot pot, “Sister Jiang, the fire is ready. Can we eat?” Jiang Li nodded, “Yes.” They sat down.  They ate so much meat they didn’t need any staple food.

 The other educated youths were envious of the delicious aroma.  Jiang Li, Mu Jingxun, and Bai Ziyong lived comfortably, eating meat daily, while the others ate coarse grains and were often hungry.

 After lunch, Jiang Li saw the well-digging master finishing the well.  Soon, they would have convenient access to water.

Jiang Li had already given Li Changping the workers’ wages; he would settle the payment with them. After completing the well, the workers asked Jiang Li to inspect it.  She checked and found the well to be well-built. If any problems arose later, they could easily contact the workers for repairs since they were from the same production brigade.

 In the afternoon, instead of going to the mountains, Jiang Li entered her spatial ring to continue refining pills. Fortunately, she had a set of pill-refining furnaces in her spatial ring; otherwise, she would have had to figure out how to make them.

Copper and iron were expensive and required industrial coupons to purchase.  Many families couldn’t split up because they only had one pot.  Jiang Li’s pill-refining furnace was large, requiring at least a ton of copper or iron.

Obtaining that much metal would be extremely difficult. Jiang Li spent the afternoon refining the pills.  She planned to take them at night to cultivate and improve her cultivation level. After refining the pills, Mu Jingxun and Bai Ziyong excitedly ran back.

 Seeing their happy expressions, Jiang Li knew something good had happened.