Chapter 376: Secret Formula

Translator: CokeZero Editor: Rainystars

After Lu Jiao finished discussing matters with the tenant farmers, she left Lady Xu and Jinxiu at the fields.

The land she purchased already had a ready-made courtyard, which suited Lady Xu and Jinxiu perfectly. Lu Jiao inspected it and found it quite good.

“You and your daughter can temporarily stay here. In a few days, you can take Jinxiu to live in the workshop.”

Lady Xu nodded and said, “In the future, just call me Xu Dou, no need to call me Lady Xu.”

“Alright.”

Lu Jiao then accompanied Uncle Xiao, Feng Zhi, and Ruan Zhu to visit the fields near the three workshops, where the tenant farmers were.

Fortunately, there was no trouble, and the tenant farmers were happy to hear about the new cooperation method.

Lu Jiao left everything to Uncle Xiao, “After the autumn rice harvest is complete, I will start arranging for the cultivation of medicinal herbs. I will let you know when the time comes.”

“I understand, madam.”

Lu Jiao, accompanied by Feng Zhi and Ruan Zhu, went to the workshops.

The oil mill was already completely built, and the machinery was in place.

Lu Jiao inspected everything and found it exactly like the drawings she had provided.

She asked the managers, Cheng Xiang and Lu An, “What about the soybeans and rapeseed we asked you to prepare?”

Cheng Xiang quickly had workers bring the soybeans and rapeseed over. Lu Jiao inspected them and found that all the bad soybeans had been removed, leaving only the good ones.

She put the soybeans into the first machine for crushing. After crushing them, she turned the handle to send the chopped soybeans to the steamer for cooking. Once cooked, she wrapped them and started the oil extraction.

Approximately one hundred pounds of soybeans could produce ten to twelve pounds of soybean oil.

Although Lu Jiao was guiding Cheng Xiang and Lu An, she was still uncertain whether the oil could be successfully extracted. When the oil finally came out of the machine, she was overjoyed. “Great, great!”

Inside the workshop, everyone was excited, including Zhao Lingfeng. This was money they were seeing.

Cheng Xiang and Lu An were also thrilled and eagerly approached the oil bottle. They smelled the oil and found it to be genuinely fragrant. They wanted to straight up drink a bowl of it.

Lu Jiao looked at them and said, “The soybeans and rapeseeds, even after oil extraction, are Still vamaD1e. we can sell tnem to people ror raismg Pigs ana fish. If we can’t sell them, we can raise pigs ourselves.”

After hearing Lu Jiao’s words, Zhao Lingfeng couldn’t help but say, “Then let’s raise pigs.”

Lu Jiao was speechless and said, “I meant that if we can’t sell them, we have options. When all three workshops are operating at full capacity, we’ll be very busy. Let’s not complicate things.”

Zhao Lingfeng nodded, thinking about when Lu Jiao mentioned penicillin, and murmured, “If only we could produce the kind of antibiotics you mentioned.” Lu Jiao smiled and said, “Without potassium salt mines, you can forget about it.”

The two continued to talk as they left the oil mill. They went to other workshops to check on their progress.

The cosmetics workshop was almost completed, but the medicine workshop was not yet ready.

Zhao Lingfeng asked Lu Jiao, “What cosmetics are you planning to make?”

Lu Jiao thought for a moment and said, “I want to make medicated soaps with medicinal value, such as rose-scented soap, whitening soap, and refreshing soap.”

Hearing this, Zhao Lingfeng became excited, “This is great, this is great.”

He knew without a doubt that if these products were made, they would definitely sell well.

The ladies in the Capital were not short of money; they lacked things that could catch their attention. Once these medicated soaps were introduced, they would surely be well-received.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lingfeng asked Lu Jiao, “Please write down the formulas for these soaps as soon as possible.”

Lu Jiao nodded without any reservation and said, “Sure.”

For the cosmetics and medicine workshops, she would need to use her spiritual stream water. Even if she shared the formulas with them, the products they made without her spiritual stream water wouldn’t be as good.

So, she wasn’t worried about Zhao Lingfeng stealing her formulas.

Lu Jiao looked at Zhao Lingfeng and said, “These products must incorporate my special secret ingredient to have the best effects. It’s not that I’m unwilling to teach it to others, it’s just that the measurements of ingredients are something I haven’t mastered well myself. I always rely on my instincts to make it.”

Zhao Lingfeng didn’t doubt her because after spending some time with Lu Jiao, he understood her well. She was straightforward in her words and actions. “In that case, then I will rely on you to mix this special secret formula.”

“Sure.”

Half a day went by quickly. Lu Jiao returned to the Xie residence with Feng Zhi and Ruan Zhu.

As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the Xie residence, Lu Gui came out with the four little ones to greet her.

As soon as Lu Gui saw Lu Jiao, she complained, “Sister, you don’t know these four little ones. They’ve been anxiously waiting at the gate, refusing to come in, afraid that something might happen to you.”

Upon hearing Lu Gui’s words, Lu Jiao looked down at the four little ones and smiled, “There’s no danger now. Those two bad people were dealt with by your father. We won’t be in danger anymore, and I won’t have any problems.”

The four little ones breathed a sigh of relief. Two of the children rushed over and held her hand while walking back to the house. As they walked, they eagerly talked to her about Master Shi taking them for outdoor games in the afternoon.

Today, Lu Jiao arranged a course for Master Shi to conduct outdoor games and a tug-of-war competition for the children.

It was their first time playing this game, so they were particularly thrilled.

The Second Born exclaimed excitedly, “Mommy, we won! The First Born and the others lost!”

The Fourth Born happily jumped up and said, “The Second Born and I were in the same team, while the Third and First Born were in the other. We were stronger than them, so we won the competition!”

The First Born didn’t mind losing, but the Third Born was unhappy and pouted.

Lu Jiao raised her hand and patted his head, “This is just a game. Whether you win or lose, you should be happy and enjoy it. Games are meant to bring us joy and happiness. If you’re unhappy just because you lost, it shows that you can’t handle losing, and that’s not a good trait for a young man.”

The Third Born immediately straightened his chest and nodded firmly, “You’re right. We lost this time, but we’ll win next time.”

Lu Jiao nodded with a smile, “That’s the spirit.”

The mother and children continued talking as they walked toward Xie Yunjin’s room.

Xie Yunjin had heard the conversation between the mother and children outside and was waiting at the door with anticipation. As soon as he saw Lu Jiao coming in, a big smile appeared on his handsome face, filled with happiness.

“Jiaojiao, you’re back?”

“Yes.”

Feng Zhi then took Ruan Zhu out to prepare dinner.

Inside the room, Lu Jiao and Xie Yunjin mainly talked about how she handled land matters. Lu Jiao informed him about the incident of the people causing trouble in the fields.

However, she didn’t mention that the tenants mistook her and Zhao Lingfeng for a married couple. She knew if she told Xie Yunjin, he would probably get angry again.

As they conversed, Lu Jiao remembered the encounter with Zhang’s wife in the county town earlier, so she quickly told Xie Yunjin about it.

“Do you know? Today, when I was leaving the city, I almost collided with someone else’s carriage..”