After several days of the entire family working together, the pond was finally finished. The fish fry had been released, and the bamboo fence was up. Looking at the pond, Lin He felt something was still missing. After a careful look, she realized it was because the area beside the pond was bare and unattractive; trees needed to be planted there.

Lin He told Er Niu, who gathered a large handful of willow branches from the village. He cut a section several meters long and stuck a branch into the ground every few feet around the pond, saying that in a while, the cuttings would sprout roots, eventually growing into willow trees, which would beautify the pond area and provide shade in the summer.

Lin He thought this was excellent. Willow trees were easy to nurture, and they would be beautiful when grown. Planting them here was the best choice. After more than twenty days of work on the pond, it was finally complete. Er Niu instructed Da Jiang and Da Sheng to bring some grain over every morning and some grass and other things in the afternoon, which should suffice for now.

Essentially, the initial stage of raising fish required minimal effort. But now that the fish pond was done, Lin He also planned to build a small pond nearby for ducks. The duck manure could then feed the fish, and the eggs could be sold.

However, Lin He felt the most pressing task was getting the paste-making room built. If Er Niu, Da Sheng, and Da Jiang worked together, they could finish it in a few days without hiring help. The paste-making room was designated for the area behind the bathroom of Lin He’s house, farthest from the latrine and pigpen.

Lin He also asked Huang Shi to let the chickens roam outside during the day and keep their coop in the front yard temporarily at night. Once the small pond area was finished and walled off, the chickens could be let out during the day to forage, and at night, they could be confined inside the enclosure with the ducks, rather than being kept in the yard.

In her past life, although Lin He hadn't lived a pampered existence, for some inexplicable reason, she intensely disliked the droppings from chickens and ducks; she was quite averse to them. Since arriving here, she had consistently asked Huang Shi not to keep the chickens in the front yard, and even in the back, they were kept far away, near the latrine area.

Although the family's latrine and pigpen were both in the back courtyard, a separate wall had been built between them when they were constructed. Consequently, someone unfamiliar with the layout wouldn't see the latrine or pigpen, only this dividing wall, making the back courtyard very clean.

Adding a paste-making room to the back courtyard now wouldn't cause any major disruption. Lin He discussed her plans with Er Niu. The paste-making room didn't need to be very large, perhaps about ten square meters would suffice, with two stove hearths built inside. Other necessary items could be acquired after the structure was finished.

The paste-making room would also use blue bricks, flagstones for the floor, and roof tiles. The structure should be slightly taller than a standard kitchen and must include a proper chimney to facilitate the paste-making process later. This would make the room relatively spacious, allowing all the materials for making the paste to be stored inside instead of scattered around.

Most importantly, it would mean no longer monopolizing the main kitchen. Making paste there was impractical; Lin He worried that the kitchen fumes would contaminate the scent of her prepared fragrant paste. If the resulting paste incorporated foreign smells, it would be ruined. Before every paste-making session, the whole family had to clean the kitchen thoroughly, but lingering grease fumes were impossible to completely wash away.

With a dedicated paste-making room, she wouldn't have to worry about these issues anymore. The family then busied themselves for a few more days, finally completing the paste-making room exactly as Lin He had specified. Lin He was ecstatic. Though it was just a small room, it would be her future studio, a place where she could finally create what she truly wanted—this felt wonderful.

However, the household finances had taken a considerable hit recently, prompting Lin He to sigh once more about how difficult money was to earn—no, more accurately, how difficult it was to save. Every time they earned some money, household expenditures quickly mounted. The previous batch of paste brought in nearly a hundred taels, but then came buying land, building the courtyard, creating the pond, constructing the paste room, and daily food expenses. On top of that, Da Bao had spent more in town. What remained was less than forty taels. Fortunately, the funds from this recent paste sale had been recouped; otherwise, they might not have even covered the initial capital outlay.

Lin He had also promised Uncle Wen that she would research and develop other items, which would certainly require more capital. If successful, it would be beneficial; if the research failed, the money would be wasted with no return.

Lin He mentioned wanting to buy that small mountain range. Her father’s assessment was similar to her paternal aunt’s: the mountain was quite large and wouldn't be cheap, likely requiring a substantial sum. It wasn't something they could consider right now; they would wait until they had more money. Ah, money was truly a headache.

Several days had passed since the paste-making room was finished, yet Lin He hadn't used it for production, only occasionally sitting inside. Everyone wondered what she was plotting. When it wasn't ready, they were anxious for its completion; now that it was done, she wasn't using it. Er Niu and Huang Shi felt their daughter was becoming increasingly inscrutable.

In truth, Lin He had been spending the time contemplating what she could produce—what she knew how to make for which she currently had materials. After several days of thought, she finally landed on an idea: soap, from her previous life.

The weather was growing hotter, a time when soap would be needed. People here seemed utterly lacking in such things; they bathed infrequently, and in winter, they might not bathe at all. Lin He found this intolerable. It was already April, and even slight exertion caused sweating.

The more Lin He thought about it, the more convinced she was that soap was the best option—no, strictly speaking, scented soap, as she could add fragrances. The first choice would naturally be cherry blossom scented soap.

The raw materials needed wouldn't be excessive—just some beeswax, glycerin, and similar items. However, the glycerin here could be substituted with almond oil or lard. The slightly trickier component was caustic soda (lye), which wasn't available at this time. But Lin He devised a method for substitution.

They had Glauber's salt (sodium sulfate in her past life), which was quite pure. By calcining quicklime and then adding water to create lime slurry, and then mixing it with the Glauber's salt solution, they could derive caustic soda. Once the lye was refined, soap could be made. Fragrances could be added as desired. This resulting soap could be used for bathing or washing the face. All these ingredients were relatively inexpensive, but they allowed for mass production, and many people would use them—not just women, but men and children too. This product didn't fall under cosmetics; it was a personal hygiene item, giving it a much broader market appeal.

Therefore, Lin He planned to produce a large quantity of this soap and sell it cheaply, adhering to a strategy of small profits but high volume. This might end up earning more than the fragrant pastes.