It was Song Yuemei who overheard it when she caught He-shi and Da Jiang whispering at home. Da Jiang mentioned that he was earning three hundred large coins a month for the work he was doing here, the work wasn't strenuous, and he could return home if there were matters needing his attention. After thinking it over for a while at home, Song Yuemei decided that this compensation was quite good.

Furthermore, she learned that Lin He's family had hired Hong Yun and her husband to work there. She reasoned that if her father-in-law was earning three hundred large coins a month, then the couple must be earning six hundred. The work wasn't hard, either. If she and Qingshan could also go work there, the money they earned would be theirs, and they could live at home with room and board covered by her mother-in-law—what a wonderful life that would be.

She had been married for nearly a month, and He-shi treated her stingily to the extreme. When Qingshan wasn't home, any good food would usually be eaten secretly by the mother and daughter duo. Qingshan spent most of his time working in the fields, and when He-shi brought him lunch, the better food would be sent along.

In the entire household, hers was the only diet that was notably poor, and He-shi still found reasons to pick on her from time to time. After too many arguments, she grew utterly fed up, especially since she and Qingshan had no money; He-shi controlled all the finances in the house.

Normally, she was quite bored doing embroidery alone at home, wishing for a change of scenery. That's why she came to Lin He's house to speak with Huang-shi about having her and Qingshan come work for them. But who would work without wages? She doubted that Er Niu's family fish pond would make any money; if others couldn't raise fish well, why would theirs thrive? She didn't believe it. Besides, she hadn't heard everything her father-in-law and mother-in-law said; perhaps they only received the monthly allowance if they actually made a profit.

Still, if she couldn't get the job, it was a pity about the gifts she had brought, which were worth several dozen large coins. She had brought them while He-shi was out, and if He-shi discovered the items were missing, there would surely be another uproar.

Watching Song Yuemei leave the courtyard, Lin He found herself pondering many things. This Song Yuemei was probably several grades above He-shi. The way she spoke was logical and layered, her tone gentle, and she seemed quite intelligent. He-shi was more willful and fiery, always getting straight to the point upon arrival. In truth, people like He-shi were easier to deal with. Someone like Song Yuemei might prove far more difficult.

This family had a whole host of relatives. If every relative demanded work, what would become of the household? She had initially thought that if she needed to hire people for work, it was best not to employ one's own kin, as it was difficult to manage them, and if they performed poorly, it was hard to reprimand them. However, seeing how hard her aunt’s life was, she genuinely wanted to help, which was why she had hired so many relatives.

If the family were to expand significantly in the future, and these relatives had no good prospects, they would constantly show up at the door, which would be bothersome—especially troublesome relatives like He-shi and Song Yuemei.

While Lin He was thinking, Huang-shi was feeling troubled looking at the items Song Yuemei had brought. Although the gifts weren't many, they were worth several dozen large coins. She felt awkward whether to accept them or send them back. Seeing her mother's distress, Lin He said, "Mother, just set these items aside for now. We can return them together later if anything comes up. Sending them back now would feel wrong."

After a moment, she added playfully, "Besides, the Elder Uncle’s family eats quite a bit of our food anyway; we can certainly consume these things too." Then she winked.

Huang-shi gave her a look of playful reproach, but she found Lin He's reasoning sound. She decided to keep them and deal with the matter later.

Lin He spent several days researching and finally figured out the process for making soap. She then wrote down the formula with ink. Fearing the recipe might leak, Lin He used modern medicinal names for the ingredients so that even if someone else saw the method, they wouldn't understand what the components were.

Once finished, Lin He asked her elder aunt and Zhou-shi to come over and assist. Chen'er and Xiao Jun were tasked with tending the fire and helping out. Lin He excused Huang-shi from the heavy labor, telling her to attend to her own tasks.

The steps for making soap were not overly complicated. A few days prior, Lin He had sent Old Man Qin to town to buy some Glauber's salt, and she had managed to produce caustic soda herself. Once the caustic soda was ready, they could begin making the soap.

First, dissolve the caustic soda in water, placing the water and caustic soda into a prepared wooden basin, stirring continuously until the water became transparent. It was important to note that foam and heat would appear during the stirring process.

Add oil while stirring. After the caustic soda was completely dissolved, gradually add the oil while continuously stirring. Stir with a whisk for about fifteen minutes, then pour in the cherry blossom juice she had already prepared, and continue to stir carefully for another fifteen minutes until the cherry blossom juice was thoroughly and evenly distributed. At this point, the mixture would begin to gradually thicken.

Once it thickened to a certain point, they stopped stirring. After a few minutes, the mixture was poured into the molds that had been prepared earlier, and then left completely undisturbed for about two days, as it needed to be kept in a warm place. Lin He temporarily placed them in the paste-making room. During this period, a chemical reaction would occur within the mold. When it was nearly complete, she inserted a knife into the mold to make it easier to remove the soap later. As the final step, Lin He cut the soap into moderately sized squares and placed them in a well-ventilated area, away from direct sunlight. After setting for some time, the soap would be ready for sale.

After completing all this, Lin He moved everything to the backyard, which was airy and had space for storage. She could check on them again after a while. The entire soap-making process required a significant amount of time, and during this period, Lin He did not plan to start anything else; the existing pastes should sell for a while longer.

Lin He noticed the weather was getting warmer, but the family members were still wearing their winter padded coverings, which now hung loosely on them, clearly ill-fitting.

During this time, when she wasn't busy, Lin He would practice embroidery with Huang-shi. Her needlework had improved greatly; she could manage small sachets, handkerchiefs, or basic mending without issue. However, Lin He still couldn't sew clothes; she didn't know how to cut fabric or estimate the correct amount of material needed for a garment.

The clothes she and Lin Chen wore during the New Year had been sewn by her, but Huang-shi had cut the fabric for them. Lin He resolved that in the coming days, she must learn tailoring from Huang-shi so that she could make her own clothes and design whatever style she wished. People at this time mostly wore simple guazi (jackets), which Lin He disliked. She wanted to create her own garments, modifying the styles of this era to make them look nicer.

Lin He took a few pieces of inferior coarse cloth from the house, intending for Huang-shi to teach her tailoring. However, when she arrived at Huang-shi's room, Huang-shi told her to find some old, unwanted clothes to practice on first, as using new cloth would be too wasteful. This skill wasn't something one could learn instantly.