The Wealthy Eldest Sister Rules Supreme

But now that she has the soap-making technique, while leaving the money-making possibility to one side, she first needs to start producing it, to make her daily life a bit easier.

Zhuang Qingning, with this thought in mind, excitedly followed the soap recipe and began to prepare the ingredients for making soap.

But just as she raised her eyes, she saw on the table a pair of soles that she had just started work on…

The tasks are heavy and seem to have to be tackled one by one!

Zhuang Qingning picked up the soles and the large needle, deciding not to be like a monkey breaking a stick, she would first complete the task of stitching the soles that she had just familiarized herself with.

So in the setting sun, Zhuang Qingning, basking in the warm sunlight, continued her mechanical task of threading the needle, pulling the needle, and threading again.

Even when night fell, after dinner, Zhuang Qingning continued her stitching under the candlelight. By the time she was ready for bed, she had completed almost half of one sole.

And these stitches, though not as neat and tidy as Mrs. He’s, were not messy, thanks to the early marking with rouge.

On the whole…

She’s satisfied!

She’s full of a sense of accomplishment!

The next morning, Zhuang Qingning woke with a smile on her face. After breakfast, she continued her sewing for a bit, then set off for the county town.

This trip served two purposes: one, to buy some soap-making essentials such as lard; and two, to discuss with Ding Gaochang matters concerning Shang Chengen and this noodle workshop.

Lard was not difficult to buy, as it was nearing the end of the year. Many pigs were slaughtered and many were buying pork, so naturally, many were rendering lard.

Despite the abundance of lard, because it was the end of the year, many households did not want to eat too much meat, so they would buy some lard to take home. When cooking, they would put some in, as a substitute for eating pork. This led to the high demand for lard.

When Zhuang Qingning went to buy it, it turned out to be the last jar of lard in the shop.

After paying the money and taking the goods, Zhuang Qingning felt lucky to have come early. She then casually bought some cakes and headed towards the county government office.

The government official on duty at the entrance to the county government office recognized Zhuang Qingning. From a distance, he ran over to greet her, “Manager Zhuang hasn’t been here for a while, must be busy lately.”

“All the workshops are busy at the end of the year. I’ve indeed been very busy.” Zhuang Qingning smiled as she handed over the neatly wrapped cake from her hand, “Just now on my way here, I saw this freshly baked jujube flower cake at the pastry shop, so I brought some for you guys. I bought quite a lot, share them.”

“Thank you, Manager Zhuang.” The official joyously received the treat.

No wonder all the officials in the government office liked Manager Zhuang. Besides being competent, brave, smart and agile as well as polite and courteous, she also cared about their food preferences. Who wouldn’t love someone like this?

“Is Master Ding in the government office today? I have some things to discuss with him.” Zhuang Qingning said.

“Unfortunately, Master Ding has gone to investigate a case.” The official looked slightly embarrassed, “It’s the Ma family case that has still been unresolved. Master Ding is very anxious. More than half of the people in the government office, including Shi Bao, Shen Quan, and Zhang Lin, have all gone there.”

Zhuang Qingning had heard about the Ma family case several times from Shi Bao and the others before.

It was a gruesome case of extermination, and Ding Gaochang was taking it very seriously. With so many dead, it was estimated that the higher authorities were also treating this case very seriously, likely giving him a deadline to solve it.

Given the circumstances, Ding Gaochang probably wouldn’t have time to deal with anything else.

As for the issue of the noodle workshop, even though there might not be much practical progress before the end of the year, it still needed to be settled early to prepare for it adequately. If it was left until after the new year, it would be somewhat too late.

Zhuang Qingning knit her brows, trying to figure out how to handle this.

“If Manager Zhuang has something on her mind, I can pass a message to Master Ding?” Seeing Zhuang Qingning’s frown indicating urgency, the official offered, “If it’s a complicated matter and you fear I might not deliver your message accurately, you could write it down. When Master Ding returns, I can give it to him.”

There were many things that he, as a government official, might not know. Conveying a written message not only helped Zhuang Qingning but also prevented any misunderstandings and most clearly explained the whole matter. This was the best solution.

Zhuang Qingning thought this was a good idea, thus she nodded, moved to the side to find a shop, spent a few coins, and wrote a letter. She wrote in brief about the course of the whole matter, sealed it in the envelope, and handed it to the official.

“Manager Zhuang, you’re too polite. This is just part of my job.” The official put the letter in his bosom, “Rest assured, Manager Zhuang, I will definitely deliver the letter.”

“Thank you for your trouble.” Zhuang Qingning smiled, exchanged a few more pleasantries, then left the county government office and returned home.

Upon returning, she continued to sew the soles, her lunch was a quick bite of a few pieces of cake brought back from the county town.

Adhering to the principle that she wouldn’t quit until a task was finished, Zhuang Qingning worked tirelessly for two full days before a pair of soles was finally completed.

Zhuang Qingning looked at the soles, densely covered with stitches, generally even. She was filled with a sense of accomplishment and could not help but smile slightly.

[Ding, congratulations to the host for completing the daily task of personally sewing a pair of soles. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the host’s speed and quality of task completion, the host can get 113 diligence points.]

Not bad.

Her base diligence value was 99. Now she got 113. It basically reached the best level, the threshold for adding 15% diligence value.

Zhuang Qingning was more satisfied, she put the soles away for the time being, waiting to return them to Mrs. He when she had free time. Then, she started preparing dinner.

Seeing this, Zhuang Qingsui put down the pen in her hand and helped Zhuang Qingning to start the fire.

“You finished with today’s work?”

As the end of the year approached, Fan Wenxuan had given the children a break. He asked them to review the articles and characters they had learned before and then gave them some new articles to read and write about their feelings afterward.

It was a bit like the assignment of winter vacation homework.

“I have finished, I even read more than half of what I plan to review tomorrow.” Zhuang Qingsui nodded enthusiastically, then added, “Just now I thought I saw some lard in the jar. Are you planning to braise some vegetables for dinner?”

Braising vegetables with a bit of lard made them even more delicious.

When Zhuang Qingsui was still hungry in the past, she craved this lard-braised dish the most. The aroma made her mouth water. Even now that life was better and there was no shortage of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, Zhuang Qingsui still missed the fragrant lard-braised dish.