After transmigrating,The Female Supporting Character Became Darling of The Five

Chapter 22: Making Goat Milk Soap

Yesterday, after selling mushrooms, Su Guan still had a tael or two of silver left, which she took out and distributed among her brothers.

"Guan Guan, why are you giving us money?" Su Chen asked, puzzled, looking at the copper coins in his hand.

"I need my brothers to help me buy some ingredients!" Su Guan explained with a smile.

Hearing this, her brothers looked at each other, not quite understanding her intention.

"What are you going to make?" Su Mu asked, frowning.

"Second Brother, no need to ask too much. You'll understand once I make it. Third Brother, please go to the county and buy five jin of pork lard for me. I remember there are families in our village that raise sheep. Second Brother, please help me get a jar of sheep's milk. Fourth Brother, take a handful of straw and help me burn it into wood ash!"

Yesterday, she inquired about pork lard; it's a bit more expensive than pork belly, nine wen per jin, as refined lard can be eaten for a long time and is quite oily.

She gave Su Chen fifty wen for five jin of pork lard, which costs forty-five wen.

Not sure how much sheep's milk costs, but she saw a shepherd boy in the village and noticed many lambs and ewes with swollen udders, so she was certain she could get sheep's milk.

She gave Su Mu thirty wen, which should be about enough.

Now that the autumn harvest has just finished, there's straw everywhere. It's simple to make wood ash and extract lye (sodium hydroxide) from it.

Su Guan kept everyone guessing and didn't reveal her purpose. Even her brothers didn't know what she needed these items for.

But it didn't matter; the silver was earned by her, and she could spend it however she wanted.

"I'm curious to see what you're up to. Wood ash, right? Wait for it!"

Su Yun, having spent a few days with her, was no longer so resistant to her, but instead found her mysterious and knowledgeable.

Her three brothers went to gather the items for her, while she took an axe to the bamboo forest behind the house, cutting down several reasonably large bamboo tubes.

The wood ash was quickly prepared, and Su Guan had him find some lime powder. She filtered the wood ash with water several times, waited for the lye to precipitate, and then added limestone.

She had discovered that in this era, there was no scented soap. Clothes could only be washed with soapberry. Lye and pork lard could react chemically to produce delicate foam. The alkalinity could remove grease, and sheep's milk was good for the skin. Making Goat milk soap for washing faces would surely be popular.

Once the lye was filtered, Su Chen and Su Mu had also returned.

Su Mu only spent ten wen on Goat milk and returned the remaining twenty wen to Su Guan.

"The taste of Goat milk is too strong, not as expensive as you think!"

Fresh Goat milk does indeed have a strong taste, but it's fine once boiled.

Su Chen went to the county to buy pig lard. He was the last one back, so the lye and Goat milk were already processed, just waiting to be turned into lard.

The lard was cut into small pieces, then rendered into pig oil. The leftover bits could be used for stir-frying. From five jin of pig fat, several bowls of oil were rendered. While it was still not solidified, one bowl was taken out to skim off the foam on top.

The remaining two bowls were kept for home use. First, they would experiment with it, take it to the market to see if it sells well. If it could sell at a good price, they would continue making it.

Su Guan assured that it would definitely sell well. It was a small but essential skill for survival in another time.

Hot Goat milk was poured into the pig oil and stirred until completely mixed, then the lye water was added in proportion.

At this point, continuous stirring was needed, requiring significant arm strength. Therefore, she could only ask Su Chen for help, as he practiced martial arts and had strong arms.

Su Chen obediently did as she said, while Su Mu and Su Yun watched the whole process, not understanding what she was doing.

"Su Guan, you've turned a good bowl of lard into this, can it still be eaten?"

This sight was painful for the thrifty brothers who grew up valuing frugality.

"Who said I'm making it for eating?"

Su Guan smiled meaningfully. Once Su Chen had stirred the oil into a creamy consistency, she called a halt.

She poured the semi-finished Goat milk soap into bamboo tubes and left them in a cool, ventilated place to rest for a few days, waiting for it to saponify and the alkalinity to reduce before it could be used.

"Is that it? What exactly are you doing?"

Su Yun was completely confused, wondering if this could really make money.

"Don't tell me you're counting on this to make silver?"

"That's right, fourth brother, we'll see in three days!"

Talking was not convincing enough. They needed to see the finished product and its effects to believe it!

"Why make it so mysterious? I see you're up to something!"

Su Yun smirked and went to work on his own stuff. He had been thinking all night about what Su Guan had said about seasoning sauces. So, he wanted to figure it out and start from that direction to create a unique, fresh, and delicious cuisine.

In the afternoon, Su Jing and Su Yi came back from the mountain with mushrooms. Many people had been mushroom hunting lately, so it was challenging to find many. After a day of foraging, they only managed to collect two baskets.

Su Guan took him to see the goat milk soap she had made, sharing her thoughts with him alone.

"Big brother, we usually use wooden sticks to wash clothes, but it doesn't clean well, and soapberries cost money. So, I came up with this goat milk soap. It can be used to wash clothes, as well as for face and body wash. In three days, when we go to the county to sell mushrooms, can we also take the goat milk soap to the county?"

In this household, only Su Jing was closest to her, so she instinctively shared her thoughts with him because he wouldn't discourage her.

Indeed, Su Jing thought her idea was excellent.

"Is this goat milk soap really that good? I'd like to see for myself. If it works well, we can definitely sell it at a good price!"

"Yes, and it's straightforward to make. If people like it, we can clear our thirty taels of debt in a month, and maybe even earn more!"

Su Juan had confidence in her goat milk soap. It was something for ordinary people – affordable, fresh, and effective, which meant it would sell well.

Seeing her confident look, Su Jing couldn't help but smile. His sister was quite remarkable! She was smart, had her own ideas, was diligent, and her eyes were pure and clear.

...

Three days later, they had collected a basket of mushrooms, and this time, Su Jing took Su Guan to the county.

Su GUan removed the soap from the mold and cut it into evenly thick round pieces, as they wanted to keep it economical, so she cut it a bit thicker.

The goat milk soap had a faint milky-yellow color, and when you sniffed it, it had a strong milk fragrance, which was quite pleasant.

Using some scraps, they wetted it and rubbed it to produce dense bubbles that were easy to rinse off. After washing, there was a subtle milk fragrance left on their hands, which was quite pleasant.