CHAPTER 254: 242 PICKING TEA MULBERRY

"No wonder I heard the military wives gossiping about someone today—turns out they were talking about her."

"Exactly." Ji Yao’er pursed her lips and said, "This is the thing that changed her into what she is now: rose essential oil."

Wow. The girls all let out cries of amazement, crowding around her.

"This is it."

"Yao’er, how does it work for you?"

"Is it really that good?"

"A complete transformation..."

"Good or not, you’ll know once you try it." Ji Yao’er handed them the rose essential oil and fetched a basin of water. She had used it directly earlier, but rose essential oil typically needs to be diluted with something else. Otherwise, it’d be too wasteful.

Soon, the dormitory was filled with exclamations of admiration.

"It’s amazing to use."

"I feel like my whole body smells fragrant now."

"No need for perfume anymore."

"My face feels cool and moisturized, more hydrated than before."

"My mind feels unusually clear..."

"I feel so refreshed."

"Where did Tian Sangsang buy something this good? It must be expensive, right? I’ll start saving up to buy myself a bottle."

"Yeah, yeah... It’s not available on the market. If it were, I’d have bought it long ago."

"Could it have been brought over from Hong Kong? My aunt once bought a beauty product from Hong Kong with great effects."

"No way. She’s just a countryside girl. How would she know people from Hong Kong?"

"You never know. Maybe it’s from Beijing. Isn’t she connected to Captain Jiang?"

The girls chattered away noisily, "Why don’t we ask her tomorrow?"

"You go. I’m not going. After all the friction we’ve had before, she might hold a grudge and definitely won’t tell us."

"It wasn’t bought," Ji Yao’er said, her gaze meaningful as she looked at them. "She made it herself." Who would’ve thought that a backwater bumpkin could suddenly rise to prominence like a phoenix overnight? A woman who casually picks up men on the roadside actually knows how to make beauty products. And does it well. That’s probably the only decent thing about her.

Ji Yao’er thought to herself, curling her lips in disdain.

**

When Tian Sangsang passed by a department store on her way back, the clothes inside had a dated feel. Still, trends are always cyclical, and classics never go out of style. A lot of modern trends actually stemmed from that era—after all, isn’t there a word for it, "retro"?

Tian Sangsang picked out a pair of flared pants for herself, then selected a light-colored long-sleeved blouse and a simple white shirt, all of which could be paired with the pants. Additionally, she brought out some clothes from her storage space. As long as they weren’t too unconventional or ostentatious, she’d just claim to have made them herself. Who would seriously challenge her to make a piece on the spot?

The next morning, Tian Sangsang dressed herself as a pastoral-style young woman—or rather, a married lady. Her long, jet-black hair was braided into a single plait that hung over one shoulder. She had no makeup on, her face now bright and fair, requiring little attention to her skin. All she needed was to wash her face with the essential oil morning and night and apply sunscreen before going out. Makeup? She didn’t like it. This wasn’t the modern era, where work required disguised appearances.

Her clothes also followed a pastoral theme: loose, black-and-white patterned trousers, a light yellow short blouse, with a thin, sky-blue long cardigan layered on top. But she didn’t wear the cardigan; instead, she tied it around her waist.

As she approached her vegetable patch, she saw Qin Lan crouching nearby, furtively doing something.

Tian Sangsang walked closer and softly called out, "Sister-in-law."

Qin Lan jumped up, startled. In front of her stood a fresh, radiant young woman who didn’t look at all like she had ever been married or borne children. Her skin was so smooth it seemed you could pinch water from it, and she exuded youthful vitality. Tian Sangsang’s attire evoked the vision of wildflowers blooming in the hills, a tea picker weaving her way through the fields.

"Sangsang, you’re here to pick flowers again?"

"Something like that." Tian Sangsang nodded calmly, pulling on a pair of white gloves. She smiled faintly and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you here to pick vegetables?"

"Y-Yes," Qin Lan awkwardly touched her hair, retreating to her own vegetable patch while watching Sangsang work. With the grace of flowing water, she used her scissors to trim the flower petals, removing the old ones and sparing the fresh ones. The roses seemed to bloom effortlessly under her hands.

"Sangsang..." Qin Lan cautiously eyed her. "The rose essential oil you gave me yesterday—I used it at home. It’s really effective."

Tian Sangsang let out a nonchalant "Oh." "So you used it, sister-in-law. No wonder you look so radiant today, with a touch of ethereal charm compared to before."

The implication being, without it, she would appear dull. Qin Lan felt both flattered and stung. This was just like Tian Sangsang—always so brash, never caring about others’ feelings. While mulling this over, Qin Lan didn’t consider that to receive kindness, one must first give kindness in return. If she wanted others to treat her well, she needed a sincere heart herself.

"How did you turn a rose into essential oil? The process must be quite complicated, right?"

"Yes, very complicated." Tian Sangsang had a pretty good idea of the real reason for Qin Lan’s visit.

Qin Lan suppressed her irritation. A response this vague? She was trying to unravel the process of making rose essential oil, not get brushed off with generic comments! If it was that easy, she’d have figured it out herself instead of coming to ask!

"You know, I’m just a simple country woman who doesn’t understand much. When I see that small bottle of rose essential oil, I can’t help but wonder how you made it. I have plenty of free time, so I thought maybe I could learn from you. You’ve said before—there are no ugly women, only lazy ones. I’ve taken your words as gospel."

Tian Sangsang continued trimming the flowers, speaking casually as she worked. "Sister-in-law, don’t underestimate that tiny bottle. Extracting rose essential oil is incredibly labor-intensive. And there are different grades and varieties of rose essential oil. The roses I use are the most common type. There are also rare varieties like ’Louis XIV’ and ’Blue Demon,’ which are extremely hard to come by. To be honest, my essential oil still needs improvement. The roses I’m using are far too scarce. Authentic rose essential oil requires several thousand rose petals just to extract a single drop. This small patch of flowers can only produce a tiny amount."

It’s said that 3,000 to 5,000 kilograms of rose petals are needed to distill a single kilogram of rose essential oil. Globally, the annual production of rose essential oil is only about 750 to 1,000 kilograms. Its rarity speaks for itself. That’s why rose essential oil is a luxury item enjoyed by only a select few. When extracting oil in her storage space, Tian Sangsang used large amounts of rose petals since her fields there were expansive. In reality, though, one would need to either lease flower fields or grow them personally—otherwise, it would be impossible.

Qin Lan had no understanding of these terms like Louis XIV or Blue Demon. However, the idea of needing thousands of rose petals to produce a single drop of rose essential oil was too far-fetched for her to believe. She assumed Tian Sangsang was just making excuses, but she still needed to extract the process from her.

"Sangsang, so what’s the method you use to extract the oil? It’s so amazing." Qin Lan gave a flattering smile. "You managed to tackle such a challenging task."

"Distillation," Tian Sangsang said with a half-smile, leaving just that single word.