Chapter 433: Pharmaceutical Workshop
Aunt Wu took the scar removal ointment, opened it to look, and saw that the ointment was like gray mud, smelling of a medicinal stench, and frowned: "The smell isn't very pleasant. Would adding fragrance affect its effectiveness?"
Gu Jinli said: "No, but it would increase the cost."
Adding fragrance to the scar ointment would at least double the cost.
Back when she made the scar ointment, she was still poor and only thought about reducing costs. She had never considered such an extravagant action like adding fragrance.
After hearing this, Aunt Wu nodded: "It's good if fragrance can be added."
She took a little bit of the scar ointment and rubbed it on the back of her hand. The skin on her hand gradually heated up, accompanied by a burning sensation.
She continued to rub, and only stopped after fifteen minutes, but the burning sensation did not intensify, which reassured her a lot about the scar ointment.
Aunt Wu placed the scar ointment on the table and looked towards Qi Kangle: "Come over here, raise your head, let me look at the scar on your face."
Qi Kangle obediently stepped forward, raised his head, and let Aunt Wu examine the scar on his face.
Aunt Wu carefully searched on Qi Kangle's face for a while, and finally found the scar on her face: "The effect is good; the scar's color has already become like normal skin."
She raised her hand, touched the scar on Qi Kangle's face, and after feeling a slight bump, she frowned and asked: "Can't the raised scars be eliminated?"
Gu Jinli replied: "It is possible, but they won't completely disappear. The scar on my cousin's face was initially more raised, and now it has reduced by eighty percent. If you don't feel it carefully with your fingers, you won't notice it."
This is scar removal ointment, not Immortal Medicine; achieving this much is already quite good.
Aunt Wu also understood that being able to remove the color of the scar and reduce 80% of the raised scar is already a very good scar removal ointment, at least better than those in the Capital.
"How long did she use the scar ointment, to reduce the scar on her face?" Aunt Wu asked again.
Gu Jinli replied: "About three months."
Then, she narrated the entire history of Qi Kangle's use of the scar ointment—the time, the injury on the face, when the ointment was applied and when it was stopped.
Aunt Wu listened intently, and after hearing all, she took the scar ointment to her nose and smelled it for a moment, then listed the several ingredients used: "Sea cucumber gallbladder, Star Scale Grass, white half-lotus, pearl powder… First, fry them, then grind them, and add medicinal juice to cook into an ointment. Am I right?"
Gu Jinli was surprised, this Aunt Wu understood pharmacology, and her skills were probably above Doctor Wu. She nodded: "Aunt Wu, you are absolutely correct."
Aunt Wu smiled: "I only got the names of the ingredients right, but I don't know the amounts. Could you tell me?"
Gu Jinli shook her head: "Aunt Wu, I cannot tell you that, as I still need to make money from it."
Aunt Wu also felt she was perhaps being a bit pressing on Gu Jinli, thought about it, and then dropped it, saying: "We will be leaving on the sixteenth of August, could you make twenty boxes of scar ointment for me? With added fragrance, as this smell is too foul and not suitable for the nobles in the Capital."
Aunt Wu clearly told Gu Jinli that the scar ointment was intended for the nobles in the Capital.
Knowing the type of nobles Aunt Wu was so cautious about, Gu Jinli guessed with her toes—they must be from the royal family.
Gu Jinli said, "I can do that, but you must provide me with the medicinal materials. The materials for making scar removal ointment are neither cheap nor easy to buy, and I've already run out. Also, once the scar removal ointment is made, I can't give it to you directly. I will sell it to Xuanhu Fang, and then Xuanhu Fang will sell it to Yuanzi Pharmacy, from where you can buy it yourself."
Royalty and nobles, one mistake could lead to beheading, better to clear myself first.
Aunt Wu laughed, "Girl, you are very cautious."
Gu Jinli showed a few white teeth and smiled at Aunt Wu, "It's always good to be cautious, so Aunt Wu can rest assured."
Aunt Wu shook her head with a smile, "Write down the prescription, and we'll get the medicinal materials and spices for you."
Seeing Aunt Wu was in a hurry, Gu Jinli did not delay. After writing down the materials needed for the scar removal ointment, she handed them to Aunt Wu, "Aunt Wu, I'll first make a few boxes of enhanced fragrance scar removal ointment. You'll need to prepare an extra thirty percent of the materials, or I'm afraid it won't be enough."
Aunt Wu nodded her head, "Alright, we'll get you more materials, but you must make the scar removal ointment well."
"Don't worry," said Gu Jinli. Making scar removal ointment wasn't something new for her; she had never failed before.
Boss Min brought many precious medicinal materials this time to Xuanhu Fang, and soon had someone fetch several bags of materials, along with suitable pharmaceutical tools. All these items, along with ten bags of grass seeds, were loaded onto a mule cart. Uncle Xiao Liu from Xuanhu Fang drove the mule cart, transporting everything and everyone back to Da Feng Village.
Before they left, Doctor Wu also gave Gu Jinli the consignment money for the mosquito incense: "The mosquito incense sells extremely well, and people come to Xuanhu Fang every day asking for it. Especially those moderately wealthy families with children really like using mosquito incense. They say that lighting it at night doesn't bother the children, it can kill mosquitoes, and helps the kids sleep soundly without crying at night. If you have more, just send it over, don't worry about sales."
Gu Jinli had consigned a total of ten thousand mosquito incense sticks at Xuanhu Fang, selling each at five copper coins. After giving Xuanhu Fang one copper coin per stick as a commission, she made forty taels of silver.
She put the silver in her pocket and smiled, "We still have two thousand sticks at home, later I will have Uncle Xiao Liu bring them back to Xuanhu Fang."
"There just aren't enough helpers; I make mosquito incense every day, but even so, I can only make so much. I really need to get the pharmaceutical workshop up and running soon and hire more servants to make the medicines so we can keep up with demand."
Growing medicinal plants and selling medicine is what Gu Jinli intends to do for the rest of her life. Unlike tofu or spice workshops, she will not hire workers for her pharmaceutical workshop; everyone who works there must be a servant bound by a life contract.
If they don't sign a life contract, she wouldn't dare to employ them.
Doctor Wu said, "Alright, let Xiao Liu transport the mosquito incense back."
Gu Jinli and Gu Jin'an got onto the mule cart, driven by Uncle Xiao Liu, and half an hour later, they arrived back at Da Feng Village.
Uncle Xiao Liu moved the medicinal materials and grass seeds into the main hall of Gu Jinli's house, took the mosquito incense, and then drove the mule cart away.
Third Grandma saw the materials in the hall and said, "Weren't you going to buy grass seeds? Why have you brought back so many medicinal materials?"
Gu Jinli replied, "A relative of Grandpa Wu's family came, and they want to buy scar removal ointment. These medicinal materials are what his relative provided for making the ointment."
Third Grandma was shocked, "Isn't Doctor Wu a lonely old man? He has relatives?"
Third Grandpa said discontentedly, "What kind of talk is that, woman? As long as people are alive, how can they not have a relative or two?"
He then said to Gu Jinli, "Doctor Wu has helped us a lot, you must make the scar removal ointment well and help people get rid of their scars."
"Don't worry, Grandpa. The scar removal ointment can make money, I will definitely do a good job," replied Gu Jinli. She then asked Third Grandpa, "Did you go to the bamboo forest today?"
"Hmm, I went there, cleared the rotten bamboo leaves, loosened the soil in the forest," Third Grandpa said, then asked worriedly, "Can Mingya Grass really grow in the bamboo forest? Doesn't it need to be planted in fields?"