Soap, Soap Again

Ning Chen had always considered himself a heaven-sent genius. Perhaps not one seen once in a thousand years, but surely one seen only once every century or so. Yet now, the cultivation technique that led to masters among masters lay before his eyes, and he could not understand it... What a painful thing that was!

He examined the material of the Golden Pages. It was neither metal nor wood, quite peculiar indeed. Did he need to drip blood on it and acknowledge it as his master, like in the legends, before he could practice it?

After thinking it over, Ning Chen decided against it. It hurt too much, and it was not worth it.

He could barely understand the first few lines, so he would practice those first. It would strengthen his body anyway. Once he saw Mu Chengxue again, he could have her properly translate it for him.

Calm the mind, steady the breath, guard the core as one. Circulate the technique. The first time, he felt absolutely nothing...

Ning Chen did not lose heart and continued. Whatever one did, there had to be a warm-up process. He had to persevere.

Then came the second time, the third time, the fourth time...

Then the ninety-third time, the ninety-fourth time, the ninety-fifth time...

The two hundred ninth time, the two hundred tenth time, the two hundred eleventh time...

The one thousand one hundred thirtieth time...

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

The rooster crowed. Dawn was breaking. Ning Chen opened his eyes, nearly bursting into tears. What happened to strengthening the body? Why did he not feel anything at all?!

He still had things to do today and had no time to keep studying this, so he could only get up and head outside.

While the sky had just begun to brighten and there was still some time before work officially began, Ning Chen secretly went to the kitchen. Looking at a woman busy by the stove, he patted his face and revealed what he thought was his brightest smile. "Hello, big sister."

The woman glanced at Ning Chen and said indifferently, "Who are you calling big sister? I'm old enough to be your mother."

"Heh..." Ning Chen gave an awkward laugh. "Hello, auntie."

"Go on, what do you need?" The woman's attitude remained neither warm nor cold as she continued working and spoke casually.

Ning Chen rubbed his nose and said sheepishly, "I'd like to ask for some lard."

The woman looked at the youth before her. After giving it some thought, she agreed after all, pointing to a jar beside the stove. "It's over there. Take it yourself, but don't let anyone see."

Delight appeared on Ning Chen's face, and he hurriedly thanked her. "Thank you, auntie."

He took a large porcelain bowl from beside the stove and scooped out less than half a bowl of lard. Ning Chen looked around, found a scrap of cloth, and wrapped up a bundle of plant ash from beside the stove. Then he gave the woman a silly grin and left happily.

The woman watched him with utter confusion, sighed softly, and then continued with her work.

"What a handsome child. What a pity his mind doesn't work right."

Ning Chen could never have imagined that this was the impression he had left behind. He was still cheerfully going about his own business.

The courtyard behind the main hall was large, but the girls of the pavilion rarely came here, so it was rather quiet. Ning Chen sat on the stone steps outside his room and built a simple little fire. He then propped the bowl of lard over it with stones and waited for the lard to melt.

Ning Chen was not idle either. He took a teapot, poured a handful of plant ash inside, added some water, and stirred like mad with a small wooden stick.

Back when he had nothing to do, he had tried making this himself. Although the proportions were difficult to control, success was not impossible.

This was the oldest method of making soap. There was no caustic soda here, so he could only use plant ash as a substitute. The conditions were harsh, but he could only endure them.

The smell of heating lard was horrifying. Ning Chen endured the nausea and poured the filtered water mixed with plant ash into the lard, then sprang backward and stirred with all his strength using a long wooden stick.

"I really can't take this anymore."

The stench made Ning Chen see stars. He hurried into his room, grabbed a damp towel, and covered his nose before returning to continue stirring.

"Hey, what are you doing? It stinks to death!"

Before long, Li'er came running over from the distance with her nose covered. Anger filled her eyes, and she was deeply dissatisfied with the terrifying weapon Ning Chen had created so early in the morning.

"Li'er, come, help me stir for a while. Your brother is about to collapse," Ning Chen said at once when he saw the little girl arrive, not standing on ceremony in the slightest.

"No." Li'er retreated far away, afraid that he would drag her in as cheap labor.

"You flat-chested, brainless little girl. Once I'm done, there'll come a day when you beg me for it." Though the fumes had left Ning Chen dizzy and disoriented, his venomous tongue remained undiminished as he declared this.

"You... pervert!" Li'er looked down at her own chest and rebuked him with a flushed face. Still, her curiosity kept her from leaving. She wanted to see what Ning Chen was actually doing.

"It's foaming!" When Ning Chen saw white foam emerge in the bowl, his spirits jolted. Forgetting all about his nose, he stepped forward and desperately stirred with the wooden stick.

"It's time to eat."

At some point, Li'er had gone to the kitchen. When she returned and saw Ning Chen still fussing about, she called out sweetly from afar.

"I'm busy. Bring some over for me," Ning Chen called back casually. He was in the middle of things and could not possibly leave.

"I won't help you. Starve to death." Li'er still remembered Ning Chen's sharp tongue from earlier and refused without hesitation.

After waiting a while and seeing that Ning Chen still had no intention of eating, Li'er pouted and stalked off in a huff.

About two quarters of an hour later, Li'er had eaten her fill. Carrying a bowl of food in her hands, she returned unwillingly.

"Come eat!" Li'er shouted from afar.

Ning Chen was busy and did not notice.

"Come eat!" Li'er shouted again.

Ning Chen was still occupied with his own work and did not pay much attention.

Anger flashed across Li'er's pretty face. Pinching her nose, she ran to Ning Chen's side, set down the food, and shouted fiercely into his ear:

"Come eat!"

The little girl's voice was loud enough to make Ning Chen jump. He nearly overturned the large bowl with one stroke of the stick.

"In a moment, in a moment," Ning Chen replied perfunctorily and continued working. This was a critical moment; he could not leave it unattended.

"The food will get cold soon."

When Li'er saw that Ning Chen still would not eat, she pouted and said, "You eat. I'll stir for you first."

Ning Chen looked at Li'er in surprise. The little girl had still been sulking a moment ago, so why was she being so agreeable now? But his stomach was growling with hunger, so he did not think too much about it. He handed her the wooden stick and instructed, "Then be careful. Don't overturn it."

"I know, you nag!" Li'er took the stick, pinched her nose, and stirred earnestly.

Ning Chen watched the little girl but did not go far. He simply sat nearby and began eating the still-warm food. Gradually, his eyes turned sour and his mouth tasted salty.

"Why are you crying?" Li'er stole a glance at him and asked in surprise.

"No, it's the fumes," Ning Chen answered with a grin, rubbing his eyes.

"Then sit farther away."

"It's fine. I'm already used to it."

As Ning Chen ate the food in his bowl, warmth filled his heart. This little girl was kind to the very core. Even if she seemed somewhat unruly, it was only a helpless disguise she had adopted to protect herself.

"Alright, I'm full. Let me take over."

Ning Chen wolfed down the rest of his food in a few bites, stepped forward, and took the wooden stick. Then he pushed the little girl aside. "Li'er, help me return the bowl. When you come back, I'll show you something good."

"You only know how to order me around."

Li'er took the bowl reluctantly, turning her head back every three steps as she walked toward the kitchen. By now, she truly wanted to know what Ning Chen was making.

"More or less done." After a while, Ning Chen saw that the lard and plant ash in the large bowl had basically reacted. The foul smell from before had also vanished, and he was in high spirits. His luck was not bad.

"Is it done?" Li'er asked expectantly.

"It's done."

Ning Chen put out the fire and poured the semi-solid mixture into layers of scrap cloth prepared earlier. He wrapped it tightly, then squeezed hard, pressing the small amount of unreacted lard into the cloth.

Before long, a pale brownish-white thing solidified within the scrap cloth. Ning Chen looked at the fruit of his labor, and his mouth stretched so wide with delight that it would not close.

"What is this thing? It's so ugly." Seeing that the thing she had waited for so eagerly was actually like this, Li'er was greatly disappointed and pouted.

Ning Chen's face reddened slightly. Color and shape were not his strong suits. It really was a little ugly.

"What does a little girl like you know? This is good stuff. Come with me." To salvage his dignity, Ning Chen decided to make Li'er open her eyes and properly establish his lofty image.

Li'er followed Ning Chen into the room, half believing and half doubting, wanting to see what trick he was playing.

"Li'er, hold out your hand." Ning Chen smiled slyly, looking like nothing good could come of it.

"What are you doing?"

Li'er asked warily, but she obediently held out her hand anyway.

"Hehe."

Ning Chen gave a wicked laugh and, in a few quick motions, smeared the lard from his hands onto Li'er's. In the blink of an eye, he had turned the little girl's fair, lovely hands into dirty little paws.

"Ah! What are you doing? Your hands are so dirty!" Li'er's expression changed, and she quickly withdrew both hands, but it was already too late.

"You're bullying me!"

Looking at her hands covered in grease and grime, Li'er's eyes reddened. Tears trembled on the verge of falling, and her aggrieved appearance was enough to break anyone's heart.

"Oh, Li'er, don't cry. I was only playing with you." Seeing that the little girl was genuinely crying, Ning Chen panicked at once. He apologized while helplessly trying to coax her.

Li'er said nothing. Tears pattered down from her eyes, and her delicate little face was filled with grievance.

"Good Li'er, don't cry. I'll wash it off for you right now, alright?" Ning Chen hurriedly pulled the little girl over to the wooden basin and comforted her softly.

Li'er remained silent and continued crying quietly.

Ning Chen's head swelled with frustration. He hurriedly put his own hands in the water, rubbed them a few times, applied soap, scrubbed carefully, and then washed his hands clean in the water.

Without even bothering to use a towel, Ning Chen wiped the water dry on his clothes, then held his hands before the little girl and said gently, "Look, isn't it all washed off?"

Li'er was drawn in by the miraculous sight and forgot to cry. She looked at Ning Chen's hands, then at the dirty water in the basin. For a moment, her little head could not understand what had happened.

When Ning Chen saw that the little girl had stopped crying, he quickly poured out the water, replaced it with a basin of clean water, and brought it before her. "Li'er, you try too."

Li'er hesitantly put her hands into the water. Like Ning Chen, she rubbed on some soap, scrubbed her hands, and then washed them clean in the water.

"Here, wipe the water on my clothes." Ning Chen looked left and right but could not find a towel, so he said with a smile.

Li'er broke into a smile through her tears. Still pouting a little, she really did reach out and wipe her little hands clean on Ning Chen's clothes.

The dirty little paws were gone, replaced by pretty, fair, tender hands. Li'er held out her hand, suppressed her smile, and pretended to still be angry. "Give this thing to me."

A pained look appeared on Ning Chen's face. After struggling for a while, he tried to bargain. "Leave half for me."

Li'er said nothing. She kept her little face taut and did not withdraw her hand.

"One-third?"

"Then one-fourth?"

In the end, Ning Chen did not keep even the smallest bit. He gave it all to Li'er. Watching the little girl's happy departing figure, he could not help smiling faintly, and the pained expression vanished from his face.

He had made this soap for Li'er in the first place. As for making money with it, that had never crossed his mind. If he came up with something novel and drew attention, and it somehow reached Changsun's ears, then he truly would be tired of living.

For the sake of his life, he still had to keep a low profile...

(P.S.: After finishing my writing, I took a stroll around the new book rankings and immediately burst into tears. Tigers ahead, wolves behind—every one of them is chasing close on my heels! Fellow readers with tickets, stop hiding them. Tickets left too long won't lay eggs; they'll only grow mold. Everyone, click and cast a recommendation vote. Reading without voting will give you acne. Alright, no more idle chatter. Yan Yu is going back to write! Let me howl once more: Please bookmark!!)

Sogou Novel's high-speed first release of the latest chapters of First-Rank Blade-Wielding Eunuch. This chapter is "Soap, Soap Again." The address is // . If you think this chapter is good, please do not forget to recommend it to your friends in your QQ group and on Weibo!