Chapter 251: Chapter 251
"This amber silk is the best quality I’ve seen. Whether it’s the feel or the smoothness, if made into silk comforters, they would surely be very warm." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novelꜰire.net
Eating leaves grown from the Spiritual Spring every day, how could they not grow well?
Zijin then began to peel open the cocoons in clean water with her fingernails to extract the silkworm pupae. She stretched each cocoon over her hand, removed the pupa and its black exuviae, and layered several cocoons. After stacking them, she took them off her hand and gently pulled them into small, square silk patches. The process flowed like water, extremely skilled, and in less than half an hour, all the cocoons were processed.
When Grandma Jing and Mr. Jing heard Jing Shu had found an expert, they both came to watch. Seeing such skilled techniques, they couldn’t help but give a thumbs up. They had tried it themselves a few days ago and took several minutes to peel just one. If they truly relied on their own pace, they probably couldn’t even finish one step in an entire day.
Just then, Mr. Jing finished making a bow-shaped bamboo tool for fluffing silk. Zijin promptly began the fluffing process, which involved stretching the small silk patches over the tool.
"Comforters need at least six evenly spread layers to be soft, supple, and cling snugly to the body. For facial masks, three layers are enough." Zijin removed three layers. These formed large, stretched sheets of golden, wet silk floss. After being boiled in water, they glittered appealingly under the dim light.
Zijin shook off the excess water and created a mold for the facial masks. She produced a total of fifty masks. At Jing Shu’s suggestion, she also used the material from the eye, mouth, and nose cutouts to make small silk pads for dressing wounds.
"For facial masks, the raw silk should be soaked directly in this solution. For comforters, the silk needs to be hung in a cool, ventilated place. Once completely dry, it becomes the raw material for the comforters."
However, the current weather was too humid, making it difficult for them to dry. Jing Shu would have to use her household fans and fresh air system to accelerate the drying process.
Following an online recipe, Jing Shu added ingredients like honey to the mixture in the correct ratios, completing the facial mask production. She also tested a trimming on the right side of Zijin’s face. After ten minutes, that small area indeed became noticeably smoother and fairer—the effect was excellent!
Finally, Jing Shu used transparent sealing bags to individually pack each mask. This allowed the golden silk mask inside to be fully visible, looking especially beautiful under the light.
Jing Shu never dreamed that, in this reborn apocalypse, she would end up in the business of making facial masks...
Zijin looked at Jing Shu somewhat nervously. Before starting, she had always wondered about the credibility of this task. After all, it was the apocalypse, everyone was worried about food; who would be idle enough to hire a craftsperson like her?
But when Jing Shu actually brought out top-quality amber silk for her to make the masks, she realized this person might genuinely need a craftsperson.
Zijin felt a mix of anticipation and anxiety. The past few months hadn’t gone well for her. When all the families from her former residential compound had moved to the Banana District, they lived crowded together. She was a unique individual who kept to herself, relied on no one, and had no relatives with jobs within the district, so she was naturally ostracized. With no source of income after the apocalypse began, she survived on the meager earnings from daily scavenging and gathering red earthworms. She had considered many methods, but alas, they weren’t very practical.
Jing Shu was in a good mood, already contemplating trading the facial masks for compressed natural gas. She wanted to acquire a good supply, as she would need it next year for the daily operation of her boiler and underfloor heating, which would be a significant expense. As someone reborn, her standards for quality of life were newly heightened; she was no longer satisfied with merely having enough to eat.
"Your skills are qualified. So, how about it? My grandma will soon have a batch of silkworms ready to spin cocoons, and I’m preparing to make some raw materials." Jing Shu revealed a slight smile.
Rebirth was truly a remarkable occurrence. It was especially strange reintroducing oneself to people known from a previous life and rebuilding rapport from scratch. However, life’s trajectory had already shifted. Two people getting to know each other again under different circumstances were now following an entirely different script. Jing Shu had no idea what kind of relationship she would develop with Zijin in this lifetime.
Even towards this benefactor from her former life, Jing Shu still hadn’t granted her the right to enter the villa. She didn’t want to test a person’s heart with benefits while mutual trust was absent. What if she trusted her too much too soon, and the various perks corrupted Zijin, nurturing an insatiable greed within her? What then?
Even Jing Shu couldn’t control her own desires. In her past life, she was content with just having enough to eat. But this life left her unsatisfied with merely that, because the Magic Cube Space had given her the realization that she *had* the ability.
It’s okay to be good to someone, but you can’t give them the best right from the start. Once you’ve given someone the best initially, whatever you offer later will seem progressively worse, making them think you’re no longer treating them well.
But if you gradually improve your treatment of someone step by step, then each increment of kindness will bring immense satisfaction.
It was just like the Magic Cube Space, upgrading step by step. Each level-up brought Jing Shu great satisfaction and a new drive for challenges. Her ambition had grown bit by bit, far beyond the simple desire to be fed. Now, it had expanded to the point where she was raising silkworms to make facial masks. Who knew what more she could achieve in the future?
"Me? Can I really do it?" Zijin revealed her small canine teeth in a surprised smile for the first time.
"You’ll do, just barely. So, Miss Zijin, from this moment on, we have an employment relationship. You can officially start work tomorrow morning. As your employer, I believe you’ll want to hear my requirements and your benefits." Jing Shu extended her hand, shaking hands with Zijin for the first time; her hands were indeed cold and surprisingly soft.
"Yes, boss!" Zijin quickly immersed herself in her new role.
"You must maintain overall cleanliness and tidiness every day, with no red earthworms allowed."
"Your workplace will be under the shed by the villa; I’ll build you a small house there. Your working hours will start when the temperature rises and end before it drops. Your tasks will include processing silkworm cocoons with Grandma Jing and mending some clothes. Additionally, every afternoon, you’ll accompany Grandma Jing to clean building No. 25—that’s the building opposite us. Truthfully, this was to monitor Grandma Jing and ensure she wasn’t getting into any more mischief with Lin Yi."
"Therefore, in addition to 4 Virtual Coins daily, you’ll also receive one meal from the Ai Jia canteen. Of course, that’s an incidental benefit because my Third Aunt is a manager there, and they always have some leftovers. Knowing Zijin’s frugal nature and her reluctance to spend Virtual Coins on rice, Jing Shu had devised this plan. This way, Third Aunt could at least bring back some decent food each day, even if Jing Shu had to cover the cost herself."
"Now, to ensure you maintain cleanliness and tidiness for work, I need to bring some supplies and inspect your living situation to see what improvements can be made."