After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Su Tai left the household affairs to Shen Yi, since she wasn't suited to get involved in men's matters anyway.

The twenty people followed Su Tai to the backyard of the guokui workshop. They saw that the ground there was paved with bricks and tiles, and it was cleaner than their faces. They hesitated and didn't know where to step.

Su Tai casually said, "Come with me. This is the kitchen. Next to the kitchen is the bathhouse. The bathhouse has a bathtub and a washbasin. When you light a fire in the stove next door, the water in the bathtub will also get hot. Use bath soap and shampoo when you take a bath."

Although you washed on the ice field before, that only rinsed off the dirt; the mud and grime couldn't be washed away.

I like things clean. Your nails and tangled, unwashed hair need to be trimmed, and you need to wash yourself thoroughly.

Su Tai looked around and her gaze fell on Yu Xiaoyu. "Xiaoyu, come here. I'll give you a bath in a bit. All the boys, go out. Women and girls, stay and watch. We'll teach the boys how to clean themselves once you know how. Now, go fetch water and start a fire."

Su Tai had to demonstrate to them how to fetch water and how to start a fire.

Once they had learned how to do it, she went back next door and brought over a lot of blue and maroon cotton and linen fabrics, as well as clean old clothes and twenty pairs of new black cloth shoes and socks.

Wait for the water in the bath to heat up.

Su Tai told the woman to close the bathroom door and told Yu Xiaoyu to take off her clothes.

The little girl is nine years old this year. Due to malnutrition, she is so thin that she is skin and bones and has almost no flesh. She looks like a seven-year-old child. Her hair is dry and yellow and she does not look very healthy.

With a blush, she obediently took off her clothes and sat on the small stool.

"Lower your head."

Su Tai gently directed the cutting of some tangled and unmanageable dirt from Yu Xiaoyu's hair, then scooped a ladle of warm water to wet it, and then took a small piece of shampoo, rubbed it in her hands to create lather, and applied it to Yu Xiaoyu's hair.

A group of people stood around, staring wide-eyed.

Yu Xiaoyu's hair quickly developed fine, dense bubbles, and its color gradually changed from white to yellow.

Su Tai scooped up two ladles of water to rinse off the bubbles and gave her a second wash.

"Look, it's clean when the bubbles turn white. Remember, you have to wash your scalp, from the scalp to the hair strands, don't miss any part."

As Su Tai spoke, she took a clean white cotton cloth and wrapped it around Yu Xiaoyu's hair. "Next is the bath. There are loofahs and soft brushes here for scrubbing. But before the bath, we can brush our teeth and wash our faces. We'll use a toothbrush and toothpaste. This toothpaste contains herbs and salt, and it has a very strong cleaning effect."

She squeezed toothpaste onto the toothbrush, had Yu Xiaoyu rinse her mouth first, and then brushed her mouth thoroughly. The foam was unsurprisingly yellow.

So Su Tai squeezed toothpaste for her again and brushed her teeth a second time.

"From now on, you must brush your teeth every morning before going out."

Everyone was amazed and nodded in agreement when they saw that Yu Xiaoyu's teeth had become several shades whiter.

When washing your face, people assume it's just about using hot water and a towel.

Unexpectedly, Su Tai took out another jar of ointment and carefully rubbed it onto Yu Xiaoyu's face to create a lot of foam.

After rinsing off the foam, a much cleaner face was revealed to everyone.

The next step is to wash my body.

Having gone through the previous steps, everyone guessed how to wash. Yu Mei volunteered to step forward and scrub Yu Xiaoyu's back, and soon she was covered in mud.

It's so relaxing to look at.

Yu Mei rubbed it several times until Yu Xiaoyu's skin turned red and nothing came out, then she stopped.

After taking a shower, Yu Xiaoyu changed into clean clothes and went to dry her hair. She found herself smelling nice and clean from head to toe; she couldn't remember ever feeling so clean and tidy.

And what's more, the lady actually gave her a bath! She felt like she had suddenly fallen from the slums into a paradise, and her eyes welled up with tears.

A group of ladies and young girls were all excited when they saw how clean Yu Xiaoyu looked.

Yu Mei and Shi Daniu were both children, and they were quite old. They volunteered to fetch water for everyone, and after the women and girls had finished cleaning up, they would clean up the boys.

Alan, who had no children, watched with envy as other women took care of their children. There were two little girls among them who, like Yu Xiaoyu, had no mothers. After thinking for a moment, she took the initiative to help them clean up.

The two little girls quickly thanked her.

A faint smile appeared on Alan's numb face.

Because Su Tai had said she liked cleanliness, the five women dared not be careless at all, and when they were cleaning the young girls, they wished they could scrub off a layer of skin from their bodies.

In this way, the effect is quite obvious.

The group of boys waiting outside were all too surprised to recognize the clean-looking girl who walked out of the bathhouse.

Yu Pingan and Yu Pingshun stepped forward and stared intently at Yu Xiaoyu, "Sister?"

Yu Xiaoyu laughed, "What? You don't even recognize your sister? Your aunts are adding water, we're going to burn firewood, it'll be your turn to wash soon."

The boys were eager to try.

By the time the twenty people had finished cleaning up, it was already dark.

Yu Mei and Shi Dani went to consult Su Tai.

Su Tai came over again, pointing to the fabrics and saying, "It's almost summer now, so make two sets of clothes for each person to change into first. We'll make winter coats when it gets colder. There are plenty of rooms here, so you can arrange them as you see fit. The bedding in the rooms is in the closets, so just take what you need. Oh, right, there's also dinner. You can cook in the kitchen. There's a plot of land in the backyard where you can grow some fruits and vegetables."

If you don't know how, you can ask the villagers for help, because I don't know either. Also, I'll tell the older women in the village; they'll bring you a batch of ingredients every day. You can just cook whatever you like. Come with me to get a few bags of grain in a bit.”

All five women left with Su Tai, leaving the children in the side room. Two women took care of the younger ones, while the rest went to the kitchen to start a fire.

A short while later, Yu Mei and the other three returned, each carrying a large sack weighing about forty pounds.

Everything was put into the storeroom in the corner.

When Shi Danu opened it, she was so surprised that she covered her mouth. "It's flour! Such clean flour!"

She had never eaten such a large amount of white flour in her twenty-odd years of life.

Needless to say, the other women, upon seeing the grain, huddled together, tears streaming down their faces.

Before they could calm down...

Xu Shi and Wei Daya each carried a large wicker basket over. "You must be the servants Xiaotai just bought! Don't be nervous. I'm just bringing you some vegetables, salt, and a little pork fat. Can you render the fat yourselves?"

The five women barely understood what Madam Xu was saying, but they kept shaking their heads.

Madam Xu was stunned. "What kind of oil do they use in Qiongzi?"

Everyone shook their heads again.

Yu Xiaoyu replied softly, "We boil everything when we cook; we don't use oil." (End of Chapter)