Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

After a delicious dinner, the group chatted for a while before heading to bed.

Although there are candles for lighting at night, they are dim, so it's better to go to bed early.

Since Xiao Ran came here, his daily routine has become more and more regular.

The sky was turning white at the treetops; although it hadn't snowed yet, the trees were already bare.

Inside the courtyard, the servants had already gotten up early to clean and prepare hot water so that the master of the house could wash up when he got up.

The door to the main house was suddenly pushed open, and one foot stepped through.

Looking at the somewhat dazzling sun in the sky, Xiao Ran stretched.

"The air is so fresh in the morning."

Xiao Ran sighed and squinted at the sky.

"The sun is quite strong today, it should be warm."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a servant asked Xiao Ran if he wanted to wash up.

The toiletries had been prepared in advance. While brushing his teeth, Xiao Ran remembered the toothpaste he and Sun Simiao had made yesterday; its color was really too strange.

At the time, Xiao Ran said it was like poison, which was already a euphemism. In reality, the toothpaste was more like some kind of feces, only soft.

Xiao Ran shuddered, disgusted by his own thoughts. He quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face before going to practice Tai Chi with Sun Simiao.

Although Tai Chi movements appear slow, each movement is executed perfectly. When Xiao Ran took a break, he was still sweating a bit.

"Let me take your pulse," Sun Simiao said.

Xiao Ran nodded, and the two walked to a pavilion to rest and sat down. Sun Simiao put his hand on Xiao Ran's pulse, and after taking one hand, he switched to the other hand before withdrawing his hand.

"Yes, young master is very healthy, and he looks even stronger than before."

Xiao Ran had the same feeling. Although he didn't have any major health problems before, he had been trained and didn't feel any problems when his physical functions were at their peak. In particular, he trained every day and constantly increased his body's endurance.

However, without training, he will definitely not be as good as before.

But recently, Xiao Ran felt that his body was no different from when he was at his peak.

"This is all thanks to you, sir."

After all, Sun Simiao's health preservation skills were exceptional.

Sun Simiao laughed, then teased, "In that case, young man, you should help this old man with some chores."

There's nothing wrong with that.

"What work do we have to do today?" Xiao Ran asked.

Sun Simiao glanced at the weather and said, "I plan to go up the mountain to collect herbs today, and I will bring all the children with me so that they can identify the herbs themselves."

Xiao Ran completely agreed with this point. Although Sun Simiao had shown the children what medicinal herbs looked like during class, none of that was as memorable as picking herbs yourself.
Moreover, when these children go up the mountain and discover that they can actually recognize medicinal herbs, they become even more motivated to learn.

"Alright, I have the day off today, so I'll just treat it as taking them out for fun."

As for whether some children might not want to go?
of course not.

This is a fun outing for everyone, they don't usually have much fun.

"By the way, sir, let's go check on the toothpaste."

After the toothpaste was made yesterday, it was put into a bamboo tube and placed with Sun Simiao.

Once the two of them got the bamboo tube containing the toothpaste, Xiao Ran opened it and tentatively poured a little out. Seeing that it was still toothpaste inside and hadn't solidified, he felt half relieved.

Then, upon smelling it again, a refreshing scent of herbs and mint wafted over. The scent wasn't strong, but it smelled quite pleasant.

Ignoring the color, Xiao Ran felt it was a success, but he didn't know how effective it was at cleaning.

Fortunately, it's time to have breakfast now, and Xiao Ran plans to try it after breakfast.

The main dish for breakfast was still sesame seed cakes.

The little princess held a sesame cake in both hands and slowly ate it. When she saw Xiao Ran arrive, she smiled and her eyes crinkled at him.

Xiao Ran sat down next to the little princess and ate a sesame cake as well. To test whether the toothpaste was effective, he also ate a few more bites of stir-fried chives.

After breakfast, Xiao Ran was about to start testing the toothpaste, and Sun Simiao was waiting for Xiao Ran's test results.

Picking up the toothbrush, Xiao Ran didn't directly apply toothpaste to the brush. Instead, he poured a little toothpaste into the bamboo tube lid.

Fortunately, this toothpaste isn't too runny, so the amount poured out is quite easy to control.

Xiao Ran dipped his toothbrush in toothpaste and then put it in his mouth.

At the dinner table, after watching Xiao Ran finish his meal and leave, the little princess also sped up her eating. After finishing, she ran out to find Xiao Ran.

"Little Nangjun~" The little princess had just stepped out when she saw Xiao Ran with his back to her, not knowing what he was doing.

The little princess tilted her head, "Little Nang-kun~ what are you doing~"

Hearing the little princess's voice, Xiao Ran turned around while holding his toothbrush.

Seeing Xiao Ran's expression, the little princess frowned deeply, her face contorted with a complex emotion, and her mouth opened involuntarily.

"What's wrong, Sizi?" Xiao Ran asked, noticing the little princess's strange expression.

As soon as Xiao Ran spoke, the little princess instantly came to her senses, tentatively took two steps toward Xiao Ran, and then stopped in place.

Just then, Li Lizhi brought several children who had just finished eating to play with the little princess, and they saw the two of them staring at each other.

"What's wrong?" Li Li asked.

It was rare for the little princess to see Xiao Ran so far away from her.

The little princess glanced at Li Lizhi, then at Xiao Ran, before delivering a knowing blow to Xiao Ran with her childlike words: "Little Nang-jun~ Why do you want to eat seven cows~"

Xiao Ran froze on the spot.

"Cow food," judging from the little princess's unclear speech, most likely refers to cow dung. Of course, there's another possibility: the little princess might actually be saying "cow food," which isn't wrong, but the problem is that "cow food" is also a term for excrement.
Regardless of which one it is, the meaning is pretty much the same!

Seeing the strange look in Li Lizhi's eyes, and seeing Princess Yuzhang and the others inside the house who had curiously opened the window to look over because they heard the little princess's voice, they were all taken aback.

The servants sweeping the yard looked on in shock, and Xiao Ran wished he could just bang his head against the wall.

"No! I didn't eat shit!"

Xiao Ran hurriedly began to explain.

"This is the toothpaste I made with my grandfather yesterday! I'm just testing it to see if it works!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ran didn't bother to test the toothpaste anymore. He quickly brushed his teeth a few times and then rinsed his mouth.

Seeing Xiao Ran's flustered appearance, Li Lizhi, Princess Yuzhang, Zhang Erya, and the other two exchanged glances and covered their mouths to laugh.

They certainly believed Xiao Ran's words, but the scene was just too funny.

Cheng Chumo and Qin Huaidao, who weren't particularly good at suppressing their laughter, were shaking with mirth as they laughed. Afraid of being noticed by Xiao Ran, they quickly lowered their heads and pursed their lips tightly.

Li Ke couldn't help but let out two laughs, then coughed lightly to cover his laughter.

"Young master, there's no need to panic. Of course, we don't believe Si Zi's words." Xiao Ran felt tears welling up inside, wanting to shout out: If you believed them, why were you laughing then!

Seeing that even Sun Simiao, who was fully aware of the situation, was suppressing a laugh, Xiao Ran simply gave up and went all out.

"Laugh all you want." Since his image was already ruined, he just hoped that no one would tell Li Shimin.

Others laughed it off and didn't make fun of him anymore, but Li Shimin was different!

Xiao Ran could imagine that if Li Shimin knew, he would live in this shadow for at least a year.

Seeing Xiao Ran's utterly hopeless expression, everyone present couldn't hold back their laughter.

The little princess looked left and right, not knowing what they were laughing at, so she simply raised her little face and laughed along with them, looking silly.

Xiao Ran pinched the little princess's cheek in annoyance.

"You little rascal, it's all your fault."

Although he was saying angry things, Xiao Ran's movements were quite gentle, leaving not even a white mark.

The little princess didn't understand why, but when she saw Xiao Ran touching her face, she felt that Xiao Ran was close to her, so she hugged Xiao Ran's hand and rubbed against him.

At this point, Xiao Ran was completely speechless with anger.

The others didn't laugh for long either; they quickly suppressed their laughter and went about their own business.

Since there were no classes today, the little princess and her group of children played in the yard.

Sun Simiao then approached and asked, "How is the toothpaste? Is it what the young master wants?"

Xiao Ran glanced at Sun Simiao and complained, "Grandpa, you went too far. You didn't even speak up for me just now."

Sun Simiao looked at the sky and the earth, but not at Xiao Ran.

Xiao Ran pursed his lips before saying, "It was alright when I used it just now, there was no stimulation."

After saying that, he breathed on his palm and then smelled it.

"It's also quite effective at masking the smell; at least now I don't have that pungent smell of chives in my mouth anymore. I just don't know how long it will last."

Speaking of this, Xiao Ran suggested, "I suddenly remembered last night that we could add some pearl powder or something similar to this toothpaste to whiten teeth, as well as other medicinal ingredients with different effects, just like making tooth powder, except that the tooth powder is made into a paste."

Making toothpaste isn't difficult, but we still need to gradually develop new features.

Sun Simiao thought for a moment, "Since we want to cover up the smell in our mouths, adding some flower juice or medicinal herbs with a unique fragrance should be feasible."

After Sun Simiao said that, Xiao Ran had a flash of inspiration.

"Yes, you can also add tea leaves, as tea leaves have good adsorption properties. Oh, and activated charcoal works too!"

Sun Simiao asked in confusion, "What is activated carbon?"

Xiao Ran paused abruptly. He wasn't an encyclopedia. He knew what this thing was, but he really didn't know how to explain it. He also knew how to make it, except for one step: activation.

This step either requires the use of chemical raw materials, or the simplest, and currently the only, method he can use is steam activation, but this method requires high temperatures, at least 800 degrees Celsius.

He can't exactly build a stove just for some activated charcoal.

Fortunately, there are alternatives to activated carbon.

"Activated carbon is difficult for us to obtain, but bamboo charcoal can be used as a substitute, which is just as effective."

Moreover, it seems that bamboo charcoal works better.

Sun Simiao nodded. "I understand."

There's no rush to innovate toothpaste; having one to start with is enough.

Xiao Ran took the toothpaste and went to the glass workshop to find Qin Huaidao and the others.

When he arrived, they were still grinding glass.

Moreover, this time the movements were even more careful than before, for fear that if one was not careful, one side would be worn thin.

Qin Huaidao held the glasses up to his eyes and looked out the window.

The lens can see further now than it did yesterday.

Just as he was about to continue, he saw Xiao Ran.

"Xiao Langjun."

Xiao Ran greeted Qin Huaidao through the window, then went inside and handed the toothpaste to Qin Huaidao without saying a word.

Looking at the familiar bamboo tube, Qin Huaidao asked, "What is this?"

Xiao Ran opened the cap. "This is toothpaste."

Qin Huaidao paused for a moment, and Cheng Chumo and Li Ke exchanged a silent glance.

Could it be that the young master was misunderstood just now, so he wanted them to experience this feeling as well?
The thought of this possibility sent a shiver down Cheng Chumo's spine.

No way! He doesn't want to lose face in the whole village!

Xiao Ran didn't notice Cheng Chumo's gaze. He said to Qin Huaidao, "This was also inspired by you. Tooth powder is more destructive. Try using toothpaste."

Qin Huaidao took the toothpaste, dipped it in a little bit, and started polishing from the edge.

Upon learning of Xiao Ran's thoughts, Cheng Chumo breathed a sigh of relief. When Xiao Ran was about to leave, he gave him a very enthusiastic send-off, leaving Xiao Ran completely bewildered.

"That old Mo is acting really strange," Xiao Ran muttered before heading off to find the little princess and the others.

"Seven~Eight~Nine~Sister is so amazing~Sister is the best~"

As soon as Xiao Ran stepped into the courtyard, he heard the little princess's cheers.

He looked closely and saw that it was Li Lizhi playing shuttlecock, surrounded by a group of children cheering her on. The little princess, in particular, was blushing with excitement.

In just a short while, Li Lizhi kicked the shuttlecock a few more times, and then, due to a mistake, the shuttlecock landed just short of her toes.

Li Lizhi bent down to pick up the shuttlecock and said somewhat embarrassedly, "I haven't played it in a long time."

Xiao Ran walked over at that moment.

"What are you doing?"

As soon as Xiao Ran finished speaking, a little dumpling, still smelling of milk, appeared.

"Little Nangjun~" The little princess ran straight to Xiao Ran's legs and then skillfully hugged Xiao Ran's leg.

Li Lizhi steadied her breathing and said, "I'm having a competition with Second Aunt and Sixth Aunt to see who can kick more."

Princess Yuzhang laughed and said, "Second Aunt is still the best; none of us can compare to her."

Zhang Erya was a little embarrassed. "No, no, it's just that I used to do a lot of work, so I'm physically stronger."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Ran looked at Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang and teased, "Do you want to win back? Why don't you two train with the old man?"

Xiao Ran was just joking, but Li Lizhi and Princess Yuzhang were genuinely tempted.

Tai Chi isn't that strenuous, they can totally handle it, and it's good for their health too, so maybe it's a good way to exercise? (End of Chapter)