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She thought she would be ridiculed, but Liu Limin’s eyes actually widened with interest as she asked, "Really? Can it really make, cough cough, that place bigger?"

Lin Yuan looked at the gleam in her eyes, felt a chill down her spine, and let her gaze drift downward to Liu Limin’s chest. Quite big, indeed.

"Auntie, you, you don’t need that, do you?" Lin Yuan, flushing, pointed at her chest and pouted with envy and jealousy, "They’re already so big, and still not satisfied! How’s someone as flat as a main road like me supposed to live!"

Faced with Lin Yuan’s envious and admiring words, Liu Limin proudly thrust out her chest, "What woman would think they’re too big there?"

Lin Yuan was at a loss for words, so she could only share the recipe for the wine lees quail eggs; it was simple, just adding two quail eggs to boiling wine lees, or even a chicken egg would do.

But certainly, a chicken egg wouldn’t be as nutritious as quail eggs, and the effect might not be as obvious, she supposed.

One was a girl about to turn thirteen, and the other a young woman in her early twenties, yet here they were discussing breast enlargement in the yard where alcohol was brewed. Lin Yuan found it hilarious every time she remembered the conversation afterward.

Besides rice wine, Lin Yuan also wanted to make some fruit wines, but as it was winter, the best would be to have fresh fruits. So this idea had to be postponed for now. However, hawthorns were available in winter, and the hills around the Lin family’s hollow were full of them.

Hawthorns are sour, and not many people like them raw. Some people did make them into tanghulu, but even then, not many were sold. Lin Yuan had bought some before; those vendors used very little sugar—no help for it, which poor family can afford to use a lot of sugar?

But Lin Yuan actually liked the taste, so together with Liu Limin, they decided to add hawthorn to sorghum liquor, thus creating hawthorn wine. The hawthorn wine tasted sour and slightly spicy, different from ordinary wines, and not only women but also men found it rather addictive.

In addition to hawthorn wine, Lin Yuan also incorporated hawthorn into her Rice Flower Fragrance range; hawthorn cakes and candied fruit slices were incredibly delicious treats.

Because she wanted to retain the sour taste of hawthorn while also ensuring it was not too harsh on the teeth, the amount of sugar was a critical factor.

After numerous trials, Lin Yuan’s hawthorn cakes were delightfully sweet and sour, exceptionally tasty.

As for the candied fruit slices—hard enough to eat by hand—the children especially loved them.

As soon as the hawthorn cakes and candied fruit slices hit the market, they were snatched up immediately. Lin Yuan watched with joy in her heart.

What pleased her even more was that by buying hawthorns, she brought benefits to the villagers of Lin family’s hollow.

Since the mountains around the hollow had plenty of hawthorns, Lin Yuan entrusted the village head with organizing the harvesting, and she would pay for the crops.

Of course, not any hawthorn would do; they had to be plump and free of worms to qualify.

Most of the men in the village had gone out to work, leaving the women to either tend to the children or gather to chat leisurely.

Once word got out that Lin Yuan was buying hawthorns, many industrious women went up the mountains.

Those who were quick could pick several dozens of pounds a day.

Earning twenty wen per pound, they could make almost two taels of silver in a day—why wouldn’t they take on such a good deal?

And since Lin Yuan only bought hawthorns for a limited time—three days at most—everyone worked with zest and great effort.

There were those efficient at work, and naturally, there were also those who did not participate.

Ever since her two sons had trouble, Li Feng’e had been anxiously watching over them, not willing to go anywhere.

When she heard about the hawthorn buying, she urged Lin Jiaxiao to join the others on the mountain to pick and earn some silver.

Lin Jiaxiao, a grown man and inherently lazy, was unlikely to join a group of old women picking hawthorns on the mountain.

After Li Feng’e mentioned it a few times and saw he wouldn’t budge, she became so angry she stopped bothering with him. All day, she either scolded the older or the younger, the house was never a moment of peace.

Tired of the nagging, Lin Jiaxiao couldn’t stay put at home and went to town to find Mother Li’s son, hoping he could help find a job.

Mother Li’s son, Li Sanzi, wasn’t exactly on the straight and narrow, and for some reason, he had been hanging out with a male prostitute from Chunfeng Building.

Once he heard Lin Jiaxiao was looking for work, he arranged for him to work as a bouncer at Chunfeng Building.