Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 879 - 861. Homemade skincare products

Chapter 879: 861. Homemade skincare products

Guo Dong’s skills really do cover quite a range!

Old Song’s family marveled at the sight and planned on making immediate use of it:

"How did you make it? Is it difficult? Teach me!"

Who doesn’t know that cosmetics are a money-maker!

Guo Dong instantly swelled with pride: "I can teach—but I won’t charge any money, instead, you guys manage my meals for a year at your mountain canteen next year."

However, the cunning Zhang Yanping had already pulled out her phone: "Pshaw! How can you be so opportunistic? There are loads of self-made skincare tutorials online, I’ve already found quite a few!"

Guo Dong wasn’t flustered in the slightest: "Online tutorials are all so basic, just mix in some antimicrobial and emulsifying agents and you’re done. Song Tan, tell me honestly, does such a simple method justify your family’s price?"

Song Tan was perplexed: "Why wouldn’t it be justified? The raw materials I use are well worth it."

Not to mention, the tea tree didn’t skimp on absorbing Spiritual Energy this year, right? The oil extracted from those tea seeds, if not for the low cost-benefit ratio, she really wouldn’t miss out.

Guo Dong: ...

That’s infuriating! Why doesn’t Lao Song’s family play by the rules!

She huffed: "Cosmetics is a new industry, you know. I’m a professional and I even have a certificate; making videos would make people trust it more... Just say whether you want to reduce contention and increase your prices!"

She stretched out both hands for everyone to see—There’s no denying it, Doctor Xiaoguo, although her face was tanned dark (it’s gotten much fairer since summer), but her hands, thanks to constant care, were truly fair, translucent, smooth, tight, and healthy.

Indeed, they were a pair of fine hands!

Zhang Yanping: ...

What a player! No wonder I haven’t made much money talking about earnings with Doctor Guo! She herself is a money-making machine.

He grudgingly emphasized: "If you’re only doing a hand cream ad, just show your hands, for heaven’s sake don’t show your face! Otherwise who would believe your products work."

Guo Dong thought to herself, aren’t I all of thirty looking no more than in my early twenties, isn’t that credible enough for others?

But looking at Song Tan’s skin and then at Zhang Yanping’s face, she conceded.

Thinking about next year’s Ai Cao project which also started from Doctor Xiaoguo herself, Song Tan nodded magnanimously: "Okay, your meals for a year are covered."

Guo Dong’s face lit up with delight—Her cooking skills were limited to just making sure food was cooked through, and although she could pick vegetables from Song Tan’s Home garden every day, about that technique...

They say the mountain food is quite good, the chef’s skills are more than enough to compensate for the quality of ingredients, so she didn’t fuss! Lao Song’s family didn’t eat much less after all, she could just buy some extra to go along with the meals on regular days.

As for why she didn’t insist on eating directly at Lao Song’s Home...

Doctor Xiaoguo started to feel guilty.

But before venturing into a new race track, Lao Song’s family also needed to get a certificate.

Their family had all the necessary certifications, but who would have thought they could start a skincare business with the farm! So Song Tan sent an enthusiastic message to Secretary Xiaozu:

"Stewed fish chunks for lunch, want some?"

...

There wasn’t a certification that Secretary Xiaozu couldn’t handle.

If there were, that would just mean Lao Song’s family didn’t need it yet.

Secretary Xiaozu, slurping down bowls of rice, was full of bitter feelings: "My connections aren’t meant for this..."

They were usually only useful in critical moments, and right now she still had to follow the proper procedures... maybe just more conveniently with queue jumping...

This detestable Song Tan! Why does she always come to me for everything!

Song Tan was feeling rather guilty too—Fair is fair, she had a great deal of respect for national cadres. At that moment, she held out her hand earnestly: "I’ll give you ten tubes of hand cream when it’s time!"

"Cough cough cough cough cough!" Before Secretary Xiaozu could even respond, Doctor Guo at her side had already turned away, coughing so earth-shatteringly.

When she finally recovered, the first thing she did was to stare wide-eyed at Song Tan: "Ten tubes? Are you out of your mind? Why are you being so generous? This hand cream requires not only tea oil but also beeswax from your family’s bees."

"Huh?!"

Song Tan was stunned and suddenly turned to look at Zhang Yanping: "The link you sent me for making homemade hand cream only mentioned needing olive oil, emulsifiers, and preservatives, right?"

Zhang Yanping was also puzzled: "Ah, I mean, it should be pretty similar to just spreading it on your hands."

Is it really the same, though?

How much beeswax can their family even produce?

She turned her head to look at Secretary Xiaozu and quickly retracted her outstretched hand: "The cost is too high. As for ten tubes—"

Secretary Xiaozu held her hand with a smile, his voice as sweet as honey: "Sister, do I not know how much honey your family can sell each month?"

But beeswax is not the same as honey!

Song Tan thought of the several boxes of bee comb stored at home, her heart aching at this moment—

"This hand cream has got to be expensive!"

...

Indeed, the cost of the hand cream had become expensive.

Because beeswax is extracted from the bee comb, a large basin of it yields only about a fist-sized lump of beeswax. Compared to the price of honey, it was indeed precious!

After lunch, Song Tan moved out the five large boxes of broken bee comb that had been stored from early summer to now—after each honey extraction, they would freeze the comb for two days before taking it out again, and they had accumulated only so much.

These were all new combs, one pound of which could yield about half a pound of wax. It sounded like a lot, but firstly, the comb itself doesn’t weigh much, and secondly, beeswax is heavy, and it requires a considerable amount.

Everyone was pondering how many tubes of hand cream could be made from the combs and what size bottles should be used. But Song Tan asked Qiaoqiao: "The bees haven’t been able to find much nectar lately, have they?"

Qiaoqiao nodded sullenly: "There are no flowers left; we didn’t extract honey this month, so we left it for them to eat. It will last them for a while."

Song Tan also sighed.

This wasn’t a place with nectar sources all year round. Professional beekeepers were already driving their hives to warm winter areas where flowers could be found.

She had to prepare, buying more pollen online and feeding it to the bees later with Spiritual Energy.

These bees had developed a taste for it, and even if they were taken out now, they probably wouldn’t settle for other flowers.

But there is still one thing—

"Has Bear been doing well lately?"

Qiaoqiao was puzzled: "Yeah, he’s been eating a lot. The bees can’t collect nectar themselves, so they are reluctant to feed him..."

Song Tan reflected: "Oh, his lifespan is pretty long; I thought he would have died off by early October."

It seems Bear has absorbed quite a bit of Spiritual Energy!

Qiaoqiao was confused.

"Bear... dead?"

"Why would Bear die?" His eyes reddened.

Then glistening tears began to accumulate in his eyes, sliding down through his trembling eyelashes, his expression both bewildered and pitiful, like a little dog inexplicably kicked at the roadside.

Song Tan paused.

Finally, she said: "Bear is the Queen Bumblebee! After the queen hatches and lays eggs, her lifespan is less than a year. In fall and winter, she’s supposed to die—new queens will be born in the bumblebee colony."

The new queen will find a suitable place to hibernate through the cold winter until she wakes up at the start of spring.

She will crawl out of the ground again and then search for a suitable cave to successfully carry out the next round of hatching...