Chapter 2 Jasmine Essential Oil

There are many flowers and plants growing on the mountain behind Selena's house. These days, she has been following her father, Jose, like a little tail. 

Even though Jose has been angry for a few days, she is his daughter after all, and he talks softly to her. She looked innocent and well-behaved, following him for a few days after he lost his temper. He calmed down and looked back from time to time while collecting wood, for fear that she would fall while playing.

After Selena picked a few flowers, she turned back and smiled sweetly at her father, Jose. In the memory of her previous life, her father loved her the most and was never willing to let her work. The family was poor at that time, but he would give her some copper coins every time he earned it, and buy some trinkets to take home to make her happy. This feeling of being held in someone's hand as a treasure was something she could no longer experience after her father passed away. 

For a while, she was happily humming a little tune, picking osmanthus flowers that were blooming in the mountains from time to time. When she saw an inconspicuous light red wild flower under the tree, Selena's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly dug up the flower. After a few plants came out, they were carried in a wicker basket. Under Selena's constant urging, Jose gathered firewood and went down the mountain.

When she got home, she asked her mother, Maria, for a shovel, and then planted the wild flowers in the corner of the yard. Maria saw that she liked to play with these wild flowers and weeds these days, so she didn't pay too much attention to them. 

Girls from any family are the same, that would pick several handfuls of flowers whenever she saw them, so she swept the dust off her body with a straw brush, said hello to her to wash her face and eat quickly, and then entered the house.

Dinner was still the dry black bread and the leftover vegetable soup from lunch. Selena really didn't have any appetite, so she just pretended to take a few bites, and then went to make do with the remaining firewood, cooking a herb's soup. 

The herbs collected in the mountains were boiled with some ginger and scallions to make a bowl of medicinal soup. When she took it out, the bowl was a little hot. She touched behind her ears and took out an earthen pot from a dark clay pot. There was a bit of sugar in it, she put half a spoon in it and brought it to Maria. This one is better for nourishing the body, drinking more will make the disease of Maria go away quickly.

After drinking it for a few days, Maria did feel better. Her daughter supervised her drinking twice a day, so she swallowed it without her daughter's urging.

Selena washed the empty bowl that her mother had finished drinking and put it in the kitchen. Then she went back to her room and closed the door. Then she took out a small jar from under the bed. It was half-small jar of olive oil that Selena had finally begged from her father, Jose.

This oil is better than soybean oil and canola oil, and it is also more expensive. Her mother, Maria, is reluctant to use it when cooking. Selena used to get scolded for secretly adding a little more when cooking.

Because Jose was a hawker, there was a jar in the basket, so Selena begged for some, hid it and carried it back to her room. If Maria knew, the olive oil would definitely be confiscated. Because just a little bottle costs more than a dozen copper coins, which also shows how much Jose loves his daughter.

A few days ago, Selena soaked and washed the jasmine flowers collected in the mountains, put them in the small jar, mixed them with olive oil, then steamed them with boiling water and sealed them. As soon as she opened the jar today, she smelled the faint aroma of jasmine. Her eyes lit up when she smelled it. She left the bottle on the table, then looked inside the bottle in the light, carefully tilting the jar, a transparent jasmine-scented oil came out first from the jar into the little bottle that she asked for from Maria.

After steaming, the fragrance of jasmine flowers is blended into olive oil. It is very good for moisturizing the face and smearing on the body. It can remove dryness and make the skin of the face and body white and tender. It also has a light jasmine fragrance. This is the floral essential oil that ladies in big cities will love to use years later. 

Although there are only two materials that are somewhat insufficient, it is not easy to produce some under such conditions now.

When the small bottle was full, Selena took back the bottle and looked inside by the light. There was not much left of the layer of jasmine essential oil on it. 

The remaining olive oil mixed with jasmine could be used to make hair. Oily hair, apply it several times in the future to provide enough nutrients, and the hair will become as shiny as satin.

After taking a bath, Selena took some jasmine oil and applied it carefully on her body. Then she put on her clothes and sat lazily by the window. She took the remaining essential oil and gently applied it on her face.

Selena has good facial features and her complexion is as white as Maria's. In addition, she just took a shower and applied scented oil. Her skin in the mirror looks much more delicate than the previous few days, but her complexion is still slightly dull, some waxy yellow.

Thinking of the situation at home, Selena dimmed the contentment on her face, reached out to cover the essential oil bottle, gently pushed her long hair behind, sat on the stool and sighed secretly. If she can't make more money, she is afraid her family won't even be able to eat black bread in the future. 

Thinking of the sour taste of cheap black bread, Selena feels nauseous again, and she wants to make more money to improve the food at home, so that she can at least have a decent meal.