Chapter 33

“Why are you saying this again? You can’t stop talking.”

“Then let’s not talk about them. I’m not angry enough. The berries you asked Ruyi to bring over were delicious.”

“After a while, there will be honeydews in the prefecture. I’ll source some. The melons are also delicious.”

“Different fruits have different tastes. You did the right thing by doing this business. Otherwise, how could our family eat so many kinds of fruits?”

“In the future, you will eat whatever I sell.”

“When summer is over, what will you sell? At that time, there will be no watermelon and no need to sell ice cubes.”

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“There are many things to sell. Don’t worry. There will be a way out when I cross the road. I’ll sell this first and then think about what to sell in autumn and winter.”

“I have high hopes for you. When the time comes, I’ll eat whatever there is. Prepare your pouch!”

“Hehe, if you want to bankrupt me, you must have a big appetite. Be careful not to become fat.”

The days passed, and the stall’s business was prosperous. Watermelons, ice cubes, strawberries, and even the newly harvested honeydew were selling well.

All the wealthy families in the town came to support her, not because of Shopkeeper Lu.

It was because the fruits were too good. Even the shopkeeper of Jingtai Restaurant bought fruits from her.

With the fruits, the restaurant’s business improved a lot.

She could sell twenty watermelons a day. Each watermelon cost eight hundred coins, which was sixteen taels of silver. A box of strawberries costs five hundred coins. She could sell ten boxes daily and earn eight taels of silver.

Honeydew was sold by size. Qiao Mai did not even use a scale. A palm-sized honeydew could be sold for twenty coins. As it was cheaper and more delicious than watermelons, she could sell at least fifty of them daily, which was one tael.

There were also ice cubes. She received two taels of silver a day, which added up to less than thirty taels. If she were to open the stall for twenty days a month, that would be six hundred taels of silver.

Shopkeeper Lu was behind the counter, fiddling with an abacus. She was shocked when he calculated the amount Qiao Mai made.

Oh my god, how could a small stall earn so much money?

She did not expect Qiao Mai to say something that made her lose her spirit.

“Sister, don’t you consider the capital for my products? Did the watermelon, melon, berries, and ice come from nowhere?”

“Even after deducting the cost, you can still earn a few taels a day, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Isn’t that great? That’s a hundred taels a month, and a few thousand taels a year. That’s more than the average shop. Don’t you see that many peddlers are jealous of you?”

“Then they should sell it too. I didn’t stop them.”

“They have too many considerations and fears. They’re afraid they won’t be able to sell it after stocking some. They can’t afford to pay for such a precious thing.”

“Then that’s it. I can afford it.”

Speaking of this, Shopkeeper Lu took a cloth bag from the counter.

“Here, I sold those two palace fans. One for two hundred taels. We will split it evenly.”

“I see petty cash daily and a large sum every now and then. These days are really beautiful.”

“When are you going to embroider a big piece?”

“Next month. These two months are when the weather is hot. The palace fan sells the fastest. When the weather turns cold, I’ll embroider a set of clothes for you. Remember to sell it for a high price.”

Shopkeeper Lu’s eyes lit up.

Where did the clothes come from? They were all the ones on her shelves. The craftsmanship was sure to shock the ancient people.

Whether it was the embroidery or the style of the clothes, one would look like a fairy descending to the mortal world.

The fabric looked similar to that of ancient times, but if an expert came, they would say that the fabric could only be found in the heavens.

Qiao Mai hoped she would not cause trouble for Shopkeeper Lu. When the time came, she must communicate with her properly. Otherwise, she would never sell the clothes.

There was one thing worth mentioning.

The quails had started to lay eggs. There were seven quails, and two seemed to have never laid eggs. They were probably male, and the other five were female. They laid an egg almost every day. Qiao Mai had never eaten these eggs.

After she looked up some information on the Internet, she found a wooden box. She covered it with straw and placed the quail eggs on top. Then, she covered it with a layer of cotton. She released them from her space and put them in the room where she slept.

The temperature indoors in summer was just right for them to hatch, so there was no need to find an old hen.

They would hatch in about twenty days. Now, she already had a hundred quail eggs in her space. She planned to add quail eggs to the list of products starting next month.

It didn’t matter if the people didn’t know what was good. She would teach the customers how to eat this.

She believed that under the attack of her glib tongue, the customers would surrender and take out their silver to buy some to cook at home.

Since the horse came home with her, it seemed to grow a little stronger. Every day, it ate and drank well. Qiao Mai named it Dong Zhao.

Qiao Mai had specially planted four-quarters of grass in the space for it. The grass was tender and fresh, and when mixed with bean flour, the horse was eager to eat.

When Qiao Mai was happy, she would give it a few fruits and carrots from time to time.

Just by looking at the horse’s warm and moist eyes, one could tell that the horse was overjoyed when it saw Qiao Mai. It loved its master so much.

The black soil in her space would grow a piece of land every five days, and another batch would be harvested. In other words, she could plant a fresh seed in ten days.

In the past, she did not have much experience with farming. Now that she had grown some crops, she knew how hard it was for farmers.

This was when Qiao Mai used her will to harvest. If she didn’t, she would be exhausted to death by the space.

After the replication, she had several acres of land in her space.

Watermelons, strawberries, honeydews, grasses, corn, wheat, rice, millet, and so on.

She planned to plant all the hundreds of seeds she had bought from the shop.

Qiao Mai did a mental calculation. She could plant three types of seeds in a month, which meant she could plant thirty-six types in a year. She would need at least ten years before she could free her hands and feet.

Just thinking about it… It was impossible to cry. She felt more like laughing.

Ten years later, she could take whatever she wanted directly from her space. The space could also replicate the black earth. That way, she would have endless resources, and she would be able to laugh out loud in her dreams.

By July, all the quails had laid eggs, and she could harvest hundreds of eggs a day.

There were about forty of them per catty, so she could only harvest about two and a half catties a day.

It seemed a little less. It was only two and a half catties. There seemed to be many quails. It doesn’t feel enough to sell.

Seeing both the east and west storage rooms were empty, she chuckled and decided to use them to raise quails.

When Qiao Mai returned from her stall, she took advantage of the fact that it was still early to clean up the rooms on both sides and move everything to the pit.

The ground was fenced with wooden planks to prevent the quails from running out of the house. Clean straw was placed below. One house could raise about a hundred quails, so four houses could raise about four hundred.

Qiao Mai didn’t use the master room to raise quails. She was afraid Shopkeeper Lu would bite her if she found out.

This was someone else’s house and a new one at that. She couldn’t go too far.

It was July, and it would rain from time to time in Tianshui Town. During the month, she spent more time at home than at the stall.

Apart from doing embroidery, she would also observe the hatching of quail eggs.

The two disciples came to ask their master for advice now and then. Ruxin and Ruyi’s embroidery skills were getting better and better.

They were also respectful to their master. In the summer, the girls each made two sets of new clothes and sent them to her. Sometimes, when they went to the county town and saw beautiful jewelry, they would not forget about Qiao Mai.

Qiao Mai was satisfied with this.

Therefore, she had saved up a batch of quail eggs and planned to let her two disciples have a taste. She cooked all three catties of quail eggs.

“Come, disciple, try this.”

The two girls stared at the eggs on the table. “Master, are these bird eggs?”

“No, where did we find so many birds that lay so many eggs?”

“Then what kind of egg is this?”

“This is a type of small-sized poultry called quails.”

“Master, where did you get it from?”

“I saw them in a flower and bird pet shop in the prefecture. I spent one tael of silver to buy seven of them. The eggs are hatching, and now there are quite a number.”

“Where do you keep them?”