"Forget it. Now that I have money, I want to buy a house and some land. In the future, I'll be a well-behaved farmer. I can't be an official and can only be a farmer."
"You're still young. You can't live like this for the rest of your life, can you?"
At this moment, Qiao Mai's eyes flashed. "I've thought about it. I'll adopt a child and let her support me in my old age. I won't dare to marry again. I have trauma from being tortured."
"There are still many good people in the world."
"Yes, there are so many good people, and I only met you. Where are the others?"
"You have to go out. Look at the people who cheered for you that day. They are all people with a conscience. You can't kill everyone with one stick."
"There's no hurry. We'll talk about it when I meet a suitable person."
"Why don't I be a matchmaker and get you one?"
"No, I'm not in the mood for a least a few years."
"Alright then. If you want to get married, tell me. I promise to arrange a good marriage for you."
Qiao Mai smiled and nodded. After Lu Sanniang left with her two daughters, she returned to her room and sat cross-legged on the brick bed, looking at the 1,050 taels of silver in front of her.
Adding on the 50 taels of silver from before, she now had 1,100 in total.
A small courtyard like this would cost at least two hundred taels.
Although this courtyard was decent, it was not her cup of tea. The house she wanted had a courtyard in front and a courtyard at the back.
She could grow flowers and grass, practice martial arts, and let her child run and play in the square. Her dream house would cost more than 1,100 taels of silver.
Now, her two disciples could leave, and she only needed to give them some pointers occasionally.
It was time to free up some hands and do something else.
There was an open space at the entrance of the embroidery workshop. It should not be a problem if she wanted to try something else.
There were no raw materials in her space. They were all semi-finished products or finished products. For example, frozen dumplings, sandwiches, and hamburgers in the freezer could be eaten after heating in the microwave.
Even the fish was cooked in the restaurant for convenience.
She had even stocked up on instant noodles, ham sausages, and the like.
Although her space had a replicating function, she would not sell these things. After all, these were new here and could easily attract the attention of others. She could not protect herself now.
Qiao Mai didn't like attention, so it was best for her to be an ordinary person who didn't stand out in a crowd.
Looking at every item in the space, she was worried. She went to the refrigerator and saw it was filled with some of her favorite fruits.
Dragon fruit? No! There might not even be such fruits here.
Apples? No, it's not in season yet.
Pears? No, it wasn't the season yet. Oranges, cherries, and green fruits were even worse, let alone bananas. The fruits from the ancient South couldn't be shipped to the North at all.
Plum, winter dates, and so on were also not good. Looking at it, only watermelons could be sold in this season of May.
On such a hot day, it was acceptable to set up a watermelon stall. Why not set up a stall by the official road?
Qiao Mai looked at the watermelons in the freezer with some difficulty. There were only two watermelons. It would take a while for one to appear. What if they could not keep up?
Her feet involuntarily rubbed the floor. As she rubbed, her eyes looked at the tiles.
The house was built with the materials she brought, and she laid the floors herself. She remembered that when she first entered the space, it was an acre of black soil.
Did soil mean that she could farm?
As soon as this thought popped up, Qiao Mai couldn't help but get excited again.
If that were the case, wouldn't she be able to harvest watermelons after she ate the watermelon and planted the seeds?
Since she had thought of it, she went ahead and did it. Without saying anything, she used her mind to move the house to the corner. All the shelves were double-layered, freeing up nearly half of the space.
She lifted the tiles and looked at the dark ground. Qiao Mai squatted down and dug hard with her hands. She even brought the black soil under her nose and smelled it.
There was no strange smell, only an earthy scent.
She heard this kind of black soil was the most fertile. Qiao Mai was a doer. She went to the freezer and cut the watermelon in half, taking a big spoon and digging it out.
She left the watermelon seeds inside and buried them in the soil. By visual estimation, this piece of land was about four acres.
She had sown seeds and needed to water them. Qiao Mai took out a bucket of mineral water from the space. Anyway, the space had a replication function, so she would never run out of water.
After watering the four acres of land, Qiao Mai held the watermelon and ate it while looking.
She thought about setting up the stall tomorrow. If there were customers, she would sell it. If no one visits, she would sit by the side and do embroidery. She couldn't always sit at home. She was afraid she would be out of touch with society.
Qiao Mai did not know when these seeds would germinate or how long it would take for them to bear watermelons. Anyway, before the watermelons grew, she could only cut what she had and sell them.
Qiao Mai had eaten a whole watermelon before she could fill up four acres of the land. Her stomach was bloated.
She returned to the refrigerator and watched as the watermelon was replicated. Only then did she return to the house in peace and sleep with her daughter.
The next day, she went to the market and found no one was selling watermelons.
Forget it. There was no one selling watermelons, which meant she had a monopoly over the market.
She didn't say anything whether others asked or not. Anyway, this melon wasn't stolen.
When she arrived at the embroidery shop, Shopkeeper Lu hurriedly pulled her to sit.
"You're willing to come out?"
"I want to set up a stall in front of the shop. What do you think?"
"Don't tell me you want to be a peddler?"
"Why not? I have nothing to do. It won't affect my embroidery either."
"What are you selling?"
"How about watermelons?"
"Is anyone buying it? That thing was expensive. Only the rich could afford it. How could the common people bear to eat it?"
"I won't sell them whole. I'll sell them in pieces. The commoners can't afford to buy a whole watermelon, so it's fine to try a piece. It's a hot day."
Shopkeeper Lu thought of how sweet the watermelon was, so she gulped.
"Let me tell you. I've seen these watermelons in the prefecture and eaten them at my friend's place. Usually, they cost 100 coins per catty. Watermelon is at least ten catties and above. How many pieces are you cutting it into?"
"Smaller pieces. I'll sell it for fifty copper coins per serving."
"Then what about the money you used to buy the melons?"
"If he sells to the rich, they'll be expensive. If he sells it to me, it definitely won't be expensive. This is called small profits but quick turnover."
"What if you can't sell it?"
"Then let's eat it together. I'll think of another way."
Seeing that she could not persuade her, Shopkeeper Lu could only sigh. "Alright, I don't care about you anymore. You can do whatever you want. You have money now."
"Sister, prepare a long table and a chair for me. I'll go to the county town later and buy a few melons. I'll start setting up a stall tomorrow."
"Alright. At most, we'll eat by ourselves."
"Haha, don't worry. We've earned so much money. We can still afford to pay for a few watermelons."
The next day, Qiao Mai played with her daughter in the space for a while and coaxed her to sleep. It was late in the morning when she carried a large basket to the embroidery workshop. Shopkeeper Lu had no choice but to move the table and chair out for her and placed them on the side of the official road in front of the door.
The sun was blazing at this time, and the passersby kept shouting that it was hot.
Qiao Mai took a watermelon from the basket and placed it on the long table. She took a clean cloth and wiped the watermelon. Then, she took a kitchen knife and cut the watermelon into two halves. Then, she cut the watermelon equally.
"I cut sixteen pieces. Come, sister, take three pieces and share them with Ruxin and Ruyi."
Shopkeeper Lu looked at the red watermelon and swallowed her saliva.
"Thank you. The children and I will try it first."
Qiao Mai stuffed three pieces of watermelon into her hands. Shopkeeper Lu took the watermelon and felt comfortable.
"It's really cold!"
"Take it back quickly. The chill will disperse soon."
Shopkeeper Lu carried the watermelon and hurried back to the shop. Qiao Mai cleared her throat and immediately got into character.
"Watermelon, watermelon! Sweet, juicy, and refreshing watermelons are for sale!"
"Watermelons, watermelons! Ice-cold watermelons are for sale!"