The next day, as soon as the sky brightened, Meng Suihuan took all her savings and went to the old granny’s at the village entrance. As expected, they were already out selling their vegetables. Many of the vegetables still had dew on them, indicating that they had just been picked.

Meng Suihuan walked over and greeted the old grannies with a smile.
“Grandma, I’m back again.”
She had been coming here every day recently, so she had become familiar with these women. As soon as they saw her, they greeted her with smiling faces.
“Girl, you’re back to keep us company again.”
Meng Suihuan smiled, “Grandma, I’m not here just to chat today, I’m here to buy your vegetables.”

One of the more outspoken old grandma immediately handed her two bundles of vegetables. “Take these, just eat them. If you need more, I have more.”
Meng Suihuan smiled as she handed the vegetables back. “Grandma, I appreciate your kindness, but I need a bit more. These won’t be enough.”

At this, the surrounding old ladies became excited, looking at Meng Suihuan with even more fondness.
“If it’s not enough, we still have more.”
Meng Suihuan shook her head.
“It’s still not enough.”
The old ladies were stunned. “Girl, what did you just say? This much isn’t enough?”
“How much are you planning to get?”
Calmly, Meng Suihuan held up three fingers.
“Thirty pounds.”
“That’s fine.”
Meng Suihuan shook her head again.
“I need three hundred pounds.”
“Girl, are you serious?”
“Really… you want that much? Are you not joking with us?”

Meng Suihuan pulled out fifty yuan from her pocket. “I have a fifty yuan deposit here. Ten yuan for each of you, and the remaining balance will be paid when the vegetables are collected. Does that sound good?”

This was naturally acceptable. After all, they stood here every day to sell their surplus vegetables. Now, the opportunity had come, and they wouldn’t miss it. Besides, the money was already in their hands. If the buyer changed their mind, they wouldn’t be returning it.

However, they still had to make sure everything was clear to avoid any trouble later on.
“Girl, let’s be clear. If you don’t want the vegetables later, we won’t return the money.”
Meng Suihuan smiled and nodded.
“Of course.”
“But, you also need to be aware, I need them to be fresh. If they aren’t fresh, I won’t pay.”
“That’s a given.”

Soon enough, the day they had agreed upon arrived. The old ladies, along with their families, brought the vegetables to the Lu family home early in the morning. Everyone had excited expressions on their faces.

One of the Lu family members was responsible for inspecting the quality of the vegetables, while the other weighed them. Meng Suihuan stood by, counting everything. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

Before long, all the vegetables had been weighed, and Meng Suihuan did a quick calculation. Not only was everything exactly as ordered, but there were also over twenty extra pounds.

“Girl, is the quantity and quality all right?”
The old grandmas nervously waited for her response, since they felt there was no problem, but it was only official once Meng Suihuan confirmed it.

Meng Suihuan put down the pen in her hand and gave them a confident nod.
“Everything is fine!”

The old ladies’ worries finally lifted, and smiles appeared on their faces. They looked at Meng Suihuan with eager eyes, and the meaning behind their gaze was, of course, unspoken. Meng Suihuan quickly paid the remaining money. As they counted the money, one of the old ladies noticed that the amount seemed off.

“Girl, did you make a mistake in your calculations? You’ve given us a few extra yuan!”

“I didn’t make a mistake,” Meng Suihuan shook her head and explained with a smile. “I’m paying four cents per jin^[1]Chinese kilograms for these vegetables, so each of you should get 24 yuan. Since I paid a 10 yuan deposit in advance, I’m paying 14 yuan this time.”

“Four… four cents per jin?”

Everyone was stunned. After all, the highest they had ever sold vegetables for was three cents per jin, and that was rare. Most of the time, it was two or one cent. But now, to hear that the vegetables could be sold for four cents per jin, their excitement was clear, though there was still some doubt.

“Is it really worth that much?”

“Yes.”

Hearing this, one of the old ladies proudly turned to her son, looking as proud as could be.

“I told you the girl wouldn’t deceive us. Do you believe it now?”

“Yes, yes, I believe whatever you say.”

Everyone burst into laughter. From then on, the old ladies looked at Meng Suihuan with such affection and tenderness. As they were about to leave, they reminded her,

“Girl, if you ever need more vegetables next time, just let us know. We’ll make sure to deliver them to you.”

Meng Suihuan also smiled.

“Okay, thank you, Grandma.”

So, Meng Suihuan, along with her uncle Meng Changsheng, took the vegetables to town. The restaurant owner was also a straightforward person. After inspecting the vegetables, he was very satisfied, and the smile on his face didn’t fade.

When it was time to leave, Meng Suihuan handed him a card with the number 20 written on it. The owner looked at it for a moment, confused about its meaning.

Meng Suihuan smiled and explained,

“Boss, this is part of a promotion I’m running. Every time you spend 100 yuan, you earn 10 points. When you accumulate 100 points, you can exchange them for 1 yuan. If you reach 1000 points, you can exchange them for 10 yuan!”

“Such a good deal? I’ll make sure to keep this!”

The boss was already in a good mood, since the vegetables were priced lower than usual, and now with this points system, he could even get money back for reaching a certain point threshold. It was a great deal, and though he’d never encountered anything like this before, he was eager to take advantage of it.

Looking at the boss’s excited expression, Meng Suihuan knew that this business deal was secured. After all, no one could resist the lure of “free” offers.

Just like in the 21st century, even if she wasn’t short of money, she’d never miss a chance to get free gifts with a purchase.

In this way, Meng Suihuan made her first earnings by reselling vegetables. After deducting the initial capital and transportation costs, she still had about 100 yuan left! For someone with no money, this was quite a fortune!!!

The moment she received the money, Meng Suihuan excitedly shouted in her mind at the system,

“Quick, let me see if my life points have increased!”

The system responded to her call and brought up the progress bar.

Meng Suihuan looked at it.

“Oh no! Progress: 0.41%. Remaining days: 87 days.”

Meng Suihuan: “……”

Was the system joking with her? After all her hard work to make money, she gained only three more days of life?!

Finally, in despair, Meng Suihuan asked the system,

“Can you double-check… are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

System: “……”

Meng Suihuan should have been happy to have earned her first “bucket of gold,” but seeing her nearly unchanged life points, she couldn’t feel any happiness. She worked so hard for over 100 yuan, and in return, she got only three more days of life. Who would be happy about that?

But her mood shifted quickly, and as long as she kept earning enough money, death wouldn’t catch up to her! Bring it on! Let the mutual damage begin!

System: “……”

System: “…To congratulate the host for earning the first bucket of gold, the system will reward an additional 2 days of life.”

Meng Suihuan only heard the second half of the system’s message. As for the first half, she had zoned out and didn’t hear it.

So she immediately screamed in her mind.

“Reward?!”

Meng Suihuan couldn’t describe how she felt. Just a moment ago, she’d silently cursed the dog-like system, and now it was rewarding her with 2 extra days of life! Was the system asking for more curses?!

Meng Suihuan silently cursed again, but nothing happened.

Meng Suihuan: “……”