The owner of the agritourism farm tried out Xu Han’s method, and indeed, the fresh vegetables and fruits sold very well.

She made money quickly, and Xu Han, seeing her happiness, began to negotiate prices with her.

Boss Cai thought Xu Han would sell at the market price at most, but Xu Han proposed a price 40% higher than the market rate, as if trying to make up for the initial losses she had incurred.

At this price, even a stingy person like Boss Cai, or any normal customer who isn’t frugal, would have to think twice, unless they were as wealthy as Tan Yue.

However, Xu Han refused to lower the price by even a penny.

Boss Cai, seeing this, initially planned to use her old trick of waiting for Xu Han to call back with a discount.

But this time, Xu Han was well-prepared and didn’t deliver the goods the next morning.

“Dear sister, this is really unkind,” Boss Cai called Xu Han late in the morning to complain. “I have a bunch of customers waiting to eat. What am I supposed to do?”

Xu Han calmly replied, “Boss Cai, I’ve said before, scarcity increases value. I believe you won’t find another supplier like me in the entire town. I believe the price is fair, and I’m confident you’ll make a good profit. What do you think?”

Boss Cai thought for a moment and painfully said, “A 20% increase, okay? But 40% is too much. How am I supposed to make any money? It’s like I’m working just for you.”

“Boss Cai, I think you haven’t understood my point. If you’re here to negotiate, then there’s no need for us to continue this call. Think it over and call me back when you’re ready.”

“Wait, wait, don’t hang up.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“Hold on a moment,” Boss Cai said. There was silence on the other end, followed by the sound of keys clacking. Xu Han knew she was using a calculator to figure out the price and patiently waited for her to finish.

“Alright,” Boss Cai agreed, her tone sounding as if she were losing a piece of herself. “But I want exclusive rights to sell your vegetables. You can’t sell to anyone else in town, and you can’t sell them yourself either.”

Xu Han thought for a moment.

Given her current situation, she definitely couldn’t sell the fresh vegetables herself.

If the agritourism farm could indeed sell them well, she would already be making a lot of money from it, so she agreed.

However, Xu Han was careful.

She only promised Boss Cai the fresh vegetables, not the dried fruits and vegetables.

Boss Cai wasn’t in a position to sell dried goods either, so the deal was struck.

With the agritourism farm as a sales outlet, Xu Han’s vegetable harvests wouldn’t go to waste.

Otherwise, seeing so many vegetables and fruits rotting would be heartbreaking for her, as they were the fruits of her labor.

However, delivering the vegetables posed a big problem.

It was the middle of winter, and the school was on holiday, so there was no demand for vegetables there.

But for the agritourism farm, it took over half an hour to ride an electric scooter from their village to the town.

Even bundled up, the early morning trips to deliver vegetables were especially cold and uncomfortable.

Moreover, the agritourism farm required a large quantity.

Xu Han checked around the village and found there were only two tricycles available, neither of which were free to make deliveries.

Small trucks were available, but they charged exorbitant fees, claiming prices had increased for the New Year.

Even small trucks had raised their prices for the holiday rush, which Xu Han found unbelievable.

Xu Han silently tightened her purse.

If she hired a truck, most of the money she earned from supplying vegetables to the school would end up in the truck driver’s pocket.

Considering she only had two vegetable gardens, which could be sold out in a few days if sales were good, she decided to deliver them herself using an electric scooter.

Xu Han decided to make two trips a day for deliveries.

She placed leafy greens at the front where she could rest her feet, and tied up radishes and melons at the back, filling the electric scooter to its capacity.

However, after one trip, the scooter would run out of battery and needed several hours to recharge.

So, she delivered radishes and melons, which were less perishable, in the evening, and leafy greens, which spoiled easily, in the morning.

After just one day of this routine, Xu Han caught a cold.

In the morning, she only had a sore throat and thought it was just dryness, so she drank some herbal tea.

By the afternoon, she started feeling aches all over her body and realized she was getting sick.

Worried that breastfeeding might pass the illness to her baby, she avoided taking any medicine and planned to visit the clinic in town when she delivered the vegetables at night to get a check-up and some medication.

“Can you manage this? Delivering by yourself?” Grandma Qiao asked worriedly in the afternoon as she helped Xu Han pick vegetables in the field.

She noticed Xu Han was sweating coldly.

Xu Han sipped water from her thermos and said, “I think I’ll be fine. I’ll make one trip tonight. If I feel worse tomorrow, I’ll hire a truck driver to help for a few days. After that, we should buy a tricycle.”

Grandma Qiao, who had seen Xu Han grow and mature over time, felt a pang of sympathy.

She nodded, “We should definitely get a tricycle. Making two trips like this every day is too exhausting.”

Xu Han smiled, “Riding isn’t that tiring. There are plenty of people who work harder than I do.”

In their village, they were already among those who had it easier.

Their vegetables grew well and sold easily.

Other families worked from sunrise to sunset, spending ten hours a day in the fields, yet didn’t make half of what Xu Han’s family earned.

Together, they loaded the vegetables into baskets, carried them to the roadside, packed them into sacks, and then strapped them onto the electric scooter.

Xu Han gritted her teeth and delivered two loads to the roadside, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead.

She said, panting, “Grandma, I’m going to rest for a bit. There are two more loads; can you help move them?”

She wasn’t trying to boss around the elderly woman, but she really felt too weak to continue at that moment.

Although Grandma Qiao was in her 60s, she was still very strong and found the work manageable. “Sure, sure. Do you want to go lie down for a while? I can handle it on my own.”

“No, I just need to rest a bit. Sitting will be enough,” Xu Han replied.

Xu Han sat on the edge of the road, resting her head on her arms and trying to catch her breath.

Her body ached terribly, and her throat felt blocked as if something were stuck in it, making it hard to cough out anything, which was very uncomfortable.

“Hey, Uncle, I think that’s Aunt Qiao.”

While Xu Han was in a daze, she heard a voice and then felt a gentle shake.

A man’s cool voice sounded near her ear, “Qiao Wanqing? Are you feeling unwell?”

Xu Han lifted her head from her arms and saw a pair of long legs.

Following the legs upward, she saw Gu Yanqing’s handsome face.

He squatted down, noticing her sweat, and instinctively reached out to touch her forehead.

“You don’t have a fever. What’s bothering you?”

“Why is it you again?” Xu Han wondered.

Didn’t Gu Yanqing just leave two days ago?

How come he’s here again?

He was coming too frequently.

He used to visit every month or even every few months.

“Auntie, we didn’t go back. We’re staying at a hotel,” little Yuan Yuan said, his cute head popping up.

Xu Han forced a smile at him.

Gu Yanqing said, “You’re sick. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“It’s just a cold,” Xu Han said, holding her forehead and standing up. “I’ll get some medicine when I deliver the vegetables to town later.”

Gu Yanqing saw the small electric scooter nearby, realizing Xu Han intended to use it to carry all the vegetables to town.

It was already past three, and by the time she finished packing and loading, it would be at least half-past four.

While there might still be some warmth from the sunlight on the way there, it would be freezing cold on the way back.

Thinking about this, Gu Yanqing’s face turned stern. “You’re this sick and still think it’s just a cold. Delivering vegetables now is reckless.”

Xu Han didn’t think her illness was that serious.

Isn’t this just a common cold?

Who would take a day off for a cold?

“I’m really fine,” Xu Han said, picking up a sack and starting to pack the vegetables into it.

“Auntie, let me help you,” Yuan Yuan offered eagerly, bringing the cabbages closer to Xu Han.

Gu Yanqing watched her pack for a while with a cold expression.

Seeing that she wouldn’t stop until she was done, he eventually squatted down and helped her pack the vegetables.

Xu Han was taken aback. “No need to trouble you, Mr. Gu. I can do it myself.”

Gu Yanqing ignored her with a cold face.

Uh… alright, let’s just consider it…

free labor,

Xu Han comforted herself with difficulty, unable to understand why Mr. Gu wouldn’t live the life of a young master surrounded by stars but came to this small mountain village to do such rough work.

Probably because of Koukou, Xu Han thought.

While packing, Gu Yanqing said with a blank expression, “Don’t work so hard yourself, find a helper.”

Xu Han didn’t have the energy to argue with him at this point, so she just said, “Okay.”

“…”

When they had almost finished packing the vegetables on the ground, Huang Daxian suddenly ran down from the house and rubbed against Xu Han’s feet a few times.

Xu Han patted it and said, “Koukou is awake, I’ll go back first.”

—Usually, when Koukou was asleep and both Xu Han and Granny Qiao were out working, Huang Daxian would stay home and watch over Koukou.

When Koukou woke up, Huang Daxian would come to find Xu Han.

This skill was discovered by Granny Qiao.

Last time, Xu Han went to deliver vegetables while Granny Qiao was working in the vegetable field.

Huang suddenly came over, biting Granny Qiao’s pants leg and dragging her back.

When Granny Qiao returned, she found that Koukou, who usually could sleep for three to four hours in the afternoon, had woken up in less than half an hour that day.

After several tests, Xu Han discovered that Huang indeed had this skill, so when they were busy, Huang would stay home and watch over the sleeping Koukou.

Xu Han returned home, washed her hands, put on a mask, and changed into a clean coat before daring to hold Koukou.

The child’s immune system was too weak, and if he caught a cold from her, it would be a big trouble.

Probably because Xu Han was too heavily armed, Koukou didn’t recognize her at first.

When she came over to pick him up, he didn’t raise his arms enthusiastically as usual.

In fact, he even dodged a bit when Xu Han held him.

The last time Xu Han wore a mask was at the airport, but she put it on in front of Koukou.

The little guy was curious at the time and reached out to pull her mask.

It hadn’t even been a month since then, but he had already forgotten and instinctively felt scared of this strange outfit.

“Koukou, it’s Mommy,” Xu Han was grateful that she hadn’t lost her voice.

Hearing Xu Han’s voice, Koukou first tilted his head curiously, as if confirming something.

Then he smiled, raised his arms, and made “ah ah” sounds, asking for a hug.