By the time Shen Qingwan returned to the village, it was already late.

Aunt Zhang’s house had started a fire for cooking.

Seeing Shen Qingwan approaching, Aunt Zhang quickly wiped her hands and came out to greet her.

“Oh, Wen Zhao’s wife, come in quickly! I was just making dinner. Stay and eat with us tonight,” Aunt Zhang said warmly.

Shen Qingwan thought about the shop and knew it would take a while to discuss everything.

Instead of being polite, she simply agreed, “Alright, then I’ll shamelessly stay for a meal.”

Hearing Shen Qingwan’s voice, Yang Daxing quickly came out.

When he saw it was indeed Shen Qingwan, he smiled and walked over.

“Sister-in-law, what brings you here? Come inside, Da Chuan and my father are both in the house.”

Yang Daxing enthusiastically welcomed Shen Qingwan into the main room, where Lu Dachuan and Lu Youfu were talking.

They were surprised to see her since Shen Qingwan rarely visited anyone in the village.

It took them a moment to adjust, but they both had a good impression of her now, so they welcomed her warmly.

“Wen Zhao’s wife, you’re quite the rare guest! Come, have a seat,” Lu Youfu said.

By “seat,” he meant a thick wooden block.

Since the village houses had just been built, there wasn’t much furniture yet.

Most households had a few wooden blocks as makeshift stools, and tables were simple planks propped up.

Yang Daxing poured a bowl of plain water for Shen Qingwan.

She took a sip and got straight to the point.

“Uncle Youfu, I actually came to discuss something with you.”

“Whatever it is, just say it. If I can help, I definitely will. No need to be polite with me,” Lu Youfu replied heartily.

Shen Qingwan spoke directly, “Today, I rented a shop in Suzhou City to open a grain store, but I need a trustworthy shopkeeper. I remember you used to work as a bookkeeper, so I’m sure managing the shop would be easy for you. That’s why I came to ask if you’d be interested. I’ll pay you three taels of silver per month. If Dachuan is willing to work there too, he can help in the shop for two taels per month.”

Lu Youfu straightened up immediately, looking at her in disbelief. “You want me to be the shopkeeper?”

Shen Qingwan nodded. “Yes, I’m busy with the fields, and I really can’t find anyone suitable. I trust you, so I came to ask. Would you be willing?”

“Of course, I’m willing! But isn’t three taels too much? Dachuan and I together should only take three taels,” Lu Youfu said hesitantly.

In the past, he only earned one tael per month as a bookkeeper.

Now Shen Qingwan was offering him three, which made him feel uneasy.

“That’s right, sister-in-law. Just give us three taels combined,” Lu Dachuan agreed.

Shen Qingwan shook her head with a smile. “That won’t do. I set this price after careful consideration. And if the workload increases or the business does well, you’ll even get a year-end bonus. I’ve priced the grain quite low, so the shop will definitely be busy. Just the two of you might not be enough.”

“Tomorrow, I’ll take you both to the shop to see it. After that, you can find two helpers. If there are suitable people in the village, you can hire them. I’ll pay them two taels per month as well. The reason for the high wages is that they’ll also be carrying sacks of grain, which is hard labor. So when choosing people, look for those with strength,” she explained.

Lu Youfu immediately thought of two strong villagers. “Your Uncle Shuanzi’s son, Shitou, and your second uncle’s son, Dashan, are both strong and hardworking. What do you think?”

“If you think they’re suitable, then I’m fine with it,” Shen Qingwan nodded. “After dinner, could I trouble you to talk to them? Tomorrow morning, I’ll take you all to the shop.”

After finalizing things with Lu Youfu, Shen Qingwan stayed for dinner.

However, thinking about how Zhang Qiao’er had once washed socks in the lake made her lose her appetite.

She realized she needed to find someone to dig a well for the village soon.

Thankfully, her family drank water from her space, or else she wouldn’t be using the lake water at all.

After leaving Lu Youfu’s house, she visited the village chief to discuss digging a well.

She planned to pay for the village well herself because she intended to use the lake for fish farming and lotus planting, meaning it couldn’t be the main water source anymore.

It simply wasn’t clean enough.

In addition to the village well, she planned to dig a private one in her own yard for convenience.

By the time she got home, the two children were already asleep.

Lu Wenguang, however, was still waiting for her because he needed to update her about the farmland.

“Sister-in-law, all the sweet potato seedlings have been planted. We’ve planted over 400 acres of sweet potatoes, 100 acres of cabbage and radish, 10 acres each of pumpkin, winter melon, and squash, and a total of two acres of cucumber and tomatoes since there weren’t many seedlings. There are still about 50 acres of empty land left,” Lu Wenguang reported.

Since many villagers had helped, the work was completed quickly.

Only a few acres still needed watering, and there were 50 acres left unplanted.

Shen Qingwan thought for a moment and said, “Plant all the remaining land with bok choy.”

Bok choy had a short growing cycle of just 30 days and grew rapidly, making it the perfect choice.

She handed Lu Wenguang half a sack of bok choy seeds.

He had never heard of many of these vegetables before, so he had no idea what they looked like when grown.

But he trusted her judgment.

“Alright, I’ll have them sow the seeds tomorrow. Do we just scatter them directly into the soil?” he asked.

Since the seeds were small, he figured they didn’t need to be transplanted.

“Yes, spread them evenly, and don’t forget to save some seeds,” she instructed.

She only had half a sack of seeds left.

Just in case something went wrong, she had kept some stored in her space, but they needed to save more for future planting.

Besides planting, Shen Qingwan also taught Lu Wenguang some fertilization techniques.

As a farmer, he had a high aptitude for agriculture, and he quickly understood her methods.

His eyes gleamed with excitement as he listened.

It wasn’t until midnight that Shen Qingwan finally went to rest.

..

The sun slowly rose from the sea of clouds, draping the sky in orange light like a girl in a flowing silk dress.

As the hazy veil lifted, golden rays spread across the land, bringing life to all things.

After waking up, Shen Qingwan prepared food for the two children, then took the carriage to the village entrance.

When she arrived, Lu Youfu and the others were already waiting.

The carriage was spacious enough to seat four or five people comfortably.

What once took two hours on foot now took less than half an hour by carriage.