Qian Chunhua returned to the Qian home just as Qian Xingshan rushed back, panting.

“Sis, Uncle Ding went to look at the Zhao house just now. To build a two-meter-high wall, add a kitchen, a toilet, an outhouse, and a kang (a heated bed platform), the total cost will be eight taels of silver. He’ll supply all the materials—using red bricks and blue tiles.”

Qian Chunhua asked, “How long will it take?”

Qian Xingshan replied, “Five days.”

Qian Chunhua nodded.

She wasn’t too familiar with the costs of things in this era.

The original host had never handled matters like this either, so she had no reference.

“Do it,” Qian Chunhua said as she took out some silver from her pocket.

Qian Xingshan accepted three taels for materials and returned the rest. “Three taels for now to buy materials. You can pay the rest after the work’s done.”

Qian Chunhua smiled and put the remaining silver away.

This younger brother of hers was quite dependable.

Qian Xingshan took the money and ran off again, while Qian’s mother looked worriedly at her daughter.

Spending eight taels of silver in one go—how would her daughter’s family survive?

After severing ties with the Zhao family, all Chunhua had was half a house and an acre of barren land near the main road.

That land was originally given to her because it was poor and unproductive.

The crops from that land wouldn’t be enough to feed a family of four.

Now with only 200 taels of compensation left, and having just spent another eight, at this rate, Chunhua’s family would eventually run out.

Qian’s mother sighed. Forget it.

She decided to work harder in the future, grow more food, and supply everything her daughter’s family needed.

Qian Chunhua had no idea her mother had thought all this in such a short time.

She was just happy things were going smoothly.

In one morning, she had handled two major matters.

Since there was still time left in the day, she could go to town and buy supplies.

After entrusting the children to her mother, Qian Chunhua went home, grabbed her basket, and hurried toward the county town.

The village ox-cart had already left—those always departed early to take villagers to market.

Qian Chunhua actually had all kinds of vehicles in her space: an RV, an off-road vehicle, a bicycle, and even an electric bike.

She also had plenty of lithium batteries, inverters, and solar panels.

But in this era, none of those things existed.

She didn’t dare take anything out in broad daylight.

So she had to walk to town.

The road from Huanghualing to the county town was an official route.

Qian Chunhua walked alone along the road, admiring the scenery.

Her mood today was completely different from yesterday’s.

Yesterday she had been focused on how to talk to Qingyun and hadn’t paid attention to anything along the way.

Today, she could finally enjoy the scenery at a leisurely pace.

The fields on both sides of the road were filled with radishes and cabbages. Seeing them reminded her of the acre of land she now owned—it also had cabbages.

In Nanzhou County, November temperatures hovered around five degrees Celsius.

Most crops wouldn’t survive.

Once the cabbages were harvested, there would be nothing to plant until March.

Even someone as inexperienced as Qian Chunhua knew that those few cabbages wouldn’t be enough to keep her family from starving.

What kind of work should I do?

Suddenly, she lost interest in the scenery and kept her head down, thinking as she walked.

Even by the time she reached town, she still hadn’t figured out a plan.

At the same general store she’d visited the day before, she bought a hanging pot for the kitchen.

This kind of pot needed to be embedded into the stove, so it had to be bought in advance.

As for iron pots, clay pots, and the like—her space already had plenty.

She planned to take them out later when no one was watching.

With her basket on her back, Qian Chunhua headed to the grain store and asked about the prices of rice, millet, cornmeal, whole corn kernels, white flour, and dark flour.

Her space had everything except cornmeal and dark flour.

She planned to take some supplies out later—after all, she didn’t want to keep mooching off her mother.

That just didn’t sit well with her.

The prices:

White rice: 20 copper coins per jin

Millet: 15 copper

Cornmeal and whole corn: 10 copper

White flour: 20 copper

Dark flour: 10 copper

After checking the prices, she had a rough idea of costs.

She bought two ounces of salt and left.

The shop assistant was baffled—she asked about all the grains and didn’t buy a single one, then turned around and bought salt instead.

Qian Chunhua didn’t think much of it.

She’d seen that the salt jar at her mother’s house was empty, so she’d just bought two ounces to tide them over.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want more—her space had loads of salt.

She just needed a proper container to hold it.

She’d spent 20 copper coins on salt. Once she got outside the city, she planned to find a quiet spot and mix in the salt from her space.

She had already compared it—this era’s refined salt looked no different from hers.

At the butcher stall, she bought two jin of pork belly for 50 copper coins.

After buying everything she needed, she prepared to head home.

On her way back, she kept thinking about what kind of work she could do.

Without a good reason, she wouldn’t be able to explain where all her supplies were coming from.

Just before reaching the village, she found a secluded corner and put her basket down.

From her space, she took out:

One iron pot

One clay pot

Five bowls

Five plates

A bundle of chopsticks

She packed these into her basket.

Then she pulled out a five-jin slab of pork fat.

In this era of scarce resources, everyone loved fatty meat.

Even she had come to enjoy it—probably because her body had been so malnourished before.

But at the butcher’s earlier, pork fat was 30 copper coins per jin—more expensive than pork belly, which was 25 coins per jin.

So she had only bought pork belly.

She still had plenty of fat in her space anyway.

Next, she took out ten jin of white rice, poured it into a cloth sack (the plastic bag went back into her space).

She also took out ten jin of flour, poured into another cloth sack.

Then she mixed a jin of salt into the small salt pouch she’d bought earlier.

Then she took out twelve jin of brown sugar.

She planned to give two jin to her mother, Use four jin to thank the village chief and clan elder that night and Give the remaining six jin to Uncle Ding and his workers (how they divided it was up to them)

If she wanted the construction work done quickly and well, a few thoughtful gifts were essential.

Her basket was now full to the brim.

Looking at all the supplies, Qian Chunhua smiled—finally, she could support her mother’s household a little.

She was just about to lift the basket and go home when—

“Clip-clop, clip-clop…” The sound of hooves came from ahead.

Three handsome horses kicked up clouds of dust as they galloped down the road.

Qian Chunhua turned her back just in time to avoid getting a mouthful of dust.

“Clip-clop, clip-clop…” The hoofbeats came again—from behind.

“Whoa…”

She turned curiously and saw that the three horses had turned around and come back.

“Auntie, how far is it to Nanzhou County?” asked one of the riders, dressed in sturdy traveling clothes, looking down at her from his horse.

Qian Chunhua pointed to herself in disbelief. Auntie? I’m only 28!

“Auntie, Auntie!” The other two men chimed in when she didn’t respond.

Qian Chunhua cursed inwardly: You’re calling me an auntie? Look at your wrinkled old faces—you’re uncles yourselves!

She replied stiffly, “It’s ten li to the county.”

The lead rider asked again, “Auntie, is there a teahouse nearby?”

“No,” she replied bluntly.

“Thank you.”

“This whole road doesn’t even have signs. What is the government even doing?” one man complained.

“Watch your mouth,” the older man scolded him.

After bowing their thanks, the three men galloped off, kicking up another cloud of dust.

Qian Chunhua didn’t even care about the dust anymore.

She watched them ride away, deep in thought.

Wait—tea house…