Time flew by, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye—the tea shop was finally built.

During the construction period, Qian Chunhua had been incredibly busy.

Every container in her storage space was now filled with food; there wasn’t a single one left for storing cooked dishes.

Looking at the stockpiled ingredients, less than one-fiftieth had even been used up, and she sighed heavily.

“I’m exhausted…”

Oh well. She’d wait until the shop officially opened to deal with the rest.

Qian Chunhua began preparing for the grand opening of her tea shop.

Though she had never run a business before she transmigrated, she had seen plenty of tips on short videos in her previous life.

So she knew about the importance of banners and signs, and had already gone to the county to have them made. She even had them hung on the roof during construction.

Carpenter Wang delivered the tables, chairs, and counters.

Chunhua went to the county again to buy teapots, cups, bowls, chopsticks, plates, a stove, and charcoal.

When a string of firecrackers finished popping, the tea shop officially opened.

This stunned the villagers.

Last time, they had all called her foolish for refusing silver in exchange for her land. But now… this?

She actually built a tea shop on that land!

A farmer not farming, but opening a tea house? How irresponsible!

Word spread that she had spent eight taels of silver on the construction alone. With everything inside the shop, it must’ve cost at least ten taels.

“She’s just a money-wasting woman,” said Li Lianyan under the old pagoda tree.

Zhang Qiurong nodded in agreement.

But Sun Hongying retorted, “How is she wasting money? Sister Hua opened a tea shop. Even if she spent ten taels, didn’t Li Cuihong’s family have to pay her fifteen taels in compensation? That means she didn’t spend a single tael of her own.”

Sun Hongying was now a devoted fan of Qian Chunhua.

In fact, half the women in Huanghualing had become her fans since she beat up the village scoundrel Qin the Leper.

Another fan, Ding Xiu, snapped, “So what if she’s wasting money? It’s not like Sister Hua spent a single copper of yours.”

Yes—“Sister Hua” had now become a nickname her growing fan club used affectionately.

Sun Hongying said, “Come on, let’s go visit Sister Hua’s shop to celebrate and see if she needs any help.”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

“I want to come too!”

“Wait for me!”

A large group of women set off energetically toward Chunhua’s tea shop, leaving behind only a few of her old rivals under the pagoda tree.

Those women spat on the ground. “Tch. What’s so special about her? ‘Sister Hua’ this, ‘Sister Hua’ that…”

But their voices were barely above a whisper—just enough for the few who stayed behind to hear.

They no longer dared to provoke Qian Chunhua.

They knew they couldn’t handle a beating like Qin the Leper had.

Unaware of all this, Qian Chunhua dressed in a clean, patch-free new cotton coat for the grand opening.

Underneath, she wore thermal underwear and a lightweight down jacket—warm and cozy.

The three kids also wore thick cotton clothes.

Though they didn’t have thermal underwear or down jackets, Chunhua had used plenty of cotton when sewing their clothes.

The children were used to wearing thin clothes in winter.

This year, with such thick cotton wear, they were overjoyed and didn’t feel cold at all.

Early in the morning, Chunhua cleaned the shop thoroughly.

She lit two charcoal stoves, closed the doors, and left just one window open for ventilation—to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.

She even hung up a cotton curtain at the door to keep the cold wind out.

On the stoves sat two kettles, both heating water while also warming the room.

In less than half an hour, the temperature in the room began to rise.

Chunhua glanced at the thermometer she had secretly placed—around 5°C.

“This is such a waste of charcoal…” Qian mother said with a pained expression.

Chunhua chuckled, “Mom, this is just part of doing business. It’s not a waste.”

The outside temperature had dropped again in the past half month—minus eight degrees Celsius.

In this era without heating or air conditioning, people could only rely on shivering for warmth.

Her mother shook her head.

She didn’t quite understand, but whatever her daughter said, she’d follow.

Starting today, Qian’s mother planned to help out in the shop.

Though she wasn’t good at receiving guests, she could handle simple chores like boiling water and serving tea.

Suddenly, the cotton curtain was lifted, and the shop was filled with chattering voices.

“Sister Hua! We came to see you!” — Sun Hongying.

“Sister Hua, anything we can help with?” — Zhou Guifen.

“Sister Hua, it’s so warm in here!” — Ding Xiu, laughing.

“Oh dear, Chunhua, we’re late! You’ve already cleaned everything!” Even Granny Xu had shown up.

…

Qian Chunhua and her mother hurriedly welcomed the guests.

In an instant, the shop’s front hall was packed with people.

Those who couldn’t find a seat simply stood around, smiling.

The tea shop, already not very spacious, was buzzing with energy with all the women inside.

Qian Chunhua poured each of them a cup of ginger brown sugar tea she had stored in her space ahead of time.

The cups were small, just ordinary tea cups.

In this bitterly cold winter, a sip of warm ginger-infused brown sugar tea was instantly comforting.

Brown sugar was considered precious in the Min Dynasty, but not to Chunhua—she had several tons of it in her space.

In fact, it was less valuable than her tea leaves.

Tea was her passion, and when she stockpiled supplies, she picked the ones she loved drinking.

That special stash was less than 100 jin (about 50 kg).

She also had another 100 jin of more affordable tea, bought online in her past life.

That batch would be used for the tea shop.

So no—she wasn’t about to use her prized teas to serve guests, even if they were fans.

After drinking Sister Hua’s brown sugar tea, the women became even more enthusiastic toward her.

They extended their warmth to her mother and to little Qingfeng as well.

Three women make a scene, and this room had far more than three. The noise gave Chunhua a headache.

Then suddenly, two passing men lifted the curtain to enter—but were stunned by the wall of women inside.

They froze, exchanged glances, and backed out quickly.

After glancing at the shop sign and talking it over, they hesitated for a while—then turned their horses and left.

The moment the curtain lifted, the room fell silent, everyone turning to look at the two men.

Only after the men left did they realize—they had probably scared off potential customers.

Embarrassed, the fan club began to fidget.

Granny Xu stood up first. “Chunhua, we came to congratulate you on opening the shop. We won’t disturb your business—just let us know if you ever need help.”

With her leading the way, the others followed suit, saying goodbye to Chunhua.

One by one, they promised that if Sister Hua ever needed anything, they’d be there—even if it meant walking through fire.

After seeing everyone off, Chunhua returned to the shop.

Her mother and Qingfeng were washing the used cups.

Her mother wore a bright smile.

She had once worried that her widowed daughter, after cutting ties with the Zhao family, would be bullied by the village.

But now, it seemed like her daughter wasn’t just safe—she was more respected and popular than ever.