When Li Zhao finished moving the scale with others, Qin Xue unlocked the door, revealing quality vegetables everywhere.
Li Zhao immediately instructed people to bag the vegetables, weigh them, and load them into the truck. Li Zhao and Qin Xue stood together watching the workers:
“Sister, you’ve helped me a lot this time. If you need any help in the future, just find me in the black market. I’ll definitely solve your problems if I can,” Li Zhao said while looking at Qin Xue’s side profile.
He knew this woman was not ordinary; she gave him a surprise shortly after they met, solving his predicament.
“Alright, thank you, Li Zhao.” Qin Xue thought Li Zhao was tactful.
She appreciated how he didn’t ask any questions about the large amount of vegetables, indicating they could continue working together in the future.
They sold more than 11,000 jin of green vegetables, cabbage, tomatoes, and peppers for US$ 7,654 in total.
After Li Zhao and others moved all the vegetables onto the truck, he handed the money to Qin Xue and left.
Qin Xue was happy to have the money. She threw the money and her bag into her space before locking the door and heading back into the city.
She went to a brewery to buy 200 jin of white wine, ten jars of 20 jin each, as well as empty jars and wine yeast. She asked them to deliver the wine to the old house.
She collected the wine in her space, locked the door, and hung the original old lock before heading to the station to catch the train.
After arriving home, Qin Xue cooked two eggs, drank a bowl of spiritual spring water, took a nap, and then cooked a meal. She cooked white rice, scrambled eggs with chili, and green vegetable egg soup before heading to Fang Hong’s house.
“Sister-in-law, let’s go to the county town tomorrow. My clothes should be done. We can go get them and talk about business as well,” Qin Xue said, taking a sip of water.
“Okay, I don’t have much to do at home anyway.”
“Alright, sister-in-law, you can call me after you get ready in the morning. I’ll go back now.” After Qin Xue had arranged to go to the county town, she wanted to go back and process the wine.
“Alright, take care.” Fang Hong saw Qin Xue out before heading back inside.
Finally, there was something to do. Although Mr. Xie was a section chief, his allowance wasn’t very high, and they were struggling. It would be great to have some extra money from this business.
Upon returning home, Qin Xue immediately entered her space, cleaned the empty jars with spring water, and drained them.
She then washed the peach blossoms, dried them, and soaked them in the purchased wine, sealing the jars. Nine jars had peach blossoms, and one was left without for later use.
Qin Xue spread the peach blossoms in layers in each of the ten clean jars, added some wine yeast, poured in the spiritual spring water, and then sealed the jars for fermentation.
For the remaining ten empty jars, she filled them with layers of peach blossoms and spiritual spring water as well.
Then, she poured the white wine into these ten jars, adding a small amount of white sugar for fermentation.
Finally, she labeled which ones had been directly processed with peach blossoms, which ones were fermented with wine yeast, and which ones were fermented with wine and spiritual spring water.
After marking all the selections, she sealed the jars with soil, divided them into three sections, and buried the jars in the soil. Now it was time to wait and see if it would be successful.
Since Qin Xue had never made peach blossom wine before, she could only use trial and error. If successful, it would make a good profit.
If not, it would be a waste of wine, wine yeast, and peach blossoms.
Although Qin Xue couldn’t guarantee the success of the other two methods, she was confident that the first one wouldn’t fail.
Because in her previous life, she had made kiwi fruit wine for her grandfather using the same method.
The method involved peeling and washing unripe, hard kiwi fruits, draining them, putting them in jars, and pouring white wine in to soak for two months before drinking.
Of course, if the wine tasted too strong, an appropriate amount of rock sugar or white sugar could be added when pouring the white wine, and the concoction could be soaked for two months or even longer to make the wine purer.
So Qin Xue was confident in processing the peach blossom forest, hoping that the other two fermentation methods would also be successful.
After burying the wine, Qin Xue drank some spiritual spring water, rested for a while, and thought that she wasn’t too tired and could dig the bath now.
Having decided, Qin Xue found a spot next to the bamboo house, marked out an area two meters wide, and started digging. She didn’t have to dig too deep, just around 1.2 meters. Afterward, she thought about finding some cobblestones to pave the bottom and then channel in the spring water.
When she went back to the county town, she would go to the riverbank, pick up stones, and finish this bath.
Qin Xue picked up the hoe and put it away. She carried a bucket of spiritual spring water to take a bath, changed into her pajamas, and went to bed. She slept soundly until dawn.
Qin Xue stretched and went to brush her teeth and wash her face. As she ate breakfast, she held a spoon in one hand and rubbed her belly with the other:
“Baby, Mommy will be able to make a lot of money very soon. Are you happy?” Soon after Qin Xue finished her porridge and cleaned up, Fang Hong arrived.
They both took the shuttle to the county town, where Fang Xiu was already opening the tailor shop.
Seeing Qin Xue and Fang Hong arrive, Fang Xiu invited them in and showed them the finished clothes: “Miss, do you think I made them correctly?”
“Qin Xue, are these the clothes you designed? They’re so beautiful.” Fang Hong instantly liked the two sets of clothes.
But these were made according to Qin Xue’s size. Fang Hong was heavier than Qin Xue, so she definitely couldn’t wear them. She could only admire them.
“Yes, these are my designs. Aren’t they beautiful?” Qin Xue said while checking the clothes.
The clothes were well made. It seemed that she had chosen the right person; Fang Xiu was someone she could cooperate with.
“Boss lady, you’ve done an excellent job. I’ll go try these clothes on,” Qin Xue said.
After changing the clothes and tying her hair into a bun, Qin Xue stunned Fang Hong and Fang Xiu, both with their mouths wide open.
Qin Xue had gotten much paler after staying indoors for half a month. Together with the nourishment from the spiritual spring water, her skin was very tender. When she wore loose clothes, the changes in her appearance were not so obvious.
After changing the clothes, she looked like a completely different person: fair and beautiful, full on top and bottom, with a flat belly and a thin waist. Both women stared with wide eyes, let alone men who would see her.
Who could’ve imagined that Qin Xue had such a figure under those loose clothes?
Of course, the clothes of this era were dominated by floral and loose designs. There were no waist-tightening clothes.
Qin Xue’s design happened to tighten the waist and brought out her own advantages. How could they not look good?
In an instant, a village girl turned into a rich, pretty lady, and Qin Xue was very satisfied with this. She cleared the remaining balance before discussing the cooperation with Fang Xiu.
“Boss lady, what do you think of my clothes? If I sell them, will people want to buy them?” Qin Xue got straight to the point!
“Certainly, people will want them. They’re such beautiful clothes. I’m envious. I didn’t expect to make such beautiful clothes,” Fang Xiu replied. As soon as she finished making the clothes, she knew they were beautiful.
However, she never considered making the clothes for sale without Qin Xue’s permission.
So, let’s talk about it. Your shop is a bit out of the way, isn’t it?
You don’t have many customers, and running a business with a child must be less than ideal. Now, you see, my designed clothes are beautiful, right?,
How about if we cooperate? For each piece of clothing you make, besides the cost, I’ll give you US$ 5.
Alternatively, I’ll pay the rent for this shop, and you just help me make clothes.
I’ll pay you a monthly salary and commission. What do you think?” Qin Xue was hoping for the second option.
That way, she could rent the place next door, make clothes on one side, and sell clothes on the other. That would make it easier to run the business.