Chapter 24
Chapter 24
“To tell you the truth, I am Shopkeeper Tong of Jingtai Restaurant in town. The ice we use in summer is bought from the county town. The weather is too hot, and I am too lazy to buy it from there every day. If your ice is about the same price as the county town, I will buy it from you in the future.”
“Oh, so it’s Shopkeeper Tong. Sorry for the disrespect. Your restaurant can also dig an ice kiln. It’s convenient!”
“Not to mention that it costs a lot of money to build an ice kiln, our town doesn’t need that much ice.”
Qiao Mai felt that the man was too narrow-minded. Not only could an ice kiln store ice, but it could also store those easily spoiled ingredients when the weather was hot.
It was a natural refrigerator. For a restaurant like this, the most important thing to build was an ice kiln.
Digging an ice kiln wasn’t expensive. When she buys a house, she will definitely build a great one.
It’s fine if he didn’t listen to her advice. His silver would just be enough to help her buy a house. Why not do it?
Qiao Mai didn’t explain much to him, lest he didn’t buy from her after building an ice kiln in the future.
“I understand. How much does the ice you usually buy cost?”
“One tael of silver can buy twenty pieces like yours.”
Qiao Mai frowned. “So you’re saying that it’s 50 coins a piece?”
“That’s right. If you don’t believe me, you can go to the prefecture to inquire about the price.”
“Alright, I’ll sell it to you then.”
“Can you supply the goods consistently?”
“Sure. As long as it’s not windy or rainy, I’ll set up my stall at this time every day. You can send a waiter to buy it.”
“Deal!”
Shopkeeper Tong smiled as he paid a tael of silver. “Lend me your wooden box. I’ll get the waiter to send it back to you in a while.”
Qiao Mai passed the wooden box to him, and the middle-aged man carried it away. After a while, a waiter returned with an empty box.
She sat on the chair and stretched, yawning indecently.
Selling ice wasn’t bad either. Although it was a little cheap to sell twenty pieces of ice for one tael of silver, it was good that she could have a daily fixed earning of one tael of silver.
The water in her space could never be used up. Moreover, she was not just selling 20 pieces of ice. It felt good to get something for nothing.
Qiao Mai placed the wooden box on the ground, and with a thought, another 20 pieces of ice appeared. Then, she filled the box with water and froze it.
Just as she was calculating silently in her heart, she felt someone stop in front of the stall. However, she did not say anything. She raised her head and looked ahead.
Her two older brothers stood in front of her, looking at her as if they wanted to say something but hesitated.
Qiao Mai lowered her eyes and ignored them.
“Sister, are you doing well?”
“Thanks to you guys, I’m doing very well. This time, you won’t make me sell my body again and break off the kinship, right?”
Qiao Jiang and Qiao He blushed. “Our family is poor. Father and Mother have no choice.”
“Then you can have a few more daughters to sell them. If you can’t, you can also break off your relationship and earn some money. Don’t even think about me. I’ve already written the Letter of Disownment.”
“Sister, the situation at home is really bad.”
“If it’s bad, why don’t you sell your daughter? It’s not enough to sell me once. You want to sell me a second time. You didn’t hesitate to break off your relationship with me to get something from me. Now, you’re turning back to tell me these useless things. Get lost quickly. I’m sick of you.”
“Sister, how can you say that?”
“What do you want me to say? Do I have to beg you to sell me again? Or do I beg you to drink my blood? Eat my flesh? Or should I thank you for selling me out?”
“Sister, can’t you understand your parents?”
“Are you going to get lost or not? If you don’t, I’ll call for help. The Qiao family is the same as the Tian family. You’re a bunch of shameless things. You’ve sold your sister, and you still have the cheek to come and ask for forgiveness. Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!”
“Don’t, don’t. We’ll leave. Don’t be angry. We’ll come and see you again after a while.”
Seeing the two left in a panic, Qiao Mai suppressed her anger again and again. Damn it. Lihua Village was so far away from this town. It seemed like they were here for her.
B*stard. It was fine if the Tian family sucked her blood in the past, but her family also came to take advantage. They still wanted to use her, and they planned to manipulate her in the future. They were really f*cking shameless.
Qiao He and his brother left Tianshui Town. “Brother, little sis is setting up a stall there. Is that stall hers or the embroidery shop?”
“It must be the embroidery workshop. She’s a divorced woman. How could she have the ability to get such precious things?”
“What a pity.”
“Yeah, she had full say about whether to cut the watermelon into pieces and sell them. Shopkeeper Lu isn’t there either, so isn’t it up to her to decide?”
“That’s true. If she cut out more pieces every day and sells them, that’ll be an extra fifty coins. That’s more than one tael of silver a month.”
As they walked, they calculated Qiao Mai’s accounts. They wished that all the money Qiao Mai made in a day would be theirs.
“Brother, will she forgive us?”
“She will. It’s just a moment of anger now. No matter what, we’re still her family.”
“But I feel that she has changed a lot. She’s no longer the girl we used to know.”
“No matter how much she changes, she’s still our sister. The next time we come, we’ll definitely make her soft-hearted. No matter what, we must bring a few pieces of such good watermelon back for our parents.”
“There are still our children. We can’t just bring a few pieces, but we must bring one back so all of us can share.”
As they spoke, the two brothers swallowed their saliva.
Qiao Mai sat in front of the stall. She clenched her fists several times before relaxing them. It seemed that she had to prepare a weapon in the future.
She needs to be wary of fire, theft, the Qiao family, and the Tian family.
“Hey, little lady, this young master is here to buy melons again.”
A boy’s words interrupted her train of thought. Qiao Mai stood up and saw the little boy who often bought melons from her. A charming smile immediately appeared on her face.
“Thank you for your support, Young Master!
“Hehe, it’s mainly because your melons are good. They’re sandy, sweet, and icy.”
“I also sell ice cubes here. If your family needs them, you can come to me.”
“Yes, this Young Master will eat the melon first. When I get home, I will tell my parents that drinking green bean soup will also feel refreshing with ice.”
Some students who came with him bought one piece, while others bought two. The young master bought five pieces at once. He really didn’t lack money and had a good appetite! Qiao Mai liked this. The more, the better.
After a short while, half of the melon was gone.
Qiao Mai, who had received the money, was overjoyed. Her previous unhappiness also gradually disappeared because of the booming business.
Although embroidery was lucrative, it would take a long time for the money to reach her hands. Her stall was a long-term business, and she could see money every day.
With this unknown young master’s free publicity, many new ice cubes were sold out.
After the passing merchants had finished eating the watermelon, they heard that there were ice cubes. They also bought some and put them in the car. When they were frozen, they could disperse the heat.
They could also drink ice water when the cubes melted. It was killing two birds with one stone.
At noon, Qiao Mai had lunch with the people from the embroidery shop. Of course, Shopkeeper Lu paid for the meal.
They closed their stalls early before it got dark. Some people who wanted to eat melons were a little anxious when they saw no one around.
The first thing Qiao Mai did when she got home was to lock the door and enter the space to see her child.
As Ling’er grew up, she could already turn over. During the day, Qiao Mai was afraid she would fall off the bed, so she often checked in on the baby.
When she entered the room, this little fellow was already lying on the bed, trying to raise her head and smile at Qiao Mai.
Qiao Mai quickly walked forward and hugged her.
“Oh, our Little Ling’er can move on her own now. Now, Mother doesn’t have to worry about you being in the same position all the time.”
After saying that, she kissed Ling’er’s little face, causing Ling’er to giggle.
After changing the baby’s diapers, she carried her and boiled milk powder. Without a milk bottle, she could only feed her spoonful by spoonful.
If she had known the space’s function, Qiao Mai would have stocked everything in the supermarket.