Song Qi found some manuals in his space and selected four, then took out two fruit-bearing medicinal plants-Exquisite Fruit-and handed them to Shen Moxi. "See if these are enough. These four manuals are the lowest-level ones. See how much they fetch at auction. If it isn't enough, I'll take out more."
Shen Moxi took the martial arts manuals and looked through them. She could not understand eighty or ninety percent of the text. It was all in traditional characters, and she could only make out the small portion that resembled modern simplified characters.
She set the manuals aside, picked up the two medicinal plants, examined them, and sniffed them. "What are these? Medicinal herbs?"
"Yes, these two are Exquisite Fruit." Song Qi nodded and pointed at the red fruit. "Exquisite Fruit is a precious medicinal herb too. For someone bleeding uncontrollably after external or internal injuries, it's a lifesaving medicine when proper treatment isn't available. Eating one fruit stops the bleeding immediately, and it also produces blood inside the body. It's as good as saving a life."
"Wow, that amazing? Then it would be such a waste to auction them off. Put them back. They're too precious." Shen Moxi looked at him with an aching heart.
Song Qi smiled and stroked her head. "There are more in my space. If these were the only two, I wouldn't have brought them out. Take them and see how much they fetch. It should be about enough."
Shen Moxi nodded, put the four manuals and two Exquisite Fruit plants into the auction box, and had Xiao Tao take them for appraisal and processing. With that concern settled, she finally remembered the clothes made by the workshop and took out a few newly made sets for Song Qi to look at and offer his opinion.
Song Qi felt the fabric. It was quite good and comfortable, and the styles were fine too. They were not particularly elaborate, but for people of this era, they counted as high-end.
"They're good. Let's see how they do tomorrow. I'm sure they won't do too badly. I looked at what people outside were wearing, and none of it looked as good as yours." Song Qi nodded approvingly.
"Hehe, let's set up the stall for another day tomorrow and see how much we can sell. If we have enough to make four hundred yuan, we'll pay off the remaining balance, then go find my parents and my two older brothers. We'll tell them about opening the shop and ask them to help. Once we've made some money, we'll open another shop-a little restaurant." Shen Moxi smiled as she sorted and organized the clothes, sharing a small part of her plans for the future.
Watching Shen Moxi bustle about, Song Qi joined in with the sorting. "Mm, I don't know much about business. Before, I focused entirely on cultivation and never paid much attention to worldly money, since we had no use for it. So I'll learn slowly here. I won't let you do all the hard work alone."
"Good. Our lives will definitely keep getting better. I think if we were in a novel, we'd be the protagonists, so we'd have plot armor." At that, Shen Moxi burst out laughing.
Song Qi smiled and shook his head, helped her finish organizing everything, and put it into his space. This time, Shen Moxi bought a table through the system for meals. They had forgotten today, and eating off that little box had been truly uncomfortable.
"Song Qi, can your space hold food? If you put hot food in, will it still be hot when you take it out?" While thinking about what to eat for lunch tomorrow, Shen Moxi suddenly remembered this question.
Song Qi nodded when he heard her. "Yes. Before, I always kept the food I prepared for trips in my space. That way, it keeps for a long time. My space isn't the kind that only stores inanimate objects. Medicinal herbs can grow in it, so storing food and such is no problem."
Shen Moxi jumped up happily at that. "Really? That's wonderful! I was worrying about what to do for lunch tomorrow. We can't even get a hot meal outside. In that case, I'll make extra tomorrow morning and just put it in your space."
Song Qi smiled and nodded. "Right. I actually forgot about that. With this sudden change of surroundings, I feel like my brain can't keep up."
Shen Moxi stuck out her tongue. "That settles everything. Let's wash up and get to bed early. Tomorrow's another day of making money."
Song Qi followed her out to wash up together. He really liked this world's toothbrushes and toothpaste. They smelled pleasant and cleaned his teeth well, and were far, far better than the pig-bristle brushes back where he came from.
After washing up, they each slept on their own side and had a good night's rest.
The next day, when the alarm rang, Shen Moxi fumbled for it with her eyes closed and switched it off. After lying motionless for a minute, she sat up and put on her clothes with her eyes still shut, then yawned and got out of bed. Song Qi had already finished washing up and come back in.
Seeing Song Qi come in from outside, she widened her eyes. "When did you get up? So early?"
Song Qi smiled at the groggy Shen Moxi. "Not long ago. When I opened my eyes and saw it was nearly time, I didn't go back to sleep. I went out to wash up."
Shen Moxi stretched and stood up with a yawn. "I'll wash up and make breakfast. You tidy up the bedding, okay?"
"Okay. Be careful not to bump into anything." Song Qi smiled and nodded, then folded the bedding and arranged it neatly.
After washing up, Shen Moxi went to the kitchen and made egg pancakes. She bought a large bag of five-grain soy milk powder through the system, mixed up two big bowls, and bought a small jar of pickled vegetables as well.
Thinking of lunch, she also bought two two-jin bags of pork dumplings. Once they had finished eating, she would cook them and have Song Qi put them away.
When Song Qi came over, they ate breakfast, then Shen Moxi went to boil the dumplings while he washed the bowls and chopsticks.
After finishing his work, Song Qi came over to her. Seeing things that looked like buns, yet were not quite buns, each small and elongated, he leaned closer. "What are you cooking?"
Shen Moxi answered, "These are boiled dumplings. Don't you have them where you're from?"
Song Qi shook his head. "I've never seen them. We have steamed buns and wontons, but not these boiled dumplings you mentioned."
Shen Moxi nodded. "These boiled dumplings are also called jiaozi. They're a traditional food of our Hua Country. In the past, people only got to have a meal like this at New Year or other festivals, because white flour was expensive and ordinary families couldn't afford it. In later times, they became much more common, and people could eat them whenever they wanted.
"Nowadays, people wrap dumplings by hand. These ones I have were machine-made in later times. It's fast, and they make lots of them. Once they're made, they're frozen, and whenever you want to eat them, you just take them out and boil them."
Song Qi nodded in understanding. "So that's how it is. They look quite good."
Once the dumplings were cooked, Shen Moxi scooped one out with a spoon, blew on it, and held it to his mouth. "Have a taste. Careful, it's hot."
Song Qi looked at the plump white dumpling, which was quite lovely, then opened his mouth and ate it in one bite. It was so hot that he cried out and grimaced, swallowing it after a few quick chews. "I ate too quickly and didn't taste it properly, but from that first impression, I know it must taste good."
Shen Moxi bought a large food container through the system and put the remaining dumplings inside. "Put this in your space. We'll still have piping-hot dumplings for lunch."
Song Qi put it away, and the two got on the bicycle and hurried to town to begin another day of hard work.