After bidding farewell to their parents, Xiao Jingting and Xu Mu’an left quietly. Shortly afterward, Xiao Jinfeng and Mu Shuyu also departed discreetly.
The two brothers arrived at the outskirts of the city one after the other. With such large debts hanging over their heads, Xiao Jingting didn’t dare to delay. Once they reached the outskirts, he immediately went to inspect the fields, while Mu Shuyu, who had envied Xiao Jingting’s land back in Tuqiu Village, was now eager to see his own.
The land given by Xiao Linfeng and Wang Lu, which originally had some spirit plants planted, was also handed over to Xiao Jingting and Xiao Jinfeng.
After inspecting his own fields, Xiao Jingting found that they were in good condition with favorable locations, unlikely to have frequent encounters with beasts like in Tuqiu Village.
Having finished inspecting his fields, Xiao Jingting went to see Xiao Jinfeng’s. The superior fields were still acceptable, with the spirit plants having just been harvested, and the middle-grade fields were just starting to grow. However, the several inferior fields were in a sorry state.
“Why is it sandy soil?” Mu Shuyu furrowed his brows as he looked at the fields ahead, where a few spirit plants were growing crookedly, their appearances far from satisfactory.
Sandy soil was notorious for being unsuitable for the growth of spirit plants. Many spirit plants planted in sandy soil would often wither, and many sandy fields remained idle because planting spirit plants on them often resulted in losses.
Xiao Jinfeng’s face darkened, feeling gloomy inside. Although he didn’t say it out loud, as a son, he felt somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that he received the least amount of land from his parents. Now, discovering that fifteen mu of inferior land was all sandy soil made him feel even more uncomfortable.
Mu Shuyu looked at Xiao Jinfeng’s expression and patted his shoulder. “Forget it. Having something is better than nothing.”
Xiao Jinfeng nodded and said, “You’re right.”
“Second Brother, let me exchange these fifteen mu of land with you,” Xiao Jingting said as he looked at the sandy land in front of him.
Xiao Jinfeng was surprised. “Exchange with me?”
Xiao Jingting nodded and said, “Yes, exchange with me.”
“Jingting, I know you’re doing this for our good, but my brother and I can’t take advantage of you,” Mu Shuyu said.
“Second Sister-in-law, you misunderstand. I want this sandy land for a reason. Sandy soil is most suitable for growing watermelons,” Xiao Jingting said.
In the spatial jade pendant he possessed, Xiao Jingting had brought some watermelon seeds from his previous life. Knowing that watermelons also existed in this world, Xiao Jingting falsely claimed that he found the watermelon seeds in the mountains and planted some in Tuqiu Village. The watermelons turned out to be delicious and were well-received.
The first batch of watermelons produced was limited in quantity and was consumed by their own family. Originally, Xiao Jingting planned to expand the scale of cultivation and sell some after growing more. However, before he could expand the cultivation, the people sent by his parents to fetch them had arrived.
Mu Shuyu was taken aback. “Does the book say that watermelons are most suitable for sandy soil?”
Xiao Jingting nodded. “Yes! Watermelons are great. I was even thinking that after the watermelons become successful, I can grow more. These few mu of sandy land couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“Third Brother, you’ve helped Second Brother so much already. Just take these fifteen mu of sandy land as a gift,” Xiao Jinfeng said after some thought.
Xiao Jingting smiled wryly. “Second Brother, if you don’t take advantage of me, how can I take advantage of you? I alone can’t manage so much land.”
Xiao Jinfeng chuckled. “Alright, but these fifteen mu of sandy land will only be exchanged for ten mu of land.”
After inspecting their own fields, the brothers went to see the land given to Xiao Qingyan by their parents. As expected, the land given to Xiao Qingyan was the best in terms of quality among the three brothers.
After finishing inspecting the fields, they returned to their temporary lodging on the outskirts.
The parents of the Xiao family had several nice temporary residences on the edge of the fields, with each person allocated one.
“Parents are really something, giving Second Brother all sandy land, but fortunately, I happen to need it,” Xiao Jingting remarked.
“Before giving out the land deeds, it seems they consulted with Big Brother and Sister-in-law,” Xu Mu’an said casually.
Xiao Jingting sighed. “If that’s the case, it’s not surprising.”
“By the way, is sandy soil really suitable for growing watermelons?” Xu Mu’an asked.
Xiao Jingting nodded. “Yes! Sandy soil has good air permeability, promotes strong root metabolism, has poor water retention, and results in high sugar content in watermelons…”
Though Xu Mu’an didn’t quite understand the technical explanation, he nodded in admiration at Xiao Jingting’s confident tone.
“I also want to plant some spirit fruits. With the weather getting warmer soon, I’m thinking of making chilled spirit fruit slushies, which I’m sure will be popular,” Xiao Jingting said.
Xu Mu’an thought for a moment. “It’s better to use local spirit fruits as much as possible. If we use too many exotic types, it might raise suspicion.”
Xiao Jingting nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”
After harvesting the spirit plants left by Xiao Father and Xiao Mother in the fields, Xiao Jingting earned twelve thousand silver, making his finances much more comfortable.
After harvesting the plants, Xiao Jingting didn’t dare to slack off. He hired a few more people to help with planting.
“Back already? How was the shop scouting?” Xiao Jingting asked Xu Mu’an.
Xiao Jingting planned to open a fruit beverage shop, so he sent Xu Mu’an to the city to scout for locations. In fact, Xiao Jingting had long planned to open a shop, but without a background, he was worried about getting into trouble, so he had never acted on it.
“There are several suitable ones, but let’s not talk about that for now. When I came back, I found that the house had been ransacked, and Xiaofan said his toys had been tampered with,” Xu Mu’an said.
Xiao Jingting paused. “A break-in?”
Xu Mu’an shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it. Nothing is missing. I think it might be someone looking for spirit treasures.”
Xiao Jingting frowned. “…Ever since our family’s reliance on spirit treasures was exposed, people have been eyeing us.”
“Maybe it’s a thief from within the family.” The original owner’s older brother always thought he was hiding a lot of good stuff.
Xu Mu’an sighed. “Alright, let’s not dwell on it. Let’s tidy up first.”
“Okay, let’s brew some fruit wine when we have time. After a while, when the shop opens, we can sell it there,” Xiao Jingting said.
Xu Mu’an nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Just add some spirit spring water sparingly; don’t add too much,” Xiao Jingting instructed.
Xu Mu’an nodded. “Don’t worry, I understand.”
“How much does a shop in the city cost?” Xiao Jingting asked.
“I found one in a good location. If we rent it, it’s three hundred silver a month,” Xu Mu’an said.
Xiao Jingting rubbed his chin. “Three hundred silver is quite a lot, but your husband now has money.”
Xu Mu’an smirked smugly. “With a pile of debts to pay off, dare you say you have money?”
Xiao Jingting chuckled awkwardly. “Well, your husband is in the entrepreneurial stage now. Once this stage is over, then I’ll have money.”
Xu Mu’an smiled. “Before, I saved some money. Renting a shop should be enough. Let’s rent it for six months first.”
Xiao Jingting nodded. “Okay.”
At the Xiao residence,
“Madam, we didn’t find anything,” a black-clad person reported to Zheng Peier.
Zheng Peier sighed lightly. “As expected.” Sending people to search was just wishful thinking.
High-grade spirit plants were not easy to preserve. Without suitable tools, the spiritual energy in the plants would gradually dissipate after a few days. The higher the quality of the spirit plant, the more delicate it was.
“Madam, just after Xiao Jingting left, Xiao Jinfeng also departed. Now these two brothers are standing together, which is not favorable for Master Xiao Qingyan.”
Zheng Peier clenched her teeth. Of course, she was aware of this, but Xiao Jingting and Xiao Jinfeng had a very good relationship now, and it was difficult to sow discord between them. She had just heard that Xiao Jingting exchanged ten acres of good land for Xiao Jinfeng’s sandy land.
Fortunately, Xiao Linfeng and Wang Lu loved Master Xiao Qingyan the most.
“Xu Mu’an went to the city today,” Zheng Peier said.
“He seems to be inspecting shops; he must be planning to open one,” said the black-clothed person.
Zheng Peier squinted. “I didn’t realize before that Xu Mu’an had such abilities. He even wants to open a shop.” This world was truly full of surprises. Xiao Jingting had just gone out, and he was already being influenced by Xu Mu’an.
Confirming their decision to open a shop, Xu Mu’an shuttled back and forth between the city and the countryside every day, busy but happy.
Xiao Jingting was busy nurturing various spiritual plants daily. Watermelons were not high-grade spiritual plants; although they tasted good, they could be grown quickly using the Art of All Things. Grapes were the same. Xiao Jingting also planted some fruit trees, but they had not yet matured.
Sitting at the table, Xiao Jingting had five or six barrels of fruit juice placed before him. Xiao Jinfeng and the others were pulled in as judges.
“This is grape juice, this is snow cloud fruit juice, this is watermelon juice, this is green sprout fruit juice…” Xiao Jingting pointed to more than a dozen kinds of fruit juice and introduced them to the others. “Try them out and give some feedback.”
Xiao Xiaofan clapped his hands excitedly. “Great! You’ve come to the right person. I’m the best at eating.”
Xiao Jingting: “…”
Xiao Xiaodong glanced at Xiao Xiaofan and said unkindly, “Drink less, so you won’t wet the bed at night. Mother and Father just gave you a new blanket.”
Xiao Xiaofan blushed. “I haven’t wet the bed in a long time. Don’t say nonsense.”
Xiao Jinfeng tasted each fruit juice, occasionally a bright light flashing in his eyes.
Mu Shuyu drank the juice, his face full of admiration.
Xiao Xiaofan grabbed one of the fruit juices and drank it eagerly, like a thirsty man in a desert.
Xiao Xiaodong was much more reserved, tasting each fruit juice a little, his eyes rolling around, indicating he was lost in thought.
Xiao Jinfeng said, “Jingting, your fruit juice tastes very unique.”
Xiao Jingting, who had worked part-time at a beverage shop during his university days, had some knowledge of fruit juice recipes. Applying this knowledge in this world unexpectedly yielded excellent results.
Xiao Jingting nodded. “Yes, I’ve researched some fruit juice recipes.”
“Your fruit juice is sure to sell well,” Xiao Jinfeng said.
Xiao Jingting smiled. “In addition to fruit juice, I plan to brew some fruit wine for sale. The pricing of fruit wine will be higher, but we’ll take it slowly.”
Xiao Jinfeng nodded. “Yes.”
“When do you plan to open the shop, Jingting?” Xiao Jinfeng asked.
“The shop location is almost settled, and other things are ready too. It should be in the next few days. Brother, I can’t leave right now, so if the shop opens, I’ll trouble you to take care of it,” Xiao Jingting said.
Xiao Jinfeng nodded. “You can rest assured.”
Xiao Xiaofan raised his hand. “I can help.”
Xiao Xiaodong gave Xiao Xiaofan a sideways glance. “Help? What help can you provide, aside from eating?”
Xiao Xiaofan looked at Xiao Xiaodong indignantly. “I can do a lot of things. I can help move things. Brother, your strength is so weak, what can you do?”
“Humph, I can help with accounting and collecting money,” Xiao Xiaodong said arrogantly.
Xiao Xiaofan looked at Xiao Xiaodong. “Brother, you’re talking big. What if you collect the wrong amount of money and end up losing money?”
Xiao Xiaodong’s face turned cold. “How could I collect the wrong amount of money?”
Xiao Xiaofan shrugged. “Who knows?”
Xiao Jingting listened to the banter between the two little devils, raising his eyebrows. His two little devils were very enthusiastic!
Thank you for translating ??