Chapter 125 - 125: Do You Still Have Any Recipes?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yuan Jiaqi glanced deeply at Qiao Mai, then left with the children. Yue Hong held Ling’er in her arms, and the little one waved goodbye to her father and brothers.

“Dad, brothers, goodnight!”

Qiao Mai pinched her little cheek. “Go to sleep. We’ll play again tomorrow.”

“Mom, goodnight!”

This day had been exhausting for her. The two thousand taels of silver meant nothing to her compared to the money she spent on spirit stones.

It was like a drop in the bucket.

Thinking about the ten thousand acres of land in her space, Qiao Mai immediately returned to her room, entered the space, and shut the door behind her.

The previous twenty thousand acres of land were planted with various vegetables, fruits, trees, and medicinal herbs. Now, she planned to cultivate the additional ten thousand acres.

She had all the seeds prepared – two large bags of grass seeds. Standing at the edge of the vast black soil, she felt her mood soar.

Qiao Mai wanted to create a vast grassland and raise some horses. She dreamed of riding freely across this land, a place that belonged to her alone, where she could do as she pleased.

Whether good or bad, it was a place where she could be free and do whatever she wanted.

With a single thought, grass seeds flew out of her bag, falling like snow evenly onto the ten thousand acres of black soil.

Qiao Mai had intended to leave as soon as she had sown the seeds. However, to her surprise, she noticed that the freshly planted grass seeds were already sprouting as she was about to turn away.

The touch of green caught her sharp eyes immediately.

She crouched down, and with the naked eye, she saw the grass seeds growing rapidly, like a fast-forwarded video of flowers blooming.

She had planted grass seeds before, specifically for Dong Zao, which took several days to grow.

Qiao Mai remained motionless, measuring the time it took for the pasture to grow.

After an hour, she stood up, her stiff body loosening. A smile appeared on her face.

In such a short time, the pasture had grown from a single seed to maturity. Seeing the grass fully seeded, Qiao Mai had another thought and harvested another batch of grass seeds with a single intention.

Upon closer sensing, she realized an additional ten thousand acres. Whenever something she planted matured, the space would duplicate an identical piece of land.

After harvesting all the pasture from the initial twenty thousand acres, Qiao Mai continued to plant and harvest, repeating the process throughout the night. By dawn, her space had expanded to over two hundred thousand acres.

However, the space had not leveled up yet. Qiao Mai guessed it would require one million acres to reach level five. Perhaps level six would need ten million acres?

Thinking about that made her head spin.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t difficult for her at this point.

All Qiao Mai needed to do was plant more grass seeds, and by multiplying the land like this, it should take only a few days.

Although it was a bit troublesome to plant in increments of ten thousand acres due to her current cultivation, she was more than satisfied compared to the painstaking planting she had done in the past.

Gazing at the vast grassland of over two hundred thousand acres, her mood was excellent. She really wanted to bring Dong Zao into the space right now and let him run around freely and enjoy himself.

After a short nap, Ling’er came knocking on her door.

“Mom, Mom, Ling’er misses you. It’s time to wake up.”

Qiao Mai opened her eyes, got up, opened the door, and returned to bed.

Ling’er entered the room, climbed onto the bed with the help of Yuehong, and sat beside Qiao Mai’s head.

“Mom, couldn’t you sleep well?”

“I had trouble falling asleep last night, so I slept in a bit.”

“Brothers are waiting for you in the living room.”

“Go ahead and have your breakfast. You don’t need to wait for Mom. I’m exhausted and would like to rest a bit longer. Is that okay?”

“Sure, Mom. Sleep.”

Ling’er obediently climbed down from the bed and then hurried to the living room. Yue Hong and Yue Xia followed her.

Yue Hong and Yue Xia closed the door and followed behind her. “Miss, take it slow, take it slow.”

Qiao Mai closed her eyes, listening to their voices as they followed Ling’er. She couldn’t help but smile, feeling content.

Today was supposed to be the day Xin’er returned. Qiao Mai remembered it, but she wasn’t in a hurry nor particularly excited.

An hour later, she opened her eyes with a sigh and got up. She dressed in the same attire she had worn yesterday.

She strolled leisurely to the living room where Yuan Jiaqi and the children were playing.

“You’re up?”

“Yes, have all of you had breakfast?”

“Yes.”

Yue Xia hurried to the small kitchen to bring her a hot meal.

“Mistress, please have your breakfast.”

Lu Sanniang had come with Ruxin and Feng Yinshi. They were chatting and laughing as they walked and had quite loud voices.

Qiao Mai lost her appetite and put the bun she held back down, gesturing for Yue Xia to take it away. Then she got up to greet them.

“Sister, you’re here?”

“I brought Ruxin to see you!”

“Ruxin pays her respects to Master and Master-in-law. I wish Master and Master-in-law a prosperous and fortunate new year.”

“Son-in-law pays his respects to Master and Master-in-law. I wish Master and

Master-in-law a prosperous and fortunate new year.”

“Good, have a seat.”

Everyone took their seats, and the children paid their respects before Ruxin handed out red envelopes.

After a while, Mayor Qian also arrived, making the living room even livelier.

Qiao Mai glanced at Ruxin’s belly. “We haven’t heard anything from you. Could it be that Ruxin is pregnant?”

Ruxin blushed. “It seems that it’s not the time yet; there have been no signs.”

“Oh, I thought you might be inconvenienced due to pregnancy. Since it’s been so long without any news, your mother has been worried.”

Feng Yinshi and Ruxin lowered their heads simultaneously. “We thought it’s too cold these days and inconvenient when it’s snowing.”

“I see. You only thought about your mother. What about Master’s gift?”

“It’s in the front yard’s living room.”

“I thought you’d forgotten your Master. By the way, have you opened your shop using the recipe I gave you?” “Yes, it’s open, and business is good.”

“Good, that’s great!”

Qiao Mai’s eyes sparkled, and it seemed Mayor Qian sensed something from her words. He glanced at Ruxin and Feng Yinshi with a scrutinizing look.

When it was getting close to mealtime, Qiao Mai asked Yue Xia to serve the table.

Xin’er looked at Qiaomai and asked, “Master, do you still have any recipes?”

“What for?”

“My parents-in-law want to buy a few recipes from you.”

“I don’t sell my recipes to outsiders.”

“But why did you sell them to Mayor Qian?” “Because Mayor Qian has been kind to me. What has the Feng family done for

“But, Master, I’m part of the Feng family.”

“I haven’t mistreated the Feng family. I provided you with valuable dowry and a recipe that brought you mountains of money. Isn’t that enough for the Feng family to handle? They’ve never done anything to help me. I’ve done more than they deserve.”

Xin’er couldn’t find any words to respond. She listened as Qiao Mai calculated the accounts for her.

“Don’t underestimate this shop. Despite its modest appearance, it can bring in five hundred taels of silver a month, not to mention an annual income of around five thousand taels.

“Over ten years, that’s fifty thousand taels. And that’s just in this small county. If you expand to surrounding counties or even prefecture cities, the yearly earnings could be in the tens of thousands. So, do you think I owe you or the Feng family?”

“Go back and tell your parents-in-law to manage this little shop properly. It’s enough to secure a foothold for the Feng family in the county. Stop thinking about getting anything from me. I don’t owe you, Xin’er, and I certainly don’t owe anything to the Feng family.”

Qiaomai delivered this message with a smile, but to Xin’er and Feng Yanshi, it sounded quite sarcastic.

In the end, Qiaomai smiled and added, “Xin’er, do you remember what your mother said when she took the recipe?”

With a sudden jolt, Xin’er raised her head. She saw her smiling master, but her eyes held an icy edge. She realized Qiao Mai was genuinely angry.

Feng Yanshi coughed lightly, and Xin’er glanced at him, lowering her head. She remained silent.

Qiao Mai looked towards Feng Yanshi, a man who appeared honest but had hidden motives. Since he liked to play tricks behind the scenes, she decided to bring everything out into the open.

“Yinshi.”

“Here..”