Chapter 141: Times Have Changed ①
Nie Qiu saw Li Kai’s lips move and understood what he wanted to say, but she lowered her head and remained silent. A pang of pain struck her heart, unsure if it was from pity for Li Kai or for the Nie Qiu of the past.
Li Kai lowered his head and forced a smile at Nie Aifang, saying, “Auntie, I’m leaving now.” Strangely, he was able to utter these words.
Nie Aifang didn’t reply. Li Kai gave a bitter smile and turned to leave the market.
Nie Aifang turned to look at Nie Qiu, who was looking down, then at the doorway of the market. She finally said nothing, as customers had arrived, and the two of them began to get busy again.
Thanks to Nie Qiu’s help, they finished packing up early that day, selling out of vegetables around six o’clock. After selling out, it was time to pack up, which meant tidying the vegetable stand, sweeping the floor, and doing basic hygiene. Nie Aifang went to report the accounts to Zhang Qitian, then took Nie Qiu to the meat section of the market to buy a pig’s front trotter. She smiled at Nie Qiu and said, “We’re packing up early today, and you’re on vacation. We’ll eat well today. You don’t have time to eat well when you’re studying, and I don’t have time to cook.”
Nie Qiu smiled and nodded, “Okay, Mom. You go back first! Brother Zhang’s vegetables haven’t sold out yet. I’ll go help.”
“Alright, remember to come home for dinner! Don’t let your Brother Zhang treat you.” Nie Aifang didn’t stop her. After all, she always felt that the salary Zhang Qitian gave her was more than she earned, so it was fine for Nie Qiu to help out.
Little did they know, Nie Qiu was going to Zhang Qitian’s stall because it had been a week, and it was time to settle the accounts. As expected, as soon as Nie Qiu went to Zhang Qitian’s vegetable stand, Zhang Qitian took out a large wad of red banknotes from his purse. He counted them and then handed them to Nie Qiu, “Count it and see if it’s correct. The money your family earned, your mother recorded every cent accurately every day. In addition, there’s the money for the goods I procured from you, which your mother also recorded daily. Count carefully, don’t make any mistakes. By the way, can you really mail it to your granduncle yourself? Do you want me to accompany you? It’s too dangerous for a little girl like you to carry so much money.”
“It’s okay, I can go by myself.” Nie Qiu lowered her head and began to count the money. This matter of money had to be counted clearly in person. “Thank you, Brother Zhang.”
“What’s there to thank? I should be thanking you,” Zhang Qitian sighed, “Before, I only made five or six hundred yuan a day and felt great. Now, I can net eight or nine hundred yuan a day, and I feel so comfortable.”
Nie Qiu finished counting the money and smiled as she put it into her shoulder bag. “I’m leaving now, bye-bye.”
Nie Qiu took the money and first went to the warehouse to get the vegetables she would sell tomorrow. Then, she walked home. She didn’t have an ID card yet, so she couldn’t deposit the money in the bank. For now, she could only take it home and hide it. However, the safest place to hide money was still in her space.
After separating from Nie Qiu, Nie Aifang went to buy lotus root, mushrooms, kelp, and ginseng. She stewed them all in a pot with pig trotters, making a large pot. When Nie Qiu returned home, Nie Aifang had just finished stewing the pig trotter soup and had also cooked rice.
The mother and daughter ate dinner, chatted for a while, and then went to sleep. Because tomorrow was Monday, Nie Qiu would have to get up early to attend class, and Nie Aifang would have to get up early to pick up goods, so they both went to bed early.
After Nie Qiu returned to her room, she entered her space, wanting to put the money she had earned there. But when she looked, where could she put the money?
This place, although it was inside the space, looked like a wilderness no matter how she looked at it. Put it on the ground? Wouldn’t these small animals play with the money and scatter it everywhere? Put it in the water? They and she wouldn’t get wet because they had cultivated. Before cultivating, even if someone held her up, her clothes would still get wet. What if the money got wet? How could it be used then? Besides, because of being under the waterfall, they would swim, float, and drift, and she wouldn’t even know where it would end up. So, no matter how she thought about it, it was impossible. Could it be that she needed to get a box, dig a hole, and bury the money? This method, just thinking about it, felt a bit… unbelievable.
While Nie Qiu was troubled, Diao, who was gnawing on a carrot, sensed someone entering the space. He quickly spat out the carrot in his mouth and hopped to Nie Qiu’s side, rubbing against her feet. “Nie Qiu, you’re here!”
“I’m trying to figure out how to hide the money,” Nie Qiu looked down at Diao. “This sum of money is very important.” Yes, it was very important. Although she would earn money in the future, this was her first earnings. After this month, she would also have to pay Nie Aifang her salary, so she couldn’t lose it, nor could she let Nie Aifang find out.
“There’s a big tree, perfect for building a treehouse!” Diao said with a smile.
“Could it be…” Nie Qiu swallowed and her eyes widened. “You want me to build a house?”
“Yes!” Diao said matter-of-factly. “This way, we’ll both have a home.”
“How do I build it?” Nie Qiu said speechlessly. “I’m not a plasterer, nor a carpenter, nor a craftsman. How could I possibly build a treehouse? Diao, don’t be so fanciful, okay?”
Diao flipped onto his back, legs in the air, and rolled a few times on the ground, saying as he rolled, “Didn’t I tell you? As long as you cultivate well, you can control things in this space. Your cultivation isn’t good enough yet, so you can’t build a treehouse.”
“Then what should I do with this money?” Over eighteen thousand yuan, to be honest, wasn’t a lot for her, but it was important to her.
“Dig a hole and bury it.”
Dig a hole and bury it… Dig a hole and bury it… This… was indeed what she had thought of. Why did it sound so… invasive to her brain when it came from Diao’s mouth?
Helpless, she realized this was the only way. She left the space and took a paper stationery box she had bought a few days ago. The paper stationery box was made of hard cardboard and offered strong protection. For safety, she wrapped the money in over a dozen layers of notebook paper before putting it into the stationery box. Diao disliked plastic, iron, or chemical items appearing in the space, but he didn’t reject paper. In Nie Qiu’s opinion, it might be related to nature conservation. She found a dry spot, preventing the moisture from the soil from seeping into the paper. Using the method Diao taught her, she slowly controlled the soil. The soil slowly churned and automatically dug out a pit.
Although she couldn’t control trees to make that treehouse yet, digging a hole was still possible!
Nie Qiu placed the wrapped money into the pit and then buried it with her hands. Diao, who was following Nie Qiu, couldn’t help but laugh heartily, holding his stomach. “You know the term for digging a hole, but not for filling it in, hahaha… Nie Qiu, you’re so stupid!”
