Falling into the mortal world

The next day, Lan Qingqing got up and took Lan Xiaoyu to town to become an apprentice. When Lan Qingqing arrived in town, she first went to buy celery, lotus seeds, dates, longan, red dates, and dried meat, which she had at home, so she brought them and didn't need to buy any more. After preparing everything, Lan Qingqing went straight to the academy. The gatekeeper saw that she was the girl who had come yesterday and asked her what her purpose was.

Lan Qingqing explained her purpose to the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper then led them to the dean's office.

The dean was watering the chrysanthemums when he saw the person approaching and stopped what he was doing.

"Is this your younger brother?" the dean asked, looking at Lan Xiaoyu standing next to Lan Qingqing.

Upon seeing the dean, Lan Xiaoyu bowed and greeted the teacher. (Student Lan Xiaoyu greets the teacher.)

After looking at Lan Xiaoyu, the dean asked: Can you read?

"In reply to the Master, I have only studied the Three Character Classic and the Thousand Character Classic," Lan Xiaoyu answered the Master nervously.

"Alright, the tuition here is five taels of silver per year, and the accommodation and food expenses are 500 cash per month. It's six days a week with one day off. If that's okay, classes can start today," said Dean Mo.

Lan Xiaoyu performed a simple apprenticeship ceremony, presenting her apprenticeship gifts, which Dean Mo accepted. In return, she gave him the Four Treasures of the Study. After the ceremony, Dean Mo summoned Uncle Zhang, who then made arrangements for Lan Xiaoyu. Lan Qingqing paid her tuition, accommodation, and food expenses, and prepared to leave the academy. Lan Xiaoyu, however, remained there. The academy would provide uniforms, so no additional clothing was needed for Lan Xiaoyu.

After leaving Yiyang Academy, Lan Qingqing planned to go to a tavern to buy some cheap wine. Instead of buying wine from the shop next to her family's tofu shop, she went straight into a tavern and bought thirty jars of wine.

Seeing that Lan Qingqing had bought a lot, the shopkeeper delivered the goods directly to her door.

Lan Qingqing paid and gave the shopkeeper the delivery address. The shopkeeper smiled and called over a waiter to arrange delivery.

As soon as Lan Qingqing stepped out of the store, she ran into an acquaintance.

What a coincidence, Mr. Yuan didn't expect to run into the girl here.

Lan Qingqing recognized the young master who had helped her family yesterday and said, "I am very grateful for Young Master Yuan's help yesterday."

"It was nothing, young lady, please don't take it to heart. It's fate that we met here today. I wonder if I could invite you to have a cup of tea?" Yuan Yang said.

"There's a teahouse up ahead, let's go!" Yuan Yang said.

Lan Qingqing could tell that this young master Yuan must have something to say, so she went along with him.

The teahouse was quite crowded at the moment. The storyteller was telling interesting stories about the imperial court with great enthusiasm. Lan Qingqing was sitting opposite Yuan Yang.

Soon the waiter brought two pots of tea. Lan Qingqing listened to the story for a while, waiting for the person opposite her to speak.

Seeing that Lan Qingqing was listening attentively to the story, Yuan Yang spoke first: "I would like to discuss a business matter with you, Miss. Would you be willing to do so?"

"Tell me first, what kind of business is it?" Lan Qingqing said nonchalantly.

I'm from Nancheng County, here on business. I found your tofu quite intriguing, but it has a limited shelf life, so taking it back with me is impossible. I was wondering if I could buy your recipe. But rest assured, I will only sell tofu within Nancheng County. It will absolutely not affect your business.

"How much are you planning to pay for the house?" Lan Qingqing asked.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Yang felt that there was a chance of buying the girl, so he said: "If you are willing, I will offer two hundred taels for your prescription."

"The profit margin on this tofu isn't as high as you think," Lan Qingqing kindly reminded her.

"I know," Yuan Yang said.

"Then why did you spend two hundred taels to buy the son? Don't you feel like you're losing out?" Lan Qingqing asked curiously.

"Young lady, you may not know this, but I own several restaurants. If these tofu dishes were added to my restaurants, they could add some new dishes, allowing them to stand out from the crowd," Yuan Yang explained earnestly.

Lan Qingqing smiled and said, "So that's how it is. That explains why Young Master Yuan spent two hundred taels to buy a son. Alright, tomorrow you can draft the contract here at the same time. I'll also bring you a dish as a thank you."

"Alright, then I'll go back and draft the contract right now," Yuan Yang said excitedly.

After leaving the teahouse, Lan Qingqing went to the blacksmith shop.

"Young lady, we don't have this made to order," said the blacksmith's apprentice.

"It's alright, then we'll have it made to order. When will it be ready? I need it urgently," Lan Qingqing said.

"I wonder when the girl will need it?" the waiter asked.

"Tomorrow, maybe? Will things be better tomorrow?" Lan Qingqing said.

The shop assistant pointed to the water ladle pattern on the drawing and said, "Girl, this one will be ready tomorrow. It has many holes."

"This one, which looks like a big bucket, will take at least fifteen days," the man said.

"Okay, how much?" Lan Qingqing asked the waiter.

The waiter said, "Five taels and two mace of silver, this is quite labor-intensive."

Lan Qingqing took out two qian of silver and handed it over. This is a deposit. Come back tomorrow to pick up this one, and we'll settle the payment later.

The shop assistant took the money and began registering Lan Qingqing's identity information.

Having decided what she wanted, Lan Qingqing also planned to buy some cotton to take home, as it was time to make some winter clothes for the family.

When Lan Qingqing arrived at the cloth shop, she bought a cartload of cotton to take home. There were many people in her family, so she asked the shopkeeper if she could deliver the cotton she had bought.

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged woman in her forties. When she saw that Lan Qingqing had bought so much cotton, she said, "Sure, where do you plan to deliver this?"

You can deliver it directly to Pear Blossom Village, directly to the end of the village, to Lan Dashu's house.

Once the shopkeeper confirmed the information, he began instructing his staff to deliver the goods.

Lan Qingqing went to buy some melon seeds and snacks to take back, and also bought some farm tools that the family needed.

In front of and behind her house, Lan Qingqing planned to clear away some pebbles so she could transplant the Sichuan pepper trees. There were so many Sichuan pepper trees on the mountain; she had to transplant them quickly. Otherwise, if others found out that Sichuan pepper could be sold for money and got there first, it would be troublesome.

When I got home, the wine and cotton had already been delivered.

As soon as Lan Qingqing's mother saw her, she said, "Qingqing, why did you buy so much wine? This wine is so expensive! Your father doesn't drink either, isn't this a waste of money?"

Mother, I'm saving this wine to make money, not to drink. If I can successfully experiment, I can even make a small fortune. Hearing that her daughter had a plan, Mother Lan didn't ask any more questions.

At the Lan family's old house, Old Lady Lan had heard these past few days that Lan Dashu's business was thriving, so she started plotting how to squeeze a layer of skin off him.

When the owner of the Kaiyuan Restaurant learned that Manager Zhang had lost a large sum of money gambling, he dared not keep him at the restaurant. So he sent him directly home. This could be considered a proper ending; the person was brought back the same way he was taken there.

Manager Zhang was filled with regret! A perfectly good job was gone just like that.

These past few days, Lan's father has been keeping an eye on A'er and the others, while Lan Xiaotian is temporarily overseeing the house. Lan Xiaotian's arm is injured, so he can't work. He just walks around every day to see where the house needs improvement.

Lan Qingqing thought about the Sichuan pepper trees on the mountain and was determined to find a way to harvest them so that everyone in the family could have something to do.

Just as Lan Qingqing was pondering, she saw Aunt Li grinding soybeans. Aunt Li had several teenagers at home, so she could help pick Sichuan peppercorns.