Transmigrated into a seven-year-old child, my fate is in my own hands, not in the heavens.

Then, Manager Chen got down to business: "Zhao Lian, how many star anise do you have left? Sell them all to Uncle Chen!"

“Uncle Chen, I do have star anise, but I only have about five or six jin right now. It’s not harvest time yet; it will be another two or three months!” Zhao Lian had already guessed.

Thinking that there was only so much star anise left, he couldn't help but remind him, "So, when you ask Chef Liu to cook, you can reduce the amount of star anise."

"Because adding too much will cause internal heat, and the meat will also have a slightly bitter taste." Zhao Lian was worried that Chef Liu would add too much at once, and then they wouldn't be able to replenish it when they ran out.

"Alright! I'll tell him then!" Upon hearing Zhao Lian's words, Manager Chen started to calculate in his mind that he should use less star anise. It's very fragrant, and even a few pieces would make it very strong.

Zhao Lian knew that Manager Chen was busy with business, so she didn't say much. She kept about half a catty for herself and weighed out the rest of the star anise for Manager Chen.

These star anise weighed a total of seven jin and eight liang. Thinking of the more than 30 jin of ginger, Zhao Lian also asked about it, and Manager Chen asked for it as well.

Finally, after calculating the price, it came to exactly 15 taels of silver, plus 20 copper coins.

Since it was a formal visit, Manager Chen naturally brought enough silver. He took out his money bag and handed the silver to Zhao Lian.

At this moment, some curious villagers peered through the courtyard gate and seemed to see the shopkeeper giving something to Zhaolian.

"Did you see that clearly? I saw the shopkeeper take out some silver to give to Zhaolian."

"It seems so, I saw it too!"

"..."

Now that the money and goods were settled, Manager Chen stood up and instructed the coachman beside him to pack the goods into the cloth bag he had brought.

"Oh, by the way, Zhao Lian, why haven't I seen you bringing wild game to sell lately?" Manager Chen couldn't help but ask, remembering that he hadn't seen Zhao Lian at Lefu Restaurant for a while.

"I haven't had time for a while, I'll go up the mountain in a couple of days." Zhao Lian felt itchy to go up the mountain these past few days.

"That's settled then. If you have any wild game, you can send it to our Lefulou restaurant right away," Manager Chen quickly instructed, afraid that Zhaolian might sell the game to Zuichunlou.

"Of course, Uncle Chen, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you!" Zhao Lian smiled happily. Manager Chen was also very straightforward. If there were good things, she would naturally send them to him, which would save her the trouble of asking for prices at other restaurants.

"Oh, right, there's one more important thing!" Just as Manager Chen was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something important.

"Oh~?"

Zhao Lian raised an eyebrow. Could it be that Manager Chen is up to his old tricks again?

As expected, Manager Chen mentioned the restaurant owner to Zhao Lian, asking her what new dishes she had.

"Uncle Chen, let's talk about it next time I go to the restaurant." There are no ingredients available right now, and all we've got is a recipe. I doubt Manager Chen will be willing to pay so easily.

"Alright! We'll talk about it next time!" With that, Manager Chen turned and walked out, with the coachman following closely behind.

"Uncle Chen, take care, let me see you off!" Zhao Lian stood up and saw Manager Chen out of the courtyard.

"Girl, you can go back now, no need to see me off!" Manager Chen waved to Zhao Lian as she followed him out.

The villagers who were watching the commotion outside quickly made way for Manager Chen when they saw him come out.

"Zhao Lian, I heard he's the manager of a restaurant in the county town. What does he want with you?" Mei stared at Zhao Lian, as if trying to discern something from her face.

"Yeah, did you sell him something? I think I saw him give you money, and it seemed like quite a lot." A woman's eyes lit up with envy.

The women nearby started talking all at once.

“We’re not even as good as a little girl; she gets the manager to come to her door personally.”

"Exactly, I have to say the He family is really stupid. Zhaolian is a treasure trove, and they actually didn't want it."

The villagers' stories became increasingly exaggerated, praising Zhaolian to the skies.

"..."

Zhao Lian looked around at the villagers with bright eyes: "You're right, I did find some wild game and sold it to this shopkeeper."

"Uncles and aunties, instead of wasting your free time, why don't you go up the mountain to find some things? And have you finished your work in the fields?"

"It rained a few days ago, and the mushrooms on the mountain have been sprouting up one after another these past few days. City people really love these mushrooms." Zhao Lian has been thinking about the mushrooms on the mountain these past few days, and she has to make a trip up the mountain tomorrow.

Hearing Zhao Lian say this, these people had already started to plan in their minds. Right, instead of worrying about how much money others are making, they should find a way to make it themselves.

She's right, mushrooms have been sprouting up over the past few days.

"Hey! I just saw Wang Niu's wife carrying a basket up the mountain. I have to hurry up and go too."

"Oh dear, I forgot about that too. I was planning to go up the mountain anyway."

Then, in a flash, they all left. They were all thinking that they had to hurry up the mountain while it was still early.

Seeing that everyone had left, Madam Mei, fearing that she would lose her share, quickly left as well.

After everyone left, Zhao Lian closed the courtyard gate and then went back inside to lock the main gate as well.

She went back to her room, took out the money box, and put the silver inside.

Zhao Lian carefully counted her assets. She originally had more than 15 taels of silver. With today's money, she now had a total of 30 taels of silver, plus 634 cash.

"Hahaha……"

When Zhao Lian saw the silver, she couldn't help but burst into laughter, never expecting to become rich.

I'm now a well-off woman, and I don't have to worry about food anymore.

She needs to go up the mountain more often these days to earn more money to buy land.

Zhao Lian took out the more than 600 coins, put the 30 taels of silver back into the money box, and then carefully put the money box away.

It's probably around 3 p.m. now. I don't know if Wang is home or not. Zhaolian wants to go to her place to see if she has any vegetable seedlings so she can plant them in the field in front of her house.

Thinking of this, Zhao Lian went out.

As soon as she stepped out, she saw people on the street, and they greeted her.

"Zhaolian, where are you going?"

"I heard a restaurant owner came to see you earlier. You must have made a lot of money. What did you sell?"

“Now that there’s water in the field, let’s plant some vegetables and see if he wants them. Or, Zhao Lian, could you play matchmaker for us?”

"..."

The women surrounded her, talking incessantly, as if the vegetables had already been planted, making Zhao Lian's head buzz.

"Hey~ I have something to do!" Zhao Lian quickly squeezed through a crack; these people were too scary.

"Hey, don't run away! We haven't finished talking yet!" The women were having a great time when they didn't expect Zhao Lian to have already run off.

Zhao Lian ran all the way to the Li family's house, called out a few times but no one was home, guessing that they had all gone out to do farm work.

Zhao Lian turned her head and saw the village chief's wife, Niu Shi, carrying a hoe, probably heading to the fields. Zhao Lian suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Aunt Niu, I want to ask you something."