Deciding to test her theory, Qin Sang touched the bags of rice on the cart and clicked the 'Consignment' button. The rice in her hand suddenly vanished.
Inside the warehouse, a bag of rice had appeared out of nowhere.
Focusing her consciousness on the rice, the Mall offered two options: 'Sell' or 'Withdraw'. Qin Sang chose 'Withdraw', and the rice instantly appeared beneath the tree she was looking at.
Qin Sang felt a surge of excitement and tried it again. Sure enough, the consignment area's warehouse functioned like a storage space.
As for whether the warehouse could keep things fresh, Qin Sang didn't care; she could buy fresh goods from the Mall at any time anyway.
This was more than enough.
She just needed to work hard to save up mall coins.
Qin Sang bought two long knives, two baseball bats, and two bottles of wolf-deterrent spray from the Mall.
Now that she had the warehouse, she didn't have to worry about her weapons being discovered at all.
She added a chainsaw, two electric batons, and a stun gun to her shopping cart. These were likely the most powerful lethal weapons she could legally buy, but they were too conspicuous. If she ever used them, anyone who saw would definitely think something was wrong.
She left them there for now. If she truly encountered an emergency, she could just pay with one click to save time instead of fumbling around. Besides, Qin Sang felt that the long knives and other items should be enough, so there was no need to waste money for the time being.
Before leaving, Qin Sang went to the nearby slopes and scattered a few Pumpkins and half-buried several clusters of potatoes. This way, it wouldn't be as suspicious when Tianjia Village discovered new food sources.
In this drought, she didn't have to worry about the potatoes sprouting. It would just depend on which lucky person happened to find them.
If no one found them, it would be a pity.
Estimating that enough time had passed, Qin Sang drove the Horse carriage back to the dirt road. Before she even entered the village, she noticed a crowd gathered at the entrance.
"Look, is that Widow Tian?"
"Good heavens, it really is a Horse carriage."
"Is that grain on the flatbed? It must be grain."
Qin Sang didn't know why so many people were standing at the village entrance at this hour. Weren't they afraid of the sun?
As she got closer, she saw Tian Dazhuang, Eldest Girl, San Gui, and Third Sons Wife were all there. She then realized that when Da Zhuang drove the mule cart back to the village, he had been spotted by the villagers. After all, there were only three oxen in the surrounding ten miles, and Tianjia Village didn't have a single large beast of burden; even the Village Chief's family only had two small wheelbarrows. Seeing Tian Dazhuang suddenly return with a mule cart and learning he had bought it made it quite a novelty.
Tian Dazhuang was an honest man. When people asked why his mother hadn't returned, he said she was driving a Horse carriage back to the county town to buy grain. This truly caused a sensation in Tianjia Village.
A mule cart was one thing, but a Horse carriage? Everyone knew how expensive a Horse was. And now, Widow Tian's family had bought two carts at once.
The news spread quickly, and soon the entire Tianjia Village knew. After Tian Dazhuang settled the mule cart, he was worried about his mother's safety and said he was going to meet her. Thus, everyone ended up waiting at the village entrance.
When Third Sons Wife saw her mother-in-law really driving a Horse carriage back, she felt so proud that even though her belly was barely showing, she braced her waist as if she were about to give birth at any moment.
Qin Sang pulled the Horse carriage to a stop; her 'Ferrari' was certainly high-profile.
"Don't touch it, everyone. This Horse is sick. If you catch something, I won't be held responsible. If it weren't diseased, I wouldn't have been able to afford it."
Indeed, everyone saw the mottled mange on the Horse's body. The Horse was not only ugly but also thin. Hearing Qin Sang say it was a sick Horse, everyone backed away a bit.
"I knew it. Since when did gathering herbs make that much money?"
"Widow Tian, people are about to run out of food, yet you bought two large beasts back. Aren't you afraid you won't be able to keep them alive?"
The ones gloating were The Shan Shui Brothers. Qin Sang flicked her whip as if to drive the carriage, but in reality, the whip nearly lashed across the brothers' faces.
"Your family must not have tasted oil or meat for a long time to be this blind. If your family has no food, that's your problem. Can't you see all this grain on my cart?"
As soon as Qin Sang finished speaking, Da Huang, who was lying on the grain bags, immediately barked at The Shan Shui Brothers, giving them a fright.
The Shan Shui Brothers wanted to curse more, but seeing Da Huang baring his teeth at them, they could only retreat resentfully.
"Goodness, there's even a dog."
"This dog's coat is so shiny and smooth; it's fatter than my grandson."
"That must have cost two or three hundred wen."
The other villagers looked on with envy, especially when they saw the mountain of grain piled on the cart; their eyes were turning red with jealousy.
Qin Sang pulled Eldest Girl onto the carriage, while her two sons and Third Sons Wife had to walk back.
Qin Sang looked at the villagers on both sides of the road.
"Did anyone go looking for herbs today? If you found any, you can come to my house later to exchange them for grain."
Hearing Qin Sang's words, those who had gathered herbs turned and hurried home. Only The Shan Shui Brothers remained standing there. Someone asked curiously:
"Tian Yuanshan, aren't you two brothers going to find some herbs to exchange for grain?"
Tian Yuanshan replied crossly,
"None of your business."
The two brothers stood there for a long time, watching the Horse carriage disappear into the distance.
Qin Sang drove the carriage home with Eldest Girl. Eldest Brothers Wife, Si Jin, and Tian Wenmo, who were guarding the house, also came out excitedly to greet them. Qin Sang quickly warned them:
"Don't touch them carelessly. This Horse has parasites, so stay away. The mule is the same."
Qin Sang urged them; parasites were no laughing matter.
"Third Sons Wife, especially you, you must stay far away."
The family was quick to unload the items. The two grown sons carried the grain, while Eldest Brothers Wife, Si Jin, and Little Five took the smaller items. However, Third Sons Wife's sharp eyes caught the three catties of pork tied with a straw rope, and she took it in her hand.
"Mother, you bought pork?"
Qin Sang hummed in affirmation.
"Go make some braised pork. If there's too much fat, render some lard out of it."
She had specifically chosen pieces with a lot of fat, buying it specifically for the lard.
"Will do!" Third Sons Wife swallowed her saliva and went off happily. Eldest Girl was having a great time playing with a few bells.
Once the cart was unloaded, Qin Sang chose a spot to build a livestock shed. Fortunately, the courtyard walls were high enough; they only needed to cut some bamboo and branches to build a simple shed for shade and rain protection.
The two grown sons worked as if they didn't feel the heat at all. Their excitement was beyond words; even if Qin Sang had told them to plow two acres of land, they wouldn't have hesitated.
They had bamboo left over from making bamboo tubes, and there was dry grass in the Woodshed. Qin Sang had also bought oilcloth last time. The two brothers hammered away with their machetes, needing no help from Qin Sang at all.
The two livestock sheds were placed in the vegetable garden. There was a drainage ditch there, and it wasn't in front of the house, making it convenient for cleaning and disinfection.
Furthermore, the backyard had no back door. If someone wanted to steal the livestock, they would have to pull them through the front courtyard gate, which served as a form of theft prevention.
While the two were setting up the livestock sheds, people arrived at the courtyard gate to exchange for grain. No one felt that the midday sun was too hot to come.
Qin Sang had Tian Wenmo inspect the goods at the door, Si Jin weigh the grain, and Eldest Brothers Wife and Eldest Girl help with receiving and moving things. With samples to look at, there was no need to worry about Little Five not recognizing the herbs.
Qin Sang had Little Five weigh Sister-in-law Tian's and her two sisters-in-law's herbs first, then invited the three of them into the courtyard.
"Sister-in-law, I want to hire someone to help make moxa floss. One catty of moxa floss for one catty of rice or twenty wen. I wonder if you three sisters-in-law are interested, or if you can recommend some workers?"