Mei Mengzhen put away the letter, feeling a bit emotional—this space really belonged to her now.
That meant she could touch anything in the space as she liked.
Actually, those big boxes against the wall had caught her attention a long time ago. She was really curious about what was inside them.
She walked over to the wooden chests. They were huge, about a meter long, eighty centimeters high, sixty centimeters wide—definitely big boxes. Honestly, she could fit inside one and there'd still be room to spare.
Since the boxes were all hers, Mei Mengzhen didn't hold back. She opened them one by one, and the sight inside almost blinded her.
Two big boxes of gold, two big boxes of jewelry, and two big boxes of porcelain, along with three boxes stuffed with books, plus another box full of all sorts of random things she couldn't even identify.
All of them were packed full. Not to mention porcelain takes up space and you can't fit many in a box, but gold and jewelry? Those were small! Four solid big boxes of that—just looking at them was enough to send someone into shock.
Mei Mengzhen couldn't help but be distracted—she was afraid if she stayed here any longer, she wouldn't be able to leave, so she quickly closed the lids and headed downstairs.
Mei Mengzhen went down to the lowest floor. Everything here was just as neat as upstairs—six-layer bookshelves packed into the hundred-plus-square-meter room, leaving only a narrow path for one person to walk through.
But the bookshelves here weren't filled with books. Instead, they held medicinal herbs previously grown. And on the matching rails of each shelf, the herb names were written, in traditional characters—which she could read.
Besides the herbs, there were some wooden boxes in the corners, about the same size as the ones upstairs full of gold, but stuffed full of supplements like Ginseng and Ganoderma, and each one was impressively big.
Mei Mengzhen couldn't help but sigh, "Oh my god, I feel like if I ate this stuff I'd really live forever."
Feeling excited, Mei Mengzhen left the thatched cottage and then exited the space. She went in and out several times and finally figured out how to enter this magical space—it was as simple as thinking about it, and she'd be there. Every time, she'd arrive near the big Osmanthus Tree, and even if her body didn't go in, her mind could—super convenient.
The next time she went in, Mei Mengzhen brought a big kitchen knife from the kitchen. She boldly sliced her finger open and, like the letter instructed, dripped her blood onto the Osmanthus Tree's roots. Instantly, the tree radiated golden light, shaking the whole space, and after a while, everything went back to normal.
"Wait, is that it for the contract? Weren't there supposed to be automatic harvesting and stuff? No more hints? That's really all?"
And yes, that was it—the contract was settled. The Osmanthus Tree would help Mei Mengzhen with its functions once she started farming.
Mei Mengzhen had been so excited that she'd forgotten how badly she was injured. Now that her adrenaline dropped, her head started spinning again. She suddenly remembered the space's previous owner saying the Spiritual Spring had miraculous health benefits—her body was in bad shape now, so maybe a drink would help.
Fighting off dizziness, she staggered over to the Spiritual Spring. She saw the spring water was level with the mouth, and with both hands she scooped some to drink.
Mei Mengzhen gulped down several mouthfuls. Maybe it was just psychological, but she immediately started feeling less dizzy.
She relaxed by the spring for a bit longer, and once the dizziness was definitely gone, she was overjoyed: "This Spiritual Spring really is good for health!"
Such amazing water shouldn't be enjoyed alone. She wanted her little brother to bounce back soon, so she left the space, filled up a cup with Spiritual Spring Water, and sent it to him at the hospital.
After drinking the Spiritual Spring Water, both siblings were lively as ever the next day—that's why even after suffering "serious" injuries, they were both healthy again in just a few days.
Once she'd confirmed the water's effect, Mei Mengzhen started busying herself with farming. As soon as she started, she realized it was just like what the letter had said—way easier than outside. When Grandpa used to farm, he had to start seedlings and wait months before enjoying the harvest, but here, it skipped the whole seedling process—just toss seeds in the ground!
Not only that, she'd barely tossed in her seeds when the crops matured right away. As soon as they ripened, they were automatically harvested and sorted according to type. After the harvest, the field would be cleaned spotless—just like it was before, as if nothing had ever grown there. Must be the Osmanthus Tree's auto-harvest and cleaning function from the contract.
She stopped in awe, then experimented a few more times. Every time, same result. Finally, she took out different seeds from each cloth bag and tested them one by one.
After her experiments, she roughly figured out that leafy greens (baby bok choy, napa cabbage, cabbage, and romaine) all matured in one minute.
Fruit and gourd types (cucumber, sponge gourd, bitter melon, eggplant, tomato) all took two minutes to mature.
Bigger crops (Winter Melon, pumpkin) and similar big gourds took five minutes to mature.
This speed was just insane. Basically, you could eat as soon as you planted, with zero need to stockpile. That must be why there was everything here but no veggies.
But there was one catch. Outside, a plant could bear several fruits or give a few harvests, but in the space, each crop could only be harvested once. If you wanted more veggies, you had to replant.
Looking at all the vegetables on the ground, an idea popped into her head.
She could totally sell these veggies.
According to memories from her previous life, their parents hadn't left them any money. She and her brother needed money to live, and these vegetables could be their capital.
Speaking of selling veggies, in 2007 selling online was definitely not an option—the apps hadn't been developed yet, so the Vegetable Market was her best bet.
The market stalls weren't something she could consider—those were all rented long-term by regular sellers, and she still had school, so forget it.
But outside the Vegetable Market, there was a less formal area for private sellers.
These private sellers just brought a red-white-blue bag, spread it on the ground, lined up produce, and started selling.
Since there were no stall fees, their produce was much cheaper than inside, so people outside always outnumbered those inside.
These spots weren't assigned—anyone could set up anywhere. If others could do it, so could she.
But another question stumped Mei Mengzhen—how should she price these veggies?
She hadn't tasted them yet, but going by the usual rules, anything from the space had to be good. With the effects of Spiritual Spring Water, selling cheap would be a loss.
Mei Mengzhen counted up the veggies and finally decided she'd taste-test them first before deciding on prices.