Mei Mengzhen chuckled, "You don't have to worry about making money. Just stay by your sister's side, that's all."
The two dragged the cart in the direction of home. Luckily, their house was on the first floor, and they had a big yard, so she didn't need to carry everything upstairs.
Once they entered the yard, Mei Mengzhen settled her brother down first, then dragged the cart back out to "buy veggies."
No choice. Her brother was young, but kids can't keep secrets, what if he saw something and started talking? Plus, she never planned to tell anyone about the spatial ability, naturally that included her brother.
Mei Mengzhen dragged the cart to a spot not far from home. After making sure no one was around, she put the Chinese cabbages and the daikon radishes she'd just bought into the two baskets.
Why these two kinds of veggies? Aside from not wanting to accept it, she just couldn't accept it. The veggies she "worked so hard" to grow in her space—how could she sell them for only one yuan?
She couldn't control the Spatial Mall, but surely she could have a say at the Vegetable Market.
With the veggies sorted, she planned to head home.
It was easier going out than coming back. Even with the cart, dragging home two full baskets of veggies took half her strength. Before, she definitely couldn't have managed, but with all that Spiritual Spring Water she'd been drinking, it really did make her stronger and healthier. After some effort, she dragged the cart back—only about ten minutes in all. As soon as she walked in the door, Mei Mengchen ran over and hugged Mei Mengzhen's leg tightly.
Mei Mengzhen parked the cart and looked at the little guy clinging to her leg. She asked, "What's wrong? Were you scared being alone?"
Mei Mengchen squirmed and didn't answer. Mei Mengzhen found it odd, but suddenly realized—maybe the kid was scared she'd leave him and never come back. She quickly said, "I told you I'd come back after grabbing the veggies, and I did. Look, the veggies are back now."
Mei Mengchen gave a quiet "mm" with a big smile, and didn't say much. He let go of Mei Mengzhen and turned to check out all the vegetables she'd brought back.
The cart and a single veggie basket were about as tall as he was; with two baskets stacked and filled to the brim, Mei Mengchen couldn't help but marvel, "Wow, so many veggies, sis! Are we having these for lunch?"
Mei Mengzhen almost laughed, but the smile faded quickly. Was it time to cook again? Hang on—was it meal time already?
She glanced at the clock—the answer was: almost, but not quite. Still, it was just the right time to start prepping lunch.
She forced a stiff smile, "Chenchen, how about we keep lunch simple today? Let's just stir-fry some Chinese cabbage—maybe a bit of stem, a bit of leaf. How's that sound?"
Mei Mengchen naturally had no objections, "I'll eat whatever you make, sis. I'm not picky."
Mei Mengzhen wasn't about to feed them only veggies, so while cooking rice, she steamed a big bowl of eggs too—using Spiritual Spring Water, of course.
Lunchtime: two veggies and one egg dish. The siblings ate with gusto. After lunch, each pulled on a little hat, dragged the cart, and headed out the front door.
She expected the cart to be heavy, but it kept feeling heavier and heavier the farther they went. She'd never done real physical work before and hadn't realized this, but seeing her struggle, Mei Mengchen joined in and used all his strength to help pull the cart forward.
His efforts didn't help much, but it satisfied his soul, and Mei Mengzhen worried he might hurt himself by trying too hard. "Be careful, don't hurt yourself! We're almost there," she said.
Mei Mengchen agreed, but you could tell he was putting real effort into it.
When the two finally dragged the cart to the Vegetable Market, it was like they'd used up half their lives. Then, a cup of Spiritual Spring Water and—bam, full of energy again.
With their spirits revived, their strength returned too. Mei Mengzhen told her brother to step aside, then slowly moved the basket of Chinese cabbages off the cart, bit by bit. It wasn't easy, but she managed.
For both siblings, this was a good beginning.
They arranged the veggies and sat on little stools from home to watch over their stall.
But—right at noon, in scorching summer, who would be outside buying veggies?
Besides, there was no air conditioning, no shade, so even fewer people showed up.
Even after living a whole extra life, Mei Mengzhen hadn't expected the midday market to be THIS empty. But since they'd come all this way, she wasn't about to turn back. Dragging everything was hard enough—doing it twice would be even worse. This batch of veggies HAD to sell before they could leave.
The goal wasn't too lofty, but the market was seriously empty. Mei Mengzhen opened a sun umbrella and pulled her brother onto her lap. "Nobody's here right now, so go ahead and nap. I'll wake you up if customers show up."
The summer noon was truly stifling, and after lunch plus all that work, Mei Mengchen's eyes were already drooping. He couldn't resist his sister's words. As soon as he leaned onto Mei Mengzhen's lap, he fell asleep.
Mei Mengzhen held the umbrella in one hand and fanned her brother with the other, but still, sweat poured down her forehead. Honestly, the other stalls were just as rough—everyone was suffering, so thinking about that made her feel a bit better.
In fact, if you looked closely, the vegetables Mei Mengzhen brought offered a clear contrast to the market's usual offerings.
Her veggies were almost identical in size, spotless and clean, not a single bug hole—so at a glance, they looked bright and appealing.
There weren't many passersby, but even so, nearby vendors couldn't help coming over to check them out.
The stall next door had a big sister who'd been eyeing her veggies for ages. After Mei Mengchen fell asleep, she finally asked softly, "Hey kiddo, how'd your veggies grow so well?"
Kiddo?
Mei Mengzhen was genuinely stunned for a while before realizing the big sister was talking to her. No one had called her "kiddo" for ages, and it made her heart flutter a little.
Being young feels so nice. She immediately replied, "Big sis, these are organic veggies. Specially cultivated, that's why they look so good."
Organic? Cultivated?
Veggies nowadays weren't so fancy, but these looked truly nice. The big sister followed up, "Yeah, they're pretty. So how do you price your veggies?"
"I sell by the piece. One Chinese cabbage, ten yuan. One daikon radish, also ten yuan."
Either Mei Mengzhen's words were too shocking, or maybe big sis couldn't believe her ears. She exploded, "What? Kiddo, that's WAY too expensive! This is the market—the price's so high, nobody will buy them! Who'd eat such pricey stuff? Listen to me, if you want to sell, lower the price first. Otherwise, you'll be dragging them right back home—you'll have to drag them back!"
The big sister's voice wasn't quiet, and as soon as she finished, she woke up the brother who was leaning against Mei Mengzhen's leg.
Mei Mengchen rubbed his eyes, dazed, looked at Mei Mengzhen, then glanced left and right, apparently trying to remember where they were.