Chapter 75: Management Task Two
The three of them buried their heads and worked hard for the entire day.
By the afternoon, as Lin Sanniang was about to finish her shift, the entire one thousand square meters of tilled land had finally been sown with seeds, watered, and fertilized.
The notification for the estate’s upgrade progress finally chimed—
[Congratulations, Estate Owner! You have met two of the upgrade requirements. Please keep up the good work and complete the remaining upgrade requirements as soon as possible to unlock the Estate Management and Construction tasks.]
Now, the only thing left was to make money, but it just so happened that she was still a long way from the goal. These past few days, she had been too busy accompanying Liang Chengcheng and farming to sell chestnuts, so the revenue progress toward the 10,000-yuan target remained stuck at 2,121 yuan.
Ding!
[Estate Management Task Two: Sell 1,000 yuan worth of estate products within 24 hours. Reward: One Income Doubling Card, valid only for the day of completion.]
Whoa!
Jian Xingxia grew excited. Ever since Management Task One, she hadn’t received a management task for a very long time. She had assumed there wouldn’t be any more before the estate upgraded. She never expected one to drop out of the blue like this.
This was perfect. She originally hadn’t planned on heading down the mountain, but now she absolutely had to go. Jian Xingxia truly couldn’t afford to wait. Anyway, aside from the furniture and appliances Liang Chengcheng had bought and the solar energy system rewarded by the system, there wasn’t anything particularly valuable at home.
Conveniently, Lin Sanniang’s shift was ending, and she departed carrying her grain, fabric, and shoes. Jian Xingxia prepared Dahei’s wages in advance, leaving him to continue tilling the remaining wasteland and clock out on his own when his time was up.
Meanwhile, she headed down the mountain to catch the evening rush hour for street vending.
Having just returned the vehicle only to borrow it again, Jian Xingxia felt utterly shameless. Fortunately, Grandma Hu Ming didn’t mind at all and even said generously, “Just keep it at your place. We’re all in the village anyway, so if any household needs to haul things, we just let each other know—it’s incredibly convenient.”
“Whereas you, living alone in the mountains, everything is inconvenient for you.”
Jian Xingxia was deeply grateful in her heart, but she also made a silent vow: from this moment on, she would absolutely not do any more online shopping. She wouldn’t spend a single cent of the money she earned and would save all of it until she could afford a tricycle with a large battery.
After locking up the front and back courtyard gates as well as the house door of the old home, Jian Xingxia rode the tricycle down the mountain with the chestnuts.
By the time she reached the town, it was already 4:30 in the afternoon. But the timing was just right.
The entrances of various residential compounds were full of people who had just finished their afternoon naps and emerged to stroll around now that the sun wasn’t as fierce. Especially since kindergartens and primary schools let out around this time, the vendor stalls by the compound gates were at their liveliest.
With a 24-hour time limit looming, Jian Xingxia didn’t risk challenging a new location. Instead, she headed straight for the residential compound where she had sold chestnuts last time, hoping that the excellent business from before would carry over to today.
The chestnuts she had gifted the security guard last time paid off. Even though Jian Xingxia hadn’t visited for several days, the young guard recognized her at a single glance.
Because Jian Xingxia arrived late, all the prime spots were gone. Just as she was thinking about squeezing in at the very end of the long line of vendors, the young guard walked over. He exercised his “privilege,” letting Jian Xingxia set up her stall at the spot closest to the compound gate.
Originally, this area had crash barriers erected, and the small space behind them was perfect for a stall, but the guards usually only permitted vendors to set up outside the barriers. Since Jian Xingxia had no spot today, the young guard brought her straight over.
“Just don’t cross the crash barriers. Also, don’t stay past 6:30—that’s when our shift changes, and it won’t be under my jurisdiction anymore.”
Under normal circumstances, Jian Xingxia might have hesitated a bit, but right now, the [Income Doubling Card] was dangling in front of her like a carrot in front of a rabbit. Earning one extra yuan was equivalent to earning two. Furthermore, unlike flipping items bought online, selling chestnuts counted toward the estate’s upgrade progress, which meant the amount contributed would double as well.
Jian Xingxia didn’t stand on ceremony. She thick-skinnedly set up her stall and packed a two-catty bag of chestnuts for the young guard.
The neighboring vendors were initially rather displeased, but upon hearing that she had to pack up and leave before 6:30, they instantly felt that Jian Xingxia’s spot wasn’t all that great after all. They all planned to stay for the entire evening; if she left at 6:30, where could she go? The prime spots elsewhere would have been snapped up long ago. They might as well focus on guarding their own spots and enjoy some chestnuts—Jian Xingxia had distributed a small pouch of chestnuts to each vendor early on.
Having eaten her food, the vendors naturally held their tongues and said nothing more.
Jian Xingxia had no time to worry about the other vendors’ thoughts anyway. Because the moment she arrived, a grandmother holding her granddaughter’s hand walked over. “Oh? Aren’t you the Chestnut Sister who came to set up a stall last week?”
“Huh?” Jian Xingxia hadn’t expected to gain another nickname.
But the little girl held by the grandmother was already shouting, “Chestnut Sister, I want to buy chestnuts!”
Jian Xingxia bent down, asking the little girl with a bright smile, “Sure thing! What flavor do you want?”
“I want the rock sugar ones!” the little girl shouted loudly. Then she tugged her grandmother’s hand, shaking it. “Grandma, buy two bags. The bag we bought last time was entirely eaten up by Mommy and Daddy; I only got to eat three.”
The sweet, baby-voiced little girl clutched her grandmother’s hand, her big, dark eyes sparkling brightly—it was truly the most irresistible behavior in the world.
The grandmother couldn’t help but scoop the little girl up into her arms. “Let Chestnut Sister weigh out three catties—two catties of the original flavor and one catty of the rock sugar flavor.”
Jian Xingxia hadn’t even had time to lay out her scale yet. Hearing this, she tried to pitch, “Grandma, if you want a catty of the rock sugar flavor, you’ll have to wait a moment while I grab the scale, bags, and scoop. How about you just take the pre-packaged bags? They’re six mace each, also eight yuan a bag, or fifteen yuan for two bags.”
The little girl’s grandmother thought it over briefly. “Then give me four bags—two bags of original, two bags of rock sugar.”
Saying this, she fished out thirty yuan and handed it to Jian Xingxia. Jian Xingxia gestured for the grandmother to drop it into the money box—a biscuit tin—she had prepared beforehand, and then nimbly packed four bags of chestnuts.
By now, a small crowd had already gathered in front of the tricycle. An impatient person cut in directly, “Give me two bags! Original flavor.”
Jian Xingxia soothed with a smile, “Coming right up! Please wait just a moment, this sister arrived first.”
Hearing this, a young white-collar worker wearing a uniform A-line skirt felt even better. “I’ll take two bags of original flavor too.”
With so many people in front of the tricycle and several chiming in at once, Jian Xingxia could still remember who arrived first and consciously maintained the queue order, which won the white-collar worker’s immense appreciation.
Next up was a young boy who had just let out of school, paying via his smart watch to buy just three yuan worth. But Jian Xingxia still weighed and packed it for him with a bright smile. The fourth person was the customer who had spoken up earlier. With everything operating in an orderly fashion, the crowd stopped shoving and waited calmly, knowing they would certainly be served in sequence.
“Boss, even though your chestnuts are small, they are remarkably fragrant. They taste much better than ordinary chestnuts.”
“My mom loves eating them too. She has a discerning palate and said these must be homegrown chestnuts raised without any chemical pesticides.”
“Exactly! I even bit into two that had wormholes.”
Hearing this, Jian Xingxia immediately noted, “The chestnuts are indeed raised without pesticides. We’ve already gone through several rounds of sorting, but it’s hard to avoid a few hidden wormholes that escape inspection.”
As she spoke, Jian Xingxia dropped two extra chestnuts into the scale she was weighing, yet charged according to the initial weight. “Tell you what, I’ll throw in a couple extra per catty to offset any losses from wormholes.”
For customers buying full pre-packaged bags, Jian Xingxia also ripped one open to let them sample them on the spot, or scooped a couple extra into the outer plastic bag.
Jian Xingxia’s excellent attitude and spot-on service instantly tempted the onlookers, causing them to step up and buy a couple of bags as well. In no time at all, Jian Xingxia’s chestnut stall became the liveliest spot at the compound entrance.
Jian Xingxia could practically hear the system notifications chiming in her ears—
Gold coin +1 Gold coin +1 Gold coin +2
Completing the task was just around the corner!
