Wang Qingtong came over for only one reason: to ask how large the huā needed to grow before it could be sold to Boss Xue.

Wang Qingchen pointed to the twelve potted huā he had just tidied up, the ones he planned to send to Boss Xue’s residence first thing tomorrow morning, and said, “They need to grow to be about the size of these.”

Wang Qingtong took one look and was momentarily stunned. “Qingchen, didn’t you just start planting a day later than us? How did yours grow so much bigger? Do you have some kind of secret?”

Wang Qingchen rolled his eyes. “Go on, go on… What secret? I still go to the academy every day just like you all; I’ve barely tended to these huā myself.”

“Then how did yours grow so well?” Wang Qingtong asked, confused.

“How should I know? Maybe the day I planted them was lucky!” Wang Qingchen said. He certainly couldn't tell them it was because of the special soil from the space—if that got out, it would be a disaster. He valued his life greatly.

Hearing this, Wang Qingtong wailed, “Ah… then when will my two little huā be big enough to sell?”

Wang Qingchen chuckled. “Your huā will grow a bit more. Anyway, your ultimate goal is to open a shop. How would your family ever agree to you opening a shop when you’re this young? Even if you sold them now, the result would be no different than selling them later! Oh, right, have you told your family about your idea?” Wang Qingtong sighed with worry. “Sigh, don’t even mention it. How would I dare? They definitely wouldn’t agree.”

Wang Qingchen felt a bit helpless; if he didn’t even tell them, then even if these huā sold for money, what good would it do? He still couldn't open a shop!

Wang Qingtong kept Wang Qingchen talking about the huā for a while longer, then he returned to the old house.

That evening, Wang Youfu borrowed the village elder’s ox cart. Looking at the cart, Wang Youfu mentally planned that once their own house was built, they would buy an ox cart for themselves too.

The next morning, Wang Youfu helped harness the ox cart. Wang Qingchen carefully placed the twelve potted huā onto the cart and added some reinforcement measures to prevent them from falling off and shattering during the bumpy journey.

Once everything was packed, the two drove the ox cart to town. When they arrived at Boss Xue’s residence, Wang Qingchen went down to knock on the door. Before Wang Qingchen could say anything, the gatekeeper recognized him.

“Oh my, Young Master Wang, you’ve come to see our Boss Xue, haven’t you?” the gatekeeper said with a smile.

“Didn’t Boss Xue go to the capital? I’m here to see your steward.” Wang Qingchen replied.

“Oh! I’ll take you right over. The steward already gave instructions; if you came, we were to bring you directly.” The gatekeeper said. “Wait, this is my elder brother. We came together to deliver the huā. Could you please find a couple of people to help carry these huā inside for your steward?” Wang Qingchen gestured toward Wang Qinghua and the huā on the ox cart to the gatekeeper.

Hearing that it was a delivery of huā, the gatekeeper dared not delay and quickly found a few men to carry the pots from the ox cart inside, even having a young servant take charge of the cart itself.

Wang Qinghua and Wang Qingchen followed the gatekeeper inside. It was Wang Qinghua’s first time there, and he was somewhat constrained, not daring to look around much, until they were seated in the main hall. He sat stiffly, his back held ramrod straight.

Seeing this, Wang Qingchen leaned over and whispered into Wang Qinghua’s ear, “Big Brother, you don’t need to be nervous. Think about it. This is just like buying something—we give them things, and they give us money. It’s the most normal thing in the world.”

Wang Qinghua looked slightly embarrassed. After all, he was this old and still less composed than his younger brother. Whether he genuinely calmed down or was just pretending, he was certainly less rigid than before.

The steward arrived shortly thereafter. He first introduced himself to the two brothers. This steward was surnamed Xu and usually helped Boss Xue manage affairs in the capital. Having him handle the transaction with Wang Qingchen showed the level of importance Boss Xue placed on the huā grown by Wang Qingchen…

Wang Qingchen also introduced Wang Qinghua and himself.

“Heh heh… Boss Xue gave specific instructions before he left that Young Master Wang would come to deliver the huā. I didn't expect you to bring twelve pots so soon. Boss Xue will be overjoyed when he finds out!” Steward Xu said with a smile.

“Steward Xu, please don’t flatter me so much. Just call me Wang Qingchen. Your way of addressing me makes me quite uncomfortable,” Wang Qingchen said, rubbing his nose.

Steward Xu was equally straightforward. “Fine, then I’ll just call you Qingchen. And you don’t need to keep calling me Steward Xu; call me Uncle Xu!” He then turned to Wang Qinghua. “Qinghua, you should call me Uncle Xu too!”

After discussing their forms of address for a while, the three got down to business. Steward Xu inspected the huā; they were growing excellently, and he nodded, clearly satisfied.

“Qingchen, Boss Xue instructed before he left that the huā grown from the seeds you provided are worth twenty taels of silver per stalk, correct?” Steward Xu confirmed.

Wang Qingchen nodded. Wang Qinghua, standing beside him, was already dumbfounded. Twenty taels for one stalk? Heavens! The flower pots they had at home were all planted with the same type of huā, and each pot grew several of the same variety. Calculating that way, what he had been carrying in and out every day wasn't just huā—it was silver! Wang Qingchen didn’t pay attention to Wang Qinghua’s stupefaction; after all, any farming family in this situation wouldn't be calm. An ordinary farming family, after deducting expenses, considered it very good if they managed to save two taels of silver in a year. This made the shock Wang Qinghua felt from twenty taels per stalk easy to understand.

Steward Xu looked at the two brothers—one shocked, one composed—and his regard for Wang Qingchen rose. In fact, he forgot one thing: this was not the first time Wang Qingchen had heard the price of twenty taels per stalk; he had already sold one stalk at this rate before.

Twelve huā meant two hundred and forty taels of silver. Steward Xu, for their convenience in carrying it, specially gave them two silver notes of one hundred taels each, and four silver ingots worth ten taels each.

Since Wang Qingchen still needed to go to the academy, he didn't linger to chat with Steward Xu and left. Wang Qingchen, however, noticed Wang Qinghua’s hand trembling slightly as he clutched the money and felt uneasy about letting him return alone.

“Brother, why don’t you go to our academy? I can go back with you at noon?” Wang Qingchen suggested.

“Huh? Why? Are you going back at noon?” Wang Qinghua asked, confused. Wang Qingchen usually never returned at noon. “This… this…” Wang Qingchen couldn't state the real reason directly; he couldn't just say he was worried about his brother driving the cart while that flustered.

Unexpectedly, Wang Qinghua’s typically slow mind displayed a moment of cleverness—perhaps due to the shock of the day? Wang Qinghua said somewhat sheepishly, “Qingchen, are you worried about me? It’s fine, I’m not that agitated anymore; driving the cart will be no problem.”

“Uh… then be careful on the road,” Wang Qingchen managed, pulling the corner of his mouth.

After the brothers bid farewell, Wang Qingchen went to the academy, while Wang Qinghua took the money and drove the ox cart back, not daring to buy anything, eager only to get the money home where it would be safe.

Wang Qinghua’s scene of being overwhelmed by so much silver replayed itself after he got back.

Yang Shi muttered, “Heavens, these huā are worth so much money. No, no, we must keep tighter watch over these huā from now on; we can’t just leave them out in the courtyard during the day anymore.”

Although Wang Youfu had been mentally prepared, he hadn't expected this much money. Wang Qingchen’s first earnings were over three hundred taels, yes, but those were a rare, demanding variety! But these huā at home required virtually no effort—just watering and sun exposure, much like growing common vegetables, no, even simpler than vegetables since they didn’t even need fertilizer—and they were worth so much. Was making money getting easier now?…

After Wang Youfu snapped out of his shock, he began contemplating the uses for the money.

“Let’s look into buying something with this money; should we put it all into buying land or something?” Wang Youfu asked uncertainly.

“I remember Qingchen mentioned wanting to open a mill. I was just thinking we didn't have the funds to set that up, and now suddenly we have the money,” Yang Shi said.

Wang Youfu recalled that as well. Previously, the family lacked surplus funds for such an endeavor, but now that they had money, they could certainly consider it.

“How about we do what we did last time? Buy a shop, and then use the remaining money to buy some land, what do you think?” Wang Youfu voiced his idea.

Yang Shi and Wang Qinghua thought this plan was very sound and offered no other suggestions.

“Then I’ll see when I can find the broker Qian Yaji again! But you must not tell outsiders about this family matter, to avoid trouble,” Wang Youfu cautioned.

“But, Father, we drove the ox cart there this morning; surely someone saw us!” Wang Qinghua pointed out.

“That’s true. Husband, even if we don’t say anything, others might guess!” Yang Shi worried.

Wang Youfu considered this. “So what if they saw it? They don’t know how much these huā are worth. We’ll just say those huā this morning weren't valuable, and the money was just to cover household expenses. If they were worth so much, how could so many grow so quickly? Otherwise, wouldn’t everyone rush to plant huā?”

Once the family had agreed on their story, Yang Shi became even more attentive to those huā. And when Zhang Shi came over, although she didn't explicitly tell Zhang Shi how valuable the huā were, she couldn't help but remind her to take good care of them.

In the following two days, Wang Youfu went to town to find the broker Qian Yaji, presumably to inquire about good shops or fields. When he returned, he brought a carpenter with him, saying he was hired to make furniture and so on. Previously, the family had considered Li Qiang, Li Yuntai’s father, who was a carpenter with good skills. However, Li Qiang’s workload was already too heavy; he was busy because he was the only carpenter in their village and the neighboring one. Thus, Wang Youfu had to rely on Qian Yaji to find a carpenter in town who was reputed to be skilled.