They talked for more than half the night.
Only then did the young couple fall into a deep sleep.
The next morning.
Su Miaomiao turned over, and Cheng Hao also woke up. He squinted at the sky. It was just dawning outside, and the early morning watch sounded in coordination.
"Dong dong! Qiang!"
Immediately, the watchman's weak but spirited shout followed: "A bountiful harvest of grains, and good fortune and peace!"
The announcements of the watchmen vary from place to place.
In Fengcheng, the first watch was about dryness and fire prevention, and the second watch was about preventing theft, closing doors and windows, and similar phrases.
However, Quezhou City preferred to use auspicious words to replace these.
As was the case now, it was the fifth watch.
It was also the last watch called by the watchman. He yawned widely and walked further and further away.
It was likely time for him to finish his shift.
Cheng Hao was already awake. Although he hadn't slept long, he felt energetic.
His childhood sweetheart beside him was still fast asleep, looking defenseless.
He pulled the quilt up for her again.
Suddenly, Lai Fu's voice came from the door. He asked cautiously, "Is Young Master getting up? Do you need water or to relieve yourself?"
Cheng Hao was stunned for a moment. After a long while, he sat up, put on his outer robe, and went to open the door. To his surprise, he saw Lai Fu sleeping on the floor by the door.
"There's no need to follow the old rules. We should act as we always do, just like when we were on the road. In the future, you don't need to guard my door at night."
Cheng Hao frowned and instructed. There was indeed a rule for servants to guard at night. However, during their escape, they had no time for such things. Lai Fu and Uncle Ji also slept in the driver's seat of the carriage, only separated by a carriage wall.
Now that they were living in the city again, he had reverted to the old rules.
Cheng Hao felt it was unnecessary. Having someone sleep on the floor by the door in the middle of the night made him feel awkward, and it was truly not needed, so he said it wasn't necessary.
Lai Fu hesitated. "That's not appropriate. If the master needs any help at night, it would be convenient for me to be here. For fetching tea or water, you just need to call me."
Cheng Hao stated that there was drinking water prepared inside and nothing else was needed, so he asked him to sleep soundly in his room. There were also guards on night duty in the front courtyard.
It wasn't his turn.
Getting a good rest was the most important thing, so he could study more diligently later.
Lai Fu also knew that his young master and young mistress were different from other masters. Therefore, he nodded, smiled, and rolled up his bedding to go back.
However, he remembered the important matters. He turned back and asked Cheng Hao if he needed anything.
Cheng Hao said he didn't need anything. He was just preparing to wash up and would have breakfast later. There were also some things to organize.
Lai Fu immediately became energetic. He quickly said, "Then please wait, Master. I'll go get hot water. I guarantee it'll be here soon. Please don't do it yourself!"
He said softly and then ran into the nearby small room, and then swiftly came out.
He disappeared in a flash.
He was extremely diligent.
Seeing this, Cheng Hao had no choice but to give up. He turned back into the room and began to get dressed.
When Lai Fu brought the hot water, he also brought him a cup of hot tea.
He was very considerate.
After getting permission, he entered the room and placed everything on the large desk, his eyes not daring to wander. He was very well-behaved. After delivering the items, he immediately withdrew.
This was the first time Cheng Hao had received such treatment. Honestly, since he had transmigrated, it was rare for him to wait leisurely for others to serve him.
He finally felt a bit like a young master.
But he felt a bit uneasy.
He was destined to worry.
He took the opportunity when no one was watching to brush his teeth, and then rinse his mouth again.
His handsome face also needed to be washed.
The dirty water was directly poured into the bathroom inside the space.
The hot water Lai Fu brought was only used to wipe his face.
Cheng Hao immediately felt refreshed.
So he didn't go back to the bed. Instead, he sat at the large desk and wrote diligently, summarizing the methods for making money they had discussed last night.
Finally, he settled on these few points.
First, setting up a stall to sell things. What to sell? It would still be food and drinks, as people always needed to eat, drink, and sleep. As long as there was a market, there would be business. One had to know how to operate it.
Second, Quezhou City regularly organized small teams to go out and collect designated items. This could earn a little money, but there was also a certain degree of danger. The benefit was not only rewards for completing the collection quota but also free time. This meant they could collect items outside and sell them in the city.
Third, Su Miaomiao had personally compiled a book on medicinal herbs.
It not only contained explanations of the most common medicinal herbs in the mountains, forests, and fields, along with her drawings, but also some prescriptions she had recorded. She said she could print it and sell it. After all, there were so many refugees here, and everyone would have needs, which could quickly bring in a lot of money.
Firstly, they did not have large-scale printing technology here yet. However, because she was interested and had some understanding, she could roughly figure out how to make printing tools.
Therefore, they could mass-produce it.
And then sell it.
This way, not only could they popularize knowledge, but they could also earn a large sum of money.
As for their own medication issues, she was not worried. Firstly, her own body was very healthy. Secondly, Cheng Hao's physical fitness was also good due to exercise. Neither of them was prone to illness. Furthermore, they had enough medicine in the space, and if more features were unlocked in the space later on.
There were even several pharmacies.
Even if there weren't, it wouldn't be a problem.
The illustrated book of medicinal herbs she wrote only covered some common year-round herbs.
She hadn't had time to draw and write about the better ones. Moreover, these knowledge points, the Cheng family caravan, the Jin family caravan, and the people of Shanao Village.
All those who took her as their master had already learned them, and were even learning more difficult things. These were all introductory level.
They could also distinguish some more difficult-to-identify herbs.
So, there was no shortage of medicinal herbs to pick.
Furthermore,
once they earned money, they could hoard as many medicinal herbs or finished medicines as they wanted. It was not a big problem, so selling them was also feasible.
Cheng Hao summarized these three points and found that they were all worth trying.
After circling them, he put the cowhide notebook back into the space. Looking at the sky, which was gradually brightening, and the roosters falling silent, he knew it was daylight.
He stretched his muscles, which hadn't moved for a while, and went to check on Su Miaomiao.
His childhood sweetheart was still sleeping sprawled out, with the quilt only covering her stomach. She was hugging his pillow with one hand, clearly fast asleep.
He didn't wake her up.
She had been exhausted from the journey during this period.
There was nothing else to do at the moment.
Let her sleep as much as she wanted.
She would be more obedient after sleeping enough.
Otherwise, if she didn't get enough sleep, she would have a temper tantrum and cause trouble that he couldn't handle.
Cheng Hao dutifully covered her with the quilt. Su Miaomiao then stirred awake. She stretched and yawned, looking at her childhood sweetheart with sleepy eyes. Seeing him, she didn't seem surprised at all.