Chapter 3

The First Money

At five in the morning the next day, Manfah awoke, took a bath, and changed her clothes. When she entered the kitchen, she slapped her forehead in realization—her house still had an old-fashioned charcoal stove. She chopped wood into small pieces to fit into the stove, then used matches to light a fire, sweating profusely by the time it caught.

She placed a pot on the stove and added water from her dimension, followed by rice from her dimension, then covered it. Cooking was now underway. While waiting for the rice to cook, she hurried to take a bath because of the intense heat.

After bathing and dressing, Uncle Phin called out to her.

Manfah heard the sound of a large truck parking near her house.

When she opened the door, she saw Uncle Phin and three men standing there.

Manfah recognized one of them; the other two were strangers to her.

"Hello, Uncle Phin, Uncle Pai," Manfah greeted everyone with a traditional Thai wai.

"Uncle brought Uncle Pai to pick up the vegetables to sell."

"I only have six baskets right now. Actually, I have more vegetables and fruits than this."

Manfah led everyone inside. Uncle Pai directed his workers to carry the baskets out.

"Later, I'll bring my own baskets and can come back in the evening to pick up more."

Uncle Phin added, "Me too. I'll bring some baskets. I'll come back to help you pack the vegetables and fruits."

"Thank you so much, but just bringing the baskets is enough, Uncle Phin. I can manage on my own."

"That's not going to work; you'll get too tired," Uncle Phin objected, concerned about the young girl handling it all by herself.

However, she wanted to sell the vegetables and fruits that were part of her dimensional system, which wasn't convenient at all!

Then she put on a serious face. "I can't, Uncle. This is my job. I can still handle it right now. You have your own work to do, Uncle Phin, and if you keep sneaking over to help me, people will talk."

"What’s there to talk about? You're only twelve, and living all by yourself."

"I suggest that Uncle Phin should help you."

Uncle Pai tried to mediate, thinking that letting a small child like Manfah handle everything alone was too much for her.

 Look at her—she was so petite and thin. Though her face promised beauty in the future, right now, Manfah looked like a malnourished child.

"Okay, but only after you finish your work, Uncle Phin. Otherwise, I'll really be mad."

Manfah pouted, deploying her ultimate cute expression to full effect.

Uncle Phin couldn't resist her charm; she was just as adorable as a child and would undoubtedly be stunning as an adult.

The boys in the village would likely start finding reasons to pass by her house more often, and this area wouldn’t be so deserted anymore.

"Alright, I'll hurry and fetch those baskets first."

After agreeing, Manfah rushed to check on the rice she was cooking. Once it was done, she removed the pot and set up a frying pan.

She poured oil into the pan, finely chopped some spring onions and two chilies, then minced some pork. She cracked two eggs into a bowl and whisked them, then seasoned the mixture with some mushroom sauce produced by her dimension.

Manfah added the spring onions, chilies, and pork into the pan and mixed everything again. Once the pan was hot enough, she skillfully poured the pork and egg mixture into it, then expertly flipped the eggs back and forth. Her culinary skills remained sharp. The aroma of the well-equipped pork omelet over rice filled the air, making her swallow her saliva multiple times.

"Just having this omelet with rice makes me happy. Sigh... my new life is truly challenging indeed."

Although she claimed life was hard, the girl’s face showed she was actually enjoying her new lifestyle quite a bit because she felt this life wasn't too bad.

Uncle Pai brought an additional ten baskets, and Uncle Phin added five more.

She filled ten of these baskets with fruits from her dimension, and the other three with cucumbers, pumpkins, and bird's eye chilies.

She saved two baskets to store with Uncle Phin, as she didn’t want him to feel bad for not being able to help her.

These two baskets she planned to let him fill with coriander and water spinach.

By noon, Manfah ate a simple meal of steamed rice with stir-fried chicken and vegetables. After finishing her meal, she rested on a bamboo cot until about three in the afternoon, anticipating Uncle Phin's arrival around this time.

Glancing at her dimensional watch, it was now 3:35 PM.

The sound of a motorcycle approached and then quieted at the front of the house. Manfah walked out to meet Uncle Phin, who was dressed in full gardening attire. She led him to the backyard to show him her garden.

"You've planted quite a lot here. Have you been managing all this by yourself, Little Man?"

"Yes, I've been doing it bit by bit."

"I'll come help you after work then."

"No need to, Uncle, I'd really appreciate it more if you could help me get electricity in my house. I'd really like to have a fan, Uncle Phin."

"That makes sense."

"Let's gather the vegetables, Uncle Phin. We only have two baskets left to fill."

"You work very fast!" exclaimed Uncle Phin, impressed by her efficiency.

"Could you help me count the money this evening, Uncle? I want to know how much I need to pay to have a transformer installed." While her house was connected to the water supply, it still lacked electricity. Sigh…

"Six hundred baht for everything, that’s what it cost when I had it installed at my house too. It's pretty expensive."

Come to think of it, how much do people here earn per day? In her old world, six hundred wasn’t that much, but with insurance, setup fees, and everything else.

She nodded. "Yes, it's expensive."

Given her modest budget, any large expense felt significant.

"Today, you should make several thousand baht because the prices for fruits and vegetables are quite good now. The country is developing continuously. Farmers and gardeners are starting to earn a decent living. More and better roads are being built, which makes transporting produce much faster and more convenient.”

"That works well for me."

"Let's go then! Let's go harvest the vegetables."

The two worked together until four o'clock when Uncle Pai drove up to the front of her house, just like before, and instructed his workers to load all the baskets onto the truck.

“I brought you twenty baskets. Is that enough?” Uncle Pai asked.

"That's perfect, Uncle Pai. You can deduct the cost from my earnings.”

"Alright, all your produce sold for a total of seven thousand two hundred baht. The fruits from your garden are considered high quality—very colorful and tasty. I tasted some, and they could fetch a good price from foreigners. You’ve become a little millionaire in just one day."

Manfah blushed slightly. "Does it really sell for that much?"

Why did it bring in so much money?

"It's not usually like this. Three thousand is already considered a lot. But your produce, it's above the standard that foreigners expect. It can easily be sold in upscale restaurants or even exported."

As Uncle Pai explained the details to her, Manfah felt incredibly fortunate.

All thanks to the gods, hahaha.

"After deducting the cost for the baskets, that leaves you with seven thousand one hundred baht."

"Why are the baskets so cheap?"

"Most of the villagers make baskets in their spare time. Look at Grandma Tan! She’s wealthy but still makes baskets to sell. The elderly can't just sit idle at home."

Manfah nodded in understanding.

"Uncle Phin, here’s six hundred baht. Can we go ahead with the electricity application then?"

"Yes, I'll bring my friend over tomorrow to set it up for you."

"It can be arranged that quickly?"

"Well, yeah, most houses around here already have electricity, so it should be quick."

"Only my house left then!" Manfah rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.

Uncle Pai and Uncle Phin chuckled at her playful demeanor.

" Alright, I’ll head off now. Take care, Elder Phin.”

"Drive safely."

Before leaving, Uncle Pai added, "I’ll come to pick up your vegetables every Tuesday and Wednesday."

"Okay, I'll be ready," Manfah waved her small hand.

"So, what now?" Uncle Phin turned to her.

"I'm going to the market. Now that I’ll have electricity, I need to buy a fan in advance."

"You’ve got it all planned out, huh? Haha, come on, hop on the back of my bike."