Having made up her mind, she bought another set of four-piece bedding and went to Mingyu Tea House.
"Sir, do you think there's a market for this type of duvet cover?" she asked.
"Duvet cover?" Xiu Yuan raised an eyebrow, indicating he had never heard of such a thing.
People usually just sewed a layer of fabric directly over the cotton batting, and when it got dirty, they would take it apart, wash it, and sew it back together.
"You're right, sir, but that's quite troublesome. That's why we need to innovate and continuously improve people's lives," Qi Huan explained.
She then unfolded the duvet cover and briefly explained how to use it.
Fortunately, Xiu Yuan was quick-witted and understood immediately.
After finishing her explanation, she pointed out an issue: "The zipper here needs to be changed to a tie closure."
She knew she would die someday, but her shop would continue to exist, so she didn't want to rely too heavily on the system.
The meatballs in the restaurant gradually became pure meat rather than relying entirely on her repurchases.
The clothing shop now used the techniques of this era, albeit with slightly advanced styles.
The movable type printing at the printing house also used raw materials from daily life.
As for the garment factory that was gradually being built, she left as many spare old-style sewing machines as possible.
She also stored a lot of greenhouse film, crucial for greenhouse vegetables, and repurchased wide tape to repair the film.
In the future, when her system reached its maximum level, she could search online for knowledge in various fields, print it into books, and let people of this era stand on the shoulders of giants to research technology.
Many problems might gradually be solved this way.
Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Qi Huan began to listen to Xiu Yuan's report on recent events.
"Ever since the princess from the Loyal Prince's mansion wore our chest-high ruqun out in public, others have followed suit. Now this novel style has become all the rage in the capital. Somehow, the Emperor learned of this and specially ordered a batch of clothes to be made for his favored concubines."
"However, they requested the upper garment to be made of thin gauze."
"And... the Emperor didn't pay."
Qi Huan was mentally prepared for this.
Ever since Li Yuanxiu went missing, the false emperor had become increasingly stingy.
Although they didn't earn any money from it, their Huarong Pavilion's name had spread throughout the capital!
The cost of making the clothes could be considered as advertising fees paid to the dog emperor.
After all, even the imperial concubines favored their clothes, which instantly elevated their status!
The undergarments modeled after bras also sold well.
At first, people just found them cooler to wear in summer compared to belly-bands. Soon, women discovered another function, which triggered a buying frenzy...
Coincidentally, the birth rate in the capital also unexpectedly increased.
As for the modern underwear Qi Huan repurchased from her space, it became an supreme limited edition.
The noble ladies of the capital prided themselves on owning it, unexpectedly driving its value up to thousands of taels of silver.
Qi Huan had given Elder Madam Song several pieces long ago, and now when Madam Song went out, she held her head high with confidence.
She was a woman wearing a thousand taels of silver on her body!
How could she not feel self-assured?
Thinking of Elder Madam Song, Qi Huan couldn't help but smile more deeply.
The restaurant and milk tea shop were joint ventures between her and the Song family. Each shop split half of the profits with the Song family, and their lives were becoming increasingly prosperous.
The most obvious change was in their diet.
Since Qi Huan's mourning period ended, Elder Madam Song had instructed the cook to prepare various meat dishes for her in different ways, to make up for the meat she had eaten less of in the past three years.
"Song Jingche" was also included in this nutritional supplementation.
Elder Madam Song, with a mother's loving heart, felt she had neglected Jingche for years and was genuinely grateful to Huan. Every day, she busied herself in the kitchen, personally overseeing the cook's menu planning.
There was too much food for Qi Huan to finish, so she would set some aside in advance to reward her maids.
Now, Nanny Xu and Yanqing from Qinghuan Court had visibly gained weight.
In contrast, Ximen Ye and Zhu Yan remained lean and fit.
However, they had adopted a dog that was plump and round like a ball.
The image of the adorably chubby dog flashed through Qi Huan's mind, suddenly reminding her of Heizi.
"Has Heizi's dog food been delivered?" she asked.
Xiu Yuan nodded, "Yes, Miss Qi, it's all been delivered."
He then opened a money box, revealing it to be full of banknotes.
"When you exposed Lu Baiian and Mei Chun in court back then, Heizi demonstrated amazing scent detection abilities and intelligence. Chen the county magistrate kept this in mind and borrowed Heizi several times afterward."
"In the end, he simply had a special badge made for Heizi, allowing it to join the Mo County Government Office, working alongside Constable Yan on cases."
Qi Huan was dumbfounded. Even Heizi had an official position now...
Xiu Yuan caught his breath and continued, "According to the news from Xiu Wen, Heizi is now respectfully called 'Lord Black' and has been of great help to the county office. But its only flaw is being a picky eater..."
"It doesn't like the food prepared by the county office, so Chen the county magistrate and Constable Yan decided to allocate a small portion of their own salaries to pay Heizi, which is used to buy dog food."
"His Highness originally planned to bring Heizi back to the capital when the weather was suitable, but Heizi has become too comfortable there and refuses to get on the carriage..."
After hearing this, Qi Huan smiled gently and said, "If Heizi is happy living in Mo County, then let it stay there."
Although Heizi was Li Shuchen's dog, Li Shuchen belonged to her, so Heizi was hers too. She respected Heizi's wishes, and she was sure Li Shuchen would respect her decision as well.
Sure enough, Xiu Yuan replied, "His Highness said to do everything according to your wishes."
As he answered, Qi Huan's gaze fell softly on the bundles of banknotes in the money box.
"I don't need money at the moment. Use this to buy some estates first."
Xiu Yuan was silent for a moment before answering, "Miss Qi, almost all the estates that can be bought in Li Country have already been purchased by you and His Highness."
The remaining ones were in the hands of powerful nobles and wealthy gentry, and it wasn't easy to acquire them at the moment.
"Then... use it to expand our branch stores?"
"We already have branches in all the prosperous prefectural cities. The remaining cities aren't suitable for our business yet."
"As you previously suggested about adapting to local conditions, I've already sent people to various regions to develop forestry, fruit farming, animal husbandry, and other industries, but there haven't been results yet. Once these industries develop and the regions become more prosperous, we can open branches there."
Their stores made money from wealthy people.
As for small businesses like selling needles and thread, they didn't get involved, not wanting to compete with common people for profit.
So, Xiu Yuan opened branches in wealthy prefectural cities. They hadn't yet expanded to poorer areas.
Then, following Qi Huan's instructions, they used part of the profits to build academies and orphanages.
To provide shelter for poor scholars and orphaned children across the land.
Thinking of this, Xiu Yuan's eyes held silent approval. He hadn't followed the wrong master; Miss Qi had great compassion.
Before this, money only flowed to those who didn't lack it.
Because they had capital and power, they could keep making money from money.
Ordinary poor families struggled with basic necessities. Unless an exceptional individual emerged from the family, they were basically doomed to perpetual poverty, generation after generation facing the yellow earth.
But Qi Huan's appearance disrupted this established order.
She didn't spread ideas of utopian society or communism.
Instead, she continuously expanded her business empire, constantly made money, protected the weak, allowed them to survive with dignity, enabled them to receive education, and change their fate through their own abilities.
On the other hand, by opening shops and factories, she provided employment opportunities for the common people.
By developing agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry according to local conditions, she created local specialties, developed local economies, and gave people more options.
However, she knew that without Li Shuchen's power and Xiu Yuan's capable management, it would be difficult for her ideas to become reality.
But fortunately, she had money when she needed it, powerful backing when she needed it, and talented people when she needed them. Everything was progressing steadily, albeit with some twists and turns.
Given her contributions to Li Country, the system had added quite a few points for her recently. She directly attained an eighth-level system and gained a new ability - she could hide in her space and take objects from the outside world.
"I think I could become a master thief now..." she mused.
The system was speechless: "At level seven, you wanted to be a spy. At level eight, you want to be a master thief. I really don't know what you'll want to do when you reach level nine in the future!"
"That depends on what the level nine function will be!"
Just as Qi Huan was bantering with the system, Xiu Yuan suddenly interrupted their mental conversation.
"Miss Qi, there's one more piece of bad news I need to tell you."
