Ophelia had a highly successful trip to the Trading Market.
She had acquired nearly 200 head of game (for 20 catties of rice), 150 animal skins (for 10 catties of rice), and had also obtained one orange crystal (for 10 catties of rice) and ten Red Crystals (for 10 catties of rice).
She still had 150 catties of rice left. Since her Farm Space had a warehouse that prevented spoilage, she could hold onto it and sell it slowly over time.
It took an hour to travel from the Trading Market to the Snow Wolf Tribe, but because she was in such high spirits, Ophelia didn't even feel tired.
Taylor couldn't carry all 200 head of game and the animal skins by himself, so she hired two other males to help.
The moment the four of them entered the Snow Wolf Tribe with their haul, they drew many eyes, but Ophelia didn't care in the least. She led the group back to her stone house and gave half a catty of rice to each of the two males as payment.
Both males were stunned by Ophelia's "generosity."
"Little Female, this is too precious. We cannot accept this."
Ophelia smiled. "It's just some rice, it's nothing. I might need your help a lot more in the future, so take it. Don't be so formal with me."
She hadn't chosen these two males for no reason; they also sold goods at the Trading Market.
As her supply of rice grew, a single trading market would eventually be unable to consume it all.
These two males were selling nuts and pearls/gemstones, which were rare in both the north and the south. It was clear they traveled between the two regions often, and she could use them to help distribute her rice.
Upon hearing this, the two males stopped refusing.
"Little Female, my name is Sair."
"I am Ram. If you need any help in the future, just let us know."
"My name is Ophelia, of the Golden Dragon Clan. This is my protector, Taylor."
When she announced his status as her protector in front of others, Taylor’s brown eyes instantly lit up.
Previously, because Princess Loki had never acknowledged his status as her protector and had even ordered him never to mention it in front of others, he had been kept in the shadows.
Now that the princess had acknowledged his role, did that mean he might have a chance to become her...
Ophelia was still chatting with the two males and didn't notice Taylor’s affectionate and hopeful gaze.
It wasn't until the two males left that he spoke in a husky voice. "I, I’ll go make lunch."
Ophelia went back into the stone house, kept 50 head of game, and stored the remaining 150 in her Farm Space.
The 150 head of game were converted into 150 points, and the skins from those 150 head were worth 15,000 points. Since the game varied in size, it averaged out to 100 points per skin.
It seemed that animal skins were more valuable than meat.
If she had known, she would have kept the meat to eat and only used the skins to trade for points.
As for the crystals she had earned, they couldn't be converted into points, but they could be used to upgrade the land in the space—much like inlaying gems into the soil to reduce the maturation time of crops and improve the quality of the produce.
However, that would have to wait until the land reached level 10. Furthermore, the crystals needed to be synthesized and forged to remove impurities before they could meet the requirements.
She could research the crystals when she had more time. Right now, the priority was upgrading the land and unlocking the "one-click" features.
She spent 800 points to unlock "one-click harvesting" and "one-click sowing," leaving her with 14,350 points.
With so many points, she examined the upgrade mechanism for the Farm Space. The more land she had, the more crops she could grow.
[Upgrade: Farm Space: Level 1, Points required for Level 2: 5,000, Area expands to 150 square meters]
[Level 2 to Level 3 points required: 9,000, Area expands to 200 square meters]
[Level 3 to Level 4 points required: 25,000, Area expands to 250 square meters]
The higher the level, the more points it cost.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Ophelia went "all in" and upgraded the Farm Space to level 3, doubling its area.
Level 2 upgrade reward: [Maturation Alarm Clock]
Level 3 upgrade reward: [Automatic Re-sowing Service]
This meant she no longer had to plant manually; as long as there were seeds in her inventory, the Farm Space would sow them automatically, creating an integrated process from sowing to harvesting.
(14,350 - 5,000 - 9,000 = 350 points remaining)
She spent another 150 points to upgrade the warehouse. The level 1 warehouse could hold 200 catties of grain, and now the level 2 warehouse could hold 500.
Farm Space: Level 3, Area 200 square meters.
Points: 200
Warehouse: Level 2, Capacity: 500 catties, Current storage: 150 catties of rice.
The remaining 200 points were all spent on five bags of seeds to fill the newly expanded 100 square meters of land.
This time, she chose millet. This easy-to-digest food was better suited for little females during their postpartum period.
With that, all her points were spent.
The maturation time for millet was also 36 hours. With the [Maturation Alarm Clock], she didn't have to worry about it; she just needed to work hard to earn points to buy seed packs.
After upgrading the system, Ophelia sat in the house waiting for Taylor.
But the first ones to arrive were two other males.
The leading elderly male had silver-white hair that had lost its luster, but his green eyes remained sharp and filled with calculation.
This man was Solo, the soon-to-retire patriarch of the Snow Wolf Tribe, Loki’s father, and Amy’s grandfather—her "father-in-law" in name.
Following behind him, Loki had a dark, stormy face, his eyes looking as if they were spitting fire.
"Why are you here?" She felt annoyed just looking at Loki now.
"What do you mean 'why are we here'? Don't forget that the place you are living in right now is mine."
Ophelia crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "As long as you drip blood onto the Blood Crystal Stone to dissolve our partnership, I can move back to the Golden Dragon Clan right now and never step foot in your Snow Wolf Tribe again!"
"You..." Loki was rendered speechless.
Seeing the awkwardness of the situation, Solo, who had remained silent until now, stepped forward.
He scolded with a cold face, "Loki, watch your attitude."
Then, he turned to Ophelia with a pleasant expression. "Ophelia, I heard from Loki that you have a lot of rice in your possession?"
The calculation in his eyes was blatant and undisguised.
In her past life, she hadn't noticed a shred of this. Now that she thought about it, her "father-in-law" who was always so kind to her, and Loki, who subjected her to cold violence from time to time—they were simply playing the roles of the good cop and the bad cop just to keep her firmly under their thumb.
In her past life, she had thought they truly cared about her; she had treated him even better than she treated her own parents back at the Golden Dragon Clan.
Whatever he asked for, she would try her best to obtain, and if she couldn't, she would beg her parents in the Golden Dragon Clan for it.
Suddenly, it all became clear. Amy’s ungrateful behavior had a source—it was inherited, a family tradition.
Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "And then?"
"What do you mean 'and then'? Since you have so much rice, why don't you prioritize your own tribe instead of giving it away to outsiders? Hand over all the rice you have to Father right now!" Loki’s anger flared up at her indifferent attitude.
His father had already promised him that if Ophelia could produce fifty catties of rice, his position as the next patriarch would be a certainty.
At this critical moment, he absolutely could not let this stupid female hold him back!
Solo said softly, "Ophelia, three little females in the tribe have recently given birth. They are in dire need of rice. Could you please bring out some rice for them to eat during their postpartum period?"
Ophelia smiled. "Of course I can. As long as you pay the price, I have as much rice as you need."
"About the payment..." Solo's smile stiffened.
Loki’s expression changed. "How can you be so selfish? You’re actually asking Father for payment! You are about to become the patriarch's wife; isn't it only right for you to make some contributions to the Snow Wolf Tribe?"
"The patriarch's wife? Aren't you saving that for Michelle? If you give it to me, what is she supposed to do?"
Loki’s favoritism toward Michelle had never been a secret in the tribe. All the tribespeople knew about it, were laughing at her behind her back, and were betting on when they would officially dissolve their partnership.