The cellar floor was paved with stone bricks, each brick polished smooth and clean, with wooden frames at the four corners to support the cellar.

Su Yun'er asked the driver to help her arrange the ice bricks, then paid the fare and let him leave.

The temperature inside the ice cellar dropped even lower thanks to the ice blocks. Su Yun'er put on a thick cotton coat and cotton gloves, and began arranging the ice blocks in the ice cellar herself.

To prevent dust from settling in, Su Yun'er planned to build a small igloo in the cellar using ice bricks. She would use water as an adhesive, pouring it into the gaps between the ice bricks, which would freeze quickly and stabilize the ice bricks.

After working for more than an hour, the ice brick house was finally completed. The house was about the height of a person and slightly smaller than a cellar. Inside the ice house, there were ice tables built around the perimeter with ice bricks, and a large ice box in the middle, all for storing things later.

During this process, there weren't enough ice bricks, so Su Yun'er produced some more using an ice chest. This is why Su Yun'er didn't ask the coachman to stay and help.

The ice produced by the ice chest can be made in several forms, including shaved ice, bite-sized ice blocks, and even larger ice bricks. Su Yun'er used the larger ice bricks to build her igloo.

The cellar is finally cleaned up, and with these ice blocks, it's now a veritable ice cellar.

From now on, if we need ice, we'll just get it from here, saving us the trouble of explaining where the ice comes from.

Su Yun'er left the ice cellar and walked up the tunnel. The higher she went, the hotter it got. When she finally came out of the tunnel, a wave of heat hit her. It was almost noon, the hottest time of the day.

As usual, the children were given the day off today, so the yard was quiet and deserted.

As usual, Su Yun'er carried an empty basket into the shop.

The weather was hot, and Su Yun'er was sweating profusely from walking all the way, so she secretly took out a piece of ice from her space and put it in her mouth.

The shop was bustling with customers, and all the windows were open to let in fresh air, but the heat still lingered.

"Mother, open your mouth." Su Yun'er moved closer to Old Madam Chen, looking mysterious.

"What are you doing?" Old Mrs. Chen was confused, but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, Su Yun'er quickly stuffed an ice cube into her mouth.

The cool, refreshing ice cubes stunned Grandma Chen.

"This is?! Ice?! Where did you get this?" Old Mrs. Chen said, about to spit it out, but Su Yun'er quickly stopped her.

"Don't spit it out, it'll cool you down if you keep it in your mouth." Su Yun'er said, then went to the kitchen to find Lin Moniang and gave her an ice cube as well.

Lin Moniang was surprised for a moment, but then she realized what was happening. She happily sucked on the ice cube and immediately felt less hot.

"This is the first time I've ever had ice in the summer," Lin Moniang said with a smile, her eyes narrowed. "Yun'er, where did you get this? It's very expensive!"

"I went a bit further, so the prices of these I found were a bit cheaper," Su Yun'er said vaguely.

He Liu was also pleasantly surprised, but Su Yun'er didn't give it to her: "You're pregnant, this stuff is cold, you should bear with it a little longer."

Seeing He Liu pout, Su Yun'er smiled, filled a bowl with ice cubes, and placed it in front of her: "Here, when it's hot, use this bowl of ice to fan yourself and cool down, but you can't eat it."

He Liu then smiled and said, "I knew you wouldn't forget me. Don't worry, I wouldn't dare to do anything reckless with my own body and child."

Su Yun'er didn't bring much ice today, and without insulation, it would melt into water very quickly.

If you want to sell iced drinks in a store, the first problem to solve is how to store ice.

So when she went to "buy" ice in the morning, she pre-ordered an ice chest. The thing was quite large, and Su Yun'er couldn't carry it, so she paid a deposit, left an address, and asked the merchant to deliver the ice chest to the store. The merchant looked at the address and said that it could be delivered by noon today.

Just as Su Yun'er was instructing He Liu not to get too cold, a lively sound came from the doorway.

"Yun'er, someone is looking for you!" Old Mrs. Chen called to her from the doorway.

Su Yun'er came out to look and saw that many guests were gathered at the door.

In the middle of the crowd were the ice chest seller and his assistant, with a large, heavy wooden box beside them.

"Madam Su, the goods have been delivered. Would you like to inspect them?" The merchant cupped his hands in greeting and pointed to a box about half a person's height next to him.

Su Yun'er naturally wanted to inspect the goods. She opened the box and found the ice chest she had chosen that morning in the middle of the straw filling.

In real life, ice chests couldn't produce ice; they were merely storage containers for ice blocks, slowing down its melting and regulating room temperature. They could also be used to hold fruits, ice cream, and other chilled foods. Although these uses were temporary, in ancient times, only the very wealthy could afford such a thing. Ordinary farmers couldn't even afford ice, let alone use an ice chest.

So when the crowd saw the contents of the box, none of them recognized what it was.

"Lady Su, what did you buy? It looks like a furnace." someone asked.

"Oh, this is an ice chest!" Su Yun'er patted the object and said to the merchant, "Could you please help me carry it into the shop?"

The merchant's helpers immediately stepped forward, disassembled the wooden crate, removed the shock-absorbing straw, carried the ice chest to the back kitchen, and placed it in the position Su Yun'er had prepared in advance, as requested.

When the crowd heard that it was an ice chest, they were all surprised and began to discuss it endlessly.

Ice chests aren't cheap, so Su Yun'er couldn't have bought one just to use as a decoration or an ordinary box. Was she planning to sell ice from it?!

As the ice chest moved, everyone gathered at the kitchen entrance.

"Miss Su, what are you doing with this? Are you going to sell ice?" someone asked.

Su Yun'er smiled and said, "You've already guessed it, do you still need to ask?"

After paying the balance, the merchant and his assistant had a sip of tea and then left.

The remaining diners and onlookers were all waiting to see if Su Yun'er would take out the ice cubes next, and how she would take them out.