18. Clean up wild vegetables_1
After lunch, Song Tan grabbed a basket, planning to go dig for wild vegetables.
The sky was still gloomy, and with temperatures around ten degrees and no sun, it really couldn't be considered warm. On such a day, every household would be warming themselves by the fire, and few people would venture out.
Wu Lan glanced at the large basket her daughter was carrying and felt sorry for her hard work these days, "There's no need to go digging for wild vegetables so early; you can go in the evening. That way they'll stay fresher for tomorrow. Besides, there isn't much to gather in this weather, and it's quick work."
Song Tan thought of the densely packed greenery by the pond on the hill, figuring if there wasn't 'Spiritual Energy,' she really wouldn't need to be so proactive.
But at the moment, she took Qiaoqiao with her, "It's fine, Mom, you start making the dumplings. I feel like today's shepherd's purse is especially fresh."
Seeing her daughter's insistence, Wu Lan didn't try to stop her, but she muttered, "Shepherd's purse is the same whether it's yesterday or today... what could be different..."
She sat by the stove, planning to sort through the shepherd's purse she had dug up in the morning, but as soon as she picked it up, something felt off—
"How come this looks so good?"
...
Qiaoqiao was indeed a great helper; an episode of Peppa for a basket of vegetables, and in no time, he returned with a full basket of shepherd's purse.
Lush green, tender and juicy, it looked delicious no matter how you looked at it, almost exaggeratedly so.
Song Sancheng was helping to sort the vegetables, and when he took the basket, he paused, "Didn't you say there wasn't much yesterday? With a single rain, it's grown this much?"
This was a large basket, small bundles of shepherd's purse densely packed, heaping up high in the basket, wobbling as if a few stems might tumble out at any moment.
Qiaoqiao didn't understand these things and instead felt very proud, "There's still so much more—"
He thought to himself: Although sister isn't very good at farming, that's okay, Qiaoqiao now knows how to dig vegetables!
Qiaoqiao will support her!
Suddenly feeling ambitious, he didn't care about Peppa Pig anymore and went out again with two empty baskets.
Meanwhile, back at home, Song Sancheng dumped out the vegetables to weigh them, "Wow, that must be over ten pounds!"
Wu Lan was also surprised, but said, "It just rained, and the vegetables are wet, and they have a bit of mud on them. It's probably only ten pounds."
That's still quite a lot.
A basket of ten pounds, a zero-cost business, and at the price of ten yuan per pound, that's a hundred yuan already.
...
Digging wild vegetables this trip took a full three hours, and by the time Song Tan returned, it was already past four in the afternoon.
As fate would have it, just as she returned, another rain came pouring down.
The family of four didn't bother with making dumplings but hurried to deal with the wild vegetables!
Looking at the 'Spiritual Energy' infused wild vegetables, so crisp and appealing, sparking one's appetite, Song Tan didn't believe no one would pay ten yuan per pound, and her entrepreneurial spirit emerged:
"Mom, just pick them a little, give the mud a wash, but don't remove all the roots, and tie them up with some grass. One bunch, one pound and two ounces, so we don't lose any weight tomorrow."
Wu Lan was just about to pick each one clean and was thinking it would take quite some time.
Yet when Song Tan suggested this, Wu Lan couldn't help wondering, "With one pound, you'll only have about seven or eight ounces of edible part. Can you still sell it for ten yuan?"
Why not?
Song Tan opened her mobile app, and even the local delivery of vegetables in the city, lettuce cost 14.8 yuan per pound!
"Wild vegetables! Fresh ones, with a bit of dirt and moisture, ten yuan is cheap, okay?"
"You forgot about last year's toon, it was fifty or sixty a pound! And they sold them by twos."
That's true.
Wu Lan thought for a moment, "Alright, since there are no costs involved, you go ahead and sell them. Don't panic if we can't sell everything; we can take them back, blanch them, dry them, and freeze them in the fridge. We can still eat them during the New Year."
The family of four thus each had their own tasks.
Song Sancheng was responsible for cleaning the mud, Wu Lan for sorting the vegetables, Song Tan for weighing them, and Qiaoqiao for tying each bunch neatly with long grass.
By the time the sky was completely dark, they finally finished tidying up the wild vegetables. After weighing them—
Wow!
Malan heads, purslane, shepherd's purse, watercress, and wild chives—a total of 80 small bundles, weighing over a hundred pounds!
Song Sancheng immediately changed his mind, "Maybe we should rent a vehicle tomorrow, even though 200 yuan for a round trip is expensive, they will come to pick us up at our doorstep. Otherwise, how are we going to take so many vegetables on public transport?"
It would raise the cost all at once.
Song Tan made a decisive call, "Rent!"
"Right dad, I'll bring Qiaoqiao with me tomorrow."
Song Sancheng subconsciously opposed, "Why bring Qiaoqiao? You're going to do business, and if he starts fussing..."
However, before he could finish, Qiaoqiao loudly protested, "Qiaoqiao wants to sell vegetables!"
"Qiaoqiao won't make a fuss!"
"Qiaoqiao wants to go out!"
Wu Lan thought for a moment, sighed, and acquiesced, "Alright, bring him along. He should be exposed to unfamiliar environments. Otherwise, spending every day in the village, he doesn't even have anyone to play with."
Going to the city with him occasionally, she still had to endure the scrutinizing looks of others... Wu Lan's heart ached.
Song Tan pretended not to notice the bitterness in those words.
She had tried on the night she obtained the Spiritual Energy, and Qiaoqiao... he wasn't fully developed in the womb, even if her cultivation was successful, there wasn't much she could do about it.
All she could ensure was that he stayed strong and healthy, and fell ill less often. Perhaps add more exercises on top—what's wrong with a six-year-old's IQ? Aren't there many sensible six-year-olds?
So at this moment, she happily patted Qiaoqiao, "Good Qiaoqiao! I knew you were the smartest! You must help out a lot tomorrow."
Qiaoqiao proudly accepted, in a very loud voice.
The family had been busy for most of the day and only now began to feel ravenously hungry, but sorting the vegetables had left them with sore waists and backs, causing the cook Wu Lan to let out a perfunctory sigh,
"Alright, we just so happened not to have put away the dumplings we made this afternoon, so let's eat those."
Just right, Song Tan also wanted to taste today's shepherd's purse, "Mom, cook more."
Wu Lan had initially planned to cook about the same amount as in the morning, but with Song Tan's request, she grumbled about how much the family could eat while still cooking an extra bowlful.
However, when the dumplings were served, everyone's eyes widened at the first bite.
Qiaoqiao began kicking his legs excitedly, "Yummy! So delicious, mommy!"
As he spoke, he grimaced from the heat but still didn't let go of the dumpling in his mouth, holding onto his bowl firmly,
"The yummiest in the world!"
Song Sancheng devoured half a bowl in one breath before letting out a satisfied sigh, "Indeed, why are these dumplings so delicious today?"
Song Tan was even moved to tears: After so many days back home, they finally got to eat a meal that tasted normal and pure, oh heavens, she could show off with three bowls!
Only Wu Lan ate thoughtfully—
The dumpling filling she made this afternoon was the same as usual!
Could it be that after the spring rain, the shepherd's purse had become so much tastier?
She quickly finished her portion in a few bites, put down her bowl, picked a bunch from each of the neatly tied vegetables, and went back into the kitchen to hustle about. By the time she returned with another plate, the dumplings were already polished off.
Only Song Sancheng still gazed at her sycophantically, "I'm not quite full... how about we both eat a bit more?"