19. Vegetable Sale_1

Wu Lan had eaten only one bowl and was full, but not completely satisfied.

However, considering the appetites of her family members, they were definitely all overstuffed tonight, so she flat-out refused, "Let's eat the dumplings tomorrow morning. Come on, try this wild vegetable we picked today!"

What she picked was malan head, purslane, and watercress. To keep things simple and purely to test the taste, she boiled them briefly and then mixed them all together with the same seasoning.

At this moment, the red chili, white sesame, dark brown soy vinegar, and the green tender leaves and stems were intertwined, and a fresh, sour and spicy fragrance wafted towards them.

Song Sancheng no longer hesitated and quickly grabbed some with his chopsticks and brought it to his mouth—

"Mmm!"

Delicious, spicy, refreshing, and crunchy… A mix of flavors and textures all in one, making Song Sancheng unable to stop eating, with each grasp of his chopsticks taking almost half a plate of the vegetables.

It's just that…

"This is so appetizing; I should have cooked a pot of rice," he lamented.

But Wu Lan glanced at his belly and said, "Stop eating, will you? Aren't you afraid of bursting—you're going to make yourself sick. Let me have a taste!"

Once she tasted it, the whole family fell silent.

After a while, Wu Lan hesitantly asked, "Did we sell this too cheaply for ten yuan?"

Song Tan made a swift decision, "It was practically a giveaway—trust me, 20 yuan a bunch!" Selling early in the morning, there was no fear if they didn't sell out because the returning customers who've already eaten at noon would definitely come back!

Now, making money was crucial!

Wu Lan instantly regretted, "If I had known, I would have sampled just a few stalks of each!"

…

Early the next morning.

It was indeed early. Song Tan was woken up at 5:30 a.m., and while Song Sancheng also planned to help carry the vegetables, he found that his daughter could carry a basket in each hand, and Qiaoqiao could hold another, so they quickly loaded seventy or eighty bundles of wild vegetables onto the vehicle.

"Do you really not need me to come along?"

"No need for that, Qiaoqiao is here, and Qiaoqiao can help, right?" Song Tan waved him off.

Qiaoqiao next to her agreed enthusiastically, "Yes! Qiaoqiao is enough!"

Song Sancheng stood there aimlessly, his hand outstretched, suddenly feeling the bittersweetness of "getting old."

He was brought back from his thoughts by Wu Lan's voice, "There are a few dumplings left in the pot, you want them?"

"Yeah!" He immediately discarded the fleeting sentimentality.

…

Uncle Wang, who drove the van, was a local acquaintance. While keeping an eye on the road, he asked curiously, "Tantan, are you off to the city to sell these vegetables?"

Song Tan nodded, "Yes, it's cold now, so it's nice to eat something fresh. If we can't sell it all, we'll eat it ourselves, no trouble at all."

That made sense.

Uncle Wang nodded, "That's good, young people these days are hesitant to take on such hardships. Your parents are lucky!"

After a bit of mutual business flattery, the van stopped by the well-known market in the old district. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet.

The market wasn't formally planned; it was just next to the river, with easy access from all sides, so everyone tacitly set up shop there, shouldering baskets and pushing carts to sell their goods.

Song Tan didn't even have to pay any kind of stall fee. She laid out her baskets in front of her, set up two folding stools, and took out a stack of plastic bags. Everything was ready to go.

"I'll handle the selling, Sister!"

Qiaoqiao couldn't wait.

Song Tan quickly gave up the prime spot to him, "Alright, Qiaoqiao will sell—but you know the price, right?"

"I do!"

Qiaoqiao geared up, "Twenty yuan a bunch, no haggling!"

That was all he needed to know.

Song Tan thought for a moment and put up the two QR codes she had printed out at the Village Department yesterday—one was a payment code.

The other: a QR code for a group called "Fresh Wild Vegetables Update Notification," inviting scanning to join, with advance notifications of fresh wild vegetables.

She would bet her cultivation life that anyone who tasted her wild vegetables today would definitely come back for more.

…

The weather was good that day. Although the sun had not yet risen by seven o'clock, there was a faint hint of dawn in the sky. The market bustled with housewives in fluffy fleece pajamas or old down jackets hurrying back and forth.

The siblings sat neatly on their small stools, looking similar with bright black pupils and fair skin, both pretty and charming, presenting the friendliest of visages.

And she's so young, too.

Just look at this market, let alone the stall owners, there are hardly any young people selling vegetables.

Customers buying groceries couldn't help but turn their gaze towards her.

They took the opportunity to check out the baskets in front of them—wow, what kind of weather is this? To have such fresh and tender wild vegetables already, and they're so neatly arranged!

"Miss, how much are you selling this shepherd's purse for?"

During the New Year, vegetables are so expensive, and with the constant coming and going of guests, everyone's first thought upon seeing shepherd's purse is fresh and tender dumplings.

As soon as this aunty asked, it was as if she started a trend, and slowly more people gathered around.

"I know, I know! Shepherd's purse, 20 yuan a bunch, one pound!"

Qiaoqiao couldn't wait to answer.

Sitting on a small stool, slightly tilting his head up to look at the aunty in front of him, he was both well-behaved and adorable, with his round, fuzzy little head, no older aunty could resist.

Moreover...

When adults speak, their tone is different from that of a child's.

The aunty who asked the question looked at him in surprise, as if she realized something. However, she saw Qiaoqiao still persistently staring at her, so she tentatively furrowed her brows:

"That's way too expensive, could you sell it for 10 yuan?"

"No can do," Qiaoqiao shook his head as if it were a rattle, emphasizing again: "Shepherd's purse dumplings, I had three bowls this morning!"

He held up his hand, forming the shape of the number three with his fingers.

Song Tan also laughed along: "Right, aunty, I dug these up myself yesterday. They really are especially fresh and tender, and 20 yuan is honestly not expensive."

"Moreover, each bunch weighs a pound, always more rather than less, you know how expensive greenhouse vegetables are now! Spring has arrived, why not enjoy some fresh wild vegetables to freshen up?"

She pointed at the QR code next to her: "If you aren't sure, scan the code to join the group. If it's not delicious, just message me on WeChat, and I'll refund you."

She spoke with extraordinary confidence, and the aunty in front of her made up her mind in an instant.

But in the basket in front of her, there were so many choices!

Which one should she buy?

She was torn.

However, as soon as the aunty hesitated, Qiaoqiao drooped his eyebrows and looked up at her with pitiful eyes:

"Aunty, don't you want to buy? Qiaoqiao dug them up!"

The aunty's heart melted, and everyone present also realized the situation, promptly agreeing: "I'll buy it!"

"But aunty doesn't know which one to choose, what should I do?"

Qiaoqiao blinked innocently: "Then just try a bit of each!" He also feels this kind of pain sometimes when buying snacks.

"Oh my!" The crowd around the stall laughed joyfully: "You little one, still quite greedy, aren't you? These are 20 yuan each, that would be a hundred yuan for one go."

But Qiaoqiao was not convinced: "Qiaoqiao has been eating them for two days straight."

"Shepherd's purse for dumplings."

"Wild chives to stew with crucian carp or stir-fry with eggs!"

"Ma... Ma..." He forgot the name.

Song Tan quickly patted his head: "Qiaoqiao is so brilliant!"

Then she swiftly showed everyone the vegetables: "Malantou can be fried with meat or served cold, watercress is also tender, and purslane is great for cooling heat and detoxification..."

"Our wild vegetables, guaranteed you'll want them a second time after one taste."

As she flipped the vegetables for everyone to see, each piece was verdant and tender, without a hint of damage.

And considering the expert buyers all around, who could tell with one touch that this girl hadn't shortchanged them—after all, 20 yuan a pound for freshly dug wild vegetables from the village wasn't really expensive.

The more everyone looked, the more tempted they became, compared to the greenhouse vegetables they were holding—

"Come on, give me two pounds of shepherd's purse, my son loves dumplings!"

"I'll take two pounds as well—plus a bunch of those wild chives, oh my, the real wild ones, so pungent! I haven't eaten them in over a decade!"

"I want some too! A bundle of the purslane for me, it's anti-inflammatory and diuretic..."

"Malantou is best for cooling down, I'll take that, two bunches—and shepherd's purse for me too!"

"Watercress! Watercress is so tender, I want three bunches, to take one home for my daughter!"