Chapter 17: Shepherd's Purse Dumplings

The spring rain fell even harder during the night.

The sound of the rain was a steady patter, rapidly moistening the soil in the quiet of the deep night. Cold, damp air, carrying wisps of white mist, permeated the mountain forests, ponds, and fields, making the green hues richer and the tender leaves stretch out even more...

By the time dawn broke, the rain had stopped, but the weather remained overcast.

Song Sancheng brought in a few armfuls of firewood from outside, stuffed them into the stove to make the fire burn brighter, and clapped his hands together. "What are we eating for breakfast?"

After several busy days, they had finally found some leisure time last night and this morning. Wu Lan had slept soundly for a change, and smelling the crisp, fresh air, she was in a wonderful mood.

"Let's have dumplings. The shepherd's purse from last night was so fresh."

The emerald-green shepherd's purse was finely chopped and mixed with minced meat that still had a bit of texture. A soft dumpling wrapper was used to wrap and fold them, and then a vinegar dipping sauce was prepared...

Delicious.

So delicious that one could almost swallow their own tongue.

Song Sancheng polished off two large bowls all by himself.

Qiaoqiao ate even more—three small bowls—and then drank half a bowl of the dumpling soup. "Mom, this is so good!"

The saying "a growing boy eats his father out of house and home" was no lie. They had only wrapped them last night, and Wu Lan had been planning to freeze the leftovers for breakfast, but she hadn't expected everyone's appetite to have increased so much lately; they had finished them all in one sitting.

Except for Song Tan.

They were fresh, yes, but they were also undeniably full of impurities. Song Tan ate a bowl of this mixed flavor, feeling as if she were eating a bowl of fragrant rice mixed with sand.

Every time she ate, she vowed to herself that she must grow her own rations.

Wu Lan looked at her still-thin frame and felt puzzled. "Did you ruin your stomach working in the city? You work hard every single day, so why is your appetite still so small?"

Song Tan thought to herself: It wasn't that her stomach was ruined; she had simply become a picky eater.

But if she were to be picky about eating wild vegetables, her mother would probably roll her eyes and scold her, "You've just eaten too much good food and gotten spoiled."

So, she changed the subject. "The wild vegetables yesterday were delicious, right? After this rain, they'll definitely be even better!"

Were the wild vegetables delicious?

How could they not be!

That handful of lush green Ma Lantou with red stems had been blanched and chopped, then mixed with a bit of minced meat.

Then, a duck egg was cracked and beaten, seasoned with cooking wine, salt, and MSG, and fried into egg shreds in the pan using a strainer.

Immediately after, green onions and ginger shreds were sautéed, and then the minced meat, Ma Lantou, and egg shreds were all poured in...

Crispy, fragrant, and refreshing—how could it not be delicious?

The remaining watercress was blanched and seasoned with salt and MSG.

Then, Sichuan peppercorns were slowly fried in oil until fragrant, and a sauce of soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sugar, MSG, peppercorn oil, chili flakes, and green onions was mixed in. The blanched, tender watercress stems were tossed in this...

Slurp!

Crisp, tender, refreshing, numbingly spicy, and fragrant.

Paired with wild onion and crucian carp soup and scrambled eggs, the family of four finished off the entire basket of wild vegetables from yesterday.

And then, after stuffing themselves, they had chopped the shepherd's purse to make dumplings.

Just thinking about it now made her mouth water.

If yesterday's wild vegetables were that delicious, today's, stimulated by spiritual energy, should be even better, right?

Song Tan thought about her first business venture. "Mom, how much should I sell them for per jin tomorrow morning?"

Even though it was early March and the "Awakening of Insects" had passed, the green vegetables hadn't really started growing yet; it was a time of scarcity.

Lettuce was bitter, the bok choy was already old, and the yellow-hearted cabbage wasn't sweet. A trip to the supermarket meant any greenhouse vegetable would start at ten or eight yuan.

Wu Lan managed the household with ease, but she had zero experience selling wild vegetables. She thought for a moment. "Why don't you just sell them for ten yuan a jin?"

No particular reason; it was just easy to calculate.

This price was truly not expensive for the current green vegetable market, but after all, they were wild vegetables. Wu Lan knew in her heart that everyone in the city loved them, but her childhood experiences still made her subconsciously indifferent to them.

Therefore, she said the "ten yuan" with a distinct lack of confidence.

Song Tan thought about it; ten yuan was fine.

Wild vegetables didn't go far; even a large handful would shrink into a small clump after blanching. She believed the quality nourished by spiritual energy would be absolutely top-notch, but for a first business venture, she had to let everyone taste the quality before worrying about the future.

"Alright, ten yuan it is!"

Song Sancheng suggested, "The shepherd's purse this year is really good. Why don't we wrap some more dumplings and freeze them? Otherwise, in two days, when we start inoculating the mushroom spores, we'll be too busy and just eat whatever we can find."

In two days, once they were prepared, they would start inoculating the spores. Song Sancheng discussed it with Song Tan; this work didn't need to be done particularly fast, so they might as well hire some of the old men and women to do it.

"They're old, but their hands aren't necessarily slow. Even if they are slow, Tan Tan, don't be impatient... There are only so many households left in our village now. They're old, and every day they just sit there, dazed or dozing off; it's a pitiful sight."

"Why don't we just call them over? We won't mention money; they can just work slowly. When they're done, we'll buy some meat to help them take home, and if there's anything to do, we'll lend a hand. When they're working, your grandparents can help keep an eye on them... Do you think that'll work?"

It would work.

How could it not?

Song Tan agreed readily.

For one thing, the wood ear and silver ear mushrooms weren't in a rush to sprout yet... and she hadn't even finished setting up the outer netting!

For another, they were all villagers; who else would she hire if not them? Her grandparents had been becoming increasingly depressed over the past few years; having something to do was better than just sitting around dazed.

It was just...

Song Tan looked at their small courtyard, which was already crowded with a motorcycle and flower beds. "Our courtyard is a bit small, isn't it?"

Inoculating the spores required pressing them into small holes pre-drilled into the chestnut logs. The logs were somewhat long and heavy; the courtyard could hold them, but moving around would be inconvenient.

Song Sancheng thought for a moment. "I'll go talk to your grandfather later; we'll just put them in his courtyard; it's spacious there. Your grandmother can be in charge of cooking, and your mother can go help... There are only eight or nine old folks in the village; they don't eat much. We can just take the rice, flour, and vegetables from our house."

The family of four sorted out the plan (Qiaoqiao was in charge of humming along) and felt everything was arranged. Seeing it was almost nine o'clock, Song Tan quickly called out to Qiaoqiao:

"Let's go, take a large basket and go dig shepherd's purse!"

And while they were at it, see how many wild vegetables had been stimulated by the spiritual energy yesterday.

Climbing up the hillside with familiar ease once again, Qiaoqiao was stunned.

He opened his mouth. "(⊙o⊙) Wow!"

"Sister, it's so green!"

And wasn't it green?

Wild onions were growing wildly in clumps, dense as layers of hair, occupying the entire edge of the mountain slope.

The Ma Lantou, which had barely been enough for one plate yesterday, were now competing to poke out their emerald-green heads, green stems and red stems squeezed together, as if afraid that one pull wouldn't yield a full plate.

Shepherd's purse... shepherd's purse went without saying, growing densely in every crack, the leaves so tender they seemed ready to drip water.

Even before picking them, one could smell the intense fragrance of fresh grass from this patch.

It formed a stark contrast with the branches in the nearby woods, which were only just beginning to sprout green leaf buds.

Song Tan had actually been mentally prepared and was very confident. But at this moment, she was still dazed, relying on Qiaoqiao to help her dig a basket of fresh, tender shepherd's purse to take back.

On the way back, she took a detour to the pond to take a look.

Very good.

King Mimi patches of watercress and purslane were claiming territory, growing wildly as if they'd been injected with hormones; you couldn't even see the ground or the water surface by the pond anymore!

She suppressed the joy in her heart—

These vegetables were really giving the spiritual energy a lot of face! ===== CHAPTER 18 =====