Chapter 18: Cleaning Wild Vegetables

After lunch, Song Tan picked up a basket, intending to go dig wild vegetables.

The weather remained overcast, with temperatures in the low teens; without the sun, it really couldn't be called warm. In this weather, every household was staying inside to keep warm by the fire, and few people went out.

Wu Lan looked at the large basket she was carrying and felt a pang of sympathy for how hard her daughter had been working lately. "You don't need to go dig wild vegetables so early. Go in the evening so they won't be stale by tomorrow. Besides, there aren't many in this weather, and they'll be quick to clean."

Song Tan thought of the dense green by the hillside pond and thought that if it weren't for the spiritual energy, she really wouldn't need to be this proactive.

But at this moment, she took Qiaoqiao with her. "It's fine, Mom. You go ahead and wrap the dumplings; I have a feeling today's shepherd's purse is especially fresh."

Seeing her daughter insisted on going, Wu Lan didn't stop her, only muttering, "It's all shepherd's purse; what difference could there be between yesterday and today..."

She sat by the stove, intending to sort through the shepherd's purse dug up in the morning, but as soon as she picked it up, she felt something was off—

"Why does this look so good?"

Qiaoqiao was truly a great helper. One basket of vegetables in exchange for one episode of Peppa Pig, and before long, he returned with a full, large basket of shepherd's purse.

Lush green, fresh and tender—no matter how you looked at it, it looked delicious; no matter how you looked at it, it looked exaggerated.

Song Sancheng was helping sort the vegetables, but when he took the basket, he was stunned. "Didn't you say there wasn't much yesterday? After one rain, they grew this fast?"

This was a large wicker basket. The shepherd's purse, though small individually, was piled densely together, heaped high in the basket, trembling as if a few stalks might fall off at any moment.

Qiaoqiao didn't understand these things; instead, he was very proud. "There's still lots and lots—"

He thought to himself: Although sister isn't very good at farming, it doesn't matter; Qiaoqiao can dig vegetables now!

Qiaoqiao will support her!

Suddenly, a surge of boldness arose. He didn't even care about Peppa Pig anymore, grabbed two empty baskets, and headed out again.

Back at home, Song Sancheng poured out the shepherd's purse and weighed it. "Oh my, this must be over ten jin!"

Wu Lan was also surprised, but, "It just rained, so the vegetables are soaked, and there's some mud on them. It's probably only ten jin."

That was still quite a lot.

This basket of ten jin, a business with no overhead, calculated at ten yuan a jin, was one hundred yuan.

This trip to dig wild vegetables took a full three hours. When Song Tan returned, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Coincidentally, as soon as she got back, another rain began to pour down.

The family of four couldn't even worry about wrapping dumplings; they had to hurry up and clean the wild vegetables!

These wild vegetables stimulated by spiritual energy looked crisp and dripping with freshness, full of appetite. Song Tan didn't believe no one would pay for them at ten yuan a jin, so her inner profiteer emerged:

"Mom, sort through them a little, rinse off the mud, don't cut off all the roots, and just tie them with a few blades of grass. One bundle is one jin two liang, so we don't have to worry about them being underweight tomorrow."

Wu Lan had just been preparing to sort each one cleanly, thinking it would take quite a while.

She hadn't expected Song Tan to say this, and she couldn't help but be puzzled. "Then with one jin, you can only eat seven or eight liang? Can you still sell it for ten yuan?"

Why couldn't she?

Song Tan opened a mobile app; local vegetable delivery in the city was already charging 14.8 yuan a jin for lettuce!

"These are wild vegetables! Fresh wild vegetables with a bit of soil and moisture—ten yuan is cheap, okay?"

"Don't you remember the Chinese toon last spring? It was fifty or sixty yuan a jin! They were even sold by the liang."

That was true.

Wu Lan thought for a moment. "Alright, there's no overhead anyway, so go ahead and sell them. Don't panic if you don't sell them all; bring them back, and I'll blanch and dry them to freeze in the refrigerator. We can still eat them for the New Year."

The family of four then divided the work.

Song Sancheng was responsible for cleaning the mud, Wu Lan for sorting, Song Tan for weighing, and Qiaoqiao for using long grass to tie each pile neatly.

By the time it was completely dark, the pile of wild vegetables was finally finished. Weighing them again—

Whoa!

Ma Lantou, purslane, shepherd's purse, watercress, wild onions—a total of 80 small bundles, adding up to over a hundred jin!

Song Sancheng immediately changed his mind. "Why don't we just charter a car tomorrow? 200 yuan for a round trip is expensive, but they come to the door to pick us up. Otherwise, with so many vegetables, where would we go to catch a ride?"

That meant the costs were suddenly going up.

Song Tan made a prompt decision. "Charter it!"

"By the way, Dad, I'm taking Qiaoqiao with me tomorrow."

Song Sancheng subconsciously opposed. "Why take Qiaoqiao? You're going to do business; if he starts acting up..."

However, before he could finish, Qiaoqiao protested loudly: "Qiaoqiao wants to sell vegetables!"

"Qiaoqiao won't act up!"

"Qiaoqiao wants to go out!"

Wu Lan thought for a moment and sighed. "That's fine, take him. It's time he saw an unfamiliar environment. Otherwise, staying in the village every day, he doesn't even have anyone to play with."

Occasionally taking him into the city, he had to endure other people's stares... Wu Lan felt heartbroken.

Song Tan pretended not to hear the bitterness in those words.

She had tried on the night she gained spiritual energy; Qiaoqiao... he hadn't developed fully in the womb. Even though she had achieved success in cultivation, there was still nothing she could do.

She could only say she would ensure he stayed strong and healthy and got sick less often. And while she was at it, let him get more exercise—what did it matter if he had the IQ of a six-year-old? Weren't there plenty of sensible six-year-olds?

So, she patted Qiaoqiao happily. "Good Qiaoqiao! I knew you were the smartest! You must help me well tomorrow."

Qiaoqiao accepted proudly, very loudly.

The family had been bustling about for most of the day and only now felt hungry, but their waists were sore from sorting vegetables. The chef, Wu Lan, let out a perfunctory sigh:

"Alright, it just so happens we didn't have time to put the dumplings we wrapped this afternoon in the refrigerator, so let's just eat those."

Coincidentally, Song Tan also wanted to taste the shepherd's purse from today. "Mom, boil a bit more."

Wu Lan had originally intended to boil about the same amount as in the morning, but with Song Tan saying that, she muttered about the family eating too much while still boiling an extra bowl's worth.

However, when the dumplings came out of the pot, as soon as they took the first bite, everyone's eyes widened.

Qiaoqiao started kicking his legs excitedly. "So good! So good, Mom!"

As he said this, he was scalded and baring his teeth, but even so, he didn't want to spit it out, still holding the bowl firmly:

"The best in the world!"

Song Sancheng wolfed down half a bowl in one breath before letting out a satisfied sigh. "Exactly, why are these dumplings so delicious today?"

Song Tan was even moved to tears of joy: She had been back for so many days, and finally, today, she had eaten a normal meal without impurities. My god, she could polish off three bowls too!

Only Wu Lan, while eating, was thinking—

The filling for the dumplings mixed this afternoon was exactly the same as usual!

Could it be that after a spring rain, the shepherd's purse had all become this delicious?

She finished in a few hurried bites, put down her bowl, picked a handful from each of the tied-up wild vegetables, and went into the kitchen to clean them again. By the time she came out with the plate, the dumplings had already been eaten clean.

Only Song Sancheng looked at her ingratiatingly. "I'm not full either... How about we eat a little more?" ===== CHAPTER 19 =====