Chapter 33

The eldest aunt was shocked by the result she had analyzed herself.

What kind of agricultural planting?

It sounds so fancy, but isn't it just farming? What kind of future can there be in farming? The economy isn't good right now; isn't having a stable job better than anything else?

She hurriedly set the meat aside and rushed over to ask, "Big sister, are you serious?"

Wu Lan was washing vegetables: "Yes. See the car at the door? Tan Tan earned that selling wild vegetables."

What a clever way to put it! This was clearly bought for the purpose of selling wild vegetables.

Song Tan was blowing bubbles on the side; when the bubble popped, she was also stunned by what she heard.

Seeing that she was stunned, Qiao Qiao hurriedly reached out to touch her head: "Don't cry, don't cry, Qiao Qiao will blow a big one for you."

Song Tan didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Sister isn't crying, you blow one for Grandpa first!"

Grandpa is getting on in years, his legs and feet aren't good, and he has been in a wheelchair for the past two years, becoming increasingly listless. Now that his granddaughter and grandson are keeping him company, he looks happy, his toothless mouth stretched wide.

Song Tan's grandmother, on the other hand, still goes down to the fields to work from time to time, even more capable than the average young person.

At this moment, she looked at the large basin of shepherd's purse, disliked that the tap water was cold, and chased Wu Lan to the side:

"You, this shepherd's purse is something we have in our own fields, why did you bring so much?"

"Didn't you say Tan Tan can make money selling this? It would be better to keep it to sell."

The well water pumped from the tap was bone-chillingly cold, but Grandmother seemed not to feel it at all, clearly having grown accustomed to it.

Wu Lan looked at her graying hair, but at this moment, she didn't feel bad about the money: "The wild vegetables grew exceptionally well this year, and she's already earned quite a bit. It's not about this little bit; I came today just to make dumplings for you."

"When you and Dad don't want to cook, just boil some dumplings to eat. They're easy to chew and easy to digest."

Although they share a courtyard, Grandmother and the eldest uncle live separately and eat separately. They share good dishes when they have them, but they don't live together daily.

The eldest aunt also joined in: "Big sister, what are you thinking? Look at our Tan Tan, she grew up so well! After working in Ningcheng, she can find a local person and enjoy such a good life!"

"Staying in the village, what kind of good partner can she find? Aren't you delaying her?"

She looked at Song Tan, who was teasing Grandpa with Qiao Qiao, and lowered her voice: "With Qiao Qiao like this, you mustn't drag the child down for his sake."

As someone with mild patriarchal thoughts, the fact that the eldest aunt could say this shows she truly cares for the child.

Wu Lan wasn't angry: "Sister-in-law, I didn't agree at first either, but when Tan Tan came back, she was haggard and weak, saying she had worn herself out working—that's why I relented, letting her rest for a year or so first."

"As for farming, the child insists on doing it, and I figured there's plenty of space at home, so I let her toss about."

But regarding a partner...

"She's just getting into the swing of farming, and the little money she had has long been spent. Let her do it for now; when she gives up, we'll talk about going back to work."

Working outside is indeed exhausting; the eldest aunt's son and daughter are both struggling outside, so she sighed upon hearing this and put down the shepherd's purse in her hand:

"Making dumplings, right? I'll go mince the meat—oh my, you brought too much; once these dumplings are wrapped, they'll fill a whole refrigerator."

Song Sancheng was a bit greedy—the master chef Wu Lan is focused on making money, only thinking about selling these wild vegetables; if it weren't for Tan Tan's firm requirement, they wouldn't even think about making them at home.

Even so, the shepherd's purse dumplings at home had long since been eaten, and they hadn't made any since.

So he said triumphantly: "Sister-in-law, don't worry! We say these wild vegetables are twenty yuan a jin, and that's no bluff. You'll know when you eat them; they don't last long at all."

For example, their family of four needs over a hundred dumplings for one meal!

Today they brought ten jin of shepherd's purse, plus some other things, which won't last long at all.

The eldest aunt didn't believe it at all: "We eat shepherd's purse every year, what kind of tricks can it have?"

Turning her head to look at the two large bags of meat, she hurriedly shouted again: "Qiao Qiao, go to the front and call your uncle back to mince the meat!"

Eldest Uncle Wu Chengtao rushed back before long:

"Oh, good call! I've already lost two hundred, and they wouldn't let me leave the table, I was dying of anxiety!"

The eldest aunt scolded him: "You want to run as soon as you lose at cards; if it weren't for them not having enough people, do you think anyone would call you?"

Eldest Uncle was also aggrieved: "I said let's play for one yuan, but they wouldn't do it; otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have run."

The point is, who plays Fight the Landlord for one yuan!

The eldest aunt rolled her eyes and shoved the kitchen knife into his hand: "Hurry up, mince it so we can make dumplings tonight."

Eldest Uncle turned to wash his hands and asked: "Whose car is that outside? San Cheng, did you get your driver's license?" He also looked eager to try.

Song Sancheng waved his hands repeatedly: "No, no, I'm just taking the test; Tan Tan earned money selling vegetables at home and bought a car, saying it's more convenient for going out."

Good heavens!

Song Tan thought to herself, why is everyone gilding the lily for her? No wonder she's also quite good at talking—it's all hereditary.

Eldest Uncle looked at the car with envy: "Pickups are still better, they can carry things, so practical. When my son bought a car, I told him to buy a big one, but he wouldn't listen and bought a small sedan; the whole family is squeezed in."

Eldest Uncle's son is currently working in the city and recently got a girlfriend, so he used his savings, and the family scraped together some money to buy a car first, so he'd have face when visiting the girl's family later.

Looking at the meat on the cutting board again, he was dumbfounded: "How many dumplings are we going to make?"

Wu Lan started laughing:

"I came back this time intending to load a carload of rice straw from home to take back, so I had to buy more meat to make a gesture, right."

Eldest Uncle glared at her:

"Rice straw isn't worth anything, take it if you want, but getting so much all at once, how long will it take to eat all this?"

Song Sancheng still had that mysterious smile:

"If you can make these dumplings last until the end of the month, I'll be impressed! Hurry up, the vegetables are all washed, it's time to knead the dough."

He was waiting to eat.

So the whole family got busy in a grand manner.

By the time the dough was kneaded, even Grandpa, sitting in his wheelchair, started slowly wrapping dumplings.

Grandmother, on the other hand, looked at the shepherd's purse and smelled it, nodding secretly: "No wonder you said these vegetables are twenty yuan a jin; the smell is really different from before, it's fragrant."

When she said this, the eldest aunt also seemed to feel it was too fragrant, so she said generously: "Mom, you and Dad like soft and mushy food, so freeze these dumplings in your refrigerator later; if you want to eat, just boil some yourselves, it's nutritious and easy to digest."

"We don't need to, if we want to eat, we'll go dig some ourselves."

She also said to Wu Lan: "If you want to take rice straw, just take it directly; that stuff is useless except for starting fires. We don't plan to grow rice this year anyway, it's too much effort, might as well buy it to eat."

Wu Lan wasn't polite either: "Fine, I'll have Qiao Qiao and the others load the car in a bit. But sister-in-law, you and Mom just split half of these dumplings; they really are different from other wild vegetables."

She had tasted all the other wild vegetables in the village, and none of them had this flavor anywhere.