Chapter 513: What else is there to sell?

Qiaoqiao's spicy livestream continued until his phone ran out of battery. Once the viewers in the livestream room saw the black screen again, they exercised their self-management skills and silently dispersed.

Meanwhile, Song Tan and the others, who had watched the entire livestream, wore much more subtle expressions.

She pinched her fingers to calculate: "I estimate their trip won't last much longer."

Wu Lan was biting into a tender water caltrop. Hearing this, she glanced at her: "Do you still need to put on that mystical act of pinching your fingers? Isn't it obvious? The things they brought are finished, and now there's nothing left to eat... If they don't come back, they'll just be waiting to suffer!"

Isn't that the truth!

Everyone had watched with their own eyes as Xin Jun failed to hold off the thick-skinned crowd surrounding them. In the end, the three grown men had even distributed their soybeans one by one! Finally, they just poured the sauce directly into the buffet basins, so... everyone could at least get a taste!

The entire buffet was eaten with such gusto, with everyone having three to five bowls of rice each. The Cliff Restaurant was eaten clean, leaving not a single scrap...

If nothing else, they had certainly gotten their money's worth for that hundred yuan.

Song Sancheng ate a piece of watermelon, his face still full of joy and honesty: "Tantan, why don't you check our Taobao shop? That kid Yanping is truly thoughtful; even while traveling, he doesn't forget to drum up business for us!"

Whenever someone asked him, he would mention the Taobao shop. His advertising was truly heartfelt.

Song Tan:...

She didn't even want to click on the backend, just saying one word to let it rot:

"What else is there in the shop that can be sold?"

Song Sancheng:...

Alright then... That advertisement had been for nothing; in any case, there was nothing left in the shop.

Professor Song had watched the entire livestream, and now he had only one question—

"These roasted soybeans... are they for sale?"

What a silly question! Yan Ran was grabbing a handful of beans, eating them with a crunchy, fragrant crispness:

"These definitely aren't for sale, Teacher. Didn't we say we only planted two or three mu? It's not even certain there's enough for the whole family to eat!"

Professor Song let out a long sigh: "Then these soybeans of yours... shouldn't you plan for more space next year?"

"That's for sure!"

Song Tan was already counting on her fingers: "Soybeans and mung beans just need to be sun-dried. They are easy to sell, easy to process, and convenient for express delivery, and there are so many ways to eat them. Next year, we definitely need to plan a larger area!"

Professor Song silently noted this down.

He turned to look at the water caltrops—they really couldn't eat any more, they really couldn't!

"What about aquatic products? Lotus roots, water caltrops, fish, shrimp, ducks, and geese?"

Song Tan thought for a moment: "Don't worry about the water caltrops; let's keep them at this scale, just to eat them fresh."

"Lotus roots are a possibility! Currently, there are two ponds, one big and one small, plus the riverbank; all can be arranged."

"Fish and shrimp are a must, and let's raise more ducks; salted duck eggs are also easy to sell!" Although the duck eggs pickled in yellow mud at home would take a long time to be ready and they hadn't tasted them yet, she was full of confidence in the flavor.

"As for the geese..."

"Forget the geese." Song Tan sighed: "Dabai is already noisy enough..."

However, raising two more wouldn't be impossible, because ever since Dabai started mingling with the ducks in the pond during the hot weather, its duck-herding skills had skyrocketed. With one shout in the middle of the flock, those hundred or so ducks would have to line up quacking!

It was clear that its management prospects were bright.

Speaking of pickled duck eggs, Seventh Cousin also had something to say: "I used that strong sorghum liquor to roll a basket of duck eggs for pickling last time. It's been a week, so I reckon they're ready to eat—how about it? How do you want to eat them tonight? Cut them open directly, or mash some garlic to mix with the yolks for rice?"

Duck eggs pickled in liquor and brine were faster than those in yellow mud, and a week was indeed about right. Any longer and they would slowly become too salty.

"How about stir-frying some shredded potatoes with the salted egg yolks? Or maybe grind some beans tonight and have egg yolk braised tofu tomorrow? That would definitely go well with rice, right?"

As he thought about it, the menu expanded: "Then let's not make anything else tomorrow morning; just boil some white porridge, steam some rice cakes, and make do with the salted duck eggs."

Make do?

Who is settling?

Who is the one making do?

It's clearly a case of wishing we had ten or eight stomachs right now, ah ah ah!

Slurp!

Professor Song, at his age, really couldn't handle this constant eating, so he tried hard to shift his thinking to his profession: "I've seen your two ponds. The ecology by the bamboo forest is well-maintained, and the area isn't large, so just let the water caltrops grow as you planned."

"The one behind the mountain is very large; I suggest planting field lotus roots, which would be more suitable—by the way, are you focusing on lotus root cultivation or lotus seed cultivation?"

Song Tan said "Ah": "Aren't they the same? The lotus roots growing underneath shouldn't affect the flowers blooming and seeds forming on top, right?"

Professor Song:...

If you put it that way, then there's indeed no problem.

But those who grow on a large scale definitely have a focus—never mind, never mind, this family doesn't follow a focus! It's truly a case of eating whatever is available.

"Then let's focus on lotus seeds! Lotus seeds are easy to collect, process, transport, and store, which is more convenient than lotus roots. You can also sell them paired with your white wood ear mushrooms."

Professor Song was pondering the problem, and the three students began to organize their notes: "In that case, we need to clear the ponds and riverbanks during the dry season in winter; this can be set aside for later."

"For lotus seeds, the white lotus variety should be superior, right? The yield of red-skinned lotus seeds is too low."

"What about the lotus roots? We can't just look at the seeds; we should bring in some varieties to enrich the ingredients. The big pond should be for field lotus roots, as deep water is more convenient—red flower lotus roots?"

"As for the riverbank, we'll check the water level later. White lotus roots are crunchy; we can have cold-dressed lotus root sprouts with some vinegar and chili..."

Slurp!

Once the topic veered off, everyone couldn't continue talking.

Meanwhile, Song Sancheng finally threw down the water caltrop vines in his hands: "Finally finished picking!"

He had been sitting there all afternoon. Now that he had his freedom, he didn't care about the scorching sun outside; he grabbed a rake and went to turn over the old tea leaves outside the courtyard.

He asked Wu Lan: "What did the village say? When can the old tea branches pruned from the mountain be brought back?"

"What's the rush!" Wu Lan was very steady now: "It's so hot, we have to wait until the sun sets! Don't worry, it's only five mu of land; Tantan can just drive the truck up the mountain a few times."

"The leaves will be picked tomorrow, so nothing will be delayed."

Song Sancheng wasn't just being impatient!

"Zhang Yanping doesn't forget to advertise for the family even while traveling, but there's nothing to sell in the shop. Isn't this... isn't this..."

Since the Taobao shop opened, when had it ever been this empty? Without a sustainable income of tens of thousands of yuan every day, while also leasing mountains, planning, and dealing with riverbanks, Song Sancheng couldn't help but feel panicked!

Hearing this, Wu Lan also felt a bit panicked.

Because she remembered that because it was too hot and the vegetable garden couldn't keep up with supply, the vegetable selling business here had also been stopped.

Now, besides the few straw mats sold every day, all that was left in the house were the few watermelons on the mountain. Apart from that, there really was nothing else!

The couple pondered under the scorching sun for a while, and suddenly thought of one that had been missed—

"Tantan, the fish in the pond are about grown, right? Can we cast the nets and sell them?"

They hadn't put in few fish fry in the spring, and they had set several ground cages to catch all the snakehead fish. With no natural predators in the pond, the fishing enthusiasts had spent two months pulling weeds one by one, spending quite a bit of money, but they hadn't managed to trick many fish...

By this calculation, the pond should be full now, right? ===== CHAPTER 514 =====