Chapter 23: The Shepherd's Purse is a Bit Old

Chapter 23: The Shepherd's Purse is a Bit Old

By the time Zhao Yang brought the rice to the table, the dish was already nearly empty.

Qinqin finally caught her breath. Seeing that her mother and son hadn't started eating yet, she felt a bit embarrassed and used her chopsticks to serve them a couple of bites

"Mom, Zhao Yang, try some! This dish is really good!"

The mother and son both took a bite with smiles on their faces—

Mmm!!!

Zhao Yang looked at the bottom of the plate, then at his wife, who clearly wanted more, and then looked at his mother expectantly: "Should we buy more tomorrow?"

...

A similar situation was unfolding in another residential complex.

Li Xiufen, sporting a trendy head of red curls, served a large bowl of dumplings to her granddaughter: "Yuanyuan, eat up! These shepherd's purse dumplings are so fresh! They're just as delicious as the ones this morning."

Her daughter-in-law watched this, caught between laughter and tears

"Mom, I told you, Yuanyuan is a picky eater. You gave her too much; she won't be able to finish it."

As she spoke, she pushed her own bowl over: "Here, Yuanyuan, give the leftovers to Mommy if you can't finish."

To her surprise, the little girl held her bowl, turned her head, and swallowed an entire dumpling in one "chomp," mumbling through her mouth: "Delicious! I can eat it all!"

Yuanyuan's mother was stunned.

"Is it really that good?"

This picky child had always had a weak digestive system; she would refuse this or spit out that. Even though she was in her final year of kindergarten, she looked less robust than a toddler in preschool. It was enough to drive a mother crazy.

But now, there were already over a dozen dumplings in her special little bowl! Looking at the child, she was devouring a dumpling every two or three bites without even looking up. She looked incredibly happy!

The mother-in-law finally felt a sense of accomplishment. She began to lecture: "It's because you two are too precious in your daily lives. This imported this, that organic that... you fuss and fuss, and look how thin the child is?"

"Just look, the wild vegetables at the market this morning were twenty yuan a jin. I made a soup with watercress for Yuanyuan's noodles this morning, and she ate a whole big bowl in one go. She didn't even want to leave when I dropped her off at kindergarten."

At the kindergarten gate, she even told her: "Grandma, are you going to make something this delicious again tonight?"

Oh my goodness!

Li Xiufen's heart had melted completely at that moment.

So, she had rushed to the market, and by some stroke of luck, she managed to grab the last three bunches of watercress.

Those three bunches were currently in the fridge, but she had quickly made dumplings with the shepherd's purse she had snatched up this morning.

Speaking of her conquest, Li Xiufen was quite proud

"You guys have no idea. I timed it perfectly. There was a young couple picking vegetables ahead of me, complaining that twenty yuan a jin was too expensive—"

Li Xiufen let out a disdainful snort: "I'm telling you, do you young people even know how to pick vegetables? These fresh, succulent wild greens—you can tell just by looking that they grew beautifully in the wild!"

"Besides, in this season, the supermarkets have everything, but even cucumbers are sixteen yuan a jin. Do they even have any flavor?"

"I'm just glad I managed to grab them."

As she spoke, no one joined in.

She looked down and saw that her son and daughter-in-law had already finished most of the dumplings in their bowls.

Her son even had the nerve to ask: "Mom, is there any more?"

Li Xiufen remembered that silly, sweet little girl from this morning, and her irritation flared up again: *Why is it that among all the kids, hers is the only one growing so well!*

She snapped, "It was only one jin of shepherd's purse. How many dumplings can you make with that?"

"Then... then just buy a few more jin tomorrow!" Her son was craving more! After that small bowl of dumplings, his stomach still felt empty. Didn't they say there was other food in the fridge...

Li Xiufen got even angrier!

"Eat, eat, eat! All you know is how to eat! You think I can just buy more whenever you say so? A few jin would cost a hundred yuan easily. Why don't you ever care about the money?"

Her son felt wronged.

*But Mom, didn't you just say twenty yuan wasn't expensive?*

Just then, Yuanyuan set her bowl down: "Grandma, I want to eat it again tomorrow!"

Li Xiufen's expression changed instantly, her face lighting up with joy: "Tomorrow morning we'll cook noodles. If the dumplings are gone—well, Grandma joined a group chat today. I'll ask in a bit if they're selling more tomorrow. Next time, we'll buy ten jin and freeze them all as dumplings!"

The son and daughter-in-law exchanged a look, feeling as though they no longer held any status in the household.

...

Song Tan's small client group of 17 people was exceptionally lively tonight.

[Girl, when are you selling wild vegetables again?]

[Boss, can I pre-order? I want ten jin of shepherd's purse.]

[Little girl, I'm going to the park to dance in the mornings lately. Can I give you the money now and have you save some vegetables for me?]

Song Tan was in a great mood, so she gave a unified reply

[The weather is cold now, and the wild vegetables haven't fully grown yet. Ours are grown in a mountain hollow without pesticides or fertilizer, so there aren't that many. Therefore, there will be none tomorrow, and I am not accepting pre-orders.

Tentatively scheduled for the market the day after tomorrow at 7:00 AM. It will be my brother and me again. The next time we sell will be in three days; we have to give the vegetables time to grow.]

She then sent a short video she had taken while picking the vegetables today

The video showed sparse greenery across the mountains, as spring had not yet fully arrived, but there was a patch of emerald-green wild vegetables growing wildly and unrestrained on the hillside.

In the crevices of the ridges and by the edge of the pond, clusters of green would suddenly appear, proving that these were indeed naturally grown wild vegetables.

Just then, someone in the group spoke up

"Little girl, there's no cost for these wild vegetables in the field, so why are you selling them so expensively? You should make them cheaper. Also, they're underweight; one bunch was only eight taels, and the taste was just average."

Song Tan raised an eyebrow—underweight?

When she tied them, each bunch was one jin and two taels. In this weather, moisture hadn't evaporated at all; the leaves were upright and succulent. They couldn't be any fresher.

When she left this morning, she had picked a few bunches at random, and the weight had barely changed.

As for the taste being average? How could she not know the quality of what she grew?

This person was insulting her century of experience in farming.

And besides, there were only about a dozen people in this group, and someone was already nitpicking?

Song Tan wasn't one to indulge people.

So, she replied politely: "Hello. If they are underweight and don't taste good, please come to the market the day after tomorrow, and I will give you a refund."

*Is the boss this easy to talk to?*

After a long pause, someone else tentatively said: "Actually, I felt the shepherd's purse was a bit old..."

What month was it? The shepherd's purse hadn't even reached full size; how could it be old?

But if there was a chance to get something for cheap, why not take it?

Song Tan gave another unified reply: "That's fine. As long as you feel the taste is bad, I will issue a full refund to everyone the morning after tomorrow."

Since the taste was bad, then they shouldn't eat it in the future.

She sold vegetables to share her spiritual energy; she sought both profit and happiness, and there was no need to deal with such people. With a century of tempering, Song Tan rarely felt angry—because she usually resolved matters before she even had the chance to get angry.

However, while some wanted to take advantage, others spoke up for fairness

[Is what you're saying even making sense? You should know in your own heart if the vegetables are old or not!]

[Exactly. Boss, don't indulge them. If they're really that bad, they should have the guts to bring them back for a refund!]

[Girl, your wild vegetables are excellent! They're cleaned very well too. I picked through them for a long time yesterday and couldn't find many old leaves. They aren't fake...]

[That's right! If they don't want them, leave them for me!]

Although Song Tan wanted to make money, she wanted a peaceful life even more. So, she edited the group announcement

[1. Purely ecological, pollution-free wild vegetables. No specific varieties; a uniform price of 20 yuan per jin. Each bunch is weighed at one jin and two taels during sorting. Customers may weigh them themselves at home; any excess will be refunded, and any shortage will be compensated.

2. If the wild vegetables are not fresh or are old, please bring the uncooked or cooked leftovers to the market, and I will provide a full refund.

3. Homegrown with limited yield. I will notify the group in advance before each sale. Thank you for your support.]