Chapter 27: You're still the best

Chapter 27: It Has to Be You

"Dad, when are the people delivering the fencing coming?"

"They'll be here in a bit."

Song Tan surveyed the chestnut trees on the hillside, their branches clawing at the air as they began to sprout. She planned to enclose this entire forest and then plant black fungus and silver ear fungus within it.

As for this chestnut grove, she knew well that the family hadn't tended to them for many years, meaning the annual yield depended entirely on the whims of heaven.

Chestnuts weren't easy to manage; they required grafting, pruning, and fertilizing.

Their village, Yunqiao, was too remote, and these weren't any premium variety. The purchase price hovered around one or two yuan every year, which was significantly higher than the eighty cents from Song Tan's childhood memories.

The problem was that the young people in the village capable of earning such money had all left for the cities.

The older ones, like Song Sancheng and his peers, could no longer handle such heavy farm work.

Time truly flies and ages everyone!

In the very center of the hillside stood a wild chestnut tree as tall as a three-story building, its canopy blotting out the sun, growing right in the middle of the slope.

This was a wild, ancient tree that the family had never tended. The chestnut balls weren't much larger than ping-pong balls, and the peeled chestnuts were only about the size of a thumb, but they were incredibly fragrant when eaten.

It had been specifically left behind by her grandfather, Song Youde.

Song Tan looked up at it, her mouth watering for some reason. She remembered the times spent huddled around a stove in winter, listening to the "pop" of chestnuts bursting open...

Rich, roasted aroma, soft and sweet.

Without hesitation, she gathered a soybean-sized amount of spiritual energy and gently patted the trunk, feeling the roots stretch out to their heart's content beneath the earth. Only then did she reluctantly withdraw her gaze—

"Grow well! I'm counting on you for the New Year!"

Song Sancheng was already calling her from ahead: "Come take a look. Will it work to drive the stakes and install the fencing here?"

Installing wire mesh would be too expensive for them, so they opted for ordinary rope netting. Most of the time, it served merely as a hint to those prone to shoplifting—

*This belongs to someone; don't touch it.*

It was a way to deter the "gentlemen" but not the "villains"—most rural facilities operated on this principle.

Song Tan did a quick mental calculation before nodding. "Okay, let's do it here."

Seeing her serious demeanor, Song Sancheng couldn't help but laugh. "Look at you, acting all professional—as if you actually know how to do it."

Song Tan teased him back, "What if your daughter actually has talent? That's my dad for you, willing to listen to me and give me space to show off my skills!"

Song Sancheng was indeed flattered into a daze. "Of course! When you were little, I let you ride on my shoulders every single day—"

After saying this, Song Sancheng checked to make sure no one was around and whispered, "Tan Tan, you've been earning quite a bit lately, haven't you?"

It was already mid-March, and Song Tan had sold wild vegetables six times. She had indeed earned a fair amount—fifteen thousand yuan, enough to fill half a truck.

Song Tan looked at her father with a smile. "I do have some money on hand. Why do you ask, Dad?"

Song Sancheng was overjoyed, acting bashfully. "Well... you love fish, don't you? I was planning to go fishing on rainy days when there's no work. Do you remember Uncle Wu in our village? He bought a new fishing rod for over five hundred yuan!"

"Look, how about... you buy me one too? If your mother asks, just say it was eighty yuan."

Sigh, he had no other hobbies now; he just wanted to fish!

Song Tan felt a pang of heartache—the family lived so frugally just for her and her brother.

But speaking of fishing rods...

Song Tan negotiated with him. "Dad, if you can quit smoking, you could save a thousand or two a year. I'll chip in another 2,000, and we can buy a 4,000-yuan rod!"

Song Sancheng: "..."

He fell silent for a moment. "You don't understand. Real fishermen don't care about the rod. You don't need a rod worth thousands; I feel like this current one is quite handy."

Well, it seemed tobacco held a higher priority than fishing rods!

Asking him to quit smoking immediately seemed unrealistic.

Song Tan thought for a moment and simply pulled out her phone. "But Dad, you've worked hard lately. It's just a fishing rod, right? It's just a few bundles of wild vegetables! Tell me what kind you want, and you can pick it out first!"

The sound of a car approached from the distance—the people delivering the fencing had arrived.

...

Back at home, Wulan was still inoculating the mushroom spores at Song Youde's place. It should have been arranged much earlier, but because the trees cut a while ago were too damp, they had to air-dry the logs for a few more days before drilling the holes.

They were only just officially starting the inoculation.

Song Sancheng said with a smile, "The ones coming are all from your grandparents' generation. They get to chat with your grandparents every day, which keeps their spirits up."

"All the elderly people in our village have come. There are only two I didn't invite—those two are usually too much for most people to handle."

Song Tan knew exactly which two.

One was the village's notorious unreasonable person, the kind even their own biological children couldn't deal with.

The other was a powerhouse who once dared to poison someone's livestock just to steal a pumpkin (though they failed)...

In other words, people like that were everywhere; one could only stay far away from them.

Song Sancheng also found it speechless, so he moved on to another matter

"But Tan Tan, we didn't mention money at the start—they are old, after all. If we talk about wages, and then someone gets a headache or trips on the road, their family might claim it's an employment issue and demand compensation. We wouldn't be able to argue our way out of it."

Even though they were all villagers, there was no shortage of unreasonable people.

It was better this way. Wang Lifen just had to call out in the village, and whoever wanted to come could come. They were provided with food, drink, and company, which was enough to make the lonely elderly happy.

Not to mention, Song Sancheng had said that once the work was done, everyone would receive two slices of meat, which made everyone work even harder.

However, being meticulous, Song Sancheng discussed something else with Song Tan

"But I was thinking, once we plant so many things, and you won't allow any pesticides—that's what they call 'green and organic,' right? The prices will definitely be high, won't they?"

That was a given.

Song Tan was currently unyielding about her price of twenty yuan per jin for wild vegetables, specifically to build this price advantage.

Having lived in the village for years, Song Sancheng's thinking was becoming increasingly thorough

"I was thinking, if we are the only ones growing this stuff, what if people just pick a little bit on their way past? We can't exactly stop them, can we?"

That was just how hometown life was—it had its pros and cons.

"Even if they don't pick it, what if the villagers want to buy it? If it's too expensive, they'll say we're being heartless. If it's too cheap, it's not appropriate—how about this: once the work is finished, we give each person a black fungus stick and a silver ear fungus stick as a gift."

"Tan Tan, what do you think?"

Song Tan hadn't actually considered that—cultivators usually had formation plates or barriers when farming; no one would ever think about someone else's crops!

She nodded repeatedly and gave Song Sancheng a thumbs up.

"Dad, it really has to be you!"

Song Sancheng laughed proudly. "Of course! Your dad has eaten more salt than you've eaten rice!"

(The two unreasonable people will be mentioned in later chapters.)

(Note: The values of the village are like this; it is a society built on personal connections. Regarding the elderly, it is a matter of precaution—years ago, a relative of mine went to a park to dance, and an old lady suddenly died of a myocardial infarction. As a result, her children sued all the ladies in the dance troupe for 500,000 yuan...)

(End of Chapter)