Chapter 18: Gathering Wild Vegetables

Chapter 18: Gathering Wild Vegetables

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

The sky remained overcast, and with temperatures in the teens, it wasn't exactly warm without the sun. In this kind of weather, most households stayed indoors by their fires, and few people ventured out.

Wulan glanced at the large basket her daughter was carrying and felt a pang of sympathy for her hard work lately. "You don't need to go so early to dig for wild vegetables. Go in the evening instead; that way they'll stay fresh. Besides, there won't be much in this weather, so it won't take long to gather."

Song Tan thought of the dense greenery by the hillside pond and mused that if there were no spiritual energy, she truly wouldn't be this proactive.

But at this moment, she brought Qiaoqiao along. "It's fine, Mom. You go ahead and make dumplings. I have a feeling today's shepherd's purse will be exceptionally fresh."

Seeing that her daughter was determined to go, Wulan stopped trying to dissuade her, only muttering, "It's all just 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 they had gathered in the morning, but as soon as she picked some up, she felt something was off—

"Why does this look so beautiful?"

...

Qiaoqiao was truly a great helper. One basket of vegetables was exchanged for one episode of Peppa Pig, and before long, he returned with a massive, overflowing basket of shepherd's purse.

It was lush green, tender, and looked incredibly delicious—almost impossibly so.

Song Sancheng was helping sort the vegetables. He took the basket and froze in surprise. "Didn't you say there wasn't much yesterday? After just one rain, they grew this fast?"

It was a large wicker basket. The tiny stalks of shepherd's purse were piled densely together, heaped so high they wobbled, looking as if a few might spill out at any moment.

Qiaoqiao didn't understand the logistics; instead, he was very proud. "There's still so, so many more—"

He thought to himself: *Even though Sister isn't very good at farming, it doesn't matter, because Qiaoqiao knows how to dig vegetables now!*

*Qiaoqiao will provide for her!*

A sudden surge of heroism hit him. He didn't even care about Peppa Pig anymore; he grabbed two empty baskets and headed out again.

Back in the house, Song Sancheng poured the shepherd's purse out to weigh it. "Whoa, this must be at least fifteen pounds!"

Wulan was also surprised, though she noted, "It just rained, so the vegetables are soaking wet and covered in bits of mud. It'll probably only weigh about ten pounds."

Even so, that was quite a lot.

Ten pounds in one basket, with zero cost, would be a hundred yuan if sold at ten yuan per pound.

...

The vegetable gathering took a full three hours. By the time Song Tan returned, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Coincidentally, just as she arrived, another downpour began to lash down.

The family of four didn't have time to make dumplings; they had to hurry and process the wild vegetables!

These wild vegetables, nourished by spiritual energy, looked crisp and succulent just by looking at them, making one's mouth water. Song Tan didn't believe for a second that no one would buy them at ten yuan a pound, so her inner merchant emerged

"Mom, sort them out a bit. Rinse off the mud, but don't remove all the roots. Just take a few blades of grass to tie them up. Let's do bundles of one and a quarter pounds so they don't lose weight by tomorrow."

Wulan had originally planned to clean every single one perfectly, thinking it would take forever.

Hearing Song Tan's suggestion, she couldn't help but wonder, "If you do that, only about seven or eight ounces of each bundle will be edible. Can you still sell it for ten yuan?"

Of course she could.

Song Tan opened a mobile app; for local urban vegetable delivery, even lettuce was 14.8 yuan per pound!

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

"Have you forgotten the Chinese toon last spring? It was fifty or sixty yuan for five pounds! They were sold by the ounce."

That was true.

Wulan thought about it. "Alright, since there's no cost involved, just go sell them. Don't panic if you can't sell it all. Bring the rest back and I'll blanch and dry them to freeze. We can eat them during the New Year."

The family of four divided the tasks.

Song Sancheng was responsible for cleaning the mud, Wulan for sorting, Song Tan for weighing, and Qiaoqiao for using long blades of grass to tie each bundle neatly.

By the time it was pitch black outside, they had finally finished processing the vegetables. When they weighed them again—

Whoa!

Malantou, purslane, shepherd's purse, watercress, wild onions—a total of 80 small bundles, amounting to about a hundred pounds!

Song Sancheng immediately changed his mind. "Maybe we should hire a vehicle tomorrow. Two hundred yuan for a round trip is expensive, but they'll come right to the door. Otherwise, how are we going to transport this much produce?"

It would certainly increase the cost.

Song Tan decided instantly. "Hire one!"

"Oh, and Dad, I'm bringing Qiaoqiao with me tomorrow."

Song Sancheng instinctively objected. "Why bring Qiaoqiao? You're going to do business; if he starts a tantrum..."

Before he could finish, Qiaoqiao protested loudly, "Qiaoqiao wants to go sell vegetables!"

"Qiaoqiao won't make a scene!"

"Qiaoqiao wants to go out!"

Wulan thought for a moment and sighed. "Alright, bring him. He should see the outside world. Otherwise, staying in the village every day, he has no one to play with."

Taking him to the city occasionally meant enduring the stares of others... Wulan felt a pang of heartache.

Song Tan pretended not to notice the underlying bitterness.

She had tested it the night she gained spiritual energy; Qiaoqiao... he hadn't fully developed in the womb. Even with her cultivation, there wasn't much she could do.

She could only ensure he stayed healthy and avoided getting sick, while also getting plenty of exercise—what was wrong with a six-year-old's intelligence? Are there no sensible six-year-olds?

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

Qiaoqiao agreed with a loud, proud shout.

After working for most of the day, the family finally felt famished. However, their backs were aching from sorting the vegetables, so the head chef, Wulan, gave a perfunctory sigh

"Fine, since we didn't have time to put the dumpling filling in the fridge this afternoon, let's just eat this."

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

Wulan had originally intended to cook about the same amount as this morning, but at Song Tan's request, she cooked an extra bowl while muttering about how much the family could eat.

However, when the dumplings were served, everyone's eyes widened at the very first bite.

Qiaoqiao began kicking his legs in excitement. "So yummy! So yummy, Mommy!"

He spoke while wincing from the heat, but even so, he refused to spit it out, clutching his bowl tightly.

"The best in the whole world!"

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

Song Tan was moved to tears of joy. After being back for so many days, she finally got to eat a normal, untainted meal today. Heavens, she could eat three bowls!

Only Wulan ate while thinking—

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

Could it be that after a spring rain, even shepherd's purse becomes this delicious?

She finished her meal in a few hurried bites, set down her bowl, picked a handful from the tied bundles of wild vegetables, and went back to the kitchen to clean up. By the time she emerged with a plate, the dumplings had been eaten clean.

Only Song Sancheng looked at her pleadingly. "I'm not full yet... how about, the two of us eat a bit more?"

To tell you something you'll love: there's more coming.