Chapter 22: 22 Let's buy a bit more tomorrow

Chapter 22: 22. Buy a little more tomorrow

A man's passion for cars is truly difficult to describe in words.

Even after finishing the phone call, Song Sancheng kept rambling, saying that he wasn't safe driving, that the mountain roads were difficult to navigate, and that one could easily be cheated when buying used cars...

But once they arrived at the location and his friend took him to see the rows of vehicles in the factory, he instantly threw his words to the back of his mind.

Now, he was torn between the van and the pickup truck.

"Tiantian, a van isn't afraid of wind or rain, it's just that the capacity is a bit small. How about..."

"A pickup can carry more."

"But if the weather is bad, it'll be inconvenient to keep things in the back!"

"A pickup can carry more."

"A van can seat several people; you can't just buy one for selling vegetables..."

"A pickup can carry more."

Her father was really... easily swayed by a few words of persuasion. If she wasn't buying it to sell vegetables, what else would she buy a car for? Did he think the city air wasn't murky enough?

Besides, she planned to plant quite a lot in those few fields; if she didn't get something with high capacity, how much extra effort would that waste?

A used pickup truck for 23,500 yuan, including the license plate and everything else—although Song Tan didn't know much about cars, she looked closely at the seller and judged his character to be decent.

Song Sancheng had been rambling the whole way, but sitting in the passenger seat, he suddenly sighed, "Sigh, this car is a manual, right? Can your mother handle it alone? I'll have to drive—I'll head to town later to ask about driver's license registration."

Song Tan suppressed a laugh. "Mm, you two can go together, so she has company."

Song Sancheng didn't notice her tone; he was already staring intently at the dashboard.

...

They went back to town to pick up the ID cards and bought several plastic vegetable baskets—wicker baskets were too irregular and couldn't be stacked, which took up too much space.

The car happened to be parked outside the courtyard. Their place was somewhat remote, with neighbors living far apart, so no one came to watch for a while.

As for Wulan, although she felt the sting of the money spent, seeing the car cleaned so thoroughly and thinking that her family now had a vehicle (even if it was just a small used pickup) brought a natural sense of pride to her heart.

If it weren't for the fact that they needed to keep a low profile regarding the wild vegetable business, she would probably have gone out to visit the neighbors by now.

"This car is good, it can carry a lot. It's convenient for hauling large items too—Tiantian, I went to check on those wild vegetables. I don't know why they're growing so well this year? We can go back to selling them tomorrow."

"How about we go picking again this afternoon?"

She was clearly already hooked by the money.

Song Tan shook her head. "Mom, there's no rush. Most of the people who bought vegetables yesterday have joined the group chat. We have to give them some time to savor the memory and miss them, right?"

If she didn't make them realize how delicious the wild vegetables were, how could she build a reputation?

Right now, selling them at twenty yuan wasn't a high price, but after a while, once other spring vegetables and wild greens hit the market, this price wouldn't be appropriate anymore.

But if she lowered the price, Song Tan herself wouldn't be happy.

So...

Let everyone crave them for a bit first!

Moreover: "Mom, let's eat wild vegetables again tonight."

Currently, only the wild vegetables were free of impurities; she wanted to accelerate the growth of other vegetables, but she couldn't explain that for the time being!

Wulan refused immediately. "That won't do. They're twenty yuan a jin. If we eat several jin in one meal, we'll lose a hundred yuan or so."

Song Tan:...She knew it.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the baskets. "Qiaoqiao, time to dig for vegetables."

If it wasn't for the sake of eating something good herself, why would she waste so much spiritual energy? She hadn't even reached a sufficient level of cultivation yet.

Wulan:...

What a spendthrift!

...

In the end, they did eat the wild vegetables for dinner.

As soon as the vegetables touched her mouth, Wulan stopped complaining about wasting money and instead muttered, "I should send some to your grandmother and your uncle to let them taste it."

Song Tan hadn't forgotten this, but...

"Wait a little while, Mom. Right now, the wild vegetables aren't growing in large quantities. If we send them over now, it'll be too conspicuous."

She couldn't overdo it with the spiritual energy acceleration. Currently, the yield every two days was about a hundred jin, which was already quite abundant for wild vegetables.

If she sent them over now and the taste was this good, wouldn't they have to send some every day? If they thought it was just some wild vegetables and came to dig them themselves... that would be inconvenient.

In cultivation, one must also understand human nature and desires; Song Tan understood this clearly.

"Wait another half a month. When the weather gets warmer, there will be more wild vegetables. When that time comes, instead of selling them, we'll just eat them ourselves and send more to Grandpa and Grandma."

In half a month, the *Ziyunying* (Chinese milk vetch) would grow long enough and tender enough to be sold.

*As expected of me!*

Song Tan felt her business acumen was quite professional.

...

Meanwhile.

In the city, at Shuian Residential District.

Zhao Yang returned home from work with his pregnant wife. His mother had already prepared dinner. Seeing his daughter-in-law return to the bedroom, she looked worried. "Is Qinqin still unable to eat?"

His wife was three months pregnant and would vomit everything she ate; even the smell of cooking oil made her nauseous. Her spirits had been low during this period, and the whole family was worried sick.

Mother Zhao thought for a moment. "Why don't you take a bite and let Qinqin try it first? These are wild vegetables I bought early this morning. A young girl with a silly younger brother said they were freshly picked from the village."

She rambled, but she was actually a bit regretful. "They were quite expensive; lettuce is only fifteen yuan a jin. There were so many people fighting for them at the time, I got excited too—actually, a handful was twenty yuan, and I didn't even manage to grab any shepherd's purse! Just imagine how delicious shepherd's purse dumplings would be!"

"And here I am, with just this handful of Malantou (Spreading Purslane). It's gone after just a quick blanching."

"But this Malantou is quite good; it clears heat and reduces inflammation."

She switched topics so quickly that one couldn't tell if she was complaining about the expensive vegetables or about missing out on the shepherd's purse.

Zhao Yang couldn't help but swallow. *Shepherd's purse dumplings? I'll order takeout at work tomorrow; the dumpling shop should have them.*

However, since they were freshly picked wild vegetables, perhaps they would taste more flavorful than greenhouse vegetables?

But considering his wife hadn't been able to eat anything lately, he decided to be cautious. He took a bite with his bowl and brought it to the bedroom

"Qinqin, try a bite of these wild vegetables. My mom says they're called Malantou, and they're cold-dressed with some chili peppers..."

At the mention of eating, Qinqin's stomach churned again. She was about to refuse, but her husband had already held the food to her lips.

There were only two green leaves on the chopsticks.

She thought about it and opened her mouth, chewing slowly, fearing a reaction.

However, the moment the wild vegetable entered her mouth—fresh, fragrant, crisp, tender, numbing, spicy, and refreshing... all the flavors intertwined in an indescribable, wonderful way!

Her stomach let out a loud "gurgle," and she felt like she was starving to death!

Zhao Yang watched her nervously. "How is it?"

Qinqin slowly swallowed the two leaves, feeling as if her stomach were a bottomless pit, frantically demanding more.

She suddenly stood up

"Quick, get me a bowl of rice! I want to eat this!"

As she spoke, she rushed out of the bedroom toward the dining table. Before the rice was even served, she had already eaten nearly half of the vegetables, bite by bite.

Mother Zhao was overjoyed. "Oh! Oh my! If I had known, I should have bought more varieties!"

As she spoke, she regretted it again—twenty yuan wasn't even that expensive! It's just the beginning of spring, so vegetables are naturally this price. Isn't this much more flavorful than those greenhouse vegetables?

*Expected to be released around mid-August, dear readers, please save your votes!*

(End of Chapter)