Song Tan’s Chronicle

Chapter 18: 18. Collect wild vegetables

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After lunch, Song Tan picked up a basket and went to pick wild vegetables.

The sky was still overcast, with a temperature of more than ten degrees. It was not warm without the sun. Every household stayed at home to warm themselves by the fire, and few people went out.

Wu Lan glanced at the big basket she was carrying and felt sorry for her daughter's hard work. "You don't have to go so early to pick wild vegetables. Go in the evening to avoid them being stale tomorrow. Besides, there aren't many vegetables in this weather, so it'll be quick to pick them up."

Song Tan thought of the dense green around the pond on the slope, and thought that if there was no spiritual energy, then there was no need to be so active.

But at this moment, she took Qiao Qiao with her: "It's okay, Mom, you make dumplings first. I think the shepherd's purse is especially fresh today."

Seeing that her daughter was determined to go, Wulan did not stop her and only muttered: "They are all shepherd's purse. What's the difference between yesterday and today..."

She sat by the stove, intending to pick the shepherd's purse she had dug that morning, but as soon as she picked it up, she felt something was wrong—

"Why does this look so beautiful?"

Qiao Qiao was really a good helper. He exchanged a basket of vegetables for one episode of Peppa Pig. Soon, he came back with a full basket of shepherd's purse.

It's green, fresh and tender. It tastes so good no matter how you look at it, and it looks so exaggerated no matter how you look at it.

Song Sancheng was helping to pick vegetables. He was stunned when he took the basket: "Didn't you say there weren't many yesterday? Why are they growing so fast after the rain?"

This is a big basket, with tiny shepherd's purse plants stacked densely together. The basket is piled high and trembling, as if a few plants will fall down if you are not careful.

Qiao Qiao didn’t understand these, but was very proud: “There are many more—”

He thought to himself: Although my sister is not very good at farming, it doesn’t matter, Qiao Qiao can dig vegetables now!

Qiao Qiao raised her!

Suddenly, she felt so heroic that she didn't care about Peppa Pig anymore and went out again with two empty baskets.

At home, Song Sancheng poured out the shepherd's purse and weighed it: "Oh, this must be more than ten kilograms!"

Wu Lan was also surprised, but said: "It just rained, the vegetables are wet, and there is a little mud on them, so I guess they only weigh ten kilograms."

That’s quite a lot.

This basket weighs ten kilograms, and it's a no-cost business. If you calculate the price at ten yuan per kilogram, it would be one hundred yuan.

This trip to dig wild vegetables took a full three hours. When Song Tan returned, it was already past four in the afternoon.

Coincidentally, as soon as I came back, it started raining again.

The family of four has no time to make dumplings, so let’s hurry up and collect wild vegetables!

The wild vegetables grown by the spiritual energy looked so green and crispy, and they made people very hungry. Song Tan didn't believe that no one would buy them at ten yuan a pound, so his unscrupulous nature emerged:

"Mom, just pick them out a little bit, rinse off the mud, don't remove all the roots, and then take a few bundles of grass and bundle them up. One bundle is one pound and two ounces, so that you don't lose the weight tomorrow."

Wulan was just about to pick out each one cleanly, thinking that this would probably take a long time.

She didn't expect Song Tan to say that. She couldn't help but wonder, "Then you can only eat about 700 grams of this pound? Can you still sell it for ten yuan?"

Why not

Song Tan opened the mobile phone app and found that the vegetable delivery in the local city was priced at 14.8 per pound!

"Wild vegetables! Fresh wild vegetables with a little soil and moisture. Ten yuan is a bargain, okay?"

"You forgot that the price of Chinese toon in early spring last year was 50-60 yuan per kilogram! They were all sold by the ounce."

That's true.

Wu Lan thought for a moment and said, "Okay, since you don't have much money anyway, just go ahead and sell them. Don't worry if you can't sell them all. I'll blanch them, dry them, and freeze them in the refrigerator. You can still eat them during the Chinese New Year."

The family of four then had their own division of labor.

Song Sancheng was responsible for cleaning up the mud, Wulan was responsible for picking, Song Tan was responsible for weighing, and Qiao Qiao was responsible for using long grass to tie each pile neatly.

When it was completely dark, the wild vegetables were finally collected.

Wow!

Amaranthus, purslane, shepherd's purse, watercress, and wild onion, a total of 80 small handfuls, weighing over 100 kilograms!

Song Sancheng immediately changed his mind: "Why don't we hire a car tomorrow? 200 yuan for a round trip is expensive, but they will pick us up at the door. Otherwise, where can we take the car with so many dishes?"

The cost just went up all of a sudden.

Song Tan made a prompt decision: "Bag it!"

"By the way, Dad, I'll bring Qiao Qiao with me tomorrow."

Song Sancheng objected subconsciously: "Why bring Qiao Qiao? You are here to do business, and if he makes a scene..."

However, before he could finish his words, Qiao Qiao protested loudly: "Qiao Qiao wants to sell vegetables!"

"Qiao Qiao, stop making trouble!"

"Jojo is going out!"

Wulan thought about it and sighed: "Okay, let's take him along. It's time to let him experience the unfamiliar environment. Otherwise, he will be stuck in the village every day without anyone to play with."

Occasionally, I would take him to the city and have to endure other people's stares... Wulan felt sad.

Song Tan pretended not to hear the pain in his voice.

She tried it the night she gained spiritual power, but Qiao Qiao... he hadn't developed fully in the womb, so even if she had practiced successfully, there was nothing she could do.

All I can say is, make sure he stays healthy and doesn't get sick as often. And exercise more - what's wrong with the IQ of a six-year-old? Aren't six-year-olds sensible enough

So at this moment, he patted Qiao Qiao happily: "Good boy Qiao Qiao! I knew you were the smartest! You must help me tomorrow."

Qiao Qiao responded proudly and loudly.

The family had been busy for most of the day, and finally felt hungry. However, their backs and waists ached from picking vegetables, so Chef Wulan sighed perfunctorily:

"Okay, I just made some dumplings this afternoon and haven't had time to put them in the refrigerator yet, so let's eat this."

Song Tan also wanted to taste the shepherd's purse today: "Mom, cook more."

Wulan originally planned to cook something similar to what she did in the morning, but after Song Tan said that, she cooked one more bowl while muttering that the family was eating too much.

However, when the dumplings came out of the pot, everyone's eyes widened as soon as they took the first bite.

Qiao Qiao started to kick her legs: "It's delicious! It's delicious, mom!"

As he spoke, he grimaced from the burn, but even so, he couldn't bear to spit it out and still held the bowl tightly:

“The best food in the world!”

Song Sancheng gobbled up half a bowl in one breath, then sighed with satisfaction: "That's right, why are these dumplings so delicious today?"

Song Tan cried with joy: After so many days back, she finally got to eat a normal meal without impurities today. Oh my God, she could also eat three bowls!

Only Wulan was eating while thinking -

I mixed the dumpling filling this afternoon, just like usual!

Could it be that shepherd's purse becomes so delicious after a spring rain

She finished her meal in a few quick bites, put down the bowl, picked a handful of wild vegetables from the bundle, went into the kitchen to clean up, and when she came out with the plate, the dumplings had been eaten up.

Only Song Sancheng looked at her flatteringly: "I'm not full either... How about we eat more?"