Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 125.1

And so, after a few leisurely days, Zhang Yanping picked up the hoe once again.

The bamboo forest was too dense. Many of the bamboo shoots weren’t thick and sturdy, just squeezed together, growing in the narrow gaps. Digging up bamboo shoots was even more challenging.

With one swing of his hoe, Zhang Yanping didn’t dig up a single bamboo shoot but instead chopped off a section of bamboo root. The roots were tightly intertwined, making it frustratingly difficult to extract them.

Song Sancheng laughed heartily, “Yanping, you’re just not cut out for farm work. You’re even worse than Tan Tan! Stop digging, there are tender spring shoots sprouting nearby—just snap those off.”

“Those are much easier to handle.”

With Song Tan’s spiritual energy, many bamboo shoots had sprouted in the forest. Some were still buried in the soil, while others had already broken through the surface.

Technically, the ones underground were more tender, but the spring shoots had their own unique flavor. So, eager to make money, Song Tan insisted they dig them all up.

Spring shoots only needed a little twist to break off; they were incredibly crisp and tender. The ones that had just barely poked out of the ground required the use of a hoe.

The young and the old worked together, and their efficiency was passable.

Zhang Yanping sighed, “If these things weren’t worth twenty yuan a pound, it really wouldn’t be worth my labor.”

When Song Sancheng heard that the bamboo shoots were going for twenty yuan per pound, his brows furrowed so tightly that he could catch a fly between them.

“Tan Tan, these shoots don’t leave much after you peel them. Isn’t it a bit too expensive?”

Zhang Yanping glanced at him with some resentment, “Uncle, for my precious labor, what’s wrong with twenty yuan? Chinese Milk Vetch isn’t cheap either, and it sells for twenty yuan!”

Song Tan didn’t say much but took Zhang Yanping’s phone, opened the Taobao page, and showed him that spring bamboo shoots online were also selling for over ten yuan per pound.

Song Sancheng: …

He really didn’t understand today’s prices.

He sighed, “If I had known bamboo shoots were so profitable, I should have dug more of them to sell in the city years ago…”

Still, with that in mind, he had more energy in every swing of his hoe.

Zhang Yanping snapped the bamboo shoots with a satisfying crack, finding it quite therapeutic.

He sighed, “If we were in the suburbs, we could just fence off this bamboo forest, send a message to a few parent-child groups, and a whole group of free laborers would come over.”

“After they finished working, they might even buy the bamboo shoots on the spot. We’d earn money and save on labor costs—how great would that be?”

But out here in this remote village… forget it, anyone who wasn’t a skilled driver wouldn’t even dare to come.

Besides, the rural road was so narrow that if two cars met, one would have to back up to a bend before they could pass. How could that be a good selling point?

The bamboo was growing too densely, making it hard to move around. After digging for a while, Song Tan put down her hoe and went home to get a machete.

She was strong. With one hand gripping the bamboo stalk and a swift chop, the tough bamboo was smoothly cut with a clean edge.

Her movements were so smooth and fluid.

Zhang Yanping watched, dumbfounded, then looked at his own discarded hoe and wondered if living in the city had really made him waste his strength. His sister could practically knock him down with a single punch!

Seeing how deftly Song Tan handled the bamboo, Song Sancheng, who was experienced in dealing with bamboo, was delighted and said, “Wear gloves, or your hands will go numb from the vibration. Chop off all those branches and leaves too, and later we’ll use them to build a cucumber trellis.”

“Not just that, Dad. I plan to use them to surround the peach orchard, too.”

This way, the vines would have something to climb on. If they climbed on the wire mesh, it could easily become distorted.

Don’t underestimate the strength of growing plants. Just to give an example, if you scatter some soybeans and press them with a stone slab, the slab can still be pushed up.

Fortunately, there was no shortage of bamboo at home, so there was no need to worry about wasting it.

She spoke lightly, but hearing Song Tan casually assign tasks like this, Song Sancheng’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly turned his head, pretending not to think about it, adopting an “ignorance is bliss” attitude quite naturally.

Seeing the two men looking so distressed, Song Tan understood what was going on.

But wasn’t she just used to solving problems with a wave of her hand in the past?

Now… waving her hand wasn’t enough; she needed to use money.

Bamboo shoots, oh bamboo shoots, you’d better be worth it!

As they were digging, Zhang Yanping’s phone rang.

He took it out and said, “Tan Tan, the truck delivering the peach trees is already on the rural road. They sent you a message, but you didn’t reply. You’d better take your phone back; it’ll be easier to coordinate.”

Song Tan nodded, “Qiao Qiao is live-streaming right now. I’ll go see how it’s going.”

Zhang Yanping was surprised, “Qiao Qiao is live-streaming and chatting with people? I hope he hasn’t scared away all the viewers.”

Song Tan waved dismissively, “There weren’t many viewers in the first place. It’s all up to fate.”

Zhang Yanping thought the same: they had just started live-streaming; how many people could possibly be watching?

He asked for the name of the live-streaming channel, then asked, “What’s it called?”

Song Tan replied casually, “Countryside Chronicles.”

That name…

How to put it? It was so ordinary, without any appeal to attract viewers.

Zhang Yanping, having experience in this, immediately gave a piece of advice: “If you’re going to stream, you need a gimmick, a hook, something trending—”

Song Tan, who had no talent for naming things, was listening and planning to ask him for some concrete examples.

To her surprise, she saw him standing there with his phone, frozen, mouth not moving.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Why did you stop talking?”

Zhang Yanping slowly raised his head and held his phone out to her.

“Open the countryside category. The newcomer at the top of the popularity ranking is Qiao Qiao, with 6,700 followers in his live-stream. Didn’t you say you just started streaming?”

Could it be that they had fallen into a traffic pool?

Song Tan was startled, thinking, could it be that Qiao Qiao is the real crowd-puller here?

With all the bees buzzing around, Big Bear wouldn’t be there. And with Qiao Qiao’s face covered by a mesh, neither he nor the bees could even sell their looks.