Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 22

Men’s feelings about cars are truly indescribable.

After Song Sancheng finished the phone call, he continued to ramble, saying that driving himself was unsafe, the mountain roads were difficult, and second-hand cars were easy to be deceived by…

But when they arrived and his friend took him to the garage to see the rows of cars, he instantly forgot his own words.

Now, he was torn between a minivan and a pickup truck.

“Tan Tan, a minivan can withstand wind and rain, but it’s a bit smaller. How about…”

“The pickup truck can hold more.”

“But if the weather is bad, it’s inconvenient to put things in the back!”

“The pickup truck can hold more.”

“The minivan can seat several people. You can’t just think about selling vegetables…”

“The pickup truck can hold more.”

Her father was really… being sweet-talked into confusion. If not for selling vegetables, why would she buy a car? Was the city’s air not polluted enough for him? Besides, she planned to plant a lot of things in their fields. Without a vehicle that could carry a lot, how much more effort would it take?

A second-hand pickup truck cost 23,500 yuan, including everything from the car plates to paperwork. Although Song Tan didn’t know much about cars, she carefully observed the seller and felt he was trustworthy.

Song Sancheng, who had been chattering all the way, suddenly sighed while sitting in the passenger seat: “Sigh, this car is manual, isn’t it? Can your mom handle it alone? It looks like I’ll have to drive. I’ll go to the town to check about driving lessons.”

Song Tan suppressed a laugh: “Sure, you two can keep each other company.”

Song Sancheng didn’t notice her tone and was already staring at the dashboard.

…

After picking up her ID from the town office, Song Tan also bought some plastic vegetable baskets. The bamboo baskets were irregular and couldn’t be stacked well, taking up a lot of space.

The car was parked just outside the yard. Their place was slightly remote, and the neighbors were far away, so no one came to see.

However, Wu Lan, though distressed about the money spent, felt a sense of pride looking at the clean, well-maintained car, even if it was a second-hand pickup. If not for the need to keep the wild vegetable business low-key, she would have gone out visiting neighbors by now.

“This car is good, can hold a lot. It will be convenient for carrying big items—Tan Tan, I checked our wild vegetables, and they are still growing well this year. We can continue selling them tomorrow.”

“Should we go and pick some more this afternoon?”

She was already enticed by the money.

Song Tan shook her head: “Mom, no rush. Most of yesterday’s customers joined the group. We need to let them reminisce and crave it, right?”

If they didn’t show how good the wild vegetables were, how would they build a reputation?

Selling wild vegetables at twenty yuan per jin wasn’t considered high now, but when other spring vegetables and wild vegetables hit the market, this price would be inappropriate.

And if the price had to be lowered, Song Tan herself wouldn’t be happy.

So…

Let everyone crave it for a bit first!

Moreover: “Mom, let’s have wild vegetables again for dinner.”

Currently, only the wild vegetables were free from impurities. She wanted to force the growth of other vegetables, but it couldn’t be explained just yet!

Wu Lan refused outright: “No way, it’s twenty yuan per jin. We’d be spending a hundred yuan for a meal.”

Song Tan: … She knew it.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the basket: “Qiao Qiao, let’s dig up some vegetables.”

Why bother with all this spiritual energy if not to enjoy some good food herself? She hadn’t even perfected her cultivation yet.

Wu Lan: …

What a spendthrift!

…

In the end, they still had the wild vegetables for dinner.

As soon as she tasted it, Wu Lan stopped complaining about wasting money and instead muttered, “We should send some to your grandma and uncle for them to try.”

Song Tan hadn’t forgotten this, but…

“Wait a bit, Mom. The wild vegetables are still scarce now. Sending them over would be too conspicuous.”

Using spiritual energy to promote growth couldn’t be too excessive. For now, producing a hundred jin every two days was already quite a lot for wild vegetables.

If they sent some over now, with such a good taste, wouldn’t they have to send it daily? And if they thought it was just some wild vegetables and decided to pick them themselves… that would be inconvenient.

Cultivating immortality required understanding human desires and relationships, and Song Tan was clear about that.

“Let’s wait another half month. By then, the weather will be warmer, and there will be more wild vegetables. When we stop selling, we’ll keep some for ourselves and send plenty to Grandpa and Grandma.”

In half a month, the vetch would grow and be tender enough to sell.

I am indeed a genius!

Song Tan felt her business sense was quite impressive.

…

Meanwhile, in the city, at Waterside Community.

Zhao Yang returned home from work with his pregnant wife. His mother had already prepared dinner. Seeing her daughter-in-law go to the bedroom, she looked worried: “Qin Qin still can’t eat?”

Her daughter-in-law, three months pregnant, was nauseated by everything, even the smell of cooking oil, and had been in poor spirits. The whole family was worried.

Mother Zhao thought for a moment: “Why don’t you bring a bite to Qin Qin first? I bought these wild vegetables this morning. A young girl was selling them with her silly brother, saying they were freshly picked from the village.”

She chattered on, feeling a bit regretful: “They were quite expensive, though. Fresh vegetables only cost fifteen yuan per jin. But there were so many people grabbing them that I got excited too. In the end, I paid twenty yuan for a bunch and didn’t even get any shepherd’s purse! Imagine how delicious shepherd’s purse dumplings would be!”

“So, this is all we got of Malan head, and it shrank to nothing after boiling.”

“But Malan head is also good, it clears heat and reduces fire.”

Her topic shifted so quickly that Zhao Yang wasn’t sure if she was complaining about the price or about not getting shepherd’s purse.

He couldn’t help but swallow—shepherd’s purse dumplings? Maybe he could order some from the dumpling shop tomorrow.

Still, since these were freshly picked wild vegetables, they might taste better than greenhouse ones.

But considering his wife’s recent aversion to all food, he cautiously took a small bowl with a few leaves and went to the bedroom:

“Qin Qin, try this wild vegetable. My mom said it’s called Malan head, mixed with some millet peppers.”

Hearing about food made Qin Qin’s stomach churn again. She was about to refuse, but her husband had already brought the chopsticks to her mouth.

The chopsticks held just two green leaves.

She thought for a moment and then slowly chewed, afraid of another bout of nausea.

However, as soon as the wild vegetables hit her mouth—fresh, crispy, spicy, and refreshing—the myriad flavors melded together in an indescribably wonderful way!

Her stomach growled, feeling ravenously hungry!

Zhao Yang watched her nervously: “How is it?”

Qin Qin slowly swallowed the leaves, feeling like her stomach was a bottomless pit, craving more.

She suddenly stood up:

“Get me a bowl of rice, I want to eat this vegetable!”

She hurried out of the bedroom, went straight to the dining table, and before the rice was served, she had already eaten half of the vegetables.

Mother Zhao was overjoyed: “Oh my! If I had known, I would have bought more!”

She lamented again—twenty yuan wasn’t that expensive! Early spring vegetables were always pricey, and these tasted so much better than greenhouse ones!