Her Cultivation Diary

Chapter 25: 25. Old Classmate Comes Again_1

Song Tan, however, smiled serenely:

“Auntie, here’s twenty yuan, please take it— I’m well aware of the quality of my vegetables. Since you don’t like them, why waste more money, right? There are so many people waiting to buy; let’s leave the shepherd’s purse for them.”

The auntie was momentarily stuck for words and then didn’t accept the money: “You’re really hotheaded, young lady. Can’t people discuss the flaws when doing business? It’s just twenty yuan, no big deal. I don’t want it; you sell me that shepherd’s purse.”

“That won’t do.” Song Tan smiled as pleasantly as her refusal was firm:

“As you’ve seen, we don’t even have enough vegetables to sell. If you’re going to return home and dislike it, why bother?”

“Exactly!” The auntie behind immediately chimed in: “I’ll take the shepherd’s purse!”

Pinching pennies only to count major losses, that shepherd’s purse was just laying in the basket, with barely five pounds left. Here you are nitpicking and still asking to buy veggies, and later you come back trying to get a refund by playing dumb…

An idiot wouldn’t make that deal!

With the taste of these wild vegetables, who would worry about selling them?

Taking advantage of the other’s wide-eyed silence, Song Tan had deftly stuffed the twenty yuan into her hand: “Auntie, there are other vegetables in the market. Please go pick some more, I’m busy here.”

That tone, as if she were brushing something off.

The woman hadn’t had a chance to retort when she was pushed aside by the eager customers squeezing up from behind.

Meanwhile, a couple was stealthily looking over from not far away.

The girl was scowling: “What do you mean? You think my classmate is pretty, don’t you? Going on about buying vegetables—you’re just making excuses!”

The speaker was Song Tan’s classmate, Wa Qianqian.

Her boyfriend had quietly joined the group the other day and discovered that this small group of only a dozen people was extremely lively!

Everyone was praising the amazing taste of the wild vegetables, making it sound just like a heavenly feast. Thinking back to the Swiss chard that brushed past him that day, the more the young man craved it, the more he dreamed of that wild vegetable’s taste!

And here he was, having rushed over with his girlfriend early in the morning after seeing the group’s messages.

But he hadn’t expected there to be such a long line. And seeing Wa Qianqian looking like that, he became hesitant and didn’t dare to queue up.

He could only coax her with sweet words: “Qianqian, look at how many people are in line, the vegetables must be good! I’ve been coming here for several days, and today I wanted to make a dish for our parents to showcase it—after all, she’s your classmate. And what we said yesterday was also not very proper. How about I wait here for you, and you go buy them?”

At these words, Wa Qianqian’s anger turned into joy; nothing was more delightful than having her boyfriend value her own.

She thought about it and then demurely nodded: “Okay! Then I’ll go and queue up to have a look.”

Putting on airs, she glanced at this stall and then at the green vegetables over there before leisurely joining the line.

However, by the time it was her turn, the basket was empty except for a small bunch of heartleaf that Song Tan was packing into a plastic bag.@@novelbin@@

She grew anxious: “Hey, hey, hey! Why is there none left? Song Tan, where are your vegetables?”

Before Song Tan could speak, Qiaoqiao piped up: “Sister, you’re late, there are no veggies left!”

Then, as if she had done it many times before, she pushed forward the QR code scanner: “Join the group, sister? I’ll let you know the next time we sell.”

Wa Qianqian was so annoyed!

She ignored Qiaoqiao, instead focusing on the bunch of vegetables in Song Tan’s hand: “Song Tan, don’t you still have a bunch there? Old classmate comes to support your business, how can you not sell?”

Song Tan didn’t even look up: “This is to be given away.”

With her boyfriend still looking over from the distance, Wa Qianqian felt even more embarrassed:

“Aren’t wild vegetables everywhere? You can always give them away. To be honest, I wouldn’t have come here today if it weren’t for my boyfriend wanting to try the wild vegetables’ taste.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t haggle with you; just sell me that bunch of vegetables.”

Song Tan wasn’t particularly concerned with someone’s ulterior motives, but she wasn’t about to compromise herself either: “That won’t do; if wild vegetables are everywhere, go forage for them yourself—you’ll even save twenty yuan.”

Turning, she firmly reached for the basket: “Qiaoqiao, let’s go.”

Leaving Wa Qianqian standing there in a daze, watching as Song Tan’s foolish younger brother loaded the basket into Little Pika, which then started up and drove away.

It wasn’t until then that her boyfriend anxiously walked up to her:

“Oh no! Couldn’t get it again! I saw in the group chat that the next batch won’t be until three days later…”

Wa Qianqian already felt humiliated, and upon hearing this, she exploded: “Buy, buy, buy! Buy my ass! What’s wrong with the vegetables at the market that we have to go for wild vegetables? Country bumpkin!”

Her boyfriend’s face changed instantly.

…

Meanwhile, Song Tan drove the Little Pika to the Wind Speed Express Station.

“Please pack this up, send it as chilled express delivery, First People’s Hospital of Ning Province, Zhang Yuan—here’s the phone number.”

The courier took the bunch of milk vetch out of the plastic bag: “Chilled delivery, huh? That’s gonna cost more! Just for this bunch of greens, it doesn’t seem worth it.”

Song Tan also felt the pinch of the delivery fee, but at least the wild vegetables were free.

She nodded: “It’s fine, just send it—should arrive by tomorrow since it’s within the province, right?”

The clerk nodded: “Don’t worry, it will definitely arrive tomorrow morning. I guarantee the greens will still be fresh.”

Song Tan then made the payment.

This Dr. Zhang Yuan hadn’t replied to the message about the lifesaver for days—Song Tan worried that something might have happened to him, so she decided to send some wild vegetables as a roundabout way to urge a response.

After all, it was just wild vegetables, surely it wouldn’t involve anything like having to give a red envelope or bribery.

After finishing up and returning home, the family sat down and crunched the numbers—

Wow, that’s three thousand bucks!

Wu Lan couldn’t help but feel regretful: “If only we could sell these wild vegetables all year round…”

Song Sancheng was immediately speechless at his wife’s financial fantasies.

“It’s only because of nature’s favor that this year’s wild vegetables are especially good. In half a month, what vegetables won’t be available? Are you still planning to sell them for twenty then? I don’t even know how long you could sell them for ten.”

Song Tan mulled it over and said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world:

“I plan to keep selling them for twenty.”

“All the way until the end of the month.”

With such a flavor profile, there were plenty willing to pay, and she had never underestimated everyone’s spending power. It was perfect to set the stage for the vegetables she was about to plant—she, Song Tan, sold vegetables that were good, pricey, and worth every penny. To miss a meal was to feel an itch you couldn’t scratch!

As for why she would stop selling at the end of the month?

By then, the milk vetch would be ready, and she’d sell the tender young milk vetch shoots.

Forget about wild vegetables, for daily plucking wears even the spiritual energy thin, so she might as well let them live.

…

While Wu Lan just dreamed, Song Tan dared to act!

Just look at how brashly she spoke, as if people couldn’t live without her vegetables.

Song Sancheng, the father, let out a sigh, wondering if money was really that easy to make in the city these days?

He decisively changed the subject: “While it’s not too busy these days, your mother can look after things at home in the morning while you take me to learn driving. I’ll take her there in the afternoon.”

“We have a car at home, and it shouldn’t just sit around wasting away. Once I get my license, I can do the driving.”

“It doesn’t look good for a girl to drive a pickup.”

He spoke as if the license was already within his reach.

Song Tan glanced at him: “Dad, have you even learned the questions for the first subject yet?”