Her Cultivation Diary

Chapter 41: 41. Secretary Wang_1

The chef took care of the box of vegetables by himself, then hugged the box and ran.

Dr. Xiaozhang’s face turned bright red, seeing the wild vegetables were no longer secure, and before he had mustered up the courage to think of his lines, he impulsively rushed to the office:

“Director, I bought some more wild vegetables, let’s all go to the cafeteria for lunch—”

He got stuck there.

Because in this office, at the very head of the table, sat a middle-aged man who was well-known to the people of our province, yet not so familiar.

The man looked at him and started to chuckle, “Is this a group outing to the cafeteria for wild vegetables? Mind if Secretary Wang and I join, would that be convenient?”

Whether or not that meal would be convenient, Dr. Xiaozhang didn’t know. He only knew he felt like he had fallen from the clouds, not even knowing what he ate at noon.

Latter, many people came up to talk to him, he only remembered numbly forwarding a WeChat message to Song Tan, and after that, he was lost in a daze again.

Luckily, the chef was considerate, seeing him in such a listless state, he had packed a thermos of porridge just for him.

Dr. Xiaozhang sat in his department, touched his shoulder, and thought: Wow, the leader patted me!

Then, he cheerfully lifted the lid.

In that instant, the overpowering fragrance of the vegetables spread throughout the entire department and traveled down the open corridor, catching the attention of passersby.

By the time lunch was over, even the patients could smell it.

…

Of all the ups and downs in Dr. Xiaozhang’s life, Song Tan was completely unaware.

All she knew was that starting that afternoon, her phone kept buzzing with friend requests one after another, all with strange notes attached.

There was one from someone named Secretary Wang—goodness, who would send a friend request out of the blue that says, “Hello, I’m Secretary Wang, may I ask if this is Ms. Song, the seller of wild vegetables?”

There was one from someone called Bed 46.

And some she recognized—friend requests with notes prefixed by Provincial People’s Hospital, probably colleagues of Dr. Zhang Yuan.

However, Song Tan was busy working at the moment and didn’t have time to ponder; she simply pulled all these people into her vegetable selling group.

For a while, nobody spoke.

Except for the man who noted himself as “Secretary Wang,” who sent out three question marks and then quickly retracted them.

But he obviously was the one with the most purchasing potential, as he came right out and asked:

“Hello, do you still have wild vegetables of the same quality you sent to Dr. Zhang? I want fifty pounds.”

As soon as he said this, the chat was bombarded by the aunties.

[Oh, young man! Don’t be so greedy, we only dare to buy ten pounds of wild vegetables.]

[Wild vegetables have been sold out for a while now, only Milk Vetch is left. It’s delicious when stir-fried, but not so much in dumplings. If you want it, just buy a pound or two for yourself to taste, fifty pounds is too much.]

[Don’t worry, the boss said there’s plenty of Milk Vetch, no need to rush.]

Most of the aunties sent long voice messages, and in the Provincial Government Office, Secretary Wang listened to each one patiently, finding them increasingly odd as he went along.

Does this vegetable seller… not take him seriously at all?

Had he not asked Dr. Zhang to make an introduction? Why was she still so indifferent?

Lost in thought, by the time he came back to his senses, he discovered that the group was already sharing new recipes for shepherd’s purse dumplings and purslane buns, followed by an auntie posting a photo of stir-fried Milk Vetch with double-cooked pork…

So, this was truly a proper vegetable selling group.

He, Wang Qing, the big Secretary of the Provincial Committee, was now going to lurk in this group to snatch up vegetables?

Secretary Wang, reminiscing about the meal he had enjoyed at the hospital cafeteria at noon, was once again lost in a trance—

Actually, if they all taste like that, it wouldn’t be a problem to join the group and wait in line!

Thinking of the leader’s incessant praises, Secretary Wang bit the bullet:

“Boss, I want ten pounds of Milk Vetch, please ship it as soon as possible.”

Thank heavens, when it came to money, the boss finally appeared:

“Ten pounds? Do you need it today?”

Secretary Wang was overjoyed, “Yes, today, the sooner the better!”

Song Tan was pleased with this new big customer, “Alright, I’ll go pick it shortly and ship it out this afternoon. But you’ll have to cover the shipping costs yourself!”

After some thought, she couldn’t help but ask again, “You all are colleagues of Dr. Zhang Yuan, right?” Dr. Xiaozhang is really thoughtful! Those twenty yuan’s worth of vegetables were well spent.

As expected, the group erupted with responses.

The number of people here had already reached 61, Secretary Wang didn’t say a word, and no one seemed to care.

Song Tan checked the list of names who needed shipping again but couldn’t recognize what level this so-called ‘family courtyard’ was, and then she pushed the thought out of her mind.

…

Old Man Li’s ox had officially stepped into the field; it couldn’t lift its head from the lush Milk Vetch it was feasting on, and if not for Old Man Li’s firm hand on the reins, the old ox would have been keen to sleep in the field at night.

After all, being wrapped in a faint Spiritual Energy from all directions felt truly fantastic.

Meanwhile, Qiaoqiao was picking vegetables nearby, while Song Tan filmed the old ox and Old Man Li, capturing a video brimming with rural charm.

By now, although the Milk Vetch had not yet bloomed, she had gathered enough material for her first video.

The Milk Vetch from the five or six fields, selling through casual transactions, was both tiring and inefficient. Moreover, while Song Tan did want to make money, she also enjoyed seeing people happy eating her produce.

Therefore, she had been planning to sell online for quite a while.

She had originally planned to wait for the Milk Vetch to bloom, shoot a beautiful video and make a splash overnight.

But Milk Vetch is only delicious when it has tender shoots; once it blooms, it becomes tough.

She had no choice but to edit together the little footage she had of herself picking wild vegetables, tidying them up, shots from the vegetable market, and scenes of the fields to warm up the audience.

Nowadays, life is fast-paced and stressful, and more and more people enjoy videos of the countryside.

Although her video was shot with a smartphone with simple filters and framing, it had the advantage of depicting her family genuinely working the farm. The moisture of the wild vegetables and the tenderness of the Milk Vetch seemed to leap out of the screen!

She paired it with music and linked the recently registered Taobao shop, with a simple, direct title:

“Awaiting the nameless wildflowers of childhood memories—Milk Vetch”

In smaller text below: “Fresh and crisp, Milk Vetch shoots coming to market, promotional period with free national shipping! Live picking available!”

Offering free national shipping was the limit for Song Tan, the price remained unchanged at twenty yuan per pound.

Her first video directly featured the sales link; scanning the entire internet, Song Tan only saw her own doing this. With her intention to make money so obvious, she didn’t know if anyone would buy it.

But, she had to figure out how the system worked step by step.

The prime time to enjoy the Milk Vetch was just these ten days to half a month; she would sell as much as she could. If she couldn’t sell it all, she’d just turn over the soil and use it all as green manure—it would still be useful!

After all, they had intended to use Milk Vetch as green manure from the start! Selling it was just a side benefit.@@novelbin@@

This was staying true to their original intention.

As for whether online sales would attract anyone… she didn’t know that.

Song Tan believed that as long as someone tried buying, she would definitely be able to keep her returning customers!

That was her biggest advantage.