The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune

Chapter 25: Chapter 24 New Discoveries Chapter 25: Chapter 24 New Discoveries Ruo Zhou had been following closely behind Ruo Xuan, and when she stopped, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the matter, Xuanbao?”

The older brothers ahead heard and also stopped, “Sister, what’s wrong?”

“This Zizania is almost old, why has no one picked it to eat?” Ruo Xuan pointed to the plump, white portion on the stalk of the Zizania and asked.

Upon hearing this, Ruo Zhou explained, “These are wild Zizania grains infested with pests and diseases. They don’t produce ears and can’t grow Zizania grains, so they’re inedible.”

Ruo Xian and the others nodded in agreement, “Right, can’t eat them. We eat the Zizania grains, only pigs eat the Zizania shoots.”

Villagers would sometimes cut them to feed to pigs, but this area was marshland, where water was everywhere; many found it too troublesome and were afraid of wetting their clothes, so they seldom came to cut them.

Now that the weather had started to cool off, getting wet made it easy to catch a chill, and even fewer people would come to cut them.

Ruo Xuan shook her head, “No, that section of Zizania can be eaten. We don’t eat the shoots, only the white part, which is delicious.”

Ruo Hang was skeptical, “Huh? Isn’t this for pigs to eat? Can people eat it?”

It was Ruo Zhou who decided, “Then I’ll pick a few and take them home to try. Pigs also eat leftovers from humans, that proves it’s non-toxic.”

But he thought further; there was so much wild Geng Grass here, and other villages had it too. If it was edible…

That would be incredible!

Ruo Xian was the most supportive of his sister, “Great, if Xuanbao says it can be eaten, then it must be delicious! Let’s pick some to eat!”

Ruo Bo added, “Big brother makes a good point, why don’t we pick a few to take back? Since pigs can eat them, they should be non-toxic.”

Ruo Hang then nodded, “Let’s try them first; if they’re edible, we can tell Fourth Uncle and the others to come and pick them, to sell them in the city for silver.”

Hearing the mention of earning silver, the children quickly clamored to go pick them.

Ruo Zhou quickly interjected, “I’ll pick them, you all just stand there and don’t move. Getting your clothes wet will make you catch a chill. Let’s just pick a few to try for now!”

“Okay!” The children obediently agreed and stood still.

Ruo Zhou quickly twisted off a few Zizania shoots. Ruo Xuan peeled off the green outer leaves, revealing the white Zizania shoots inside, “You can eat this now.”

She put it directly into her mouth, eating in front of them to show them, which scared Ruo Zhou into saying, “Xuanbao dear, don’t eat now, wait till we get home to eat, let’s keep looking for bastard stinkpots.”

Ruo Bo, also worried it might be poisonous, cajoled, “Xuanbao, don’t eat it now, if people see and learn it’s edible, they might pick them all. Let’s take them home to eat and hide them first. We continue our search for bastard stinkpots.”

Ruo Xuan put it away, “Alright.”

But, looking at the expanse of Geng Grass, she asked skeptically, “Do we really need to find bastard stinkpots? There are a lot of wild duck eggs here, and wild ducks too.”

“Of course not!” the brothers chorused in unison.

Wild duck eggs are bigger and even harder to find!

Because everyone in the village had been looking for wild duck eggs, they were now almost impossible to find.

And with bastard stinkpot eggs they had almost collected, it was uncertain if there were any left.

“Xuanbao, where are the wild duck eggs?”

Ruo Xuan stretched out her little chubby finger and pointed to several places at different distances, “There, over there too, and there…”

This time, the brothers didn’t care about getting wet anymore; they took off their shoes, rolled up their trouser legs, and with baskets in hand, they went to pick duck eggs.

But none of them agreed to let Ruo Xuan go down.

Ruo Xuan could only stand on the side, directing them like a general, telling them where the duck eggs were.

“Big brother, walk ten more steps forward!”

“Second brother, keep walking for another half a Zhang…”

…

By the time she was done picking duck eggs, she had also taken the opportunity to perform an Immortal Technique, making several wild ducks unable to move.

“Big brother, if you go one more Zhang forward, there’s a wild duck…”

“Third brother, walk to your right…”

…

When Granny Lei and Madam Liu came looking for the children after they had been gone so long, the children had already collected three full baskets of duck eggs and caught four wild ducks!

The kids excitedly said, “Granny, we picked a lot of duck eggs!”

“Granny, we caught wild ducks!”

…

Granny Lei was startled, “How come you picked so much?”

It must have been the doing of her precious granddaughter.

She looked around and was relieved not to see any villagers.

Seeing Granny Lei and Madam Liu arrive, Xuanbao held up the Zizania, pale and smooth as jade, to show them and excitedly said, “Granny, Mom, picking Zizania, selling for silver! They can be stir-fried with meat or eaten raw.”

As she spoke, she directly took one and started to eat it raw.

Granny Lei and Madam Liu were startled, but thinking of Xuanbao’s abilities, they were reassured.

“Xuanbao, how can you eat things willy-nilly!” Madam Liu quickly grabbed the Zizania from her hand.

“Is this the stem of Geng Grass?” Granny Lei, recognizing the pale, tender shoot-like thing with a glance, asked.

Ruo Xuan, seeing their disbelief, emphasized seriously, “Yes, Zizania, tasty! Granny, take it home and stir-fry it to taste. After a trial, we can pick and sell it for silver. Sweet, non-toxic, even pigs can eat it.”

She also explained it using her brothers’ words.

The brothers also spoke up to help Ruo Xuan.

Ruo Zhou: “Right, Xuanbao said it’s edible, I thought to pick some and try it at home.”

Ruo Xian: “Granny, Mom, Xuanbao is really amazing; she finds duck eggs with unerring accuracy. If she says it’s edible, it definitely is!”

…

Now, Granny Lei trusted Xuanbao’s words unconditionally.

She picked up a Zizania, took a bite, and after tasting it, her eyes lit up!

If these Geng Grass stems are edible, then this wetland with so many Geng Grass…

There were also quite a few fallow lands in Shaxi County covered with these Geng Grass.

Granny Lei thought of many things and kissed Ruo Xuan excitedly, “Xuanbao really is our family’s little lucky star!”

She excitedly said to Madam Liu, “Wenyu, go back and call over the fourth one and the rest. Bring tools, and let’s harvest Zizania!”

“Alright!” Seeing Granny Lei try it directly and thinking that pigs ate it without issues, Madam Liu also bit and tasted one, experiencing the unique sweetness and texture.

After just one taste, she already thought of several dishes!

“I’ll go right now!” Madam Liu agreed and hurried back to call people.

Ruo Xuan couldn’t go to the fields, as the water in the wetland would submerge half of her body. Granny Lei instructed Xuanbao to sit nicely at the side, and she went down to pick Geng Grass with a few sturdy grandsons.

Since Ruo Family boys began working on the fields at five, Granny Lei didn’t coddle even the youngest, Ruo Xian.

Soon Ruo Shui, Ruo Jiang, Madam Jiang, and a few others came to the wetland with a cart, bustlingly harvesting Zizania.

Ruo Xuan watched everyone walking through the wetland and also wanted to join in the fun.

She loved water and mud, like a flower!

But as a human now, she couldn’t go, so she took out a book Ruo Shui had recently rented from the bookstore to divert her attention.

Ruo Shui always kept an eye on his daughter. Seeing her diligently flipping through the book, he felt at ease.

The sun started to lean westward.

Villagers gradually went down their fields to water their vegetables.

Seeing the Ruo Family harvesting Geng Grass, they asked, “Granny Lei, what are you harvesting Geng Grass for?”

“Granny Lei, has your family started raising pigs? Is the Geng Grass for feeding pigs?”

“Granny Lei, did your family buy piglets?”

“No way! Where’s the silver for raising piglets? It’s already hard enough to support people! My family’s Xuanbao said this Geng Grass is edible, so I’m harvesting some to eat and thinking about selling some in the city to see if anyone wants it. Do you guys want to harvest some and try it out?” Granny Lei openly stated her intentions.

She had not thought to hide it, nor could she have. The Geng Grass field was too noticeable, and the village vegetable plots were not far.

Rather than secretly picking Zizania to sell, it was better to tell everyone in the open; sneaking around would raise more suspicion.

With her saying so, everyone who heard lost interest and walked away.

Harvesting Geng Grass to eat? Aren’t they afraid of poisoning themselves to death?

And thinking about selling it in the city? Would city folk be so foolish as to buy these wild grasses?

The Ruo Family must have gone crazy with poverty!