Chapter 9: Selling Vegetables – Wuyoucao (Carefree Grass)

The next day, before the sky had fully brightened, the elderly couple, who were used to waking early to do farm work, woke up early but couldn’t fall back asleep. They didn’t want to disturb others, so they stayed in bed until it was finally bright enough for everyone to start getting up, washing up, and preparing breakfast.

Li Youyin knew that his wife hadn’t visited her family for a long time, and there would certainly be a lot for the mother and daughter to talk about that night, so he went with his father-in-law to his son’s room.

Shen asked about her family’s recent situation and chatted with Shen’s grandmother for a while before heading to bed.

The next morning, the elderly Shen couple, used to early farm work, woke up early but couldn’t fall back asleep. Not wanting to disturb anyone, neither of them moved until it was bright enough for everyone to get up, wash, and prepare breakfast.

In fact, the Li family also didn’t sleep in much, but recently there wasn’t much work to be done in the fields, and since the children were growing, they let them sleep longer.

Shen was not in good health, so when they had some free time, Li Youyin made sure his wife didn’t have to wake up early.

After putting away the dishes, Old Man Shen hurriedly urged Li Youyin to take him to the fields to see the crops.

Shen’s grandmother helplessly said, “Look at your age, and you’re acting like a young boy, so reckless. Aren’t you afraid the children will make fun of you?”

Old Man Shen responded, “I’m just anxious to check on the seedlings I planted.”

“Next time, I’ll be more serious and composed, alright? I’ll listen to you.”

Shen’s grandmother looked at Old Man Shen, smiling affectionately, and said, “You’re such a talker.”

Watching her grandfather, who seemed to have changed when in front of her grandmother, Li Guo really felt that her grandmother had good taste in choosing the right person to marry.

According to her mother, her grandmother’s family was well-off back then, but she fell for her grandfather, a poor boy with nothing.

When her grandfather was fifteen, both his parents passed away, leaving him with three thatched cottages and a few acres of thin land to live on.

Despite her family’s objections, her grandmother married him, and the two worked hard together to get where they are today.

The three thatched cottages were now replaced with a brick-and-tile house, and the few acres of thin land had turned into thirty-odd acres of good farmland.

Her grandparents had supported each other for decades, with her grandfather always doting on her grandmother. It hadn’t been easy for them to get to where they were.

Today, Shen had come to the fields with her family, and from afar, the rice seedlings swayed in the wind, looking lush and vibrant.

The family compared their rice seedlings to those of other villagers, and theirs looked much stronger. It was a very pleasing sight.

Old Man Shen smiled and said, “My granddaughter is amazing. She thought of this method for planting rice. It looks like this year will have a great harvest.”

“When we go back, I’ll tell your two uncles. Next year, we’ll plant rice this way too.”

Shen’s parents had originally planned to stay another day, but Old Man Shen, eager to share his happiness, refused to stay any longer. He quickly said goodbye to his daughter and son-in-law and went home with Shen’s grandmother.

Back at home, they sorted the wild vegetables they had picked yesterday, sprinkling some water on them and placing them in a shaded spot to keep fresh.

Once everything was sorted, the three siblings packed a fish basket and went to the creek by the back mountain to catch more fish, planning to sell both the fish and wild vegetables in town.

After dropping the fish baskets, they headed straight for the reed marshes where they had found wild ducks last time, hoping for another lucky find.

Though they didn’t find any wild chickens or ducks, they did discover a patch of water bamboo, which was still a good find!

The water in the reed marsh was not deep, just up to their calves. Li Guo looked at it and thought, “This is money!” It felt as though she could see many copper coins flying toward her.

Water bamboo not only has health benefits like clearing heat, detoxifying, nourishing the skin, and strengthening the body, but it is also a rare and delicious delicacy in the summer.

The siblings rolled up their pant legs to their knees and waded into the water to pull up the water bamboo. Li Xing and the others stayed on the shore, peeling off the leaves and cutting off the bottom and green parts with knives.

An hour later, the water bamboo was piled up on the shore into a “small mountain.” Seeing so much, Li Guo hesitated.

It seemed that they would need to send the water bamboo home first before returning to fetch the fish baskets.

It was now noon, and the sun was blazing. The siblings carried the heavy baskets, sweating profusely.

Luckily, most villagers were taking their afternoon naps, so they didn’t meet anyone on the way.

When they got home and set down the baskets, the siblings rushed to the kitchen to drink water, gulping it down.

Hearing the noise from the kitchen, Shen and her husband knew the children had returned. Seeing the baskets of water bamboo, Shen remarked, “This water bamboo is so tender!”

“Guo’er, where did you pick all this water bamboo?” she asked.

“We found it deep in the reed marsh,” Li Guo explained. “Since water bamboo is rare and hard to find, I thought we could sell it for a good price, so I brought some back.”

Li Youyin, seeing how exhausted the children were, felt sorry for them. “You don’t need to go back for the fish baskets. Rest at home. Your mother and I will go instead.”

The children were worn out, and after dinner, they went to their rooms to sleep.

It was getting dark.

In order to avoid the villagers, the family decided to leave before dawn, mainly because they were afraid the villagers would realize that wild vegetables could also be sold for money, which would cut off their own family’s income. They thought it was better to keep the secret for one more day.

After all, they weren’t saints, and when they were still poor, they weren’t going to give away their money-making ideas to the villagers for free.

Recently, with some free time on his hands, Li Youyin made some more baskets and carrying baskets, and added wild vegetables, fish tubs, filling up an entire cart.

When they reached the town, the sky had just brightened. After paying the stall fee, Li Youyin found a spot in a busy location and set up their goods neatly.

It seemed that with the farming season over, the villagers had some free time, so there were more people at the market than usual.

This time, Li Wen and Li Xing stayed at home, while Shen followed along. Li Guo’er was in charge of shouting out sales, while Li Youyin and Shen helped with the work.

“Don’t miss out, fresh water chestnut, big and fat grass carp!”

Li Guo’s crisp voice immediately attracted a lot of passersby. The wild vegetables on the stall were neatly arranged and looked appetizing.

But when they heard that the water chestnut was ten wen per jin (a traditional Chinese unit of weight), many of them thought the price was too high and didn’t buy much. However, there were quite a few buyers for the shepherd’s purse.

After an hour, half of the water chestnuts were still unsold. Li Youyin and his wife spoke to their daughter: “Guo’er, do you think the price is too high? Should we lower it to six wen and see if it works?”

Li Guo looked at them and said, “Although water chestnuts are wild vegetables, they’re not easy to find. The rarer something is, the more valuable it is, so our asking price is not high.”

“People who like it will buy it regardless of the price, and those who don’t like it won’t buy even if it’s one wen per jin.”

Seeing that her parents didn’t speak further, Li Guo continued to shout out her sales pitch! In the end, only a few baskets were left unsold.

The few who initially thought the water chestnuts were too expensive eventually came back and bought some to take home, as water chestnuts were not commonly seen.

Shen thought her daughter was a person with ideas and decided that, in the future, they should listen to her more when it came to important matters.

Just as they were about to load the baskets onto the cart and head to the fabric shop, they were stopped by a middle-aged man running toward them, which startled Shen.