Sold out.
With Song Ming helping to recommend customers, plus her previous regulars, today was even busier than before. Before seven o’clock, Jiang Heng’s mushrooms were once again completely sold out.
There were even people who came late and couldn’t buy any, looking resentful: “Boss! Why are there so few goods today?!”
Jiang Heng:
………………The amount is about the same, but there are more customers today, maybe because it’s the weekend.
Lin Yirui, who came late and didn’t get any: “It’s the weekend and I still had to work overtime, which made me late. Now I couldn’t buy any.”
Even more heartbroken!
Jiang Heng coughed awkwardly: “Sorry.”
She didn’t know what else to say, so she simply started packing up the trunk in silence.
Lin Yirui was unwilling to leave, worried that he’d have to work overtime again tomorrow and miss out, so he suddenly had an idea: “Boss, can I add your contact info? I could preorder, and you could save some for me.”
Jiang Heng hesitated: “But what if I’ve sold out before you arrive?”
Lin Yirui’s mouth twitched—it was a real possibility. Suddenly, he thought of a solution. Glancing at the nearby Milk Tea Shop, he said, “Boss, if I’m late, could you leave it at the Milk Tea Shop?”
Jiang Heng thought for a moment: “If they agree, I can leave it there, but you’ll need to arrange it first.”
Lin Yirui was overjoyed and quickly exchanged contact info: “The shop manager is my friend, I’ll let him know!”
He left, satisfied.
Jiang Heng finished packing up and was ready to go.
Next door, Song Ming had only a little left. The new Beef-Mushroom Sauce Sushi had already sold out, and the rest was a bit harder to sell, but she wasn’t in a hurry—usually by this time, she’d have half left, and now she had fewer than ten boxes, so she wore a bright, beaming smile. Today was a real win!
Originally, she just didn’t want to work anymore—it was too tiring, and her temper was getting worse. On impulse, she quit her job, but when she tried to find another, the job market was bad and nothing fit. To make money, she tried making sushi to sell.
She didn’t earn much, but she could make a hundred or two a day, and weekends were even better, so she just kept at it.
Until today, when business took off thanks to her spontaneous new flavor.
Her net profit was over three hundred!
She really was lucky!
Seeing Jiang Heng about to leave, Song Ming called out, “Be careful on your way back!”
Her lucky friend—she had to maintain a good relationship!
Jiang Heng waved back: “You too, hope you sell out soon and get home~”
Driving away, she carefully avoided the crowds and sped off, making it to the Town Delivery Station before closing to pick up the package she’d ordered earlier—Peachwood Beads.
Having finished early today, Jiang Heng didn’t rest when she got home. Instead, she went straight to the three Mulberry trees, infusing Spiritual Energy into each Peachwood Bead, then burying them in the soil according to the Formation Array’s positions. When the last bead was placed, an invisible protective barrier rose several meters overhead.
Two arrays combined: Invisibility Formation and Pest Repelling Formation.
These were the most commonly used Formation Arrays for planting Spirit Plants in the Cultivation World. For even rarer and more precious Spirit Plants, a Defensive Array would be added as well, to keep out powerful Spirit Beasts that might break in and eat them.
Finally, she formed hand seals, and a gentle Spiritual Rain silently fell within the array. She could almost instantly see the Mulberry trees happily stretching their branches, the leaves rustling. The Mulberry Fruit at the very top, which hadn’t fully ripened, grew noticeably larger in a short time, now hanging heavy on the branches. Originally, each was about the size of her index finger joint—now they were as big as her thumb.
As the Spiritual Rain continued, the green tint on many Mulberry Fruits faded, ripening completely and releasing a sweet, fragrant aroma.
Jiang Heng’s fingertips twitched, sending threads of Spiritual Power to the branches, gently plucking a few Mulberry Fruits into her palm. Then, with a Dust Removal Art, all dirt vanished, leaving plump, trembling fruit that seemed ready to burst with juice at the slightest squeeze.
Jiang Heng popped one into her mouth. With a gentle bite, the thin skin broke open, and sweet juice with a hint of tartness filled her mouth. The taste was refreshing—the perfect balance of sweet and sour for her, without any wild fruit astringency.
Perfect!
Tomorrow, she could finally add a new product!
“Do your best, try to ripen even more for tomorrow!” Jiang Heng patted the Mulberry trunk with anticipation, hurried home to wash up, and lay in bed to check today’s earnings.
Half an hour later.
Jiang Heng looked at her account balance and smiled: “3,092 yuan!”
Of course, this was after deducting the amount Song Ming had prepaid, since she’d already gathered ten thousand to pay her Uncle back.
She really was on a roll.
This was so much more than she’d ever earned from hard work in her First Life!
With Mulberry Fruit tomorrow, her daily income should surpass four thousand, right???
With this expectation, Jiang Heng was even more motivated heading up the mountain the next morning, setting out before seven.
Early in the morning, she had to pick mushrooms first, taking advantage of the sunrise to slip into the woods.
After two rounds of Spiritual Rain on these hills, there were more small animals than ever. As soon as she approached, her sharp ears caught all sorts of sounds. Jiang Heng deliberately made some noise, prompting a flurry of running and wing-flapping.
She couldn’t see them, but she could imagine the little animals’ panicked scramble.
Kindly, she gave them time to leave before entering the hill and skillfully searching for mushrooms. After two rounds of rain—even if the animals came to eat—the grass here was lusher than on other hills, and there were plenty of mushrooms.
Spotting some familiar mushrooms, Jiang Heng hurried over.
She nearly kicked a rabbit that was too busy munching grass!
Fortunately, she stopped her foot just in time.
The rabbit seemed startled too, staring at her with big, round black eyes in confusion.
Jiang Heng was amused and nudged the rabbit’s leg with her toe: “Aren’t you going to run?”
The rabbit finally reacted, spun around, and leapt several meters away.
Jiang Heng smiled, but in the next instant, a yellow figure darted out and bit the fleeing rabbit.
The rabbit kicked frantically, but with a “crack,” its neck was broken, and its body went limp.
Jiang Heng:
At that moment, she locked eyes with a fierce Yellow-throated Marten.
The Yellow-throated Marten, rabbit in its mouth, watched her warily, as if ready for a fight. Jiang Heng quietly looked away and continued on her way. As soon as she moved, the already wary marten stepped back. When it realized she wasn’t coming closer, it relaxed and retreated with its catch.
Animals were drawn by food—where there was good food, predators would follow.
Just as the good grass here drew rabbits, Yellow-throated Martens would come for the bounty, and maybe this whole area was their hunting ground.
Jiang Heng didn’t care—the Yellow-throated Marten clearly didn’t see her as prey, and since it was a National Level II Protected Species, they had a mutual understanding to leave each other alone. She continued picking mushrooms. Since the grass here was infused with Spiritual Energy, few animals ate the mushrooms, so there were still plenty left.
Just two hills, and she filled two burlap sacks.
As usual, she left a Spiritual Rain in the area and left quickly. As she departed, she thought she saw a few Yellow-throated Martens watching from afar.
Hauling the two full sacks of mushrooms home, Jiang Heng grabbed two baskets and hurried to the Mulberry trees. After a night of growth, it looked like most of the Mulberry Fruit had ripened. Jiang Heng hardly needed to pick—she sent a wave of Spiritual Power, and a mist of water swirled a pile of almost-black Mulberry Fruit into her baskets.
Thanks to her Invisibility Formation, no one would notice unless they were watching from up close.
Soon, both baskets were full—about thirty jin. The three Mulberry trees only had some unripe fruit left.
Still, there were plenty.
Mulberry Fruit season lasted about a month—enough for her to pick for a long time.
With delicious Mulberry Fruit, Jiang Heng’s first priority was, of course, to eat some herself.
Lunch was yesterday’s Beef-Mushroom Sauce, courtesy of Song Ming, over white rice.
She’d tasted it with noodles that morning and found it a bit salty, but paired with plain noodles or white rice, it was just right. So for lunch, she simply made a radish and tofu soup. The tofu was from Da Boiniang, who had just bought some and shared half with her since one person couldn’t finish it all. She added a couple of mushrooms, and the soup turned out even sweeter and richer.
Just right—one light, one hearty, a perfect match.
Jiang Heng quietly drank two bowls of soup and ate two bowls of rice with Beef-Mushroom Sauce, filling her belly once again.
Then, she snapped a picture of the bottle, now a quarter gone, to send to Song Ming.
She got a delighted laugh in reply, along with a promise: [I bought a lot of mushrooms this time, so I can make a few more bottles of sauce—I’ll save you two!]
[Jiang Heng: Then I won’t be polite! Tonight, I’ll treat you to Mulberry Fruit!]
[Song Ming: Sure! (expecting.jpg)]
After lunch, the Mulberry Fruit she’d set aside had chilled in the fridge for over two hours. When she took it out, it was icy cold. After washing it with Dust Removal Art and clean water, the dark Mulberry Fruit, beaded with cold water, was even tastier. She tossed one in her mouth, and the icy, sweet-and-sour taste was even better than last night!
At a time like this, if only she could lounge on a sofa, playing games with one hand and eating fruit with the other—how great that would be.
Unfortunately, her house was currently bare.
In the past, her parents thought it was a waste—no need for a sofa in the countryside, so they never bought one. Later, there was no occasion to use it. If it weren’t for that accident, no one would ever have lived here long-term.
And now, she didn’t have one because………………she was poor.
She’d bought a bed, a wardrobe, quilts—the essentials—but never considered a sofa.
Wait!
She wasn’t that poor anymore, right?
Her balance was just over three thousand, but with a steady income, buying something to make life more comfortable seemed reasonable.
Tonight, after selling mushrooms, she’d buy a sofa!
Having made up her mind, she went upstairs, leaned against the bedhead, and played games while eating Mulberry Fruit. The cool fruit washed away all the morning’s fatigue, and faint Spiritual Energy circulated in her body, quickly absorbed by her cultivation.
After half a bowl of Mulberry Fruit, she couldn’t eat another bite. She put the rest back in the fridge and began today’s cultivation.
At five in the afternoon, Jiang Heng set out.
This time, before leaving, she made a point to stop by Da Boiniang and her other Aunt’s houses, delivering two jin of Mulberry Fruit to each. Da Boiniang knew she’d been selling mushrooms every evening, so she wasn’t surprised to see her on the tricycle at this hour. She tried to refuse as usual, telling Jiang Heng to keep them to eat or sell, not to waste.
Her other Aunt had a similar attitude.
Jiang Heng was used to this: “If my own family can’t even eat them, I’d be treating myself too harshly. It’s not like they’re that valuable—just take them.”
Aunt Shen grinned: “A pity your cousin isn’t home. He and your cousin-in-law love these. Wait, your cousin-in-law just bought some snacks—take some home to eat.”
Jiang Heng wasn’t fond of heavily processed foods these days and hurriedly said, “No need, no need, I’m off to the county to sell mushrooms, it’d be inconvenient to carry. I’ll be going.”
While Aunt Shen turned around, she quickly turned her tricycle.
Aunt Shen sped up, too.
It was like a race.
But Jiang Heng had to turn around, so she couldn’t go too fast. In the end, just as she finished turning, Aunt Shen caught up and stuffed her with several bags of nuts and raisins: “So you can snack while you’re selling!”
Jiang Heng: “Alright! Thanks, Aunt~”
She thanked her sweetly, waved, and zipped off on her tricycle.