After eating and drinking her fill, Jiang Heng received another large order!
It came through a recommendation from Song Ming.
The mushrooms had finally been successfully promoted and widely recognized by her former company colleagues.
Many people wanted to make group purchases; Jiang Heng didn’t have to worry about it at all—Song Ming directly reported the total quantity needed.
Because the amount was so large, she couldn’t help with drying them anymore, so they could only order dried mushrooms directly.
Three jin each of Wuzhong Mushroom, Pine Mushroom, and Chashu Mushroom; two jin each of Boletus and Termite Mushroom; and ten jin of Forest Mushroom.
The large quantity was because there were quite a few buyers.
Apparently, her friend had almost had her homemade lunch snatched while eating in the company restaurant at noon.
After everyone discussed it, they decided to place a group order.
Their relationships were pretty good, so a few people pooled together, and others joined in for fun. Everyone bought half a jin or a jin, which quickly added up.
Dried mushrooms were eight times the price of fresh ones. With just this one order, the net income was 16,080 yuan!
Of course, since the goods weren’t ready, the money hadn’t been received yet, but as far as Jiang Heng was concerned, she might as well round up and consider it already in her bank account.
Feeling pleased, she set down her phone and went to feed the puppies.
Jiang Heng herself hadn’t eaten any meat today, and the dishes were a bit salty, so she thawed a piece of pork from the fridge and boiled it for the puppies.
But after taking a sniff, the two who’d just eaten a bit of tomato looked disdainful, barely ate half, filled their bellies, and left the rest.
Picky eaters!
So picky!
But Jiang Heng understood; she was like that herself.
Otherwise, the piece of meat wouldn’t have lasted until now.
If the puppies wouldn’t eat it, it wouldn’t be good to leave it out until evening, so she simply took it outside and left it at the edge of the yard for any passing village cats and dogs.
Once the puppies were settled, it was time to work on making money.
She quickly grabbed a bucket and net and went to the big pond by the mountain.
She went down the laid stone slabs, approached the water, and skillfully formed a Spiritual Rain Technique.
A small area of Spiritual Rain began to fall, rippling the surface of the pond. Soon, the creatures in the water sensed it and rushed over, scrambling to devour the tasty treats that fell.
The water in that area began to ripple intensely.
Jiang Heng seized the chance and scooped her net through the water from below.
A splash echoed.
The net was heavy with a pile of fish and shrimp.
Eh?!
This time, she’d caught not just fish but a whole bunch of Small Dragon Shrimp!
She’d almost forgotten—it was the season for Small Dragon Shrimp, and the Spiritual Rain had drawn them up.
All of them were big, waving their Crimson Shrimp claws.
The net was so full that if not for Jiang Heng’s impressive strength, she wouldn’t have been able to lift it.
She immediately transferred the fish and shrimp into the bucket, added some water so they could move, then picked out the small ones, used the current to toss them back into the pond, and only kept a dozen big fish, leaving out the Small Dragon Shrimp.
These Crimson Shrimp-shell Small Dragon Shrimp were tough-shelled and hard to eat; if she had time, she’d set up traps to catch more suitable ones.
The pond’s biodiversity was richer than she’d thought.
With over a dozen fish, she took them home, put them in a separate basin, added some Lingqi-infused Water, and planned to keep them until five o’clock for delivery.
After finishing her preparations, just as Jiang Heng was about to get up, she saw Pudding and Caramel sniffing around as if they’d caught the scent of something delicious and sneakily approached.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, “glug glug,” they lapped up a big mouthful of the fish water.
“Awwoo!”
The two dog faces were full of delight.
Then they dove in, crazily licking the water.
Jiang Heng hurriedly grabbed one, ignoring its eight chubby legs wriggling in protest, shut the back door, and amidst their pitiful whining, added some Lingqi-infused Water to a disposable bowl. “Alright, I’ll let you drink.”
“Aw~~~”
Their voices immediately became adorably soft.
As soon as she put them down, the two puppies scampered over to gulp down the water.
Jiang Heng watched them for a bit, then went upstairs to cultivate.
It was still early. She cultivated for two hours, came down at three o’clock to work with everyone, planning to finish early.
Tomorrow she needed to sow grass seeds on the remaining two mu of land and receive bricks, tiles, cement, and wood.
The day after, the master would arrive to build the Chicken Coop, Sheep Pen, and Pigsty.
Once those were done, she could buy chicks, ducklings, lambs, and piglets.
By the time the grass was half grown, she could water it with some Spiritual Rain, which would help the baby livestock through their early days.
Unexpectedly, Chen Aying and the others were even more diligent than she’d expected.
When Jiang Heng appeared at three o’clock wearing her Straw Hat, everyone had already been working in the rice field for a while.
Only a third of the transplanting was left, and by now, more than half of that was done.
Jiang Peng held her aching waist and quietly complained to her, “My mom and the others can’t sit still. They wanted to come out at two o’clock, I stopped them for a bit, but by two-thirty they’d already come out…”
Jiang Heng patted her on the shoulder. “Thanks for your hard work.”
A: O(TT)O
Jiang Heng kindly pulled her to the wheat field. “This job isn’t tiring. You sow, I cover.”
Jiang Peng: “Sure!”
With sisters working together, the task didn’t feel tiring at all.
The soil had already been deeply turned and was loose. Jiang Heng dug a long trench, Jiang Peng scattered seeds, then Jiang Heng used a rake to cover them.
With Jiang Heng’s strength, even heavy tools felt as light as balloons; she barely used any effort, chatting while nimbly burying seeds.
Jiang Peng’s job of sowing was even easier. The two chatted and laughed, finishing a lot before they knew it.
When the rice seedlings were all transplanted, Chen Aying and the others came over to find that half a mu of the wheat field was already more than halfway done.
At five o’clock, Jiang Heng needed to deliver goods, so she left the rest to them.
With more hands, they’d finish in half an hour at most.
So Chen Aying asked her for grass seed; once they finished, they’d sow the remaining two mu right away.
Those two mu had only been roughly turned over, and the previous grass wasn’t liked by pigs or sheep, so it had to be redone.
Jiang Heng had bought Black Ryegrass and Mexican Corn Grass—both were good for pigs and sheep and grew fast, perfect for livestock.
The elders’ diligence made Jiang Heng feel a bit ashamed.
She’d planned to finish in two days.
In the end, it was all done in one.
Of course, Jiang Heng was also working hard delivering orders.
Since she didn’t have to set up a stall, delivery was quick.
Fruit shop, noodle shop, fast-food restaurant… the money had all been paid in advance; she just dropped off the goods and left.
Jiang Heng was surprised when she delivered to the fast-food restaurant—how could such a budget-friendly place buy her mushrooms at such a high price?
But when she went in, she found they had stir-fry options too.
And there was a free daily soup at the counter, which had a familiar fresh fragrance. Though it was mild, she could definitely tell it was Mushroom soup.
At this time, there were quite a few customers inside.
When Jiang Heng came in, the boss was sweating but grinning from ear to ear.
Seeing her, he waved, “Boss Jiang, just leave it by the door, sorry I’m too busy to come over!”
Jiang Heng found a discreet spot by the door, smiled, and said, “No worries, go ahead and work. I’ll head to my next delivery.”
A customer passing by caught a whiff of the mushroom aroma and exclaimed, “Boss, you bought mushrooms too? These mushrooms are expensive! I could only afford a bit for my kid to try.”
The fast-food restaurant boss said, “Yeah, it’s expensive, but didn’t you all say it tastes good? I rushed to buy it. Today’s daily soup is made with mushrooms—super fresh! I drank two big bowls myself!”
“Wow, is that mushroom soup? Then I’ll get a bowl too,” the customer said, hurrying over.
Other customers, hearing this, went over to get some, sipping and praising it: “It’s really tasty!”
“Too bad I’m full already; I’ll come back for more tomorrow. This soup is great.”
The boss’s eyes squinted happily.
Wasn’t it because everyone around was talking about mushrooms that he decided to try it? Yesterday, he’d spent a few dozen yuan to make the daily soup, and business was good in the evening.
The mushrooms added to the soup didn’t look like much, but the fragrance was truly irresistible.
He was reluctant to add too many and had to water it down, diluting the taste.
Still, it was popular, and customers who tried it loved it.
After all, who could complain about free soup?
He’d made his money back and earned more, so today he specially ordered 500 yuan’s worth and even added mushrooms to the stir-fries.
Jiang Heng didn’t linger to watch the bustling scene; after her delivery, she headed to the next place.
The noodle shop had little business at the moment.
The couple running it were all smiles, saying they’d sold out of noodles and were just waiting for her Termite Mushroom delivery so they could cook Termite Mushroom oil and go home to rest.
Jiang Heng was delighted. Everyone was making money together!
There were six deliveries in total.
Once she was done, she returned to her usual stall spot. She’d already messaged Gao Xiuling to pick up the fish and would also bring Song Ming’s two fish and mushrooms for her.
Today Song Ming bought 700 yuan’s worth of mushrooms and, once again, bought up all the less pretty ones.
And a Grass Carp and a Cyprinid, mainly because she’d heard about Jiang Heng’s delicious fried fish and wanted to try it too.
The Grass Carp was especially large—nearly four jin. Perfect for making both Fish Balls and fried fish—two dishes from one fish.
That gave Jiang Heng an idea.
Tomorrow, she’d make Fish Balls!
She still had two big Grass Carp that nobody wanted, kept alive with Spirit Water and some Spirit-infused Vegetables. They hadn’t lost much weight, but after another couple days, who knew? Better to eat them now.
Song Ming, seeing only two fish left in Jiang Heng’s basket, asked curiously, “Are you coming to set up the stall tomorrow?”
Jiang Heng replied, “Not sure, I’ll see how it goes.”
Song Ming was envious. “You’re so free-spirited.”
Jiang Heng laughed. “Setting up a stall is all about being free-spirited, isn’t it?”
Song Ming choked—was that so?
Then what did her hard work, never missing a day except when it rained, count for? Was she just used to a life of endless toil?!
After saying that, Jiang Heng was also stunned for a moment.
A few days ago, she’d thought about finding someone to replace her at the stall so she could focus on other things, but now, saying it out loud, she realized it was actually quite fun.
Jiang Heng had never been an outgoing person.
Especially before transmigrating, when she was buried in debt, she was sullen, had few friends, and kept her distance from people. Maintaining relationships took money, which she lacked most.
To her, owing money made life unbearable, so she worked desperately hard just to pay it off early.
Even though she got along well with Jiang Peng now, back when she worked in Beijing, they were barely more than casual contacts on social media.
Partly due to the age gap and not growing up together, and partly because of distance and her own introversion, they had little contact after graduation.
But transmigration had made Jiang Heng more cheerful. Setting up a stall, she now smiled at everyone, chatted with most customers, and spoke more than usual.
She could even chat easily with Jiang Peng.
And with her own stall, she could come and go as she pleased, rest at home whenever she wanted—no need for rigid schedules.
It was a kind of fun, too.
Especially—
“Boss!” A surprised shout came from a distance.
Jiang Heng looked over and saw a familiar customer approaching with joy. “Boss, I thought you weren’t coming today!”
Jiang Heng:
A little guilty.
But being missed like this made her happy.
She looked away for a moment and said, “I wasn’t planning to come, but I didn’t have much work at home, so I just came to deliver.”
She pulled out her phone. “Want to add me on WeChat? You can order directly next time and get home delivery.”
The customer, having seen the empty basket, had looked disappointed, but now her interest was piqued. She pulled out her phone. “Sure, let’s add each other! Do you have a group? Maybe we can add more people—easier to manage.”
Jiang Heng was moved. “Not yet, but I’ll make one soon.”
The customer added her on WeChat and left after a word; she hadn’t come to buy vegetables anyway.
Just as she left, Gao Xiuling came over, all smiles. “Oh, you really came, boss! Thank you! I was worrying about it all morning, regretting drinking that fish soup yesterday. I should’ve saved it for my daughter. Luckily you asked me!”
Jiang Heng was amused. “No problem, just doing business.”
She handed over the two fish, double-bagged and half-filled with water; the Cyprinid flipped about inside, still full of life.
Jiang Heng reminded her, “The fish is here. If you’re not eating it right away, keep it in the water; it’ll stay alive for two days.”
Gao Xiuling nodded. “Okay, boss, you think of everything.”
She understood that it was the water the fish had been living in—no wonder these fish were expensive, even their water was clear.
After thanking her several times, she happily hung the bag on her electric scooter and drove home carefully.
Jiang Heng sighed.
Such emotional value.
Setting up a stall meant seeing the customers’ reactions face-to-face.
Not bad at all.
Since she was already doing it freely, it didn’t matter whether she hired someone or not. If she got busy, she wouldn’t set up the stall; when she had time, she’d sell. She always just sold whatever she had.
Thinking this way, she felt relieved.
Jiang Heng said goodbye to Song Ming and left, cheerful.
Before leaving the county, she stopped by the bank to withdraw cash to pay Shen Li and the others’ wages—cash was most convenient.
At home, she first calculated today’s earnings.
Orders from Ye Sui weren’t in yet, so not counted. Today’s six pre-order customers, plus Song Ming and Gao Xiuling’s orders, added up to 5,550 yuan in revenue. Today’s labor cost was 1,000 yuan, not counting Jiang Peng.
Jiang Peng had come mainly to help as a sister, so it felt wrong to pay her. She’d give her some mushrooms, mulberries, and a few fish instead, so she wouldn’t lose out.