So the net income was 4,500!
Jiang Heng looked at the final number with satisfaction and took the money to the fields.
It was around six-thirty, and the grass seed was nearly all sown.
Jiang Changhai spotted her first and said happily, “Sold out already?”
Jiang Heng didn’t explain that she’d only been delivering today, just smiled and nodded, “Yep, you guys are fast, almost done already!”
Jiang Changhai laughed, “Not bad, not bad, only lost a bit of time at noon. By the way, Xiao Heng, can you hook up the hose? We can help you water the field now.”
“Do you have a water pump at home?” Jiang Guoxia asked. “If not, I’ll bring you mine.”
Jiang Heng quickly replied, “No need, the weather report says there’ll be rain soon. If not, my water pump order arrives tomorrow.”
“Really, such a coincidence?” Shen Li wiped her hands and checked her phone.
“No, it just says cloudy,” Jiang Peng said first, looking puzzled. “Doesn’t mention rain.”
Jiang Heng insisted, “It did. But you know how the forecast changes. If there’s rain, better to wait; if it’s dry tomorrow evening, I’ll water it myself.”
That made sense.
Rainwater was better for the plants.
Everyone nodded. After a day’s work, they were tired and didn’t argue.
As they spoke, the last patch was sown. They double-checked, topped up the remaining grass seed, and made sure every field was evenly covered before clapping their hands and calling it a day.
When they’d finished, Jiang Heng went over to hand out wages.
It felt odd.
Paying the elders.
They all looked a bit awkward too, and Chen Aying didn’t want to accept, but Jiang Heng persuaded her. Once they took the money, they all treasured it, stroking it and putting it away.
Jiang Heng hooked Jiang Peng’s arm. “Sis, you don’t get cash, but you get something else. Want mushrooms? Fish? I’ve got them ready!”
“Of course! How could I say no? I’m making a profit!” Jiang Peng grinned.
On the way back, Jiang Heng pulled her inside to give her mushrooms, fish, and mulberries, and also shared a fish and a jin of mulberries with the other three families. The day’s busy work seemed over—on the surface!
Actually, after night fell, around eleven o’clock, Jiang Heng got up to perform a large-scale Rain Technique.
It was just ordinary rain, not requiring much Spiritual Energy.
Previously, her range was 200 meters; now, at Qi Refining Second Layer, she could cover a kilometer. The rain fell for half an hour, soaking all the newly sown fields. The seeds hidden in the soil were fully moistened.
Afterward, she meditated and cultivated again. When her dantian was full, she gave her own 5.5 mu a thirty-second Spiritual Rain.
Not too much Spiritual Energy—otherwise, the growth rate would give her away.
But even with that, the next morning when Jiang Heng went out to pick mushrooms, she glanced at her field and saw all the grass sprouts had shot up about two centimeters. The rice seedlings transplanted yesterday looked stronger and healthier, visibly taller.
Even the wheat, which had already sprouted, had most of its seeds pushing up green shoots overnight.
Her two mu of vegetable field, planted ten days ago, had grown a lot.
Half a mu of lettuce was already nearly mature and ready for harvest—the best time to eat it. Each leaf was crisp and tender; just looking at it, she could imagine the fresh, sweet crunch.
Jiang Heng’s mouth watered and she decided to pick a head of lettuce at noon to eat with grilled fish.
She’d roast the fish without soup, just straight on the fire.
Satisfied, she looked over her fields again before heading up the mountain.
Halfway, she got a call from the building supplies boss to confirm delivery. Everything would arrive that afternoon.
Her farming empire was about to begin!
That morning, as usual, she foraged for mushrooms and set them out to dry.
Today Jiang Heng planned to rest and handle the dried mushroom orders for out-of-towners, so she made three trips, picking enough mushrooms to cover the cement yard. Chen Aying came over to help clean them with a soft brush and to help lay them out to dry.
When Jiang Heng came back with two more sacks on her third trip, Chen Aying was stunned. “Oh my god, are you restocking for a store?!”
How could there be such a difference between people?
She occasionally searched for mushrooms at the mountain’s foot and was lucky to find some normal ones, let alone the expensive varieties.
Yet every time Jiang Heng went, she never came back empty-handed.
Today alone, carrying two sacks per trip, she’d picked thirty to forty jin each time—over a hundred jin of mushrooms in the yard!
Jiang Heng grinned. “Maybe I’m just lucky. I pick a random spot, and there are so many mushrooms—they grow too fast!”
In reality, she used Spiritual Energy to stimulate growth—one jin of mushrooms could become two—so she always found plenty of high-quality ones.
“Tsk tsk tsk…” Chen Aying was super envious, but was quickly distracted by the thought, nodding. “They really do grow fast—yesterday there were none, today there’s a bunch!”
It’s just that she never found any!
With the yard full, Jiang Heng stopped picking.
She’d already ordered lots of Bamboo Drying Racks and Bamboo Baskets online, paid extra for express shipping—they’d arrive that afternoon, so tomorrow she could dry even more.
Jiang Heng unpacked a new toothbrush, grabbed a stool, and joined in cleaning.
No sooner had she sat down than Caramel and Pudding came over, whining for attention, rubbing up against her and making it impossible to work.
Chen Aying laughed, “These two really stick to you!”
Jiang Heng’s eyes curved with her smile. “Well, I’m their provider, after all~”
She smoothed their fur from heads to backs; after days of eating Spirit-infused food, their coats were even glossier and softer, but… they seemed a bit thinner.
Even though they were well-fed—yesterday she’d made Fish Balls, using up all the Grass Carp, with Chen Aying’s help. They made six jin of Fish Balls, and the leftover fish meat, deboned, was steamed with rice. Sometimes she gave them Spirit-infused Vegetables or half a tomato, and the two puppies always ended up with round bellies.
Often there’d still be leftovers, which Jiang Heng put outside for passing dogs.
Yet they were still a bit slimmer than when they first arrived.
Maybe it was because they stopped drinking milk and lost their milk fat? Or maybe fish doesn’t make you fat?
After rubbing them, Jiang Heng coaxed, “Alright, go play on your own!”
“Aw!”
The two puppies were reluctant but, perhaps smarter after absorbing so much Spiritual Energy, seemed to understand. Seeing Jiang Heng unmoved, they whimpered and ran off to chase each other.
Chen Aying was amazed. “Wow, they really listen!”
“They’re smart. The more I talk, the more they understand,” Jiang Heng said naturally.
These two dogs really were clever—they never touched the mushrooms she laid out in the yard.
And these were all full of Spiritual Energy, very attractive to them. If not for the formation, the birds flying overhead would have stolen plenty already.
Chen Aying regretted it a bit. “I should’ve kept one!”
Jiang Heng laughed. “Too late—they’re both mine!”
“Ha ha ha,” Chen Aying was amused. “Just saying—raising dogs is a lot of trouble.”
After chatting about the dogs, she remembered Jiang Heng was going to build a Chicken Coop. “Have you scheduled with the builder yet? Your uncle comes back the day after tomorrow, probably needs a few days off, but he can help out.”
Jiang Heng nodded. “All arranged—the builder and his two apprentices will start work tomorrow. But Uncle finally gets to rest, so let’s not make him work.” Then she added, “By the way, Aunt, could you help with lunch for the workers? I’ll settle the food bill weekly—here’s a thousand yuan in advance, spend it as you see fit.”
Chen Aying agreed, “Sure, but a thousand is a lot for food!”
In the village, even a hundred a day was a lot for meat, eggs, and milk.
Jiang Heng said, “It’s alright. Three big meals a day for three people, all doing heavy labor—they’ll eat plenty. Maybe there’ll be more than three people sometimes, so just cook extra in case. Any leftovers, just feed them to the village cats and dogs.”
Chen Aying felt a bit sorry just hearing it, but since the workers were hired, she had to treat them well so they’d do a good job. “Alright, I’ll buy more meat, and just use our own vegetables?”
Jiang Heng said, “That’s fine—spend the thousand as needed, let me know if it’s not enough.”
They also discussed wages; with yesterday’s experience, it went smoothly. Chen Aying hesitated only a moment over her 150 yuan per day but accepted.
Mostly because Jiang Guoxia and Jiang Changhai and others would help out, so there’d be more than three eating. Cooking for many isn’t easy.
Once everything was settled, it was after eleven and the mushrooms were all cleaned. Jiang Heng invited her to stay for lunch, but Chen Aying had leftovers from yesterday and insisted on going home.
So Jiang Heng ate alone, using the last and biggest Grass Carp. In a few moves, she prepared it.
The innards she left to Caramel and Pudding; the fillets she deboned and sliced so as to remove all bones in advance, then pan-fried with a little oil, dipped in chili powder, and wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves for a bite.
The flavor was unbeatable!
First, the cool, crisp lettuce leaf crunched, followed by the hot, spicy, tender fish. Even with such strong seasoning, the natural sweetness of the fish and the refreshing taste of the lettuce stood out clearly on the tongue.
The lettuce cut the greasiness, so Jiang Heng didn’t have rice, just ate a big plate like this.
One head of lettuce wasn’t enough; she went back to pick two more.
She ran into Jiang Guoxia, who was coming to check her fields. Seeing her picking such tender vegetables, he looked at her like she was a spendthrift. “You’re picking them already?!”
Jiang Heng promoted her veggies with enthusiasm. “This is the best time to eat lettuce, Uncle—want some?”
Jiang Guoxia waved his hands. “No, no, eat less yourself. Aren’t you planning to sell these? Don’t eat them all.”
He was just worried about her fields.
This child planted rice without using fertilizer; probably didn’t use any on the other fields, either. No matter what they said, she wouldn’t listen, insisting on pure natural green food. He didn’t get it, so he just came to see if the seedlings could survive.
Thanks to last night’s rain, the seedlings all looked perky, already taking root.
It seemed Jiang Heng really had a knack for farming. Whenever she needed rain, it came, as if the weather was watering her fields on cue.
Jiang Heng stopped after picking two for herself, sharing some with the puppies. Spirit-infused Vegetables, no pesticides, truly natural, and they grew so well, not a single wormhole. Caramel and Pudding loved it too. Sometimes they’d get fish, and they were so happy they’d eat themselves to sleep, snuggling together before Jiang Heng was even done.
Jiang Heng felt a bit envious.
Puppies had it good—eat, sleep, play, repeat!
After a morning of drying, the mushrooms had already shrunk a lot by afternoon.
Where the mushrooms had been crowded together, now there was space, though she still needed to flip them now and then.
Jiang Heng simply practiced in the living room while waiting for deliveries.
Flipping wasn’t hard; with a wave of Spiritual Energy, she could flip them all at once.
Still, it was a bit tedious.
Luckily the weather was sunny; at this rate, in three days this batch would be done.
But if she needed to dry mushrooms regularly in the future, she’d have to outsource this job.
Around two o’clock, the bricks, tiles, and cement were delivered.
Jiang Guoxia and the others came over to help sign for them.
They were all familiar faces; after checking everything, Jiang Heng paid up. The total materials cost was just under 10,000 yuan.
After receiving the goods, Jiang Heng went to town for her packages—puppy toys, bowls, and other things she’d ordered. The tricycle was packed full; if she’d only had a small scooter, she wouldn’t have managed.
Passing the Village Committee on the way back, she stopped in to discuss renting the pond with the Village Chief. The price was lower than she’d thought—just 500 yuan per year, and she could include the surrounding land, which meant she could even build a small house there.
At first, Jiang Heng was surprised.
She’d have to build a house?
The Village Chief was even more surprised. “Aren’t you afraid that, when the fish get big, someone might sneak in at night and cast a net or two?”
Jiang Heng:
She instinctively thought she could use a formation; others wouldn’t be able to get in.
She was used to using formations for defense in the cultivation world.
But then she realized she couldn’t be too blatant, or if someone noticed something odd, it’d be a problem. Better to have someone watch over things.
She’d ask her uncles later. By then, Caramel and Pudding should be grown enough to take turns on night watch.
The contract couldn’t be signed immediately—the pond was collective property, and over half the village needed to agree, plus the government had to be notified. The rules would be drafted first, and the Village Chief would handle the rest. She just had to wait to sign and pay.
The next morning, the builders arrived as scheduled.
As Jiang Heng expected, Jiang Guoxia, Jiang Changhai, Shen Li, and two neighbors whose families were friends with her parents came to help—they all said not to pay them, just feed them.
With everyone so enthusiastic, Jiang Heng didn’t refuse and gave Aunt Aying an extra 500 yuan for groceries.
This time, Chen Aying didn’t say the money was too much; she was beaming with pride. “Everyone knows you’re successful now—they’re happy for your parents, too, so you should treat them to something good.”
Jiang Heng softened. “Thank you, Aunt.”
“What’s there to thank?” Chen Aying replied cheerfully, glancing at the busy crowd already measuring out the land. “I’ll go buy groceries now. Anything you want to eat?”
Jiang Heng shook her head. “Nothing in particular. Maybe buy a chicken to stew for soup? Add some mushrooms—it’ll be delicious.”
Chen Aying agreed, then went around to ask everyone else. People doing heavy work weren’t picky; nobody had special requests, so she headed out on her scooter.
Jiang Heng went to check on the builders and help out.
On the first day, she needed to watch closely to make sure everything went according to her plan.