If she really wanted to turn her crops into cash, Jiang Heng could do it right away.
She had Water, Wood, and Earth Spiritual Roots, and was born with the Shennong Sacred Body.
As long as there was enough Spiritual Energy, she could harvest a pile of produce in the blink of an eye.
But just harvesting wasn’t enough.
She didn’t dare to sell it.
Technology had advanced so much now that even in their third-tier city’s small town market, there were surveillance cameras everywhere. Plus, buying and selling things was basically all done with Alipay or WeChat. If she just took her goods to sell, if anything ever happened in the future, it’d be found out for sure.
It was like she was carrying a treasure, but in this world, there wasn’t enough Spiritual Energy for everyone to cultivate. If anyone discovered how different she was, she couldn’t help but imagine all sorts of unpleasant possibilities.
So if she wanted to cash out, Jiang Heng—who had been away from modern society for a long time—just planned to wait a month or two until her vegetables matured, then sell them at a high price under the banner of “all-natural, pollution-free, pesticide-free.” By then, she’d definitely be able to pay off the rest of her debts.
As for not being able to sell them, she hadn’t even considered it.
Even though she didn’t plan to infuse too much Spiritual Power into these vegetables, just a little was enough to change the quality of the plants. She was sure she could make money.
But now, looking at things, there was an even faster way!
She split the remaining mushrooms in half and took some to Da Boiniang.
Da Boiniang, Chen Aying, saw her pick so many good things and was just as envious, but she firmly refused to accept them. Instead, she advised earnestly, “Are you silly? You should take these to sell in town. If you’re too shy, sell them to the supermarket. The supermarket will definitely buy them.”
Jiang Heng was helpless and simply set them down on her table. “How much could these sell for? Let’s just eat them ourselves. I’ll go pick more later anyway.”
Chen Aying said crossly, “You think these are cabbages? Qiuhong Aunt and I searched for ages and didn’t even see two of them.”
Jiang Heng put her hands on her hips. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely find more.”
Seeing how confident she was, Chen Aying suddenly looked at her suspiciously. “You didn’t go into the mountains, did you?”
Jiang Heng:
……..I’ve got things to do, I’m heading off first.”
Chen Aying was so angry she chased after her, yelling, “Don’t go deep in there! If you really run into a wild boar, no one will be able to save you!”
“Got it!” Jiang Heng waved her hand.
Only then did Chen Aying go back.
Feeling the gaze behind her fade, Jiang Heng started running even faster. On her way, she passed by a house where the man of the house had just come back carrying a hoe. Seeing her running by, he laughed, “Hey, Erqiu’s girl runs so fast now?”
He remembered her as a quiet kid. Other children would run all over the mountains, but she’d obediently stay home doing homework.
Jiang Heng called out, “Changhai Uncle.”
Jiang Changhai was stunned for a moment, then responded with a cheerful, “Eh.”
Jiang Heng quickly passed his house and headed for her own.
It was still early. After returning home, Jiang Heng immediately found a burlap sack in the storage room and headed back to the mountains. It was only about 9:30, but the sun was already high in the sky. This was the Central Region, and it was early May. The temperature was gradually rising, these days ranging from eighteen or nineteen degrees to twenty-five or six, sometimes even hitting thirty. Under the sun, it already felt a bit hot.
She focused her mind, and the temperature around her dropped a little.
The Water Spiritual Root was also adept at ice-type spells. With Spiritual Energy so scarce now, Jiang Heng only dared to use a little of her own stored Spiritual Power to cool her surroundings a bit.
Once she reached the mountains, she immediately withdrew the spell.
It was naturally cooler here.
She kept heading in, soon arriving at the spot where she’d picked mushrooms before. She remembered there were quite a few Pine Mushrooms here, so she didn’t plan to go far. Looking around, the first thing she found this time was Chashu Mushroom, growing on rotten wood, cleverly hidden by a fallen log. She had to walk around it to see, and there was a rather large patch.
On the way here, Jiang Heng had checked the prices. Chashu Mushroom wasn’t as expensive as Pine Mushroom, but still fetched twenty or thirty yuan a jin.
Before picking, she first cast the Spiritual Rain Technique.
A patch of dark clouds, less than half a meter wide, slowly gathered in midair. With her movements, rain fell in a rush, drenching the Chashu Mushrooms.
The rain carried her infused Spiritual Energy. As it landed on the plants below—whether Chashu Mushrooms or the tender grass—anything alive instantly grew a bit larger. Even the smaller Chashu Mushrooms at the edges grew a lot.
Jiang Heng picked the best-looking ones. Originally, there was only half a jin, but after her little trick, it was close to a full jin.
After picking, she turned and spotted a cluster of wild Oyster Mushrooms. But since those weren’t as valuable, she left them and moved on, scanning the area. Soon, she found two patches of Pine Mushrooms. Using the same method, after a shower of Spiritual Rain, the Pine Mushrooms grew bigger and looked even more golden and appealing.
Jiang Heng picked them happily, leaving some of the smaller ones behind.
Having been watered by Spiritual Rain, even if they weren’t fully grown yet, by tomorrow they’d surely be big enough.
One patch after another—in just a short while, she’d scoured this hill and collected half a sack of Chashu Mushrooms and Pine Mushrooms. It seemed this area was done, so Jiang Heng got up, took a final look around, and planned to move to a new spot. Just then, she spotted something odd in color, not like ordinary mushrooms.
Curious, she went over, brushed aside some dead leaves, and discovered a patch of Wuzhong Mushrooms. These were more brownish, with thick, chubby caps. When she’d been searching for Pine Mushrooms earlier, she’d seen them mentioned, and they were more than ten yuan pricier than Pine Mushrooms!
Jiang Heng’s eyes curved in delight. As usual, she cast the Spiritual Rain Technique. Watching as the Wuzhong Mushrooms plumped up, she carefully picked the biggest, leaving the small ones behind, and finally moved to a different, unexplored area.
Living by the mountain really paid off.
There were so many kinds of mushrooms.
Even with Jiang Heng’s picky eye—only choosing the valuable ones and leaving the unfamiliar—she still filled the sack in less than an hour. Once it was full, she headed home. Even though it was a long way, her Spiritual Power sped things up, and she arrived just after eleven o’clock.
Perfect timing for lunch.
She started by cleaning the mushrooms, picking out fresh Wuzhong Mushrooms, Pine Mushrooms, and Chashu Mushrooms to make mushroom soup in the kitchen. The larger mushrooms were torn into strips, blanched for a minute or two, then boiled in fresh water. Mushrooms went in, with a little ginger and salt, and after three to five minutes, she cracked an egg in. A simple Egg Drop Mushroom Soup was ready.
She went out to her backyard and used her Spiritual Power to quickly grow a Garlic.
Pale green Spiritual Power fell onto a tiny sprout, which instantly grew and thickened. When she pulled it up, the soft earth revealed a plump, round Garlic.
The minced garlic was for Suanmo Stir-Fried Romaine Lettuce. As soon as she started cooking, the aroma filled the house.
Cooking for one, she didn’t make too many dishes—just one stir-fry and one soup. By the time she finished, the rice in the cooker was done too.
She tried the romaine lettuce first. The crisp green leaves, chopped into sections and coated in garlic, were crunchy and fragrant, a little salty and perfectly appetizing. Delicious!
Then she ladled herself a bowl of soup.
The hot soup filled her mouth with an indescribable umami, making her tongue tremble with delight.
She hadn’t added any strong seasonings, just a bit of salt, but the flavor was already rich—like using a lot of chicken essence, but fresher and gentler on the palate.
She smacked her lips and took another sip.
Still so good.
Jiang Heng’s eyes narrowed in happiness. Especially since, on careful tasting, there was a faint trace of Spiritual Energy in the soup. It was so light that ordinary people wouldn’t notice, but with her heightened senses after cultivation, Jiang Heng sensed it immediately.
Thanks to her Spiritual Rain, the mushrooms’ quality had changed.
Whether in taste or effect, they’d improved. If these were poisonous mushrooms, even their toxicity would be enhanced. Eating these long-term would definitely be good for the body, but Jiang Heng had always controlled the amount of Spiritual Rain so that the benefits wouldn’t be too obvious—only with long-term consumption would one feel the difference.
So delicious—she wondered how much they could sell for?
Full of anticipation, Jiang Heng finished lunch, cultivated for half the afternoon, and by four o’clock, she set out on her Three-Wheeled Vehicle, loaded with neatly sorted mushrooms she’d prepared earlier!
Her first stop was the supermarket Da Boiniang had mentioned.
If the supermarket could buy them at her ideal price, it would save her a lot of trouble.
The supermarket here had only been built in the past couple of years—big, new, and bustling. Jiang Heng found a cashier and asked if they bought mushrooms. After getting a positive answer, the cashier contacted the manager.
Soon, a middle-aged man in a white shirt and black slacks came over, greeting her warmly, “Hello, hello! What kinds of mushrooms do you have?”
Jiang Heng led him to her tricycle basket. “Picked all these this morning. I just brushed off the dirt—they’re still fresh.”
Each big, plump, fresh mushroom was neatly sorted in the basket.
Pine Mushrooms, Wuzhong Mushrooms, Chashu Mushrooms, Forest Mushrooms—not many types, but a decent amount in total. More importantly, there were none of the common Oyster or Shiitake Mushrooms; instead, they were all the pricier kinds, and all looked great—hardly a blemish among them, each one full and thick. Just looking at them, you could almost imagine how delicious they’d be cooked.
The manager’s eyes lit up. “How much are you planning to sell them for?”
Jiang Heng quoted her prices: “Wuzhong Mushrooms, eighty yuan per jin; Pine Mushrooms, sixty; Chashu Mushrooms, fifty…”
The manager’s scalp tingled. “Wait! Wait! Your prices are higher than the usual retail price!”
Jiang Heng remained calm. “These are all wild, picked deep in the mountains.”
The manager scrutinized them. “These mushrooms are pretty big. They look like they’re cultivated, don’t they?”
Jiang Heng simply handed him a Wuzhong Mushroom. “Just smell it—you’ll know. Can cultivated ones have this fragrance?”
The manager took it. Honestly, he’d already caught a whiff of their aroma the moment he approached the tricycle, but now he was just haggling, so he pretended to sniff it and said, “They do smell great, but your prices are still too high. If you’re serious about selling, knock twenty yuan off each, and I’ll buy them.”
Jiang Heng was surprised. “Are you sure?”
A gleam flashed in the manager’s eyes. “Sure, and if you come again, I’ll keep buying.”
Jiang Heng simply took back the Wuzhong Mushroom. “Sorry, then I’m not selling.”
With that, she rode off on her tricycle.
She moved so fast the manager was stunned. Seeing she was really leaving, he hurried forward and grabbed the still-slow tricycle. “Hey, hey, hey, wait! Let’s talk a bit more—why are you leaving so suddenly?!”