Her Cultivation Diary

Chapter 28: 28. Find some straw_1

“Pickup trucks are the best!”

Song Sancheng admitted Song Tan’s judgment as he loaded the logs inoculated with mushroom spores into the pickup bed.

The log was about one meter twenty in length. How many could you stuff into a van? It had to be a pickup! It could hold more and was more convenient too.

Qiaoqiao looked at the truck bed filled with logs, then at his grandpa’s bare yard, his fair cheeks covered with sweat:

“Is that all? Can Qiaoqiao rest now? I’m so tired!”

“Tired? What’s there to be tired about!”

Song Sancheng disapproved as he looked at him, “Strength is a servant; it comes back after you use it! When I was your age, I could work all day planting and harvesting rice without even lifting my head!”

Wu Lan, feeling sorry for her son, glared at him: “You grew up tough from a young age, but my son has never been through such hardship.”

Then she turned to Qiaoqiao, who had tears welling up in his eyes:

“There, there, don’t mind your dad. Look at your sister—if Qiaoqiao hadn’t helped, how much harder would it have been for her? Our Qiaoqiao can eat three big bowls in one meal; we can’t let that go to waste, it needs to be turned into energy. That way, you’ll be healthy!”

“Look at you, you didn’t eat that much before, and Mom didn’t make you do so much work, right?”

Qiaoqiao opened his mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say in rebuttal. He also didn’t want to eat just two bowls per meal, so he reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat—

He could now sit in the car and fasten his seatbelt by himself.

“Sister, am I done with my work?”

Song Tan patted his head—her hand was sweaty.

So, she coaxed him too: “Sweetheart, when we get to the mountain, you just need to arrange these logs well. Can Qiaoqiao still do it?”

The logs seeded with mushroom spores had been gradually carried up to the mountain by the family over the past two days, placed upright and crossed to form inverted ‘V’ shapes. The work wasn’t heavy; there were just many logs, and it was tiring to move them back and forth.

But now that Song Tan had grown stronger, she could carry seven or eight logs at once, each one meter twenty in length with a diameter of fifteen centimeters, and she moved briskly. As a result, toward the end, Qiaoqiao was only responsible for setting them up.

He was quite simple-minded. In the past, Wu Lan, worried he might accidentally hurt himself, had hardly let him do any work.

Since Song Tan had returned, the family had been eating wild vegetables during the day and practicing their “Spiritual Energy” exercises at night. Everyone was eating well and sleeping soundly, wolfing down three big bowls of food per meal. It would have been a waste not to make use of such strong labor, and Wu Lan felt it would be a loss!

So, they were slowly starting to increase the workload on him.

Qiaoqiao then puffed out his chest, “Qiaoqiao can do it! Qiaoqiao is even better than Dad!”

Song Sancheng and Wu Lan, who had just gotten into the back seat, glanced at him and thought to themselves, you silly boy, you haven’t done as much work as your sister yet!

All talk!

The group worked until noon to finally set up all the logs.

It was now late March, with grass growing and orioles singing, the chestnut trees in the woods not yet unfurled. The sun shone down, warm and comforting.

The logs that had just been set up looked even more beautiful in the sunlight.

But Song Sancheng was worried—

“This won’t do, the newly inoculated mushroom spores can’t be exposed to the sun like this.”

“Tantan, we need to cover these spores with straw for insulation; otherwise, the temperature difference between day and night is too great, and the moisture will evaporate too quickly for the mushrooms to grow.”

“We need to buy a sunshade net to cover the straw, for ventilation and humidity…”

As he spoke, he couldn’t help but worry, “Did the expert you consulted before mention any other precautions? This is our first time doing such a large-scale operation, and I’m a bit nervous.”

Their family had only grown mushrooms on a small scale more than a decade ago, and back then, the logs could be stored indoors at the beginning.

But all those tree trunks on the hill, when counted up, the cost of each would come to twenty, even if we don’t charge for our own trees. And from cleaning up the hillside to putting up the nets, we’ve plunked down about ten thousand yuan.

Now, more than ever, Song Sancheng felt he was losing confidence.

It was Wu Lan whose mind worked faster, and after a moment’s thought, she suggested, “Tantan, you’ve been back for over half a month, how about we go visit your grandma this afternoon?”

“No one in our village plants rice anymore, but your grandma’s fields still grow rice and wheat. Let’s go fetch some dried grass to cover the mushroom spawns.”

“Also, now that it’s warming up, we should bring back the piglets. We will need more rice straw for the pigpen.”

Sleeping on it keeps them warm at night, and when it gets dirty, just throw it into the manure pit for fermentation. The rice straw is indispensable in keeping the pigsty fresh and clean.

Other wild grasses could work too, but these days, heaping piles of dried grass aren’t easy to find.

Sure thing.

Song Tan had been planning to visit her grandmother during this time. She glanced at the clock, “Mom, let’s go back and eat something quick, then Qiaoqiao and I can gather more wild vegetables to bring over, and let grandma try them too.”

“You’re bringing wild vegetables?”

Even though it was her own produce, Wu Lan couldn’t help wincing at the thought of twenty yuan per half kilogram. But as much as it hurt, she still instructed, “Your grandparents are old and prefer softer food. Get more shepherd’s purse, and we’ll make a trip to town to buy some meat. I’ll make them dumplings this afternoon.”

“Bring a few fresh ones for everyone else; don’t haul too much. Just give some to your uncle.”

While thinking of siblings, she couldn’t help but remember her sisters: “Your elder aunt is busy with her business in the city. Next time after you’ve sold the vegetables, leave some for her and take them straight to her.”

With that, everyone at home was neatly taken care of. Song Sancheng paused for a while before hesitantly asking, “Then… what about Tantan’s aunt and great uncle?”

Wu Lan gave him a scornful look, “As if I could say no to them!”

The more she thought about it, the more it pained her. Casually giving away a few thousand yuan worth of produce.

All she could do was look at her daughter with eager eyes, “I see that the wild vegetables are coming up elsewhere in the village too. Maybe I should dig some up this afternoon to taste? If they’re all as flavorful as this year’s, we won’t have to worry come spring.”

No need to bother planting crops then, just foraging for wild vegetables might make us break even.

Song Tan was speechless.

She had been cultivating for just a few days, hadn’t she?

Spiritual Energy was quantifiable.

That stingy old farmer hadn’t allowed for even a bit extra on his land!

Let her mother try if she wanted. Planting crops was a mystical thing anyway, she thought nonchalantly.

But still…

“Mom, it would be good for you to check it out. The wild vegetables we harvest every day are dwindling. We won’t sell wild vegetables from tomorrow on; we’ll gather them in the morning, and I’ll drive directly to the city at noon.”

That would give the wild vegetables a chance to grow back.

Furthermore, the Milk Vetch in the fields was just getting tender, and about to form buds. If I control the Spiritual Energy a bit, extending the growth period, now is the best time to pick them.

Whether in a cold salad or sautéed, they’re very sweet, and those few large fields are just about ready to be sold off for a while.

Then there’s my video content, I’ve collected a lot of material already. But it’s neither shocking nor enough for a full episode. I’ll accumulate a bit more and it’ll be just about right.

If only local fame was easy to come by, I wouldn’t have to worry so much about online traffic—it’s all thanks to those aunties.

Each one hoarded their treasure, keeping my precious stall a secret. As a result, after half a month of selling vegetables, there were still only twenty-eight members in the group.

And these are vegetables grown with Spiritual Energy!

Fairy Tantan was quite indignant.