Her Cultivation Diary

Chapter 66: 66. Stubborn Man Zhang Yanping_1

When Wu Lan said this, Zhang Yanping instantly perked up, “Auntie, let me wash the vegetables for you.”

Song Tan looked at Zhang Yanping with a half-smile:

“Mom, my great-aunt said if Cousin doesn’t work then don’t let him eat.”

“Nonsense.” Wu Lan gave her a reproving glance. “Yanping hardly ever comes by, how could we do that?”

Song Tan turned her head and, sure enough, saw Zhang Yanping raise his eyebrows, a smug smile on his face.

She wasn’t angry; she simply changed the subject:

“Well, Mom, you must be tired too. I’ll just whip up something simple for dinner then, stir-fried pork with Milk Vetch chili peppers.”

“And let’s stew the preserved meat we’ve prepared earlier for Brother Yanping. It would be so inappropriate if we didn’t make a meat dish when he has come all this way to visit.”

“But…” Wu Lan hesitated—it’s well-known that nobody liked the stewed meat without adding something from their own field!

In their pursuit of Milk Vetch, the whole family was practically turning into ascetics.

But after working all day, she really was tired and eventually relinquished control of the kitchen.

Zhang Yanping glanced left and right, feeling that something was off, yet unable to pinpoint it, his heart unsettled at this moment.

As expected, Song Tan went into the kitchen to cook.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on Ɲονǥ0.ᴄο

Her cooking skills were quite ordinary; she could make edible food.

With Wu Lan’s guidance, she took radishes to stew the preserved meat, then washed and chopped the Milk Vetch, smashed some garlic cloves, sliced a few chili peppers, and heated up the lard in the pan.

After the entire kitchen was fragrant, she stir-fried the chili and garlic for a bit, followed by the minced pork, and finally added the Milk Vetch.

Just by adding a simple dash of salt, an irresistibly fresh fragrance filled the area.

Zhang Yanping peeked into the kitchen doorway, smelling the bubbling aroma of the preserved meat and the rich and fresh scent of Milk Vetch. He suddenly came to a realization:

Aha!

No wonder my little aunt had sent over a few bundles of Milk Vetch to our house! This dish truly was something special!

Shrewd as his nose was, he could tell which was tastier just by the smell.

So, he diligently served some rice, then with a touched expression, said to Wu Lan, “Little Aunt, Uncle, you both worked so hard today. Come, have some more meat!”

However, quick as he was, Song Tan was quicker. In no time, she was doling out servings to each of the four family members, leaving barely any Milk Vetch.

In the platter there remained only a tiny spoonful of vegetables, which was then reluctantly given to Zhang Yanping.

She smiled amiably at her cousin, “Brother Yanping, it’s not often you visit. How could we possibly ask you to eat wild vegetables? This is the preserved meat specially fried by my mom. It was stewed today—try it, isn’t it particularly fragrant?”

The plain white rice with a small clump of green vegetables on top looked rather pathetic.

Zhang Yanping looked up at her, and in that moment, an unspoken challenge passed between the sibling-like cousins.

But the die was cast, and the meat did smell good. Zhang Yanping could only snicker inwardly:

Little wench, as picky as I am, I’m not that desperate for vegetables, to make such a fuss over a dish!

He scooped up a mouthful of rice and, along with the Milk Vetch, stuffed it into his mouth—

A moment later.

Zhang Yanping watched everyone else enjoying their meal and then looked at his own bowl full of meat, tears of sorrow streaming down:

Dammit, why are the vegetables so delicious?!

…

Somehow, the meal concluded amidst Zhang Yanping’s difficulty in swallowing his food.

He dejectedly began clearing the dishes, originally intending to impress his little aunt in hopes that she’d step up and take over the kitchen the next day.

However, Song Tan had just sent the video she filmed to her aunt, and while doing so, she expressed her concern, “Auntie, Brother Yanping is so picky when it comes to eating.”

In the photo: A family of four all having greens, but only his bowl had both radishes and meat, yet, his expression was still very dissatisfied.

The aunt indeed flew into a rage.

Didn’t she know her son’s eating habits?

He might be picky, but he usually found everything delicious, and her sister’s cooking was much better than her own. Yet, this kid acted so oddly at his aunt’s home!

It was clear he was complaining about being sent to the countryside!

The couple whispered to each other for a while and concluded that Yanping’s behavior was precisely because a rural assignment was a useful punishment for him!

So they became even more enthusiastic and directly called Wu Lan:

“Lan, the reason I sent Yanping to the countryside is to toughen him up, so please don’t hesitate to put him to work! Whether it’s digging on Tea Mountain or plowing the fields, let him do it, he’s a young guy, what could possibly wear him out?”

The sisters exchanged pleasantries, and Yanping, seeing the thoughtful look on his aunt’s face, had a hunch that his future life wasn’t looking good.

But working was really not his thing, his hands were the revered Starlight Supreme hands, and there was no way he was going to pick up a hoe!

So he sidled up to Song Tan:

“Tantan, what do you think about me planting Golden Sakura that I mentioned today?”

Song Tan had already thoroughly researched the various states and growing environments of Golden Sakura, as well as its thorns, and was currently crunching numbers. Hearing him, she nodded.

“It’s a good idea, Brother Yanping, it’s because of your talk about Golden Sakura that I gave you a bunch of greens tonight.”

Zhang Yanping: …

Well, that was virtually worse than getting nothing!

After just one bite, it was gone, and eating thereafter was like chewing wax, utterly tasteless!

He moved a bit closer, just about to speak, when he accidentally saw Song Tan making a payment to someone noted as “Express Brother Hua.”

The transaction wasn’t much, just over sixty yuan.

But then looking at the ledger, there were two other express charges adding up to one thousand five hundred yuan!

He was startled: “What did you buy? The delivery charges are so expensive, why not use logistics?”

Song Tan also sighed, “It’s those Milk Vetch you’re eating. There’s a lot of demand for it in Ning City, and the product doesn’t preserve well, so it’s all sent via refrigerated transport.

When she first started sending express packages, she made a transfer of five hundred yuan for the courier.

But after shipping oversize packages several times, that amount had nearly run out.

This time, she transferred a thousand yuan in advance for the express delivery, thinking it would be enough, but it turned out it wasn’t, and she still needed to add more than sixty yuan.”

In fact, with just over fifty orders, the courier gave her a thirty percent discount and the lowest price for packaging. By rights, it shouldn’t have cost that much.

However, the initial weight for fresh produce was 24, and ice packs cost extra. Many of the orders were for ten, eight, or five jin, all of them overweight.

So additional charges had to be made up, right?

Fortunately, Song Tan had made it clear beforehand, and everyone’s payments included the shipping costs.

She was now working out how to refund any excess money back to each person based on their shipping fee.

Zhang Yanping was shocked — for just these vegetables, sent over cold transport; were they eating the vegetables or the delivery charges?

But then he thought: Good things were indeed like that; some people were willing to pay expensive shipping fees, just like when his family bought fruit.

Recalling the importance of his initial approach, he put aside Milk Vetch and the delivery charges, and asked with a smile:

“Well…since you think Golden Sakura is suitable, have you found a nursery that cultivates it?”