Chapter 72: This Sang Family is Not Simple

After storing the mushrooms and washing their hands, Sang Luo and Shen Ning uncovered the two dishes on the stove's table, only then realizing what Shen An meant by 'just cooked.'

It might indeed have been just cooked…

The sisters-in-law exchanged a glance. Sang Luo suggested, "Shall we try it?"

Shen Ning nodded.

They took a bowl each and scooped out a modest portion of rice, considering the look of the dishes. Sang Luo carefully scooped a spoonful of the cooked bean dregs, tilting the spoon against the side of the bowl to drain most of the liquid before adding it to her bowl.

She had to drain it; it was like... well, four parts water to six parts bean dregs. How much water did Shen An actually add?

Looking at the dish, it seemed he added green onions and sauce, but the result was peculiarly off.

The sisters-in-law each tasted a mouthful...

It wasn’t exactly bad, just not good either?

Water-boiled bean dregs might have tasted better than what Shen An cooked.

There were also more than half a plate of cucumbers on the table, known here as "Hu Gua." These were given by Granny Chen this morning. The bean dregs were inedible, but the cucumbers, despite their overcooked softness and overly dark sauce color, seemed okay?

Sang Luo and Shen Ning each took a bite and then froze.

Sour…

Not the vinegar sourness, but a sourness from being stir-fried in sauce.

Shen Ning, grimacing: "Next time, I’ll tell my brother that cucumbers are also tasty when eaten raw."

Sang Luo, stifling a laugh: "Let's eat. It's rare to have a meal cooked by your brother."

Men seldom ventured into the kitchen in ancient times. For a nine-year-old boy like Shen An to cook, although the taste wasn't great, it was something that could be nurtured.

They were both too hungry to complain. Normally having three meals a day, and now it was already late afternoon. They just returned for lunch; how could they not be famished?

So, when Shen An sneakily checked later, he found his sister-in-law and Ah Ning had kindly eaten almost half of his poorly made lunch.

Half of it – even he couldn’t eat that much himself.

Touched, the little boy eagerly took over the dishwashing task.

Sang Luo didn't object. She and Shen Ning stepped out to watch the boys digging the road base. After a brief rest, they carefully unpacked the baskets full of mushrooms. The sour dates they saw that morning couldn’t be left to waste. If not picked today, they'd likely spoil in a couple of days.

Seeing them emptying the baskets, Shen An approached to ask, "Are you going into the mountains again?"

Shen Ning nodded quietly, "We saw a lot of sour dates this morning fallen on the ground. If we don't pick them up, they'll spoil, so we’re going to gather them now."

Shen An was eager to join, but he had his own tasks, helping his friends pave the stone path for his home. He could only nod in agreement, “Go ahead.”

He helped by fetching the snake repellent powder, and applied some on Shen Ning’s shoes and leg bindings, ensuring extra powder was tucked into the leg bindings for added protection.

Sang Luo took care of herself, storing the bag of medicine after preparing, and led Shen Ning out again.

At this time, fewer people ventured into the mountains. They occasionally met one or two villagers returning from the mountains who greeted them, “Ah, Madam Shen, you’re quite diligent.”

Sang Luo responded with a smile, “Yes, since we didn’t grow much in our garden, we’re making the most of the mushroom season, planning to dry some for later.”

After a brief exchange, they moved on.

Following the morning’s path deeper into the woods, they found few mushrooms missed earlier, occasionally picking one or two and putting them in Shen Ning’s basket, until they reached the first sour date tree they saw that morning. Their pace quickened with excitement as they began picking.

Shen Ning’s basket had mushrooms that couldn’t be crushed, so initially, they put the dates in Sang Luo’s basket. After filling half of it under one tree, they decided not to shake the tree for more dates, moving on to the next trees.

They picked dates from several trees they had seen that morning. Sang Luo’s basket was soon three-quarters full. The mushrooms in Shen Ning’s basket were then carefully placed on top of the dates.

Shen Ning’s basket was half full, later adding more mushrooms, wood ears, and wild greens, carefully covering the dates underneath. They then headed back.

Sang Luo regretted not picking the leaves of the immortal tree. With the day fading, they hastened back to empty the baskets, planning to return before dark to gather leaves for making immortal tofu that night.

Having made two trips, they fortunately found the immortal tree near the perimeter, not requiring a deep venture. Returning home, it was time for other families to prepare dinner.

Shen An had taken over the family’s tofu orders, telling Sang Luo, “Auntie Lu brought us half a basket of vegetables, and Auntie Shi brought four eggs, especially thanking you for helping them sell mushrooms at Dongfu Lounge today.”

He detailed what vegetables Auntie Lu brought. Hearing this, Sang Luo realized they had both short-term and long-term vegetables, relieved they wouldn’t worry about vegetables for a few days.

Their backyard garden only had perilla and mint ready to pick; the planted vegetables were half-grown and inedible. Usually, they bought vegetables from the county or received some from the three families in exchange for tofu. Now, they wouldn't lack vegetables for several days.

Before dark, Sang Luo prepared dinner, while Shen An and Shen Ning transferred the sour dates to a wooden barrel at home. They sorted the mushrooms according to Sang Luo’s instructions: inferior ones were kept for their dinner, and the better ones were organized by type in the baskets, ready to be handed over to Qin Fangniu the next morning to sell in the county.

The mushroom business lasted only three days. On the second and third days, Qin Fangniu brought back receipts of 212 and 130 wen respectively for Sang Luo.

Afterward, even if Chen Old Madam and others knew the area well, the villagers weren't far behind. All the accessible mushrooms were picked, and the deeper areas, despite the snake repellent, were too risky for the money they could earn.

In just three days, those who sold mushrooms, like Shi Erjiang's wife who earned less, made nearly 270 wen, while those like Luo's family and Sang Luo who had two people picking, earned up to 600 wen. This was a significant windfall for these families.

In fact, they realized that not all mushrooms were cheap. Most were inexpensive, especially at rural markets, due to their abundance in the mountains. But unique varieties like black trumpet mushrooms were different; their price was nearly equivalent to meat.

Thinking about the money earned compared to previous years when they would stew all the edible mushrooms they picked without sorting, they felt a mix of joy and regret for not realizing their value sooner.

However, for Sang Luo, following Chen Old Madam's group around the mountains surrounding the village allowed her to find not just immortal trees, but also a good number of sour dates and konjac. She made a considerable amount of sour date cake in the following days, borrowing large sieves from Chen, Shi, and Luo families for drying the cakes.

Her practical skills were evident. She made two drying racks; otherwise, her small backyard wouldn't have accommodated everything.

When it was time to supply vegetarian tripe to Xu, the tavern owner, as agreed, Sang Luo prepared it with Qin Fangniu’s help. The first day’s ten pounds turned into eleven, with one extra pound kept for her family after using Luo family's scale to measure precisely.

In the afternoon, Qin Fangniu returned with a receipt of 170 wen.

Shen An carefully rolled up these receipts and stored them in their old clay pot for money. Counting their savings, they had amassed over 2500 wen, including these four receipts and recent tofu sales, adding to the existing 1523 wen.

Looking at the sour jujube cakes that were almost done drying, Sang Luo thought it was time to make another trip to the county town.

She planned to personally deliver the vegetarian tripe dish the next day.

On this day, heading to the county town were not just her and Qin Fangniang, but several others as well. Chen You Tian and his group had already gotten their travel passes a couple of days ago. Due to limited funds and rationed grain purchases in town, they had been going to the county every day with the market women to queue up for grain.

Even Zhou Village's head joined them these days, going early to the county for grain. It was necessary to go early; the shopkeeper of the general store in Sanli Village had either become cautious or genuinely ran out of stock, as grain was no longer sold there.

The county’s grain shops did release some stock daily, but the limited supply and high demand meant they often closed by mid-morning. If they didn’t start early for the county, they couldn't compete with the local residents buying grain.

Zhou Village's head had only recently realized the scale of Sang Luo’s tofu business; every day, a cart full of goods from three families was sent for sale.

And today, following them into the county, Zhou Village's head learned he had underestimated Sang Luo. She not only sold tofu but also made another food item exclusively for Dongfu Lou.

"Zhou, the village head, showed no outward reaction, but inwardly he marveled at Sang Luo’s capabilities."

"This Sang family is really something else."

……

"Seeing Sang Luo, Xu, the shopkeeper, was visibly delighted."

"We need to increase the quantity of the vegetarian tripe."

The initial order of ten kilograms was a bit conservative. This fresh delicacy could easily be promoted. With only ten kilograms, it would be gone by lunchtime.

"Sang Nainai, let's start with twenty kilograms a day for now. Your product is difficult to store, otherwise, our boss in other counties also owns taverns where your tofu and vegetarian tripe would be in demand, far exceeding this quantity."

The words carried a hint of regret.

Sang Luo smiled, "Twenty kilograms is feasible, but any more than that, I can't produce at the moment. It’s quite a challenge to make."

The raw materials aren’t inexhaustible.

This was why she dared to sign an exclusive six-month sales agreement with Xu for a stable daily supply of ten kilograms. Any more would be hard for her to fulfill.

This wasn’t like the commonly grown soybeans that could be easily bought with money.

Xu, the tavern owner, agreed with a smile.

Following the rules, Sang Luo asked for a voucher. Xu remarked, "Sang Nainai, you should keep some expenses for the house too. There’s no rush to repay the silver. You don’t need to take only vouchers every time."

Sang Luo smiled, "Did Xu forget? I have some other businesses too."

Saying this, she took out two full bags of money and several strings of coins from her sleeve, piling them on the counter, and said to the accountant with a smile, "This is 2,500 wen, please count and accept it."

The accountant was momentarily stunned before nodding, calling over two helpers to count the money.

Xu, the tavern owner, laughed upon seeing this, "Sang Nainai is indeed capable. Even without my help, you would have no trouble managing."

"Not at all, the price of grain has already risen to eighty-eight wen. Without your help, Xu, I'm afraid I’d spend most of my day queuing at the grain shop."

The journey from her place isn’t short, and arriving late might mean missing out on buying grain.

Just like Chen Youtian and the others who have to head to the county early every day.

Sang Luo had considered leveraging Xu’s connections to help Chen Youtian and others buy grain.

But firstly, Xu himself isn’t a grain shop owner and needs to pull strings to purchase grain. Helping her is already a favor; asking him to help the villagers might be too much, considering they aren't close acquaintances and such favors can be taxing.

Secondly, while Zhou, the village chief, is relatively well-off, families like the Chens, Shis, and Lus aren’t. They can’t afford to buy much grain in one go. Daily grain purchases are funded by tofu, wild vegetables, and mushroom sales. Lately, Qin Fangniang and others have been bringing vegetables to sell in the county, enabling them to afford daily grain purchases for their families.

After drinking a cup of tea at Dongfu Lou and waiting for the accountant to count the money and issue a receipt, Sang Luo bid farewell to Xu and left with her carrying baskets.

Xu watched the jars in her carrying basket, curious about what else Sang Nainai was selling besides vegetarian tripe and tofu.

He didn’t feel it was appropriate to ask.

Naturally, Sang Luo was off to sell her sour jujube cakes. Thanks to traversing dozens of mountains with the old ladies, she had a plentiful supply. Today, she brought four jars of cakes, which could earn over 800 wen if sold out.

She planned to try her luck at two snack shops she hadn’t visited before.

A renowned establishment like Yongfengzhai wouldn’t sell food made outside, but smaller snack shops might not be as particular, right?

"I'm just worried that the price will be driven down repeatedly."

"Weighing this in her mind, Sang Luo carried her load and walked outside, pondering the lowest price she could accept in case someone tried to haggle. Suddenly, someone hurriedly called from behind, 'Miss, Miss!'"

"Initially, Sang Luo didn't think they were calling her. Nobody in this county knew her; those who did would either call her 'A'Lie's wife' or 'Madam Sang.' Who would address her like a stranger?"

"Therefore, she didn't take it seriously and didn’t think they were calling her. Continuing with her load, she was engrossed in thoughts of making money, walking forward without looking back."

"It was only when the person, panting heavily, caught up to her and called, 'Miss, the one selling crystal jellies, please wait!'"

Hearing the words "crystal cake," Sang Luo finally realized that she was the "Miss" being called. She instinctively stopped and turned around.

The round-faced woman who had run up to her, panting, was none other than the female shopkeeper of Yongfengzhai.