In spring, the mountains should be covered in flowers, but due to the drought in recent years, the outer edges of the mountains are also like patches of green and yellow. Women go to the mountains in groups, carrying baskets and backpacks, to collect wild vegetables.

Cricket greens, dandelions, garlic chives, dandelions, black fungus, Maning vegetables, and beets can all be made into pickles.

These dishes are best eaten directly with dipping sauce for their original flavor. In modern times, the original way of eating them or making dumplings is more popular.

For example, cricket grass and dandelion can be blanched in hot water, and then seasoned with sugar, vinegar and salt. Pour hot oil on them, and if you like spicy food, add some chili oil. The taste of the cold dish is amazing.

But the disadvantage of cold-mixed wild vegetables is that they are not resistant to storage. It is best to eat them on the same day they are made. They will not taste as good on the second day as on the first day.

To put it bluntly, under the guise of selling wild vegetables and pickles, the trio produced more vegetables for processing and shipped to more distant locations. For example, Chinese cabbage could be processed into kimchi. Cucumbers could be made into pickled cucumbers. Eggplants could be made into salted garlic eggplant. These could all serve as main dishes.

Guan Huashu left a large pile of vegetables a mile outside the village entrance. He returned to the village and said the supply and marketing cooperative had sent them for processing. The cooperative's truck had left the place at the entrance because of something else and had left. He called for the transport team to hurry out and pick them up. Two truckloads of cabbage, two truckloads of cucumbers, and two large truckloads of eggplant.

The pickle processing team is bustling with activity, and the women are tired but happy. They are not afraid of having too many vegetables, but they are afraid of not having enough. Without vegetables to process, they will not make any money.

The first batch of pickles can be served after three days.

Guan Huashu had contacted Zheng Yongjun last week. Now that spring had arrived, they couldn't sell vegetables to the canteen at the machinery factory anymore. Who could store vegetables until March? So, this first batch of pickles was for them.

The machinery factory is a large factory in the county town, with a large workforce and high canteen consumption. Lately, several buyers in the purchasing department are worried sick. There's no vegetables in the entire county! The section chief is irritated by them daily, scolding them eight hundred times a day. At this critical and dire moment, the security guard calls Zheng Yongjun, asking him to go to the main gate. His cousin, Guan Huashu, wants to see him.

Zheng Yongjun felt that Guan Huashu was a god sent to save him, his lucky star, always saving him from dire straits when he was desperate. Without even a moment to greet the section chief, he sprinted towards the gate at the speed of a 100-meter sprint. After hearing Guan Huashu's purpose, he hugged him and spun around in joy.

I quickly found the section chief and reported that I had found the vegetables. I asked him to issue a purchase order and notify the factory drivers to send out vehicles to pick up the vegetables.

This time, the vegetables were delivered by two trucks from the machinery factory.

The transaction location was set at 5 miles outside the county town. When the section chief saw so many pickles, he nodded in satisfaction. He tried another bite and was amazed. It was delicious, much better than the stew at home.

Without saying anything, he called on the people who had followed him to move the things up. His movements were so smooth, it was like bandits entering a village.

Guan Huashu followed the truck back to the machinery factory to settle the bill. After that, he gave the basket of pickles he had brought for Uncle Zheng to Zheng Yongjun. He did not keep any more and hurried back to the outskirts of the city to follow the village convoy home.

As for why he was so anxious to return, it was because the commune had just assigned the first batch of young people to the countryside, and he had just left with his motorcade after they had settled in. He was worried, so he was anxious to get back and get a feel for the situation. Based on his experience reading novels, he knew there were many spies during this period, and he was afraid there might be spies among the assigned young people.