Chapter 14: Mouse grass, orange leaves

Wen Zhenyi ran to the backyard to take a look. There were quite a few vegetables planted at home, basically all seasonal vegetables, but the quantity was not large enough to supply the business.

In addition to spring rolls, we also need to think about what we can do. The spring roll business alone will not be very good, and we also need to consider the price issue.

To make money now, the more varieties the better, so as to meet the needs of different people.

The market only serves breakfast and lunch, so staple food is essential.

After thinking about how many dishes she wanted to make, she decided to ask Wen Chengwen to buy the ingredients as there was still a lot of preparation to be done.

When Old Lady Wen and the others came back, they looked tired.

Wen Zhenyi poured each of them a glass of water and asked them to sit down and rest for a while: "Grandma, I need to buy some things."

Old Lady Wen looked at her and smiled, "If you need anything, ask your father to go to town and buy it for you."

"I need some flour." Wen Zhenyi hesitated and asked, "Dad, does the grain store sell mung bean flour, glutinous rice flour, and rice flour?"

"have."

"Please buy some for me too. I also need some fish and shrimp."

"Okay, I'll buy them all for you."

Old Lady Wen and her family only had two taels of silver left, and she gave it all to Wen Chengwen without hesitation: "Buy them all, pick the best ones."

"I understand, mother. I'll go now."

Some ingredients need to be found in the mountains. Since we live near the mountains, we naturally have to eat food from the mountains.

Wen Zhenyi turned to look at Wen Yongnan: "Brother, come with me."

"Okay, do you want to bring anything?"

"A small hoe and a backpack will do."

"I'm going too." Wen Yongman didn't want to be left behind at all.

Ma Yinghe looked at the children and asked, "Are you going to the mountains?"

Wen Zhen nodded: "We won't go far, just at the foot of the mountain."

"We don't have anything to do, so we'll go with you. It will be faster this way." Old Mrs. Wen suggested, worried about the three children.

Wen Zhenyi did not object. She went to find the ingredients, as there was strength in numbers.

The whole family carried their backpacks and picked up their hoes and walked towards the foot of the mountain.

Old Man Wen has been feeling listless all day.

Wen Zhenyi walked up to him and pulled his sleeve: "Grandpa, don't worry, you will make enough money."

Old Man Wen looked at his granddaughter and hesitated: "Yi Yi, why don't you sell the land? It's only two acres in total."

Wen Zhenyi knew that the family used to have five acres of land. Three acres were sold to pay for her medical treatment, and the other two acres were left so that she could eat white rice.

"Grandpa, how much can one acre of land sell for now?"

"Our land is considered excellent and fertile. One mu of land can be sold for around seven or eight taels."

Wen Zhenyi thought for a moment and said, "This also depends on the season!"

Old Man Wen nodded: "If you bring food in the fall, it will sell for a higher price."

He didn't say the rest, but Wen Zhenyi knew that this one mu of land could be sold for seven taels at most. Even if two mu of land were sold, it would only be fourteen taels, which was still one tael short of paying off the debt.

"Don't worry, it's still early for the one-month deadline."

"It's all grandpa's fault. Why did I believe what he said?" Old Man Wen was very upset now.

"Grandpa, you must have run into someone you know!"

"That's right. We used to go to their house often to buy pigs. They didn't raise many, only about two. We're old friends, and this time when they saw me buying a pig, they said they needed money urgently, so they sold it to me at a low price."

"I had already bought three pigs and spent some on the road. I wanted to buy two more, but I was afraid I wouldn't have enough money. He said he would sell them to me for eight coins. I was a little skeptical, but he begged me, saying his family was short of money. Thinking of our long-standing relationship, I agreed."

Wen Zhenyi sighed: "So you didn't check the pigs when they were delivered?"

"When I looked at it, I didn't notice too many problems. I just noticed that the two pigs didn't like to move. I thought pigs don't like to move anyway, so I didn't take it seriously."

"Grandpa, maybe they discovered that the pigs were sick at that time and were thinking about how to deal with it. But when you went there, they played the emotional card and let you take over the two sick pigs."

"This bastard, I'm going to beat him up. He even cheated me." Old Man Wen was furious when he thought about it. It was okay that there were two sick pigs, but the key was that they also infected the other three.

Wen Zhenyi knew that he was full of anger, and if he didn't let him vent, he might get sick if he kept it bottled up inside. "Grandpa, if you go now, he won't admit it. Instead, he'll turn the tables and say you framed him."

Old Man Wen has calmed down now: "What should we do now?"

Old Lady Wen gave him a look of disdain: "What can I do? Just consider myself unlucky."

Old Man Wen was like a dumb person eating bitter herbs, and his anger was suppressed again.

Wen Zhenyi looked at the two elderly people and said, "Grandpa, Grandma, have you ever thought about raising piglets yourself?"

Old Man Wen said: "We used to raise pigs, but we couldn't take care of them all, so we just bought them in."

"It's okay, it's only temporary."

As they were talking, they had already arrived at the foot of the mountain. Wen Zhenyi had seen the ingredients she was looking for when she came here before, and he led them to find bracken.

Ma Yinghe and the others knew these ferns: "Yi Yi, do you want these ferns?"

"Well, I need bracken, and I also need young willow leaves, cudweed, and orange leaves."

Wen Yongnan thought for a moment and said, "I know where the willow leaves are, but I don't know where the cudweed and orange leaves are."

Wen Yongman chuckled: "I know about Juye!"

Ma Yinghe reached out and flicked his little head: "You know it but you didn't tell me, and you've even learned to keep it a secret."

Wen Yongman covered his forehead and said aggrievedly, "There are oranges planted in Hu Zi's backyard. When the oranges are ripe, he even brings them out to show off to me. But these oranges are so sour and not tasty at all."

Wen Zhenyi bent down and looked at him: "Xiao Man, can you help me get some orange leaves? I can pay you."

Wen Yongman patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, sister. I'll go get it for you right away."

Old Lady Wen stopped the person who was about to run and said, "Just go back when you get there. Don't come looking for us. You'll get lost."

"I understand, Grandma."

Old Man Wen saw that there was still something he hadn't found: "Yi Yi, what is cudweed?"

She looked around and found what she was looking for. She plucked a branch from the ground and showed it to them. "This plant with white fuzzy leaves and small yellow flowers is called Artemisia selengensis. It has a unique fragrance, and many animals like to eat it."

Everyone in the family took it and looked at it: "This thing can be eaten? I thought it was just an ordinary weed."

"Yes, who would have known that this thing is also a wild vegetable."

Wen Yongnan found that his sister now knew a lot of things, but this was a good thing, as he could also learn a lot.