Aunt Li knew her daughter was telling the truth, and she sighed deeply.

Wang Guifen said bluntly, "That's her mother, what can we do? We can only suffer it no matter how bad it is."

"You young people just like to think the worst of people. It seems that the old woman is trying to improve things. Putting aside everything else, how long would it take the two of you to pick that basket of mushrooms?"

"They're doing just fine! Stop making wild guesses." Grandma Xu, the oldest person in the group, spoke up.

"Hurry up and peel the water chestnuts! Once they're dried, store them. When we're short on grain later, we can use them to make soup, which is both a dish and a meal. It's a great deal."

"I've heard that many wealthy families in Guangning Prefecture love to eat this. Why don't we take some and sell it?"

"Don't even think about it. My husband has already inquired. People like to eat it fresh. In this weather, it won't keep even if you peel it. If no one buys it, it will spoil by the time it's been picked up and sold."

Besides, the entrance fee to the city is two coins; if we can't sell them, won't we lose two coins?

"That's two coins! It'll be gone in one trip to town, how could I bear to part with it?"

"Besides, this stuff is everywhere in the water. The young masters and ladies of wealthy families just want something new. With rice and flour, who would seriously eat this?"

Only we farmers use it to fill our stomachs.

"Yes, yes! There are plenty of worthless things out there, who would spend money to buy them!"

......

"Ding-dong, 23 jin of genuine wild, pollution-free, hand-peeled water chestnuts have been detected. Do you wish to sell?"

Shui Qing, who was rushing headlong toward Sun Jinhua's house, paused in her tracks.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Fan He asked in a low voice.

Shui Qing certainly couldn't tell the truth.

She glanced at the women gathered under the shade of a tree in the distance, doing handicrafts, and said after a moment's pause, "It's nothing, I just got a bit out of breath from walking too fast, I'll be fine after a short rest."

Even if the mushrooms aren't snatched up, they'll be gone by October, so of course we need to find more things to sell.

We need to make money while there's something to sell!

Even if she didn't need money, she wouldn't turn down money!

Besides, nobody in this world complains about having too much money.

Shui Qing brought up the system store and saw a familiar screen.

Fresh, wild, pollution-free, hand-peeled fresh water chestnuts are 131 yuan per jin (500g) – hand-peeled ones are several tens of yuan more expensive per jin than machine-peeled ones.

But these days, there are no machines to peel it!

After being dried, it is called foxnut, and it costs 39 yuan per catty.

Shui Qing grew up in Jiangnan and is very familiar with water chestnuts!

Fresh ones are called chicken head rice, and dried ones are called fox nuts.

Just like how it's called longan when it's fresh and dried when it's dried.

Chicken head rice is probably one of the very few foods that becomes worthless after being dried.

Fresh ones are heavier and have more moisture, making them more expensive.

After being dried, the weight decreases, and the dehumidifying effect is good. However, it requires a lot of effort to turn and dry it, and the price is barely a fraction of that of fresh ones!

Whether to buy fresh or dried goods, even a fool knows which to choose.

The current worry is how to buy water chestnuts from the women of Shanshui Village.

And, at what price would be a better acquisition price?