The "vendor" who displayed the water ferns was a little girl of about ten years old. When she heard Chen Suwen say that, a smile appeared on her face.
"Auntie, you want bracken fern, right? How much do you want? Um... um... can I trade it for candy?"
Actually, water ferns aren't that valuable; if you were to buy them with money, you could calculate the price as a few cents per pound.
But now they can only barter, and she can't possibly ask for half a pound of sugar or a pound of meat in exchange.
Then I can only exchange it for a few candies.
She picked this water fern when she went to the river to cut pig feed; it's not a bad deal to exchange it for a few candies.
There were plenty of water ferns growing along the riverbank, so picking just a little bit wasn't considered undermining the community; exchanging it for a few candies was still a profit for her.
"Candy." Chen Suwen picked up the water fern and looked at it. It looked very fresh and tender. It usually grows very plump, and some grows to be a little thin, but without exception, they are all very tender.
Actually, she prefers the thinner water ferns because the plump ones have more mucus and don't absorb as much flavor.
Chen Suwen disliked vegetables with a lot of slimy texture, such as okra and wood ear fungus; she really didn't like them.
Many families on Guangming Road grow Malabar spinach in their yards; one plant can provide a long harvest. But the Zhou family is the only one who doesn't.
It's entirely because neither the original owner nor Chen Suwen liked to eat it.
Water fern is an exception. Although it also has some mucus, it can be easily cleaned by scalding it with boiling water and washing it. It tastes refreshing and delicious.
"Here are a few candies, right? Here you go." Chen Suwen took five candies out of her pocket and handed them to the little girl.
The colorful candy wrappers have no words or markings on them, just plain, sparkly wrappers. Each of the five candies has a different colored wrapper.
This means that the five candies each have a different flavor.
The little girl's eyes lit up when she saw the candy. After taking the candy, she quickly stuffed the water fern into Chen Suwen's hand.
"Auntie, is there anything else you need? I can trade with you for something else."
Chen Suwen looked at the water fern and asked her, "Could you dig up a fern for me? Just dig up its roots too, and I'll trade you something for it."
The little girl looked at her in surprise, "Auntie, are you from the city? What do you need bracken roots for?"
There's nowhere to plant it.
Moreover, they never thought of growing ferns; they basically just let them grow by the river and picked some when they wanted to eat them.
As for taking it home to plant?
The reason why water fern is called water fern is because it grows near water.
There aren't many places with water in their countryside, so it's not suitable for bracken to grow. Bracken growing in stinking ditches is definitely not as good as bracken growing by clear rivers.
This is the first time I've met someone like Chen Suwen who wants to grow water ferns.
"What's wrong? Can't city folks trade for bracken roots? You don't want to trade with me anymore?"
Chen Suwen took out a packet of brown sugar, weighing about two ounces. "If you dig up some fern roots for me, I might trade this brown sugar for it."
"Of course, when I say bracken fern, I mean the roots that follow the branches above, not just the roots themselves. It has to be the kind that can be planted and survive, you know?"
"Of course, a few ferns are definitely not enough to exchange for this brown sugar. Think about what else you can trade with me."
The little girl looked at the brown sugar in Chen Suwen's hand with great eagerness.
Her mother just gave birth to her younger brother and is still in her postpartum period. If there is brown sugar, can her mother take it to nourish her body?
"Auntie, what would you like to exchange? I'll exchange anything with you," the little girl said excitedly.
"Oh, ma'am, if you want bracken, I can trade with you. It's just a few bracken plants, I can dig them up for you."
A middle-aged woman standing next to the little girl overheard their conversation, glanced at the brown sugar in Chen Suwen's hand, and interrupted.
This is brown sugar!
Although it's only two ounces, if you're careful, it can last a long time.
It's just a few ferns, isn't it?
Those are all wild plants; they don't need to be planted or cared for by them. They don't need to do things like weeding, fertilizing, or catching insects.
She really wanted to do this kind of business, since she could exchange something she got for free for so much brown sugar.
"Aunt Li, how could you do this? This aunt was trying to trade something with me, how could you steal it?"
The little girl was really unhappy.
That's brown sugar!
Her mother desperately needed brown sugar, how could Aunt Li from next door take it from her?
“It’s not yours. This lady can trade with whomever she wants. Can you force her to trade with you?” Aunt Li didn’t think it was wrong to steal business from others.
That's brown sugar!
Why should this little brat get it?
Of course, it was only because of her experience that she was able to snatch this business deal.
"Big sister, you want bracken roots, right? That's absolutely no problem, I can go dig some up for you right now!"
"Oh, by the way, ma'am, what else do you need? Do you want some eggs? My eggs are really good."
"Aunt Li, your eggs are so small, how can you say they're good?"
The little girl raised her face and earnestly introduced to Chen Suwen, "Auntie, our eggs are the best. Look how big they are! Maybe they even have double yolks inside."
"Auntie, look, most of our eggs are this big, unlike Aunt Li's eggs next door. Her eggs are only half the size of ours, and some are not even half the size."
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com