nashuaworldcup Chapter 182 Lotus Petal Orchid
Chapter 182 Lotus Petal Orchid
The next morning, Song Jiaojiao led everyone, who had finished breakfast, to the south side of town, where a market had long since developed over the years.
The outside is mostly filled with food stalls, while the stalls selling mountain products are located at the very back.
After passing through the misty morning market, Song Jiaojiao and her group arrived at the place selling mountain products. The market was bustling with people, and there were stalls on both sides, mostly selling mountain products collected by herb gatherers.
Besides medicinal herbs, there are also many mushrooms, including yellow and white termite mushrooms, bamboo fungus in a little skirt, black truffles, wood ear fungus, and snow-white silver ear fungus, but they are mostly dried mountain products.
These are all rare items, but because they are abundant in the Taihang Mountains, they don't fetch high prices. However, if they were sold in the prefectural government, the price would be several times higher.
Along the way, Song Jiaojiao bought quite a few decent-looking mountain products.
The further you go in, the more things you see, including wild yams that are as big as plates. They are called "foot-shaped sweet potatoes" because of their unruly appearance, which is flat like a foot.
There were also astragalus plants as tall as a person and lingzhi mushrooms as big as a face, which dazzled Song Jiaojiao and the others.
As I walked, a faint fragrance wafted through the mixed scents of various herbs.
Song Jiaojiao looked in the direction from which the fragrance of flowers was coming and saw an elderly man in his sixties with a boy who looked to be only eight or nine years old.
"Grandpa, what is this? It smells so wonderful." Song Jiaojiao squatted down in front of the stall and asked, pointing to the snow-white three-petaled flower in front of her.
“Young master, this is a lotus petal orchid. Its fragrance is wonderful. It is currently in bloom. The old man found the flower very beautiful and fragrant, so he picked it.”
Song Jiaojiao looked at the white petals in front of her. The sepals were triangular and lanceolate, resembling lotus petals. The petals were short and wide, slightly curved inward, and the fragrance of the flowers was intoxicating.
This plant was a Class II protected plant in China in the last century. Digging it up would have landed you in jail. But here, it's just casually placed on the ground with a piece of bark and some soil attached.
Even in its wretched state, it still exudes its own charm. It truly deserves to be called the flower of a gentleman. Even in its current state of disgrace, it remains elegant, pure, and steadfast.
"Grandpa, how much is this orchid?" Song Jiaojiao hadn't seen any orchids at Wenxiang Pavilion last time, and now that she had the chance to see one, she wasn't going to miss it.
"This orchid was picked by the old man on the edge of a cliff. He almost died in the mountains because of it. A while ago, someone sold an orchid at the market for 20 taels of silver. Young master, please pay that price!"
Only 20 taels, such a cheap price! You know, orchids are the most beloved flower lovers. Even if it cost 2000 taels of silver, they would buy it without hesitation.
Song Jiaojiao readily took out 20 taels of silver, thinking to herself, "I'm rich! I'm rich!" She planted this orchid in her space, and it would probably grow into a large patch within a year. She could then sell these flowers to wealthy and powerful people who love flowers, and the profits would be considerable.
After handing the orchid to Shang Yu, Song Jiaojiao noticed the white thing on the stall again.
"Is this a monkey head mushroom?" Song Jiaojiao pointed to the pure white, fist-shaped spherical mushroom in front of her.
"Yes, young master has a good eye. I found this while picking orchids yesterday and brought it here today to test its quality. Look how fresh it is! Whether you stew it in soup or stir-fry it at home, it will be very delicious."
The old man introduced his products with a smile. Other people's monkey head mushrooms are all dried. If his family wasn't so poor, he wouldn't be selling them before they were dried. You know, undried mushrooms are half the price of dried mushrooms.
"Grandpa, do you still have any freshly picked mushrooms at home?" Song Jiaojiao thought that it was the mushroom harvesting season in the mountains. Dried mushrooms were only good for Song Jiaojiao to eat for the time being. Fresh ones could be planted in her space to accumulate experience. If she was lucky enough to encounter a rare variety, her space could be upgraded.
“Young master, we don’t have any at home right now, but I can go to the mountains to pick some. It’s the season for mushrooms to grow in the mountains right now, especially after the rain a while ago, they’re everywhere.”
Looking at the elderly woman with a full head of white hair, Song Jiaojiao wondered how much she could possibly harvest at her age. Besides, in the Taihang Mountains, in addition to the villagers at the foot of the mountains who would pick the fruit, there were also people from other places who came from afar.
"Okay, I don't need much. Just pick some for each variety for me. I'll buy each variety at the price of dried. The main thing is freshness, because I love eating fresh food."
"Really!" the old man asked incredulously.
“Of course, if you have any, please bring them to Sifang Inn. I’ll probably stay in Taihang Town for another seven days.” Song Jiaojiao wanted to go up the mountain herself, so she planned to stay here a little longer.
"Good, good, good, I've got it. Don't worry, young master, it's absolutely fresh." The old man said excitedly, his face beaming with uncontainable joy. With this income, he and his grandson could make it until the autumn harvest without worrying about going hungry.
Song Jiaojiao paid for the dried monkey head mushrooms at the market, left the old man's stall, and continued walking inside.
The contents inside were almost identical to those outside; they were basically the same. As for ginseng, he shou wu, and the like, Song Jiaojiao already had a ton of them in her spatial storage and had absolutely no interest in them.
She did see something that looked exactly like the seed she had bought at the prefectural government office last time, so Song Jiaojiao bought it. According to the stall owner, it was Paris polyphylla, also known as Chonglou, and it was a good medicine for treating snake venom.
The rest was pretty much the same. Song Jiaojiao led everyone, whose hands were full of things, back to the inn.
The first thing she did upon returning to the inn was to send Shang Xiaoxiao and Mu Xue away, and then she took the things she had just bought into her spatial dimension.
First, he planted all the medicinal herbs that weren't in the space. Then, looking at the lotus-petal orchid in his hand, he realized how fragrant the flower was. After only a short while, the space was filled with its fragrance.
"Host, this flower is so beautiful and smells so good." Flying Tiger carefully touched the petals with its huge paws.
"Yes, it's not only fragrant, but also expensive. Just one plant can fetch a lot of money; one plant could buy an entire estate," Song Jiaojiao said with a smile. Once she settles down and her space reaches its maximum level, she plans to open a flower shop that only sells these rare and expensive flowers.
After admiring the flowers, Song Jiaojiao planted the lotus petal orchid on the red soil, but unfortunately the space was not upgraded, it seems that the flower is still not big enough.
They planted the fresh termite mushrooms and monkey head mushrooms again, but there was still no change.
Song Jiaojiao sighed. The higher the level, the more difficult it became. She wondered how long it would take to upgrade the space to the maximum level.
Song Jiaojiao knew that most mushrooms grew on dead trees, but that was from the outside perspective. From the perspective of the space, as long as they were planted in the soil, no matter what kind of environment they grew in, it was no problem for the space. As long as there were seeds and roots, they could grow.