BXBX NOVEL Chapter 309 - 309: Going Home
After all, who gives fish as a gift every day? There must be variety in the gifts to show sincerity.
The manager looked at Jiang Chuan with anticipation, “How many wild mushrooms did you bring this time? I’ll take them all!”
Wild mushrooms aren’t heavy, and Jiang Gu’s strength is considerable. So each of the four of them carried a basket.
Jiang Chuan pointed to everyone’s baskets, “Four baskets, 50 kilograms. How about four cents per half kilograms?
Prices on the black market are always higher than usual. Although the mushrooms could be sold for six cents per half kilogram, the store manager found four cents a bit expensive.
The manager neither agreed nor disagreed but instead asked, “Do you want to barter for items from the shopping mall again instead of taking money?”
Jiang Chuan nodded. Seeing the manager’s hesitation, he was prepared for a price negotiation.
As expected, the manager said, “You know the rules of the shopping mall. We can’t use cash. Since we know each other well, let’s compromise. Instead of four cants per half kilogram, give me a discount of one cents. You can choose anything you like from the shopping mall, same as last time. How does that sound?”
Jiang Chuan readily agreed, “Deal.”
This time Jiang Chuan only took 25 kilograms of cotton and two bolts of cotton fabric.
After experiencing the blizzards on the mountain peak, Jiang Chuan realized just how thin their cold-resistant clothing was. It was wholly inadequate for the harsh winter. Once they returned home, they would need to make new clothes and quilts.
Moreover, Jiang Qing’s family was about to visit, so preparations were made to provide them with winter clothing and blankets.
Before leaving, Jiang Xia selected 7 pairs of cotton gloves. Every family member received a pair, and an extra pair was gifted to the bookstore owner downstairs, named Wan Ping.
Jiang Xia, with her five coins book tickets and the cotton gloves, went to the bookstore and exchanged them for ten books. Among them was a book dedicated to brewing and another one about plant cultivation.
Wan Ping took a liking to this young girl and gave her an additional calligraphy practice book and a set of fountain pens.
Jiang Xia’s eyes sparkled when she saw the pen and the calligraphy book. She kept the pen for herself, and the calligraphy book could be used by Jiang Gu to practice writing. After all, when they returned, they would need to address their education, and these stationery items would undoubtedly be useful.
Upon leaving, Wan Ping wrote a booklist for her, saying, “You love to read. In the future, you can use this list to buy books.”
Jiang Xia thanked her and left joyfully.
On this trip, both Jiang Xia and Zhou Lan received something. Even though Jiang Gu didn’t purchase anything, she was delighted for her sister and mother, bouncing around cheerfully all the way.
After returning to the hotel, Jiang Chuan suddenly remembered that they had run out of food. He took a basket of radishes to the cooperative to exchange for food. With the radishes and the food tickets combined, he got 15 kilogram of refined flour and 10 kilogram of rice.
As for the celery they bought from the black market, Jiang Xia, following the instructions in a book, removed the roots and water-cultivated them in a bottle filled with interspace water. If the celery rooted, then it could be planted and grown.
The remaining celery was used for noodles that very night.
Eager to read, Jiang Xia spent the entire night hidden away in her interspace without sleeping. When she woke up the next morning, she checked the celery and found it had rooted. It had truly grown.
So, she pulled out all the mushrooms and planted the celery instead.
The other herbs hadn’t matured yet. Jiang Xia, drawing from the book on plant cultivation, deduced that these herbs had reached their growth phase. Their maturation cycle in this interspace was approximately three days.
Jiang Chuan’s initial plan was to drive directly to the county town to exchange things at the pharmacy. However, that morning, a downpour began. This rain, unlike the light drizzles of Grand Cloud Mountain, could be described as torrential. With low visibility and poor road conditions, Jiang Chuan dared not drive fast and chose to pull over and wait out the rain.
This delay meant they couldn’t make it to the county town.
However, Jiang Xia felt this was for the best. The herbs weren’t matured yet, so there was no point in going to the county town. It was a good time to return home.
After discussing their return arrangements, Jiang Xia lay down in the car to rest. When she woke up, it was nearly evening. The rain had stopped, and the car was parked not far from the village entrance.
Jiang Chuan observed the muddy ground and took out the rubber shoes they bought from the shopping mall for everyone to wear.
“After the rain, the village’s dirt road is hard to navigate,” he warned. “Be
cautious when walking and avoid getting stuck in the mud pits..”