Ruan Qiao went online to do some research and found that there really weren’t any places buying perilla leaves, nor were there records describing how to cook or eat them.
To be sure that the name hadn’t changed, she even called 001 over to use its scanning recognition, but still found nothing particularly useful.
Ruan Qiao thought about it and concluded there might be two reasons.
One possibility was that she had indeed discovered this vegetable first.
She couldn’t say for certain whether it existed elsewhere, but at least no one had really treated it as an edible vegetable.
The second possibility was that the unique flavor of perilla wasn’t widely accepted here, so even if it was edible, it hadn’t been included in people’s regular recipes.
Ruan Qiao thought the second possibility was unlikely, but she couldn’t ignore it entirely.
She didn’t want this to be a one-off gamble.
Although the last livestream had gone very well, she had said only a few words and even livestreamed a meal she nearly forgot about, she still received quite a few tips.
But that didn’t prove much.
People are forgetful; if there wasn’t something truly compelling about the perilla, they’d forget it in a few days.
And she didn’t want to risk disappointing them again.
Even though Ruan Qiao had no intention of tricking anyone, if the perilla really didn’t match the general taste, people might buy it but not be able to eat it. For them, it would feel no different from being tricked.
After all, vegetables here were really expensive.
So Ruan Qiao decided to package this first batch of perilla into small portions for sale.
She drew inspiration from the crystal pear boxes she had seen at the supermarket last time.
Ruan Qiao ordered a batch of acrylic boxes online. They weren’t as luxurious as the crystal pear boxes, but they were still high quality.
While waiting for the boxes to be delivered, she submitted a request to the website and got a sales link activated.
The Planet 0318’s logistics were average in most respects, but their delivery speed was truly impressive. By the time she had applied for the link, less than an hour later, the packaging boxes she ordered online had already arrived.
Ruan Qiao, together with Ah Qi who had finished his call, reprocessed the perilla leaves.
They removed damaged or overly small leaves, set aside the freshest and thickest ones, weighed them, and packaged ten boxes according to the standard of 200 grams per box.
Then Ruan Qiao began taking photos and listing the product online, while Ah Qi continued packing the remaining perilla leaves.
Perhaps the earlier mukbang had stimulated the netizens too much. Watching her eat grilled meat wrapped in perilla leaves with such satisfaction had turned those small leaves into the focus of everyone’s attention.
So even though her livestream had already ended, the online searches for this wild vegetable were still climbing.
Just as everyone had been searching everywhere and finding nothing, growing more and more frustrated, Ruan Qiao’s online shop opened.
Although there was only one product, perilla, and it was being sold in limited quantities, it still came as a pleasant surprise.
As a result, the first fifty boxes she listed, even at the high price of 200 Star Coins per box, were snapped up almost instantly.
Ruan Qiao was still editing the product description, trying to remind everyone to purchase cautiously, when she realized that her revisions hardly seemed to matter anymore…
On the outside of each box, she included a small extra pouch containing a single perilla leaf, along with a simple printed recipe and instructions she had put together.
The recipe listed a few relatively simple ways to prepare perilla based on her memory, and the small leaf was meant for customers to taste first.
In the instructions, she made it very clear that the flavor of perilla would not appeal to everyone.
If someone bought it out of curiosity but found after tasting the sample that they couldn’t accept the flavor, they could apply for a return, as long as the main box remained unopened and the product undamaged. Once the goods were received back, the purchase amount would be refunded in full, and the shipping fee would be covered on her end.
Ruan Qiao had the confidence to make this promise because delivery on this planet was incredibly fast, regardless of distance, shipments within the planet almost always arrived within a day.
So even though it was fresh produce, she wasn’t too worried.
Although Ah Qi had picked a full basket, after removing damaged or undersized leaves, there were only a little over ten jin left.
After packaging fifty boxes plus the sample pouches, there was almost nothing remaining.
But having fewer items also had its advantages, it made the process quick.
Before it was fully dark, they had not only finished all the packaging but had already shipped everything out in the order payments were received.
At this rate, the perilla might even appear on some people’s dinner tables tonight.
After tidying up the house, Ruan Qiao stretched and finally had a moment to look at Ah Qi. “How did the talk with Doctor Aisen go? Are we heading over first thing tomorrow morning?”
“Mm.”
They had both been busy all day, and Ah Qi had even gone up the mountain again, yet he showed no sign of fatigue at all, making Ruan Qiao look as if she were about to collapse by comparison.
She leaned back onto the sofa, pounded her sore shoulders a few times, and then closed her eyes.
As for Ah Qi, his courage had clearly grown a lot lately.
Now that he was more familiar with Ruan Qiao, he had figured out that she was all bark and no bite.
Even if he acted a little lazy now and then, he no longer had to worry about being driven away.
So when Ruan Qiao sat down, he wasn’t as restrained as before. He naturally scooted closer, pretended to pound her shoulders twice, then curled up right beside her and pressed his face against her leg.
Ruan Qiao opened her eyes and glared at him speechlessly.
But Ah Qi completely ignored the look, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.
He even reached out, attempting to wrap an arm around her thigh.
Ruan Qiao, annoyed, quickly dodged and slapped his hand away. “What kind of habit is that? Do you think you’re still a kid, acting like the little ones and begging to be hugged and cuddled?”
After saying that, she shifted farther away and poked his forehead hard with her finger. “Move over. Aren’t you hot at all?”
Ah Qi didn’t get angry, nor did he show the panic he once would have.
He tried to suppress the smile tugging at his lips, kept his eyes closed as if he couldn’t sense her displeasure, and shuffled closer again when she moved.
Not only that, he boldly grabbed her hand and placed it on top of his head.
Only then did he mutter softly, “Tired.”
“Tired? You look more energetic than I am. Stop pretending, I can see right through you. You’re a grown man, and you’re still acting spoiled.”
Ruan Qiao felt both exasperated and amused by his behavior and couldn’t help snapping back.
Yet even as she complained, thinking about everything he had done that day made her heart soften.
Almost unconsciously, she began stroking his smooth, glossy hair over and over.
Ah Qi stopped holding back. The corners of his mouth lifted high into a wide grin, his entire face radiating happiness.
In the end, he even let out a few contented hums.
After a while, he resumed the earlier topic.
“Doctor Aisen said that tomorrow he’ll contact two more experienced doctors to come together and hold a joint consultation for Huihui and the others. After discussing it, they’ll come up with a treatment plan.”
At this point, Ah Qi paused.
He opened his eyes and looked at Ruan Qiao, a trace of confusion in his voice. “Doctor Aisen said he doesn’t have experience assisting A class individuals through transformation and doesn’t know much about it.
If he doesn’t have experience, why did you choose him as the orphanage’s dedicated doctor in the first place?”
Ruan Qiao stopped what she was doing. She looked at Ah Qi, sighed, and asked, “How many doctors on this entire planet do you think have experience taking care of A class transformations? Forget assisting with transformations, how many have even seen an A class person before?”
Ah Qi fell silent.
He recalled what the doctor had said during his previous medical checkup.
Ruan Qiao’s reminder made him feel the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.
“Doctor Aisen once told me that he’s not really some exclusive doctor for our orphanage. He’s just been close friends with Ella and her husband for many years, so he looks after this place a bit more.”
At this point, Ruan Qiao gave a self-mocking smile. “You know that too, don’t you? ‘Exclusive’? What compensation have we ever given Doctor Aisen? Even when we order dry rations from him, he insists on giving us the biggest discount.”
“Tomorrow morning, I’ll pick some perilla and bring it to him,” Ah Qi said after thinking for a moment.
Ruan Qiao wanted to tell him not to tire himself out, but then she thought about how they needed to do their morning training anyway. Besides, they didn’t really have anything else to offer as thanks.
So she nodded. “That works. But don’t pick too much. We’re not selling tomorrow, we should give the plants time to recover. Let’s go see the doctor early in the morning, and if there’s time in the afternoon, we can stop by the secondhand market.”
Ruan Qiao hadn’t forgotten about the exercise machine at all.
She hadn’t brought it up before because they didn’t have enough money. Now that earning money was finally within reach, she put the matter back on the agenda.
Early the next morning, Ah Qi and the others went up the mountain. Not only did they bring back some fresh perilla, they also returned with good news.
Not far from the original patch they had found before, they had spotted many more perilla plants.
They hadn’t noticed them earlier because the plants were scattered and not growing in dense clusters, so they had been overlooked.
But once they deliberately searched for them, they were easy to find.
And although they weren’t growing in large patches, there were quite a few, harvesting five or six jin at a time wouldn’t be a problem.
The news delighted Ruan Qiao so much that she immediately declared she would join them for morning training the next day as well.
In fact, while Ah Qi and the others were out training, Ruan Qiao had her own piece of good news: her first batch of lettuce was ready to harvest.
It was still a bit tender, so harvesting whole heads would be wasteful. But if she didn’t sell it to the purchasing station and instead, like the perilla, picked only the large, thick leaves and packaged them in small portions for her online shop, she could easily prepare twenty or thirty boxes from what was ready now.
Lettuce was already a fast-growing variety, and once it began to mature, it would continue producing steadily.
And lettuce wasn’t the only vegetable she had planted. She had also grown water spinach, bok choy, and amaranth— all hardy, fast-growing varieties.
Once they entered the harvest period, the yield would not be small.
Ruan Qiao knew that with perilla and lettuce leading the way, it wouldn’t be long before their small online shop would offer a much wider range of products.