This time, however, Chen Ailian and Li Guihua didn’t take the initiative to cause trouble.
After climbing onto the ox cart, they deliberately sat as far away from Song Wanning as possible.
The two of them were going to the county town to buy pots, bowls, and other household utensils.
The ox cart waited at the village entrance for another ten minutes or so. Seeing that no one else was coming, Wang Jianbang flicked the reins and slowly drove the cart toward the county town.
The journey from Wangjiawan to the county took a little over twenty minutes by ox cart.
It was Song Wanning’s first time visiting the county town.
She had never ridden an ox cart before, nor had she ever left Wangjiawan.
The cart swayed and jolted the entire way, bouncing so much that her backside began to ache, but she endured it without complaining.
Twenty minutes later, they finally arrived.
The moment the ox cart stopped, Song Wanning jumped down.
She stretched her arms and bounced twice on the spot to ease the soreness from the bumpy ride.
From atop the ox cart, Chen Ailian and Li Guihua rolled their eyes so hard they almost turned white.
In their eyes, Song Wanning’s behavior was disgraceful.
How could she make such indecent movements in the middle of a busy street?
Just as expected of a shameless woman who loved seducing men.
Song Wanning couldn’t care less about what they were thinking.
After loosening up her stiff body, she saw Li Lan climb down from the cart as well.
She walked over warmly, linked arms with Li Lan, and entered the county town together.
Chen Ailian and Li Guihua exchanged glances.
Once the two women had walked away, they both spat in their direction.
“Bah! What a shameless hussy!”
“I heard she hooked up with Wang Ziqi, the eldest son of the village chief’s family. Otherwise, why would the village chief’s wife treat her so well?”
“That’s right! I even saw her eating at the village chief’s house yesterday.”
“Not only did she eat there, she even carried away a whole bowl of meat afterward. Shameless! There was so much meat in that bowl. Isn’t she afraid she’ll choke from eating so much?”
“Heh, are you two really that idle?”
Wang Jianbang glared at them impatiently.
“If you’ve got time to gossip behind people’s backs, you’d be better off earning a few more work points in the village.”
“If you’re here to buy things, hurry up.”
“The ox cart leaves later, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He had watched the two women stand there gossiping instead of entering the county, and to make matters worse, they had dragged his younger brother’s family into it.
People in the village really did love spreading rumors.
Only then did Li Guihua and Chen Ailian remember that Wang Jianbang had been right behind them the whole time.
Everything they had just said had been overheard.
Feeling thoroughly embarrassed, the two women avoided his gaze and hurried into the county town.
Li Lan first took Song Wanning to buy a scarf before leading her to the entrance of the black market.
Entering the black market required an admission fee of twenty cents per person.
After paying the guard at the entrance, Li Lan and Song Wanning went inside.
Both of them wrapped their scarves tightly around their faces, leaving only their eyes exposed.
Song Wanning had brought a backpack.
The Ganoderma was hidden inside, covered beneath several layers of cloth.
The two found an empty spot where they could set up a stall.
After putting down the basket, Song Wanning spread a cloth on the ground and arranged the medicinal herbs she had gathered on top of it.
Li Lan helped her organize the herbs and also caught sight of the Ganoderma inside the basket.
When Song Wanning had mentioned finding one on the mountain, Li Lan had imagined it was just a small mushroom.
She hadn’t expected it to be so enormous.
It was also bright red.
She had seen Ganoderma before, but those had all been black.
This was the first red one she had ever seen.
She wondered whether it would fetch a good price.
Song Wanning wasn’t sure either.
She didn’t know if anyone here would recognize its value.
She had examined it carefully beforehand.
It was roughly fifty years old and weighed close to five jin.
Earlier, she had asked Li Deshun about the current market price.
Ordinary Ganoderma sold for around one hundred and fifty yuan per jin at herbal medicine shops.
But hers was wild Ganoderma, and it was a red variety.
Even if it were priced only as ordinary Ganoderma, such a large specimen should still be worth around seven to eight hundred yuan.
Having estimated its value, she decided not to display it immediately.
She planned to wait until someone bought the herbs first.
If the buyer seemed knowledgeable, she would quietly ask whether they were interested in purchasing a Ganoderma as well.
She and Li Lan stood silently beside the stall.
People came by from time to time to take a look.
Many stopped briefly before leaving without even asking about the price.
Li Lan told Song Wanning that the black market usually closed around eleven in the morning.
If they couldn’t sell anything today, they’d have to come back tomorrow.
They had arrived in the county shortly after seven o’clock.
By the time they reached the black market, it was already nearly eight.
Using her consciousness, Song Wanning checked the clock inside her space.
She had already been standing there for almost an hour.
She decided to wait one more hour.
If nobody came to buy the herbs, she would pack everything up and try her luck another day.
Recently, she had discovered that time inside her space stood completely still.
Anything fresh stored inside remained perfectly preserved.
Whatever state it was in when placed inside would be exactly the same when taken out.
Another hour passed.
Still, not a single customer had shown any interest.
She finally decided to pack up.
She also made a mental note that next time she would bring a small folding stool.
Standing there for so long had left her legs sore.
“Godmother, I think there are fewer and fewer people now.”
“It doesn’t look like we’ll sell anything today.”
“Let’s pack up and head back.”
Li Lan nodded and crouched down to help her gather the herbs.
Just as they were halfway through packing, a middle-aged man walked over to their stall.
“Are these motherwort and dandelion?”
Song Wanning paused and looked up at him.
Then she nodded.
The man asked again,
“How much are they?”
“There should be about one jin of motherwort and two jin of dried dandelion.”
She had previously asked Li Deshun about the prices.
The herbal medicine shops only paid twenty cents per jin.
“Do you want all of them?”
“I’ll sell them to you for thirty cents per jin.”
Her main purpose today wasn’t to sell these herbs.
She had only marked them up by ten cents.
“I’ll take all of them.”
“Pack them up for me.”
Hearing that the man wanted everything, Song Wanning happily took two plastic bags out of her basket and packed each type of herb separately.
As she handed him the bags, she lowered her voice so only he could hear.
“Boss…”
“Are you interested in buying a Ganoderma?”