Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 431 - Chapter 431 431. Sugar pot and... unspeakable_1

Chapter 431: 431. Sugar pot and… unspeakable_1 Chapter 431: 431. Sugar pot and… unspeakable_1 Although Grandma had learned to send voice trembles, she wasn’t interested in doing so. Instead, she focused on another point:

“Those fruits from the sugar jar trees are quite expensive; in past years, people would come to buy them, offering up to 30 yuan per jin.”

“Really?”

Wu Lan was now energized upon hearing about money–don’t be fooled by the Golden Sakura blooming; in fact, it bloomed multiple times, producing no small amount of fruit, shining gold and red!

“Right, Mom, Tantan told me the scientific name is Golden Sakura, and Seventh Uncle calls them sugar jar fruits–why do you also call them sugar jar fruits?”

“You’re the one with the poor memory.”

Without hesitation, Grandma scoffed, “You ate plenty of those when you were little, not even the pain from getting pricked stopped you. You had to pick them and then rubbed them hard against the sole of a shoe or a brick–you can’t glare at me, you were the one who rubbed them with the shoe.”

“Once you’d rubbed off the little thorns and peeled off the outer skin, you’d eat that tiny bit of flesh inside–and still had to spit out the seeds. After all that trouble, it was all just to taste the sweetness, otherwise why would it be called a sugar jar fruit?”

Wu Lan thought about it and some memories came back:

“I knew it looked familiar…”

It’s just that the wild ones used to grow in a messy state, with branches of all lengths, making them hard to recognize at a glance.

She said sheepishly, “Speaking of these flowers, they’re so ethereal! Who would have thought their fruit was the same stuff we ate as kids.”

“By the way, Mom, these fruits are a bit sweet, why would people spend 30 yuan per jin to buy them? That’s not a low price–are they sun-dried or what?”

“No,” Grandma shook her head: “They want the freshly picked, good quality fruits.”

She thought for a moment, “Apparently these fruits can boost a man’s vigor or something–you know, men like to chase that sort of thing, probably planning to buy them and soak in alcohol as wild Golden Sakura.”

“What does ‘boost a man’s vigor’ mean?”

Qiaoqiao came over, then tiptoed to take another look at the supremely ethereal ring of flowers on the perimeter.

Wu Lan and Grandma were both stuck at the same time.

Only to hear Qiaoqiao continue, “Seventh Uncle also mentioned it strengthens the kidneys and boosts vigor–but I forgot to ask.”

“Mommy, what does ‘boost a man’s vigor’ mean?”

Wu Lan: …

After a long while, she managed a dry laugh: “It means it’s good for your health.”

“Can it improve the brain?” Qiaoqiao looked hopeful, “I want to eat some–Brother Yanping said I’m a brainless happy-go-lucky.”

Wu Lan: …

She looked at her mother, but her mother turned her head away, acting as if she were blind and half deaf with poor vision and hearing.

How should this be explained?

In theory, Qiaoqiao should be aware of this kind of knowledge, but if they taught her and she asked again later… it would be a bit awkward.

With that thought, Wu Lan resorted to the eternal art of evasion:

“Like this, when you go back, ask your Teacher Xin Jun…” Ah, how should she approach the teacher–

“Should the teacher give Qiaoqiao some supplementary knowledge in this area?”

The more Wu Lan thought, the deeper she sighed. At this moment, the basket of black fungus seemed to have lost all the glitter of money.

…

Meanwhile, Song Tan was also discussing with Zhang Yanping:

“Considering the vast area of our mountain, don’t you think it’s time to install some surveillance?”

“Inquired about it before, people said it would likely cost a lot of money.”

Zhang Yanping was staring at the backend of the Peach Treasure Shop as a makeshift customer service rep, while saying nonchalantly,

“You’ve already spent the big bucks, why skimp on the small change? You’re going to have to install surveillance sooner or later.”

“Right now, the Mountain King and Uncle Zhang can keep an eye out for you, but with such a vast expanse of mountain to monitor, even ten Mountain Kings wouldn’t be able to cover it all.”

The main issue is that the stuff at home is too tempting; if people don’t outright steal, even just pilfering a few pieces a day is problematic.

Without oversight, it’ll amount to a substantial loss over time. But taking action is tricky… considering everyone is from the same village. It’s hard to bring it up.

Having surveillance at least provides indisputable evidence to throw in someone’s face when disputes arise.

So, a well-thought-out surveillance plan is definitely in order.

Song Tan’s actual concern wasn’t about the money, but about her frequent late-night activities of evenly dispensing “Spiritual Energy” in the fields–

Once surveillance is set up, she would have to find a way to master an invisibility spell beforehand, wouldn’t she?

But how could she, who hasn’t even reached the “Foundation Establishment” stage, know any invisibility spells?

She couldn’t possibly sneak around like a thief just to add nutrients to her mountain in the dead of night, could she?

But… as Zhang Yanping said, installing surveillance is something that can’t be avoided eventually.

She sighed–she might as well spend her nights diligently cultivating and accumulating Spiritual Energy to be dispensed during her daytime patrols of the mountain…

This schedule had a bittersweet sense of healthiness to it.

Seeing her sigh, Zhang Yanping knew she had made up her mind, thinking Song Tan was worried about the money, he quickly added, “The peaches on the back mountain are about to ripen; the Peach Forest is so vast, and there are also watermelons–relying on the Mountain King alone is indeed a challenge.”

Twenty acres of Peach Forest may not sound like much, but when it’s right in front of you, even a simple walk around it takes quite some effort.

If someone were to steal a few and run, even if the Mountain King could fly, it would still take time, wouldn’t it?

The peach trees are even more economically important than the watermelons this year! Our livelihood depends entirely on this crop of peaches!

“Install!” Song Tan was decisive.

She quickly contacted the surveillance installer she had lined up before to come and inspect the site.

In the sweltering summer weather, surveillance wasn’t in high demand, so when they heard about the hundreds of acres, front and back, they considered it a significant project in their area!

The God of Wealth had needs, and the next morning, two workers came to survey the site.

Song Tan first took them around the back mountain and then pointed from a distance to the entire bowl-shaped layout:

“See, this area is mostly ours. The main concern is over by the Peach Forest where the fruit is nearly ripe. Although there’s a fence, it’s not secure enough; we still want to start with installing surveillance.”

“We definitely need to!”

The surveillance installers were two young men who, at this moment, were practically glowing as they looked at the fruitful Peach Forest and the ground covered with watermelons the size of winter melons!

They nodded incessantly,

“Your fence is pretty sturdy, and with the addition of things like loofah, pumpkin, and cherry tomatoes on the outside of the wire mesh, it’s not easy to climb over, which is great, really great!”

“But there’s a problem,” the young lad looked at her, “No matter how high the wall, it can’t stop a determined thief–and if you always ignore it, given enough time, someone will dare to climb over.”

“If they really climb in and something gets stolen, that’s one thing. But the real headache is if someone gets hurt in the process–after all, look at your fence.”

The other gestured with his hand, “It’s not particularly sturdy, and it’s so high, what if someone falls from it?”

“If someone gets hurt and something serious happens, although it has nothing to do with you–would the other party be reasonable? It’s not against the law for villagers to come and have a look, right?”

“That’s how it is in the village, there are advantages and disadvantages.”

“If it ends up being a messy dispute, you’d spend all day dealing with lawsuits instead of anything else–anyone daring enough to come and steal won’t hesitate to blackmail you.”

“Surveillance, at the end of the day, serves three purposes: to warn, to detect promptly, and to provide evidence.”