CHAPTER 305: CHAPTER 300: PHOENIX MAN

Lunch was enjoyed at a temporary stall in the market, and although the environment was noisy, the ingredients were fresh, the flavor exquisite, and the portions generous. Therefore, Zhang Meng not only adapted to the food but also relished it.

Granny Liu became even more satisfied with her future daughter-in-law. Though Mengmeng came from the city and her family was wealthy and influential, she was not at all delicate or disdainful. Where else could you find such a good daughter-in-law?

Moreover, she was so pretty and if she were to have grandchildren in the future, no matter whom they took after, they would be handsome or beautiful.

Granny Liu’s happiness resulted in purchasing more from the market, thinking everything looked good, absolutely not allowing such a daughter-in-law to slip away. Nowadays, unlike in the past, matchmaking assurances no longer guaranteed a lifelong commitment. Young people today might divorce even after marriage and having children! Ye Qiu was going to be a doctor in the future, and if he had conflicts with Mengmeng, wouldn’t her dad get angry? It could even affect their son’s job!

But if the son got along well with Mengmeng, having a father-in-law who was a hospital director to support them, her son couldn’t go wrong no matter what.

Plus, Mengmeng did not only buy a massaging footbath and a cervical massager this time, but also many health products and clothes. Although they didn’t have as much money to spend on these items, the mountain delicacies from their village were rare finds in the city, so it was never wrong to buy more. They couldn’t have their son lose face in front of his future in-laws.

The more Granny Liu thought about it, the more she felt she should treat Zhang Meng well. Thus, when the three of them headed home, their hands were almost too full to carry everything. Thankfully, Uncle Li, who picked them up earlier, drove the tractor over just in time to give them a lift.

They bought a lot of wild goods this time, and as soon as they got home, Granny Liu started stewing a wild chicken with mushrooms. The fragrance began to waft through the air before it was even ready, making anyone salivate.

"It smells so good!" Zhang Meng didn’t know how to cook, but today she insisted on learning to start a fire. With Ye Qiu overseeing her, she seemed to manage it quite well. She looked at the wild chicken in the pot and involuntarily swallowed her saliva.

"Smells good, right? These things are not easily found in the city. Eat more later. Tomorrow we will stew wild boar trotters, which are also very fragrant and good for beauty and skin care!" Granny Liu was somewhat proud, these things were, she liked to claim, something city folks might never have the chance to taste in a lifetime.

"Thank you, Auntie, you are so kind!" Zhang Meng complimented sincerely, "I also want to take some photos later to make my friends and classmates envious. They don’t have such a great boyfriend’s mom to cook delicious food for them."

"Taking photos? I just slapped these dishes together, it’d be embarrassing to show others!" Granny Liu said modestly, but she felt secretly pleased and determined to make the dishes look better before the photos were taken.

"How could it be embarrassing! I snuck a few photos of last night’s dinner without you knowing, and my friends were all insanely jealous."

"Really?." Granny Liu exclaimed in surprise, her heart filled with delight, "Alright then, once I’ve plated it nicely, you should take the photos first."

"They’ll be drooling with envy," said Zhang Meng with a joyful smile, paying no heed to Ye Qiu as she harmonized with Liu Sanying.

The dishes Ye Qiu’s mom cooked were genuinely delicious. The wild chicken and mushrooms, tenderly stewed, exuded a rich fragrance, garnished with some green and red peppers. Not only pleasing to the eye but also appetizing. Zhang Meng couldn’t wait to take several photos before compiling them with the ones taken during the day in the market and posting them on her social media.

Ever since yesterday, all of Zhang Meng’s friends and classmates knew she had visited her boyfriend’s hometown, a secluded small mountain village. Although the village had picturesque scenery, everyone thought Zhang Meng was asking for hardship. Yet after yesterday, she posted on social media again.

The dishes in the photo were still tempting, and upon hearing from Zhang Meng that they were all wild and natural goods, her friends asked her to send some over, also praising her for landing such a good family to marry into, with no shortage of good food in the future.

Although there were some insincere compliments, there were also heartfelt blessings. Zhang Meng read the friends’ messages to Granny Liu, filling her with joy.

"Wow, so many people want it!" Granny Liu exclaimed in surprise, "Then I’ll go to the market tomorrow and buy more to send to your classmates and friends."

"We can’t just send it for free; they’ll have to pay for the postage themselves. And we should give you some compensation for your effort," suggested Zhang Meng.

Upon hearing this, Granny Liu hastily waved her hands: "What do I need compensation for? It’s really not necessary."

"We need to; even among family members, we have to settle the accounts clearly. Otherwise, they’ll keep asking you to send stuff all year round, and it’ll wear you out!" Having said that, Zhang Meng began contacting those who wanted the wild goods, agreeing to send them if they accepted her terms. If not, no big deal; they weren’t relying on this to make money.

Zhang Meng’s social circle was full of wealthy people, each one readily agreeing to the deal, prepaying with bank transfers at city prices for wild goods. What they bought in the city might not even be authentic, while buying more of the good thing from her could never be a mistake.

Having collected the money, Zhang Meng also informed them that although wild and local products could be purchased, delivery services would be stopping for the New Year, except for SF Express.

After spending so much money, would they really mind the postage? They all agreed that if it arrived quickly, they’d be able to enjoy it for the New Year!

"This has made eight thousand yuan?" Granny Liu’s eyes bulged in surprise.

"Not much, it’s the same price they pay in the city. I’ll give you all the money. We just need to buy the goods tomorrow and send them off," Zhang Meng reassured her.

"Alright, alright, alright. Let’s go early tomorrow and pick out some good stuff. We can’t let your friends waste their money." Zhang Meng brought about ten thousand in cash on this visit, without spending a dime. Now, it came in handy.

Granny Liu, who didn’t know how to use Alipay or WeChat for transfers and had never had much money, found holding the weighty eight thousand yuan somewhat surreal. And with the twenty thousand her son gave her that morning, was she was now a person with twenty-eight thousand? Wrong, she still needed to spend on procuring goods tomorrow. But after doing some calculations, she figured that with the eight thousand yuan, even after bartering, she could make around four to five thousand profit. That was too easy to earn!

No matter what, Granny Liu insisted on sharing half of the earnings with Zhang Meng, who firmly refused. So, Granny Liu decided to buy extra the next day to send more back to the in-laws.

With so much money collected, Granny Liu enthusiastically picked out the best local products. Not to mention the surprise and delight of others when they received these goods, even Zhang Changfeng was amazed.

He didn’t ask for his daughter’s future in-laws to be wealthy, only that they treat his daughter with genuine care and sincerity. It seemed now that his daughter’s judgment was pretty good.

Following his daughter’s suggestion, Zhang Changfeng shared some with the leaders at their compound and the relatives and neighbors. They were all authentic high-quality goods, and just one meal made with them was enough to tell the difference, garnering lots of praise. There were even people who contacted Zhang Changfeng willing to buy at high prices, which left him with mixed feelings of amusement and bewilderment.

However, this gifting session brought a lot of new customers to Granny Liu, but unfortunately, with the New Year approaching, there was no time to cater to them. It had to wait until after the holiday.