After returning home, Zhao Tiezhu locked the door and sat on his bed to practice the Myriad Woods Everlasting Formula.
At night, he could clearly feel wisps of vital energy from the plants and trees seeping into his skin. He could even smell a refreshing, intoxicating floral fragrance. When he opened his eyes the next morning, Zhao Tiezhu felt a sense of lightness he had never experienced before. The loss of his job, his girlfriend cheating on him, and his brain tumor—it all vanished from his mind.
Suddenly, a rich floral scent drifted to his nose. He tilted his head toward the windowsill and froze. The clivia he had watered with a teacup of the Shennong Hundred Herb Liquid mixture yesterday now had sword-shaped leaves standing on both sides, reaching about half a meter in length. In the center, over forty yellow petals were in full bloom, glowing like a torch. It looked dignified, graceful, fragrant, and crystalline!
"My god!"
Zhao Tiezhu remembered clearly that there were only four leaves yesterday, measuring less than twenty centimeters. It had changed completely overnight. While he didn't know if this counted as top-tier quality, it at least proved the powerful efficacy of the Shennong Hundred Herb Liquid.
He suddenly thought of the vegetable patch he had watered yesterday. He swung the door open and rushed into the garden. When he saw the rows of seedlings, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He had farmed with his parents as a child. Even during the heat of August or September, cucumbers would grow at most five centimeters overnight. But now? The cucumber, tomato, and chili seedlings looked as if they had been magicked, all reaching the lush, mature state of a fall harvest. If the wooden trellis that Wang Cuilian had built hadn't been sturdy enough, the whole thing would have collapsed.
Each cucumber was deep green, still bearing its blossom and prickles, and over forty centimeters long. The red tomatoes were the size of small watermelons, crystal clear and dripping with dew, hanging from the branches. The chili peppers looked like large green gemstones, even bigger than the tomatoes.
"Did I... use too much Shennong Hundred Herb Liquid?"
Zhao Tiezhu muttered to himself as he strode over. He picked a cucumber, rubbed off the prickles with his hand, and bit into it, chewing with a satisfying crunch. A rich, cucumber fragrance flooded his mouth and nose—it was far superior to anything bought at a supermarket. After swallowing a bite, his throat, which had been dry from waking up, and his slightly swollen eyes began to recover rapidly.
"According to the Hundred Herbs Chapter of the Shennong Classic, cucumbers have the effect of clearing heat, quenching thirst, and soothing sore throats. The liquid completely amplified those effects! Amazing!"
*Crunch! Crunch...*
Bite after bite, he couldn't stop, finishing more than half of it.
Zhao Tiezhu’s gaze landed on the tomatoes; surely, they must have extraordinary properties too? Without hesitation, he rushed over, picked one, wiped the dew off with his shirt, and took a bite. The full, rich juice instantly filled his mouth, a sweet-and-sour flavor that awakened every taste bud. It wasn't like the artificially ripened tomatoes from the supermarket that had no juice at all. Once he swallowed it, a warmth spread through his entire stomach, dispelling the chill from the cucumber.
"The Hundred Herbs Chapter records that tomatoes aid digestion, promote bowel movements, and stimulate fluid production. The ones I grew have god-like effects—more powerful than medicine!"
The tomato was so large that by the time he finished, his stomach was basically full.
"I’ve made it. I’m definitely going to get rich! With the help of the liquid, these tomatoes and cucumbers fully realize their medicinal value. They can truly be called Medicinal Vegetable, and they must fetch a high price!"
Muttering to himself, his eyes flashed with excitement, as if he could see mountains of money rolling in. He fetched bamboo baskets and harvested all the ripe tomatoes and cucumbers. There were four full baskets of tomatoes and three of cucumbers. As for the chili peppers, he would deal with them tomorrow. The most important thing now was to get a vehicle to take the vegetables to the county to sell.
He covered the vegetables with an old, worn-out quilt when he heard his sister-in-law’s voice at the door: "Tiezhu, are you up? Time to eat!"
Wang Cuilian unlocked the gate. The moment she stepped inside, she saw the fresh vegetables Zhao Tiezhu had picked and was stunned on the spot. She gestured toward the garden, stammering: "You... Tiezhu, how did all these vegetables ripen?"
She remembered very clearly that even for early-maturing vegetables, the seedlings were nowhere near this size, let alone the fruit hanging from them, which looked ready to eat. Most importantly, they hadn't looked like this at all yesterday.
Zhao Tiezhu chuckled, revealing a row of white teeth. "Sister-in-law, I didn't come back home for nothing. I brought back some special organic fertilizer. Pretty amazing, right? You should go look at the clivia in my room; that’s your favorite."
Just as he started to walk away, he added: "Sister-in-law, I ate a tomato this morning, so I'm not hungry. I’m going to go get the pedal tricycle!" He recalled that her family used to have a diesel tricycle, but he assumed she had sold it to raise money, leaving only a manual one.
"Ah? Oh!" Wang Cuilian felt dazed as she subconsciously walked toward Zhao Tiezhu’s room.
A rich floral fragrance immediately hit her nose. When she saw the clivia in full yellow bloom, her eyes grew moist. The only hobby she had kept in the village was growing flowers, hoping that she, too, could bloom quietly and gracefully like an orchid.
"The orchid has bloomed. Is my spring far behind?" She stood before the clivia, eyes closed, quietly savoring the fragrance as tears slid down her cheeks. Many thoughts swirled in her heart.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw Zhao Tiezhu’s slightly thin frame loading baskets of vegetables onto the cart. Seven baskets filled the tricycle. He secured them with ropes, covered them with a thin quilt, and sprinkled a layer of water over them to keep the heat from drying out the produce.
Seeing this, Wang Cuilian hurried over and said, "Tiezhu, eat something before you go, or you'll be hungry by the time you reach the county!"
Standing under the eaves, the golden sunlight caught her, giving her a faint, ethereal glow. Zhao Tiezhu’s eyes went wide. She was beautiful, virtuous, and perfect—all sorts of wonderful descriptors flooded his mind.
It wasn't until Wang Cuilian walked up to him that Zhao Tiezhu snapped back to reality. "Sister-in-law, take a cucumber home to eat. They’re incredibly delicious!" He then climbed onto the pedal tricycle and pedaled away.
Watching his retreating back, Wang Cuilian felt a flutter in her heart, and a crimson flush rose to her cheeks. "This kid... is he flirting with me?"
She looked around to make sure no one was watching, then picked up a large, thick cucumber and felt a shiver of surprise. It was so big! Even the old cucumbers she kept for seeds weren't this large. She looked at the tomatoes; a single one would be enough to fill a plate. She picked some tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, locked the gate, and left. She would go home and prepare a meal for when Tiezhu returned.
*Tiezhu, how on earth did you grow these?*