If you want to eat them, wouldn't it be better to go to the market in town and buy a couple?
"Uncle, you don't understand. This is the kind of fun only true foodies know! We not only have to know how to eat, but we also have to cook for ourselves!"
Jiang Xiaoman happily replied to customer inquiries in the backend, and then busied herself contacting a woman she had met in the county town who ran a courier station, asking her how much discount she could get if she had a large volume of courier orders.
Jiang Xiaoman thought for a moment. This time, the volume of express deliveries was quite large. It was difficult to negotiate the price with the postal service. She should ask other companies first. If they were cheaper, they could hire a truck to deliver the goods to the county town. This would give her more options for express delivery companies, and customers could receive their goods as soon as possible.
More than 1,000 jin were sold in one night, and these 5,000 jin of konjac should be sold soon.
With a major matter on her mind, Jiang Xiaoman simply ran home to get a few changes of clothes and borrowed Fang Xingchen's laptop, planning to work from the foot of the mountain for the next few days.
However, to his and Jiang Baichuan's surprise, that evening, Wei Sheng, who hadn't posted on Weibo for a long time, suddenly posted a status update with a screenshot—
"I suddenly feel like trying to make a low-fat konjac tofu dish myself. Anyone want to join me? It's a specialty konjac from my junior sister's hometown~"
Although there was no link to Jiang Xiaoman's shop in the screenshot, fans quickly found it by using a magnifying glass.
Great, case solved! It seems the older brother is raising his junior sister like a daughter, isn't he? He even supports her fellow villager selling konjac?
Such a down-to-earth idol naturally made fans laugh out loud in the comments section.
Some people are betting on whether Wei Sheng will post a picture of himself making konjac tofu.
Even more outrageous fans stated that they simply didn't believe the gluttonous Wei Sheng would actually consume the so-called weight-loss miracle food, since anything marketed as a weight-loss supplement is usually extremely unpalatable...
There's probably been a lack of news in the entertainment industry lately, because by the second day of the incident, even many marketing accounts had joined in.
Let's all place bets and see if Wei Sheng's konjac tofu making video will backfire and embarrass him.
Some marketing accounts even dug up a video of Wei Sheng participating in a survival show before. A classic scene in the video shows Wei Sheng confidently telling his companions that he would go down to the river to catch crabs for them to eat. As a result, his companions entrusted him with the task of gathering food.
Subsequent events proved that you should never easily believe a man's words, even if you are both men; Chinese people can also deceive other Chinese people...
Wei Sheng, full of ambition, took the largest basket in the group to the riverbank. After searching for a long time, he only found a handful of apple snails that were completely inedible, plus a mini river crab the size of a one-yuan coin.
This unfortunate river crab was eventually thrown into the soup pot, becoming the only meat dish for Wei Sheng and his group that night.
Because of this dark history, both fans and haters actually started to wait and see what would happen next with Wei Sheng's konjac tofu. As a result, Jiang Xiaoman's shop also became a little popular, and the remaining 3,000 jin of freshly dug konjac was sold out in less than three days.
"Hiring! Digging konjac!" Boss Jiang waved his hand, preparing to go to the few places his father had arranged to buy some more konjac to sell.
However, the konjac taro is not fully grown at this time of year. To Jiang Xiaoman's surprise, after asking around, only three vendors were willing to dig it up and sell it now.
Jiang Xiaoman didn't force anyone to sell to him. He was just helping his fellow villagers sell their produce as a side business. He would put as much as he could get on the shelves, and he was very laid-back about it.
Even so, he sold more than 20,000 jin in just a few days. After deducting the cost of purchasing konjac, plus transportation, packaging, and express delivery fees, he actually made nearly 30,000 yuan in the end, which was a pleasant surprise!
Even Jiang Youliang didn't expect that the freshly dug konjac could actually be sold. He secretly regretted his previous extravagance in digging up all the konjac in his house and giving it away.
If they grow for a few more months and the konjac plants get bigger, they can be harvested and sold. Even if it's only one yuan per kilogram, that would still be several thousand yuan.
"It's alright, Dad, we'll keep selling next year! Save some seedlings this year, and I'll plant them with you next year!"
Jiang Xiaoman also felt that this business could continue.
After all, konjac produces a large amount of tofu. One large konjac plant can make enough tofu for a family of three for three days. It's much more cost-effective than buying groceries, and it's delicious and fun.
He plans to negotiate with courier stations next year, and when courier fees are cheaper, the price of konjac can also be reduced.
Anyway, they grew it themselves, the konjac seedlings were saved by themselves, and the fertilizer was also their own composted pig manure, so there was almost no cost involved.
Because Wei Sheng had helped them a lot in selling konjac, Jiang Xiaoman specially packed a large box of konjac and sent it to him along with a few packets of baking soda so he could make it for fun.
By the way, well, he also really wanted to watch and see what the fuss was about.
Chapter 79
Wei Sheng never expected that Jiang Xiaoman would be such an ungrateful wretch!
This guy actually sent him a whole box full of konjac!
The konjac is still covered with the fragrance of soil.
He was completely stunned when he received the package.
"Can Can, what kind of alien species is the konjac from your place? How come it's so big?"
Wei Sheng was holding a konjac taro that was as big as a basketball, and he was completely dumbfounded.
He thought konjac was just like regular taro. Is this thing some kind of mutated species?
Sorry, he's only ever eaten low-fat konjac salad prepared by a nutritionist... at most the kind that's only as thick as a finger.
“Brother Wei, this isn’t that big. My family once dug one up; it was planted next to the pigsty, and it was as big as a washbasin.”
Jiang Cancan kindly reminded him, "You'd better put it down quickly, the skin is already a bit broken, and it will be very itchy if your hands get this sap on them."
Impoverished Jiang Xiaoman didn't even provide any shock-absorbing foam when shipping the goods; she simply stuffed several konjac twigs directly into the cardboard box.
When the package was delivered to Wei Sheng, the cardboard box was almost torn, and the konjac inside was also a bit damaged.
He promised his fans he would make konjac tofu by hand; a man should keep his word.
Wei Sheng specially asked his assistant Xiao Bai to buy rubber gloves and a large pot for making konjac tofu, and set up the equipment in his apartment.
He's incredibly audacious; he actually dared to do it live!
The entertainment industry was in an uproar!
The fans were even more nervous than Wei Sheng himself.
In a typical business event, people who are busy would usually wait until they have time to like, share, and show their support. But this time it's different.
What can fans do if their idol is flirting with disaster during a live stream?
Of course, he'd take time off to come to the live stream and control the comments, just in case something goes wrong and Wei Sheng gets attacked by haters to the point of depression...
Wei Sheng's haters were also very excited, gathering their friends to witness his downfall. They even went around posting on Weibo and WeChat Moments, frantically trying to make Wei Sheng fail miserably and ruin his career. Their intentions were as clear as day...
Countless marketing accounts jumped on the bandwagon, some praising his support for poverty alleviation, even though their behavior was a bit silly, their intentions were good.
Without hesitation, they started silently camping out in the live stream, ready to frantically screenshot Wei Sheng's embarrassing moment; they even came up with news headlines—
Shocking! Top idol Wei Sheng blows up his kitchen during a late-night live stream!
"Wei Sheng was seen entering and leaving his home late at night with an unidentified object, suspected of..."
Damn it! Isn't that just an "unidentified object"?
They weren't wrong. If a normal person saw that dark lump, who could recognize that thing as konjac?
Wei Sheng's live stream popularity skyrocketed, reaching the top spot on both the popularity chart and the real-time online viewership chart in just half an hour!
Wei Sheng's agent, Zhou Mingxing, was woken up by a phone call in the middle of the night. Just as he was about to yell at the caller, he saw that it was the station director calling and his heart skipped a beat.
He didn't immediately think of Wei Sheng, because that kid was only interested in working within the system, and was usually very honest. Apart from having a lot of haters, he actually had no major flaws. His main suspect was Xu Ying.
Just a few days ago, it was said that Xu Tianhou personally hosted a dinner for several senior leaders of the station, hoping that the production team would move Jiang Cancan to her group before the official group assignments.
That won't do!
Jiang Cancan is a rare and exceptional seedling that he has finally encountered!
Zhou Mingxing is very confident that he can cultivate the second Xu Ying in the Chinese entertainment industry, which will be the most prosperous cash cow for him in the second half of his life!
We absolutely cannot let anyone poach it!
Zhou Mingxing suspected that Xu Ying had already persuaded the station's leaders, otherwise why would the station director call him personally?
I never expected this!
Wei Sheng, whom he trusted the most, either didn't cause any trouble, or he would suddenly do something big for him!
"There are already over 70 million viewers watching the live stream, and it's trending on several hot searches. This celebrity, Xiao Wei, is a real talent! These numbers, hey! Last time, even the Heavenly King's live stream only had over 80 million viewers, right?"
"A lot of people are waiting to see Xiao Wei's career collapse. I don't understand the thinking of young people these days. You decide what to do. Some hype is fine, but please don't damage the image of the artist and the company, understand?"
Zhou Mingxing broke out in a cold sweat, exchanged pleasantries with the station director, and quickly put on his clothes and ran away as fast as he could.
He was sprinting 100 meters while calling his assistant, Xiaobai.
Very well, you can't get through. You caused me to be wrongly accused by the station director. You two are dead today!
It's impossible for him to crash. Although Wei Sheng is a reckless daring guy, he has a cheat code!
Jiang Cancan, acting as a "cheat code," taught her senior brother how to make konjac tofu step by step in front of the camera.
"First, use that blade to scrape off the skin, you have to expose the white flesh inside."
At this moment, Wei Sheng was holding an eyebrow trimmer that Xiao Bai had temporarily found for him.
Fans almost burst out laughing when they saw this unusually eyebrow trimmer.
What kind of sand sculpture is this?
No way, no way! He's my idol, I have to kneel down to save face for him!
As a result, fans and casual viewers flooded the comment section with messages, making Wei Sheng's face completely invisible.
"Then start grinding the konjac into a paste. Wait, this konjac is too big, Brother Wei, cut it in half so it's easier to hold. Yes, grind the konjac paste little by little like this."
Sweating profusely, Wei Sheng grabbed a huge konjac tuber and tried to grind out the pulp inside using a potato grater.
Unexpectedly, the konjac was extremely slippery. He was even wearing rubber gloves, and in just over ten minutes, the konjac tuber slipped out of his hands several times.
Seeing Wei Sheng grind for a while and then start searching for konjac on the ground, find it, run to wash it under the tap, and then come back to grind it again, his carefully drawn eyebrows were all rubbed off from exhaustion, netizens who clicked on the trending list to watch the fun were almost dying of laughter.
Fans were sweating profusely, nervously watching the screen. As soon as they saw him drop the konjac, they frantically flooded the screen, trying to suppress the complaints and laughter from haters and passersby.
But where can it be suppressed?
The number of people online at any given time quickly soared to 90 million, while Wei Sheng only had a paltry 20 million fans, not all of whom were online...
The marketing accounts were laughing like it was Chinese New Year, frantically taking screenshots of netizens' comments and criticisms. With this live stream, they could meet their KPIs for the week ahead of schedule.
At first, the haters also joined in by sending barrages of comments mocking him. But as they laughed, they inexplicably felt that Wei Sheng, who was so flustered just to fulfill his promise and show his fans how to make konjac tofu, was actually kind of adorably sincere.
"Oh no, I guess I can't criticize this sanitary napkin anymore."
"What kind of name is 'sanitary napkin'? Where's your manners? Why aren't you coming to pay your respects to the top-ranked leader?!"
"Passersby who didn't understand asked, 'Why do you call it a sanitary napkin?'" one passerby couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
So some persistent haters started explaining the origin of Wei Sheng's nickname to passersby, which angered many righteous (female) netizens.