My belly swoops. This is it. This is going to be the biggest deal I’ve ever made. Who knows? Maybe the beginning of a mushroom empire. I force myself to steady my breathing.

I’m not new at this. I’m a business woman. I’ve got almost a thousand dollars in the trunk of an oak tree that says it.

And I am not thinking right now about what it says that my capital is stored in the hollow of a tree.

I’ve been selling for years. This is just another sale. Only a couple more zeroes on the price tag.

I make my way past the produce vendors and the other...