Chapter 59 Try it
The next day, Yang Shuitao didn't come to make trouble again with the chicken, which greatly relieved Shen Wuqiu. She was afraid that the other party would persist, but she couldn't tell the truth, otherwise Zhao Jiujiu and the others would definitely think that she had been bullied again and would stand up for her.
To be honest, this made Shen Wuqiu feel quite innocent, and she couldn't get past her own conscience.
Therefore, it would be best to let this matter drop.
As for the fifty chickens that were killed by a certain cat and its friends—consider it a small punishment for Yang Shuitao and her daughter.
However, Zhao Jiujiu didn't think so. In her opinion, Yang Shuitao was really ungrateful. Qiuqiu had been magnanimous and let bygones be bygones last time, but now she actually wanted to cause trouble.
Yang Shuitao didn't care, but she still did.
After breakfast, she asked Su Yunzhi to go to Shen Xianghua's house.
Shen Wuqiu hurriedly advised, "Auntie, Aunt, let's just let this matter go. My cousin-in-law hasn't come to make trouble anymore."
Zhao Jiujiu: "Oh, so she can make a scene whenever she wants and not make a scene whenever she doesn't? Your aunt and I have to go to the door today. Your uncle is a sensible and reasonable person, we can't let this unreasonable aunt whisper in his ear and ruin him."
Su Yunzhi agreed, “You didn’t see your aunt’s attitude yesterday. You should really talk to your uncle about this, so he doesn’t think we’re deliberately causing trouble behind your back.”
Neither of them listened to Shen Wuqiu's advice and went directly to Shen Xianghua's house together.
Shen Xianghua was about to go out, but when he saw them coming, he stopped in his hurry and invited them inside.
Su Yunzhi refused to go inside. Seeing his hurried manner, she knew he had something to do, so she stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point: "We don't have anything else to say, we just came to tell you about the chickens you keep in the bamboo grove behind the house..."
As soon as she mentioned it, Shen Xianghua understood. "Sister-in-law, I'm really sorry about this. I've already told Shui Taobao that the chickens in the backyard definitely have nothing to do with your cat. As for what she said to you, I hope you won't take it to heart."
It is clear that Yang Shuitao did indeed tell him about this.
Su Yunzhi was still worried that Yang Shuitao might exaggerate and blame her for coming to her house, so she carefully recounted the whole story of what happened yesterday.
Shen Xianghua frowned and apologized to them repeatedly.
Although Zhao Jiujiu really wanted to teach this family a lesson, Shen Xianghua was too sincere and showed no favoritism, making it impossible for her to do anything aggressive.
Finally, the two of them went over once to recount the matter to Shen Xianghua, and then returned.
In fact, Shen Xianghua had a big fight with Yang Shuitao last night because of this. Just as Zhao Jiujiu predicted, Yang Shuitao whispered a lot in Shen Xianghua's ear last night. However, Shen Xianghua already had a lot of dissatisfaction with her recently because of Shen Zhipeng's matter. When he heard about the good thing she had done, his face immediately darkened.
Sure enough, Yang Shuitao went back to her parents' home crying before dawn today because Shen Xianghua threatened to divorce her.
They're already grandparents, and they're still getting a divorce. It's laughable.
Yang Shuitao felt wronged and scared. She was afraid that if she stayed at home, Shen Xianghua would really drag her to get a divorce, so she quickly went back to her parents' home to calm down for a few days.
Of course, Gu Lingyu, completely unaware that her little prank almost broke up a family, was completely oblivious to all of this. Even if she were aware, she would probably be indifferent, as all she could think about right now was how to get rid of that uninvited rival.
Yes, Zheng Xinghe is here again.
While Mr. Shen and the others treated him like a distinguished guest, Gu Lingyu was a different story. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, she glared at him and said coldly, "What are you doing here again? My sister doesn't like you."
Zheng Xinghe didn't mind her disdain at all, and instead greeted her with a smile: "I didn't come here for Miss Chen."
Gu Lingyu scoffed: "Don't think I don't know what you're up to."
Zheng Xinghe nodded his chin. "Then tell me, what am I planning?"
Gu Lingyu: "They just want to take advantage of the situation, saying things like 'let's start as friends,' but in reality they're thinking of ways to seduce people."
Zheng Xinghe looked at her, and after two seconds, he chuckled softly, "You're so cute."
Gu Lingyu's alarm bells went off, and then she exaggeratedly vomited, "Let me tell you, I'm not buying your act. There's no way I'll go to my sister and say nice things for you, so don't give me these disgusting words."
"..." Zheng Xinghe paused for a moment, his expression somewhat strange as he seemed to think of something. After a few seconds, he said calmly, "Miss Shen is indeed very outstanding, but I really don't like her."
Gu Lingyu pursed her lips, disbelieving, "Really?"
Zheng Xinghe nodded. "So don't worry, I'm not praising you to put in a good word for me with Miss Shen."
Gu Lingyu looked at him, still somewhat disbelieving, but then became dissatisfied: "My sister is so good, why don't you like her?"
"..." Zheng Xinghe felt a little troubled. "So, do you want me to like her, or not like her?"
"Of course I don't want you to like her..." Gu Lingyu paused, then looked at him again, "What do you mean I want you to like her?? My sister is so good, you should like her, but you can't like her, do you hear me?"
Zheng Xinghe raised his hands in surrender, "Fine, fine, Miss Shen is loved by everyone, but I can't like her. I know my place, I'm not worthy of her."
Gu Lingyu was fairly satisfied with this answer, then tilted her head and the question returned to its original point, "Then why are you still hanging around in front of your sister? Are you trying to play the 'love grows over time' game?"
"..." This hit the nail on the head, but he wasn't trying to make his presence known to Shen Wuqiu. Zheng Xinghe felt a little guilty. "No... no, it's just that this holiday is quite long. I heard from my dad that Miss Shen's bayberry orchard is ready for harvesting bayberries, so I came to take a look."
Although Gu Lingyu was still somewhat skeptical, she let him go after seeing that he had indeed gone to the bayberry garden after greeting Shen's father and the others.
To everyone's surprise, no sooner had Zheng Xinghe gone than Zhao Jiujiu urged Shen Wuqiu to go as well: "Qiuqiu, haven't you always wanted to go to Xishan to see your bayberry garden? The weather is nice today, why don't we both go and take a look?"
Shen Wuqiu didn't think much about Zhao Jiujiu's intentions. After all, in her opinion, once she had talked things out with Zheng Xinghe, it meant that their relationship had become clear and there would be no chance for it to develop in other directions. So she readily agreed.
Speaking of the bayberry orchard, Mr. Shen has received many calls these past two days ordering bayberries from Xishan.
The bayberries I promoted on Dragon Boat Festival were very popular, and many people were thinking about them.
It didn't rain during the Dragon Boat Festival this year; it was a cloudy day. But it's been sunny these past two days, and the weather is great. The bayberries in the bayberry orchard are growing even better.
When Shen Wuqiu and the others arrived, Uncle Zheng was sitting under the bayberry tree smoking. When he saw them, he immediately put out his cigarette, rinsed his mouth with water, and then greeted them, "Why did you come at this hour? It's getting a bit hot."
Shen Wuqiu glanced around the bayberry garden. The whole garden looked neat and tidy, not like the overgrown weeds she had imagined. It was clear that it had been well taken care of.
She was quite satisfied with Uncle Zheng's management. Holding her belly, she walked a few more steps deeper into the garden and saw several people climbing trees to pick bayberries. She said, "It's getting a bit hot now. Picking bayberries at this time might easily lead to heatstroke."
Uncle Zheng replied, "Originally, they were all picked in the early morning, but we just received an urgent order. The boss who just picked up 500 jin of bayberries this morning called again, saying that our bayberries are so popular that he wants to order another 800 jin today and will come to pick them up later. That's why we're rushing to get them."
Shen Wuqiu was surprised that his family's bayberries had captured the market so quickly.
"If this trend continues, we won't have to worry about selling this batch of bayberries this year."
"No need, absolutely no need." Old Zheng spoke with great pride about the bayberries, "I'm just afraid we won't have enough to sell."
Shen Wuqiu smiled, reached out and picked a bayberry from the tree beside him, wiped it casually and put it in his mouth. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gu Lingyu had already climbed to the very top of the bayberry tree and couldn't help but remind Uncle Zheng: "Everyone's safety comes first. Tell everyone not to be reckless if you can't reach the top of the tree."
"Don't worry, I've emphasized this again and again." After saying that, Uncle Zheng noticed that Gu Lingyu had climbed to the top of the tree and hurriedly said, "Miss Lingyu, come down quickly, don't climb so high."
Gu Tiehan ignored him and nimbly darted among the slender branches at the top of the tree, picking several dark red bayberries until his hands were full. Then he jumped down and gave the freshly picked bayberries to Shen Wuqiu, saying, "Sister, look, aren't these pretty?"
Shen Wuqiu glanced at it and thought it was indeed quite pretty.
Seeing that she didn't take it, Gu Lingyu took one and held it to her lips, "Sister, try it quickly, these must be especially sweet."
Uncle Zheng: "The treetop gets more sunlight, so the fruit is indeed sweeter."
Hearing this, Zhao Jiujiu also came over, took two from Gu Lingyu's hand, tasted them, and then poked Gu Lingyu's forehead, saying, "You only think about Qiuqiu when you have something good."
Gu Lingyu didn't try to win her over, and said honestly, "My sister is the most important."
"..." She couldn't even say a nice word. Zhao Jiujiu glared at her, "More important than your mother?"
"Of course. Mother can only rank third."
Zhao Jiujiu felt a strange sense of anticipation. "Who's second?"
Gu Lingyu touched Shen Wuqiu's belly, "Of course it's babies."
"..." Zhao Jiujiu stuffed the bayberries in her hand directly into her mouth, "Okay, okay, I'll pick them myself."
Gu Lingyu ate the bayberries as she ate, and asked Shen Wuqiu as she ate, "Sister, why does Auntie suddenly seem unhappy?"
Shen Wuqiu looked at the bayberries in her hand and said, "I guess the bayberries you picked were too sour."
Gu Lingyu ate another one: "It's not sour? It's very sweet."
As they were talking, Shen Xinghe, wearing a straw hat, came over carrying a basket of bayberries. He was a little surprised to see Shen Wuqiu and the others. "You've come too?"
Shen Wuqiu noticed that his expensive white shirt was covered in moss and joked, "Mr. Zheng, you're wearing a shirt that costs several hundred yuan to pick bayberries. Aren't you afraid of wasting such a precious item?"
Zheng Xinghe glanced at the marks on his shoulder, blew on them casually, and took a few bayberries from his basket to give to Shen Wuqiu. "I'm happy to do this. I've found that farm work has a unique charm. How about I come and work with Miss Shen?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Lingyu immediately became anxious, "What can you do, you pretty boy? Don't come and cause trouble."
Pretty boy? ??
Zheng Xinghe gave her a few as well: "Miss Gu, are you praising my looks?"
Gu Lingyu remained aloof and didn't answer. "You..."
Shen Wuqiu quickly stuffed the half-eaten bayberry into her mouth, saying, "These bayberries picked by Mr. Zheng are especially sweet, you should try them."
Even though her older sister had eaten half of it, she still ate it, despite it being given to her by her rival. Seeing the glare from Shen Wuqiu, she obediently shut her mouth.
Who says you can't be obligated to someone who pays your bills?
Chapter 60 Competition
Unlike other fruits with thick skin and flesh, bayberries cannot be mechanically harvested and can only be picked manually. In addition, their ripening period is short and they are not easy to preserve, so it is necessary to accelerate sales efforts when they are in the market.
The bayberries from the autumn hills of Chenwu began to be sold gradually on the second day of the Dragon Boat Festival.
The sales volume of the first three days was within Uncle Zheng's budget, so the picking task was not tight. If there were no rush orders, it would be enough to have five or six people picking for three to four hours in the early morning.
Uncle Zheng conservatively estimated that these bayberry trees had not yet entered their peak fruiting period, but this year's yield was already considered to be an exceptional performance for these trees, with a yield of about 15,000 jin.
Based on the current sales trend, this year's batch of bayberries will be nearing its end in less than a week.
However, plans can't keep up with changes. On the third night, Mr. Shen received a phone call. On the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the boss he had talked to halfway through ordered 200 jin of bayberries the day after the festival, and on that day he wanted to buy up all the bayberries in the orchard.
Mr. Shen did not agree immediately, but discussed it with Shen Wuqiu.
After some deliberation, Shen Wuqiu still asked her father to decline, saying, "This year is the first batch of bayberries. Our main goal is to open up the market and let everyone know that we have this product. Besides, this year's yield is not high. If Boss Zhang takes it all, all our promotion efforts will be in vain."
Mr. Shen thought that contracting it out to a boss would be more convenient and less troublesome, but he still respected Shen Wuqiu's opinion.
After thinking it over, Ms. Shen decided to personally call the other party back.
This was simply his duty, so Shen Wuqiu readily agreed. The next morning, he called Mr. Zhang, exchanged a few pleasantries, and then went straight to the point about the bayberries:
"Thank you for your support, Mr. Zhang, but I still feel it's a bit inappropriate for you to buy all my bayberries. As you know, bayberries ripen at different times, and with the weather also affecting them, we can't guarantee the quality of the bayberries that ripen later."
Mr. Zhang said half-jokingly and half-seriously on the other end of the phone, "I think Miss Shen is reluctant to sell her bayberries to me alone."
Shen Wuqiu thought for a moment and did not deny it: "I am indeed a little reluctant to part with them this year. As you know, these bayberries of mine are a product that has suddenly appeared out of nowhere this year, and the market is naturally more important for the first year's products."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhang laughed heartily and said, "Miss Shen is indeed very honest."