Chapter 9 New Fruits on the Market

  In the following days, Jiang Feng and others were preparing baskets to hold longan fruits. The news of Jiang Feng's successful cultivation of longan had spread throughout the village, which was known as a rare and delicious fruit that was hard to find in the world. After hearing that Jiang Feng would send some for everyone to taste, they were eagerly anticipating it, and after learning about the value of those fruits, their anticipation grew even stronger.

  Finally, on the day when longan fruits were put on sale, Jiang Feng and his family hadn't left their house yet, but they saw a crowd of people packed outside their courtyard.

  " Iron egg, are you picking fruits today?" The speaker was the eldest of the Jiang family, Jiang Qiye, who looked at Jiang Dayuan with full expectation as he walked out the door.

  "Yes, Seventh Uncle, what's wrong? Do you have something on your minds?" Jiang Dajun smiled and responded with a hint of puzzlement. He was perplexed by everyone's sudden visit today and didn't know what they were all doing gathered in his courtyard.

  "Everyone came to help your family pick fruit today," Jiang Fugui explained as he walked in from outside.

  Upon hearing Jiang Fugui's words, Jiang Feng hastily ran out of the house, smiled at everyone and said: "Thank you all, after we finish picking, I'll treat everyone to some fruit."

  He picked up the basket that had been prepared long ago, and called on everyone to take the baskets piled up beside him. A group of people carrying tools marched into the longan fruit garden in a mighty manner.

  As soon as they arrived at the place, a fragrance wafted over, and upon seeing the longan fruits hanging from the trees, bursts of admiration erupted around them. Many people were left stunned with their mouths agape, drooling all over the ground, unable to resist the temptation of the longan's aroma.

  Jiang Fugui squeezed through the crowd to the front, saw everyone's expression, and looked down on them. As if he had long forgotten what he used to do, he cleared his throat and said: "Everyone, don't be stupid, when it's time to pick later, put your hands lightly, don't bruise the fruit."

  When the crowd heard Jiang Fu Gui's shout, they finally woke up from their previous stunned state. Under Jiang Feng's guidance, they carefully picked the fruit, holding it as if it were a treasure, and looking at the overly cautious people, Jiang Feng didn't explain anything, this kind of fruit wasn't that easy to break.

  In less than a day, all the longan fruits were picked, and under everyone's joint efforts, basket after basket of fruits were brought to Jiang Feng's home. Looking at the approximately sixty or more baskets of fruit, Jiang Feng wiped the sweat from his face with satisfaction.

  "Uncle Fu Gui, come over for a moment. There's something I want to talk to you about." Jiang Feng called out to Jiang Fu Gui, who was busy.

  "Ah, here they come." Jiang Fugui and another person carried a basket in from outside the door. Hearing Jiang Feng call him, he hastily responded with a "yes". He put down the basket in his hand, greeted the other person, and then ran over to Jiang Feng. "Jiang Feng, what's up?"

  "Uncle Fu Gui, the baskets here can hold about 100 catties each. Except for the 10 baskets left for everyone, take two more and leave them for the village committee to use. The Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, it's time to send some to the leaders of the township too." Flattering the leaders is a good thing. Jiang Feng also knows this, having a good relationship with the head of the village will help him in his future career.

  Staring at those fruits, Jiang Fugui's face turned red. His mouth was still mumbling and hesitating, as if there were some words he wanted to say but didn't dare to say. He paced back and forth in embarrassment.

  He saw Jiang Fugui with a strange expression. Jiang Dayuan was puzzled about what had happened. He felt that everyone was being weird today. He looked at everyone suspiciously, and each person's face showed an expectant and embarrassed expression. He turned around and asked: "What's going on, Old Zhang? I feel like everyone is acting strangely today. If there's something to say, just say it."

  Jiang Fugui looked at Jiang Dayuan, feeling increasingly embarrassed. He muttered to himself for half a day but still couldn't figure out what he wanted to do. This kind of thing, asking someone for something and then selling it, was hard to say out loud. Especially when the person being asked was the most prominent family in Wodragon Village, whose face turned red like a monkey's.

  At this time, Seventh Grandfather walked over and said with a smile: "Let me say it, it's like this. Yesterday I heard you say that these fruits can sell for 100 yuan per catty, which is just gold! And also heard that we will divide one thousand catties among the partners. Yesterday, the partners calculated together, they were reluctant to eat them. You also know that this year's grain sales are not going well, and the children's tuition fees have not been settled yet. Fengfeng, what do you think...?" Zhang Dage was also speechless, only looking at Jiang Feng with a strange expression.

  "Oh, I see. You all want to sell these fruits too, right?" Jiang Feng seemed to have read everyone's mind. "Sorry, Jiang Feng, these fruits were originally yours, it's just that... you also know that everyone is having a hard time, the grain didn't sell well this year and everyone's life has been affected." As the head of the household, he had to consider the villagers' livelihood first, so when Jiang Feng understood what he was going to say, he quickly explained.

  "Seventh Grandfather, Rich Uncle, yesterday I mentioned that the longan fruit is sold for 100 yuan per kilogram. This is just my idea, and I don't know if it can be sold yet. However, I think I absolutely won't sell it for less than 50 yuan per kilogram. Everyone can rest assured, if it sells smoothly, I will definitely divide the money among everyone." Jiang Feng's heart couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. If farmers weren't forced to a certain extent, they would never ask others for things. My fellow villagers, from now on, I must not let you suffer poverty again.

  Suddenly, a wave of thank-you sounds rose around, "Not less, just selling 50 yuan per catty, everyone can get 500,000 yuan, this is a big sum of money. Jiang Feng, I represent everyone to thank you." After finishing, Jiang Fugui bowed deeply to Jiang Feng.

  Everyone, you have wronged me, Jiang Feng. In my school days, it was your eggs, potatoes and money that helped me complete university. Now I'm back to repay you all. This year's longan fruit cultivation has been scarce but successful. If we can sell them smoothly this time, I will build a breeding base to cultivate more seedlings for everyone to plant, so that everyone can get rich together. Our lives will be better and better in the future." After finishing speaking, he took out the longans from the basket and distributed them to everyone.

  Jiang Dajun and his wife also understood everyone's thoughts, they were very proud of Jiang Feng's move to repay kindness, and of course they would not have any opinions on Jiang Feng's approach. The two of them kept taking out longan fruits from the basket and stuffed them into everyone's hands without saying a word.

  "Everyone eats, this is just a fruit, can't we farmers eat what we grow?" Jiang Feng said with tears in his eyes. The simplicity and kindness of the villagers deeply moved his heart, from then on, he truly integrated into the environment of Wolong Village and felt a sense of blood connection.

  He used to just want to repay kindness, with a very simple way of thinking. Now he truly understands his responsibility, which is the responsibility of leading everyone to prosperity together.

  They were a numerous family, but no one was willing to take more. Each took one and left Jiang Feng's house with gratitude. From time to time, they praised the Duan family for having a good son.

  The fruit has ripened, how to sell it out, Jiang Feng is thinking in his heart. It's not possible to rely on the surrounding counties and cities. He doesn't want to sell his carefully cultivated fruit at a low price either.

  "It seems that we can only sell it in the provincial city, where the consumption level is high." Jiang Feng thought. "Dad, Mom, I'm going to Wuhan tomorrow."

  "Oh, go ahead, I'll help you prepare things." Jiang Dajun also knew that if he wanted to sell the longan fruit at a good price, it would have to be in the provincial capital. One hundred yuan per kilogram was an astronomical price; not to mention farmers, even in the county town, there were probably only a few who could afford it.

  "Hmm, just find a few good boxes and pack three of them." Jiang Feng said while arranging the longan fruit crates.

  The next day, Jiang Feng took three carefully packed boxes and boarded a public bus to Huazhong City. As soon as the bus started moving, Jiang Feng looked at the place where he had lived for four years, feeling a mix of emotions. The past experiences flooded his mind like a tidal wave, and he was eager to see Tang Xuan. It had been almost half a year since they last met, and Jiang Feng wondered how she was doing now. Did she already have a new boyfriend? Thinking about these unhappy things made him feel helpless.

  Jiang Feng hailed a taxi and arrived at the entrance of Tang Shan's home on Zhi Zhong Road. Tang Shan's house was a two-story French-style building, simple yet elegant. Some ivy had climbed over the wall to the outside, making the entire wall look lush and green, adding a touch of life. Tang Shan had brought him here before, but at that time his parents were not home.

  Jiang Feng paced back and forth outside, hesitating several times before finally taking a deep breath and lightly knocking on the door. A flurry of footsteps came from inside, followed by a sweet voice asking, "Who is it?"

  He realized it wasn't Tang Xuan's voice, so he said: "Excuse me, is Tang Xuan at home?" "Oh, you're looking for Sister Tang Xuan? She went to work and won't be back until tonight," a little girl wearing a pink top said as she pushed open the door.

  "Oh, when she comes back, trouble you to give this to her, just say a friend sent these fruits for her to try." The little nanny took the box from Jiang Feng's hand, responded with a sound and closed the door to go in.

  Looking at the tightly closed door, Jiang Feng felt extremely downhearted. He still wanted to see Tang Shan, even if she was still not forgiving him. It had been more than two months since they last saw each other, and he wondered how she was doing, whether she was also thinking of him, or if she had already found a new boyfriend. At this thought, he shook his head fiercely, clearly dissatisfied with the idea.

  "Forgive me," Jiang Feng muttered, and then got into the waiting taxi heading towards Huimin City.

  It didn't take long for the taxi to arrive at the entrance of Huimin City, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huimin Group and also the largest city group in Central China. With more than a dozen branches in Central China, choosing this place as a sales location for Longan fruit is not a bad choice.

  Looking at the gate of Huimin Company, Jiang Feng was still uncertain about whether he could accept the sale of longan fruit and felt very nervous.