"What? It's actually a crabapple!" Li Hongyan was stunned upon hearing this.

Wei Jianjia finally managed to stop her tears, but when she heard the name Lin Qin, she suddenly paused and subconsciously walked towards the vegetable basket.

His face was filled with disbelief. "How is this possible? How could it be a Ringo fruit?!"

Kneeling on the ground, Qiu Shuang raised her head slightly. "Rinqin fruit, what kind of fruit is that?" The name seemed somewhat familiar, but she was certain that her mistress had never eaten this kind of fruit in all these years. What else could it be but a wild fruit?

The servants throughout the courtyard were secretly astonished upon hearing this.

They all looked toward the vegetable basket.

Qin Yucheng held the vegetable basket and gently placed it in front of Li Hongyan as if it were a treasure. He then picked up a fruit with both hands and said, "Mother, look, isn't this red fruit the same as the crabapple that Xirong pays tribute to every year?"

If there's anything different, the apple that Miss Su brought is the size of our two fists, while the ones that the Western Rong send as tribute every year are less than a third the size of this fruit.

Moreover, the gifts from the Western Rong have always been red, never this blue.

Especially the aroma; just smelling it makes your mouth water.

Li Hongyan took the fruit and was immediately greeted by a sweet fragrance. Looking at its pink and tender appearance, it was like a treasure carefully sculpted by plants and forests, with a plump shape and smooth skin.

The basket contained a dozen or so green fruits, their color like jade, their grassy green exuding a freshness that was in no way inferior to the red fruits.

The woman smiled and nodded instantly, "This is an apple, and it's the best quality apple."

Every year, the Western Rong tribes would offer five crabapples as tribute to Yu the Great, and the Li family was fortunate enough to receive one. However, the crabapples offered by the Western Rong were far less than one-tenth or one-twelfth of what was in this basket.

Qin Yingxian nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Whether it's the appearance or the aroma, it's the best fruit my daughter has ever seen."

And those green vegetables underneath, my daughter couldn't take her eyes off them!

Wei Jianjia stared at the fruits, her hands under her wide sleeves almost twisting the brocade handkerchief into a ball. These unknown wild fruits had suddenly become tribute fruits.

Moreover, she didn't even recognize him.

Thinking back on what she had said about Su Hua and Su Dahu, she felt extremely ashamed. She had truly lost face!

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but glare hatefully at Qiu Shuang on the ground. If Qiu Shuang hadn't spoken recklessly about wild fruits, she wouldn't have lost face so badly.

Qiu Shuang felt the piercing gaze on her back and lowered her head even further. They were just two ignorant peasants; she could never have guessed that they could produce such tribute fruit.

Moreover, although the Wei family was a prominent family in the capital, they were still no match for the Li family, whose wealth was comparable to that of a nation. One-third of the wealth in the Great Yu Kingdom's treasury was contributed by the Li family.

The Emperor would give one of the five crabapple fruits to the head of the Li family every year, but never to the Wei family, let alone to her illegitimate daughter. Even if the Wei family had them, they would never be given to her daughter.

Even the young lady has never eaten it before, so how could this maid possibly recognize whether it's a wild fruit or a tribute fruit!

Qin Yucheng looked up and happened to see the two exchanging glances, but he just smiled and didn't take it to heart. He then walked towards Su Hua and her brother, "I wonder where you and Miss Su found this crabapple?"

Su Hua was also dumbfounded when she saw Qin Yucheng's eyes shining. How could a perfectly good apple have turned into a crabapple?

Moreover, it's that kind of fruit that's priceless and hard to come by.

The king of the Western Rong Kingdom only sends five crabapples as tribute every year. Is the king stingy, or do crabapples simply not grow well in the Western Rong?

The crooked apple tree in her space bore fruit one crop after another, each time with several hundred fruits. But she told her family that she picked them from Fuhu Mountain. The Qin family was large and powerful. If Qin Yucheng really asked someone to look for them, he would definitely find that there were no apple trees at all in Fuhu Mountain.

Seeing that Su Hua hadn't spoken for a while, Su Dahu's eyes flickered slightly, and he smiled as he continued, "Hua'er found these crabapples by chance in the deep mountains behind the house. When her family saw that the fruit was delicious, they dug up the tree and planted it in the yard."

Now, apart from the few fruits we eat ourselves, all the fruits from this batch are here. Hua'er said they were specially prepared for you, Madam Qin, Master Qin, Yingxian, and Acai.

As for whether there are still apple trees in Fuhu Mountain, it's not certain. If Yucheng likes this fruit, I'll definitely tell you as soon as the next batch of apples ripens.

Upon hearing this, Qin Yucheng couldn't help but laugh. "So that's how it is. I was thinking that if there were still apples, I would buy some with you. It seems that this fruit still depends on chance."

Su Hua couldn't help but steal a glance at her older brother. His vague words sounded like he was covering for her.

Wei Jianjia, who was still feeling annoyed, turned extremely pale upon hearing Su Dahu's words.

She had never tasted apples before, and thought that since these two country bumpkins had brought them, she would reluctantly try some later.

But what does Su Dahu mean by saying this now?

They even prepared a portion for that lackey Ah Cai, but not for her, the Miss Wei!

In their hearts, was she not even as good as a servant?

This is absolutely outrageous!

She harbored a secret resentment, biting her lip with her pearly teeth, "Since Aunt and Yucheng like these apples, why not spend some money and buy the fruit tree with Miss Su?"

After all, apples are rare, and apple trees are even rarer to care for.

It seems that Miss Su's family doesn't have tenant farmers who specifically tend to the fruit trees, unlike the Qin family.