The Lantern Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. After this day, the New Year celebrations will be completely over. A few days ago, Xu Milu promised Liu Hongmei that she would go and pick the ping-pong grapes with the planting enthusiasts in the community when they ripened.

Thirty mu of vineyards, with three hundred ping-pong grape seedlings per mu, can produce at least one million jin of ping-pong grapes, even after accounting for natural losses.

This astonishing output was enough to drive Liu Mingji and his research team completely mad.

Ordinary grapes take at least two years to bear fruit, sprouting in spring and ripening in autumn. Even with industrialized cultivation, the highest yield per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres) is only about 4,000 jin (a Chinese unit of weight, approximately 0.5 kg). In contrast, the yield of Ping Pong grapes is many times higher.

Ping-pong grapes can ripen and be harvested in five months, with an average yield value of over seven million yuan per mu (a Chinese unit of area, approximately 0.165 acres). Such figures are unbelievable.

Looking out from the greenhouse, you can see ping-pong grapes covered in white frost hidden under the lush green leaves. They are round, plump, and incredibly cute.

"Miss Xu, you're probably the most profitable farmer in China. Your land can produce at least 36,000 jin of Ping Pong grapes. Let's say it's worth 200 yuan per jin at the current market price—"

Liu Mingji chuckled and said quite frankly:

"Even I'm tempted to quit my job and go back to farming."

“I’ve never grown this kind of grape before, and I wasn’t very confident. To be honest, Professor Liu, I got a batch of grapes from a friend before. At that time, I didn’t know the value of this kind of grape, and I sold them for more than 100 yuan per kilogram without really understanding what they were.”

Xu Milu smiled and shook her head:

"I was naive and fresh out of school. I didn't know anything. Luckily, my friend didn't hold it against me and even trusted me enough to sell me the seeds later."

Liu Mingji's eyes flickered, and he probed without showing any emotion: "Oh, you mean Ms. Ren Honghe? It seems you two have a very good relationship. I heard that Ping Pong grapes are impossible to buy outside, and the Honghe Research Institute has no intention of selling them."

I heard?

Listen to what Fang Jianguo said.

Xu Milu didn't show it on her face, and nodded:

"I can't really explain it, it was like we hit it off right away. I met her in Sichuan and Chongqing. Later, something happened to my family, and when she heard about it, she lent me a batch of fruit without saying a word. I used that money to renovate my family's restaurant and then slowly built it up."

She seemed to remark casually:

"Back then, she told me that the grapes would ripen in five months, and I didn't believe it. I thought she was lying to me. But then I thought, what could she possibly lie to me about? At that time, I had no money and nothing to worry about."

Liu Mingji listened attentively, when Bai Lele suddenly interjected:

"Miss Xu, don't you think Miss Ren is a little strange?"

Zou Kai quickly interrupted her: "Lele!"

Although no one knows who Ren Honghe really is, as she appears and disappears mysteriously, instructions have been given from above not to ask too many questions.

"You're right—there is some truth to that."

Xu Milu stroked her chin, lost in thought:

“I often can’t get in touch with her, and sometimes she suddenly calls me and says she’s in Ningcheng. Sometimes I say I need some ingredients the day before yesterday, and she can deliver them the next day. But that’s normal, right? After all, air transport is quite advanced now.”

"Ms. Ren has been to Ningcheng?"

Liu Mingji asked somewhat anxiously, "When? Ms. Xu, if possible, could you please arrange a meeting with Ms. Ren? I have a few academic questions I'd like to ask her."

Xu Milu quickly waved her hand:

"When I first came home, she delivered a batch of free-range eggs to my family's breakfast shop, but she hasn't come since. I can't contact her now. If you have time, I'll ask her for you."

Xu Milu uses two phones and two identities very cautiously, even paying attention to the IP address when replying to messages.

Basically, anything that's unreasonable can be blamed on "Ren Honghe".

"The grape harvest is bountiful today, I must feast on Miss Xu's generous offer!"

Zou Kai glanced at Liu Mingji, then smiled and changed the subject.

Xu Milu smiled sweetly, revealing not a trace of her true intentions.

"Great! Don't worry about eating these million-plus pounds of grapes, we definitely can't finish them all. Honghe just sent me a batch of fresh ingredients. We're going to have an outdoor barbecue later, so come over and have some when you're done."

Liu Mingji seemed a little absent-minded, but Bai Lele, who was standing to the side, responded.

...

...

The planting mutual aid group that Liu Hongmei participated in is actually a planting group spontaneously formed by some full-time mothers and retired women in the community. They also organized the last "Radish Beauty Contest".

Xu Milu originally thought it was just a competition for her own amusement, but it turned out to be quite formal. They not only invited a TV station to interview her, but also had a notary office notarize the event. Even Aunt Zhou received a "Radish King" trophy.

Xu Lanjuan led the group into a greenhouse for picking. Without her prompting, Aunt Zhou, who was at the head of the group, immediately silenced everyone with her loud voice:

"This is land contracted by our team leader's daughter, so please take good care of it. You can't buy these grapes even if you want to, so don't let me see anyone littering or damaging the branches. These are for research purposes, and there are signs on them! Do you hear me?"

The group readily agreed and picked the grapes with utmost care, afraid of tearing off even a single leaf. After everyone's baskets were full, they even thoughtfully pulled out all the weeds.

After picking the fruit, Aunt Zhou led the group to weigh it and pay. Xu Milu smiled politely.

"Auntie, please don't be so polite with me. If you really think about it, we're practically relatives. Besides, can't I offer you aunties some grapes? You're all my mom's little sisters, so you're practically my aunts. What's wrong with having some grapes?"

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