Chapter 107 [VIP]

After leaving the vegetable shop, Mr. Yang went straight home. Coincidentally, some guests came to visit that day, and Mr. Yang invited them to have dinner at his home.

He then asked the old woman at the stove to chop up the tomatoes he had bought, sprinkle them with fine white sugar, and serve them as a cold dish.

During the meal, a plate of bright red tomatoes caught everyone's attention. Yang Deguang, holding his chopsticks, pointed at the plate and said, "What is this dish? I've never seen it before."

The servant boy standing nearby said, "The young master just bought these this morning. I heard they're called 'tomato seeds'."

A few customers nearby remarked, "It looks quite peculiar; I wonder how it tastes."

"Come and have a taste."

Several people picked up the tomatoes cut into orange segments from the plate, and were all taken aback when they tasted them. The taste was completely different from any fruit they had ever eaten before!

The white sugar neutralizes the sourness of the persimmon, and when you bite into it, the juice bursts in your mouth, making it a truly amazing sweet and sour treat!

Everyone couldn't help but exclaim, "It's delicious! Where did you buy this fruit?"

The servant replied, "It was bought from Wang's vegetable shop."

The jewelry store owner sitting next to him said, "Is Wang's Vegetable Shop newly opened? I've never heard of it."

When the Wang family's vegetable shop was mentioned, the owner of Xianghelou couldn't help but say a few words, "This shop opened a few days ago, right across from Mr. Yang's business. It sells fresh vegetables, and I don't know where they get them from."

He owns a restaurant, so he naturally pays attention to the food. As soon as his vegetable shop opened, he sent his servant over to inquire, but he couldn't find out anything. If he could also buy fresh vegetables himself, business would definitely be better in winter.

Yang Deguang coughed lightly and said mysteriously, "I advise you not to get your hands on Wang's vegetable shop."

What do you mean?

"On the day the vegetable shop opened, I personally saw the magistrate's carriage arrive and deliver a wooden plaque wishing the shop a prosperous business. The shopkeeper even called Lord Wang 'Uncle'."

The shop owners immediately understood: Wang Tongzhi, Wang Family Vegetable Shop—who knows, the owner behind this vegetable shop might be Lord Wang himself.

The saying goes, "The common people will not fight with the officials," and merchants would be even less likely to do so. They are too busy flattering and currying favor to risk offending the officials for such a small profit.

After this meal, Wang Ying's identity as Wang Tongzhi's nephew was definitively confirmed. No one dared to covet Wang's vegetable shop anymore, but the tomatoes were very popular, and several owners mentioned it to their wives as soon as they got home.

The next day, as soon as the shop opened, seven or eight servants came in, specifically asking to buy tomatoes.

Seeing this, Wang Ying immediately set the price at forty coins each, and sold a maximum of fifty per day. If you came late, you would have to wait until tomorrow to buy them.

This scarcity marketing strategy worked very well; tomatoes quickly became a hit in the city, and being able to eat tomatoes almost became a fashion trend.

Don't underestimate the ancients' pursuit of fashion; they were almost just like modern people. Many people would queue up specifically to try the taste of tomatoes.

Surprisingly, this has even spawned "scalpers" who queue up to buy persimmons and then resell them at high prices, making tens of coins for each fruit.

Having no other choice, Wang Ying added another rule: each person could only buy a maximum of five fruits per day, and she would not sell any more than that.

Some people even wrote poems after eating them. The most famous was a student named Song An from the prefectural school, who wrote a poem called "Red Persimmons": "The red persimmons are round and moist, sweet and sour, refreshing the teeth. At first taste, they are astringent, but after careful tasting, they become refreshing and delicious."

This poem brought tomatoes back into the spotlight, and even people from other places knew that Jizhou sold a fruit with a very unique taste, high price, and high demand.

Some people have even developed new ways to eat tomatoes, such as slicing them into thin slices and eating them with hawthorn slices, or chopping them into a paste to make a sauce, which led to the creation of the earliest tomato sauce.

Business continued to boom, and Wang's Vegetable Shop became a popular online store, earning more than 200 strings of cash in just half a month, making the neighboring shops extremely envious.

However, despite their envy, no one dared to do anything. Behind the scenes, the Wang family's vegetable shop had long been connected with the government, so who would dare to mess with the government?

*

After returning home in the evening and washing up, Wang Ying went to the experimental field early to tend to the vegetables.

Although the experimental field now has one-click planting, one-click weeding and one-click harvesting functions, pruning and seedling removal still have to be done manually.

After working for a while, Chen Qingyan came in.

"You've come at the right time. Come over and help me remove the seedlings. The celery is planted too densely, it won't grow tall."

"Hey." Chen Qingyan took off his outer shirt, rolled up his sleeves, and came over to help.

Thanks to Wang Ying, the scholar who was previously lazy and ignorant of farming is now doing farm work quite well. Chen Qingyan is not only good at planting vegetables and weeding seedlings, but before the one-click harvesting feature was available, he was also a master at harvesting wheat.

After working for half a day, the two finished weeding three baskets of celery. Wang Ying took two popsicles from the low-temperature area, and the two sat under the peach tree, eating and chatting.

"How's business at the shop these days?"

Wang Ying pointed to the experimental field and said, "You'll see for yourself; we can barely supply enough vegetables to sell."

"It looks better than what they sell in town."

"It's so much better now. There are many wealthy people in the prefectural city, and their consumption is high. Even with such high vegetable prices, people are still scrambling to buy them. These tomatoes used to cost ten coins each in town, and everyone thought it was too expensive. Now they're selling for forty coins each, and wow, everyone's scrambling to buy them!"

"Forty coins?" Chen Qingyan was also taken aback by the price. It was truly unexpected that a fruit the size of a palm could sell for such a high price.

“Some people even wrote poems for it!” Wang Ying recited two poems, which made Chen Qingyan burst into laughter.

"No matter how good your business is, you still need to take care of your health. I've noticed you've lost weight these past few days."

Wang Ying was indeed exhausted during the initial opening period, but she also felt a great sense of accomplishment. As the copper coins in the money box piled up more and more, her anxiety gradually disappeared.

Judging from the current business situation, at least we won't have to worry about next year's rent.

With enough money in hand, Wang Ying returned the jade pendant to Qingyun. This item was left to her by her maternal grandfather and held great significance; it could not be easily pawned unless in urgent need.

"Things will get better after this busy period. Once the shop is running smoothly, we'll have Xiao Ma keep an eye on it. That kid is good at reading people, so nothing serious will happen with him around."

Chen Qingyan asked with some confusion, "Who is Xiao Ma?"

“Strychnine, that’s the kid who wholesales our popsicles in the village.”

"He came to the prefectural city too?"

"Yes, besides him, there are also Tian Daniu and Chen Fang. Fortunately, they are there to help us. Otherwise, Chen Bo and I could not have run such a big shop."

Chen Qingyan nodded, "I'll be there soon too. I heard from my teacher that I'm planning to head back at the end of the month."

It's almost November now. Snow has fallen in the north, but the trees in the south are still green. Recently, Chen Qingyan found a few more fruit trees for Wang Ying, one loquat tree and one orange tree.

The saying goes, "Oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet oranges, while those grown north of the Huai River are bitter oranges." The Huai River is the dividing line. Due to the climate, oranges grown north of the Huai River produce sour and unpalatable fruit, while those grown south of the Huai River produce sweet and delicious fruit.

In ancient times, due to underdeveloped transportation, oranges could not be transported to the north. By planting an orange tree in an experimental field, fresh oranges could be eaten in the future.

Wang Ying rested her head on his shoulder. "Come back soon. Although we often see each other in the experimental field, I always feel uneasy when you're not around."

"I feel the same way." Chen Qingyan put her arms around his shoulders and kissed the top of his head. "I really want to see you as soon as I open my eyes in the morning."

Wang Ying raised her head and took the initiative to kiss him. Their warm, soft lips met, and they greedily absorbed each other's breath. After a while, they separated, panting.

Chen Qingyan said in a hoarse voice, "Someone is knocking on the door, I'll go back first."

Wang Ying reached out and wiped the corner of his mouth. "Go on."

Chen Qingyan left the experimental field, got up and opened the door, seeing Chen Qinghuai standing there. "Why aren't you asleep so late?"

Chen Qinghuai looked panicked, his eyes red-rimmed, and said, "Big brother, I... can I sleep with you tonight?"

"Come in, what happened?"

Chen Qinghuai remained silent for a long time before choking back tears, "Just now... just now I was asleep when suddenly a girl barged into my room, took off her clothes, climbed onto the bed, and said... said she wanted to be my concubine..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qingyan immediately became furious, "Did you touch her?"

"No, I was so scared that I ran here immediately." Although Chen Qinghuai was seventeen years old, he was still an innocent child at heart and had a simple and honest personality. He was so frightened by this incident that he could only shed tears.

Chen Qingyan was so angry that he immediately stood up. "Come on, let's go find Master!"

"Big brother..."

"This matter concerns your reputation, and you must give us an explanation today!"

Chen Qingyan pulled Qinghuai toward Elder Liang's courtyard. When they arrived, Liang Boqing was already asleep. Liang An got up and greeted the two, "What brings you two gentlemen here so late?"

When Chen Qingyan told Liang An about the matter, Liang An knew he couldn't handle it, so he quickly went into the house and woke up Liang Boqing.

Before long, the sound of shattering porcelain came from inside the room. "Yan'er, Huai'er, come in!"

The two entered the house. Liang Boqing was furious and coughed for a long time, clutching his chest. Liang An patted his back worriedly, "Master, don't worry, both young masters are fine."

Liang Boqing waved him away and said, "Go and call the third brother over right now!"

"Yes." Liang An jogged out, while Chen Qingyan handed him the tea from the table.

Liang Boqing took a sip of water to suppress his cough and said, "Qinghuai, tell me in detail what just happened."

Chen Qinghuai wiped away his tears and began to recount the events that had happened. After dinner tonight, he returned to his bedroom as usual, read for a while, and then lay down to rest because he felt a little sleepy.

Not long after the lamp was blew out, there was a sudden knock on the door. In the darkness, it was impossible to see who came in. Chen Qinghuai asked, but the person didn't answer. Instead, he hurriedly took off his clothes and pounced on the bed.

Chen Qinghuai was terrified. "Who are you? What do you want?!"

A woman's charming voice came from the darkness, "Young master, do not be afraid. I mean no harm. I beg you to take pity on me and become your concubine."

Upon hearing a woman's voice, Chen Qinghuai was terrified. In a panic, he pushed the person aside and ran towards Chen Qingyan's house next door.

"Did you get a good look at what that woman looked like?"

Chen Qinghuai shook his head, "It's too dark to see clearly."

"They actually resorted to such despicable means!"

Of the three disciples, Qingyan was already married, Qingsong was the youngest, and only Qinghuai was of marriageable age. He had climbed into his bed and slept with him, which would ruin his reputation if he committed adultery before marriage.

The Wu Dynasty placed great importance on reputation. Even if Chen Qinghuai passed the imperial examination in the future, this matter would become a stain on his record. It would be difficult for such an immoral person to catch the emperor's eye again. How could Liang Boqing not be angry?

A note from the author: