Chapter 174 Fruit Ripens, Border Conflict, Harvest, and Sale
Ray is a very easy person to get along with. His daily life is simple: selling vegetables, cleaning the ground, and hunting in the mountains take up most of his time.
Because of his leg problems, Seya often stayed at home alone, with Tata occasionally keeping him company. However, Tata preferred going out with Lai rather than staying at home, so Seya's life at Lai's house was quite leisurely and comfortable.
To conceal his identity, he only interacted with Guge in the village and tried to avoid the villagers' sight as much as possible.
The relationship between Lai and Seya has always been one of polite landlord-tenant: I don't pry into your identity or past, and you don't interfere with my life; we each have our own space.
When he went to the low mountains, Sayya would help take care of the family's livestock, feeding them and so on. For Laiyi, having this extra person in the family meant that he no longer needed to trouble Guge or Temuqi for help.
The two got along fairly well.
Summer ended quickly this year, and early autumn is here in the blink of an eye.
By this time, all the vegetables grown by each family were ripe, more than they could eat themselves. The vegetable market was saturated, and prices were very cheap, so Lai no longer went to town to sell vegetables.
He either pickled the excess vegetables into kimchi or shredded them and dried them. After processing most of them, he pulled up all the vines that were no longer producing fruit, sowed autumn radish seeds, and harvested them at the end of autumn.
Lai didn't know if elves were vegetarians, but from his observation, Seya definitely preferred vegetables, treating fresh leafy greens as everyday snacks. Fortunately, there was plenty of vegetables at home, so he didn't need to eat them.
Like Lian, he was particularly interested in the tree that had been transplanted in the backyard and would go to pray under it every morning.
Lai often saw Seyar seriously muttering to Ryan, who was lying on a tree branch.
Ryan is really wicked. He kept hiding from Saiya and even took advantage of her, which left Lai speechless.
Seyah told Lei that the tree was a sapling of the previous generation's Elven Mother Tree, and naturally had a strong attraction to wood elements, which was why the vegetables in his garden grew so well.
Perhaps that's the case; Lei didn't delve into the matter further.
This tree has been growing tall for years but hasn't produced a single fruit. It also blocks the sunlight from the vegetable garden. If it weren't for Gu Ge's repeated reminders that it was a good plant, he probably would have cut it down long ago.
The weather is still very hot in early autumn, and it won't cool down until late autumn.
The weather is crisp and clear in mid-autumn, making it the most comfortable and ideal time for hunting. The period around the autumn harvest is the bustling autumn hunting season, when nobles would come to stay at their country villas with bows, arrows, and hunting dogs.
This year, crops in several villages near Rosen Town grew well, but fields in other towns suffered a locust plague. Although the locust problem was quickly resolved by church clerics, it still had some irreversible effects, and they still had to pay grain taxes. Unless the authorities granted a special reduction, their lives would be difficult going forward.
On the eve of the autumn harvest, a small conflict broke out in the border area of Speth near the orc kingdom.
The incident began when a small group of wandering orcs robbed two villages on the border, killing more than a dozen civilians. However, the city lord there was no pushover; he immediately assembled an army of five hundred to annihilate the orc group.
Seeing the army crossing the border to hunt down the orcs, the orcs could not stand idly by and also sent several hundred orc soldiers over.
The battle erupted instantly.
This robbery sparked a small-scale border conflict, resulting in the deaths and injuries of many orc and human soldiers.
Both sides have their own reasons for this matter.
To prevent the situation from escalating further, the two monarchs dispatched delegations to negotiate at the border, the outcome of which remains to be seen. After all, this involves the security of both countries, and could potentially escalate into war, so it must be taken seriously.
The new monarch of Spes had only been in power for a few years, and no one knew what his style of conduct was like. This incident has put neighboring countries in a state of close observation of Spes's movements.
Instigated by certain individuals, this matter has escalated into something quite serious. While details about other areas are unclear, the residents of Rosen are paying particular attention to it.
As they are both located on the border, and the issues involve war and security, it is impossible to ignore them.
The taverns at night are filled with people betting on whether this event will trigger a war; the odds are said to be very high.
The rumors spread like wildfire, and the town mayor finally made an example of a few people running illegal gambling operations by arresting them, which finally calmed things down a bit.
In any case, the harvest season has finally arrived. Families have temporarily set aside topics of conflict and war and are busy from dawn till dusk once again.
Lay didn't want to keep bothering Hagrid's family, so he hired two people, plus Neil, who was on autumn harvest leave. Since his family didn't have much land, the four of them finished the work in the fields in a day and a half, and the crops were already drying in the square.
But this was only part of the farm work; the apples and corn on the hill were nearing maturity and needed to be harvested as well. Lai didn't want the villagers to go there, so he ended up hiring a few goblins.
Seya's leg injury had just healed a bit, and although he could get rid of his crutches, he couldn't do heavy work, so Lai let him stay home and look after the house. Taking advantage of the darkness and the absence of people, Lai took Neil and Iru to the low hill.
The last time I came here was half a month ago, when the corn stalks were just beginning to dry out. Now the cornfield is a golden expanse.
After explaining to Iru how to harvest the corn, Ray went to the orchard. He and Neil also needed to pick the ripe apples; division of labor would double their efficiency.
He brought back only a few corn seeds, and considering the losses from those that didn't germinate, he could only plant about a small plot of land. Iru and the three goblins first broke off all the corn and threw it into a pile before harvesting the corn stalks with sickles.
At this time, the straw is not completely dried, and some of the roots are still very moist. It needs to be dried for a period of time before it can be used.
The goblins finished clearing the cornfield in one morning, faster than Laiyi had expected. So in the afternoon, he had Iru drive the mule cart to the field and bring all the corn back to the yard. After unloading the cart, he sat on a bench and peeled the corn.
This is the first time the orchard has borne fruit, and the apples are quite good, some as big as an adult's fist.
Most of the fruit trees produced sweet apples, but there were exceptions; some tasted sour. Lai marked the trees so that if the fruit was still sour next year, he would have to cut them down and replant.
There are many wild birds on this hillside, so even if two scarecrows are erected, it won't help. Many of the fruits hanging on the highest branches have been damaged, which is heartbreaking to see.
Lai and Neil each carried a basket on their backs as they moved through the orchard. They could pick a full basket of apples from just three or four trees. Excluding the ones that didn't survive, there were a total of sixty-eight trees, enough to keep the two of them busy for quite a while.
The harvested apples were lined with hay and placed in wooden crates in the warehouse. These crates were made from leftover timber from building houses, with gaps between the slats for ventilation. At night, the apples were sorted into three grades—superior, medium, and inferior—based on their appearance and quality.
Once Lai has contacted the buyers, the apples will be shipped directly away. Some of the lower-quality apples will be kept at home for personal consumption, some will be given away as gifts, and the rest will be taken to town to sell as many as possible.
Working from dawn till dusk, the goblins joined Lai and Neil after finishing their work on the cornfield. The sooner they finished, the better; otherwise, the cornfield would either be destroyed by wild birds or eaten by insects.
After that, Lai and Neil will leave first, while Iru and the others will stay for a while longer to pick wild chestnuts and pine cones nearby.
After four busy days, all the apples that could be picked from the trees were finally harvested. Those that had been severely pecked by birds were left on the trees for the birds to eat. Looking around after the harvest, there were quite a few damaged apples—definitely a hundred or so—which was heartbreaking to see.
Twenty-three wooden baskets of apples were harvested from these fruit trees. Those with wormholes or minor bird bites were removed. Six baskets could barely be considered top-quality, and seven were of medium quality. Of the remaining ten baskets, six were small, blemished, and ugly, and were considered low-quality, but still sellable.
There were four more boxes that were riddled with wormholes and pecked, making them completely unsellable. Lai left them aside so that Iru and the others could pick out the good pieces and eat them whenever they were tired from working.
When Ray and Neil left, they only took one basket of top-quality apples and two baskets of medium-quality apples; they would deal with the rest when they came back in a few days.
At least a thousand pounds of corn have been harvested on the hillside, and selecting the best ears for seed is currently Ray's biggest concern. He won't feel at ease until the kernels are shredded and placed in his pendant space. Fortunately, Iru can help look after them, otherwise he really wouldn't feel comfortable leaving like this.
Back in the village, Lai gave some to everyone he knew, letting them try the first batch of apples from Aishan. Those who tried them all said they were good, though some might have just been being polite.
Lai had built up some connections while selling vegetables at the morning market. Through these connections, he contacted several fruit vendors who, after inspecting the apples Lai brought, offered him prices that were all standard market prices and not too low.
After comparing prices, he chose the merchant who offered the highest price, but he only took five baskets of top-quality and five baskets of medium-quality, which he said he would transport to Eton by carriage to sell.
The remaining baskets can be sold to whoever wants them; it doesn't matter if there are any left over.
The pendant can be stored in the storage space for at least a month longer than outside. Rosen Town, comprised of over a dozen surrounding villages, forms four trading markets in the east, west, south, and north. Since few villages specialize in fruit cultivation, there's definitely enough room for everyone to eat their small amount of apples.
Lei wasn't worried at all.
In addition, he commissioned Temuqi to make him a small tool to easily shred corn kernels, which should be ready in a day or two, so he could take it with him when he went to pick up the apples.
Rye was too busy delivering apples to take care of the family.
But Neil's vacation was coming to an end, so he stayed home. He took advantage of the good weather to wash all his thick and dirty clothes, and he was able to handle the meals for three people in the family all by himself.
Compared to the mountain produce, corn was more important. After Lai brought the tools and long woven baskets, Iru and the others' daily work became threshing the corn and then drying the kernels.
This time, Lai took all the apples with him, leaving only one basket of medium-sized ones for Iru, and two baskets of bad ones for them to eat as they pleased.
After handing over all the pre-ordered fruit, Lai still had six baskets of average quality left, which he put in a pendant. He would sell them after processing the corn and paying the grain tax.
Those ten baskets of apples sold for three gold coins, recovering almost half of the cost of the fruit trees. If these trees are well cared for, they can bear fruit for another seven or eight years. As long as the business continues, it's a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.
Autumn is always accompanied by the joy of harvest.
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