Ever since that small gathering, Bi Qiaoan has been confined to the house by Shen Yanming and not allowed to go out.
"Shen Yanming, please let me go out for a walk. I haven't left the house for a week." Bi Qiaoan clung to Shen Yanming's arm and kept pestering him.
"No, you're just one step away from success. Study hard!" Shen Yanming smiled and patted Bi Qiaoan's head, but he didn't compromise at all.
"I'll just go for a walk, just one walk, okay? Honey, my written test score was so good, I'll pass the interview without any problems!" Bi Qiaoan had calculated that as long as nothing unexpected happened, she could pass the interview with ease.
"Qiao An, this kind of mentality is not good. There are always mountains beyond mountains, people beyond people, and heavens beyond heavens. None of us can say for sure how many points the second place got, right?"
"Qiao An, we all know how important this is!" Shen Yanming's tone suddenly became serious, determined to nip Qiao An's frivolous attitude in the bud.
"I know, I know, I was just saying." Bi Qiaoan said a little aggrievedly, letting go of Shen Yanming and turning back to her guest room.
Shen Yanming looked at the closed door, feeling a pang of reluctance.
"I'll take you out tomorrow, but you have to study hard when you get back, and you're not allowed to go out again before the interview." Shen Yanming finally gave in, knocked on the door, and called out through the door.
“Okay!” Bi Qiaoan answered through the door.
Seeing that Bi Qiaoan hadn't come out, Shen Yanming didn't linger. After making a few phone calls, he left.
Early the next morning, Shen Yanming set off with Bi Qiaoan, who was fully armed.
First, we went to the car rental company and drove the minivan we had rented the day before, and then headed to the suburban orchard we had arranged to visit earlier.
"Today we're going to the orchard to harvest some fruit trees," Shen Yanming explained to Bi Qiaoan on the way.
"Yes, growing fruit trees in the space is quite good. In the apocalypse, the production of both fruit and food has decreased rapidly, and fruit has slowly become a luxury. In my previous life, I didn't eat fruit for more than two years."
After a night, Bi Qiaoan was no longer angry. She knew that Shen Yanming was doing it for her own good. "We can grow vegetables indoors and farm outdoors. We can also plant fruit trees in the space so that no one will notice us."
Two hours later, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan arrived at their destination, found the orchard owner, and explained their purpose.
"To be honest, I really didn't want to sell the trees to you. Look, they're already bearing fruit. I can earn an income every year if I grow them myself." Boss Lin led Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan into the orchard, muttering to himself as they went.
"Visitors can come and pick their own fruit here. The cherry season is over, and peaches are just coming into season now. The apples are still green, edible but sour. They'll all be ripe in another two months..."
Shen Yanming listened to Boss Lin talking nonstop along the way and smiled, "Boss Lin, are you not satisfied with the price?"
Mr. Lin was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "I'm satisfied with the price, but it's a bit hard to part with trees I've raised for so many years. People occasionally come to buy trees, saying they want to plant them in their villas or yards for aesthetic purposes, but very few people can grow them well; most of them die, and it breaks my heart!"
"Don't worry, we will take good care of these trees!" Bi Qiaoan nodded after hearing this, feeling that Boss Lin was a person who truly loved this business, and she admired him.
“Actually, Mr. Lin can find us some small trees that are just about to bear fruit. We’re also building villas, so we can just nurture them slowly,” Shen Yanming said to Mr. Lin with a smile.
Shen Yanming also felt that the older, more fruitful trees were difficult to dig up and move, so it was better to choose the ones that had just started bearing fruit. With Bi Qiaoan's space to nurture them, he didn't have to worry about these trees not bearing fruit in the future.
Upon hearing this, Mr. Lin rubbed his hands excitedly, “You really mean it? Thank you so much! I’ve been running this orchard for so many years, and I cultivate saplings every year. It takes several years for these saplings to bear fruit. This year, I happened to have a batch that was ready to bear fruit, but not many have yet, hehe.”
Shen Yanming nodded, "Yes, boss, just pick some that are free from pests and diseases for us."
Boss Lin led Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan through the orchard, constantly introducing them to the varieties of fruit trees and the methods of management and maintenance. Boss Lin then took off the red ribbon from his wrist and tied it to the fruit tree that Shen Yanming had chosen.
Finally, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan bought three apple trees, three pear trees, five cherry trees, two pomegranate trees, two walnut trees, one jujube tree, one apricot tree, and one fig tree from Boss Lin. It sounds like a lot, but it's actually just one tree of each variety.
Even though they only bought saplings, Shen Yanming's rented mini-truck couldn't fit them all. After filling the truck with saplings, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan drove towards the countryside.
An hour later, the two drove to the foot of a mountain. There were few people around. After Shen Yanming got out of the car to observe the surroundings, he nodded to Bi Qiaoan. Bi Qiaoan climbed into the car and quickly put the sapling into her spatial storage.
Afterwards, the two sat in the car, and Shen Yanming took out two boxed lunches from his spatial storage. The two quickly ate them and then drove back to the orchard.
Shen Yanming asked Boss Lin's people to help move the remaining saplings onto the car. He then ordered several boxes of fruit from Boss Lin and asked him to help pick some fresh ones.
Shen Yanming drove to the foot of the mountain with Bi Qiaoan once again, and after storing all the saplings in his spatial storage, the two returned to the orchard.
Boss Lin had already prepared everything Shen Yanming wanted: five boxes of peaches, one box of red dates, and to thank Shen Yanming for supporting his business, Boss Lin also gave Shen Yanming a packet of seeds, which included watermelons, cantaloupes, passion fruit, cherry tomatoes, and so on, all packed in small plastic bags and labeled.
After expressing their gratitude, Shen Yanming and Boss Lin took their leave.
It was already getting dark when Shen Yanming and Bi Qiaoan drove back. When they passed a farm tool shop, they stopped and bought a set of farm tools.
By the time he returned to the car rental shop, it was completely dark. Shen Yanming quickly returned the car, moved the six boxes of fruit and a set of farm tools from the cargo compartment to his own car, and drove back to Qingyu Community.
There was quite a lot of stuff, so Shen Yanming drove the car to the garage and called two young security guards from the community to help. The four of them carried everything back to 1602 in one trip.
Two security guards were about to leave after delivering several boxes of fruit to the entrance of apartment 1602 when Bi Qiaoan quickly stopped them. She took two plastic bags from the cupboard, filled them with about a dozen peaches, and then gave one to each of the guards.
The security guards were overjoyed, but they were hesitant to accept the reward. After all, in this upscale neighborhood, they often did odd jobs for others, and few people would give them gifts. Moreover, the two young men felt that they had only done a small favor and were too embarrassed to accept such a large reward.
"Take these, they're nothing valuable." Shen Yanming handed the bags to the two of them, smiling gently and nodding at them.
The two men didn't refuse any longer and told Shen Yanming their names, adding that they would be there whenever he needed them.
Shen Yanming smiled and said he understood. He then turned and went inside after the two entered the elevator.
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