Chapter 218 The Strawberries Are Ripe
"This is fresh fruit called strawberry. I don't grow many at home, but it tastes really good. Mammy, try it and see if it's delicious."
"This fruit is small and pretty, and smells sweet!"
Aunt Xi had indeed never seen it before and thought it was quite rare. It did look beautiful.
She took a bite and her eyes lit up instantly, "Madam Xu, what is this called?"
"It's called Strawberry. Does Mammy think it's okay?"
"It's more than just okay, it tastes really good, strawberries, strawberries, Madam Xu is really a talented person, she can grow such good things, my lady will definitely like it when she sees it."
"That's good!"
Nanny Xi carefully held the basket of strawberries in her hands. She refused to take the live chicken and eggs and only took strawberries and tomatoes.
"Madam Xu, it's not easy to raise two chickens. Keep them for yourself. We don't lack eggs either. Madam Xu, keep them for your health and for Liang Tongsheng."
Xu Zhichun couldn't refuse, so he had to agree.
After the Qin family came, the shopkeeper Tang also specially sent a big waiter to deliver holiday gifts, including moon cakes, pastries, fresh fruits, and a box of dried goods, which he said were dried shrimps and scallops from the southern seas, and they were delicious when cooked or made into soup.
Qingshan County is astronomically far away from the sea, and there are very few seafood products for sale in the small county town.
Only big restaurants like the Lotus Restaurant would send people directly to the provincial capital to purchase.
You can imagine how precious this box of dry goods is.
Xu Zhichun thanked him repeatedly.
In addition to tomatoes and chicken, the return gift also included half a basket of red strawberries.
The day after Shopkeeper Tang received the strawberries, when Xu Zhichun was setting up her stall, Shopkeeper Tang personally came to invite her to the Bishui Teahouse to discuss matters.
Shopkeeper Tang rubbed his hands and smiled.
"Madam Xu, hey, these strawberries are really good stuff. I wonder if Madam Xu can provide some? Our Lotus Restaurant needs them, and our Bishui Teahouse also needs them. Madam Xu, please take as many as you can. The price is negotiable."
Rich people have long been tired of eating grapes, oranges, peaches, plums, apricots, persimmons, hawthorns, and pears. Strawberries are beautiful, sweet, and rare, so they are sure to be very popular.
Only a fool would not want to go to any restaurant or teahouse.
Xu Zhichun was a bit embarrassed. "If they could be sold, I would have contacted Shopkeeper Tang long ago, even before he came to me. The quantity is really small. Maybe there will be more next year, but it's hard to say. Strawberries are precious and difficult to cultivate."
In this era without plastic greenhouses, it is indeed not easy to get good quality strawberries grown outdoors. Xu Zhichun's warehouse space has countless organic fertilizers and various fertilizers that can be used, coupled with meticulous care, to obtain these good-looking strawberries.
But compared with the warehouse space, there is still a big gap.
Even if she could take out a lot from it to mix in, she couldn't take it as she pleased.
So let alone right now, even if the cultivation is expanded next year, she doesn't know whether the yield can maintain stable quality.
Shopkeeper Tang nodded repeatedly: "I know, I know. It's a good thing, so of course the production volume can't be high. Madam Xu said we can take as much as we can. Anyway, just give it to us."
Xu Zhichun calculated in his mind, "About three to five kilograms a day, no more."
So little.
Shopkeeper Tang sighed.
What a pity.
But it does make sense. Strawberries are different from other fruits. Other fruits have a layer of peel to protect the flesh, but strawberries don't.
Just wash it and you can eat it.
The epidermis is very delicate.
It will break if it is touched slightly.
It is normal for such a delicate baby to have a low production.
I have to say that Shopkeeper Tang’s logic makes a lot of sense.
"Okay, three or five catties is three or five catties. Madam Xu, just send it over. How about five cents a catty?"
"OK."
Xu Zhichun agreed readily.
No matter how rare and fresh strawberries are, they are still fruits, not precious ginseng, bird's nest, shark fin, and abalone belly. Rich people are happy to buy them at five cents per pound, but they may not sell well at several ounces per pound.
At most, just a taste.
Who doesn’t care about cost-effectiveness?
Four pounds a day should be no problem, that's two taels of silver.
Shopkeeper Tang left happily.
Xu Zhichun picked a full basket and gave it to Mrs. Lu to try.
Mrs. Lu liked them very much, but regretted that the strawberries could not be kept for long. She specifically asked Nanny Ji to ask Xu Zhichun to send some more over the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival when sending the holiday gifts, and she would buy them with silver.
Her little girl will definitely like it.
Xu Zhichun agreed.
On the day before Mid-Autumn Festival, he sent another basket of strawberries to Mrs. Lu and another basket to the Qin family, and brought Liang Mingxuan home to celebrate the festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a family reunion festival that every household attaches great importance to. They eat moon cakes, kill chickens and buy meat to worship gods and ancestors, and worship the moon. Uncle Qi Tian and his family also took a day off to come back and celebrate the festival.
This was the first important festival that Xu Zhichun celebrated after her time travel. Although it was just her and her brother-in-law, she still prepared a sumptuous dinner.
After dinner, a table was set up in the yard, and fruits, snacks, and mooncakes were placed on it for people to enjoy the moon.
After dinner, Aunt Zhu'er, Uncle Qi Tian, Zeng Xiaoyan and her husband, Zeng Xiaojuan and her daughter, Chunfen and others all came. Many sisters-in-law from other families in the village also came to visit. Xu Zhichun's yard was extremely lively for a while.
Everyone ate fruits, snacks, mooncakes, and admired the moon while gossiping, with laughter and joy all around. Before they knew it, the moon was at its zenith.
Xu Zhichun originally thought that this Mid-Autumn Night would be very lonely. There were only three people, his uncle and sister-in-law, plus the moon in the sky. He didn't expect it to be so lively and lively.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, a fresh fruit called strawberry quickly became popular among wealthy people.
It is both beautiful and delicious, and more importantly, it is valuable because it is rare. If the servants in the house are a little slow, they will not be able to buy it.
When Mr. Zeng learned that these strawberries were still supplied by Xu Zhichun, he felt very upset.
Thinking about the fact that Zeng Xiaoyan did not come to deliver any gifts before the Mid-Autumn Festival, and only Zeng Xiaojuan came and brought two bundles of noodles, twenty worthless eggs and some vegetables, Mr. Zeng became even angrier.
"Okay, okay, Sanya really doesn't take her family seriously at all. And as for the Liang family, do they even care about us, their in-laws?"
Madam Zeng forced a smile and advised, "Master, don't be angry. Even without her, will our Zeng family's business be unable to continue? Do we still have to rely on her?"
In the past, when Mr. Zeng scolded Zeng Xiaoyan with disgust, Mrs. Zeng was very happy and relieved. But now, when she heard him scolding her, she felt a little nervous for no reason - she was afraid that he would know that Zeng Xiaoyan had been kicked out of the house by her.
She had a hunch that if the master knew, he would definitely scold her.
They are an old couple and she doesn't want to be scolded.
I don't want to be scolded because of Zeng Xiaoyan. This is too ridiculous.
She doesn't accept it.
(End of this chapter)
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