Niu Da and his wife came forward and said, "Madam is here."
Niu Da's wife said, "Don't worry, the head of the family has been sprinkling snake repellent powder all over the manor early in the morning, and has also checked with the children. There are no more snakes."
Yang Haiyan was relieved to hear this: "That's great. Let's go and look at the watermelons." If there are ripe ones, it's best to cut them and eat them on the spot.
Niu Da's wife said, "Do you want to rest for a while on your way here?"
Yang Haiyan said, "No."
There were about 250 watermelons on half an acre of land when they were planted, but only 180 survived.
Yang Haiyan looked at the green watermelon field and her mouth was watering. Not to mention, she was so excited that she wanted to cry when she saw the watermelons one by one. Life in ancient times was really hard to endure.
Niu Dadao: "These watermelons seem to be very big, but how do you know if they are ripe? Madam, do you have any idea?"
Yang Haiyan doesn't know how to look at watermelons, or rather, she doesn't know how to tell if a watermelon is ripe, but she can tell from experience. "When I bought seeds, I heard from a peddler that there are several ways to tell if a watermelon is ripe.
First: weigh it. The more mature the watermelon, the lighter it is. Generally, for watermelons of the same size, the lighter one is better, and the heavier one is unripe.
Second: listen to the sound. Hold the watermelon in your hand and tap it lightly with your fingers. If it makes a crisp "dong, dong" sound and the hand holding the melon feels a little trembling, it is a ripe melon; if it makes a "thump, thump" sound, it is a reflection of high maturity; if it makes a "puff, puff" sound, it is an overripe melon; if it makes a "tap, tap" sound, it is an unripe melon.
Third: look at the appearance. The skin of an unripe melon is green and bright. The color of the skin will become darker when the melon is ripe.
Fourth: look at the umbilicus. The umbilicus will be concave when it is ripe. If you look at ripe watermelons more often, you will understand the degree of concavity. Combined with the comprehensive judgment mentioned earlier, it is not difficult to know whether the melon is raw or ripe. "In fact, there are several other ways to distinguish, but Yang Haiyan can't remember them. "Niu Da, just choose according to these four methods. Don't worry, even if you choose an unripe one, it's okay. Just consider it as accumulating experience."
Niu Da was relieved to hear Yang Haiyan say this. He followed Yang Haiyan's instructions, weighed them, listened to their sounds, looked at their appearance, and looked at their rind, and selected four watermelons. "Madam, what do you think of these four?"
Yang Haiyan said, "Bring a knife, cut them all open and have a look."
The private guard brought a knife: "Cut all four open?"
Yang Haiyan said, "Cut them open."
After cutting the four open, it was found that two were ripe, and the other two were half-cooked.
Yang Haiyan said, "Slice the watermelon and share it with everyone. Take a taste." She took out a spoon and ate half of it herself. The sweet taste of the watermelon was so refreshing after taking a bite, so this is how you should eat watermelon. "You all eat it, Niu Da, cut it for everyone."
Niu Da: "Yes. Can this half-cooked one be eaten?"
Yang Haiyan said: "You can eat it, but it's not as sweet as the ripe one."
Niu Da was reluctant to waste it, so he cut the half-cooked one for his family to eat, and cut the ripe one for Uncle Hong and others to eat.
Niu Da's wife: "Oh, this one is also very sweet, and the raw melon will not be wasted." It is different from the sweetness of sugar, but the sweet taste is also the same as sugar water.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said: "That's right. Niu Da, take out fifty melons that you think are ripe later, I want to take them away."
Niu Da: "Yes."
Based on his experience just now, Niu Da also has some judgment on whether the watermelon is ripe. He picked out fifty watermelons from the 180 watermelon vines.
The watermelons were small varieties, each weighing about eight pounds. Fifty watermelons were quite heavy to put on the carriage. In addition to watermelons, cauliflower and corn were also harvested, so Yang Haiyan asked Niu Da to pick fifty cauliflowers and fifty corns.
Cauliflower is different from broccoli. A broccoli plant can basically produce two to three fruits, but a cauliflower plant can only produce one fruit. So for the same half-acre of land, there are about eight hundred cauliflower plants, but the output is one-third of that of broccoli.
On the way back, Yang Haiyan kept thinking, how to sell the watermelons? She thought of two sales channels, one is to slice them, and the other is to sell them as a whole.
If they are sliced, they cost two cents per slice, and a watermelon can be cut into about forty slices. If they are sold as a whole, they cost seventy cents each. After deciding on the sales method, as soon as they arrived at the family house, Yang Haiyan asked Nanny Lian to go to the county town and bring back 24 cauliflowers and 24 watermelons. The Marquis' Mansion and the General's Mansion each received two cauliflowers and two watermelons, and the rest were sent to the restaurant.
The restaurant and Yang Haiyan were familiar with each other because of broccoli, so when Nanny Lian arrived, she went straight to the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper was polite when she saw Nanny Lian: "Madam, are you here?" The shopkeeper had met Nanny Lian at Qianfu's house that day, and she was someone close to Mrs. Qin.
Lian Ma said politely, "Hello, little shopkeeper. My wife's farm has another batch of fresh vegetables. I sent them here specially. In addition, I received a batch of fruits. This fruit is called watermelon. I wonder if the wine shop is interested in buying it. However, the price of this fruit is a little expensive. One fruit costs seventy coins."
The little shopkeeper was stunned: "Such an expensive fruit? What kind of fruit is this?" Apples and pears are not so expensive.
Lian Ma said, "This fruit is called watermelon. I have asked someone to bring it in."
The private guard carried a basket with twenty watermelons in it.
The little shopkeeper followed the shopkeeper in the county and was considered an experienced person, but this kind of fruit called watermelon was the first time he saw it, and it was so big. "How... how do you eat this?"
Nanny Lian was very confident about watermelon. After eating watermelon with her wife, she liked this slightly sweet watermelon very much. So when the shopkeeper asked, she confidently said, "Do you have a knife?"
The shopkeeper asked someone to bring a knife.
Nanny Lian cut the watermelon with one knife. Speaking of it, when the watermelon was cut, even if the shopkeeper had never eaten it, he felt his mouth was a little dry. The red fruit inside made people drool. Then
, Nanny Lian cut it slice by slice. According to Yang Haiyan's instructions, a quarter of the watermelon can be cut into ten slices, so she cut a quarter of the watermelon: "Little shopkeeper, please taste it."
The shopkeeper picked up a slice and took a bite directly: "Delicious." The sweetness and moisture are just right. He has never eaten such a delicious big fruit. Oh, this big fruit is called watermelon.
Nanny Lian knew from the attitude of the shopkeeper: "The price of this watermelon is 70 coins each. Just like cauliflower and broccoli, 20 can be provided every day. Do you want to order it?" The shopkeeper
said, "I need to discuss this with my uncle." He was sure to order it, but the price was a bit expensive, so he didn't dare to make the decision. "Nanny, please wait a moment. I'll go call my uncle."
After a while, the shopkeeper called the shopkeeper, who was a middle-aged man. Just now, I heard the shopkeeper describe the fruit called watermelon in a very impressive way. Now, when I saw the watermelon and looked at the red fruit, I was indeed a little surprised.
The shopkeeper said, "Uncle, this is the watermelon I was talking about. The fruit in Madam Qin's farm is also cultivated from seeds bought from traveling merchants. Come and have a taste."
The shopkeeper glared at the shopkeeper, greeted Nanny Lian first, then picked up a piece of watermelon and took a bite, and then... nothing else happened. The shopkeeper said, "Mammy, isn't this price too expensive? Broccoli and watermelon are four cents each, we have no objection, but this fruit... seventy cents, not everyone can afford it."
Mammy Lian smiled and said, "This watermelon is only good for one month, it will be gone in a month, you will have to wait until next year if you want to eat it again. And the shopkeeper is too modest, the guests who come to your restaurant to eat are not ordinary people. What's more, in just one month, if the nobles in the county order one a day, I'm afraid twenty won't be enough."
The shopkeeper thought it made some sense. Twenty a day could be delivered directly to the nobles, why bother selling to other people? "Is it the same as broccoli and cauliflower? We are the only family in the county that has them?"
Nanny Lian: "Of course."
After leaving the restaurant, Nanny Lian went to the Marquis's Mansion and the General's Mansion. After delivering cauliflower and watermelon to the Marquis's Mansion and the General's Mansion, Nanny Lian returned to the town.
However, just as Nanny Lian left, the restaurant also sent two watermelons to the Marquis's Mansion.
Family Room
Yang Haiyan was not surprised that watermelon could make money. In ancient times, fruits made money because they were rare and precious. Half an acre of watermelon can make about 20 taels of silver. Add broccoli and cauliflower, and the vegetables alone can make 30 taels, not to mention tomatoes.
"Madam..." Nanny Lian called out from the yard before she even entered the house.
Yang Haiyan stood up and walked to the door: "Madam, you look so happy, so the negotiation was successful."
Nanny Lian said: "That's right, the shopkeeper wanted to bargain, this is the money from the cauliflower and watermelon."
Yang Haiyan nodded, but didn't take it. Nanny Lian was in charge of all the money in the family. She was in charge of the monthly allowance and the harvest of the shop, and she would calculate the profit every month.
Nanny Lian said again, "Then the watermelons here may be hard to sell. The town is different from the county. At seventy cents a watermelon, most people are reluctant to part with it."
Yang Haiyan said, "Uncut watermelons won't go bad if left for two days, so the rest can be delivered tomorrow. Besides, people in the town are not as rich as those in the county, but there are still twenty-six left. Each private guard will get a quarter, Uncle Hong and Aunt Hong will get a quarter, you, Aunt Fan, and Aunt Yu will get a quarter, and the remaining quarter will be delivered to Siya and Shoucheng." Exactly two.
Lian Ma: "Yes, I will thank you on behalf of everyone."
Yang Haiyan said: "Take out another one and sink it in the well water, and you can eat it when you come back from duty."
Lian Ma: "Yes."
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