Wei Nian felt that the brightness in Chen Xuan's eyes was comparable to the headlights above his head.
However, when he heard that the strawberries were ripe, Wei Nian stopped sleeping and got up immediately. He pulled up his pants, wrapped his coat, and followed Chen Xuan out to see the strawberries. Following Chen Xuan's fingertips, he saw a completely red one, red and ripe. Wei Nian reached out and picked it. Chen Xuan cried out in pain, "Ouch!" and wanted to ask, why did you pick it! Wei Nian put the strawberry in his mouth, chewed it, and ate it. Wei Nian nodded, "It's delicious, sweet and sour. Try it." Of course, there were more than one ripe one, so he picked another one for Chen Xuan.
Chen Xuan was reluctant to eat it, so she said, "Let's sell it first!" She still owed Wei Nian two dollars and fifty cents, and it had been nearly half a year.
Wei Nian pointed to the strawberry garden and said, "There are still plenty here." He handed it to Chen Xuan, who immediately felt embarrassed and quickly took it and ate it. It was indeed sweet and sour, and when you bite it, it was juicy. It was completely a fruit I had never eaten before, and it was delicious.
Chen Xuan discussed with Wei Nian, "Brother Anian, I don't know much about business, but I know about fruits. Once they are ripe, they can only be kept for a short time. Look at these strawberries. The skin is very thin. They can't be kept as long as apples and pears. If you have time, go ask them today to see if anyone is willing to buy them, okay?"
"Of course." Wei Nian did not delay in making money, "I'll do it after dinner."
Chen Xuan nodded quickly.
The two of them agreed to sell strawberries, and saw that Li had already packed up and came out. Wei Nian quickly called his sister-in-law over and showed her that the strawberries were ripe. Li was also very happy and smiled, "It's really ripe."
Chen Xuan had been taken care of by Li since she came in. She generously picked five ripe ones and said to Li, "Brother Anian and I just tried one each. They were delicious. My sister-in-law, brother, and nephews and nieces tried some. Brother Anian said he would go out and ask after dinner to see if there was a place to store them."
Li refused to accept it and said, "Then let's sell it first."
Chen Xuan picked five strawberries, feeling quite sad. However, she still put the five bright red strawberries into Li's hands in a generous manner and said, "We have never eaten our own food before, so what's wrong with trying it?"
Only then did Mrs. Li harvest the strawberries.
Old Mrs. Wei is old, and she sleeps less and gets up early.
When Mrs. Wei saw that the strawberries were ripe, Chen Xuan and Li were both in the kitchen making breakfast. Mrs. Wei rarely went to the kitchen and said to them, "The berries are ripe!"
The cornmeal porridge in the big pot was boiling. Li opened the lid and a large cloud of steam rose up. Li turned around and smiled at Old Lady Wei, "We all saw it when we got up."
Chen Xuan removed the firewood from under the stove and said, "Brother Anian will go find a buyer after dinner."
"Good." When she was in high spirits, she went to the backyard to check the strawberries. It was not a big deal, but she saw that there were fewer strawberries. You know, since the strawberries were ripe, she came to count them every day. Seeing that there were fewer strawberries, she thought to herself, maybe the two daughters-in-law were greedy and stole the ripe strawberries. She saw her second son looking at the strawberries, so she whispered to him. Speaking of which, since Chen Xuan complained about Wei Nian's talkativeness and ignored him for more than ten days, Wei Nian has become much more talkative. He didn't dare to tell his mother the truth and just took it all on himself, "I ate them, and I picked a few for Ajie and the others. By the way, you can try some too." As he was about to pick some for his mother, Mrs. Wei reached out and hit her second son's arm and said to him, "You greedy thing, there is plenty of food at home, why do you have to eat such expensive things? These are all to be kept and sold for money, so forget about eating them today. I tell you, you are not allowed to eat any of them! Ask the buyer later to see if anyone wants them!"
"Oh, Mom, look at you, this is what we grew ourselves!"
"It's the same with the ones we grow at home. We should sell them first if we can make money!" After all, Mrs. Wei was born in the countryside. Although she had a good life and had never worked in the fields, she knew more about fruits and vegetables than her second son. Mrs. Wei said, "The good ones can be sold for money. These fruits may not all grow big and round. We can just pick out the not-so-good ones and eat them at home. In fact, they taste the same."
After saying this, Mrs. Wei said to her second son, "I don't eat this. Pick two, wash them, and give them to your father to try. And ask your father if he can sell these strawberries."
"My father is good at selling ingredients, but he doesn't know anything about strawberries. We have to find a way to sell them to the western restaurant." Wei Nian said as he went into the fence to pick strawberries. He wanted to pick a few more to give to his sisters and nephews. As a result, he just picked two and his mother stopped him. Wei Nian had no choice but to stop and gave the two strawberries to his mother. Old Mrs. Wei went to wash the strawberries.
Old Master Wei was not a greedy person, so he didn't eat anything either, and said, "Tell Ah Feng and Ah Yu to eat when they wake up."
Old Madam Wei said, "Try it first. Ah Yin said it's very expensive, one dollar per pound."
Old Master Wei was even more reluctant to eat it, and said like a businessman, "Then sell it first."
"Try one. A-Nian got up early and has already eaten."
Mrs. Wei persuaded him, and Mr. Wei only ate one, and said to Mrs. Wei, "You eat it."
Mrs. Wei smiled and picked up the remaining strawberry on the plate. She measured it in her hand and said, "When Ah Yin bought the seedlings, I scolded her and said she was wasting money. I didn't expect that it would grow. It looks festive. It's bright red and beautiful!" She put it in her mouth and took a bite. Mrs. Wei couldn't help but frowned, "Why does it taste sour?"
Old Master Wei said, "Sweet and sour, it's OK."
Old Mrs. Wei was suspicious, "Is it not cooked yet?"
The old couple had never eaten this fruit before, so Old Master Wei had an idea, "Ask Ah Yin to get up and ask her."
Old Mrs. Wei woke up her daughter and asked her about the strawberries. Wei Yin wanted to pick some to eat, but Old Mrs. Wei stopped her. Wei Yin said, "If you don't let me taste them, how can I know if they are growing well?"
"If I ask your second brother, I'm sure he has eaten it too."
Wei Yin said, "Mom, have you forgotten that these are the fruit seeds I bought with my own money? These are my fruits, and you won't let me eat any of them?!"
"Hey, you have to sell them for money. You can eat them when they grow bigger in the future. It will be different." Old Mrs. Wei coaxed her little girl.
Wei Yin took a step back and said, "Then I won't eat more. I won't eat any at all?"
Old Master Wei waved his hand and made the decision, "Okay, let Ah Yin have one. It doesn't matter if there's only one fruit."
Old Mrs. Wei followed her out and pointed to a small one and asked her daughter to pick it. Wei Yin washed it and ate it, saying, "This is the taste. It's really better to grow it yourself."
Old Mrs. Wei asked, "Is it better than that Eastern or Western restaurant?"
"Of course, our strawberries are so fresh."
Old Mrs. Wei kept chanting Buddhist scriptures.
Originally, Mrs. Wei was already very distressed to pick these strawberries, but when her eldest daughter got up and saw that the strawberries had grown, she couldn't help but eat them. Especially with the two grandchildren, these days, nephews are honored guests of the uncle's family. Since the brothers Jie and others had eaten them, Zhao Feng and Zhao Yu naturally had to have some. So, Mrs. Wei personally checked and picked three more for the mother and her two children. As for the rest, Mrs. Wei said she would not let them touch anything.
Wei Nian was a man with a keen eye for business opportunities. After breakfast, he found a celadon bowl under the kitchen, and then a red lacquer food box. After thinking for a while, he went out again and got a big bowl of ice. He put crushed ice on the bottom of the bowl, put a piece of white velvet on it, and then put a lot of strawberries on it. Then, Wei Nian went out.
That afternoon, Wei Nian asked a man in a suit to come over and asked him to look at the strawberries. The man saw that there were not many strawberries planted, but the small garden was very neatly tidied, and there were wooden boards with numbers on them. The man couldn't help but say, "It's so meticulous. I wonder who in your house planted these strawberries?"
Wei Nian smiled modestly, "My wife planted them. To be honest, I had never seen strawberries like this before. My wife came across a few strawberry seeds by chance, and she took care of them day and night, but in the end, only these few plants survived. She also went to the Imperial University of Peking to read many books on planting, and took care of them every day, and finally they bore fruit."
"I can see it, I can see it." The man personally entered the gate and picked a strawberry to taste it. Sure enough, it tasted the same as the one Wei Nian had sent him.
The two men talked for a while by the fence and then left Wei's house. When Wei Nian returned home, he said that the deal had been settled.
Wei Jin asked hurriedly, "How much is one pound?"
Wei Nian wanted to say something, but when he saw the elder sister, he swallowed his words back and waved his hand with an impatient look, "You women don't know anything about business, don't worry about it, I will talk to Dad."
The Wei family indeed had no rules against women interfering in business. Wei Jin curled his lips, snorted, and said no more.
That night, Wei Nian personally told his father, Old Master Wei, and Old Master Wei smiled and said, "Although the business is not a big one, the price is not bad."
Wei Nian has always been smart. He said, "There is something else I want to discuss with you, Dad."
"Tell me, what's the matter?"
"Ah Yin complained to me that she paid for the seeds of these strawberries, and my wife took care of them every day." Wei Nian said, "I thought that after selling these things, I would give them some money, and then Ah Yin would not complain."
Although it is not a big business, the little girl and daughter-in-law are indeed the main contributors. Old Master Wei has been doing business all his life. He smiled and said, "Okay, you can do it."
Wei Nian agreed.
The strawberries continued to bear fruit until the end of May, and although it was the first year of planting, the fruits were quite good. Apart from the fact that they could not be kept, there were no other drawbacks.
When the strawberries are at their peak, Wei Nian asks Chen Xuan to pick them every morning, and he immediately takes a rickshaw to deliver them to the restaurant. The strawberries are at their freshest at this time. Sometimes, the restaurant will send a waiter to pick some.
When there were more fruits, Chen Xuan secretly gave some to the Xu sisters so that they could taste them. Because they were valuable, Chen Xuan was reluctant to give more. Moreover, she was still taking risks. If Mrs. Wei knew about it, she would be furious.
Every time Wei Nian earned money from selling strawberries, he would give it to Chen Xuan and ask Chen Xuan to keep the accounts.
There was nothing left for the strawberries, so Wei Nian told the hotel and asked Chen Xuan to calculate the bill in the evening to see how much they had sold. Chen Xuan calculated for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. It was because she was good at arithmetic and she could only count on her fingers. She couldn't figure out the bill for more than a month.
Wei Nian smiled, "I'll have to teach you how to use the abacus sometime."
Chen Xuan has been learning to recognize words. She has now finished learning the Thousand Character Classic and has memorized most of the Augmented Collection of Wise Sayings. Chen Xuan wants to learn more the most. Upon hearing this, she immediately said, "Teach me now. I will definitely study hard."
Wei Nian supported the table with one hand and said to Chen Xuan, "Go to the west room and get the abacus."
Chen Xuan was very obedient and immediately went to the west room to get an abacus. Wei Nian took the abacus and swung it in his hands. The abacus beads were aligned with the top grid and the bottom grid. After that, Wei Nian held Chen Xuan's account in one hand and used the abacus with the other hand. He only looked at the account book and used the other hand to move the abacus beads. Chen Xuan was dazzled by the clacking. In just a quarter of an hour, Wei Nian had checked the accounts, calculated the total account, and handed it to Chen Xuan, "Count the dollars and see if it's correct."
Chen Xuan took one look and said, "That's right." She would basically count the dollars every day.
Chen Xuan took out the silver box that Wei Nian had given her to put the money in from the bottom of the box, handed it to Wei Nian, and said embarrassedly, "I have already counted it."
Wei Nian teased, "You've counted more than once."
Chen Xuan blushed and emphasized, "Didn't you say that it's not easy for me to grow strawberries and you will give me dividends? I was thinking about paying off the money I owe you as soon as possible." Speaking of which, she ran out of ink a few days ago, so she asked Wei Nian to buy her another bottle. Then, her debt to Wei Nian increased to three dollars and fifty cents.
Wei Nian smiled and took out five silver dollars, handed them to Chen Xuan, and said, "This first year, the fruit is not much, the total is twenty-three yuan and eighty cents, five for you, five for Ah Yin, and the rest for our father."
When Chen Xuan saw Wei Nian actually handed her five silver dollars, she was so frightened that she put her hands behind her back and shook her head like a rattle, saying, "I don't need so much. Just cancel the debt I owe you. Give more to Ah Yin. She paid for the seeds."
"If you hadn't taken care of these seedlings all day long, catching insects, applying fertilizers, and watering the plants, and even had to watch out for the birds flying in the sky in case they bit the fruits, how could we have harvested so many fruits. Take it." Wei Nian pulled Chen Xuan's hand from behind her back and put the dollar in her hand.
To be honest, this was the second time Chen Xuan had touched the ocean in her two lifetimes, but the feeling she had this time was very different from the sadness she felt the last time. This ocean was heavy, but her heart was filled with both sorrow and joy.
This bitterness, perhaps some remnant from the previous life, was soon washed away by this huge joy. Chen Xuan clenched the dollar again and again, then she took out four dollars and gave them to Wei Nian, saying seriously, "Please return the IOU I wrote earlier, and give me fifty cents."