Niu Da and his wife came forward and said, "The madam is here."
Mrs. Niu said, "Don't worry. The master sprinkled snake repellent powder all over the manor early in the morning and checked with the children. There won't be any snakes."
Upon hearing this, Yang Haiyan breathed a sigh of relief: "That's great. Let's go and take a look at the watermelons." If there are ripe ones, it would be best to cut them and eat them on the spot.
Mrs. Niu asked, "You've come all the way here, do you want to rest for a while?"
Yang Haiyan said: "No need."
There were about 250 watermelon plants in half an acre of land when they were planted, but only 180 survived.
Yang Haiyan looked at the green watermelon field, her mouth was watering. Not to mention, looking at the watermelons one by one, she was so excited that she wanted to cry. Life in ancient times was really too hard.
Niu Dadao: "These watermelons seem to be very big, but how do you know if they are ripe? Does the madam have any idea?"
Yang Haiyan doesn’t know how to tell whether a watermelon is ripe, or rather, she doesn’t know how to tell whether a watermelon is ripe, but she knows how to tell whether a watermelon is ripe. “When I bought the seeds, I heard from the vendor that there are several ways to tell whether a watermelon is ripe.
First: weigh it. The more ripe the watermelon is, the lighter it is. Generally, for watermelons of the same size, the lighter ones are better, and the heavier ones are unripe.
Second: Listen to the sound. Hold the watermelon in your hand and tap it gently with your fingers. If it makes a crisp "dong, dong" sound and your hand feels a little trembling, it is a ripe watermelon. If it makes a "thump, thump" sound, it is relatively mature. If it makes a "puff, puff" sound, it is overripe. If it makes a "tap, tap" sound, it is an unripe watermelon.
Third: Look at the appearance. The skin of raw melons is green and bright. When the melon is ripe, the color of the skin will become darker.
Fourth: Look at the navel. The navel of a ripe watermelon will be sunken. If you look at a ripe watermelon, you will understand the degree of the sunkenness. Combined with the comprehensive judgment mentioned above, it is not difficult to know whether the watermelon is ripe or not. "In fact, there are several other ways to distinguish, but Yang Haiyan can't remember them. "Niu Da, just follow these four methods to choose. Don't worry, even if you choose an unripe one, it's okay. Just consider it as accumulating experience."
Hearing Yang Haiyan's words, Niu Da felt relieved. He followed Yang Haiyan's instructions and selected four watermelons based on weight, sound, appearance, and navel. "Madam, what do you think of these four?"
Yang Haiyan said, "Bring a knife and cut them open."
The private guard brought a knife: "Should we cut all four?"
Yang Haiyan said: "Cut it open."
After cutting the four into pieces, I found that two were cooked and two were half-cooked.
Yang Haiyan said, "Cut the watermelon into slices and share them with everyone. Take a taste." She took out a spoon and ate half of it first. The sweet taste of the watermelon was so refreshing, so this is how you should eat watermelon. "You all eat it, Niu Da, cut it for everyone."
Niu Da: "Yes. Can you eat this half-cooked one?"
Yang Haiyan said: "It's edible, but not as sweet as when it's ripe."
Nature was reluctant to waste the beef, so the half-cooked part was cut into pieces and given to the family to eat, and the cooked part was cut into pieces and given to Uncle Hong and others to eat.
Mrs. Niu: "Oh, this one is so sweet. The melon won't be wasted if it's raw." It's not as sweet as sugar, but it tastes just like sugar water.
Yang Haiyan smiled and said, "That's right. Niu Da, pick out the fifty melons that you think are ripe and I'll take them away."
Niu Da: “Yes.”
Based on his previous experience, Niu Da also had some judgment on whether the watermelon was ripe. He selected fifty watermelons from the 180 watermelon vines.
The watermelons were small items, each weighing about eight pounds, and fifty watermelons were quite heavy on the carriage. In addition to watermelons, cauliflowers and corns could also be 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 in the same half-acre of land, with about 800 cauliflower plants, the yield is only one-third of that of broccoli.
On the way back, Yang Haiyan kept thinking, how to sell watermelons? She thought of two ways to sell them: one is to slice them, and the other is to sell them whole.
If you cut it into slices, it costs two cents per slice, and one watermelon can be cut into about 40 slices. If you sell it as a whole, it costs 70 cents per slice. After deciding on the sales method, as soon as they arrived at the family quarters, 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 find the shopkeeper.
When the young shopkeeper saw Madam Lian, he was quite polite: "Madam is here?" The young shopkeeper had gone to Qianfu's house that day to meet Madam Lian, who was someone close to Mrs. Qin.
Nanny Lian said politely, "Hello, young shopkeeper. My wife's manor has another batch of fresh vegetables that have matured. I sent them here specially. In addition, I also received a batch of fruits. This fruit is called watermelon. I wonder if the restaurant is interested in buying it. However, the price of this fruit is a little expensive. One fruit is seventy coins."
The young shopkeeper was stunned: "Such expensive fruit? What kind of fruit is this?" Apples and pears don't have to be so expensive.
Aunt Lian said, "This fruit is called watermelon. I have asked someone to bring it in."
The private guard was carrying a basket with twenty watermelons in it.
The young shopkeeper was considered an experienced person following the shopkeeper in the county town, but this fruit called watermelon was the first time he had seen it, and it was so big. "How... how do you eat this?"
Aunt Lian was very confident about watermelon. After eating watermelon with her wife, she liked the slightly sweet watermelon very much. So when the shopkeeper asked, she confidently asked, "Do you have a knife?"
The shopkeeper asked someone to bring a knife.
Nanny Lian cut the watermelon in one stroke. To be honest, when the watermelon was cut, even though the young shopkeeper had never eaten it before, he felt his mouth was a little dry. The red fruit inside made him drool.
Then, Aunt Lian cut it into slices one by one. 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 enjoy it."
The shopkeeper picked up a piece and took a bite: "Delicious." The sweetness and moisture were just right. He had never eaten such a delicious big fruit before. Oh, this big fruit is called watermelon.
Aunt Lian knew from the attitude of the shopkeeper: "This watermelon is priced at 70 wen each. Just like cauliflower and broccoli, we can provide 20 per day. Do you agree, shopkeeper?"
The shopkeeper said, "I'll discuss this with my uncle." He was sure it would be a deal, but the price was a bit high, so he didn't dare to make the final decision. "Mammy, please wait a moment. I'll go call my uncle."
After a while, the shopkeeper called the shopkeeper, a middle-aged man. Just now, the shopkeeper described the fruit called watermelon in exaggerated terms. Now that he saw the watermelon and the red fruit, he was indeed a little surprised.
The shopkeeper said, "Uncle, this is the watermelon I was talking about. It is grown in Madam Qin's farm and is also grown from seeds bought from traveling merchants. Come and have a try."
The shopkeeper glared at the young shopkeeper, greeted Aunt Lian first, then picked up a piece of watermelon and took a bite, and then... nothing happened. The shopkeeper said, "Aunt, isn't this price too expensive? Broccoli and flowers cost four cents each, and we have no objection, but this fruit... costs seventy cents, and not everyone can afford it."
Nanny Lian smiled and said, "This watermelon only lasts for a month. It will be gone in a month. If you want to eat it again, you have to wait until next year. Besides, the shopkeeper is too modest. The guests who come to your restaurant to eat are not ordinary people. What's more, in this month, if the nobles in the county order one every day, I'm afraid twenty watermelons will not be enough."
The shopkeeper was somewhat understanding when he heard this. He thought that if he could just deliver 20 pieces a day to the rich family, why would he bother to sell them to other people? "It's just like broccoli and cauliflower. We are the only family in the county that has them?"
Aunt Lian: "Of course."
After leaving the restaurant, Nanny Lian went to the Marquis' Mansion and the General's Mansion. After delivering cauliflower and watermelon to the Marquis' Mansion and the General's Mansion, Nanny Lian returned to the town.
However, just after Nanny Lian left, the restaurant sent two watermelons to the Marquis' Mansion.
Family Room
Yang Haiyan was not surprised that watermelons could make money. In ancient times, fruits made money because they were rare and precious. Half an acre of watermelons could earn about 20 taels of silver. Add broccoli and cauliflower, and the vegetables alone could earn more than 30 taels, not to mention tomatoes.
“Madam…” Aunt Lian called out from the yard before she even entered the house.
Yang Haiyan stood up and walked to the door: "Look at how happy Madam is, it shows that the discussion was very successful."
Aunt Lian said, "That's right. The shopkeeper still wants to bargain. This is the money collected for the cauliflower and watermelon."
Yang Haiyan nodded but did not take it. The family's money was managed by Nanny Lian. She was also in charge of the monthly allowance and the shop's income. She would calculate the profits every month.
Nanny Lian added, "Then the watermelons here may not be easy to sell. The town is not like the county. At 70 cents a watermelon, most women 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 this town are not as rich as those in the county, but there are still people who can afford to buy them. There are 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 can be delivered to Siya and Shouyi." Exactly two.
Aunt Lian: "Yes, I will thank you on behalf of everyone."
Yang Haiyan added: "Take out another one and sink it in the well water. You can eat it when you come back from work."
Aunt Lian: “Yes.”