Chapter 458

Having failed in acting cool, Ling Hong appeared to be a little depressed. Meanwhile, Yuan Zhou looked at the beautiful scenery in the suburbs and felt quite satisfied.

“I haven’t been out here for a long time. It’s great to see the greenery over here.” Yuan Zhou signed with emotion.

“Boss Yuan, you don’t often come out. The greenery is everywhere in the suburbs, so you can still see it now.” Master Cheng said smilingly.

“Yeah, you are right. Ling Hong, is the place you mentioned privately owned?” After Yuan Zhou answered Master Cheng, he suddenly asked Ling Hong.

“Yes, it’s privately owned. The ancestors of the owner were all farmers, thus he’s quite skilled in growing vegetables. He has a big vegetable field and takes care of them by himself. Most importantly, he doesn’t use any pesticides during the process.” Ling Hong was fairly talkative when he spoke of the vegetable garden.

“It seems to be so.” Yuan Zhou nodded.

“Boss Yuan, the ingredients in your restaurant are really good.” Master Cheng suddenly sighed with emotion, saying that.

“Of course.” Yuan Zhou nodded his head.

“His culinary skills are also marvelous.” Ling Hong acknowledged that fact.

“Um.” Yuan Zhou just nodded indifferently.

The SUV moved quite smoothly on the dirt road although it wasn’t as comfortable as the sports car. In just a little while, they arrived at the vegetable garden mentioned by Ling Hong.

The vegetable garden was at the side of the earth road. The adjoining areas were about 6000 square meters or so. Some areas were covered with greenhouses and some were bare. There were still green vegetables growing vigorously in the soil.

“Peng”. Master Cheng got off the SUV first and then he opened the door for Yuan Zhou. Naturally, Ling Hong was left there alone, again.

“Your lousy car moves really fast.” Ling Hong looked at the SUV that had a high chassis without much dirt on it and said quite naturally.

“It definitely isn’t as fast as your sports car.” Master Cheng said courteously.

“The persimmons here are so nice.” What appeared in sight after Yuan Zhou got off the SUV were the vegetables and fruits. Looking at the several scattered persimmon trees, he said earnestly.

“The color looks so bright and vivid.” Ling Hong could only distinguish them based on these two aspects. One was the bright color and the other was the big size.

“Master Yuan, what kind of persimmon is it?” Master Cheng locked up his SUV and immediately asked.

“Luotian Sweet Persimmon, the only variety that gets rid of astringency naturally. I never thought it could be planted here.” Yuan Zhou said straightforwardly.

Since he allowed Master Cheng to watch at the side, Yuan Zhou basically answered him whenever he asked a question, even though he never promised to take him as a disciple. Of course, it was due to Master Cheng acting respectfully and behave properly all the time.

“I have also heard of that. But aren’t persimmons everywhere?” Master Cheng asked with puzzlement.

“These several trees are different. Judging from the variety, they must be the trees originated in Zanzishi Village of Sanlifan Town in Luotian County. Its taste is closer to the authentic one.” Yuan Zhou shook his head and then said.

“This young man is right. The several trees aren’t inferior to those planted in that village at all.” There suddenly came a male voice from the field.

“Master Qian, I have made an appointment. My surname is Ling.” Ling Hong went up and greeted the man walking to him.

The person who walked here and praised Yuan Zhou was the owner here, Qian Jintian. He was about 50. There was both the simplicity of farmers and shrewdness of merchants on his face. Judging from his clothes, he had been working in the field until now. He was dressed in an old cotton padded coat which was stained with mud, cotton-padded trousers with the leg openings tightly tied, and a pair of rubber shoes on the feet.

“I know, I know. You guys came early when there aren’t many people. But you told me there would only be two.” Qian Jintian looked at the fat person, Master Cheng.

After all, Yuan Zhou spoke highly of his persimmons as soon as he arrived here; therefore, he looked like the one that was supposed to come together. As for Master Cheng, it was uncertain.

“This one won’t pick vegetables. He just comes here to study.” Ling Hong pointed at Master Cheng and said clearly.

“Right. I’m just visiting your vegetable gardens.” Master Cheng immediately nodded and chimed in with Yuan Zhou, showing due respect for Yuan Zhou’s feelings.

“Well, good.” Qian Jintian rubbed his hands together to remove the mud and then nodded.

“You seem to know all about the goods and besides, the persimmons are mature. I can allow you to pick 1 kg. No more than 1 kg.” Qian Jintian looked at Yuan Zhou who was neither conceited nor rash and then said contently.

“Thank you.” Yuan Zhou immediately expressed his gratitude with a smile.

“No need. I have to watch you guys when you pick in case you trample on other vegetables.” Qian Jintian said quite proudly.

Even the wrinkles on his face revealed something like “If not for you knowing so much about the goods, I wouldn’t sell them to you at all.”

“Boss Yuan, what about we go to check the radishes first?” As Ling Hong had other intentions in the heart, he naturally had to make Yuan Zhou satisfied first.

“Okay. Sir, please take us to look at your radishes.” After a nod, Yuan Zhou said to Qian Jintian who was leading the way ahead of them.

“Okay. There are many different varieties of radishes here. According to the traditional rules, however, you can’t buy too much of each type. Otherwise, there won’t be enough for others.” Qian Jintian introduced to them while walking ahead.

That’s right. Qian Jintian also had his own rules. Due to the limited amount, he has limits on each type of vegetable.

“Got it. These are your traditional rules while Boss Yuan has his Compass rules.” Ling Hong nodded his head and answered.

Seeing Ling Hong nod his head, Qian Jintian didn’t pay attention to his words anymore and continued leading the way.

“All these are the radishes. Although they are planted in the same area, managing them isn’t easy at all.” Qian Jintian said proudly as soon as he walked to the radish patch.

He took them across four patches before they arrived. The area ahead of them was separated into small grids and each of them had radishes in various colors and varieties planted inside.

“They are all very good. Among the radishes here, the Weiqing radish is the best.” Yuan Zhou looked at the vegetable field in front of him and felt quite satisfied.

These radishes were much better than those sold in the vegetable market. Although they weren’t so good as those provided by the system, they were still the excellent goods that people could rarely obtain. It could be seen that Qian Jintian cared much about the radishes.

“You really have a good insight. Among all my radishes, the Weiqing radishes are the best.” Qian Jintian burst into laughter and then said quite contentedly.

“I’d like to buy some Weiqing radishes and Baiyuchun radishes.” Yuan Zhou was fairly knowledgeable about the varieties of radishes.

“I have to admit that you know radishes quite well. Do you want to pull them out by yourself or let me help?” Qian Jintian thumbed up to Yuan Zhou and asked him.

“I have to bother you on that. I just know the varieties well, but you definitely will do better than me in pulling them out.” Yuan Zhou was rather respectful of the old man.

“Of course.” Qian Jintian nodded his head deservedly before he went to pull the radishes out.

“Master Qian, please help me with my vegetables, too.” Ling Hong caught the opportunity timely and said immediately.

“No problem.” Qian Jintian answered enthusiastically.

While he was pulling the radishes out, he asked them with great enthusiasm.

“Are you also buying them to cook dinner back home?” Qian Jintian knew that some rich families usually came to buy his vegetables for the sake of safety and authentic tastes and hence asked.

“Nope. We are going to eat hotpot.” Ling Hong shook his head and said.

“Well, it’s also not bad to eat hotpot back home.” Qian Jintian nodded.

“No. We’ll eat the hotpot in the restaurant.” Ling Hong followed.

“Eat in the restaurant? Aren’t there side ingredients prepared for the hotpot in the restaurant?” Qian Jintian remembered this person had ordered many vegetables and meat.

“No, there aren’t. The restaurant serves only the hotpot soup rather than the vegetables.” Ling Hong nodded.

“And do people go there for meals?” Qian Jintian asked.

“It’s more exaggerated than that. If you don’t line up early, there’ll be no vacant seats for you.” Ling Hong told him frankly.

“Is there really a restaurant who don’t provide side ingredients?” When Qian Jintian found Ling Hong didn’t seem to be lying, he kept silent for a while and then asked in surprise.

“Why should a hotpot restaurant provide the side ingredients?” Ling Hong looked at Qian Jintian with a puzzled look.

“…” Qian Jintian lowered his head and remained silent, especially when he saw the expressions of Yuan Zhou and Master Cheng.

However, he felt rather speechless in the heart.

“These damn city folks must be crazy. If a hotpot restaurant doesn’t provide side ingredients, does it sell only the soup?” Qian Jintian couldn’t help ridiculing in the heart.

Of course, another idea popped up in his mind at once

“Since the hotpot restaurants in the city no longer provide side ingredients and still have so many people lining up to eat, why shouldn’t I raise the price?” While pulling the radishes out, Qian Jintian thought about the feasibility of this idea carefully.