Chapter 108

As the demand for strawberry increased, Xu Ran had to ask Wu Mei and his three brothers to help harvest the strawberries while he and Liu Tong made strawberry jam at home and Tangtang and Guoguo as errand runners.

Xu Ran meant to harvest and sell the strawberries as soon as possible. The weather in June changed quickly and it was unknown when the storm would start. At that time, the strawberry would only rot in the ground.

Needless to mention that after the heavy rain, the mushroom in the mountains should grow and it would be about time to go pick the mushroom.

After Xu Ran delivered the strawberries to Qin Shuwu’s shop, he went to Mr. Chen’s restaurant and brought the strawberry jam and French fries along with him.

It was only after Xu Ran discussed with Qin Shuwu and had the approval from Qin Shuwu did Xu Ran go. After all, they had agreed on selling them to Qin Shuwu who had made a lot of effort on those strawberry seedlings.

Mr. Chen did not expect that Xu Ran would bring in new food so soon, thereby, he invited people to the room upstairs with great joy. Not until then did Xu Ran take out the strawberry jam and French fries for Mr. Chen to taste.

The red strawberry jam looked good with the golden French fries and they also gave off a delicious smell.

Xu Ran picked up a French fries and said to Mr. Chen, “Mr. Chen, this is called French fries. I made it myself. It was made from a kind of ingredient called potato which I have planted some in my own house and it is easy to make as well. You can decide whether you want me to prepare for you in advance or you make it yourself.”

Xu Ran dipped the strawberry jam from the porcelain cup with the French fries and then said, “This red one is called strawberry jam which is made of strawberry and granulated sugar. We still have some left in our place so, Mr. Chen, if you want it, I can make some more and you can find a place with ice and store it there so that it won’t turn bad. It was delicious to eat the French fries with strawberry jam. You can have a try.”

Xu Ran put one in his mouth and handed another one to Mr. Chen. His movement was skilled, and it didn’t looked like it was his first time eat it.

Mr. Chen tried it the same way as Xu Ran did, and then nodded with satisfaction, “Although I don’t like it very much, I think many young people should like it.”

Mr. Chen said, “How about this, sell the potatoes as well as the recipe to me. You’ll see which price you seem fit. As for the strawberry jam, you can make more for me. It was a novelty in taste and it’ll be enough to eat a few times a year for people would get tired of eating it after some time.”

Xu Ran nodded. He thought so too. Besides, potatoes could be made into so many dishes other than just French fries. He was afraid that too many recipes might be overwhelming for Mr. Chen. After all, the town was not big and the restaurant would only serve this many people.

Xu Ran told Mr. Chen about his thoughts, and Mr. Chen smiled, “It’s nice of you to be so thoughtful. But don’t you worry, I’m not the only one who opens a restaurant alone in our family. Otherwise, how could I be able to sell so many sour bamboo shoots before? Just sell me the recipe and I’ll handle the rest.”

Since Mr. Chen had said so, Xu Ran didn’t argue any more. Anyway, he was only responsible for taking money and he wouldn’t care about anything else.

Xu Ran said, “Well, Mr. Chen, I’ll deliver the potatoes to you in a few days. I’ll deliver some strawberry jam to you every day. You sell after the strawberries in my field sold out and you should be able to sell at a better price.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll listen to you,” Mr. Chen smiled happily when he heard Xu Ran’s words.

Xu Ran was a little strange, but he didn’t ask why.

After chatting for a few more words, Xu Ran left.

The selling of the strawberries was arranged by Qin Shuwu. Xu Ran was only responsible for delivering them. He sold them at 0.2 tael of silver for each kilo while the rest were Qin Shuwu’s.

The sun had been blazing for five days, ten mu of strawberries had almost been picked up.

At the dawn of the tenth, dark clouds began to form in the sky and a storm seemed to be coming. Xu Ran quickly asked people to pick up the strawberries from the fields. Even if they were not as fresh tomorrow, it would be better than roting in the fields.

For the past few days, strawberries were sold very well. Many big families had ice rooms or cellars, so they bought more each time and put them back. Xu Ran had to run twice to deliver the strawberries in town.

Therefore, within these five days, they almost finished ten mu of land.

It did rain heavily at night with thunder. It was the first thunderstorm in summer.

The rain continued till the morning. Xu Ran looked at the strawberries in the house. Since he had sprinkled some water on them, they looked quite nice. However, he couldn’t go to the town because of the heavy rain. Xu Ran looked at the sky feeling annoyed, not knowing when it would stop.

It wasn’t until noon that the rain gradually stopped. Xu Ran didn’t mind if it would rain again later. He spoke to Liu Tong and drove Big Black to town.

On the way, there was another heavy rain, but it died down soon afterwards and the clouds began to disperse. Xu Ran figured that the weather would clear up soon.

After the heavy rain, mushrooms would grow in the mountain, and they would go up the mountain tomorrow morning to pick up the mushroom.

When Xu Ran arrived at the door of Qin Shuwu’s fruit shop, he saw a lot of people standing outside and he thought something might have happened and quickly ran up to ask, “What’s wrong? What happened?”

The staff in Qin Shuwu’s shop heard Xu Ran’s voice and immediately replied, “Brother Xu, it’s nothing. They just want to buy strawberries. It had been raining, so I told them you haven’t brought the strawberry over yet and asked them to wait.”

Xu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and found it kind of funny. Nevertheless, today’s strawberries was also the last batch. The rest was either sold or made into strawberry jam and been delivered to Mr. Chen.

Of course, Qin Shuwu also had strawberry jam, but there weren’t many.

Xu Ran felt frustrated when he saw that everyone was here to buy strawberries. He started to think he didn’t plant enough strawberries.

Xu Ran asked the staff, “Is your shopkeeper here?”

The staff nodded, “He’s inside. Do you want me to invite him?”

Xu Ran shook his head. “No, I’ll go in myself. Can you help me carry the strawberry down from the carriage? Be careful. Those are the last batch this year.”

“Okay,” the staff hurried off after he heard Xu Ran’s words and Xu Ran hurriedly went inside.

Qin Shuwu was doing the accounts with the abacus, and he was surprised to see Xu Ran, “With such a heavy rain, I thought you wouldn’t come.”

Xu Ran smiled. “If I hadn’t come, what do you do with the crowd at your door?”

Qin Shuwu glanced outside. “Oh, there are so many people. I was wondering where the noise came from. Have you brought enough strawberries with you today?”

Xu Ran put his hand on the counter, “There’s only so much if it’s not enough. We would have to wait until next year to eat more.”

Qin Shuwu raised his head, “What? No more strawberries?”

Xu Ran spread out his hands, “Yeah, think about how many strawberries I delivered to you every day. Together with all those made into strawberry jam, there weren’t many strawberries in the first year anyway. It’s good to be able to sell so much this year. Aren’t you doing the accounts? How is it? How much did you earn?”

Qin Shuwu put away his abacus and touched his chin. “It was quite a lot actually. Especially with the good strawberries you harvest together with the strawberry jam, I’ve earned more than what I normally earned for a month or two during these past few days.”

Xu Ran put up a face which suggested that Qin Shuwu had obviously made a fortune out of it, but Qin Shuwu just smiled without saying much.

The two of them went outside and the people who wanted to buy strawberries were already waiting in line.

Qin Shuwu looked at the few baskets of red strawberries on the ground and he felt that it was a pity that he sold them all. However, with so many people watching, it seemed inappropriate for him to stash some away.

So he had to say unwillingly to the people who were in the line, “Everyone, today’s strawberries are the last batch of the year. All the strawberries are here and there won’t be any after these are sold out. I won’t accept any new customers now, but everyone who was waiting in line now will have his share. However, we would have to control the amount to ensure everyone got his share. Let’s set the amount of 2.5 kilos for each customers. If there is still some left in the end, we’ll share it then, alright?”

It was quite reasonable. Everyone felt kind of pity that this should be the last batch of strawberries this year, especially for those who were waiting in the back. However, strawberry was seasonal fruit after all. It was already good to have it at this time, so there was nothing much to be dissatisfied with.

Hence, everyone lined up one after one. One of the staff was guarding at the back, preventing newcomers from getting into the line.

At the end, the last few baskets of strawberries were divided by about 5 kilos each portion. However, some people bought less and some who asked for more bought more, so it was kind of satisfying and it was worthwhile to line up in the rainy days.

Just as they were about to leave after buying strawberries, Xu Ran stopped them. “Wait please, may I have your attention for a while and hear me out.”

Many people who were about to leave stopped and asked Xu Ran what he wanted to say.

Xu Ran cleared his throat and said, “As we all know, it’s June now. Mushroom will grow in the mountains after the heavy rain. I want to know if anyone wish to buy mushroom, come here before noon tomorrow and I will deliver some mushroom over tomorrow.”

“Isn’t the mushroom poisonous? Is it even edible?”

“Yeah, how can we eat poisonous food. Are you trying to harm us?”

On the other hand, a few people who had tasted mushroom before had expressed their expectations.

As more and more people joined in the discussion, Xu Ran had to speak out to control the situation, “Don’t worry, as long as you don’t pick the poisonous mushroom, you can definitely eat them once cooked. If you don’t believe me, I will fry some and bring over one plate tomorrow and eat some myself in front of everyone before you buy.”

“How much do you plan on selling this mushroom? If it is edible, I will buy more back.”

Xu Ran looked at the person who spoke. He looked decent and dressed well. He must come from a rich family.

Xu Ran said, “The price for the mushroom won’t be expensive. Let’s set it at the same price as the strawberry’s. Mushroom tastes great and will surely worth the price. I won’t say too much now. Anyone who wishes to buy mushroom shall come back here tomorrow. And you may go home now!”

Xu Ran made a bow with hands folded in front after saying the words, which was quite a show.