CH 118.2

“I will have someone deliver them to the Young Master immediately.” Shao Yunan picked up a grapefruit and prepared to go out as he ate it. After a few steps, he turned back and asked, “Steward Yan, do you know how to eat this grapefruit?”

“I do. I peeled grapefruits for important people when I was in the palace.”

“That’s good. You tell others how to eat it.” Shao Yunan continued walking, but then turned back again just before leaving the side hall. “By the way, Steward Yan, tell them to save the grapefruit peel for me and ask them to keep the ones that were sent out too. I need them.”

“Alright.” 

Satisfied that everything was settled, Shao Yunan proceeded to eat his meal. Yan Fusheng looked at the grapefruits in the basket and murmured softly to himself, “But you didn’t ask me how to eat this.”

Shao Yunan was overjoyed. He finally managed to obtain grape seeds, which meant he could now justify the abundance of ripe grapes in his space. He first went to the tea room and stored the tea leaves that Chen Sanli brought, in the space, sprinkling them with spiritual spring water. Then he returned to his room. 

The tea leaves Chen Sanli brought could only be used to make second and third-grade tea. It wasn’t that the tea was bad, but rather that the plucking technique was lacking. Shao Yunan felt regretful. If he had known that Chen Sanli would bring them tea, he would have sent Shijing to collect the tea leaves from Chen Sanli’s place instead. He had wasted such good Qimen black tea.

When Yan Fusheng and his men brought the seeds and the remaining grapefruits, Shao Yunan was in the middle of peeling a grapefruit and there were already peeled grapefruit skins on the table. Yan Fusheng looked at them and said, ‘Young master, I have distributed them according to your instructions and I asked them to clean the grapefruit skins before sending them back to you.”

“Good. Go to brother Guo and tell him to find all the honey in the house. I will use it later. You can also send someone to get Brother He to come over for a trip. If the managers of the restaurant and snack store come over today, ask them if there are any grapefruit sellers in the county town and buy all their stock for me if there are.”

Yan Fusheng said, “Since Young Master loves to eat them, I’ll have Chen Sanli send you more. Chen’s elder brother is the governor of Guangnan Province, which has the most grapefruit.”

“Oh, I see. No wonder he sent four large baskets.” Then Shao Yunan smiled and said, “It’s not that I love to eat grapefruits. They are a bit sour and bitter and I don’t think the elderly and children can handle them. I plan to make something with them. I’ll let you taste it later, since It’s a secret for now.” Yan Fusheng smiled faintly and said, “I’ll pass on the message.”

“Good.” After Yan Fusheng left, Shao Yunan stroked his chin and muttered to himself. “People who come out of the palace are indeed different. They have broad knowledge.”

As Shao Yunan had guessed, Wang Qing, Nizi, and Jiang Moxi couldn’t tolerate the sourness and bitterness of the grapefruits when they tasted them after waking up. In the past, they would have cherished them, but now that there were various delicious fruits in the space, they didn’t like eating such a sour and bitter grapefruit. 

At this time, the grapefruits were not the sweet grapefruits that have been improved for generations in the future. These grapefruit were ordinary ones with white flesh. They were sour and bitter. But for the people of the Great State of Yan, where fruits were scarce, they were something that even the Emperor would cherish despite their sourness and bitterness.

After the three children finished their meal, Shao Yunan assigned them homework and went to the kitchen. Zhao He had already arrived and when he saw Shao Yunan he exclaimed in surprise, “Yunan! What happened to your face?” Suddenly, his eyes widened as he asked: “Did Shijing hit you?!”

“Cough, cough, cough…” Shao Yunan choked on his own saliva and Guo Zimu quickly patted his back, saying helplessly, “How could Shijing hit Yunan.” Zhao He realized he was being foolish and slapped his forehead, saying, “Right, it would be impossible for Shijing to hurt Yunan. Then who hit you?!”

Shao Yunan shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly, “Someone who’s not afraid of death. They wanted to force me to reveal the tea-making recipe, so I knocked him out and handed him over to my eldest brother.”

“No wonder so many people have come to your house these past two days. Are you alright? Why didn’t you tell me about such a big incident?” Zhao He complained.

“I’m fine, I just got slapped. My eldest brother will also not let him off easily. These two days are crucial for picking and making tea, so I’m fine. I don’t want to make a fuss about it.” Shao Yunan replied. Zhao He was still unhappy. “Even so, you should have told me. Look at your face, it must be bruised and your mouth must be injured.”

“I applied some medicine so it’s fine now. The doctor also looked at me. Really, there’s nothing wrong.” Shao Yunan was afraid of Zhao He’s scolding, so he took off the mask from Guo Zimu’s face and put it on his own, making Guo Zimu angry. Tapping his forehead, Guo Zimu snatched his mask back. There were so many people in the house now, so he had to be careful.

Zhao He was extremely helpless. “Alright, alright, tell me. Why did you call me here?”

“Did you receive the grapefruits I sent to your house?”

“I did. Thank you. Zhao Congbo really loves eating them. He even asked me when Qing will go to the academy. Is Qing sick? Congbo said he took a leave of absence.”

“He’s not sick. After everything that happened on my side, the children got scared so Shijing let him take leave.” Suddenly, Zhao He understood something and furrowed his brow, deciding not to ask further questions. Instead, he said, “This is the first time I’m eating this grapefruit. It is sold for a hundred copper coins each in the county. You’re quite generous to send so many.”

“They were given to me by someone else. But since Qing and the others don’t like eating them, because they are sour and bitter. I suddenly thought of making fruit jam. That’s why I called you.” Zhao He immediately asked, “You mean to make grapefruit jam?”

“Something like that, but I call it ‘honey grapefruit tea.’ It’s made with honey, grapefruit peel, grapefruit pulp, and rock sugar. I’ll teach you now, so when you go back, you can start preparing. I’ve already sent someone to the county to buy as many grapefruits as possible and I’ll have them delivered to you later. You can also take one of the four baskets from my house.”

Zhao He immediately shook his head and said, “No, no, I can’t let you do that. I’ll go buy them myself.” Shao Yunan said, “Listen to me till the end.”

“Go ahead.” Shao Yunan continued. “I’m busy right now and this grapefruit tea is something new. Once it’s ready, I’ll definitely need to give some as gifts. I bought the grapefruits, so you can give them to me at the cost price. The basket I’m giving you can be considered as payment for your help. Shopkeeper Xu, Fourth Aunt, and Shuping can also help me deliver them.”

Hearing him say this, Zhao He calmed down and said, “Just give me the instructions, and once I’m done, I’ll deliver them. You can keep yours.”

“I haven’t finished yet.”

“Okay, go on.”

Shao Yunan continued. “The fruit jams your family currently makes are all sold through Yunlong restaurant. I want to expand the variety of fruit jams. These grapefruits are sour and bitter, but when made into honey grapefruit tea, they can be steeped in water or eaten as fruit jam. 

The most important thing is that it has health benefits. It can cleanse the intestines, moisturize the lungs, clear heat, dissolve phlegm, and it’s good for regulating the stomach. Such a good product is worth more than ordinary fruit jams, especially considering the expensive ingredients like honey and rock sugar. Once you’ve made it and tested the response, I’ll find people to purchase grapefruits in large quantities. We’ll split the cost 50-50 between our two families. How does that sound?”

What else could he say? Shao Yunan hadn’t even finished when Zhao He agreed. “Deal! Just tell me how to do it and I’ll do it!”

“Good. We’ll start by introducing honey grapefruit tea, as well as honey red date tea, and honey pear paste. We can launch multiple variations of this honey tea series. I want to sell them in the pastry shop, with Yunlong Restaurant as the promotion platform.”

“You’re in charge.” Zhao He definitely had no objections. “Great. Let me first teach you how to make honey grapefruit tea. Would Little Guo like to learn too?” Guo Zimu rolled his eyes at Shao Yunan. Wasn’t that obvious? Shao Yunan laughed, realizing that Little Guo’s expressions were becoming more and more diverse. 

Hehe, at this rate, even if Little Guo eventually takes off his mask and is willing to leave the house, he would no longer fear the gaze of others. Little Guo has been developing a tendency towards being a proud and willful character.

“Yunan?”

“Oh, let’s start preparing. Here’s how it…”