"Master, be careful, don't step aside!" Mrs. Liu scolded, but she was also very curious about the cold melons and cantaloupes on the table.
Liu Zhiheng had a good relationship with his wife for many years. When he saw that his wife liked her, he called his servant to bring a knife.
The huge cold melon was cut in half, completely revealing the bright red flesh inside, as well as the black melon seeds embedded in it, which were clearly visible.
He cut it into pieces with his own hands, then brought a plate to his old father in the study room in the front yard. On the way, he called his children to the backyard to have something fresh.
Mr. Liu was also surprised, "Where did the cold melon come from? It looks really good! I haven't heard of foreign vassals coming to pay tribute."
Tianwu is now like a lost dog beaten by the barbarians. He lives here in the south of the Yangtze River, lingering, let alone paying tribute. It would be nice if foreign vassals did not come to the border to harass us.
Liu Zhiheng personally picked out the seeds from the cold melon before holding it to his old father.
"Father, do you remember Broken Gold Beach? It's the village where Jin Rou lived. In addition to the hot spring valley, there is also a river beach. I heard that in the spring, the Marquis found some ways to find some melon vines and planted them. I I didn't take it seriously, thinking I couldn't grow it. I didn't expect Jinrou to have someone send me these cold melons today. There are also two golden cantaloupes, which are very popular."
Mr. Liu took a bite of the cold melon, and his face turned sweet. All softened.
"This is really good stuff. It's not like no one has grown it before, but it's small in size and tastes bad. It's much worse than this.
Everyone thinks that Tianwu's land is not suitable for growing this kind of melon. No. I thought it could be grown in a small place like Broken Gold Beach."
Liu Zhiheng looked at it with greed, reached out and picked up a piece, and ate it up in a few bites.
"Dad, what Jinrou wants is for me to help sell all the cold melons and cantaloupes in Broken Golden Beach."
Old Mrs. Liu nodded, "Please agree, this item will definitely be in demand, and it will be good to make more connections for the family. In addition, dozens of the first batch of picks were sent to me, and I want to present them to the palace."
Liu Zhiheng quickly agreed. The emperor intended to summon his father back to the court, but his father never agreed, but occasionally he would Enter the palace to talk to the emperor.
Since the family wants to sell cold melons and cantaloupes, if they don't offer some to the emperor first, it will easily fall into disfavor.
What's more, this cold melon is so good that it can't go wrong as a tribute.
Soon, Liu Zhiheng returned to the backyard. Mrs. Liu and her children had already shared the cold melons and were looking at the two cantaloupes and laughing.
Seeing this, Liu Zhiheng gave a cantaloupe to his wife and children. It tasted better than cold melon.
Cold melon quenches thirst and is more suitable for men to enjoy eating.
But cantaloupe is suitable for women. It has a strong flavor and is a bit sweeter than cold melon.
He directly changed his clothes, said a few words, and hurriedly took people to Broken Gold Beach.
Mrs. Cui was turning flower ropes with Jiayin, and Mrs. Li was picking vegetables on the side. The three of them occasionally chatted, which was very lively.
Originally, picking vegetables and cooking was Zhao Yuru's job. Now that the third child and his family have gone to Luo'an, the old lady has taken over the cooking pot.
After all, my son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren all have jobs and earn work points every day. We cannot let them come back after a long day and have to prepare dinner again.
But for a family of seven or eight, plus Uncle Zhao and a few other old men, it is not easy to make meals for more than a dozen people.
Fortunately, Sister-in-law Qiong will help Mrs. Cui when she stays here.
When Mrs. Cui goes back to Zhuangzi, Dongmei and Yeshan from next door will also help.
The couple quietly guarded Mr. Ye's small yard, keeping silent on weekdays. Occasionally they only played with good news for a while, and never caused trouble.
On the contrary, the old lady was afraid that they would be boring, so she often asked them to eat together and come over to chat.
At this moment, Sister-in-law Qiong came in from outside and reported with a smile.
"Madam, the eldest man of the Liu family is here. He went directly to the melon field. The village chief and the second gentleman are accompanying him. I heard that they have to count how many cold melons there are in the field!"
"This is a big event. How many acres of land are there? How can you count the cold melons in such a short time?" Old Mrs. Li smiled and asked Sister-in-law Qiong, "Help me go to the valley and tell my fourth daughter-in-law and ask her to cook some vegetables and bring them back to entertain Mr. Liu in the evening. ."
Sister-in-law Qiong responded and went. Jiayin was anxious to join in the fun, hugging Mrs. Cui's neck and shaking her, "Sister-in-law, go and count the cold melons!"
Mrs. Cui was funny and knocked her little head, "You still don't know how to do it. You're just counting, why are you joining in the fun?"
But she said this and still stood up, "Auntie, I'll take Fu Niu for a walk."
"Go, go, she is also causing trouble at home." The old lady He went into the house and found a special gauze hat, covered his granddaughters in gauze from head to toe, and then let them go out.
Jiayin disliked the restraints of the gauze and twisted around to take it off, but Mrs. Cui pressed her little hand, "You forgot that a few days ago, you were bitten all over your body!" Jiayin
immediately became honest, and she just fell into the night a few days ago. When she came back from the valley with her grandma, she was chased by mosquitoes and kissed all the way.
If her brother hadn't rushed to the old miracle doctor to get some ointment, she wouldn't have been able to sleep at night.
Even with such an easy-to-use ointment, she still itched for two days before the red spots all over her body were removed.
Mrs. Cui carried the good news all the way to the melon field, but she was also very tired.
When Li Laoer saw her, he immediately took his niece over.
This girl is like a meat bun, getting more and more round and round, making it difficult for anyone to hold her.
When Liu Zhiheng saw his adopted sister coming over, his smile turned into a flower.
"Jinrou, my father said he wanted to pick some and present them to the palace first!"
"This is a big happy event!" Mrs. Cui was also pleasantly surprised. She was afraid that the villagers would be reluctant to part with it, so she helped explain, "After presenting it to the palace, our Cold melons and cantaloupes are tributes, and everyone will fight for them, so they won't have to worry about selling them."
Li Laoer, the village chief, and the nearby villagers were all very excited when they heard this.
In fact, it no longer matters whether the money is sold or not. The emperor is most proud when he eats the cold melons they grow.
The village chief even said, "Because some county magistrate's son came to seize the land, Mr. Wen even took us to file a complaint. I also met with the emperor and received the japonica rice as a reward from the emperor. Now we have a firm foothold, Han." We have a good harvest of melons, so we should give some to the emperor to taste."
This reminded Liu Zhiheng, "Then we should inform Junior Brother Wen. It is best for him and my father to follow you into the palace."
As he spoke, He called Chang Sui and hurried back to the city.
It's already dusk now, and if we don't hurry up, the city gate will be closed.
Soon, everyone reported a rough number. Liu Zhiheng had some concerns and went back to Li's house with everyone.
Tao Hongying and a woman helped bring back two large food boxes, plus Mrs. Li's steamed rice, a large plate of washed vegetables, and a large bowl of fried egg sauce, and dinner was put on the table.
The village chief, Uncle Zhao, and Doctor Zhang all came to accompany the guests. After they had eaten and drank enough, they started talking about business.
Liu Zhiheng got straight to the point, "After these cold melons and cantaloupe are sent to the palace, the emperor will separate them to reward important ministers and dignitaries. When the reputation spreads, we can sell them. I am not going to sell them by the pound, such a good thing is It can't be like ordinary fruits. This time, let's sell them individually!"
Sell them individually? Everyone understood it, no wonder they went to the fields to count just now.