Allure of a Country Maiden
Chapter 887 - 885_1

Chapter 887: Chapter 885_1

With a broken bone, Huzi’s dad wouldn’t be able to move around freely for the next couple of months.

Luckily, the lychees at their orchard had been nearly sold out. The few remaining ones could be easily managed by Huzi’s mom.

After the doctor left, Huzi’s dad remembered Xiao’er’s previous request to grow yellow dragon fruits in their orchard. He asked, "What do yellow dragon fruits look like, do you have their seeds?"

Even though he had never seen or even heard of such a fruit before, he was determined to reciprocate their kindness by growing it successfully.

Dad, I know what yellow dragon fruit is!" Upon hearing this, Huzi ran out and quickly came back holding a shiny yellow pitaya.

"Sis, is the yellow dragon fruit this big yellow fruit?"

Among the gifts given by Xiao’er, there were a few of these yellow dragon fruits. With Huzi bringing them out, she smiled at him and touched his head, "Very clever. How did you guess?"

"I thought this fruit looked so pretty, it must have a beautiful name! Turns out, it really does have a beautiful name."

Huzi’s dad took over the yellow dragon fruit and commented, "Is this the yellow dragon fruit? One of these fruits weighs almost seven or eight taels. Are their trees big?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao’er shook her head. "Not really, it grows similar to the night-blooming cereus."

She noticed that some villagers had grown night-blooming cereus on their walls. From a distance, she almost mistook them for pitaya plants.

In fact, the two plants were very similar, even their flowers looked alike. The only difference was that yellow dragon fruits would bear fruit in their later growth stages.

Having heard Xiao’er’s comparison, Huzi’s dad immediately understood. The night-blooming cereus was relatively easy to grow, he believed so must be the yellow dragon fruit.

Yang Mei came in with a plate of sliced yellow dragon fruit as a dessert after meal.

"Uncle, aunt, try this." Xiao’er invited them.

They picked up a piece of yellow dragon fruit each to try. Their eyes lit up, "This fruit is sweet and has a soft pulp, which is suitable for the elderly and children."

Xiao’er smiled and nodded her head. Then she began to explain how to plant the yellow dragon fruit.

"This fruit was brought in tribute from overseas. Our Minze Country purchases them from foreign merchants at astronomical prices. In response, I sent people to investigate the characteristics of the fruit. Then we traveled south in search of suitable places for planting and found that the areas around Zhenyang County fit perfectly."

"If the fruit can be successfully cultivated, I will send people to purchase them. For the first one or two years, the price will definitely not be less than one hundred coins per pound. As more people start planting and the yield increases, the price will definitely go down. I believe you understand this."

"One hundred coins per pound?!" Upon hearing this, Huzi’s dad was shocked.

"Yes, one hundred coins is the minimum estimate. The actual purchase price could be higher, depending on the quality of the dragon fruits you grow. If they are large and sweet, the price can be pushed up."

A possibility of a price higher than one hundred coins per pound? Huzi’s dad was at a loss of words!

One yellow dragon fruit weighs nearly seven or eight taels. In other words, a pound will have at most two fruits. But Huzi’s dad believed that with enough fertilization, each fruit could weigh close to one pound.

That is to say, each yellow dragon fruit could sell for fifty to a hundred coins.

And that’s just the price at which Lady Xiao’er would purchase. Reselling the fruit later could fetch more than double.

He wondered how much the foreign merchants were selling these fruits for. Could it be one tael of silver per fruit?

At this thought, he looked at the yellow peel in his hand, and his face crumpled in conflicted feelings. What should he do? He suspiciously eyed the peel, tempted to eat it!

It was incredibly expensive! They were not simply eating fruit, but gold!

Xiao’er saw that Huzi’s dad was frowning. Mistaking his trepidation over losing the peel for concern about successfully growing the fruit, she comforted him, "In fact, growing yellow dragon fruits is not difficult. Due to their appealing name, auspicious symbolism, pleasing aesthetic, and delicious taste, they are universally enjoyed by old and young alike. Furthermore, they are not present in our country, which is why the price is so high."

"I understand. I will definitely work hard to grow them." Huzi’s dad regained his composure and reluctantly let go of the skin of the fruit held in his hand. The skin was quite heavy. How much money was he throwing away?!

"Currently, these fruits are in low supply in foreign countries and are considered sacred fruits, used exclusively by the nobility. It’s even a required offering for some overseas religious rituals. If we can grow these fruits in large quantities, we can potentially sell them back to the overseas merchants at a high price. Let’s not mince words. My intention is to plant the yellow dragon fruits on a large scale and sell them to foreign merchants."

"You mean to sell these overseas?" Upon hearing this, Huzi’s dad’s heart was filled with emotion. He never dreamt of a day when the fruits he’d grown would be sold overseas!

"Exactly! We need to make some money off them, after all, they’ve made a fair fortune selling these fruits to us."

Listening to Xiao’er, Huzi’s dad straightened his back, his face serious. "I will definitely do a good job!"

Most people in their time were quite xenophobic, with an ingrained belief that foreigners were barbaric.

"You have a good relationship with the other villagers. I thought you could encourage them to join you in planting these fruits. I’ll arrange for the seedlings to be provided to you all for free. The only condition is that you must sell the fruits to me first. Only when I no longer need them can they be sold to others."

"Is that possible?" Huzi’s dad was shocked to hear this.

This was clearly like presenting them with money!

The seedlings were free of charge and they even had instructions on how to grow them. And, there was no need to worry about selling the fruits after harvesting!

Wasn’t this like dishing out money on a silver platter to them?

All of them were farmers. What difference did it make what they cultivated? Anyway, being a farmer meant always bearing some risk.

Moreover, just one successful fruit could be worth ten pounds of grain!

There was no way they could be so unlucky as to not produce even one fruit, right?

Each household sparing a bit of land to plant these fruits, could lead to enormous wealth if they accidentally managed to successfully harvest them!

In this scenario, they could earn more from one season of fruit harvest than ten years of crop harvest!

Huzi’s dad and mom were ecstatic--it seemed they had encountered a noble!

For some reason, they didn’t have any doubt about Xiao’er’s intentions wholeheartedly trusting her.

After all, not many would believe in such a windfall.

But, there was something about Xiao’er that was convincingly trustworthy and had people willingly believing in her.

"Of course it’s possible. You can ask for the villagers’ opinions tomorrow. If they are interested in planting, have them come here to sign up. I’ll draft a contract for everyone according to the terms that I just mentioned, with one additional clause--they must prioritize selling to me and will be penalized if they breach this contract," Xiao’er clarified further.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.