Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 620 - Chapter 620 620. August Bomb_1

Chapter 620: 620. August Bomb_1 Chapter 620: 620. August Bomb_1 During this time, when they were clearing some new land on the back hill, it just so happened that this particular plot was only a small path away from the Chestnut Garden tea garden, so the excavator operator simply took this shaded path instead.

And even in the most remote mountains, there’s always something edible to be found. He’d been able to get hold of a few things during this time.

Initially, he dug up tree roots and unearthed a dozen or so big, white, chubby grubs in one morning–these things are delicious when roasted and highly nutritious too!

But since he’d been eating meals at Song Tan’s place every day lately, he’d become more particular about taste. After some thought, he decided to bring them along for Dabao and Erbao instead.

After all, it wasn’t his first time working for Song Tan’s family. Once Qiaoqiao had pointed it out for them, Dabao and Erbao were willing to eat what he brought.

The first time they saw these things, Dabao and Erbao were reluctant to eat them; they sniffed at them and then uninterestedly lay down

Zhang Ziqiang, however, couldn’t bear to see them go to waste. He gathered some more fire, skewered them onto a stick, and started roasting!

He even sighed, “You guys just don’t know what’s good! When I was a kid, I never got my turn to eat them.”

And sure enough, as soon as they were roasted, their aroma was so enticing that even the two dogs were willing to eat them.

Since then, everyone gradually became more familiar with each other.

For instance, a couple of days ago, Zhang Ziqiang brought a few Chinese dates from the mountains.

Though they had a slightly astringent taste, they were mostly sweet. With nothing better to do, the two dogs munched away on them while playing.

So today, when Sun Ziqiang called out to them, Dabao and Erbao barked in response and decisively scrambled out the door that was covered by Golden Sakura vines.

Zhou Tianyu involuntarily took a couple of steps back:

“Damn! They really can come out!”

Meanwhile, Sun Ziqiang lowered his shirt hem, and several strange-looking, faintly purple fruits that had split open tumbled out onto the grass.

Dabao and Erbao curiously sniffed around but wouldn’t bite. This somewhat frustrated Sun Ziqiang:

“Ancestors, I feed you every day. Could I possibly poison you? I have to wait on you hand and foot, and even test the food for poison… Come on, I’ll eat it to show you!”

No sooner had he spoken than Dabao used his paw to scrape one out. Zhang Ziqiang, unpretentious, picked it up from the ground, and with a bit of force, the thick purple skin peeled back along the split, revealing about an inch of soft, white fruit flesh inside.

The whole fruit looked like a big, purple dumpling, but when you looked at the flesh after peeling it open, it resembled a banana.

The reason it’s called “August explos” is that by July or August, when the fruit is ripe, it splits open in the middle like a clam and gradually opens up.

That’s why the locals all call it that.

…

“Oh my!” Tian Tian exclaimed in surprise: “August explos! I haven’t seen those in many years.”

Zhang Ziqiang pointed to the few on the ground: “Help yourself, I just plucked them from the vine.”

Zhou Tianyu didn’t say a word, but Tian Tian had already squatted down to pick one with a slightly darker purple color–a sign of better ripeness.

As she did, she said, “I just saw a video not long ago of someone growing August explos at home. Those fruits were longer and bigger than these, with a very nice purple color and thinner skins too.”

Unlike the ones they were holding, which were only about a dozen centimeters long, shaped like oversized, overly plump dumplings. But the color was uneven, with patches of white, yellow, and purple on their thick skins, and the flesh inside was obviously smaller than the ones in the video.

“I saw that too!”

Zhang Ziqiang got excited: “I heard that those are cultivated and improved varieties, scientifically bred to look better than the wild ones that just grow randomly in the mountains, and they sell for a pretty penny.”

The thing is… he couldn’t quite understand what was so good about selling them.

In their childhood, August explos were certainly popular, but that was because times were hard and travel wasn’t easy, right?

In such hot summer days, when watermelon was pretty much the only fruit available, of course you’d relish something novel.

But nowadays, with all sorts of fruits within easy reach, the ripe flesh of August explos, being sticky and soft, fills your mouth with seeds that you have to spit out one by one.

After much ado in your mouth, you actually consume very little. It’s cloyingly sweet indeed, but surely not worth selling for such a high price!

Sun Ziqiang enthusiastically selected one and handed it to Zhou Tianyu as he spoke:

“Here, share one with your girlfriend!”

Zhou Tianyu subconsciously took it, then explained, “We’re not actually…”

“Oh,” Zhang Ziqiang glanced at Tian Tian, then back at Zhou Tianyu, “That’s fine, guests from afar should be welcomed, and it’s not worth much anyway!”

At that moment, Dabao huffed in discontent.

He had only brought seven or eight chestnuts, intending for Zhang Ziqiang to test them for poison, not for them to eat them all. Now, clearly, several were missing!

“Hahahaha…”

Zhang Ziqiang laughed and then, after petting the heads of Dabao and Erbao, he finished the leftovers in a few bites before breaking the remaining fruits for them:

“Break them open and take them to the garden. You can have another one if you feel like it, but we’re going to have lunch soon.”

As he spoke, the two Baobaos seemed to understand and truly carried the fruits in their mouths to the garden.

With a sleek, oil-glossed, muscular black body, Dabao carried a fruit in his mouth and even lowered his voice to “woof” at Zhou Tianyu as he approached, then flicked his tail dismissively as if he looked down on him.

Zhou Tianyu: …It wasn’t just his imagination; he felt the dog was indeed looking down on him!

Sure enough, Zhang Ziqiang had already asked him:

“What did you do? Why do Dabao and Erbao dislike you so much?”

With Tian Tian beside him, Zhou Tianyu was too embarrassed to lie, and he hesitated:

“It’s just that… I was standing there talking and noticed the chestnuts looked pretty good, so I wanted to try one.”

“Ay-yo-wow!”

Zhang Ziqiang exaggeratedly exclaimed while sizing him up:

“How can you come up with such ideas? There are so many chestnut trees around here that nobody minds, but you have set your sights on Song Tan’s trees?”

“Somebody has spent money to fence them off and even keeps two dogs for protection. Didn’t you wonder why?”

“Let me tell you, the chestnuts aren’t even ripe yet. When they are, they’ll definitely sell for no less than 20 per pound. You just picking one branch can cost several tens of dollars!”

Zhou Tianyu: …Why is everything in his household so expensive?

He drooped dejectedly, “I just… didn’t think that much about it.”

Tian Tian’s eyes lit up, and she quickly followed up, “Is it really that expensive? Is it easy to sell?”

Zhang Ziqiang, seeing that she was a girl, huffed but still replied:

“I’m just quoting a rough price. It’ll definitely be more than twenty dollars. I’ve heard some bosses have already placed orders.”

“What’s up, you want to buy some?”

“I’m not buying.”

Tian Tian turned to look at the lush chestnut trees and then took out her phone:

“Brother, would it be okay if you save Boss Song’s number for me? I want to ask her something.”

Zhang Ziqiang wondered why she didn’t ask Zhou Tianyu.

After all, they had both been walking around these mountains; even if they weren’t boyfriend and girlfriend, there should be some connection, right?

But then, on second thought, that Zhou kid was untrustworthy, previously trying to pluck something from Song Tan’s just to coax a girl–sneaky and shameless!

He simply took her phone and tapped away:

“There, this is my number. Call me later so I can save it, and I’ll ask Song Tan and get back to you once I’m back.”