Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 993 - 973. Eat dragon fruit

Chapter 993: 973. Eat dragon fruit

Song Tan: ...

My greenhouse has two huge patches of strawberries, yet somehow when I want to eat one, I have to go for the ones left after extracting the seeds?

"I won’t eat them." She was a farmer with principles.

"I want to eat!" Qiaoqiao raised up the deep red strawberry in her hand. "Teacher Song, can you extract the seeds now? I want to eat it right now."

Professor Song: ...

"Alright, alright."

He swiftly picked up his scissors and snipped off two mature Saga Snow Rabbits. "Let’s go, I’ll teach you how to extract the seeds at home."

"I already know!" Qiaoqiao bragged, "Brother Yanping taught me!"

Huh?

Now it was Zhang Yanping’s turn to be baffled. "When did I ever teach you that?"

"You did!" Qiaoqiao said with confidence. "When you finished summer break and brought back a box of dragon fruit, you said the seeds inside couldn’t be eaten and made me pick them out before eating it."

Everyone: ...!!!

Zhang Yanping looked both confused and amused. "Wait, you really picked them out?"

"Nope." Qiaoqiao said dejectedly. "That dragon fruit had so many seeds, even more than strawberries! I picked for ages but got tired, didn’t feel like eating anymore, so I gave them to Datian and the other guys."

Then she added nervously, "I didn’t pick out the seeds before giving the dragon fruit to them, but I watched—none of them seemed to have a problem."

How can I put this? At that moment, the entire greenhouse froze in an awkward atmosphere. Everybody kept their mouths shut tight for fear that an unexpected laugh might slip out.

Because honestly, if Qiaoqiao’s fragile pride took another hit, it might just shatter completely.

After thinking long and hard, Qiaoqiao turned her accusing eyes toward Zhang Yanping—look at this devious guy, with a face like a mob boss but doing things even more ruthless than one. What kind of person lies to kids like this?!

Even Xin Jun couldn’t resist opening his mouth, but after some hesitation, repackaged his words before they came out:

"That’s right! Qiaoqiao’s approach was quite smart—taking into account unnecessary yet painstaking tasks where the effort outweighs the joy of eating, giving up in time is the right choice."

God knows how much strength it took for him to keep from laughing! Just look at everyone else with their twitching lips, putting on an act by staring intently at the lush green leaves around them, as if some intricate embroidery had sprouted on them.

"Besides, don’t worry. For tiny, granular seeds like these, people around the world don’t have the patience to pick them out either. They just eat without bothering to remove them."

"Next time you encounter them, you can eat them openly and without hesitation."

Qiaoqiao let out a breath of relief. "Ah! I thought I was just too lazy and that’s why I didn’t want to pick them."

Then she shook her head. "I won’t eat them. I picked out a little piece to try, and it wasn’t as tasty as radishes."

The topic successfully shifted and everyone managed to hold back their laughter.

Meanwhile, Professor Song opened his mouth but ended up holding back until they left the greenhouse. Unable to resist, he asked, "How did you... pfft... cough cough... pick the seeds out of dragon fruits?"

It seemed he had briefly choked on his words, prompting Qiaoqiao to grow nervous.

"My mom used to use those small, thin tweezers to pick out yellow leaves and sticks from tea leaves. Using those tweezers, you just pinch the seeds out one by one—it’s easy."

Qiaoqiao enthusiastically shared her experience further. "Dragon fruits really do have too many seeds, so when extracting them you have to cut them into very thin slices. That way you can cleanly extract them. Otherwise, some seeds are stuck in the middle and can only be found after taking a bite."

Well, everyone imagined the scene. Honestly, they felt this conversation couldn’t continue any further, or they’d be crushed by the weight of trying to keep their image together in front of Qiaoqiao.

Stepping up to the plate, Professor Song cleared his throat: "Dragon fruit seeds can be extracted like that... cough... but doing the same for strawberry seeds is far too complicated. Let me teach you a quick and simple method that won’t damage the seeds."

"Okay." Qiaoqiao was always highly respectful of new information.

Extracting strawberry seeds wasn’t too difficult. As soon as Professor Song called everyone over, they gathered around to watch. The process itself was surprisingly simple—

Get a paper towel, and carefully peel thin slices of strawberry skin with a small knife, then spread them flat across the paper towel.

The strawberry’s juices quickly soaked into the paper towel, and its fragrance spread even more.

"You know, it really smells like a blend of yellow peach and strawberry," Song Tan muttered, still wondering why they managed to cultivate such an unusual scent.

"Isn’t that really straightforward?"

Professor Song pointed at two sheets of paper towel laid out flat on sturdy cardboard.

The Saga Snow Rabbit strawberries were large, and the seeds from two fruits filled up the entire sheet densely. In comparison, True Red Meiling strawberries were smaller, and the seeds extracted from just one fruit barely occupied half a sheet.

Meanwhile, in the bowl in front of them sat three carefully peeled, pristine strawberries, waiting to be devoured.

Smelling the enticing aroma, Professor Song couldn’t help but swallow involuntarily. But he wasn’t about to fight kids for food at his age.

Let alone for strawberries that had been stripped of their seeds—he’d lose face even admitting it out loud!

Adults struggled to maintain their crumbling dignity. Torn between wanting to eat and holding back. But Qiaoqiao wasn’t bothered at all; the moment he reached out, he grabbed a strawberry and "om nom" devoured it in one bite, mumbling as he spoke:

"It’s so delicious, so delicious! A hundred times better than the strawberries I used to grow!"

He looked at Professor Song with admiration, "Teacher Song, no wonder you picked them—they’re really amazing!"

Professor Song: ... Is it possible that, while this strawberry is indeed delicious, others haven’t grown it to this level?

Speaking of its flavor, that’s yet another mystery waiting to be solved.

Over on the side, Zhang Yanping couldn’t resist commenting as he looked at the sheets with seeds: "Looks like the leftover silkworm eggs we used to store as kids."

Xin Jun couldn’t take it any longer and shut his eyes tightly: "If you haven’t mastered the art of analogies, then just don’t."

Zhang Yanping sulked. "What’s wrong? Was my analogy not vivid and realistic enough?" Clearly, Xin Jun was holding a grudge for his earlier antics with Qiaoqiao and nitpicking on purpose!

But seriously, none of them could understand why Qiaoqiao’s brain shuts off whenever dragon fruit comes up.

Annoyed, Zhang Yanping turned to Professor Song again. "What’s next? It looks like something I saw in a video—don’t you have to spray water, add some antibacterial solution, then speed up the germination process with paper towels?"

Professor Song froze for a moment, then shook his head. "No need. Freshly extracted seeds should go through a dormancy period to improve their germination and survival rates."

"As for germination acceleration, it’s unnecessary. This heated, dry room will do fine. Just leave them here for one or two days, and once the entire sheet is dry, gently rub the seeds off with your fingers..."

He carefully explained, "This method ensures the seeds don’t get damaged and have a brief dormancy period. Once the temperatures are ideal, just sow them directly into the soil."

At this point, his eyes lit up with anticipation. "Hopefully, the traits of these seed-sown sprouts can remain stable."