Chapter 596 - 590_1
The fruit trees aroused the interest of Lin Yue’s wife, so Zhao Erhu naturally acquired them. There was no need for his wife to check them out personally; Zhao Erhu would rather spend more silver. Moreover, after this incident, it became even harder for the fruit merchant to sell the saplings. With a little thought and maneuvering, Zhao Erhu could buy the whole lot. Zhao Erhu was not the kind of merchant who relished exploiting others strictly for profit, but since the fruit merchant had harbored ill intentions first, there was no need for courtesy.
Zhao Erhu was also very efficient in his work. By the next day, he had purchased and brought back all the fruit tree saplings from the merchant, which were more than Lin Yue had imagined. Lin Yue reviewed them and discovered not only lemon trees but also orange and pomelo trees, haphazardly mixed together, which left her speechless yet also pleasantly surprised. In the fruit merchant’s eyes, it was a loss-making deal, but she had gained several kinds of saplings her family did not have. She thought that the merchant must have transported the trees from afar because they were stronger than the local ones. There were even grapevine saplings and some others that she didn’t recognize; the quantity was not large, and only after bearing fruit could she know what they were. After all, Lin Yue was not a fruit farmer. She knew some, but could not fully identify them.
However, this purchase turned out to be a real bargain. Zhao Erhu acquired them almost at cost from the merchant, and some of the trees were clearly mature enough to bear fruit, indicating they were several years old, yet they were also mixed in. Lin Yue figured that perhaps the planter did not recognize these saplings and, finding the fruit sour after it fruited, thought them useless. It seemed a pity to discard them, so they ended up mixed in, to her advantage.
"How is it, do you recognize these fruit trees?" Zhao Erhu saw the increasingly radiant smile on his little wife’s face and knew the trees must be good. He asked, smiling.
"Mm, I recognize most of them," Lin Yue replied, "But I’m not sure about a few. I’ll only know once the fruit sets. You should plant these separately." With the rich variety of modern fruits, Lin Yue was confident that she would be able to identify them once she saw the fruit, but it was indeed challenging with the saplings. After all, everyone recognizes fruit; even if they have not tasted it, they have seen it, but the same can’t be said for saplings.
"Okay, then. You tell me which ones you know, and I’ll arrange for people to plant all these fruit tree saplings. Even though their roots and stems have been pretty well preserved, they have been transported from afar and have been out of the soil for too long, which might not be good. It’s better to plant them sooner rather than later." Zhao Erhu had some experience tending to crops, and Lin Yue thought the same. They immediately arranged everything together and planted all the fruit trees.
Once they finished with this batch of work, Lin Yue felt she needed to talk with Zhao Erhu about the affairs of Lin Genfa’s three children, knowing that Zhao Erhu would not object to her arrangements but still feeling the need to keep him informed.