Chapter 106 (Part 1): The Culinary Tycoon

Rarity Commands Value

Seeing those red fruits, Yu Qingze immediately walked over, squatted down, and leaned in to smell. The leaves of the tomato plant had a pungent smell, and he picked up a cluster of four small tomatoes the size of a child’s fist and took a sniff. Immediately, he detected that delightful aroma.

“Dahe, did you just say that you’re giving this to us…to repel mosquitoes?” Yu Qingze asked, feeling a bit lost for words.

Dahe nodded and said, “This thing is really effective in repelling mosquitoes. Just place a pot of it in the room, and the number of mosquitoes will be greatly reduced. We heard about it from the doctor who treats the boss, and then we bought some to put in the cabins. Indeed, the mosquitoes decreased. Later, each of us bought a pot to bring back home. There are too many mosquitoes in the summer, and it’s hard to sleep at night. Moreover, these fruits are red and quite attractive, but nobody dares to eat them for fear of toxicity. Local people treat them as ornamental plants.”

Yu Qingze:… Well, it used to be considered as an ornamental plant since nobody dared to eat it. However, I didn’t expect it to be developed into a mosquito-repellent plant.

“You said each of you bought a pot? You and the other crew members?” Yu Qingze asked anxiously.

Dahe nodded and said, “Yes, that’s right. Is something the matter?”

“I want to buy all of them,” Yu Qingze’s eyes lit up, and he asked Dahe, “How many crew members do you have in total?”

Dahe paused for a moment, scratched his head, and said, “There are over ten of us. But, Brother Yu, why do you want to buy so many? Are you planning to use them in your shop to repel mosquitoes? Don’t you close the shop at night?”

Yu Qingze smiled and said, “Dahe, these fruits can be eaten. I want to buy all the ones you brought back, preserve the seeds, and then grow them ourselves.”

Dahe was shocked and stammered, “This can be eaten? It’s so red, aren’t you afraid it’s toxic?” The fruits are so bright red, and the smell of the leaves is unpleasant. Even mosquitoes don’t come near them. Are you sure they can be eaten?

Yu Qingze shook his head and reached out to pluck the ripest tomato, washed it clean, and was about to take a bite. Upon seeing this, Chang Le rushed over and grabbed Yu Qingze’s wrist.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to eat it?” Yu Qingze asked.

Chang Le shook his head and gestured, indicating that nobody has ever eaten it, so he shouldn’t eat it either.

Yu Qingze’s heart warmed, and he found an excuse, saying, “Don’t worry, my master has eaten it before. He let me taste it.”

Chang Le was still very worried.

Yu Qingze held Chang Le’s hand and said, “Trust me, everything will be fine.”

Seeing the calm and confident look in Yu Qingze’s eyes, Chang Le couldn’t help but nod. They used to say that jelly fungus was toxic and inedible, but Yu Qingze proved that it can be eaten. Perhaps, this fruit is just another case of their lack of knowledge?

After Chang Le nodded, Yu Qingze took a bite. Today is truly a good day—they had the durian, and now they can eat the tomatoes and guava.

Dahe watched the two of them, silently sighing in his heart, but a smile couldn’t help but appear on his face.

Compared to Yu Qingze, he falls short in every aspect. No wonder Chang Le likes him.

He heard that they are about to open a restaurant soon. If the snack shop is doing so well, the restaurant business will surely thrive too.

During these two visits, seeing the ever-growing smile on Chang Le’s face day by day, Dahe finally had to admit in his heart that Chang Le made the right choice marrying Yu Qingze. Being with him brings a hundredfold happiness compared to being with himself.

When he calmly acknowledged this fact, Dahe felt a weight in his heart loosen a bit. It felt like he could breathe again, and he felt a little lighter.

After eating a few bites, Yu Qingze looked at Chang Le’s worried expression and simply held the tomato to his mouth, saying, “Or else, you should also taste it? If it’s poisonous, we’ll both get poisoned together.”

Translated on ho lo lo novels dot com.

Chang Le glared at him and then took a fierce bite of his hand!

“How is it?” Yu Qingze asked, wiping the drop of tomato juice from the corner of Chang Le’s mouth with his hand. He bit too hard!

Chang Le tasted it and nodded in astonishment. It had a refreshing, sweet and sour taste.

The two of them ate the tomato, taking turns with each bite. After a while, they didn’t experience any adverse reactions, and Dahe breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s really edible.”

Yu Qingze nodded and said, “It’s edible. So, Dahe, can you please help me? Find out how much they bought it for and I’ll buy it from them at double the price. Do you think they would sell it to me?”

Dahe shook his head and said, “I’m not sure about that. I’ll go and ask.”

“Okay, thank you for your help. If they refuse to sell, see if you can at least bring back the ripe fruits. And don’t tell them it’s edible for now. If they all eat it, there won’t be any seeds left.”

“Okay, I’ll remember.”

Yu Qingze expressed his gratitude and then placed the pot of tomatoes in a sunny spot. The remaining tomatoes couldn’t be eaten for now as they needed to be saved for the seeds.

It was still not yet August, and in his memory, tomatoes were also grown outdoors in autumn. Tongshan City had a favorable climate, with relatively high temperatures at the moment, and the winter here was not long or very cold. It should be possible to cultivate a crop.

With the matter settled, Yu Qingze remembered that Dahe mentioned bringing back vegetable seeds. He quickly asked, “Dahe, what kind of vegetables are the seeds you mentioned?”

Dahe walked over to the wall, took his bag from the chair, and pulled out a large cloth bag from inside. He opened it, revealing three small packets of seeds.

“The one in the green cloth bag is cauliflower. The one in the white cloth bag is called Dutch beans?”

“Dutch beans?”

“Yes, Dutch beans. And this one in the floral cloth bag is called cabbage. It’s said to be rolled up like a ball, similar to Chinese cabbage, with the leaves rolled in the middle.”

“Yeah, cauliflower, Dutch beans, and cabbage. Dahe, this is fantastic! We’ll have more vegetables to eat from now on!” Yu Qingze said happily, patting Dahe on the shoulder.

These three vegetables are all suitable for autumn and winter seasons. It should be about time to sow the seeds and raise seedlings. Dahe’s return was really timely! They wouldn’t have to rely solely on radishes, cabbage, and pickled vegetables during the winter.

After organizing the seeds, Yu Qingze started thinking about how to sell the boxes of fruit.

He asked Dahe about the prices they bought the guava and durian for. Since they directly picked them from people’s homes and bought a large quantity, they got a cheaper price. They bought the guava for four wen per jin and the durian for thirteen wen per jin.

He informed Dahe that starting tomorrow, the guava would be priced at twelve wen per jin, while the durian with shell would be forty wen per jin and the flesh alone would be eighty wen per jin.

Dahe was astonished. It seemed so expensive!

Yu Qingze nodded and said, “Rare things are valuable. We brought them all the way from the south, so they’re naturally a bit more expensive.”

He sent someone to deliver letters to the Zhao and Cai families, inviting the young masters from both households to come and taste two fresh fruits they obtained from the south tomorrow morning.

Then he gathered Brother Chang and another employee and briefed them on selling the fruits the next morning.

After closing the stall in the evening, Yu Qingze gave each of his employees a guava for them to taste, while the durian had to be shared with spoons due to the limited quantity.

That night, he asked Brother Chang to accompany Chang Le to guard the shop, while he took two durians and some guavas back home to let Grandpa Chang and Chang Hao taste them. He also brought back the three packets of vegetable seeds to give to Grandpa Chang for planting.

The next morning, Brother Chang and the others set up a table in front of the shop and started banging a gong while shouting.

On the table, a guava was cut into small pieces. A durian was also opened, and many spoons were provided for people to try.

Old Master Cai and Old Master Zhao arrived as well. Yu Qingze personally entertained them in the backyard, inviting them to taste the fruits and explaining the benefits of these two fruits. Finally, he gave each of them two durians and seven or eight guavas, which were packed in backpacks and baskets respectively.

At the beginning, there were more people trying the fruits than buying them, especially for the durian, which was indeed quite expensive, so some were hesitant to purchase.

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Thandar: Part 2 is password protected. The pw is below.