470 Crazy!
After the tomatoes had cooled down, Jiang Yue and Xue Yan took out the tomatoes, cut them into small pieces, and placed them in a few small bowls. Then, they sprinkled some white sugar on them and placed a small spoon in each bowl.
Then, they called Xue Dafu and the others over to eat.
Xue Dafu and the others were making ice. Xue Yifu had been too busy at home, so his bigger cart had been ready for a few days. The popsicle seller was already using the cart, and he had been making ice or rice noodles for the past few days. He didn’t have the time to do any more wood work, and as for the thin sticks, he had left them to the other carpenters.
When they heard Jiang Yue and Xue Yan calling them to eat iced tomatoes with sugar, they all dropped by.
After one mouthful, they all complimented the taste.
“It’s sweet, I don’t taste the sourness at all. Especially the juice in the last bowl, it’s really delicious!”
Xue Yan didn’t like to eat sweet or sour things, so Jiang Yue only put a little sugar in the small bowl to make the tomato taste sweet but not sour.
Xue Yan glanced at her and didn’t say anything. He only took it and ate it silently.
In town, their stall sold iced tomatoes with sugar very well. Unfortunately, there weren’t many tomatoes left, and they were sold out in a short time.
As soon as Sifu returned from town in the evening, he could not stop nagging the kids, “Why did you only plant half an acre? You guys didn’t know what it was like, but those people who came to eat ice were fighting for this!”
This time, without Jiang Yue’s guidance, Yu Hongyan said, “The seed-looking thing inside the tomato should be the seed, right?”
“It should be…” Liu Guixia laughed. “Let’s save some too. We’ll plant more next year.”
Jiang Yue and Xue Yan exchanged a satisfied look.
When the village chief’s wife heard from the townspeople that the tomatoes were selling very well, she immediately returned to the courtyard and closed the door. “Our family has suffered a loss! What a shame!”
“What loss?” Chief Lu asked without even lifting his head as he held the bamboo basket and weaved something.
“It’s about the two acres of barren land we gave away! Didn’t we sell it to the Xue family? We’ve lost out! How many tomatoes have they picked today? I heard that the tomatoes alone had earned more than half a piece of silver! They still have so many tomatoes at home! They were all grown in our land!
“Who knew what else they could grow from this other half! At that time, they only gave our family four silver. Our family even gave the title deed to them, so they can continue to grow more crops in the future. Don’t you think our family is at a huge loss?”
Village chief Lu was so angry that he blew his beard and glared at his wife, “If we don’t sell it to them, we’ll just leave it there and not get a single cent! Our family gained four silver for two acres of barren land. Why are you complaining?!”
“N-no, it’s not… just that…” the village chief’s wife said anxiously. “I’m just a little uncomfortable seeing such good things being grown in our land.”
“Even if we tried to grow something on it, it wouldn’t grow as well. It makes sense that they’re doing well because the Xue family works extra hard and tends to their crops consistently. Are you not satisfied with the four pieces of silver?!”
The chief’s wife didn’t dare to respond.
“Just because Wang Sufen has been keeping quiet doesn’t mean you have to take her place! Don’t say such nonsense in the future. Otherwise, I’ll leave you to fend for yourself! Then we can see who will be at a loss!”