Chapter 477: 477. Embarrassed to say_1 Chapter 477: 477. Embarrassed to say_1 Thinking of this, Song Tan couldn’t help feeling gloomy–because if things kept developing on this scale, she feared that whatever she planted in the future would need to be covered.
Old Zhao was at a loss for words for a moment.
After a thought, he blurted out a rather hindsight suggestion, “Then… why not just put bags over the fruits?”
Before Old Zhao had finished speaking, the two had already pushed open the gate to the peach orchard.
Song Tan pointed to the peach trees in front of her, laden with fruit:
“You tell me, is it more appropriate to add a cover, or is bagging the fruits less trouble?”
The slender peach leaves were dense and rustled in the wind, with large peaches, green with hints of white and red, squeezed together, looking as if they were competing with each other for space.
With this, how do you put bags on? And how would there be time or hands to do it?
Instantly, Old Zhao felt that no answer was needed.
In fact, the bird problem in the fruit and vegetable gardens had long been something the family had been trying to find a solution for–Song Tan’s current abilities were at best intermittently driving away insects, and not very comprehensively at that.
For the larger issues, she was truly powerless.
So at first, old Li had even set up scarecrows in the vegetable patch! The scarecrows were made to look very lifelike, even dressed in discarded coats. But the birds these days are truly brazen and lawless–of course, this is not to discount the fact that the crops are too good, too tempting.
In short, it did not work at all; they even gathered in groups to perch on top of the scarecrows to hold meetings!
Jibbering away, utterly defiant.
Later, Song Tan bought one of those noise-making bird repelling devices online, audible to both humans and birds, which was equally ineffective.
But luckily, the vegetable garden wasn’t so large; with Sanbao and Sibao keeping watch there, along with a few half-grown Tian Yuan dogs happily roaming around, it was just barely manageable to keep the birds at bay.
But the orchard was a different story altogether.
Not to mention that the Peach Forest was full of Watermelon Vine, making it difficult for a few dogs to run around freely. Even if you talk about how tall the fruit trees are, with branches upon branches, if the birds perch in the middle or at the very top to steal a bite, there’s no stopping them.
Big Wang was tall and could jump far, but he certainly couldn’t leap up into the trees!
In the end, after various attempts, the simplest method proved to be the most effective.
Now, with the orchard shielded securely, Zhang Wang’s family, who toiled daily over it, were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Old Zhao, after hearing the explanation, also felt resigned to the situation.
At this moment, looking at the vast field of large green peaches, he also felt a twinge of nostalgic pride–this was no small feat!
Then he grew curious, “This Eagle Beak Peach of yours, no one around here seems to grow it, do they? Is it really better than the local peaches?”
Song Tan swelled with pride as she spoke.
The local area only had one variety of peach, the May Fairy Peach, which had a similar crisp and sweet taste but wasn’t grown on a large scale; most households just planted one or two trees, so the variety hadn’t undergone any renewal or improvement.
If you asked her, the taste was truly mediocre.
“This Eagle Beak Peach, it actually resembles our local peaches the most–crisp and sweet, with a particularly strong peach flavor. The only difference from our local peaches is that its tip has a curved hook, like an eagle’s beak, hence the name Eagle Beak Peach.”
It’s precisely this beak shape, prone to breaking during transportation, luckily not usually affecting the eating quality. However, when they go on sale, she reminded herself, she’d need to specify that those with the tip broken off aren’t covered by warranty.
Song Tan reminded herself in her mind.
“We tasted them a couple of days ago, and the flavor is simply impeccable.”
As she spoke, she stretched out her hand and picked a cluster of peaches in front of her, breaking them off one by one into a basket. Don’t be fooled by the green with traces of red–the red part was already a sign of particularly abundant ripeness due to sunlight exposure.
Even those very green small peaches are now edible, just lacking in sweetness and far behind in texture.
Speaking of texture, Old Zhao had no doubts about it!
At this moment, smacking his lips, his stomach, which had just been filled with silver fungus soup, seemed to empty once again…
However, they had only picked half a basket when Secretary Xiaozu called:
“Song Tan, do you remember the subsidy for your orchard? The one with 300 per mu. Didn’t you say a couple of days ago that the peaches were about to ripen? I’ve urged people to come and inspect them right away.”
She lowered her voice:
“I see that you have a lot of peaches on the mountain this year, and it’s too strenuous to sell them piece by piece. I’ll see if I can get some reliable wholesalers’ contact information from these folks.”
Song Tan nodded vigorously, “Okay!”
She even decided immediately that she would go to the field and pick a basket of corn ears the next day!
How should I put it? It wasn’t for selling purposes, but to let these hardworking government officials feel the simplicity and warmth of their rural people!
And Old Zhao, patiently waiting for her to finish the call, said anxiously on the side, “No matter what, you can’t forget about me! I definitely need to have some peaches!”
“I know.” Song Tan said with a smile and a sigh, “I would rather sell in bulk to wholesalers, but do you see my crop yields being enough for that?”
Old Zhao became even more anxious:
“I’m talking about the future! No matter what, you can’t forget our relationship from the veggie market stall, all right? Next year, when you expand, you’ve got to remember me!”
“Look, for you, I’ve already rented the storefront!”
Song Tan directly handed him the basket, “Pick the peaches properly and stop letting your mind wander.”
Seeing Old Zhao receive the basket, looking relieved, she went on to ask, “By the way, my chickens and ducks started laying eggs. I’m planning to make salted duck eggs with the duck eggs, so I’m not selling those. But I do have quite a few chicken eggs every day…”
“You still need to ask?”
Old Zhao, unsatisfied, said, “Just tell me the price. Send them straight to me. By the way, how many can you get out in a day?”
Song Tan thought about it–there were over a hundred chicks in total and not a single one had died young.
Discounting the roosters, all the hens had started laying eggs. Because of their young age, the frequency of laying wasn’t especially stable, but they could lay about 70 eggs a day, right?
After excluding what her family ate…
“Fifty a day, ten yuan each.”
“Fifty a day? And you said that’s a lot? That’s a lot? Anyone could carry them all off in one go!”
“There’s nothing I can do about that.”
Song Tan helplessly said, “I can’t take care of too many. These were originally raised for our own consumption. If it weren’t for the hot weather making it impossible to keep the eggs fresh, I wouldn’t even rush to sell them.”
Old Zhao calculated in his mind–fifty eggs, keeping ten a day for himself, only forty could be sold. Really… it was pitifully few!
He could only nag again, “Keep the salted duck eggs for me when they’re ready, and about the fish in your pond, didn’t I hear they’ve grown quite big? Why not just fish them out and sell me a batch?”
“That won’t do.” The salted duck eggs were fine, but not the fish.
Alas, to speak honestly, the shop’s treasured pictures have felt a bit mismatched recently without a dedicated photographer.
One side is in 4K ultra-high definition, the other is in 720p standard definition… the gap is just too wide!
It wasn’t that she wanted to mooch off their cameras, primarily it was because more people made it merrier.