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Chapter 102 – Ripe Strawberries
Aunt Hu did not say much more, but assured Su Danhong that she would definitely negotiate a good selling price.
These chrysanthemums were really great.
After Aunt Hu saw the flowers and asked Ji Jianyun to transport the flowers to his home, she went back.
Su Danhong gave the seeds to Ji Jianyun. “I’ll leave it to you to go to Aunt Hu to get some flowers.”
Ji Jianyun could only work hard. He brought back more than a dozen pots of flowers. Then, he went out to dig up a lot of fertile soil.
More than a dozen flower pots were placed around the courtyard wall. It was quite spectacular. After Ji Jianyun planted all the seeds, Su Danhong watered it with spiritual spring water, and then did not bother with the flowers.
When Mother Ji came over, she saw so many flowers and asked, “Did Aunt Hu visit?”
“Yes, she also looked at the chrysanthemums and said that I was growing them well, and after that I asked her for some seeds,” Su Danhong explained and giggled.
Mother Ji understood what she meant. It meant that she had won the bet. There was no need to hand over 20% of the orchard.
“Then you can grow these in the future at your place. None of these grew to be ugly. Did you discuss the price with her? Talk about it first before making a decision so there won’t be any confusion,” Mother Ji said.
Su Danhong said, “We don’t know yet, but Aunt Hu has good character and is fair. She won’t lose out on the deal. She knows what to do for me to be fine with it. Anyways, I am more or less only doing this on the side.”
Her tone was very confident.
Gardening was indeed her side job. Her main business was embroidery, and her family’s main business was managing the fruit orchard. Thus, even if they fail at growing flowers, it won’t make her go out of business. It was different for the Hu family since flowers were their main business.
Since it was their main business, they would not ruin their main source of income. She had also made it very clear that she would only be responsible for growing the flowers. As for making business connections, she would depend on the Hu family for that. If they could sell the flowers, then they could come and transport the flowers. This benefitted both of them, creating a win-win situation where there were no conflicts of interest.
After seeing how Aunt Hu acted,  Su Danhong was quite aware of this fact. Therefore, they should be able to collaborate well together.
Mother Ji also did not say anything. The Hu family’s reputation was really good, but she was still going to keep her eyes on things so as to not let Su Danhong suffer any losses.
It was busy on the mountain because the cherry trees had grown extremely well. Just look at those clusters of fruit. It was very likely there was going to be a nice collection this year.
Father Ji smoked a big cigarette today and said to his son, “Jianyun, have you made a deal with your army friend? I think the cherries will be ready to be picked by the end of May.”
“I’ve talked to him and he is free.” Ji Jianyun looked at the cherry trees and was very elated.
There were only a couple cherry trees planted the first time. However, after he came back, he took on another batch of trees. After last year’s nurturing, they all grew very well this year.
“There won’t be enough workers later. We need to get a few more people,” Father Ji stated.
“Yeah, I’ll just ask my eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law to come and help. They will be paid for it,” Ji Jianyun said.
Father Ji had no opinions about these things, but Mother Ji was very satisfied. Before, he didn’t help his brother out when it came to the shop, so didn’t he have to help his eldest brother out now?
It was now the middle of May. The strawberries that Su Danhong planted in the yard were ripe.  They could pick a lot of sweet strawberries for themselves every day.
Xiao Yan’er liked to eat strawberries a lot. As for Xiao Renren, he still couldn’t eat solids yet. Every time he sees his sister eating happily, he would hold onto his milk bottle with a calm face.
After Ji Jianyun came down the mountain, he told his wife about asking others to help harvest the cherries at the end of the month.
Su Danhong didn’t have much of an opinion and said, “Just ask your eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law to help.”
“Do you want to ask your eldest brother?” Ji Jianyun asked.
“Forget about him. When it’s time to pick the cherries, ask my second brother to deliver the vegetables into town earlier and have him come back to help,” Su Danhong said.
“Okay, then I’ll go and talk to them,” Ji Jianyun said.
Su Danhong nodded and said, “Remember to tell Hou Wazi, Xiaozhen, and Xiaoyu to come over. I’m inviting them to eat strawberries.”
Ji Jianyun smiled and went to his eldest brother’s house.
His eldest brother was at the fields, but Feng Fangfang was there. Ji Jianyun told her why he was there. He said that he would pay for their work and they wouldn’t be working for free.
As soon as Feng Fangfang heard this, her eyes twinkled. She said modestly, “What are you so polite for? We don’t need money when we, your brother and sister-in-law, go and help.”
“That’s what I said to Danhong since it’s my brother and sister-in-law. What would you need the money for? We would be treating you too much like strangers!  But Danhong said she couldn’t do that and paying the workers is a must, so we’re going to do it. She’ll calculate the wages and she’ll take care of these things,” Ji Jianyun said.
Feng Fangfang was speechless. She smiled and said nothing more.
“Danhong asked if Hou Wazi wanted to come over and eat strawberries. Where is he?” Ji Jianyun wondered.
“He ran out to play. He’ll be back soon and I’ll tell him to go over,” Feng Fangfang said with a bit of greed. Lao San’s family brought over some strawberries a few days ago. It was so delicious and sweet.
Ji Jianyun went over to his second brother’s house, where it was different from Feng Fangfang’s modesty. As soon as she heard that he was paying, Ji Mudan said, “Okay, then I will go with your second brother when it’s time.”
“Are Xiaozhen and Xiaoyu here?” Ji Jianyun nodded and asked.
“They are.” Ji Mudan shouted for them, and the sisters came out. They were both doing their homework in their room. When they saw their third uncle had come by, they were immediately happy and greeted, “Third uncle!”
Ji Jianyun smiled when he saw his two nieces. He said, “Take your homework and go to my house. Your third aunt invited you over to eat strawberries.”
Both sisters looked at their mother.
“Go ahead, just bring some back for your mother,” Ji Mudan said and waved her hand.
There was definitely something good whenever they went to Lao San’s home. If there wasn’t, then it would be dumb to go.
Ji Jianyun ignored his second sister-in-law’s comment  and left with the two sisters. They met Hou Wazi on the way and he brought the boy home with him.
Su Danhong said, “One bowl each, go to the yard and pick strawberries.”
They were extremely ecstatic. They took the bowl and went to pick the strawberries—the bright red strawberries that they liked very much.
“Hou Wazi, take Yan’er, too. She likes to play with you guys,” Su Danhong ordered.
“Okay.” Hou Wazi went to the backyard with Yan’er.
The three kids picked a lot of strawberries and ate a lot. When they wanted to go back, Su Danhong gave them the strawberries they had picked and told them to take it back. “If you want to eat strawberries in the future, then you need to come over by yourself.  Third aunt will not ask for  you to come over anymore.”
All three of them agreed.
Hou Wazi went home and gave almost half a jin of strawberries to his mother. While eating them, Feng Fangfang asked, “Why don’t you pick more?”
“There’s no more. The other strawberries are not red yet, and third aunt can’t eat any,” Hou Wazi said.
Feng Fangfang pursed her lips and questioned, “These strawberries are hers, how can she not eat them?”
Hou Wazi said, “I haven’t finished my homework.” With that, he ran back to his room.
When Xiaozhen and Xiaoyu went home, they also brought back half a jin of strawberries, and their mother acted selfish about it. But, the sisters didn’t say anything. They both knew that it was a lot of strawberries and Hou Wazi had about the same amount. They had picked all the mature ones and there weren’t a lot of strawberries in the backyard.