They've all separated, so what does it matter to me if they get poorer and poorer?

Chapter 79 Tomatoes and Strawberries
Zeng Xiaoyan rubbed her hands together eagerly: "I should have pulled more. It's okay, I'll pull them when I give out New Year's gifts before the New Year. There are plum blossoms, and I heard from the little girls that they will bear plums to eat. Apricots are also delicious, but it's a pity that the apricot tree is too big to pull them out."

Zeng Xiaoyan not only set her sights on flowers and plants, but even wanted to try digging up fruit trees.

Things I wouldn't have dared to do before are no big deal now. What's the big deal? As a daughter of the Zeng family, what's the big deal about uprooting a few flowers, plants, and trees in my own garden? It's not like I'm digging my own family's money to support my husband's family.

She only had to do it herself; she had never dreamed of having her stepmother send servants to do things for her.

Speaking of food, Xu Zhichun casually took out two fruits wrapped in a handkerchief.

"By the way, I found this in your garden. I guess it must have been dropped by one of your relatives' children. It looked pretty, I'd never seen anything like it before, and it looked like it could be eaten, so I just picked it up."

Zeng Xiaoyan looked at her with heartache and guilt: "I'm so sorry to have wronged Sister-in-law Zhichun! How could I let her pick up things?"
Aunt Pearl's attention was immediately drawn to the two fruits.

Both fruits were a bright and beautiful red. One was much larger than an egg, with a smooth surface, and was round and particularly cute. The other was much smaller than an egg, with a triangular shape that was larger at one end and smaller at the other, and had densely packed tiny dots on its surface.

"Such beautiful fruit, if I saw it, I would probably pick it up too."

Zeng Xiaoyan's attention then shifted to the fruit, "It's really beautiful!"

Xu Zhichun thought to herself, "These are tomatoes and strawberries, of course they look good, and they taste even better."

Xu Zhichun laughed and said, "I wonder if this is some new stuff from a wealthy relative of the Zeng family. We've never seen it before. This bright red stuff must be ripe. Let's take some seeds and see if we can grow them."

The two of them also became interested and agreed.

Aunt Pearl couldn't help but worry again: "Could this be poisonous and only for playing with, not for eating? I don't mean anything by it, but I'm a little worried about something new that I've never seen before."

The mountain is teeming with wild vegetables and fruits, but only a handful are edible and palatable. No one would easily try unfamiliar wild vegetables and fruits. Forget about dying from poisoning; even if you survive, the detoxification and treatment will cost money.

Xu Zhichun: "That's easy. We'll know once our chickens come back and we feed them."

They're edible. Grow them, taste them, and see if they're good. If they are, you've made a profit; if not, you haven't lost anything. Can't you plant a few seeds anywhere—in front of or behind the house, in the corner of the vegetable garden?
Besides, the color and the shape are really cute.

The two of them were also very interested and touched it curiously, discussing it for a while.

The uprooted flowers and plants had to be planted quickly, and Zeng Xiaoyan and Aunt Zhu'er soon left.

Not long after, Aunt Liang came again, bringing a box of pastries and two bolts of cloth, insisting that Xu Zhichun accept them.

"If it weren't for the birthday gift you helped me with today, Zhichun, our family wouldn't be so honored. Don't be so polite with your aunt, these two bolts of cloth are just enough for you and Mingxuan to each make clothes."

Xu Zhichun couldn't refuse, so he could only smile and thank her, accepting the gift.

The two bolts of cloth, one light blue with a dark bamboo leaf pattern and the other light blue with a dark orchid pattern, were indeed just right for her and Mingxuan to wear.

Xu Zhichun suddenly realized that summer was approaching, and she and Mingxuan needed to get new clothes, shoes, and socks made. She really didn't know how to make them; she'd have to go to a clothing store in town tomorrow.

It's convenient to buy fabric from clothing stores in the city and have it altered.

The Zeng family. Zeng Mingzhu was furious. Zeng Xiaoyan dared to uproot the flowers and trees in the garden—it was simply outrageous!
Is she worthy?
Madam Zeng was also quite distressed. A few flowers and plants weren't really a big deal, but this illegitimate daughter was incredibly audacious. Did she deserve it?

How dare a concubine's daughter admire flowers?

Even though Madam Zeng was furious, she had to persuade her daughter, "Your father liked the birthday gift from the Liang family. Be good, don't say anything over a few worthless flowers and plants, or it will make you seem petty."

Zeng Mingzhu sneered: "Does the Liang family think they can build her a garden to enjoy the flowers? I think she's doing this on purpose, deliberately trying to annoy me."

Madam Zeng coaxed gently, "Now that we see through her intentions, we can't let her have her way. If you get angry, won't that just make her smug? It's a trivial matter and not worth your attention. Anyway, that's all she'll ever be. What I'm more worried about is when you'll get pregnant. That's the most important thing."

Zeng Mingzhu frowned, feeling agitated and even more irritable.

I'm so annoyed I want to scream and smash things.

Three or four days passed in the blink of an eye. They made a fortune selling large orders of ice jelly, and Xu Zhichun and his friends pooled their money for another meal together.

After the birthday banquet for Master Zeng, the ice jelly sold even better.

Especially as the weather gets warmer, everyone loves the cool and refreshing ice jelly. Wealthy families send their servants to buy a dozen bowls at a time to take home, while ordinary families can afford to try the one with fewer toppings.

After Xu Zhichun told Manager Tang that adding mint made it taste even better, everyone praised it even more.

With exclusive supply in the entire city, you can imagine how good the sales were.

Manager Tang wants to increase the supply to fifty catties a day.

Unfortunately, the new batch of lantern fruits hadn't ripened yet, and the seeds were running low. If it weren't for Xu Zhichun's ability to cheat, even thirty catties a day wouldn't last long. Everyone had no choice but to reluctantly decline the money offered, saying they could increase the supply a little later.

Manager Tang was very disappointed, but he knew that even a skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice, so he could only wait patiently for the day when he could add more rice.

In the field, the potatoes that were planted have already grown as tall as chopsticks, and they look very cute with their lush green color.

Xu Zhichun would go to the field behind the yard every day to check on things, and he was in a great mood thinking about how he would have more potatoes than he could eat in a few months.

The sweet potato vines grew better.

This plant is naturally hardy and easy to grow, and everyone treats it like a precious gem, taking great care of it. As a result, it grows rapidly, and the ground is covered with tender vines.

Gradually, people came to ask, "Zhichun, our sweet potato vines are everywhere, can we cut them off and plant them?", "Zhichun, Zhichun, those sweet potatoes have really grown so many vines, haha, can we cut them off and plant them?"

Xu Zhichun had already planned to plant them in the next couple of days. She wasn't making any guarantees, but she was setting an example by saying, "Sixth Aunt, that's what I was thinking too. I'm planning to pinch them off and plant them tomorrow." "Yes, let's try it and see how it goes."

Then the next afternoon, when Xu Zhichun, her brother-in-law, Liang Chunfen, and Aunt Zhu'er who said she wanted to see how she did it and help out, Zeng Xiaoyan and her husband, Aunt Liang and her eldest daughter-in-law, and Chunfen and her mother-in-law were picking sweet potato vines in their own field, a large number of aunts, sisters-in-law, brothers and sisters-in-law came one after another.

Everyone expressed their desire to see how she pinched the vine.

(End of this chapter)