Chapter 338: Chapter 338
"Thank you, Aunt Guo. These fruits look so fresh and radiant. You’re so skilled at growing them—truly impressive," Xiao Han said with a smile.
Guo Shuduo waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, it’s just fruit. It’s meant to be eaten. Try a bite and see for yourself."
Aunt Guo, standing beside her, joked with a laugh, "Don’t listen to her being so modest. Her fruits have won quite a few awards. Most of the time, they go straight into high-end supermarkets."
"That amazing?" Xiao Han picked up a bright yellow loquat and quickly peeled off its soft skin. The ripe loquat easily revealed its pale-yellow flesh inside.
Taking a bite, he felt the sweet and juicy flavor flood his senses. It had a pure, naturally ripened sweetness, with a subtle hint of fruit acidity that made it even more appetizing.
"Delicious! This loquat tastes way better than the ones I buy outside." Xiao Han praised with a thumbs-up after spitting out the loquat seeds.
"Oh, stop, stop! Here, try this now." Though Guo Shuduo said "stop," her face broke into a wide smile as she offered Xiao Han the ripest red wax apple from the plate.
Wax apples are known as the "queen of fruits" and have a unique flavor that heavily relies on the method of cultivation. Poorly grown wax apples are tasteless, like chewing on sponge; only the top-quality ones are airy, juicy, and fragrant.
Xiao Han took a bite, chewed twice, and instantly felt refreshed from head to toe.
The heat he had accumulated under the sun earlier seemed to vanish without a trace.
"This is delicious too," Xiao Han said, continuing to heap praise as he began contemplating how he might buy two fruit trees to take home.
Recalling his previous experiences, Xiao Han knew very well that effort leads to reward.
So what was he waiting for?
The ancient Eight Pieces of Brocade lessons should begin now!
Getting into position, Xiao Han stood solemnly under the tree and started his instructional session on the ancient fitness technique.
The mountain breeze swept through the orchard, carrying a faint fruity aroma while dispelling the lingering summer heat.
An hour and a half later.
Xiao Han carefully finished the guava in his hand and leaned against the table behind him.
"Want more?" Guo Shuduo picked up another wax apple and asked, "I must say, Xiao Han, you teach the moves really well. Watching online videos doesn’t even come close to learning directly from you. Now when I go back, I’ll definitely perform better than Old Huang and the others!"
"Honestly, I couldn’t eat another bite," Xiao Han replied, followed by a fruit-scented burp.
It was his first time experiencing the feeling of being stuffed from eating fruit.
All the fruits here were delicious.
Aunt Guo laughed. "Alright, alright. Just pack some for him later."
"Aunt Guo, do you sell fruit tree saplings? Like mulberry tree saplings? I was thinking of taking two home to try raising some silkworms," Xiao Han asked shamelessly.
"I don’t sell them," Guo Shuduo said decisively.
"Huh?" Xiao Han felt a little disappointed, but he understood—given the high quality of her fruit, there was no need to rely on selling saplings for profit.
Seeing Xiao Han’s expression, Guo Shuduo burst into laughter, walked over, and patted his shoulder, saying, "I don’t sell, but I’ll give them to you! No need for formality between us, right? I’ll prepare some mulberry saplings for you in a bit."
"Thank you, Aunt Guo." Xiao Han finally realized what she meant and scratched his head awkwardly.
Seeing Xiao Han’s reaction, Guo Shuduo and Aunt Guo exchanged glances and laughed heartily.
About ten minutes later, Guo Shuduo came over with five mulberry saplings, each still carrying a small lump of muddy soil.
Though the saplings were only forty to fifty centimeters tall, they already bore quite a few mulberries—some ripe ones were purple-black, while the unripe ones were bright red.
"Good saplings haven’t been easy to find lately. Take these five and plant them at home," Guo Shuduo said cheerfully as she handed the saplings to Xiao Han.
"Thank you, Aunt Guo." Xiao Han hurried to accept the gift.
Unlike the other fruits before, he could see a faint system glow emanating from the mulberry saplings!
Sure enough, effort brings results!
"Xiao Han, the biggest difference between mulberry saplings and other fruit saplings is they bear fruit quickly. At this rate, you’ll be able to pick ten or so ripe mulberries to eat every day—fresh as can be," Aunt Guo said enthusiastically.
Xiao Han nodded and sneakily glanced at the mulberry saplings, checking their attributes.
[Planting Environment: Normal Environment]
[Fruit-Bearing Season: Spring-Summer]
[Ripening Status: Ripe]
[Watering Interval: Once every three days]
[Notes: Mulberry trees grow tall quickly]
Watering once every three days.
Not bad—manageable enough.
Just as Aunt Guo had said, the best part was that the mulberry tree was already bearing fruit, so he could enjoy fresh mulberries daily.
Moreover, Xiao Han had other ideas brewing in his mind—the taste of mulberry jam should be pretty good, and he’d heard mulberry wine was excellent too.
"Too bad I only have ceramic wine jars at home that can make rice wine. Next time I visit Egger’s place, I’ll try to figure out if there are other brewing tools available."
As for the mulberry’s properties, he also sneaked a peek while picking the fruit.
[Special Effect - Dyeing: Mulberries can be used to produce dyes]
[Notes: Mulberries have many uses]
"Dyeing?" Xiao Han muttered to himself.
Could he really make clothes out of this?
Thinking it over, now that he had mulberry trees, maybe he could find a chance to raise some silkworms. Later, he could spin silk and weave fabric.
Ha, at that point, the dye might actually come in handy.
Purple-black clothing—what practical purpose would that serve?
Before Xiao Han could ponder further, Aunt Guo tugged at his sleeve and said, "Alright, I have things to attend to at home. Xiao Han, help me up and take me back, okay? We’ll meet again next time."
"Sure, and thanks again, Aunt Guo." Xiao Han gratefully replied.
"It’s no problem. If you ever feel like eating fruit again, just come by, and you’ll eat to your heart’s content!" Guo Shuduo said with a smile and waved her hand.
Heading down the mountain.
After dropping off Aunt Guo, Xiao Han rode home, ready to plant the five small mulberry saplings.
Once home, he reorganized a section of land near the forest grove for future fruit trees.
Digging holes, placing saplings, filling with soil.
Xiao Han expertly planted all five small mulberry trees and used his copper wine jug to water each of them.
When he finished watering, he crouched down and gently picked the ripened mulberries from the branches.
Picking mulberries required technique—you had to use your fingernails to pinch off the stem rather than pulling hard, which would only leave you with hands covered in black juice.
The five saplings produced a total of 28 small mulberries. The plump berries looked incredibly tempting.
"What a decent yield," Xiao Han said, beaming as he walked into the side room, catching sight of the rice wine phantom hovering over his ceramic jar.
[Rice Wine Brewing Complete]
[Alcohol Content: 7.5%]
[Effect: After consumption, Fire Resistance +20, Max HP +10]
[Notes: Rice wine is great, but please remember not to overindulge!]