Chapter 96: The Fruit’s Almost Ripe — Only Gifts, No Sales

“Mengmeng, I’m heading into town to pick up your aunt. Want to come?” Cao Shujie returned home with four dogs in tow, only to find his daughter standing in the courtyard.

As soon as Mengmeng saw the dogs, she ran over excitedly.

But the moment she heard her dad mention picking up her aunt, she instinctively glanced behind him, then spun around and bolted into the house.

Once she’d put a safe distance between herself and the door, she called out from under the eaves, “Where’s Auntie? Is she back already?”

“She’s still on the road. Should be in town in about an hour,” Cao Shujie said, checking his watch.

“I’m not going!” Mengmeng shouted as she dashed further into the house. Her voice trailed back: “I’m going to find Mom!”

“This little rascal actually has someone she’s afraid of. That’s rare,” Cao Shujie chuckled to himself, amused.

“But why aren’t you afraid of me? Is it because I can’t bring myself to really scold you?” he muttered, pondering the question.

Inside, Cheng Xiaolin said, “If Mengmeng doesn’t want to go, then let her be. You should eat something and head out to wait. Otherwise, they’ll get there before you even leave!”

She threw a jab at her husband.

Wang Yuelan, the mother, didn’t say much—just reminded him not to forget booking two rooms at the hotel in town.

Cheng Xiaolin grumbled, “Why doesn’t our village have a hotel? Even one would be enough. That way, when people visit, they’d at least have somewhere to stay.”

“Who ever comes here?” Wang Yuelan shook her head. She’d lived in Cao Family Village for nearly thirty years, and even relatives who came to visit usually left the same day.

After settling the four dogs, Cao Shujie washed up and drove toward Qingshi Town.

It only took a little over ten minutes to get there. He passed a fast-food shop frying youtiao, and the smell was so tempting he had to stop. When he found out they also had tofu pudding and steamed pork buns, he decided to eat there before doing anything else.

After finishing his meal, he stepped outside, felt the heat, and decided he wasn’t going anywhere. He stayed inside the air-conditioned shop to wait.

He stayed there until nearly 9 a.m., when his sister called to ask where he was.

“I just got to town. You guys at the temporary bus stop already?” he asked.

“Almost there, Brother. Just wait a few minutes at the station,” Cao Huifang replied, estimating their arrival.

After hanging up, Cao Shujie drove over. Less than ten minutes later, the long-distance bus from Yiling City pulled into the temporary station in Qingshi Town.

From inside the car, he saw his sister getting off the bus, followed by two women who looked familiar, though he couldn’t quite recall their names.

“Fangfang, over here!” Cao Shujie got out and waved.

“Brother!” Cao Huifang ran over with her three classmates.

Deng Miaoshan and Huang Jingmin had met Cao Shujie before, so they greeted him with a cheerful “Brother!” too. Zhang Na, however, looked a bit awkward.

Cao Huifang introduced her, “Nana, this is my brother.”

“Brother, this is my classmate Zhang Na. The four of us are working at the same clothing factory. We all took two days off to come back, but we have to head back tomorrow,” she explained.

“So rushed?” Cao Shujie hadn’t expected his sister’s visit to be so brief.

“No choice. If you want to make money, you’ve got to follow their schedule. Isn’t that what you used to tell me?” Cao Huifang said with a smile.

“Well, look at you, all grown up,” Cao Shujie said, feeling a surge of pride. If she’d come to understand that lesson, then this summer job hadn’t been a waste.

Cao Huifang blushed a little at the compliment.

Feeling the heat outside, Cao Shujie urged them into the car. “Let’s head to the same hotel as last time. I’ve booked a room for you. Once you drop off your luggage, we’ll go to Cao Family Village and check out the fruit trees you planted.”

Zhang Na felt even more embarrassed now, thinking they were troubling her classmate’s brother too much.

Deng Miaoshan and Huang Jingmin both thanked Cao Shujie sincerely.

Since there weren’t many of them, he booked a triple room with air conditioning—cozy enough for the three girls to stay together and keep each other company. After settling in, he drove them straight to Cao Family Village.

As the familiar village came into view, Deng Miaoshan pointed it out to Zhang Na. “Nana, look—that’s Cao Family Village, where we stayed. Doesn’t it look super clean?”

“It really does. Even the sky here looks clearer than in the city,” Zhang Na said, gazing upward. She was struck by how fresh everything felt.

“Brother, why don’t we go up the mountain first?” suggested Cao Huifang from the front passenger seat.

Cao Shujie checked the time—it was still early—so he agreed. “Sure. Call Mom and let her know we’ll be home for lunch later.”

As he spoke, he turned the car toward the mountain road.

Cao Huifang called her mom, Wang Yuelan, to explain the plan.

On the way up, all three girls—Cao Huifang, Deng Miaoshan, and Huang Jingmin—were surprised to see a newly paved road running along the slope.

When they reached the parking platform and got out, Cao Huifang couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, did you build this?”

“Yep. Finished it last month. Convenient, right?” Cao Shujie said with a grin.

Cao Huifang had to admit, the new road made getting up and down the mountain way easier.

But the changes to the orchard in just two months were even more shocking. When they left, there had been no well, no automated sprinkler system, and no wire fencing. Now, all of it was in place.

From the north came the sound of calves mooing. Cao Huifang turned to look and noticed a whole section of land where young cattle were being raised. “Brother, are those all yours?”

“Yep. What do you think?” Cao Shujie asked.

Huang Jingmin and Deng Miaoshan were so fascinated by all the new developments that they forgot to check on the fruit saplings they had planted. Whenever they saw something they didn’t understand, they asked Cao Shujie about it.

“Aren’t you going to check on your fruit trees?” he asked with a smile.

“Ouch, Brother, if you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve totally forgotten,” Cao Huifang said casually.

Huang Jingmin and Deng Miaoshan also remembered why they’d come and quickly said they should go check on how the kiwi saplings were doing.

“Come on, I’ll take you there,” Cao Shujie said with a wave, leading the way.

The kiwi saplings they had planted were near the inner side of the wire fence, right next to the livestock area.

When they arrived, they could still see the laminated tags hanging on the saplings. Huang Jingmin found the one with her name on it. The writing was still visible: “Huang Jingmin, planted Yellow-fleshed Kiwi Fruit tree on May 1, 2011.”

“Shanshan, look, you wrote this.”

“And here’s Fangfang’s.”

“Whoa, this one was written by Ye Beiwen? She came here too?” Zhang Na looked genuinely surprised.

“Yeah, she did. Xu Fang came last time too,” Deng Miaoshan added.

“Brother Jie, can I ask you something?” Huang Jingmin said, unable to hold back after seeing the saplings they’d planted.

“Sure, go ahead,” Cao Shujie replied without hesitation.

“I just wanted to ask, how many years does it take for these saplings to bear fruit?” she asked.

Hearing that, Cao Shujie smiled and said, “About two years. You’ll see some fruit the year after next, but not a lot.”

“Brother, that can’t be right. I remember Mom saying kiwi fruit trees don’t bear fruit until the third year, and it’s not until the fourth or fifth year that they really produce in large quantities,” Cao Huifang cut in, disagreeing with her brother on the spot.

Cao Shujie didn’t get annoyed. Instead, he said, “Fangfang, you’re not wrong—that’s true in most cases. But did you forget what I studied?”

“Agricultural University graduate?” Cao Huifang replied.

“Exactly. I did some improvements on them later. It’s a bit complicated to explain, not something I can sum up in a few words. Just know that these saplings are a little different,” he said.

“Brother, are you saying they’re all hybrids?” Cao Huifang asked suddenly.

She took a closer look at the saplings, but with her half-baked knowledge, she couldn’t tell anything and eventually gave up.

They wandered around the mountain for a while longer before Cao Huifang pointed toward the Old Orchard and said, “Brother, aren’t those fruits almost ripe? I can already smell them!”

“Yeah, pretty much. When you head back tomorrow, I’ll pick a few bags for you to take and share,” Cao Shujie said.

Hearing that, Cao Huifang was surprised. “Brother, I thought kiwi fruit didn’t ripen until around Mid-Autumn Festival. That’s still a month and a half away!”

“Right? Maybe I just grow them better!” Cao Shujie said nonchalantly. “Come on, let’s go home for lunch. This afternoon, bring some bags and I’ll pick some for you to take back—share them with your classmates and coworkers.”

Deng Miaoshan suddenly asked, “Brother Jie, can I take some back for my parents to try?”

“Of course!” Cao Shujie smiled and said, “I’ll pick a few extra for you this afternoon.”

As he led the four of them back to where the car was parked, he said, “Let me tell you, my kiwi fruit tastes amazing—way better than anything you’ll find in the market. Anyone else want to take some home for their family to try?”

“Brother, now you’re just bragging!” Cao Huifang didn’t buy it. “Back when Mom and Dad used to grow this orchard, I ate plenty. Sure, they tasted better than the ones grown down in the fields, but not as amazing as you make it sound.”

Classic sibling banter. Cao Shujie rolled his eyes at her and said, “You just said it—that was when Mom and Dad were growing them. Now it’s me. I graduated from Agricultural University, even worked at the Agricultural Science Research Institute. You think that’s the same as our parents relying on experience?”

“Then let’s pick a few and try them!” Cao Huifang said, heading straight for the Old Orchard.

As she got closer, the fruity aroma grew stronger.

She also noticed that the kiwi fruits were all about the same size. She distinctly remembered that when she used to come with her parents, the fruits varied a lot in size—some big, some small.

“Why is that?” Cao Huifang asked, puzzled.

“Brother, how come your fruits are all so big?” she asked her brother.

“I told you, what I grow is on a whole different level from what Mom and Dad did,” Cao Shujie replied.

He scanned the vines, picked about a dozen of the larger kiwis, and said, “Let’s go. We still need to do induced ripening at home.”

“But they already smell ripe. Do we really need to do induced ripening?” Cao Huifang wasn’t totally clueless. She grabbed one and gave it a good squeeze—only to find it was still hard as a rock despite the aroma.

Just like her brother said, they needed to be ripened.

Deng Miaoshan, Huang Jingmin, and Zhang Na knew even less about this stuff. Hearing the siblings talk, Deng Miaoshan asked, “Wait, you have to induce ripening? I thought you just peel and eat them.”

“Oh, Shanshan, the ones you’ve eaten were already fully ripe. Normal kiwi fruit is hard and really sour,” Cao Huifang began explaining.

Deng Miaoshan didn’t believe her. She, Huang Jingmin, and Zhang Na each tried squeezing a few—sure enough, all of them were rock hard, nothing like the soft ones they’d eaten before.

Up ahead, Cao Shujie said, “Once they ripen naturally, they do get soft, but then they spoil quickly—within just a few days. Even the best fruit won’t sell if it goes bad that fast.”

“So that’s how it works!” The girls all suddenly understood.

He locked the gate, drove them down the mountain, and when they got back home, little Mengmeng, who had been playing in the yard, heard the car and immediately turned and bolted into the family’s bedroom.

She even remembered to lock the door behind her, determined not to let her aunt in.

“Mengmeng, what’s the meaning of this?” Cao Huifang asked, her face stiffening at her niece’s blatant snub.

Mengmeng mumbled, “I don’t like you.”

“Ugh, fine then! I won’t come back next time,” Cao Huifang shouted with a laugh from outside.

Without missing a beat, Mengmeng replied, “OK, OK.”

She even knew how to use English now.

Hearing the exchange between her daughter and sister-in-law, Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing on the spot.

“Mengmeng, come out already!”

“No, Mom, I won’t!” Mengmeng refused, hiding in her room and refusing to come out.

Cao Huifang didn’t dare push the door too hard, afraid she might knock her niece over. If the girl really fell, that would be bad.

“Mengmeng, come see what Daddy picked!” Cao Shujie called out, holding some freshly picked kiwi fruit in his hand.

Cheng Xiaolin looked at them and asked, “Shujie, are these ripe already?”

“Almost. Just ripen them together with some bananas and they’ll be good to go,” Cao Shujie replied.

Hearing that, Cao Jianguo, who was inside the house, couldn’t sit still anymore. He asked, “Shujie, if the kiwi fruit are ripe, how are you planning to sell them?”

“There aren’t any middlemen coming around this time of year. Why didn’t you tell me earlier so I could prepare?” Cao Jianguo started grumbling, thinking his son wasn’t taking things seriously.

But Cao Shujie had a plan. He didn’t get upset by his father’s scolding and calmly said, “Don’t worry, Dad. I promise we’ll sell them.”

“Oh yeah? Then tell me—how exactly do you plan to sell them?” Cao Jianguo pressed on, not letting it go.

“I’m thinking I’ll head into town and the county in the next day or two to deliver the kiwi fruit,” Cao Shujie said confidently.

“Deliver?” Cao Jianguo was confused.

Then he saw his son nod and say, “Yep. Just deliver, not sell!”

Even the best product is useless if no one knows about it. In the early stages, you have to give some away—let people taste it and want more. That’s the way to go!

As for attracting people to come?

Cao Family Village didn’t have any reputation to speak of in the beginning, no gimmicks either. Back then, kiwi fruit and apples weren’t well-known. Was he supposed to talk people into coming with just his words?

Cao Jianguo hadn’t expected his son to think this far ahead. He frowned and asked, “You really think this will work?”

“Dad, trust me. We can’t just focus on these few acres in front of us. I’ve planted over 50 more acres of kiwi fruit and apples. If we get a bumper harvest next year or the year after, who are we going to sell to then?” Cao Shujie said seriously.

(End of this chapter)