“Your aunt wants to discuss something with you kids.”
Lu Qianqian smiled brightly at the three little children.
Lu Pan immediately grabbed Lu Xi’s hand and took a step backward.
As for Lu Chen, he had no choice. As the oldest, he could only stand in front of his younger brother and sister, wondering what their aunt wanted this time.
Every time their aunt smiled like this, nothing good followed.
“Chen’er, go find your father. Ask him to borrow a ladder from the village chief’s house. When he gets back, Auntie will treat you all to something delicious.”
Lu Chen really wanted to refuse.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t.
If he refused and his aunt later complained to Grandma, he would definitely get a beating.
“Got it.”
With that, he led his younger siblings away.
As for the “delicious food” Lu Qianqian promised, he didn’t take it seriously at all.
After the children left, Lu Qianqian planted the guava seed as well.
Since she planned to harvest the fruit anyway, she might as well do everything at once.
Just like the mango seed, less than a minute later a guava tree appeared beside the mango tree.
Looking at the two fruit trees—one laden with golden fruit and the other with green fruit—Lu Qianqian felt extremely satisfied.
With these powerful cheats, she would never have to worry about food or money again.
The only problem now was figuring out what to do with all the fruit.
Although neither tree produced an enormous amount, there was enough for the family to eat and still have plenty left to sell for silver.
She definitely didn’t want to keep eating those bland meals.
As she was lost in thought, she heard hurried footsteps approaching.
A moment later, Old Madam Lu came running into the backyard, followed by a curious Liu Zhaodi.
When the two women saw the towering fruit trees, their eyes widened in shock.
Old Madam Lu had already suspected something, but seeing it with her own eyes was still astonishing.
“Qianqian, are these the seeds you were talking about?”
She hurried over and grabbed her daughter’s hand.
Lu Qianqian nodded.
“Yes. Both are fruit trees, and the fruit on them is edible.”
Fruit?
Liu Zhaodi stared at the fruit hanging from the branches, even more shocked than before.
Fruit was something common families like theirs could never afford.
Only wealthy households could regularly eat such luxuries.
Yet her sister-in-law was saying that these trees were covered in fruit.
How much silver could all of that be worth?
The thought made Liu Zhaodi’s eyes light up.
Before she could say anything, Old Master Lu, Lu Zhengjun, and the children returned.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhengguo and Lin Gui had gone to borrow the ladder.
The children had told everyone that their aunt had somehow produced a huge tree in the backyard and needed a ladder.
The adults had been completely confused.
A tree?
A ladder?
What was going on?
Even though they didn’t understand, they still sent Lu Zhengguo and his wife to borrow a ladder while the rest returned home to investigate.
The fieldwork was nearly finished anyway.
But the moment they saw the two trees in the backyard, they were just as stunned.
“Old man, come over here quickly! Our daughter grew these herself!”
Old Madam Lu had deliberately not told her husband about the seeds the previous day because she wasn’t sure if it was real.
Now that she had witnessed it firsthand, she could barely contain her excitement.
A Florist!
A real Florist!
Her daughter was a Florist!
Thinking about it made her grin from ear to ear.
“You’re saying Qianqian grew both of these trees?”
Old Master Lu looked skeptical.
It wasn’t that he doubted his daughter.
He simply had never heard of anyone who could instantly grow plants like this.
Not even the greatest Florists possessed such an ability.
“That’s right. Qianqian told me yesterday, but since I wasn’t sure what was happening, I didn’t mention it to you. Who would’ve thought she’d give me such a huge surprise today?”
Old Madam Lu was overjoyed.
Once they had time, she planned to take her daughter to register in the prefectural city.
Then Lu Qianqian would officially become a Florist.
Their family would gain tax exemptions and a reliable source of income.
The children had already witnessed the mango tree appear earlier.
Now that a second tree had materialized before their eyes, they could easily guess what had happened.
At that moment, Lu Zhengguo and Lin Gui returned carrying the ladder.
Along with them came Lu Zhenghui and his wife, Chen Xin.
The couple had just returned from town and happened to run into Lu Zhengguo on the way.
Seeing him carrying a ladder, they assumed something had happened at home.
But when all four entered the backyard, they were dumbfounded.
They knew exactly what their family’s yard looked like.
How had two huge trees suddenly appeared?
Chen Xin’s eyes flashed with shock.
She knew the Lu family’s situation well.
There were three brothers and one younger sister.
The family wasn’t wealthy.
The reason she had married Lu Zhenghui was because of his talent.
At fifteen years old, he had already passed the county-level scholar examination and become a Tongsheng.
With enough effort, he would almost certainly become a Xiucai scholar someday.
Unfortunately, his luck had been poor.
The first year he was supposed to take the next examination, an incident involving Lu Qianqian prevented him from going.
The second year, he chose not to participate, preferring to spend more time studying and improving his chances.
That ambition was what attracted Chen Xin.
On top of that, Lu Zhenghui was quite handsome.
What woman wouldn’t like a man who was both talented and good-looking?
As for the Lu family’s poverty, she didn’t particularly care.
Her own family was reasonably well-off.
Of course, she had no intention of endlessly supporting the Lu family financially.
She would simply fulfill her duties as a wife.
Nothing more.
But seeing these two mysterious trees today left her puzzled.
Was there something about the Lu family she still didn’t know?
Seeing that the ladder had arrived, Lu Qianqian decided not to explain anything yet.
Harvesting the fruit came first.
“Father, Mother, see if we have enough baskets and containers. Let’s pick all the fruit first. We can talk afterward.”
Old Master Lu nodded.
Now was not the time for questions.
He immediately began directing everyone to work.
The family had plenty of woven carrying baskets and wooden crates.
They were perfect for storing fruit.
Since the Lu family had many members, the harvesting went quickly.
Even the hard-to-reach fruit at the tops of the trees was picked after Lu Zhengguo and Lu Zhengjun climbed up into the branches.
By the time they finished, not a single fruit remained.
The final count was:
While everyone harvested, Lu Qianqian quietly kept track of the numbers to estimate the trees’ productivity.
She set aside five mangoes and twelve guavas.
These were meant for everyone to taste.
Of course, she was craving fruit herself.
Ever since her rebirth, the only thing she could tolerate eating was steamed egg custard.
Everything else had been torture.
The rest of the fruit was carried into the family’s cellar, where it could be stored and prevented from spoiling too quickly.
Afterward, the entire family gathered in the main hall.
Every pair of eyes turned toward Lu Qianqian, waiting for an explanation.
“Mother, could you take First Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law to wash these guavas? Just rinse them with clean water.”
She picked up the mangoes.
“As for the mangoes, I’ll prepare those myself.”