Niu Da and his wife stepped forward. “Madam, you’re here?”

Niu Da’s wife said, “Don’t worry, the head of the household sprinkled snake-repelling powder all over the estate early this morning and checked with the children. There won’t be any more snakes.”

Hearing this, Yang Haiyan let out a sigh of relief. “That’s great! Let’s go check on the watermelons. If any are ripe, we should cut them open and eat right away.”

Niu Da’s wife asked, “Do you want to rest for a bit after your journey?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “No need.”

The watermelon field covered half an acre, originally planted with about 250 plants, but only 180 survived.

Yang Haiyan looked at the lush green watermelon field, her mouth watering so much she almost drooled.

Honestly, seeing the watermelons made her so excited that she wanted to cry.

Life in ancient times was simply too hard to bear.

Niu Da said, “These watermelons seem quite big, but how can we tell if they are ripe, Madam?”

Yang Haiyan didn’t know how to check for ripeness, or rather, she didn’t know how to distinguish whether a watermelon was ripe, but she could talk about it theoretically. “When I bought the seeds, I heard the traveling merchant mention several ways to tell if a watermelon is ripe.

First: Weigh it.

The heavier the watermelon, the less mature it usually is.

Generally, among similarly sized watermelons, the lighter one is better; if it’s too heavy, it’s likely unripe.

Second: Listen to the sound. Hold the watermelon in your hand and lightly tap it with your finger.

If it makes a crisp “dong, dong” sound and feels a bit vibrating in your hand, it’s ripe; if it makes a “tut, tut” sound, it indicates a higher level of ripeness; if it goes “pu, pu,” it’s overripe; and if it makes a “da, da” sound, it’s unripe.

Third: Look at the appearance. An unripe watermelon has a light green and bright skin, while the skin of a ripe watermelon will darken.

Fourth: Check the stem. Once the stem of the watermelon is ripe, it will sink inward. If you pay attention to the ripe watermelons, you’ll understand how deep the indentation should be. Combining that with the previous points, it’s not difficult to determine the ripeness of the watermelon.”

In fact, there were several other ways to tell, but Yang Haiyan couldn’t remember them all. “Niu Da, just use these four methods to choose. Don’t worry; even if you pick an unripe one, just consider it experience.”

Hearing Yang Haiyan say this, Niu Da felt reassured.

He selected four watermelons according to her suggestions based on weight, sound, appearance, and stem condition. “Madam, how about these four?”

Yang Haiyan replied, “Get a knife; let’s cut them open and take a look.”

The bodyguard brought a knife, “Should we cut all four?”

Yang Haiyan said, “Cut them open.”

After cutting the four watermelons, they found that two were ripe while the other two were half ripe.

Yang Haiyan said, “Slice the watermelons and share them. Everyone should taste them.”

She took out a spoon and held half of one for herself.

One bite in, the sweet taste of the watermelon was so refreshing that it had to be eaten this way. “You all eat; Niu Da, cut the rest for everyone.”

Niu Da replied, “Yes. Can we eat the half-ripe ones?”

Yang Haiyan answered, “They’re edible, just not as sweet as the ripe ones.”

Niu Da was naturally unwilling to waste anything, so he cut the half-ripe ones for his family to eat, and he cut the ripe ones for Uncle Hong and the others.

Niu Da’s wife exclaimed, “Wow, this one is sweet too! Even the unripe ones aren’t wasted.”

It didn’t taste the same as sugar, but the sweetness was similar to syrup.

Yang Haiyan smiled, “Exactly. Niu Da, later, please bring out fifty watermelons that you think are ripe; I want to take them with me.”

Niu Da replied, “Yes.”

Based on his earlier experience, Niu Da began to have his own judgments about whether the watermelons were ripe.

From the 180 watermelon vines, he selected fifty ripe watermelons.

These were small varieties, each weighing about eight jin, making fifty watermelons quite heavy on the cart.

Besides watermelons, the cauliflower and corn were also ready for harvest, so Yang Haiyan had Niu Da pick fifty heads of cauliflower and fifty ears of corn.

Cauliflower differs from broccoli.

A single broccoli plant typically produces two to three heads, while a cauliflower plant can only produce one.

So, even though it was half an acre, with over eight hundred cauliflower plants, the yield was only one-third of that of broccoli.

On the way back, Yang Haiyan kept thinking about how to sell the watermelons.

She considered two sales methods: one was to sell slices, and the other was to sell whole watermelons.

If sold in slices, each piece would cost two wen, and a watermelon could be cut into about forty slices.

If sold whole, each watermelon would cost seventy wen.

After deciding on the sales strategy, as soon as she arrived home, Yang Haiyan instructed Granny Lian to go to the county town with twenty-four cauliflower heads and twenty-four watermelons.

Two of each would go to the Marquis’s residence and the General’s residence, and the rest would be sent to the restaurant.

Since Yang Haiyan was somewhat acquainted with the restaurant due to the broccoli, Granny Lian went directly to the young manager when she arrived.

The young manager, seeing Granny Lian, greeted her politely, “Granny, you’re here?” He had seen her at the Captain’s residence before, as she was beside Madam Qin.

Granny Lian replied cordially, “Hello, young manager. My lady’s estate has another batch of fresh vegetables ready, so I specially brought some over. Also, I’ve brought some fruit called watermelon; I’m not sure if the restaurant is interested, but it is a bit pricey—seventy wen for one watermelon.”

The young manager was taken aback. “Such an expensive fruit? What kind of fruit is this?”

Apples and pears weren’t even this expensive.

Granny Lian explained, “This fruit is called watermelon. I’ve already had someone bring it in.”

A bodyguard carried in a basket containing twenty watermelons.

The young manager, having seen many things while working in the county, had never seen a watermelon before, especially not one this large. “How… how do you eat this?”

Granny Lian was very confident about the watermelon.

After tasting it with her lady, she had come to love the slightly sweet flavor.

Seeing the young manager’s curiosity, she confidently replied, “Do you have a knife?”

The young manager called for a knife.

Granny Lian sliced the watermelon open.

Even if he had never tasted it before, the young manager felt his mouth dry just seeing the inside; the bright red flesh made his mouth water.

Next, Granny Lian cut the watermelon into slices.

Following Yang Haiyan’s instructions, she cut one-quarter of a watermelon into ten slices, saying, “Young manager, please have a taste.”

The young manager picked up a slice and took a bite. “Delicious.”

The sweetness and juiciness were just right.

He had never tasted such a delicious large fruit before—oh, this big fruit was called watermelon.

Seeing the young manager’s attitude, Granny Lian knew, “This watermelon is priced at seventy wen each. We can provide twenty a day, just like with the cauliflower and broccoli. Would you like to place an order?”

The young manager said, “I need to discuss this with my uncle first.” It was certain that they wanted to order, but the price was a bit high, so he didn’t dare make the decision alone. “Granny, please wait a moment. I’ll go call my uncle.”

Before long, the young manager returned with the manager, a middle-aged man.

After hearing the young manager describe the watermelon so exuberantly, he was surprised when he saw the fruit and its bright red flesh.

The young manager said, “Uncle, this is the watermelon I mentioned—the fruit from Madam Qin’s estate, cultivated from seeds bought from a traveling merchant. You should try it.”

The manager shot the young manager a glance before greeting Granny Lian, then picked up a slice of watermelon and took a bite.

After tasting it, he paused. “Granny, is this price a bit too high? Broccoli and cauliflower are four wen each, and we have no objections to that, but this fruit… seventy wen is something ordinary families can’t afford.”

Granny Lian smiled, “This watermelon is only available for a month; after that, it won’t be around until next year. Besides, you’re too modest; the guests who come to your esteemed restaurant aren’t just any ordinary families. Moreover, during this one month, the wealthy in the county town will want one each day. I fear twenty won’t be enough.”

Hearing this, the manager found some logic in her reasoning.

If they could deliver twenty each day directly to the wealthy families, why bother selling to others?

“So, will it be just us in the county town selling the same as broccoli and cauliflower?”

Granny Lian confirmed, “Of course.”

After leaving the restaurant, Granny Lian went to the Marquis’s and General’s residences to deliver the cauliflower and watermelons before returning to the town.

However, just after Granny Lian left, the restaurant also sent two watermelons to the Marquis’s residence.

Back at the family house, Yang Haiyan wasn’t surprised that the watermelon could be profitable.

In ancient times, fruit was rare and precious, which made it valuable.

From half an acre of watermelons, she estimated they could earn about twenty taels of silver.

Adding the broccoli and cauliflower, just from vegetables, they could make around thirty taels, not to mention the tomatoes to come.

“Madam…” Granny Lian hadn’t even entered the house before calling from the courtyard.

Yang Haiyan stood up and went to the door. “Seeing you in such a good mood means the discussion went well.”

Granny Lian said, “Absolutely! The manager even wanted to negotiate. Here’s the silver from the cauliflower and watermelon.”

Yang Haiyan nodded but didn’t take it.

The family finances were managed by Granny Lian; she was in charge of the monthly allowances and store profits, while Yang Haiyan only calculated the earnings each month.

Granny Lian continued, “However, selling the watermelons here might be difficult. The town is not like the county town. Seventy wen for a watermelon, most people will hesitate.”

Yang Haiyan replied, “If we don’t cut the watermelon, it won’t spoil for a couple of days, so we can still deliver the leftovers tomorrow. Besides, while people in town might not be as wealthy as those in the county, there are still some who can afford it. We have twenty-six left; let’s divide a quarter for each of the personal guards, a quarter for Uncle Hong and Aunt Hong, a quarter for you, Aunt Fan, and Aunt Yu, and the last quarter for Siya and Shoucheng.”

Granny Lian said, “Understood. The old servant will thank the madam on behalf of everyone.”

Yang Haiyan added, “And set one aside to soak in well water; it can be eaten when the master returns.”

Granny Lian agreed, “Yes.”