Chapter 21

“Young Master, you should go over and take a look yourself. It’s unbelievable.” The servant quickly ran back to Rong Yupeng and whispered what he had just seen.

Rong Yupeng was dumbfounded. When he came back to his senses, he quickly walked to the cart. After taking a look and confirming that it was indeed as the servant had said, he could not help but feel that the people in front of him were all fools. They actually sold ice that was as expensive as gold so cheaply.

The servant licked his lips. “Young Master, should we buy one to try?” He really wanted to eat it.

“Buy it.” Rong Yupeng pretended not to care and walked to the side like a young master.

The servant went forward and bought two ice cream bars. He paid twenty copper coins and thought to himself that he was in for a treat today.

He walked towards Rong Yupeng. “Young Master, try it. There’s a strong orange fragrance.”

Rong Yupeng swallowed his saliva. After taking the ice cream bar, he took a bite.

It was so cool and fragrant…

And such a delicious ice cream bar was actually sold for ten copper coins. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was worth at least a hundred copper coins. What a bunch of fools!

Suddenly, Chu Qingzhi’s voice was heard. “It’s sold out. It’s all sold out. Come early tomorrow. There’s nothing left today!”

“That’s it?”

“Is there really nothing left?”

Everyone craned their necks to look into the wooden box. When they saw that there was indeed nothing, they turned around and left unwillingly.

After everyone dispersed, Rong Yupeng looked at the group of fools and had an idea. Then, he strode away.

Chu QIngzhi and the others returned.

On the way back, the four of them were overjoyed, but soon, Chu First became worried again. “Fifth Sister, we don’t have any oranges left. How are we going to sell ice cream bars tomorrow?”

Chu Qingzhi glanced at Chu First and gave him five taels of silver. “Brother, go and use this money to buy sugar.”

Although Chu First was a little older than Chu Qingzhi, he already treated Chu Qingzhi as his boss now. He immediately agreed. “Okay, I’ll go do it immediately.”

Chu Third pushed the cart, and the three of them continued to walk into the village.

Chu Qingzhi thought for a while and asked the two of them, “Which families near our village have oranges?”

Chu Second said, “Someone in the Zhang Village has an orange orchard, but the oranges are not sweet and are a little sour. It’s not easy to sell. I heard that the orchard owner is very troubled.”

Chu Qingzhi’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go and take a look.”

Chu Second nodded. “Okay.”

…

Zhang Village.

As the sun set, the villagers were busy watering the crops in the fields.

Because the three of them were strangers, they attracted everyone’s attention as soon as they entered the village. An auntie passing by stopped and asked, “Who are you? What are you doing in our village?”

Chu Qingzhi smiled and said, “Hello, Auntie. We’re from Chu Village. I heard that there’s an orange seller in your village, so I came to take a look.”

The auntie was very kind. “You are here to buy oranges? The family you’re talking about is my neighbor. I’ll take you there.”

Chu Qingzhi said sweetly, “Thank you, Auntie.”

The auntie was happy to hear that and said with a smile, “You don’t have to be so polite.”

They followed the auntie to a small courtyard.

The auntie opened the courtyard door and walked straight in. “Zhang Lin, come out. Someone is here to buy oranges. Weren’t you worried that you couldn’t sell them? Now, business is knocking on your door.”

When Zhang Lin heard this, he immediately walked out of the house. When he saw the three children who were not dressed well, the light in his eyes was extinguished.

“How many oranges can you buy?”

Chu Qingzhi said, “If the price is right, I want all of it.”

When Zhang Lin heard this, he perked up. “Is that true?”

Chu Qingzhi nodded and said, “Is it convenient for you to take us to the orchard now?”

When Zhang Lin heard this, he was extremely enthusiastic. “Sure, sure. Please follow me.”

Following Zhang Lin, the three of them arrived at an orange orchard at the side of the village. This location of the orchard was very special. There was enough sunlight in the morning, but there was basically no sunlight in the afternoon. That was why the oranges were sour.

Zhang Lin looked at the bright yellow oranges hanging all over the branches. He spoke with not much confidence. “This is my orange orchard.”

Chu Qingzhi went forward to take a look. “Can I try one?”

Zhang Lin hesitated and said, “Sure.”

Chu Qingzhi picked one, peeled it, and ate a piece. She immediately frowned. It was indeed sour, but it was suitable to make ice cream bars.

When Zhang Lin saw Chu Qingzhi’s expression, he felt dispirited. This business was most likely going to fall flat. Who would buy sour oranges?

Chu Qingzhi turned around and asked, “How much is this orange for a catty?”

Hearing that, Zhang Lin was delighted. “It’s sold at ten copper coins a catty at the market. If you want it all, I’ll give you eight copper coins per catty.”

Chu Qingzhi bargained. “Seven copper coins.”

Zhang Lin gritted his teeth. Selling seven copper coins a catty now was better than watching all his oranges go bad. “Alright.”