Chapter 19 Selecting Land
"Water pears, dove trees (Davidia involucrata)—can any veteran foragers find these plants? Willing to pay 30,000 points or trade goods."
"Seven-leaf-one-flower, cat's claw herb, wild gastrodia elata, saffron, snow lotus (Saussurea), acorus calamus, morinda officinalis, bistort rhizome, polygonatum, and cimicifuga. Contact me if you have any of these herbs—I'll take them all. Price can be haggled but definitely higher than the system marketplace rates."
Even the seven-leaf-one-flower Su He had just found was listed in a bounty post.
"Bamboo vipers—buying in bulk here. Offering 3,000 points per snake."
"Seven-leaf-one-flower—bounty for this plant. 20,000 points, but price can be haggled if unsatisfied."
Holy crap!
The system had quoted her 5,000 points, while others were offering four times what she got!
What a rip-off! But if she hadn't earned those 10,000 points, she wouldn't have accessed this forum in the first place.
Many people posted bounties on the forum, but there were also plenty selling specialties from their own worlds. Of course, what they sold were items rare in other worlds or hard to come by within the system marketplace.
Su He couldn't help but wonder—what could she possibly sell on this forum? Right now, she was dirt poor, lacking almost everything.
But tomorrow, she'd have to go look for spots up the mountain with Fu Tinghua—her father-in-law—to scout for land suitable for planting durian orchards. That was the most important task at hand.
Durian—Su He adored it. Whether or not she could sell it, just achieving durian freedom would be enough.
The next morning, after waking up and preparing breakfast, the kids woke up too.
Just as the three were about to eat, Fu Dajun unexpectedly showed up.
"Dad, I didn't know you'd come so early. Breakfast is just ready—why not join us before heading out?" Su He said warmly.
Fu Dajun had already eaten a sweet potato for breakfast, but the savory dough drop stew on the table was too tempting—he couldn't say no.
Su He had exchanged some flour in the system the night before and made the dough drops for the kids that morning. She had considered making noodles but found it too troublesome—maybe another day.
Since the broth was still there, she quickly prepared an extra portion for Fu Dajun.
As the steaming dough drop stew wafted its rich aroma, Fu Dajun thought to himself: How long had it been since he'd had such a warm, hearty breakfast? Lately, everyone had been too busy, and meals had been simple.
Most importantly, whatever Su He had added to this bowl made it incredibly delicious.
Fu Dajun polished off every bite, even scooping up the remaining bits from the pot.
The two little ones got all shy in Fu Dajun's presence, stopping their usual mommy-chatter.
"Dad, how about I bring Zai Zai and Niu Niu up the mountain with me later?" Su He asked.
"Taking them would be too troublesome. I came early to drop them off at our place—Aunt Sufen and your mom can watch them," Fu Dajun said with a frown.
With so many children in the household, Wu Yanhua and Aunt Sufen stayed home to care for them and cook, while the others were either busy in the fields or at work sites.
The moment he said this, Niu Niu started wailing.
"Waaah~ I don't want to go to Grandpa and Grandma's house, I want to stay with Mommy." Niu Niu said, then clung to Su He's leg.
She sighed.
The two kids were getting too attached to her now, but she understood.
"Look..." Su He glanced at the kids, then at Fu Dajun, looking very troubled.
Fu Dajun was stern by nature, and now with his brows furrowed, he looked even more intimidating. Even Zai Zai huddled closer to his mother and lowered his head, not daring to look at Grandpa anymore.
Fu Dajun:...
The kids weren't close to them to begin with. If he scared them now, they might never warm up to him.
"Alright, we'll take them with us." Fu Dajun sighed.
Su He smiled and immediately turned to the kids, saying, "Quick, thank Grandpa."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
The two kids said together.
"Mm," let's go." Fu Dajun managed a smile, not wanting to appear too scary in front of the children.
This time, they headed to another hillside—the place was full of them in the countryside.
Su He spent 100 points to call out the robot Xiao Qi, hoping they might find something good during this trip.
Since they had a specific goal, they reached their destination quickly.
This plot of land was halfway up the mountain and remarkably flat, easily the flattest piece of land the Fu family owned.
Yesterday, when Su He mentioned wanting flatter mountainous land, Fu Dajun immediately thought of this spot.
Looking at the peanuts, sweet potatoes, chili peppers, and other crops still growing there, Su He asked, "Dad, are you sure about giving me this land? There are still things planted here."
This plot seemed too small for growing durian. She wondered who owned the land next to it.
"Dad, whose land is that over there?" Su He pointed to the neighboring plot.
Fu Dajun looked over and thought for a moment before saying, "That should belong to Aunt Niu's family."
Hearing this, Su He's eyes lit up. "You mean Aunt Niu's place?"
Fu Dajun nodded. "That's right."
In that case, she could rent that land from Aunt Niu.
"Dad, if you give me this land, will my brothers and their wives have any objections? I'm happy to pay rent." Su He decided it was best to be upfront.
Fu Dajun's face fell at her words.
"We're all family. What objections could there be? If anyone has a problem, they can come to me."
Right now, Fu Dajun and Wu Yanhua still called the shots in the family, and their sons and daughters-in-law usually went along with them.
"But what do you plan to grow on this land?" Fu Dajun asked again.
"I plan to grow Fire Durian," Su He said openly, and even wanted to get the Fu family involved in the business with her.
Might as well make money together—these days, it's important for families to thrive together.
"Fire Durian? What's that?" Fu Dajun was thoroughly confused.
"Well, it's a popular fruit overseas. I managed to get a few saplings and wanted to try planting them. If things go well, we could sell them," Su He didn't make any firm promises, as she wasn't sure if the durian trees would survive.
But in business, no risk, no reward—you've gotta take chances to make money.
"What? Overseas?" Fu Dajun had never even talked about 'abroad' with anyone—it sounded foreign to him.
It was a contradictory era—people both admired foreign things, believing anything from abroad was superior, yet at the same time, they were proud of their country and looked down on anyone who fawned over foreign stuff.