Chapter 6

Zhou Jiesi tapped on a melon, feeling that it was ripe, he picked it up and looked around. "Damn, there's not even a place to put it. Looks like I need to bring some things in next time to decorate this place. Forget it, let's eat the watermelon first." Zhou Jiesi said.

Zhou Jiesi carried the watermelon back to his room, found a fruit knife in the drawer, and returned to the space. When he got to the space, he realized he had forgotten the watermelon and went out to pick it up again. He placed the watermelon on the fertile ground under the mother tree, inserted the fruit knife, and slowly cut it open. After cutting it, he took a large piece for himself, put it in his mouth, and started eating it in big bites.

After spitting out the last watermelon seed, Zhou Jiesi said, "So refreshing, so delicious, really, so delicious, sweet and juicy, with plenty of sugar, and a sandy texture, a bit like the taste I had when I was a kid." Zhou Jiesi sighed.

"Everyone, come over and try it." Zhou Jiesi said to the little fairies. The little fairies looked at each other, then those far away flew over, and those near the tree came directly. "Thank you, Master." Zhou Jiesi waved his hand and said, "Eat, don't be polite, most of this is thanks to your hard work." Zhou Jiesi said in a generous manner.

After finishing the watermelon, Zhou Jiesi returned to his room, lay on the bed, and thought about where to sell it the next day.

"There are about half an acre of watermelons in the space, all green-skinned, black-striped, and red-fleshed local large watermelons. I don't know what variety they are, I'm not a professional. They are very delicious, and there are more than five hundred, each weighing about ten pounds."

"I think 8 to 10 yuan per pound for my watermelons is not too much. The watermelons on the market now are about 4 to 5 yuan per pound. My watermelons are so delicious, there shouldn't be any problem. Rarity makes things valuable. If I had the conditions, I would take them to an auction. Then I could decide how many to put up for sale based on my mood."

"The Japanese watermelons are black-skinned and said to be very delicious. A 16-pound watermelon sold for 650,000 yen, about 6,100 US dollars. That's how much per pound? Although some of it is due to the auction and uncertain factors, if I could get half that price, I would be very satisfied."

"Forget it, no more thinking. I need to get up early tomorrow to sell the watermelons. Time to sleep." Zhou Jiesi thought and slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, Zhou Jiesi got up early, forcing himself to do so. "For the sake of money, let's go." He shouted, got dressed, and tidied himself up.

"Xiaojie, why are you up so early today? You usually don't open the door until 10 o'clock. Come and eat breakfast." Zhou's father said in surprise.

Zhou's mother also looked at Zhou Jiesi curiously and went to serve him porridge.

Zhou Jiesi blushed a little, thinking about how he had been slacking off in his previous life. He sat down and looked at his father, saying, "Sister was right. I decided to go out today and see what I want to do in the future."

"What? You said you want to look for a job? Don't tell me it's just a three-minute enthusiasm." Zhou's father was surprised and said after a moment.

Zhou's mother, who had just come out, heard this and said, "What are you saying? Your son is now motivated, and you're discouraging him." Zhou's mother felt indignant. The second sister also secretly smiled. (She was pregnant and staying at home, her husband was running a store.)

After Zhou's mother sat down, Zhou Jiesi said, "I'll just go out and see, and think about what I want to do in the future. I didn't understand the jobs my sisters introduced me to before. I just went in through connections, and it wasn't interesting. This time, I'll try on my own."

Actually, Zhou Jiesi didn't mention that his sister's connections weren't very strong, so he often faced discrimination and felt humiliated. In the workplace, people often complained about small things, and Zhou Jiesi didn't want to lose face, so he didn't want to continue.

If life had been harder in that life, Zhou Jiesi might have endured it, but he wasn't starving, and his family was well-off, better than some but not as good as others. There was no need to degrade himself and put on a smile. This was partly due to his mother's indulgence from a young age.

"Good, it's good that you know to be motivated. Go and see. Eat more, this is your favorite." Zhou's mother said lovingly.

"Okay, thank you, Mom. You're the best." Zhou Jiesi said in a cute way.

"Cough, cough." Zhou's father coughed, looking unhappy.

"Hehe, Dad is the best too. Come, Dad, eat this." Zhou Jiesi quickly said to his father and eagerly served him some food.

Zhou's mother also secretly smiled and muttered, "This old man."

After finishing his meal, Zhou Jiesi hurriedly went out.

"This kid, look at him, he's just like you." Zhou's mother said to Zhou's father.

"Like you, I remember you were also very eager when you were young." Zhou's father retorted.

The second sister, seeing this, quickly went back to her room, not wanting to get involved.

As the sounds behind him grew fainter, Zhou Jiesi reached the ground floor. He touched his pocket, which contained about 600 yuan, his capital. He hailed a taxi and said he was going to Chaoyang Market, the largest market in the city, where both wholesale and retail were available, and hotels also bought fresh goods there.

When he arrived, Zhou Jiesi rented a temporary warehouse in a remote area for 200 yuan for two days. The landlord, seeing that the warehouse was not yet rented out and would otherwise be empty, asked Zhou Jiesi what he was going to store. Zhou Jiesi said it was for watermelons, and the landlord rented it to him. However, he had to pay in advance, and the landlord wrote a receipt for him.

The warehouse was about 20 square meters with a roller shutter door, and there was nothing inside. It was about 200 meters from the market, and the access road was quite convenient.

Zhou Jiesi went inside, turned on the light, pulled down the roller shutter door, and moved the already picked watermelons from the space into the warehouse. After finishing, he pulled up the roller shutter door, went out, and quickly closed it again.

Zhou Jiesi went to the market management office and rented a stall, paid, and received a sign. He then bought a watermelon knife, some large bags, and hired a tricycle to help him transport the watermelons from the warehouse to his rented stall. He asked the driver to leave his phone number in case he needed more help later.

At the stall, Zhou Jiesi realized he didn't have a scale. He saw that the aunt selling vegetables next to him had two, so he asked if he could rent one. The aunt looked at him and, thinking he seemed nice, agreed.

With all the preparations done, it was time to start selling the watermelons. "Watermelons, big and sweet watermelons! Watermelons, big and sweet watermelons! Ten yuan per pound, ten yuan per pound! First come, first served!" Zhou Jiesi shouted loudly.

The aunt next to him was startled by his shouting. What kind of watermelon could be so expensive? Zhou Jiesi saw that no one was coming after shouting for a while and felt disappointed. Was he overpricing them? Should he lower the price? He started to doubt himself.

Suddenly, Zhou Jiesi had an idea. "How could I be so stupid? Others cut their watermelons to let people try. My watermelons look good, but they don't know how delicious they are, and they can't even smell them." Zhou Jiesi was happy with his idea, clapped his hands, and went to find the watermelon knife to cut the melon.

Zhou Jiesi brought out a watermelon, placed it, and cut it in half. A fragrant aroma immediately wafted out and slowly spread. As he cut the watermelon into smaller pieces, the fragrance became even more intense.

It seemed as if time had stopped. People around him stopped what they were doing, turned to look at him, and sniffed the air, as if they wanted to inhale the fragrance until their lungs burst.

"Boy, what kind of watermelon is this? It's so fragrant. The smell is amazing," the aunt next to him said, her eyes shining. A trace of moisture could be seen at the corner of her mouth as she swallowed her saliva and moved her tongue to keep it from dripping.

Suddenly, it became quiet around him. The vendors and passersby all perked up their ears, staring at Zhou Jiesi, afraid that any sound would make them miss what he was saying.

Thus, a strange event occurred in the market. In the area where the watermelon fragrance could be smelled, it was abnormally quiet. While it was not unusual in other places, compared to the bustling market, it seemed a bit eerie. The people were wide-eyed, sniffing the air, and their ear muscles were stiff. If their skin were any paler, it would look like a scene from a biohazard movie.

Zhou Jiesi was also a bit unnerved by the people's reactions, swallowed his saliva, and rubbed his hands, saying, "Fellow countrymen, uncles, aunts, grandpas, grandmas, brothers, sisters, and everyone, these are the latest high-tech greenhouse-grown watermelons, a new variety. They are similar to the Japanese black-skinned watermelons. Do you know the black-skinned watermelons? A 16-pound one can sell for 6,100 US dollars. We are cultivating in that direction. This batch is for testing the market, so the price is not high. In the future, it might be more expensive. I don't think it will be cheaper than this."

When the crowd heard that a watermelon could sell for 6,100, they were shocked. Hearing that it was in US dollars made it even more impressive, and they all gasped. No wonder it was so fragrant.