Chapter 9

"Let's sell these longan fruits. We should be able to make a good amount of money. Even if we can't sell them all, we can dry them to make dried longan," Ye Rongyao said.

Mentioning "dried longan" reminded Ye Rongyao of the "longan story" his grandfather used to tell him when he was a child.

According to the legend, a long time ago, there was a village by the sea. In the village, there was a brave and handsome young man named Longyan. He had lost his father at a young age and lived alone, making a living by fishing. In the sea, there was a vicious dragon that would come out on the Mid-Autumn Festival to harm people. The villagers hated it and wanted to get rid of this menace.

One day, Longyan and the villagers came up with a clever plan. They dug a deep pit by the sea. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, they placed many pieces of pork soaked in strong liquor on the shore.

Before long, the vicious dragon appeared. It was over a thousand feet long, with lightning eyes, a blood-red tongue, red scales, and fiery mane. It had sharp teeth and claws, looking extremely terrifying. The dragon swaggered to the shore, thinking the villagers had learned their lesson and were offering pork as a tribute. Without much thought, it swallowed the pork. Soon, the alcohol took effect, and the dragon lay motionless on the beach.

The long-suppressed villagers angrily attacked the dragon with their knives. The dragon woke up in pain and fiercely lunged at the villagers. Longyan, quick and agile, stepped forward and stabbed the dragon's right eye with a steel fork.

In agony, the dragon fled. Longyan pounced on it, leaped onto its neck, and with all his might, dug out the dragon's left eye with a dagger. The dragon, never having suffered such a defeat, clung tightly to Longyan and retaliated madly.

The dragon and Longyan rolled and fought on the beach. With a "thud," they both fell into the pit. When the villagers rescued Longyan, he had already closed his eyes forever, but his hands still tightly held the dragon's eyes.

Seeing the dead Longyan, the villagers wept bitterly. In the end, they buried the dragon and Longyan together.

Years later, a fruit tree grew in that place. Because the seeds of the tree resembled the dragon's eyes, people called it "longan." To commemorate Longyan, who died fighting the dragon, people called the dried longan "guiyuan" to honor his kindness for generations.

"Guiyuan" is also called "yuanrou," a more elegant name, while the common name is dried longan.

"Sell longan? But I've never been to the county town, and I've never sold anything," Liu Qingqing said, somewhat troubled.

It turned out that Liu Qingqing had been sold to the Ye family. Ye Rongyao's parents, fearing that their bought bride would run away, kept her locked in the house every day. Even after she became obedient, they never let her leave the village.

After all, even in the countryside, buying brides was rare. The villagers, including the village and township officials, might turn a blind eye, but if the news spread to the county town, it could attract the attention of officials, and they might intervene, causing them to lose their bride and have nowhere to cry.

So, for over a year since Liu Qingqing married Ye Rongyao, she had never been to the county town or even the town. Her largest activity range was this Peach Source Village. Perhaps Liu Qingqing had truly resigned herself to her fate and never thought of leaving the Ye family or this dilapidated village.

Although Liu Qingqing was once a talented and accomplished college student, she had never sold anything, let alone in a strange place.

"I'll go and sell them. You just stay home and cook, waiting for your husband to come back," Ye Rongyao said. He had gone to the county town with his parents to sell farm produce when he was young, so he was familiar with the process. Besides, their longan tasted so good that he was confident he could sell them.

"Okay."

Liu Qingqing responded weakly and said no more. She was too exhausted to speak, as she was used to being pampered and her physical strength was not up to the task. She was so tired that she just wanted to sleep.

Hearing his wife's weak response, Ye Rongyao turned to look at her and found that she had already fallen asleep. This made him quite frustrated, as he was in a good mood and wanted to continue, but now he couldn't. He was not yet satisfied.

However, seeing his wife so exhausted, Ye Rongyao did not have the heart to wake her up to satisfy himself. After all, having such a beautiful wife was a blessing he had earned over many lifetimes. He couldn't understand why he had once hit such a beautiful wife. Fortunately, she hadn't run away. If she had, he would have had nowhere to cry.

Perhaps it was his past inferiority complex that caused him to do so, but now with the "Lazy Man System" and its powerful lottery function, his life would surely improve. He no longer needed to feel inferior and would treat his wife well. After all, in this world, the person closest to him was the wife sleeping beside him.

The next day, Ye Rongyao got up at five o'clock, which was rare for him. Liu Qingqing had never seen her lazy husband get up so early.

"Honey, why don't you sleep a bit more?"

Liu Qingqing asked, lying on the bed, still not fully recovered from the "physical exercise" of the previous night.

"Today I plan to pick some longan and go to the county town to sell them. I need to get up early to pick the longan."

Ye Rongyao explained. This was a task given by the "Lazy Man System," and he needed to complete it early to have another chance to draw a prize, hoping to get something amazing.

"Then I'll get up and help you."

Liu Qingqing said happily. It seemed that this man had really changed, giving her a sense of security. Perhaps it was the heavens that pitied her and made this man better.

"No, you should sleep a bit more."

Ye Rongyao shook his head. He didn't want his delicate wife to work, as any injury would be a great loss to him.

"No, I want to help."

Liu Qingqing pouted, something she had never thought she would do for a man she once disliked, but it felt natural today.

Perhaps she had already fallen in love with this man. Maybe after living with him for so long, she had unconsciously accepted and even fallen in love with him, though she hadn't realized it before.

"Alright."

Ye Rongyao struggled to resist Liu Qingqing's allure, forcing himself to look away from her beautiful body. If he hadn't been sleeping with her every day and built up some immunity to her charm, he might not have been able to resist.

Because there were only two longan trees, Ye Rongyao didn't ask anyone for help. He also didn't dare to ask, as many people in the village knew about his two longan trees. If they discovered that the trees had suddenly bloomed and borne fruit, it would cause a stir.

This was why Ye Rongyao got up so early, to pick all the fruit from the two longan trees before anyone noticed.

Fortunately, his house was in the southern part of the village, where only a few households remained. Over the past ten years, the others had moved to the town or bought houses in the county. Now, only the Ye family lived in the southern part of the village.

Because there were few people in the village, most of the other villagers' fields were not in the southern part, so few people came to this area. However, one must be prepared for the unexpected, and Ye Rongyao had to be cautious.

He took out about ten large baskets from the shed in the yard. These were round, hollow baskets made of bamboo, used to carry grain from the fields or for drying.

Almost every household in the countryside had several of these bamboo baskets, which they made themselves during their free time by cutting bamboo from the mountains.

Ye Rongyao had learned to make baskets from his parents when he was young, around ten years old. He was quite good at it, but he hadn't made any since then. If he had continued, he might have been able to make a living from it.

He took the baskets and set out to pick the longan.