Chapter 18

【Recite the Sito website three times silently. Do you remember it? If not, I'll ask again in the next chapter. It would be best to share it on Facebook.】

Zhao Xinyu waved his hand, "All I have now is thanks to everyone's help. Let's do it this way for now. If we make more money in the future, I'll give you all a raise."

After saying this, Zhao Xinyu thought of something else, "Han Li, didn't you say you know a construction team? The weather is getting hot, and the smell from the sewage ditch will be unbearable, not to mention the mosquitoes. It won't affect us much, but if customers find out that our vegetables are grown next to a sewage ditch, what will they think? So, the top priority is to find a construction team to clean it up thoroughly."

Han Li and the others were slightly stunned. They all looked at Han Tianliang, "Dad, isn't the sewage ditch part of the village? Shouldn't the village help with this?"

Han Tianliang smiled bitterly, "You know the situation in the village. Where do they have the money for this? Besides, the sewage ditch no longer belongs to the village. Xinyu has already leased it."

"Xinyu, are you crazy? Why lease a sewage ditch? You'll have to spend money every year to clean it." Han Jun and the others looked at Zhao Xinyu speechlessly.

Zhao Xinyu smiled faintly, "Han Li, just find the construction team. Don't worry about the rest."

Originally, they thought the vegetable business would calm down after a few days, but unexpectedly, more and more people came every day. Even before the shop opened, there were already customers waiting in line.

In just over ten days, not only the residents, hotels, and vegetable shops in the northern part of the city, but also people from the other three areas knew about the high-quality and nutritious vegetables sold at Xihan Ridge. Because of the booming business, the TV station even did several reports.

Many hotels and restaurants wanted to order the vegetables, but the shop made a statement that each customer could buy no more than ten pounds of vegetables at a time.

In the end, a group of people in Xihan Ridge even started helping others buy vegetables, buying them and then reselling them to hotels and restaurants.

Some people found out that the vegetables sold at the shop came from Zhao Xinyu's courtyard. They wanted to visit him, but every time they came, they were met by Iron Qiangjun guarding the door. Even if the door was open, they didn't dare to enter because there was a dog as big as a calf baring its teeth at the gate.

Because the vegetable business was so booming, Han Jun and the six others, along with their parents, were working beyond their capacity every day. Zhao Xinyu discussed with them and decided to have Han Tianliang find a few honest and hardworking people from the village to help.

While the vegetable business was booming, the construction of the sewage ditch also began. To ensure the quality of the work, Zhao Xinyu sent Lu Ming to supervise.

Almost all the villagers were puzzled by Zhao Xinyu's decision to clean the sewage ditch. The ditch had existed for decades, and because of the smell and the mosquitoes, people avoided it during the hot weather.

Now, the area where the sewage ditch was located was being developed, and it was rumored that the construction would cost over 200,000 yuan. This made people think that Zhao Xinyu, who had made his fortune from growing vegetables, had gone crazy.

In their imagination, spending so much money on a sewage ditch was not as good as buying a house in the suburbs....

"Zhao Xinyu, are you planning something by spending over 200,000 yuan to clean the sewage ditch?" Du Mengnan asked, looking at Zhao Xinyu under the grapevine in the courtyard.

While the vegetable business was booming, the grapes in the garden were also flowering and bearing fruit. Although it was not yet the season for grapes to ripen, the area under the grapevine was very cool. What surprised Han Tianliang and the others was that, unlike other vegetable fields where there were mosquitoes, there were none under the grapevine. Because of this, people often chose to cool off under the grapevine.

Zhao Xinyu chuckled, "Wait a moment, I'll get you some cantaloupes to try."

Du Mengnan was slightly surprised, "Cantaloupes?"

"Those are what you call cantaloupes, but we call them fragrant melons."

"Can't be, the greenhouse cantaloupes only ripened a short time ago. I'll go and see," Du Mengnan said, getting up and following Zhao Xinyu.

The area where watermelons and fragrant melons were planted was in the northern part of the courtyard, next to the shed, covering about one and a half acres. Because of the limited space, Zhao Xinyu had planted them as a trial.

The watermelon field, about one acre in size, was covered with green vines and leaves, making it impossible to see the soil. The round watermelons, covered with dew, shimmered in the sunlight.

The half-acre fragrant melon field was almost entirely covered by the melons. The white fragrant melons were quite large, with each one weighing about half a kilogram. As they approached, the unique fragrance of the melons could be smelled.

"Really fragrant," Du Mengnan took a deep breath and stepped into the melon field. She looked around but didn't dare to pick any. She had eaten many fragrant melons before, but this was her first time in a melon field, and she didn't dare to touch them because unripe melons taste as bitter as yellow lotus roots.

Seeing Du Mengnan's hesitation, Zhao Xinyu laughed, "Come, I'll teach you how to tell if a melon is ripe."

As he spoke, he pointed to a melon with fine cracks and red-brown juice, "Come, touch it."

"A ripe fragrant melon feels very smooth, while an unripe one feels a bit rough. The stem of a ripe melon is thin, and if you touch it lightly, the melon will fall off. The flower stem is small and round. A melon with fine cracks, though not very attractive, has the best taste."

Du Mengnan touched the melon with her delicate fingers, examined the stem and flower stem, and her eyes lit up as she turned to Zhao Xinyu, "According to what you said, this melon should be ripe."

"Pick it and try it."

Du Mengnan applied a little force, and the melon fell off the vine. She washed it with water and handed it to Zhao Xinyu, "I can't eat a whole one. You help me cut it, and we'll share it."

Zhao Xinyu smiled faintly and gently tapped the melon. A clear sound followed, and a strong fragrance filled the air as the orange-red juice overflowed. Du Mengnan couldn't help but swallow a few times, her face slightly blushing.

Taking the half melon from Zhao Xinyu, Du Mengnan, without any ladylike manners, eagerly took a bite. As she bit down, she hummed with delight, her eyes showing a hint of joy.

The melon was crisp and sweet, and after a few chews, it turned into a sweet flow entering her stomach, instantly giving her a cool feeling. The taste lingered in her mouth.

Du Mengnan finished the half melon in about ten seconds. Seeing Zhao Xinyu offering the other half, she didn't hesitate to take it and eat it. A half-kilogram melon was completely eaten by Du Mengnan in less than a minute.

After eating, Du Mengnan sighed, and only then did she notice the sticky feeling on her hands. She saw that her hands were covered with orange-red melon juice, like honey.

"Do you want more?"

"Yes, I've never tasted such a fragrant melon before."

A few minutes later, Du Mengnan got up, went to Zhao Xinyu's room to wash her hands, and when she returned to the melon field, she kept rubbing her stomach. Seeing Zhao Xinyu's smile, her face turned red, and she glared at him, "What are you smiling at?"

"Du Mengnan, do you know how many melons you ate?"

"Two, I guess."

The next moment, Du Mengnan was stunned, her eyes showing disbelief as she saw four melon stems where she had eaten the melons.

"That can't be, did I really eat all of these?" Although she said this, she knew deep down that she had indeed eaten four, as Zhao Xinyu hadn't touched any of them.

Feeling a bit embarrassed, Du Mengnan said in a soft voice, "These melons are so delicious. Zhao Xinyu, sell all the melons to me."

After saying this, she seemed to think of something else and pointed to the watermelons, "I want the watermelons too."

Zhao Xinyu's eyes flickered, "What's your relationship with Shao Jiamin? Why are you more concerned than she is?"

Du Mengnan's face turned red. As Zhao Xinyu said, Shao Jiamin hadn't come back since her last visit, but Du Mengnan, the introducer, came every few days.

"Don't worry about it. Are you going to keep the melons for me?" Du Mengnan said with a hint of shyness. She didn't know why, but she never spoke coldly to this guy, unlike how she spoke to others.

【At the beginning of the chapter, I asked you to recite the Sito website three times. Do you remember it? Sharing on Facebook might bring a surprise.】