"Gladstone has stepped down."
Lin Qi sat beside the hospital bed, peeling an orange.
A Nagaril Orange.
Actually, Nagaril had never had oranges before. The oranges had been brought here and planted by the Federation after its people arrived.
There was better sunlight here and a more comfortable tropical climate. As long as the water supply was maintained, all the fruit would become very sweet.
The Federation cultivated many Economic Crops here, including fruit and oranges.
Nagaril Oranges were a deeper color, with larger fruit. Once ripe, they were not especially juicy, but they were exceptionally sweet.
When Nagaril Oranges were shipped back to the Federation for sale, they quickly caused a sensation.
Part of the reason was that people who liked sweets but disliked sour flavors believed the sweeter Nagaril Oranges could completely replace the Federation's native oranges. Who the hell liked sour oranges?
But others believed that only oranges with both sourness and sweetness were real oranges. If an orange wasn't sour, was it still an orange? In response, supporters of Sweet Oranges told their opponents to go home and eat lemons. Lemons were sour enough to make you piss yourself! Meanwhile, supporters of sour oranges argued that "Sweet Oranges aren't oranges" and demanded that the Commerce Department rename "oranges" as "Nagaril Oranges" or "Sweet Oranges" to distinguish the two varieties by their place of origin and flavor.
But regardless of whether anyone opposed them, Nagaril Oranges now sold very well throughout the world. Cheap, sweet agricultural products would never lack a market.
Besides, they were easy to peel.
Lin Qi cut off a small piece with a knife and put it in his mouth. It really was sweet—almost too sweet.
"Want some?"
He looked at the Progressive Party Elder lying on the hospital bed and raised his