Iced Watermelon "Please Keep Reading"

Time drifted by.

In the blink of an eye, summer arrived.

The weather was scorching. The sun hung high like a great ball of fire, baking the earth.

During that time, Xu Chuan took on three more servants, all young men in their twenties.

They were all refugees.

One of them, Zhou Ming, had a talent for managing things.

He was quick-witted and could help handle all sorts of chores and settle disputes.

The other three had all practiced martial arts. Each was a martial artist, but their families were of modest means, and they had been busy with other matters. None had yet opened all thirty-six Apertures.

Even so, they had kept to their principles and never used their strength to run roughshod over others.

That was why Xu Chuan had chosen them.

They became guards for the Xu Household's home, fields, and woodland.

If Xu Chuan supplied them generously with Medicinal Cuisine, herbs that nourished blood and qi, and other resources, all three had a chance of becoming Third-Rate Martial Artists, perhaps even Second-Rate Martial Artists.

A few simple thatched huts had appeared around the Xu Household. Those belonged to them.

The huts were only for sleeping.

For meals, they ate in the Xu Household's courtyard alongside Xu Chuan and the others.

"Brother Chuan, the watermelons in the field are ripe. When are we picking them?"

Chen Ergou hurried over to the Xu Household, excitement shining on his face.

After all, this was his first proper business venture.

"I checked this morning. We can pick them tomorrow and take them around the nearby villages to sell the day after."

Xu Chuan smiled. "Bring Zhao Dalong, Sun Fugui, and Qian Youcai along. They know some martial arts. A dozen grown men wouldn't be a problem for them."

"Good. That saves me from asking my older brother."

"I don't want to see that sour face of his, looking down on everyone."

"Uncle Ergou."

Xu Mingyuan came out of his room and greeted him with a smile.

Chen Ergou stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder. "A Yuan, you're coming with Uncle Ergou to sell watermelons around the villages the day after tomorrow. Excited?"

"Uncle Ergou, you're the one who's excited. We're only selling watermelons, not making some earth-shattering deal," Xu Mingyuan said calmly.

"Hey, is that any way to talk to your Uncle Ergou? Sounds like you're asking for a beating."

Chen Ergou raised a hand in mock warning, but Xu Mingyuan was not afraid in the slightest.

He could tell at a glance when someone was joking.

Besides, Chen Ergou would never teach him a lesson in front of Xu Chuan.

The day after tomorrow came.

Xu Mingyuan set off with Chen Ergou and the others.

Bai Jing's face was full of worry, and she was reluctant to let him go.

Xu Mingyuan was only seven, after all, and he would be traveling far from home for several days.

When a child traveled a thousand miles, his mother's heart traveled with him.

Xu Chuan sighed inwardly, took Bai Jing's hand, and comforted her. "Er Gou and Dalong are with him. He'll be fine."

Zhao Dalong cupped his fists toward Xu Chuan. "Rest assured, Household Master. We'll keep the second young master safe and bring him back in one piece."

Xu Mingyuan added, "Mother, I'm only going for a few days. I'll be back soon."

"Off you go, then."

Of the proceeds, the Xu Household would take thirty-five percent and the Chen Household sixty-five percent.

Everyone in Dongxi Village knew the Xu Household grew good watermelons. Before Chen Ergou and the others had even left the village, quite a few families bought two or three to try.

In the blink of an eye, they had sold over a hundred.

"Father, I want watermelon."

Xu Mingxuan ran over, hot from the summer weather.

Xu Chuan smiled and readily agreed. "All right. Let me cool one down first."

He found a large wooden bucket, filled it with water, dropped in a white crystal, then placed a watermelon weighing a good eight or nine jin inside.

The watermelon bobbed up and down in the bucket.

Xu Mingxuan put his hand in, then looked at Xu Chuan in surprise. "Father, the water's so cold."

"It is, isn't it? Give it half an hour, and we can have chilled watermelon."

"Yay!"

Xu Mingxuan scampered off to play with Li Zhi.

Li Zhi was no longer skin and bones. He now looked like an ordinary child of three or four.

His cheeks were plump, and his features were rather handsome.

After a moment's thought, Xu Chuan put in two slightly smaller watermelons as well.

Half an hour passed.

He called Xu Mingwei over, pointed at the watermelons in the bucket, and said, "Shitou, take one to Uncle Chen's home and one to your Uncle Ergou's."

"Okay, Father."

Xu Mingwei carried the two watermelons out. He soon reached Chen Ergou's home, delivered one, then went to Uncle Chen's.

"Grandpa Chen, my father sent you this chilled watermelon. It's hot out, so have some to cool down."

"Chilled?" Uncle Chen touched the watermelon and said in surprise, "It really is. Your father grows more capable by the day."

Xu Mingwei gave a shy smile.

"Thank your father for me."

By the time Xu Mingwei returned, Xu Chuan, Bai Jing, Li Er, and his son were already eating watermelon.

He walked over and picked up a cut slice from the table.

Then he sat beside Xu Chuan and took a bite.

Pale red juice splashed everywhere.

"So sweet."

Two days later.

The watermelon-selling party returned.

The trip had gone smoothly, and every watermelon had sold.

At Chen Ergou's home.

When Xu Yan saw the silver Chen Ergou had brought back, her eyes curved into crescents.

She counted the silver and copper coins several times.

And this was only the money from the watermelons. The other seasonal crops would bring in a fair amount too.

As for the fruit trees on their thirty mu of woodland, even the earliest harvest would not come until next year or the year after.

"Wife, I'm telling you, selling those watermelons went as smooth as could be. The moment people heard they were grown by Brother Chuan's family, hardly anyone even haggled."

Chen Ergou took a leisurely sip of tea, a smug smile on his face.

"That good? Then we could raise the price next time."

"No. I suggested it, but A Yuan turned me down. He said the watermelons already cost a little more than ordinary ones and brought in plenty of profit. There was no need to spoil our reputation over it."

"And he even gave a gift to anyone who bought more than five at once."

"What gift?"

"Some kind of stone, apparently. Put it in water and it cools the water down, so you can make chilled watermelon."

"So that's how the chilled watermelon Shitou brought us last time was made."

Xu Yan was rather surprised. She thought the stone held plenty of business potential, especially in summer, when it ought to sell well.

"Where did the stone come from? Did you ask?"

"I did. A Yuan didn't know either. Brother Chuan gave it to him, and there wasn't much of it."

Chen Ergou's eyes darted. He stretched out his legs and propped them on a bench.

"Wife, now you've seen what your husband can do, why don't you come rub my shoulders and pound my legs? These past few days have worn me out."

Chen Ergou wanted to assert his authority as husband.

Xu Yan glanced at him, leaving him to take the hint.

Chen Ergou felt weary to the bone.

This woman!

I've made money, and she still treats me like this. She's impossible!

"Oh, right. We're having dinner at Brother Chuan's tonight to celebrate the trip's success."

That evening.

Xu Yan naturally did not let the chance slip by and asked where the white stone had come from.

Xu Chuan only said he had happened to find it in the woodland and discovered what it did by accident.

That was not exactly a lie.

It was just that, after some investigation and study, he had found a Saltpeter deposit nearby.

He did not yet have the means to mine it, so he could only leave it alone for now.

More importantly, that stretch of woodland had no owner. Strictly speaking, it belonged to the Qingjiang County Yamen.