Koi baby helps his mother farm and becomes the richest man

Chapter 224: The Time of Delight

Qin Ying measured the area with her eyes and asked, "This apricot blossom forest is probably several dozen acres in size, isn't it?"

"It should be a little over a hundred acres," Zhou Yu replied. "In the past, there lived a master of apricots here. He followed the example of his predecessors and asked those who couldn't afford the medical fee to plant an apricot tree here.

“Over time, it became a large-scale business.

"Later, the miraculous doctor passed away, the inheritance was cut short, and this place became ownerless.

“In the early years, scholars and literati in Beijing would gather in February when the apricot blossoms were in full bloom.

"In recent years, I'm afraid few people have come here."

Qin Ying felt that it was good that no one came. Without human intervention, the trees would be more natural and charming. "Look, these trees are growing freely and full of vitality, which is the most beautiful thing.

“In fact, I don’t like bonsai that have been deliberately trimmed.

"Originally a straight tree was forced to become deformed just to cater to certain people's aesthetic tastes.

"It's just like people who, for the sake of someone's special quirks, are forced to grind away their personalities and become puppets who lose their self-identity. It's actually quite tragic."

As he spoke, he suddenly laughed and said, "I might be a little hypocritical. Because we grow food, vegetables, and fruit trees, we also prune and cultivate them according to our own requirements in order to obtain a good harvest."

"That's different," Zhou Yu said hurriedly, "You also said that one is for viewing, and the other is for filling the stomach, so the purposes are different.

“Before filling your stomach, nothing else matters.

"If you grow crops, fruits and vegetables according to your own requirements, do you think your harvest will be much higher than others?

"Our family can eat more food than other families for several months.

“If your method is promoted, people all over the world will no longer have to worry about not having enough to eat.

“A country is based on its people. Only when its people have enough to eat can the country gradually prosper.

"So what you do, at the very least, benefits yourself and your family, and at the most, benefits the country and its people."

Qin Ying felt embarrassed, "Don't say that, I... I'm not that great."

"You're just that amazing!" Zhou Yu held her hand tightly, placed it on his lips and kissed it gently, "How could I, Zhou Wenruo, have such a great reputation to marry such an outstanding wife like you!"

The heat on Qin Ying's face quickly spread to her neck. Before she could say anything, An An's voice suddenly came from not far away.

The little guy covered his eyes in a strange manner, but with his fingers spread wide, he shouted exaggeratedly: "I don't see anything! Go on, go on!"

Qin Ying felt more and more embarrassed and tried to pull her hands free, but after struggling several times without success, she had to give up.

Zhou Yu asked nonchalantly, "Where are the butterflies you caught? Did you catch any?"

"Butterflies," An An drew a circle in front of him, "I let all the butterflies go! Such beautiful butterflies should fly around. If I catch them, they will die soon."

Zhou Yu pulled Qin Ying over, picked her up with one hand, and asked, "Dad, let me ask you a question. Do you know what a butterfly turns into?"

"It's a caterpillar!" An An shook his head and said proudly, "This can't be a problem for me!"

"Okay," Zhou Yu asked with a smile, "Let me ask you again, are butterflies good or bad?"

An An was full of confidence: "Of course it's good!" Oh, such a simple question, and they even asked me a question? But in order to establish my character, I still have to act. It's so tiring. Is this the punishment for being a light bulb? If I had known, I would have gone to play by myself!

Sure enough, Zhou Yu's next question was: "Is the caterpillar good or bad?"

An An played tricks, slid off him, made a face, and ran away, "I'm going to play!"

Qin Ying also said angrily: "We came out to play, why are you testing her?"

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "I was just teasing her." He plucked a branch of apricot blossoms and pinned it on Qin Ying's hair. He looked at it carefully and praised, "It looks beautiful!"

There are two fully opened apricot blossoms, one half-opened, and one bud on this branch.

The two fully opened flowers have different shades of color because they bloom for different lengths of time.

Qin Ying had dark hair and a beautiful face, and she didn't like fancy makeup, so this flower actually added a bit of beauty to her.

Qin Ying gently stroked her temples, and the smile on her face became sweeter.

As they strolled along, they admired the apricot blossoms blooming all around them, and felt an unprecedented sense of leisure and comfort.

Although An An went out to play by herself, she was not far away. The couple could see her from time to time, so there was nothing to worry about.

It was almost noon. Zhou Yu identified the direction, called An An back, and headed east with the mother and daughter.

There was a small open space in the apricot forest on the east side. The weeds had been cleared long ago. There were piles of firewood, a full range of food ingredients, and a wooden box on the ground.

Qin Ying was a little surprised: "When was this prepared?"

"Since I wanted to take you out to play, I naturally came here to check it out in advance," Zhou Yu said as he opened the box and took out a rectangular felt mat. "How can we have fun if we don't prepare everything?"

Qin Ying hurried forward to help, but was rejected by Zhou Yu, "Take the child to look at the ingredients and see what he likes to eat."

The mother and daughter went to look at the baskets placed side by side on the other side. One basket contained bowls, plates, spoons, chopsticks and other items, one basket contained two pots, and the other baskets were all filled with various vegetables and meats.

Zhou Yu first cut some hay and spread it on the ground, then laid two layers of felt, and then a layer of coarse cloth on the felt, with oilcloth in the middle of the coarse cloth, and a rectangular wooden board on the oilcloth.

This is where they will have lunch later.

In order to prevent the corners of the coarse cloth from being blown away by the wind, he picked up clean stones to press it down.

Then go and build a fire.

Qin Ying came over with the sorted ingredients, feeling a little worried: "I see that the ingredients have been washed, but how can I make soup without water?"

"What's so difficult about this?" Zhou Yu stood up. "Wait a moment, I'll go get some water."

An An shouted, "I want to eat wild vegetable soup. Mom, I'll go dig some wild vegetables!"

Qin Ying had no choice but to take out the chopping board and kitchen knife to further process the ingredients.

Zhou Yu went there for a short while and came back with a load of water, including a ladle and a basin.

An An came back very quickly. In addition to wild vegetables, she also brought back a lot of mushrooms with the hem of her clothes.

After putting these down, he was about to pull Zhou Yu away: "Dad, there is a patch of spring bamboo shoots over there, let's dig them up and eat them!"

Zhou Yu looked back at Qin Ying, and Qin Ying smiled and nodded.

An An also did not forget to reassure Zhou Yu: "Don't worry, it's very safe here!"

Zhou Yu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Of course he knew it was safe, as he had arranged people in secret.

Not long after the father and daughter walked out, they saw two baskets, one large and one small, and a shovel for digging bamboo shoots.

An An asked knowingly, "Who is so attentive? Oh, it turns out to be my dad!"