Rebirth of a Portable Space: Transforming My Hometown

Chapter 18 The Emerald Watermelon and the Establishment of the Company

The watermelons in Yufei's vegetable garden are ripe too.

"Mommy~ Mommy, come quick! I can't move it!" Yufei shouted for her mother in the vegetable garden. Suddenly, she had a brilliant idea: she soaked watermelon seeds in water from her spatial storage.

They used the black soil from the space to grow watermelons, but when the watermelons grew, Liu Yufei found they were too big, as big and round as Pigsy's belly, only slightly smaller than the desert watermelons she ate in her previous life.

The watermelon's dark green rind resembled a piece of fine jade; even Yufei's mother, Liu Meili, couldn't bear to cut it.

Yufei had already seen many of them in the space, so she didn't feel anything and kept urging them on.

"Mommy, hurry! My little one wants to eat watermelon!"

Liu Yufei jokingly scolded, "You little glutton!"

Then, with a swift stroke, the watermelon was split open, revealing a bright red jade beneath the dark green emerald. The aroma of watermelon wafted through the air, reaching Liu Meili's nose and bringing her a sense of coolness in the sweltering summer heat.

After cutting it up, Yufei's mother gave a piece to Yufei and quickly took a bite herself.

The sweet taste lingered, giving Liu Meili the feeling of being in a summer forest—naturally refreshing, with a cool breeze caressing her skin, it felt wonderfully comfortable.

Liu Meili finished the watermelon in an instant. Looking at the watermelon rind in her hand, she felt that the surprises she had experienced in the past month had surpassed those of her previous 20 years.

Is this really the watermelon she knows?

She could already imagine how popular it would be if she sold it in the market.

But... she was thinking that the yield of watermelons from that small plot of land was a bit low.

The mother and daughter only tasted those two slices of watermelon. Then, Yufei's mother stared intently at the watermelon on the table, while Yufei looked at the fourth-grade Chinese textbook she had bought from the county town, waiting for the others to arrive.

When Yufei's father and grandfather returned, they were beaming and discussing things.

Yufei's mom's eyes lit up when she saw the two of them, and she immediately offered them watermelon.

Grandma Yufei came back too, and the family of five sat around the table, happily munching on watermelon. They finished off the large watermelon, which weighed about 5 pounds, in just a few bites.

Yufei's dad patted his full belly and shouted, "That was great!"

Then, realizing his lapse in composure, a faint blush spread across his dark face.

Grandpa seemed to sense Dad's embarrassment and laughed heartily, "Great! Great!"

After Grandpa finished laughing, he said to Yufei, "Yufei, is that the watermelon from the vegetable garden?"

Yufei nodded.

"Yes, but I planted two kinds of white jade radishes, just like before. One kind was planted with the fertilizer that grandpa provided, and the other kind was planted without fertilizer. But the part without fertilizer just grew vines and didn't produce any radishes."

So I'll ask Granny Chun if she can provide more fertilizer when I go to the county town.

The contracted land would definitely require more than just one or two bags of black soil; she needed enough time to dig it up and prepare sacks. Yufei understood her grandfather's unspoken meaning: he wanted to grow watermelons on the contracted land.

Grandpa Yufei nodded a few times, indicating his understanding. He said there was no rush and that Yufei would ask how much fertilizer they could provide tomorrow.

This watermelon is so delicious that it has shown them a new business opportunity. If this opportunity succeeds, then selling white jade radishes and golden corn before might seem like small-scale operations.

Grandpa Yufei had a feeling that if they could increase production, they would very likely become the first household in the village to earn ten thousand yuan a month.

I'm getting excited just thinking about it; I hope they have enough fertilizer.

While they were talking about jade watermelons, Yufei seemed a little distracted, her mind not really on the topic, and she hesitated several times before speaking.

Grandpa Yufei also noticed this and asked, "What's wrong, Nannan? Is there something you want to tell us? Just tell us."

Yufei seemed to have made up her mind. Since all five family members were present, there were some things she felt were necessary and needed to be put on the agenda.

"Grandpa, if your station is choosing a gift for Chinese New Year, you have two options: one is a Hero brand fountain pen, and the other is a fountain pen from who-knows-where, even though they're the same quality. Which one would you choose?" Yufei suddenly asked her grandfather a question.

Although Grandpa Yufei didn't quite understand why Yufei suddenly asked him this, he still thought about it seriously.

He answered the question seriously, "I would probably choose the hero card."

At the same time, Yufei's father also said that if it were him, he would also choose the Hero brand.

Yufei tilted her head and asked, "Why?" Yufei's grandfather fell into deep thought, while Yufei's father, without thinking much of it, replied...

"Hero brand is famous, and Hero fountain pens are definitely high-quality. In our time, owning a Hero fountain pen was a matter of great pride."

"Yes! The word 'hero' makes us think that this pen must be a good thing, right? I often hear people in the county town talking about century-old shops, saying that the things they sell are generally not bad. Oh, and Uncle Zhu's Renhe Restaurant, people think it's a place for rich people."

As Yufei spoke, she observed their reactions, but unexpectedly, it was Yufei's mother who went straight to the point.

"This might be the power of branding."

Yufei was incredibly surprised that her mother could pronounce the word "brand".

"Mom, please continue," Yufei encouraged.

"Ugh! Actually, I don't even know which newspaper I saw it in, but it said that the government wants to establish a brand culture or something."

A colleague once saw this report and jokingly said it was like a yellow dog marking its territory by urinating everywhere. This made us all burst into laughter. The analogy was crude, but the point was valid, and I remembered it.”

Yufei's mother said shyly.

“That’s right, it’s all about brand effect. I’m thinking, shouldn’t we also establish our own brand? Then, when people mention white jade radishes, golden corn, or even this jadeite watermelon, the first thing they’ll think of is us,” Yufei said to her grandfather and father.

"Yes! I think it's a good idea!" The other four family members, unusually in sync, said in unison.

Then the group started discussing what to name their company, and finally settled on "Junlin".

The phrase "a forest of gentlemen, a field of melons with proper etiquette, accumulating wealth with great generosity" aligns well with their business practices and also happens to be the name of Yufei Space.

After finalizing the company name, Yufei's father said that he would go to the trademark office to register it after arriving in the county town the next day.

After finalizing the company name, Yufei's father said that he would go to the trademark office to register it after arriving in the county town the next day.

Yufei seized the opportunity to suggest that it would be best to make a sign, and as she spoke, she took out a pencil and paper from her small schoolbag.

He drew a small hill and a star encircling it, and said...

"Building a brand involves two things: a name and a logo. People should be able to recognize your company at a glance. What do you think of my logo?"

The logo is simple and easy to remember, and they had no objections.

Thus, the initial framework of the brand and the initial corporate culture were established.