You've been reborn and you're going to go farm?

Jiang Ye smiled broadly, stopped eating the melon, and his face was full of "keep talking, I love to hear it" expressions.

A usually taciturn person suddenly starts praising someone indirectly; who wouldn't be confused?

"Alright, alright, go wash your hands, it's time to eat."

Xu Rong brought the last soup out of the kitchen, interrupting their flirtatious exchange, and invited them to eat.

Lunch was a pleasant affair. After everyone had finished eating, Jiang Lin revealed his plan to go to the provincial capital to buy watermelons.

"Dad, Mom, Grandpa, there's something I want to discuss with you."

The three of them looked at him.

"I plan to pick fifty or sixty melons, borrow a car, and take them to the provincial capital to sell tomorrow morning."

The old man drank the last sip of wine, looked up at him, and said nothing.

Father Jiang Jiahe frowned habitually. "It's hundreds of kilometers from the provincial capital, not easy to drive that far."

Xu Rong put down her chopsticks and scolded, "You child, Jiang Ye came all this way to visit, and you're plotting to use him as free labor, aren't you!"

Jiang Ye readily replied, "No, I actually think it's quite fun."

Her face was full of excitement and novelty: "Uncle, you don't know, these days our school's freshmen are doing military training, and the vendors outside can sell several truckloads of watermelons a day."

"It's hot, so everyone likes to eat this."

Although Jiang Ye spoke up for him, Jiang Jiahe still didn't back down, but his tone softened a bit: "The provincial capital is far away. The round-trip fuel costs, toll fees, and the cost of borrowing a car will add up to more than 800 yuan."

"Fifty or sixty watermelons, which weigh about 500 jin (250 catties), it's a lot of work to make this trip, and I don't even know how many I can sell."

In fact, Jiang Jiahe did not know the prices in the provincial capital, but that did not affect his disagreement with the matter.

Yesterday, my son was still arguing with his wife because they didn't have air conditioning at home. Suddenly, he wants to take 500 pounds of watermelons to the provincial capital to sell. This whole thing has never been reliable from the beginning.

It seems this kid heard Jiang Ye say that watermelons sell well outside their university, and he got the idea to put on a brave face.

He understands Jiang Lin too well.

Jiang Lin knew what kind of impression he had in his father's eyes. He pondered for a moment, then calmly said:

"At home, the most expensive watermelons we get are 0.8 yuan per jin (0.5 kg), and they only sell for 1.5 yuan at the market, and they're not easy to sell. I've already inquired around the university town in the provincial capital, and they sell for 3 yuan at the market, and the sweeter ones can even sell for 3.5 yuan."

"You should know how good the quality of our watermelons is. I can get them and sell them for 3 yuan a pound without any problem."

"I plan to borrow the car from Lin Tao. That way, the round-trip cost can be kept to around 600 yuan. I won't make too much, just about 500 jin to try. Even if I only sell 300 jin, it will still be better than selling at home."

"I want to give it a try. If this approach works, we'll take them all to the provincial capital. A few classes of students can buy all the melons we have in our fields."

"The watermelons in the village are almost all ripe now, and the vendors will probably have to lower the price when they come to buy them."

Jiang Jiahe clearly didn't expect that Jiang Lin had really thought things through this time. He had already figured out clearly where to sell, how to transport it, who to sell it to, and at what price.

There are no issues with feasibility.

But the words of denial had already been spoken, and the attitude had been made, so he, as the father, couldn't bring himself to immediately change his mind and say, "Okay, go ahead and do it."

Especially in front of Jiang Ye, an outsider.

The atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly became somber.

At that moment, Grandpa pushed the empty cup forward, and the subtle sound drew everyone's attention.

He looked at Jiang Jiahe: "When you were this age, in order to sell a few more yuan, you dared to carry 50 jin of cauliflower and walk 20 kilometers at night to go to the morning market."

"If Jiang Lin has an idea, then let's give it a try. If it succeeds, it'll be a viable path; if it fails, we won't lose anything."

The old man's words gave the Jiang family a way out, and Xu Rong immediately chimed in, "Oh, now that you mention it, it actually seems like a good idea. Since the child has this idea, let's give it a try."

As she spoke, she winked at her husband, then turned to Jiang Ye with a smile: "So the freshmen at your school have already started classes?"

Jiang Ye nodded: "Freshmen have to do military training, so they start school before us. We did the same thing last year."

"Don't worry, Uncle, these watermelons are so sweet, they're sure to sell well."

Jiang Jiahe looked up at his son, and the awkwardness in his heart finally eased: "If you pull the watermelon so far, it will easily get damaged. When you're loading it, put some straw in the middle to cushion it."

"Call Lin Tao first and tell him that you've been friends since you were kids, but borrowing the car is a serious matter. Don't wait until you're right in front of him to ask."

"I'll make the call right now."

Jiang Lin immediately picked up his phone and called Lin Tao.

After a few simple words, he came back.

"I've already arranged with Lin Tao that the car will be available tomorrow, so he'll drive it over tonight."

As he spoke, he said to Jiang Ye, "Lin Tao is my childhood friend. After I'm done with this business, I'll introduce you two and we can have a meal together."

Jiang Ye nodded: "Okay!"

With the matter settled, Xu Rong got up and started clearing the dishes. "Alright, it's settled then. You two can go to the field this afternoon and take a good look around, and pick out the watermelons carefully."

Jiang Lin and Jiang Ye also got up; one helped clear the table and the other wiped it.

The afternoon sun was intense, but the room was filled with a faint sense of relaxation. Jiang Ye helped Xu Rong wash the dishes, while Jiang Lin took out scissors and began cutting the labels that had been printed that morning.

Jiang Jiahe silently smoked a cigarette, watching his son gesturing as he cut the paper, but ultimately said nothing more, turned around and went inside for a nap.

As the sun began to set, Jiang Ye slung his camera over his shoulder. "Let's go, let's go take a passport photo of Xigua."

Jiang Lin followed behind, holding the cut labels.

As the two stepped off the ground, Jiang Lin's gaze focused, and transparent panels naturally appeared:

Variety: Jingxin

Texture: Crispy

[Sugar content: 13%]

Weight: 8 catties

[Serving suggestion: At room temperature, it will maintain a crisp texture for up to 2 days after picking. After 2 days, it will begin to show a sandy texture, and after 5 days it will be completely sandy while retaining its sweetness.]

He squatted down, weighed the watermelon on the electronic scale, then took the label and started making the identification tag.

Jiang Ye found a good angle, first taking a panoramic shot, then zooming in to take a close-up of the "ID card."

"Hey, this is really interesting. With this one post, the watermelon seems to have a different value."

Jiang Lin picked the watermelon and put it in the ditch, then picked the second one.

Before long, Jiang Jiahe strolled over, looked at the two people busy in the field, picked up a watermelon with a label stuck to its foot, and patted it hard. It was just the right ripeness.

His gaze unconsciously fell on the words marked in red pen: "Crispy, 13%, 2012.8.25..."

"Do some pointless work."

He muttered to himself, but looking at his son and the girl working so meticulously in the field, he had a feeling that the boy wasn't really trying to save face.

Who would be so concerned about saving face as to drag a young woman to do farm work?

He didn't make a sound to disturb them, and silently patted the other watermelons. Based on his experience, he judged that these watermelons tasted similar to the ones marked with a red pen, which intensified his strange feeling.

My own son...

When did you become so knowledgeable about farm work?

"Hmph, it seems I still need to be provoked a bit."

The transformation of Jiang Jiahe and Jiang Lin can all be attributed to this girl, Jiang Ye.

It's a good thing overall.

He went back into the house and got two vegetable baskets. He cut some wild grass with a sickle and placed it at the bottom. Then he put the watermelons that were placed on the side of the ground into the baskets and carefully separated them with straw and wild grass.

Sixty melons were neatly arranged in four large vegetable baskets.

The father and son carried the watermelon under the eaves. Lin Tao, wearing a paper mill uniform, drove up in his van that had just been filled with gas. When he got out of the van and saw Jiang Ye standing with Jiang Lin, Lin Tao grinned mischievously and said, "I'm waiting for you to treat me to dinner."

With that, he tossed the car keys to Jiang Lin and hurriedly went back home, as he had a night shift tonight.

Jiang Lin looked at the watermelon under the eaves, then at the bread cart, and snapped his fingers.

"Prepare for the next step!"