RL (AT) Chapter 3: Fruit-Bearing Orchard

Chapter 3: Fruit-Bearing Orchard

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Hearing the children frolic in the courtyard, Lin Mo also got up, walked out of the room after somebody’s activity, and looked at them silently for a few minutes. Lin Mo also learned that the four children at home stood on the big stone board to brush their teeth.

The Lin family was not rich in Daling Village, but they could also eat a full meal. The Lin family had 15 mu of paddy fields and 20 mu of dry land. Apart from the annual taxes, the rest was enough for this family’s one-year rations.

But in addition to basic satiety, they needed to supplement the nutrition for the children. Lin Mo, the only ger of the Lin family, had been weak since he was a child. Lin Xiu, the second son of the Lin family, also needed a lot of silver to get his reputation.

So even though Lin Cheng, the eldest brother of the Lin family, and Father Lin made a lot of money by going out to work short-term every year, they still couldn’t make the Lin family richer. Even if there were some savings in the family, they still had to prevent the children from getting sick.

Daling Village was most famous for having all kinds of fruits. Surrounded by three mountains, Daling Village only had a road to the southeast to connect the neighboring villages and the county seat.

Although there were some fruit trees in these three mountains, they were not all over the mountain now. It was because ten years ago, the supply of fruit all over the country suddenly fell short of demand, and they were in short supply until they saw the remote county town.

Other people saw the business opportunities, and the farmers were not stupid, so they began to plant fruit trees on the hills that were divided into their own homes. In the first two years, all the families in Daling village made a lot of money, but then they couldn’t sell them again after the initial success.

Now, apart from occasionally picking some for the family to eat, the rest was left to fall and rot, and nobody cared. The mountain orchard had become a place for children to play in Daling Village, and because of poor management, there were fewer fruit trees.

The grass in the field had been removed for more than half a month. Today, Father Lin and Big Brother Lin Cheng planned to go deeper into the mountain to hunt and find herbs.

As the ancients said, they should depend on the mountain to feed the mountain and the water to feed the water. ¹

In addition to farming, the men in the village worked part-time to hunt in the three mountains around Daling Village. Even if they couldn’t hunt big guys to increase their family’s income, they could still hunt small ones to add meat and vegetables to the family table.

After breakfast, Father Lin and Eldest Brother Lin took their things and went out. Because the farm work was temporarily finished, Mama Lin and sister-in-law Lin stayed at home to embroider some things and planned to sell them in the town next time they went to the market.

“Mom, Little Brother, and I are going to pick some fruit at the foot of the mountain.”

Mama Lin was surprised to hear Mo’ger’s initiative to go out of the house, but she still didn’t object. It was better to go out for a walk, so he didn’t have to stay at home all day.

“Go ahead, don’t run to the mountain, Little Xing. Look after your Fourth Brother. Don’t get heatstroke at noon.”

“I know, ma’am.” Lin Xing put the basket beside the wall onto his back.

“Fourth Uncle, I will go too.” As soon as Lin Xiaoya heard that Fourth Uncle was about to go out, her eyes brightened. She quickly stood up with both hands and walked to Lin Mo with short legs.

On the other side, Lin Xiaonan, who was playing with the chickens, suddenly felt that the chickens were not very entertaining any longer. He turned around to look at Lin Mo, and his eyes were full of expectation.

“No way.” Lin Mo refused without expression.

Xiaoya felt scared when she saw Lin Mo’s expressionless face, and she was at a loss as she held her clothes with her hands. Xiaoya thought that Fourth Uncle was angry. He looked fierce when he didn’t laugh.

“…You will stay at home with your brother, and I will bring you delicious food.” Lin Mo touched her head strangely.

After Lin Mo explained to the two children, he left with Lin Xing and Lin Chen with the basket on his back. Sister-in-law Lin looked at her two children’s backs, shook her head and smiled helplessly, then continued her embroidery work.

Not long after he left home, Lin Mo saw a river. There were many people washing clothes by the river. Lin Mo looked at it casually, which made him wonder why there were many men washing clothes.

Not waiting for Lin Mo to search for the relevant memory in his brain, Lin Xing and Lin Chen greeted the villagers passing by and interrupted his thinking.

“It’s the Lin family. I heard that you were ill again the other day. Are you better now?” Auntie Zhang, with a basket in her right hand, asked with a smile.

“Already.” Lin Mo nodded coldly.

“That’s good. Let me say, you little gers should come out more and walk around. If you stay at home all day, you will get sick.”

Aunt Zhang was not surprised by Lin Mo’s indifference. Lin Mo didn’t often walk around the village. Other people didn’t know Lin Mo very well. What she heard was that the Lin family had a delicate and frail little ger, who was a little introverted.

Little ger? What did she mean? Lin Mo had some doubts in his mind. Before that, he thought it was strange for Mama Lin to call him this. He didn’t care much since he thought it was the original’s nickname.

Although Lin Mo had some memories of his original body, if he didn’t dig it deliberately, he only knew something about it, which was general and vague. Whether this dynasty was historical or not, he hasn’t figured it out yet.

And Lin Mo couldn’t just ask others like this. Wasn’t that telling others what was wrong with him?

“Aunt Zhang, we will leave first. The sun is rising. We’ll talk another day.”

Lin Chen listened to Aunt Zhang say that they hadn’t stopped by for such a long time, and quickly said that noon would arrive quickly if they talked more. Lin Chen felt the impatience of his Fourth Brother.

In fact, it was just a frown of doubt.

After saying goodbye to Aunt Zhang, the three brothers went on their way. Lin Chen glanced at his Fourth Brother walking beside him and felt relieved. He felt that his Fourth Brother had changed a lot recently, but it seemed that the change was not bad.

The three went to a path that divided the road. There were many shrubs on both sides of the road, and there were some fruit trees between the shrubs.

Lin Xing looked up at the fruit trees on the side of the road, and though he wanted to eat them, explained why not to, “The fruit on both sides of the road is not sweet. It’s the most delicious, crispy, and juicy on the other side of the mountain.” 

“How far is it?” Lin Mo looked back and continued on his way.

Since there were more delicious ones, Lin Mo would not complain about eating those inferior ones. Although he really wanted to eat them, Lin Mo could afford to wait.

“Soon, that’s the front one, and then there’s a kind of wild purple fruit on it. It’s sour, sweet, and delicious.” Lin Xing reached out and pointed to the large fruit orchard in front of him. Some fruit trees still had flowers on their branches, while others were already full of fruits.

Lin Mo’s body had been transformed by the spiritual water. Although it had not been completely transformed, his five senses were still several times more sensitive than ordinary people, and he could smell the clear and sweet scent of fruit there.

Lin Mo’s nose sniffed gently. The air was fresh in the morning. The fresh smell of grass and the sweet smell of fruit made Lin Mo feel better, and his tense nerves were relieved.

Lin Mo’s eyebrows and eyes were slightly bent. He quickened his steps and moved forward. The twins, who fell behind, looked at each other for a few seconds then quickly followed. They could tell that their Fourth Brother was very happy.

“Do you like fruit very much?”

“Almost. Eating more fruit is good for your health.” Lin Mo was in a good mood, and his voice was not so cold.

After walking for a long time, Lin Mo reached forward and tiptoed to pick a red apple. After wiping it with his clothes, he began to nibble on it. Lin Mo looked around as he ate the apple. He found that there were many kinds of fruit here.

“Do we have the same kind of fruit as others?” Lin Mo asked as he walked along after eating an apple and a big pear.

“It’s not exactly the same. We have more here, and there are still some wild fruits under the cliff inside.” Lin Chen explained.

“Fifth Elder Brother, what are you doing?” Lin Chen, who followed Lin Mo, didn’t see his twin brother keep up with him. Looking around, he found Lin Xing squatting under a tree.

“Here are some strange plants. Come and have a look. The fruits are colorful.” Lin Xing turned to them and waved to them.

Lin Mo was puzzled, knowing that he had seen it in the past. Wasn’t that a modern pepper? How could it be found here in ancient times? Was it a variation?

In addition, Lin Mo also found a pepper tree nearby. Looking aside, he found a tomato vine with small fruit clusters similar to grapes.

“Is this the only one? What about that? Has only one been planted?” Lin Mo asked, pointing to the big tomato vine.

“There are two more plants in front of us. As for the one with a string of green fruits, it suddenly grew out half a year ago, but only when the fruit is red can we eat it.”

“You’ll have a stomach ache if it’s not cooked. Fifth Brother tried it.” Lin Chen added.

Lin Xing: “…”

Of course, tomatoes can’t be eaten green.

After that, Lin Mo followed them around the fruit orchard. The planting of fruit trees in the fruit orchard was quite neat. The land was divided into square areas. After browsing, Lin Mo found that there were some differences between the ancient fruit and the past. Some fruits were obviously modern or imported from abroad, but they could be planted on a large scale.

Lin Mo didn’t know if other crops were so advanced, but he could be sure that this was not a historical period. Maybe it was a dynasty period.

After a round of eating, Lin Mo and his two younger brothers went to the bottom of the cliff to pick grapes, which were the purple sour, sweet wild fruit that Lin Xing mentioned before. Because the grapes here were wild and grew on the cliff wall, they had some big fruits. For a teenager like Lin Mo, it was just the right height.

After looking at it, Lin Xing could make sure how to make money. There were many fruits here. There were ready-made materials since they could make money on wine, not to mention other fruits.