Chapter 1625: Provence

Not many Oxheart tomatoes are planted; usually, only Boss Chang wants some, and Old Zhao occasionally takes a handful for his own family to eat. It's not suitable for sale.

Provence tomatoes are better; the fruit size is very uniform, and although they aren't very large, they are of a medium size.

Plus, they grow beautifully, have a high degree of redness, and are exceptionally wonderful when eaten raw.

Yun Duo couldn't help but feel sheepish: "I'm sorry, I'm too unprofessional."

Song Tan shook her head: "You didn't study agriculture, and you hadn't arrived yet when they were planted; there's no need to hold yourself to such standards."

When asking people to pick vegetables, she was afraid they would mix them up, so she even put up signs nearby. Otherwise, with this variety in this plot and that variety in that plot, only Song Tan had a good enough memory to keep track. If a skilled hand at farming like Wu Lan came, even she would get confused.

Yun Duo, however, felt otherwise.

Although she didn't study agriculture in college, her job was in this industry. If she couldn't even achieve professional excellence in her own work, how could she have the face to ask for a promotion or a raise?

Besides, the boss had already said they were Provence tomatoes. She was excited the moment she saw the tomatoes, and Oxheart tomatoes had such a unique shape—oval with a little point—yet she hadn't even reacted...

She pursed her lips. Her previous joy and excitement gradually settled. She felt that this assistant job was the one that truly required her to improve herself.

Song Tan didn't know about Yun Duo's self-reflection. By now, she had already followed Qiao Qiao to the Provence plot. Seeing that Yun Duo had quickly started using her phone to look for angles, she simply reached out and plucked three tomatoes directly:

"Qiao Qiao, tell your little friends, these are the tomatoes we are selling today."

"Go teach your little friends how to eat them."

These words were simply devastating!

The bullet comments began to scroll rapidly:

【Is it that I don't know how to eat? If you're so capable, why don't you put up 100,000 orders!】

【A 9.9 welfare deal, and I have to suffer this kind of torture... I'm too cheap! I want to buy ten!】

【Teacher Qiao Qiao, stop eating, I know how to eat.】

【What a coincidence, I know how to eat too. Don't teach us anymore; every time you teach us what to eat, it makes me spend a lot of money, and if the taste isn't right, I get angry.】

【How did you know I had already started group-buying Provence tomatoes...】

Yun Duo set her phone on a stand and also reached out to take a tomato.

At this moment, the hands of all three appeared on the livestream, each holding a round, plump tomato.

After her earlier reflection, Yun Duo was much more proactive now. She took the initiative to extend her other hand, forming a fist to gesture beside the tomato:

"Look! Although Provence tomatoes aren't the largest, the ones we send out are very uniform. Almost every one is about the size of my fist."

"So everyone doesn't need to worry about the weight. Just like the cucumbers, you don't need to worry about receiving ones with obvious discrepancies."

"Even though the price is only 9.9, we won't deliberately send out crooked or cracked ones because of that."

As she explained in detail, she turned her fist to gesture the size. She wasn't a very chubby person, and now that her fist was clenched beside the tomato, the difference was indeed not large.

Except for... the fist being a bit dark.

Oh well, that's not important!

Because with 0 people paying attention, everyone was watching Qiao Qiao.

With his ruthless hands, he pressed his palms against the tomato's stem to form a heart shape, then snapped the tomato in half, revealing the plump, firm flesh and pulp inside, along with a few round, flake-like seeds.

"Look!"

He was also very proud: "My sister is super amazing at farming! Sister Yanran said some tomatoes aren't grown well; they look big on the outside but are very hollow on the inside. There are also some that don't ripen evenly. Then there's the fact that there's too much pulp and not enough flesh..."

"But these don't have any of that."

"The tomatoes are so fragrant, and the flesh is very full. So delicious!"

The mouth-watering tomato, snapped in half, quickly left the livestream frame and was then bitten into by Qiao Qiao.

A slight amount of juice seeped out, with a feeling of sweetness mixed with a hint of sour fragrance, making him quickly bend over and lower his head, eating with great satisfaction.

Now only Song Tan hadn't demonstrated.

She thought for a moment, then simply grabbed the green stem and pulled, saying as she did so:

"Provence tomatoes, if you grow them yourself, many people easily buy fake ones."

"Ours are superior seeds obtained through cooperation with the Agricultural Academy. Everyone look, the ridges on this fruit are very obvious; this is also one of its major characteristics."

The skin of the Provence tomato isn't particularly thin; it doesn't become mushy after ripening, but rather has a certain hardness, which is why it's convenient for transport and has gradually become popular.

But although this skin has thickness, it doesn't make one feel it's unpleasant to eat.

Song Tan's fair fingertips pinched into the tomato's skin, and then she carefully exerted force backward. A large, complete piece of skin was peeled off, revealing a nearly oval-shaped gap on the whole tomato.

And beneath the skin, the sandy texture of the flesh kept shifting, even more crystal-clear and exceptionally obvious.

"Look! Sandy pulp, very obvious, right?"

The fans in the livestream room began to suffer!

【I'm only allowed to buy two, and I might not even be able to snatch them, yet you have to explain it in such detail!】

【Is this torture? Ah ah ah ah, I want to buy ten jin!】

【Sometimes I hate that Teacher Qiao Qiao changed to a new phone. If he used the old blurry phone, I wouldn't be this miserable, right?】

【But with the blurry phone, I wouldn't be able to see how cute the big panda's butt is... Forget it, I'll endure him!】

【Are they not eating the skin? Why aren't they washing them?】

【Yeah, I saw them just rubbing them in their palms after picking them.】

【Our sister peeled it.】

【We rural people aren't that fussy.】

【Look at the planting environment of these tomatoes; besides dust, they should be very clean. No need.】

【Living life, you can't be too serious. If you have the conditions, wash it for peace of mind. If you don't, you can still eat it. Rest assured, no problems.】

【Isn't this trying to show us they didn't use pesticides?】

【That theory is possible, but if Qiao Qiao's family's produce used pesticides, it wouldn't be this flavorful.】

【Many pesticides now are biological agents, they aren't toxic.】

Everyone quickly went off-topic.

But the 3 people in charge of the livestream paid no attention.

They each held a tomato, taking either large or small bites, eating slowly, their expressions exceptionally satisfied.

Even with the camera facing a vast little forest of tomatoes, one could still hear the discussion between Qiao Qiao and the others:

"So delicious. Very sweet, but with a hint of tomato sourness."

Yun Duo nodded, her mouth full of tomato, and only a muffled exclamation could be heard: "Sandy pulp, it's all over my face!"

Song Tan also laughed: "Wash your hands by the water channel in a bit, I brought tissues."

The fans who had finally managed to go off-topic and shift their attention:

Damn it! They also wanted to have sandy pulp all over their faces!

After eating and drinking their fill, the livestream was about to officially begin.

But after it officially began, there was actually very little talking, because the camera was aimed at the sound of Qiao Qiao continuously picking tomatoes.

The slender fruit shears reached into the gaps between the branches and leaves, one after another.

After silently cutting for several minutes, Qiao Qiao finally remembered the livestream, so he followed up with an explanation:

"We pick them by twisting them directly with our hands. The tomatoes are very ripe, and they come off with a little force."

"But sister said, you can't send them by courier like this. For courier, you have to use scissors to cut the fruit stem; that way they aren't easily damaged during transport."

As soon as these words were said, someone in the livestream room voiced their agreement:

【I also grow tomatoes at home, and they fall off with a light touch once they're ripe.】

【Those that are perfectly ripe! They are fragrant, sweet, and rich in fruit flavor when eaten directly, but they can't be stored.】

【The tomatoes I planted in the field this year all cracked.】

【High temperature and high humidity, right? Was it sudden exposure to the sun after a rainstorm? That makes them crack more easily.】

【Don't mention it, this year the weather was all like that, lots of pests and diseases, many of my flowers died.】

【Wait! Three people working, why is Qiao Qiao the only one picking?】

【Sister, look at me, how are you exploiting our Teacher Qiao Qiao?】

【Qiao Bao, you have to learn to be lazy!】

Yun Duo stared at the livestream room, and seeing the bullet comments, she quickly took a screenshot and sent it to Song Tan.

Song Tan was pinching a bright green grasshopper. Hearing her phone ring, she took it out, looked, and couldn't help but be amused.

She raised her voice:

"Qiao Qiao, your little friends are asking why you are the only one working? They think you're so tired and say you can be lazy."

Everyone in the livestream room pricked up their ears: Exactly! Why is Qiao Qiao working alone! So tired! My heart aches for my treasure!

Qiao Qiao stopped his hand movements and said puzzledly: "We agreed that I would do the welfare, picking these few hours every day, selling as much as I pick."

He hesitated: "Should I be lazy?"

This voice was clearly transmitted to everyone's ears through the microphone, and Yun Duo also followed up with an explanation:

"The wholesale price of regular high-quality Provence tomatoes can reach two yuan per jin. You can imagine the taste and price of ours. These tomatoes are exclusively supplied to partners, and the price is dozens of times that of regular tomatoes."

She took out the data she had just searched: "Provence is a large-fruit variety, with each fruit weighing between 200~300g."

"Everyone look."

She brought the camera close to the tomatoes in Qiao Qiao's basket: "Because the welfare isn't calculated by weight, but by the piece, Qiao Qiao picks them as evenly and plumply as possible. That is to say, the weight of each one is not far off."

"Two tomatoes, let's count it as one jin."

"In this way, the supplier's wholesale price is also in the tens of yuan."

"We also have to enter the cold storage for pre-cooling; they are very afraid of collisions, and packing also requires foam for fixing."

"Plus the price of Fengfeng Courier..."

She laughed: "Does everyone understand now?"

The livestream room was in a sorry state!

【Understood, this is the welfare Teacher Qiao Qiao personally fought for us!】

【I just said our sister is a powerhouse who once carried two buckets of yellow mud and walked like the wind, how could she possibly be lazy?】

【Wuwuwu, so touched, it turns out it was welfare Qiao Bao personally fought for.】

【That, although very touched, Qiao Qiao, you must not stop!】

【Exactly! Laziness is not allowed! Not good quality! Pick quickly, pick quickly, pick quickly!】

【Taking a step back, why can't Teacher Qiao Qiao have three heads and six arms?】

【Qiao Qiao, it's just picking tomatoes! It's not tiring at all! Pick quickly!】

Everyone was lively, and soon they were staring expectantly at Qiao Qiao's movements again, watching him pick up the scissors and start acting again, and they all breathed a sigh of relief in unison.

And Yun Duo silently counted the finished products in the basket, set the phone up, and asked Song Tan:

"Everyone has watched for quite a while, I estimate Qiao Qiao can pick about 200 tomatoes an hour."

Mainly because the fruits are all very uniform, no need to pick and choose; seeing red ones, just use the scissors, which invisibly increased efficiency.

It wouldn't get dark until after 7 o'clock now. Picking until 7:30, Yun Duo estimated there could be 250-300 orders.

"I'll put up the link in a bit, how about 260 orders?"

Song Tan also roughly calculated: "Fine, if it's not enough, we'll pick more tomorrow. The extra ones can be sent to Boss Chang in the early morning."

The livestream room, hearing the two discussing, was suddenly stunned:

【How come after picking for so long, there are only two hundred and some orders!】

【The gold content of two per order is especially obvious at this moment.】

【I'm going to offer incense to my ancestors right now! Bless me to be able to snatch the tomatoes; I will definitely offer them in front of my ancestors for an hour before eating!】

【Already climbed the signal tower.】

【Already mobilized the whole family, old and young.】

【In short! Put up the link, my Qiao!】

Yun Duo had just finished editing the link, and seeing the bullet comments of everyone being hot-blooded, she couldn't help but be amused again.

Why not say work is good? Even the work content makes people feel happy.

She clicked 【List】, and now there was no need to look closely; the moment the link popped up, the page turned gray.

The fans who didn't snatch any cried out "Wow," their lives were so bitter! So miserable!

The joys and sorrows of people are not connected.

Some people didn't snatch any cucumbers or tomatoes, while others not only snatched them, but had already successfully received the cucumbers the next morning.

The glory of the potato blind box was still continuing, and every day everyone was showing off in the group—

【Sigh! My cooking skills aren't good, the potato silk pancake is a bit burnt.】

Picture, picture, picture.

Or else, 【I really have no appetite today, so I had to simply make some green pepper potato silk.】

Picture.

There were even more excessive ones: 【Wow! Potato slices stir-fried with lard, oily and fragrant!】

In short, these shows of wealth appeared in the group every day, and every day they made everyone grit their teeth, their resentment so strong they could raise eight or ten Evil Sword Immortals!

And now, the first batch of people who received cucumbers also appeared.

In order not to let themselves have more competitors, many of them wouldn't show off on social media—

That would easily lead to arguments.

Some people didn't know what they were showing off, so they would be puzzled why buying some vegetables and fruits would make them so happy.

These people would ask if they were shills?

No matter how much they emphasized they weren't shills and wouldn't give the link or say the store name, the other party would think it was a soft article...

Or else it was a group of private messages asking for the link.

In short, walking in the night with silk clothes on, it was too unpleasant!

Therefore, the only place they could show off wildly was this group.

This group is great!

You only need to put up a photo, no need for many words, and everyone's sourness will fill the entire space. Even if separated by thousands of miles, one could clearly perceive it through the internet.

Oh my, oh my, it's too wonderful.

Look, today's show-off is this.

Picture: 【The cucumber is placed on a plate, offered on the altar.】

Below is a long string of comments:

【Why not say people still have to rely on their ancestors! Relying on one's own struggle has no chance! After all, the luck of the world is limited. In my ancestors' time, there were fewer people, so the luck distributed to individuals was more. When it comes to our population of over a billion, oh my god, I can only draw tissues in lucky draws!】

【We have no choice, so we have to offer incense to the ancestors, saying we invite the ancestors to eat cucumbers.】

【Like me, my ancestors are especially supportive!】

【Old ancestors, we've offered it! When the tomatoes arrive tomorrow, I'll offer them to you again—but it's agreed, only offer them for an hour, timing starts now.】

In the group:...!!!

Good, good, good! Is this a cyber luck battle?

Competitors in the livestream room, you wait! Tomorrow when I watch the livestream, I'll play "Strong Army, Strong Country" videos!

Hmph! Strengthen my magnetic field! Strengthen my energy!

I don't believe I can't snatch one!

But just after this ambition was expressed, they saw that in the group, one, two, three people had already started posting pictures.

Does all the Fengfeng Courier in the world deliver to the door at this time? It's simply unreasonable!

There are cucumbers with filters and color adjustments, lying high-end and flat on long white porcelain plates.

There are also cucumbers held in hands with a bite taken out, juicy, crisp, and tender, visible to the naked eye.

There are also those cut into pieces, carefully piled in crystal bowls, with silver forks, candles, and fresh flowers, which can be said to have pulled the atmosphere to the extreme.

There were even some who posted a video of slapping cucumbers with a knife board, and on the spot mixed a bowl of cold cucumber salad with great color, fragrance, and taste!

The ways of showing off were varied, but the core meaning to be expressed remained unchanged—

【Oh my, sorry, I snatched one.】

Damn it!

The people in the group looked resentfully at Qiao Qiao's account, which had no movement at all.

They hoped the livestream would come quickly, and they hoped their luck would get better.

If it really didn't work...

Someone silently gritted their teeth and aimed their gaze at the pomelo tree outside.

Before they could act, they saw someone in the group posting a large pile of pomelo leaves.

【Freshly plucked pomelo leaves from the door, soaking them in water to wash hands can increase luck, private message me your address, free gift.】

Picture: 【Orders for cucumbers, tomatoes, and potatoes all successfully snatched.】

Good fellow!

For a moment, no one in the group spoke.

Returning 5 minutes later, they saw the person who posted the pomelo leaves helplessly posting 3 identical messages in a row:

【Gone, gone, the 3 pomelo trees at the door have been plucked bald, gone!】

Yun Duo would come to the group irregularly every day to see if there was any key news. Seeing this, she quickly edited an announcement and was just about to find some anti-fraud videos to post together when she saw Zhang Yanping speak—

【Brothers and sisters! Kneeling and begging not to cause trouble! Once it gets involved with fraud and feudal superstition, our group and livestream will be gone!】

【By the way, to the brother with the pomelo leaves, I suggest you purchase pomelo leaves locally and open a small shop online... I feel this business should be quite good. A big business opportunity!】

These words were both intimate and not stiff, and very reasonable.

No matter if everyone was well-intentioned or had other motives, at this moment they didn't feel offended, nor did they have sensitive psychological states and feel uncomfortable.

Yun Duo looked at her announcement and the anti-fraud videos she had found, and sighed:

Communicating with people is also a great subject!

She still had room for improvement.

However, the brother who gave away the pomelo leaves seemed to have really adopted this suggestion. Half an hour later, when he returned, he really posted a screenshot of an online store:

【Gratitude to our underworld boss! Provided a direction for the unemployed me! Thank you so much!】

【Brothers and sisters, this is my cousin's online store. His pomelo orchard is used to sell pomelos every year. Now there are no other products in the store, so I discussed listing my pomelo leaves...】

【9.9 free shipping for pomelo leaves! Links cannot be posted in the group, beware of fraud! Come to the store to find customer service, customer service is me, I will send another five-yuan red envelope deduction!】

This person's emotional intelligence was obviously very high. Advertising was not allowed in the group, so after he advertised, he posted a screenshot of a private chat with Zhang Yanping:

【Big brother! Gratitude for pointing out the direction! This winter I will send you 200 jin of pomelos!】

?? Here it is! The first day of August! 5000 words! Surprise, haha!

? When I wrote to 4000 words, I hesitated whether to post it directly, but after thinking about it, I insisted on writing a bit more!

? 【Just discovered there is a Great God's Light that can be clicked, those interested can take a look!】 ===== CHAPTER 1626 =====