Chapter 133: Phantom Color Stone

Alright! I'll start thinking now.

An Qinghe got into business, and his whole demeanor changed.

"This place is already a rare gem; I ought to show sincerity and work out a full plan."

"Otherwise, later someone else might find this hidden gem and come snatch it from me!"

Gu Xixi sighed, "You really love using idioms."

An Qinghe's eyes shifted, he smiled, "I might as well stay here a couple more days so we can discuss anytime."

"No!" Gu Xixi and Shitou said in unison.

Shitou happily looked at Gu Xixi, "Sister Xixi, you don't want him to stay here either, do you!"

An Qinghe was startled, immediately clutching his chest in anguish, "Xixi said she'd take me as a good friend, little Shitou said he likes me playing with him, but you two, you two!"

He shook his hand, pointing at the two, "Will you two turn on each other too quickly? Burning bridges, betraying trust!"

"Stop!" Gu Xixi calmly interrupted An Qinghe. "Just act for a while and that's enough."

"You stay at my place and don't go back, not to mention whether my home can accommodate you, but have you forgotten that you still haven't finished what you promised me?"

An Qinghe's lament stopped abruptly.

He gave an embarrassed smile and said, "Didn't I tell you? This time I came out, I made arrangements in advance."

Seeing Gu Xixi's stern face, An Qinghe hastily changed his tone, "I know, tomorrow morning I'll go back to help you watch over the seedlings and rootstock, from loading to transport, I'll be there the whole way, guaranteeing no mistakes!"

Gu Xixi satisfied, "Then thank you, Brother An."

"When my orchard is up and running, Brother An, feel free to come visit and stay a bit, so I can repay your kindness as host."

An Qinghe was quickly appeased, gritting his teeth in a foolish grin, "We'll eventually be on the same team, no thanks needed. A short stay is fine, the more the better!"

Shitou gave a sideways glance at that conceited person and said, "What's 'the more the better'?"

"I've told you, the house can't fit more people!"

Everyone was won over by this An Qinghe, even Mr. Chen didn't return.

Only he, the manly Shitou, clung to his last shred of reason!

An Qinghe, like a magician, picked up something from under the table.

Cylindrical in shape, about seven inches long, red lacquer with silver foil lion-and-peonies pattern, one end hollow, covered with perforated crystal glass, workmanship extremely exquisite.

An Qinghe smiled and said, "Before I left, I prepared some gifts; when I saw Xixi during the day I was just happy and hadn't had a chance to open my luggage."

He handed the cylinder to Shitou, "Here, you can play with this."

Shitou pretended not to be interested, "Your kindness, I appreciate it."

Gu Xixi took it, glanced once, smiled, "Oh, it's a kaleidoscope, quite a curious toy."

"Shitou, look toward the light from this side inside, try it."

An Qinghe exclaimed in surprise, "This thing I bought from a traveling merchant from Ye Liangguo; you actually recognize it?"

Within the Daye realm, kaleidoscopes are absolutely rare; few have seen them.

Gu Xixi, though aware she misspoke, was not at all flustered, "Oh, earlier when I went to the city, I saw someone holding something similar."

Fortunately, here the kaleidoscope is called the same name.

Shitou followed Gu Xixi's method to look at the kaleidoscope.

Only see inside, colors shift unpredictably, light and shadows bizarre, as if placed in an unseen strange world.

Shitou exclaimed, "Fun! This is fun!"

An Qinghe asked with a smile, "Do you like it?"

Shitou couldn't put it down, while continuing to play with the kaleidoscope, he exclaimed delightedly, "I like it, I like it a lot! Thanks, Big Brother An!"

At this moment, the manly young Shitou had only toys in his eyes, forgetting his own resolve.

An Qinghe continued to take out gifts one by one.

A box of Cistanche, for Lao Langzhong.

A length of Xiyu Duoron fabric, for Zhang Shen.

Two wolf-hair brushes, for the man Chen who lives in Gu Xixi's home.

What Gu Xixi received was a stone.

An Qinghe opened a square silk box; inside was only a smooth round stone, about the size of a woman's palm, dark bluish-black in color, looking no different from the pebbles in the small river ditch.

Gu Xixi naturally wouldn't think an ordinary stone worth placing in such a fancy box.

She leaned in to look, asking, "What is this?"

An Qinghe said solemnly, "This object is called the Phantom Color Stone, also known as the Weather Stone."

"Before overcast or rainy days, its surface becomes moist; before snow, it turns deep black; on clear days it remains as before."

Gu Xixi stared wide-eyed, "A weather forecast stone?!"

An Qinghe, understanding her meaning, nodded, "It does have a forecasting function."

Gu Xixi sat upright, politely declining, "No, such a rare object must be valuable; I cannot accept it."

An Qinghe pushed the box toward her, smiling, "This isn't just my own intention."

Everyone in the merchants association has been looked after by you; although we haven't seen results yet, business stresses reciprocity, so they discussed sending you something.

Whether Hetian Warm Jade or Gobi Green Beryl, but seeing you don't like hair ornaments, I thought of this phantom color stone.

Since it can forecast weather, it's most useful for agricultural matters.

Gu Xixi pondered a moment, then said, "Then I'll accept it, and thank the bosses on my behalf."

The reason she isn't being polite is because she's confident that the ideas she gave the Seedling Merchants Association will yield future profits far exceeding the value of this phantom color stone.

An Qinghe returned, and another ten days passed.

One after another, horse-drawn cargo wagons entered Huachi Du Cun.

Gu Xixi started getting busy in earnest.

Her family's two mu of land was turned into a grafting operation site, surrounded by barriers, so that the nosy villagers couldn't see anything.

After a few more days, once the women and children had finished digging the first batch of wild shepherd's purse, the village's tree-planting activity also officially began.

Qin Dasao's family used the method of intercropping Pingpo fruit trees with medicinal herbs.

Lao Qian and his wife chose a mixed approach of fruit trees and poultry (chicken and duck) farming.

Other families also adapted to local conditions and, according to their own situations, chose the most suitable method.

The six families worked hard and produced something the villagers had never seen before and could not understand.

Those who were waiting to watch the spectacle were secretly anxious, but no matter how they threw sarcastic remarks, the six families stuck together, unmoved by provocation or disturbance.

That day, Gu Erye couldn't sit still at home and ran over to Gu Daye's house.

"Big brother, I see that the trees of those few families are almost all planted."

"Aren't the saplings Gu Xixi ordered enough? Why are they bringing in other trees from elsewhere? I see they look like peach or pear trees, etc."

Gu Daye said with a dark face, "You ask me, how would I know?"

"If you're capable, go ask her yourself!"

Gu Erye rubbed his nose and said nothing.

He lacks that ability; looking over the whole village, who else would have it?

Gu Erye said dejectedly, "Then what do you suggest? I see she isn't panicking at all; if she returns the surplus saplings, how else could we force her to hand over the secret recipe?"