I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 259: Chapter 249: Another Wild Fruit Discovered

Then, Yu Hong said, ”I’m suddenly realizing that opening a restaurant out here in the mountains is actually a great idea. You can clear land and create a vegetable garden, the Hundred Fruit Garden, or a wild fruit garden whenever you want. That’s something you couldn’t even dream of in the city. And gardens like these would undoubtedly become a major feature of the restaurant. They’d be incredibly appealing to guests, especially those from the city.”

Chen Wen smiled. ”Master Yu, you’re finally seeing the benefits of having a restaurant in the mountains. That’s why I said that even though this restaurant is remote, there are many things about it that even our hotels would be very envious of.”

Yu Hong said, ”That’s true. But that’s not to say opening a place here is better than in the city. You can only say they each have their own advantages.”

Chen Wen said, ”Of course. The city has its own strengths and benefits too.”

Yu Hong nodded. ”Exactly.”

Chen Wen added, ”Besides the wild figs that were already in this area, it looks like the boss has already planted some other wild fruits. Come on, let’s go take a look.”

He Xianfei, Yu Hong, and Qu Feng all nodded.

The four of them first walked over to the Cili fruit bushes.

Yu Hong said, ”I don’t know much about wild fruits. Does anyone know what this is?”

Chen Wen said, ”This is a single-petal wild rose. We call its fruit Cili fruit around here. It’s a well-known type of wild fruit. Master Yu, you should have these in Zhejiang Province as well.”

Yu Hong nodded repeatedly. ”Yes, yes. Now that you say Cili fruit, I know what it is. We do have them where I’m from. So this is what the Cili tree and its flowers look like. I’ve never paid attention to them before.”

He Xianfei and Qu Feng were, of course, also very familiar with Cili fruit.

After the four of them stood around the Cili bushes looking for a while, they moved on to the mock strawberry patch.

This time, it was Qu Feng who first recognized the mock strawberries.

The group began an enthusiastic discussion about them.

As they were talking, Li You, Ye Shengge, Ling Xiaoru, Chu Yiwei, and Lin Xin also arrived at the wild fruit garden.

After lunch, Chu Yiwei and Lin Xin hadn’t returned to school right away. Instead, they were chatting with Ye Shengge and Ling Xiaoru.

They all already knew each other.

When Chu Yiwei and Lin Xin heard that Li You had created a new wild fruit garden, they were both very interested in seeing it.

Ye Shengge and Ling Xiaoru asked Li You to come along with them.

When Li You saw that Chen Wen, He Xianfei, Yu Hong, and Qu Feng were also there, the two groups exchanged another round of pleasantries.

Afterward, Chen Wen asked, ”You’ve only just finished creating this place, and you already have two types of wild fruit, Cili and mock strawberries. You work fast, Boss!”

Li You smiled. ”I just transplanted them from the nearby wilderness. It was very easy.”

Hearing this, Chu Yiwei said, ”Boss, on our way here earlier, we found a spot with a lot of ’goat milk bubbles.’ Do you want to dig some up and bring them back?”

”Goat milk bubbles?” Li You’s eyes lit up. ”Yes, absolutely! Goat milk bubbles are delicious.”

”Goat milk bubbles? What a strange name. What kind of wild fruit is it?” Ye Shengge asked.

The name was also completely unfamiliar to Chen Wen, He Xianfei, Yu Hong, and Qu Feng.

However, they suspected they probably knew the fruit, just by a different name.

That’s how it is with wild fruits; there are too many weird and wonderful names. Even just within Chuansheng Province, the names are different from place to place.

Li You said, ”’Goat milk bubble’ is what we call it around here. It has many different names in different places. But this wild fruit also has a formal name: *hutuzi*. Do you know it by that name?”

Chen Wen’s eyes lit up, and he said, ”I know that one! So it’s *hutuzi*. And you call *hutuzi* ’goat milk bubble’ here. Where we’re from, we usually call it Half Spring, or *banchunzi*. The fruit is oval-shaped and small, only a little over a centimeter long. It’s bluish-green with a hint of yellow when unripe, and it turns red when it’s ripe.”

He Xianfei said, ”I don’t know any of those names—’goat milk bubble,’ *hutuzi*, or Half Spring. But after hearing Old Chen’s description of the fruit, I think I have a good idea of what it is. We call it ’sparrow crisp’ where I’m from. I wonder if it’s the same thing you’re all talking about?”

Li You smiled. ”Whether it’s the same or not, we’ll know once I bring some back. The ’goat milk bubbles’ should be fruiting right now, so we’ll know as soon as we see them.”

Chu Yiwei said, ”They are definitely fruiting. And a lot of them are already red.”

He Xianfei asked, ”So when are you planning to go get them, Boss?”

Li You said, ”Anytime works. We can even go right now.”

Hearing this, Ye Shengge said, ”In that case, Boss, why don’t we go now? I want to go too. None of the names you mentioned ring a bell, so I’ll only know if I’ve seen it before after I see the fruit itself.”

He Xianfei said, ”If you’re going now, then we’ll tag along. We don’t have anything to do right now anyway, so we can join in on the fun. Old Chen, Master Yu, Master Qu, what do you guys think?”

”Sounds good!” Chen Wen smiled. ”Even if you hadn’t suggested it, I was going to propose we all go together. Last time, I really wanted to go looking for wild fruit with the boss and the others.”

Yu Hong and Qu Feng were also very enthusiastic and agreed it would be best to go together.

Chu Yiwei said, ”I’ll lead the way, then. It’s about two kilometers from here. Should we walk? Or how should we get there?”

Li You looked at He Xianfei, Chen Wen, Yu Hong, and Qu Feng.

He Xianfei said, ”Let’s walk. It’s still early, so we can treat it as a stroll. Of course, if the ladies don’t want to walk, we can drive. We’ve been drinking, so we can’t drive. But the boss and Miss Ye can.”

Ye Shengge, Ling Xiaoru, Chu Yiwei, and Lin Xin looked at each other and also said they preferred to walk. Two kilometers wasn’t too far.

Seeing this, Yu Hong smiled. ”Walking is a great idea. The scenery along the way is so beautiful, we can take the time to enjoy it. When we were coming here in the car earlier, there were many spots we didn’t get a good look at.”

Chen Wen and Qu Feng, of course, had no objections either.

So, they decided to walk. Grabbing hoes, machetes, ropes, and other tools, the group set off.

The group wasn’t in a hurry, and they admired the scenery as they walked.

Even though Li You, Ling Xiaoru, Chu Yiwei, Lin Xin, and Ye Shengge were already very familiar with the scenery along the path, enjoying it together as a group felt completely different from passing through alone.

Along the way, Chen Wen, He Xianfei, Yu Hong, and Qu Feng endlessly praised the various sights they saw.

Nearly an hour later, they finally arrived at the place Chu Yiwei had mentioned.

It was on a mountain ridge not far from the road, a spot that wasn’t easy to find.

But if you looked from the right angle, you could spot it at a glance.

Chu Yiwei’s discovery had clearly been a coincidence.

Li You’s eyes lit up. Just as she’d said, there was a large patch of ’goat milk bubbles.’

The bushes were laden with fruit, growing in dense clusters.

Although the fruits weren’t large, their translucent red color and the sheer number of them growing so closely together made them look quite tempting.

He Xianfei said joyfully, ”This is it! This is the fruit we call ’sparrow crisp’ back home. It’s very sweet and has a nice texture.”

Ye Shengge said, ”So this is the fruit! I’ve seen it online before, but I’ve never seen it in real life or tasted it.”

Li You smiled. ”Well, today you get to see it. And you’ll get to eat it, too.”

Ye Shengge was very happy and added, ”You’re right.”

Yu Hong said, ”We have this fruit where I’m from, too. I’ve seen it before. But I don’t think we use any of the names you all mentioned. I’ve forgotten what we call it, but I’m sure it’s none of those.”

As they talked, the group walked up to the patch of ’goat milk bubbles.’

Seen up close, the fruits were even more tempting.

Li You reached out, picked a few fruits, and said, ”Anyone who wants to try some, just pick and eat. They’re really sweet and have a great texture.”

He Xianfei smiled. ”I’ll have some. Come to think of it, the last time I ate this fruit was probably when I was a child. Twenty or thirty years have passed in a flash. But even though it’s been so many years, I still remember the taste very clearly.”

Chen Wen said, ”Same here. I also ate them as a child. I don’t think I’ve had them since. I’ll try some too.”

Then, Yu Hong and Qu Feng also stepped forward.

After that, the four young women also walked up.

Ye Shengge said, ”Today, I’ll finally know what this fruit tastes like!”

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