I Have a Countryside Gourmet Restaurant

Chapter 292: Chapter 276: Creating Another Tea Garden

Ye Shengge thanked him profusely, then went inside and sat down in the living room.

Li You took out the Reishi mushroom and said to his parents, ”This is a wild Reishi I bought. You can steep it in water and drink it. It’s very good for your health.”

”A wild Reishi?” His dad took the mushroom, looked it over, and said, ”What did you buy this for? How much did it cost?”

Li You said, ”It wasn’t expensive. I bought it for you to make tea with! This stuff is rare. Even if you wanted to buy it, you might not be able to find it.”

His dad said, ”We’re perfectly healthy, we don’t need to drink this stuff. Don’t buy it again.”

His parents were not yet fifty, still in their prime, and indeed quite healthy. But they could always be healthier, couldn’t they?

So, Li You insisted, ”You’re healthy now, but drinking this will make you even healthier. The taste might be a little bitter and not very pleasant. You should try to drink as much as you can.”

His parents both nodded. ’Something this expensive has to be drunk, no matter how bitter it tastes! We can’t let it go to waste.’

Although Li You hadn’t said exactly how much it cost and insisted it wasn’t expensive, his parents knew it must have been quite pricey.

They knew Reishi was a good thing. Especially wild Reishi—that stuff was definitely not cheap.

Seeing his parents agree to drink it, Li You was very happy. Then he turned to Ye Shengge and said, ”Would you like me to show you around the village?”

Li You knew that Ye Shengge would much rather walk around outside than sit at home.

Ye Shengge nodded. ”I’d love to!”

Li You then said to his parents, ”I’m going to show her around.”

His mom was delighted. ”Good, good. Take your time, show her everything.”

”Okay!”

”Uncle, Auntie, we’ll be heading out then.”

”Alright, alright.”

Li You and Ye Shengge walked out of the courtyard.

They picked a direction and started walking, slowly taking in the sights.

Along the way, there were small bridges over flowing streams, the chirping of birds, and the fragrance of flowers. There were large geese and ducks playing in the ponds, and mother hens leading their chicks through the fields to find insects.

A few children were catching crabs in a creek, while some adults worked in the fields nearby.

Some people were fishing leisurely by the river, while others gathered to chat and shoot the breeze.

Everywhere they went was a new tableau brimming with the essence of life. In Ye Shengge’s eyes, these scenes were all beautiful landscapes.

It made Ye Shengge feel utterly joyful and relaxed.

’This really is a wonderful place!’

Time slowly passed until it was five in the afternoon. It was time to head back to the restaurant.

Ye Shengge still felt like she hadn’t had enough.

Li You smiled. ”You can just come again next time.”

Ye Shengge nodded. ”Okay.”

After returning to his house, they said goodbye to his parents.

His mom said to Ye Shengge, ”Miss Ye, come visit again soon. Next time, stay for dinner before you leave.”

Ye Shengge smiled faintly and nodded. ”I will.”

Li You got on his motorcycle, and Ye Shengge climbed on behind him.

And with that, they were off, heading back to the restaurant.

They went straight back to the restaurant without any delays.

There were already customers waiting for dinner.

”Boss, Miss Ye, you’re finally back.”

Li You said apologetically, ”Sorry, sorry, have you been waiting long?”

”Don’t worry about it, Boss. We only just got here.”

After that, Li You went into the kitchen and got busy.

At six in the evening, Ling Xiaoru came over. After learning that Ye Shengge had visited Li You’s village that afternoon, she said she also wanted to go see it.

Li You said it was no problem and that he would take her next time.

Ling Xiaoru was very happy and satisfied with his answer.

Ye Shengge pouted but didn’t say anything.

The three of them still had dinner together that night, and Ye Shengge offered to treat.

Neither Li You nor Ling Xiaoru had any objections.

After all, they could just treat her next time.

As usual, they waited until the last wave of customers had left before eating dinner upstairs while watching TV.

Of course, they also had a little something to drink.

...

「The next day.」

「Morning.」

After breakfast, Ling Xiaoru said her goodbyes and left.

Ye Shengge was also planning to go home.

She had been visiting for quite a while this time and figured it was time to head back.

Li You walked Ye Shengge to the parking lot.

Ye Shengge got into her car and said, ”I’m off, Boss. I’ll be back in a few days.”

Li You smiled. ”You’re always welcome.”

Ye Shengge nodded. ”See you in a few days, then.”

”Alright!”

As Ye Shengge’s car slowly pulled out of the parking lot, Li You went to the Hundred Fruit Garden.

He was going to plant the two Soursop Tree Seedlings he had obtained from the game instance yesterday.

First, he took the two seedlings out of his Storage Pavilion.

After taking them out, Li You was stunned. The two seedlings were over three meters tall, with trunks as thick as a person’s arm.

The system had mentioned they were large seedlings. And they were certainly large enough.

But this was a good thing. With seedlings this big, plus the fact they came from the system and he had fruit tree fertilizer, they would surely grow into big trees and bear fruit by next year.

’I’ll be able to eat soursop from my own orchard next year. It’s really something to look forward to.’

’For seedlings this big, I’ll have to dig a bigger hole.’

Li You chose the two sunniest spots and started digging holes with a hoe.

After digging them large enough, he planted the seedlings, filled the holes back in with soil, watered them thoroughly, and finally sprinkled on some fruit tree fertilizer.

All done.

Normally, you couldn’t fertilize newly planted seedlings right away, as it would burn the roots.

But the fruit tree fertilizer rewarded by the system wouldn’t cause that problem, so Li You could use it without worry.

After planting one tree, he did the same with the other.

Once both trees were planted, Li You walked out of the Hundred Fruit Garden and scouted the nearby area for a place to put his Tea Garden.

In the game instance yesterday, he had also received 20 tea saplings.

With tea saplings from the system, the tea leaves he’d harvest in the future would surely be of the highest quality. And he had 20 of them.

So, Li You decided to build a Tea Garden.

He had plenty of land, after all; he just needed to clear it. It would be a waste not to build one.

’So where exactly should I put it?’

After surveying the area for a bit, Li You decided to build it on the north side of the wild orchard.

This side was near the gorge, a very good location.

’As for how big? About a twentieth of an acre should do.’

That was a suitable size for 20 tea plants.

No sooner said than done, he immediately started clearing the land.

First, he marked out the rough area of the plot, about a twentieth of an acre, and then began clearing the stones.

A sledgehammer, a chisel, and a pair of gloves were the standard toolkit for clearing stones.

This was a job Li You was already very familiar with.

As he was clearing, a customer walked up to the edge of the plot and said, ”Clearing more land, Boss? What are you planning to do with it this time?”

’Is it noon already? Why are customers here?’

Li You was puzzled but immediately answered the customer’s question, ”I’m planning to put in a Tea Garden.”

”A Tea Garden?” the customer said, surprised. ”Boss, don’t tell me you decided to build your own Tea Garden just because the ’Longjing Shrimp’ dish needs tea leaves as an ingredient? If so, how long will we have to wait for you to add ’Longjing Shrimp’ to the menu?”

Li You laughed. ”The purpose of tea leaves isn’t just to be an ingredient for ’Longjing Shrimp’. My decision to build a Tea Garden has nothing to do with that dish. I just want to add another special feature to our restaurant. As for ’Longjing Shrimp’, don’t worry, it’ll be on the menu soon. I’ve already found sources for the two main ingredients, live river shrimp and Longjing Tea. They’ll be arriving shortly.”

The customer laughed after hearing this. ”I thought so! If you had to wait until the tea from this garden was ready for harvest, who knows how long that would take. As for the Tea Garden itself, that’s a great idea. Really, Boss, that’s a fantastic idea. Not only will it add character to the restaurant, but it will also add a touch of poetic elegance. A Tea Garden... just the name itself sounds so poetic.”

The customer gave Li You a thumbs-up for his idea.

...