Seeing Liu Yifeng's confident demeanor, Su Wanru also made up her mind, "If your pomelos are truly as good as you say, comparable to watermelons, then I'll take all of them. No one in the entire city will offer a higher price than me." Having previously acquired Liu Yifeng's watermelons, Su Wanru was confident that if his pomelos had the same excellent taste, they would surely be in high demand. As for the pre-ordered one million pomelos, even if they didn't sell, the company wouldn't say anything, as Liu Yifeng's pomelos would fill the gap.
After reaching an agreement, Liu Yifeng checked the time. It was already past four in the afternoon, and he needed to pick up his son. He left Su Wanru's company. The next morning, he had to bring the growth agent developed by Tongtong and arrange for Uncle Zhao to have people spray it on each tree, just like applying pesticide.
He arrived at the kindergarten, which was still a few minutes from dismissal. He waited outside. Even as parents, they were not allowed inside before class ended. Stepping out of the car, Liu Yifeng immediately spotted Tongtong's mother. It was hard not to notice her; she was exceptionally striking. The woman still exuded an aloof aura, her expression completely blank, making her seem distant and unapproachable. Several wealthy women nearby were discussing her animatedly. Liu Yifeng vaguely overheard that this woman's name was Xu Muqing, a single mother whose husband had an affair and abandoned her and their daughter. She was now starting her own business, reportedly a clothing company. Liu Yifeng found it hard to comprehend why such a beautiful woman's husband would leave her for another woman, unless that other woman was even more stunning. However, he reminded himself that this was her private matter and none of his business.
Soon, the dismissal bell rang at the kindergarten. The teacher called out each child's name. The children whose names were called walked out of the kindergarten gate, led away by their parents. Shortly after, Tongtong emerged, accompanied by Yaoyao. The child was as cute as a doll, her face alight with innocent joy. Liu Yifeng couldn't fathom what kind of man would abandon his wife and child for another woman, and not fear heavenly retribution.
"Daddy, look! Isn't this handicraft I made with Yaoyao beautiful?" Tongtong eagerly showed off the colorful paper stick flowers in his hand as soon as he saw Liu Yifeng. Liu Yifeng nodded with certainty, "It's beautiful. You two are amazing!" "Thank you, Uncle, for the praise. Tongtong taught me everything; he's very capable!" Yaoyao said, lowering her head shyly. Liu Yifeng had never seen such a cute little girl before. He couldn't resist patting Yaoyao's head, "You're a wonderful child too!"
"Yaoyao, let's go home!" Xu Muqing interrupted their conversation. Yaoyao looked pleadingly at her mother, "Mommy, Tongtong said he has little fish at home that we can catch, and lots of crayfish. Can he invite me to his house to play tomorrow?" Xu Muqing frowned, "No, you have piano and drawing practice tomorrow. You won't have time to play!" Hearing this, Yaoyao burst into tears, her pitiable expression tugging at Liu Yifeng's heart. "Madam, the child is still so young. She shouldn't be constrained by such external things. Let her play if she wants to. After all, they don't play like this every day!"
Xu Muqing finally looked directly at Liu Yifeng for the first time. "Does my daughter's upbringing concern you? She's so fond of playing at such a young age; what will she be like when she grows up? Please keep your son away from my daughter. Men are all the same; none of them are good!" With that, she took her daughter's hand and left. Liu Yifeng stood there, stunned. What had he done to deserve this? Just because she was abandoned by one man, did she have to condemn all men? No matter how bad he might be, he would never abandon his wife and child.
"Daddy, that auntie doesn't seem to like me," Tongtong said dejectedly. Liu Yifeng quickly comforted him, "How could the auntie not like you? She just doesn't know you well yet. If she knew you, she'd definitely like you!" "Then can I still play with Yaoyao?" More than the auntie's liking, Tongtong was more concerned about this. "Of course, you can. But you must not bully Yaoyao, understand?" Tongtong nodded happily, "I know. Yaoyao is a girl; I can't bully her. I have to protect her."
Actually, there was something Liu Yifeng had always been curious about. "Tongtong, can you tell Daddy why, among all the children in kindergarten, you specifically like playing with Yaoyao? Aren't the other children nice?" "I don't know. I just like playing with Yaoyao." Tongtong couldn't give a clear reason. "Alright then, it's getting late. Let's go home too!" Liu Yifeng didn't press further.
On the way, Liu Yifeng asked Tongtong how long it would take for the growth agent to show results in the orchard. Tongtong said that for already mature fruits, the effects would be noticeable in three to five days, and their taste would also undergo peculiar changes. The growth agent he developed last night was an improved version, which would be even more effective than the one used for growing watermelons. Liu Yifeng felt reassured upon hearing this.
That evening, he called Uncle Zhao and asked him to gather some people. He planned to spray some water the next day, allowing the fruits to absorb moisture. He could only use such an excuse; he couldn't reveal the truth, nor could he mention spraying pesticide, as it would be detrimental to future sales. After all, he intended to market them with a reputation of being purely natural and pesticide-free. Zhao Jiazhu, however, felt it was unnecessary. The pears were gone and would have to wait for the flowers to bloom and bear fruit. The taste of the pomelos had already formed, and spraying more water wouldn't change their flavor. Only the oranges could benefit from absorbing more moisture. However, Liu Yifeng told him not to worry about it and to ensure that all the fruits were evenly sprayed with water.
Given the size of the three orchards, spraying all the fruit trees in one day would require at least fifteen people. In the past, when Zhao Jiazhu sprayed pesticides on fruit trees, he relied on his family. Seven or eight adults would take several days to complete the task. Therefore, completing such a workload in one day would be impossible with fewer than fifteen people. "You arrange it. I just need them to spray water on all the fruits tomorrow. The wages will be one hundred yuan per person, plus lunch. You arrange a lunch and send it over; I'll cover the cost." The expense of hiring people was a small matter to Liu Yifeng; what mattered most was achieving his goal. Zhao Jiazhu was no longer an orchard owner but an employee, so he naturally followed the boss's instructions. After hanging up the phone, he immediately started looking for people. He first called all his family members and then contacted a few close friends, quickly gathering fifteen people.
The next morning, Liu Yifeng arrived at the orchard with mountain spring water diluted with the growth agent. Since the growth agent was in powder form, he couldn't openly ask people to add it to the pesticide containers. Therefore, he had to make up an excuse, claiming it was their local mountain spring water, rich in minerals, and asked them to add a little to the container, then fill it with an appropriate amount of groundwater to spray on the fruit trees.