Liu Yifeng immediately agreed, stating that the vegetables in his garden were plentiful enough to last for a long time.
After hanging up, he promptly called his third aunt, Li Rongfang, instructing her to gather people to prepare the vegetables for delivery to the hotel the next day.
The workers were diligent, motivated by the prospect of earning money. Moreover, the wages were comparable to those earned working elsewhere, and it allowed them to tend to their families, making it an ideal opportunity.
Fat Aunt, in particular, cherished this hard-won job due to her family's financial struggles. She worked with an efficiency that surpassed that of two ordinary laborers.
With everything arranged, Liu Yifeng drove to his paternal aunt's house. It was the season for harvesting peanuts.
Almost every household had piles of peanuts outside their doors, freshly pulled from the ground.
These peanuts required manual labor to detach them from their vines, a considerable undertaking.
Families with larger peanut crops had to spend their entire days picking them to prevent mold.
As Liu Yifeng drove into his aunt's courtyard, he saw her, drenched in sweat, sitting and picking peanuts. His second cousin's wife was leisurely cracking sunflower seeds, her clothes clean and neat, indicating she hadn't been working.
"Yifeng, why are you here?" Liu Mei looked up, smiling, as Liu Yifeng approached.
"Aunt, why are you the only one picking peanuts? When will you finish?" Liu Yifeng felt both concern and anger towards his aunt.
He was angry at her soft nature, being bullied by her daughters-in-law with no recourse.
If he were her son, he would have corrected his wife's behavior immediately, or even divorced her if she refused to change.
However, his two cousins were henpecked, afraid to speak up to their wives.
Liu Mei stood up and said dismissively, "It's fine. I'm idle anyway. I'll finish eventually!"
Seeing that his aunt had no complaints, Liu Yifeng, as an outsider, felt it inappropriate to interfere.
"By the way, you haven't told me why you came," Liu Mei inquired.
Liu Yifeng then remembered the purpose of his visit: "Aunt, I brought you some watermelons and vegetables."
He walked back to his car and opened the trunk.
Upon hearing this, Liu Mei quickly said, "Why did you go to the trouble of bringing these things? We have plenty of vegetables at home, and we have watermelons too. You should take them back!"
"Aunt, if you make me take them back, won't that be a wasted trip for me?"
"But we don't lack these things at home. Next time you want to bring something, please call me first, alright? Just leave these here for today!"
Liu Yifeng chuckled, "Aunt, these are not ordinary vegetables and watermelons. I guarantee you'll want more after trying them!"
"Watermelons and vegetables are all the same, aren't they? Could they possibly grow flowers?" As soon as Liu Mei finished speaking, her expression turned to stunned disbelief.
Because the watermelons Liu Yifeng was holding were enormous, fitting snugly in his arms like a three or four-year-old child.
"Yifeng, where did this watermelon come from? How is it so big?"
"Aunt, have you forgotten? I planted watermelons on the mountain behind our village. These are my watermelons!"
After hearing Liu Yifeng's explanation, Liu Mei's expression remained unsettled. "A watermelon this big, did you really grow it?"
She was still somewhat skeptical, as this was Liu Yifeng's first attempt at growing watermelons, and she couldn't fathom such success.
Seeing his aunt's disbelief, Liu Yifeng said with a hint of helplessness, "Aunt, you're just like my father. Neither of you believes I grew them. If you don't believe me, I can take you to the mountain another day, and you'll know if I'm telling the truth?"
Liu Mei's expression was somewhat embarrassed. "Yifeng, don't misunderstand. It's not that Aunt doesn't believe you, but this watermelon is indeed too large. I'm almost sixty, and I've never seen such a big watermelon before."
"It's fine, you've seen one now. I brought two. These watermelons are too big to eat all at once, and they'll spoil if left for too long. Let me know when you're done, and I'll bring more."
As Liu Yifeng spoke, he carried the watermelons into the living room.
Li Qiuping, who was cracking sunflower seeds, stood up when she saw Liu Yifeng carrying the massive watermelons. "Wow, are these the watermelons you grew? They're so big!"
"Yes, taste them later, cousin-in-law!" Liu Yifeng replied indifferently.
Li Qiuping didn't seem to mind Liu Yifeng's attitude. She touched the large watermelon placed on the ground by Liu Yifeng, her eyes sparkling. "These watermelons are so big, they must be worth a lot of money, right?"
"Qiuping, Yifeng brought these for us to eat. What do you mean by selling them?" Liu Mei said feigning displeasure.
However, Li Qiuping wasn't afraid of her mother-in-law. She pouted, "I didn't say I wanted to sell them. I meant that since Yifeng's watermelons are so large, he must be able to sell them for a good price!"
"That has nothing to do with you. Don't butt in!"
"What do you mean it has nothing to do with me? I'm his cousin-in-law after all. What's wrong with asking out of concern?" Li Qiuping also looked displeased.
"Cousin-in-law, how can you speak to Aunt like that? She's your mother-in-law, and you don't show any respect for elders," Liu Yifeng said, frowning.
Li Qiuping knew Liu Yifeng was no longer the same person he used to be and didn't want to clash with him, as he might be useful in the future.
She said with a conciliatory smile, "I tend to speak without thinking sometimes. I didn't mean anything by it. I'll be more mindful in the future."
This was the first time Liu Yifeng had seen his cousin-in-law so compliant. In the past, she would have pointed at him and accused him of minding someone else's business.
Seeing her behave, he didn't say anything further.
He then went to pick up the other watermelon. He had selected the two largest from the four and left them behind, intending to deliver the rest to his second aunt.
"These vegetables were picked by my father from the vegetable patch this morning. They're very fresh. Please make sure to cook them soon, Aunt. If you want more, you can call me!" Liu Yifeng instructed.
"Alright, thank you for making such a long trip. Stay for dinner before you go!" Liu Mei insisted.
Liu Yifeng shook his head. "No, I'll have dinner another time. I still need to deliver some to my second aunt, who lives quite far away. I need to get there early."
"Okay, then go quickly. Be careful on the road. When you have time, come over for a meal at Aunt's house, and remember to come empty-handed!" Liu Mei said to Liu Yifeng from the car window.
"Okay, okay, I understand. Aunt, please go and eat the watermelon now. I'm leaving!" With that, he drove away from his aunt's house.
As soon as Liu Yifeng left, Li Qiuping eagerly said, "Mom, let's cut the watermelon right away. The children are craving it!"
She was using the children as an excuse, though she herself wanted to eat it.
Liu Mei didn't say much. "Okay, I'll get a knife. You wash the watermelon!"
"This watermelon is too big and heavy, I can't lift it!" Li Qiuping tried to lift the watermelon, but despite using all her strength, she couldn't budge it.
She had never seen such a large watermelon in her life, so big that she couldn't lift it.
Liu Mei, who had done a lot of farm work since childhood, was strong.
However, even she found it difficult to lift the watermelon. She estimated it weighed at least fifty pounds.
She had indeed never seen such a large watermelon before.
After washing the watermelon, she found a large knife and cut it in half.
The flesh inside was very red and juicy. As soon as it was cut, the juice flowed out from the cut, making one's mouth water.
…
While Liu Mei's family was enjoying the watermelon, Liu Yifeng was driving towards his second aunt's house.
After about half an hour, he finally reached the residential area where his second aunt lived.
As the items were too numerous to carry at once, he called his second aunt.
The call was quickly answered. "Hello, Aunt? Are you home?" Liu Yifeng asked.