Chapter 250: The Vegetable Plot Expands
That was why the top brass loved to come. Even if they ran into each other inside, there was a tacit understanding to pretend they were strangers. In any case, everyone just did their own thing.
Another day passed. At eleven this morning, there was another mad rush for fruits and vegetables. According to Stan Sterling, the small vegetable patch had expanded again.
At first, it was one square meter. Later, it expanded to three. Yesterday, it had leaped to five square meters!
Stan Sterling had wanted to tell Lily Hart the good news, but he heard she had gone to Central Command for a meeting.
He came by again in the evening but saw her chatting with Logan Holland and Yael Lowell, so he gave up again. He figured he would get up early tomorrow and tell her right away before the customers arrived.
So, early the next morning, Stan Sterling came to the RV and sat quietly on the steps outside the door, waiting for Lily Hart to open it.
After a long while, a crisp "CLICK" sounded from behind him.
Stan Sterling turned around in pleasant surprise, his gaze meeting a pair of big, blinking cat eyes. Accompanied by a MEOW, a fluffy white cat leaped into his arms.
He caught her and said dotingly, "Nana? What are you doing out here?"
Lily Hart hadn’t had time to tie up her hair yet. Her long, smooth, waist-length hair swayed over her shoulders. She bent down and took Nana into her arms.
Her hair brushed against Stan Sterling’s face, and its faint fragrance tickled his nose.
He was dazed for a moment and subconsciously reached out to touch it, but he could only watch as it floated past, his hand grasping nothing but air.
He chuckled softly, stood up, and quickly followed her as she went inside.
Nana was being unruly in her arms, squirming constantly. Seeing the cat’s longing for freedom, Lily Hart simply let her go and plopped down on the sofa.
She gently gathered her hair to one side and, with nimble fingers, quickly tied it into a single side-braid that was both playful and pretty. She looked up at him and asked, "What’s up? You’re here so early."
Stan Sterling sat next to her, leaving a small gap between them. "I just wanted to tell you that the little vegetable patch has expanded again. It’s five square meters now."
Lily Hart’s eyes lit up. "Then we can plant more things! Come on, let’s go! No time to sit around. Let’s go plant now, and we can harvest in a few days!"
Stan Sterling was stunned for a moment before he was pulled along. His seat hadn’t even warmed up yet. By the time he came to his senses, the two of them were already in front of the little vegetable patch.
Lily Hart couldn’t see the change in area, but in Stan Sterling’s eyes, there was a clear dividing line. The color of the patch’s soil was also different from ordinary soil.
That was why Stan Sterling was the first to notice the expansion.
Lily Hart pulled a cushion out of her space, tossed it on the ground, and sat down cross-legged. She took out another one for Stan Sterling. "Here."
The two sat down side-by-side. Lily Hart opened her Light Brain and scrolled through the store. "What else can we plant? We have fruits, and we have vegetables."
Stan Sterling leaned over to look, too. Lily Hart’s finger swiped across the Light Brain’s screen a few times before finally stopping on... Satsuma mandarins.
’Plant one of these. The yield is huge. A single tree can produce a ton of fruit.’
’Let’s add an apple tree. We can plant any of these fruits that grow on trees. Everyone loves them, they taste great, and the yield is high.’
’For now, this is all we can plant. Things like rice and wheat need to be planted in large fields to have a high yield; one or two stalks are useless.’
Lily Hart asked Stan Sterling, "Is there anything else you want to plant?"
Stan Sterling considered it for a moment. "Let’s plant more fruit. Everyone loves it." He carefully reached out and swiped on the Light Brain’s screen a couple of times.
"This one’s good." Stan Sterling stopped on a particular item.
"Okay." Lily Hart quickly placed the order. It was a pomelo tree. ’That’s a good one, too; the fruit it bears is huge.’
After that, the two of them picked and chose, finding some fruits to plant that didn’t take up much space but had high yields.
They also planted a row of corn along three of the edges. It could be eaten boiled or roasted.
Only after filling up the newly added two square meters did Lily Hart smile with satisfaction. She glanced at the time—ten o’clock!
The rush would start at eleven. She immediately rallied the troops. ’Everyone, get over here and help me pick vegetables and fruits!’
Everyone had just woken up not long ago. They rushed over as soon as they got the message, their eyes still a bit groggy.
Roman Rowe made a serious proposal. "Boss Hart, I think we should hire people for this. After all, we have to harvest and sell every single day. It’s a huge undertaking!"
Lily Hart reached out and thumped him. "Are you paying for it?!"
The main problem was that they couldn’t find suitable candidates on short notice. Everyone had their own shops to run, and the younger ones all had their own duties.
If they hired from the outside, trust would be one issue, and a whole series of other problems would follow.
Frost Shaw had already quietly picked a basket of apples. He sneakily kicked Roman Rowe. "You talk too much. Hurry up and help."
The kick almost sent Roman Rowe sprawling into the vegetable patch for an intimate kiss with the dirt, but Stan Sterling’s quick reflexes saved him.
He thought to himself, ’You guys can roughhouse all you want, but please don’t crush my vegetables.’
Many hands make light work. They made short work of picking everything that was ready in the vegetable patch.
For now, it was all stored in Frost Shaw’s system warehouse. They would sort it at the factory. Right, they were heading to the factory now to sort it.
The place was big, spacious, and safe.
The group moved to the factory. Seth opened the door, and Frost Shaw went in first, releasing all the fruits and vegetables.
The fragrance of fruit filled the factory floor.
Everyone was a Level 1 skilled worker by now. They quickly divided the large mountain of produce into dozens of smaller hills.
Each small hill was a different type of produce.
Once everything was sorted, Frost Shaw put the small hills back into his system warehouse one by one. When someone placed an order, the system would automatically pack and ship it.
Soon, it was eleven o’clock. This had become one of the essential daily activities, a force of habit.
Every day at eleven, there was a rush to buy, regardless of whether they were just participating for the sake of it or if they could actually get anything.
Because the network was well-developed and people loved to chat idly online, the news about Central Command’s daily eleven o’clock fruit and vegetable rush had already spread to some of the other major bases.
Some people even managed to get the mini-program through their connections. Those who couldn’t could only look on with envy.
Lily Hart didn’t want to publicize it too much right now. After all, the quantity was still too small; it was barely enough to satisfy Central Command.
The other bases should just stay out of it for now.
As soon as it passed eleven, as expected, another wave of wailing came from outside the RV.
But after the wailing... life had to go on. In fact, it just added to the thrill of the scratch-off lottery.
’I couldn’t get it in the rush, but surely I can win a scratch-off?!’
After all that intense physical labor, Lily Hart was currently collapsed on the sofa, watching Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe bustle about, tending to her needs.
One asked, "Want some watermelon?"
The other asked, "Want a drink?"
Lily Hart was enjoying herself, taking a bite of watermelon and then a sip of her drink, when a shout came from outside.
It was quite urgent. "Boss Hart? Someone’s here for you!"
Lily Hart looked over and saw only unfamiliar customers. ’Who’s looking for me?’
She shot Frost Shaw a look, signaling for him to go check. She had absolutely no desire to get up or move.