Across Ranch Story: Friends of Mineral Town

Afterwards, Lin Xia found Jeff, the grocery store owner, and said, "Working in Dick's orchard? Uh... Let me tell you a secret, my relationship with that guy is a little strained now, and I'm not very good at getting along with him... I'd better not go..."

Oh, I almost forgot. Some time ago, the two of them seemed to have argued about buying things on credit. Forget it, let's ask someone else.

Mary's father, Bakir: "Anything you want to ask? As long as I know something, you can ask anything!"

Lin Xia: "Tomorrow the Dick family will be harvesting grapes and they need help. Do you have time to go?"

Bakir: "Oh, I see. Although I look like I'm free, I'm actually working now~ Sorry~"

Father Carter: "Hey, working in an orchard? It sounds good. If it's this job, it's better to ask Cliff instead of me. He seems to have said that he hasn't found a job that suits him yet."

Lin Xia went to Cliff's room on the second floor of the hotel and successfully found Cliff: "Hmm... working in the orchard? I'm really running out of money... Got it, I'll go tomorrow. 2 am, right?"

Lin Xia nodded affirmatively. She finally found a helper for Dick. Otherwise, if she only relied on Dick and herself, Lin Xia was afraid that she would not be able to handle it.

After finding one person, Lin Xia stopped looking for others. When she said goodbye to Cliff and came to the corridor on the second floor, she saw the merchant Ban who was setting up a stall at the end of the corridor. Thinking of the 'wine' that was lost last time, and looking at her current assets, she decided to just keep making money!

However, tomorrow is the 15th, and if it's not a special holiday, Ben will open a pet shop in the square again, and I have to buy a dog leash from him, so I can only rush over after I finish work.

When she was about to leave the hotel downstairs, Dart stopped her and asked her to have lunch here at noon. Lin Xia readily agreed and gave Dart some scallops and clams, asking Dart to make her steamed scallops with garlic and stir-fried clams.

These were all dug up by turning over rocks and spreading salt on the rocky beach last time. Zack said that one does not need to go into the sea to find these seafood, one can just turn over rocks on the beach, and the biggest harvest is found after the tide goes out. The beach at Zack's house has no reefs, so seafood cannot be retained even at low tide. This beach is different, as there are potholes formed by rocks everywhere, and there are a lot of various shrimps, crabs, shells, snails, etc.

Lin Xia now knows the place, so she can come here directly by kayak next time. Zack also told Lin Xia which days of this month are high tides and the specific times, and asked her to make her own plans if she is interested.

When the food was served, Dart rubbed his hands and asked Lin Xia: "Where did you get these things? Although there is not much meat, it tastes delicious and is a great side dish for drinking~"

Lin Xia chuckled and said, "I found it by flipping over a rock. Not bad, isn't it?"

"Not bad, not bad, but the quantity is a little small. Can you make more and sell it to me? I asked Dote, and he said that we should eat more seafood in autumn, but Mineral Town only has all kinds of fish, and everyone is tired of eating them. These shelled seafood you made recently are really fresh. If you promote it to everyone to try, it can also improve everyone's diet."

Lin Xia sighed, "I'm just one person, and I'm not a professional fisherman. It's good enough to get these. It's more than enough to feed me, and I can share some with you occasionally. If you want me to supply the hotel for a long time, that's definitely not possible. I suggest you contact professional fishermen. They have those big nets, and they can get as much as you want with one swoop..."

"But didn't you say that these shells were found by turning over rocks?" Dart asked doubtfully, "Can this fishing net catch them?"

Lin Xia: "Well, some can still be caught, such as scallops, which are caught using a special net with a rake hook, pushed down to the seabed. I don't know how to do it, but the fishermen definitely know. As for clams and razor clams, you have to turn them over and dig them up, but fishermen have strength in numbers, and they are professionals, so they can definitely get them. As long as the money is in place, everything will be fine!"

Dart left with a puzzled mood and prepared to find the fishermen who had been supplying Mineral Town for many years to ask about the situation.

Lin Xia's daily routine now is to stock up on goods. From the water area from the back mountain to the moat, he uses nets or cages to catch all kinds of river fish, mountain products and game every day. Now there is one more thing, which is to go to the rocky beach from time to time to look for seafood. Stocking up and treasure hunting is human instinct, the more he stocks, the happier he is!

At 10 o'clock the next morning, Lin Xia came to the orchard and went to Mana's house first. Mana saw Lin Xia coming in and said happily: "Lin Xia, you are really loyal. You don't know that every year when our family harvests grapes, Dick can never find anyone willing to help, so we can only rely on ourselves. It's tiring, but it takes a lot of time. This year, thanks to you, not only did you come by yourself, but you also helped us find another person..."

Lin Xia heard that Mana was about to continue talking, so she had to interrupt her: "When does the work start? When will it end?"

Mana finally remembered what she had to do today: "I originally wanted to ask you to help until 5pm, but today we have enough manpower, I think we should be able to finish early, but don't worry, even if we can't finish it, it will definitely not be later than 5pm, is that convenient?"

Lin Xia readily agreed. Mana thanked her happily and showed Lin Xia the way to the orchard.

When we arrived at the orchard behind Mana's house, we saw Cliff, who had already arrived, talking to Dick. Considering that Cliff lived in the hotel next door, it was understandable that he came so early.

Dick was also very happy to see Lin Xia coming over: "You two should do a good job! I will show you how to do it."

Cliff said happily: "Okay, let's do our best!"

Lin Xia agreed: "Okay."

I have always been working, but this is the first time I have harvested such a large amount of fruit at one time, and I am looking forward to it.

Dick led the two of them into the orchard. Although it was called an orchard, in fact, most of the grapes were planted there. The only difference was that the first half were the variety from Mineral Town that Lin Xia was more familiar with - wild grape trees, while the second half were the new variety of grapes with grape racks that were different from the others.

"This is the new grape I introduced - Hotan red grape. This grape not only tastes good and sweet, but also has a lot of juice and a thin skin. Huo An said it is especially suitable for making wine. It can also be dried into raisins, which are also very delicious. In comparison, the wild grapes here do taste a bit sour!"

Lin Xia had eaten wild grapes before, and was very familiar with their taste. She also reached out and picked a few Hotan red grapes, peeled them and tasted them. Her eyes immediately lit up - so sweet! So delicious!

"Dick, are you going to make wine from all these grapes?"

"I plan to brew a large portion of it, and process the remaining small portion into raisins according to Huo An's instructions. If everyone likes it, the orchard's products can be updated in the future. Moreover, I have some new ideas for brewing this time."

As they began to pick grapes, they heard Dick say, "I plan to make wine with red grapes and wild grapes separately, and then mix the two in different proportions. This way, we will have wines with different tastes. When the time comes, we will choose the wine with the best taste to sell. What do you think of this idea?"

Cliff worked silently without saying anything. Lin Xia gave him a thumbs up and said, "That's a very good idea, but I have a small suggestion for you. You can hold a wine tasting event and put out the different wines you brew for everyone in the town to taste. Let everyone vote for their favorite three. Then you can sell the top three wines in your store!"

After hearing this, Dick suddenly understood and said loudly, "Yes."

"And, to be honest, this can also avoid some problems. You have to know that everyone's aesthetic taste is different. Some people like sweet food, while others like sour food. So maybe what you think tastes good may not be liked by others. You can add a few more flavors of wine!"

"You're absolutely right!" Dick nodded repeatedly.