The Greatest Village Doctor In The World

Chapter 1294: Collecting Apples

Mu Lingling paused, then shook her head: "No, I have classes this afternoon."

"If you want a drink, just have a little. I guarantee you’ll be able to attend class normally in the afternoon!" Ling Feng said.

"Ah? Isn’t that inappropriate?" Mu Lingling asked hesitantly.

"There’s nothing inappropriate about it, it’ll just speed up your metabolism. You’ll feel like you’ve never drunk anything by the time you go back this afternoon!" Ling Feng said.

Hearing this, Mu Lingling finally felt reassured and nodded: "Okay, then I’ll just have a taste!"

Tang Xiaoqian quickly poured her a glass upon hearing this: "I’ve already tried it, this apple wine is indeed very tasty!"

"This color looks really nice!"

Mu Lingling remarked, quickly picked up the wine glass, and took a small sip.

Then she widened her eyes: "Wow, I suddenly tasted the flavor of my hometown!"

"Hmm?"

Ling Feng, who was initially smiling at her, froze upon hearing this: "How can it have the taste of your hometown?"

"This type of apple tastes just like the ones we grow at home!" Mu Lingling said.

"Really?"

Ling Feng remembered that the apples used in the recipe were of a rather inconspicuous variety called Red Jin.

This apple is the main ingredient for brewing wine, and he hadn’t thought about where to source it. He planned to hand it over to Ling Corporation for a tender, but unexpectedly Mu Lingling mentioned it just like that!

So he quickly asked: "Does your family grow these Red Jin apples?"

"Yes, this apple is an old variety. It was widely planted over ten years ago, but later, with hybrids like Fuji that have a higher yield, fewer people started growing Red Jin." Mu Lingling said.

"Looks like you know quite a bit, do your family still have these apple trees?" Ling Feng asked.

"Yes, my family has planted five hundred trees, other families in the village have planted quite a few as well. But the trees are starting to show signs of aging, I heard from my dad that they’re planning to cut them down and plant a new variety next year." Mu Lingling said.

"Then it’s still timely, how far is your home from here? I’ll go check it out later!"

Seeing that he had found the source of the raw material, Ling Feng immediately put other matters aside to settle this one first!

"My home is over a hundred kilometers from Tang Family Village, it shouldn’t take long to drive there." Mu Lingling said.

Ling Feng slapped his thigh: "Then it’s settled, let’s grab some lunch, and I’ll head over to your place after we’re done!"

"Ah?"

Both Mu Lingling and Tang Xiaoqian were surprised, not expecting him to decide so quickly!

At this point, Tang Xiaoqian asked: "Are you going by yourself? Why not let Lingling accompany you, it’d make communication easier, right?"

"But Lingling has class!" Ling Feng said.

"I can take leave, if Brother Ling can really buy the apples from the village, it would be a great help for us, many haven’t been sold yet today!" Mu Lingling said.

"Then there’s no problem, you go request for leave, I’ll talk to Sun Hao to get a car, then we’ll head off!" Ling Feng said.

Having decided to visit the apple orchard, the lunch was consumed hastily, finished in a few bites. Ling Feng looked at Tang Xiaoqian: "Qian sister, are you coming?"

"I won’t go, the factory is busy, if you need to stay overnight, I won’t be able to return!" Tang Xiaoqian said.

"Alright then, I’ll return once I’ve sorted out the apple supply!"

Ling Feng didn’t think much of it and nodded, said.

After that, Mu Lingling went back to school to request leave and the two headed to Shankou Village together.

After Sun Hao’s arrival, he bought a car for easier travel, which now facilitated Ling Feng’s journey, as he directly drove it away.

Upon leaving the village, Mu Lingling opened the navigation and guided Ling Feng, and they embarked on a new journey.

...

...

At four o’clock in the afternoon, the car arrived at Mu Family Village.

This is a hilly area located in northern E Province, just before entering the village, Ling Feng saw mountainous apple trees.

Since winter had arrived, the fruit trees were all bare, with all their leaves fallen.

However, seeing a full mountain of fruit trees, Ling Feng was still very pleased; there must be thousands, if not tens of thousands. If he sorted this out, he wouldn’t need to worry about the apple wine’s raw materials!

After entering the village, the car stopped at Mu Lingling’s doorstep, where her parents were working in the vegetable garden. Seeing a car stop, they were both stunned.

Then they saw Mu Lingling get out of the car, Mu Guocai wide-eyed: "Eh, daughter, why are you back?"

"I brought Brother Ling here to have a look, and also to surprise you!"

Mu Lingling chuckled, quickly introduced Ling Feng.

Upon hearing Ling Feng came to buy apples, Mu Guocai and his wife were overjoyed!

After a few exchanged words, they learned that the village’s apples were heavily stockpiled, with sales consistently poor over the recent years. Buyers only wanted large, storage and transport-resistant Fuji apples, whilst the village’s Red Jin had virtually no market.

If it weren’t for each household having a cellar, all this year’s apples would have rotted on the ground.

Upon hearing this, Ling Feng smiled and said: "Uncle Mu, don’t worry, as long as I’m here, I’ll take all the apples from your village!"

"That would be wonderful."

Mu Guocai immediately became thrilled, holding Ling Feng’s hand: "Quickly come in and have a seat, wife, start cooking!"

Farmers are simple folks, even if Ling Feng hadn’t come to buy apples, they would have warmly received him, as he was a guest brought back by their daughter.

After sitting down inside, Ling Feng asked: "Uncle Mu, at what price is Red Jin currently sold?"

"Don’t mention it, a buyer came by a few days ago offering fifty cents a pound, which angered everyone into driving him away. At such a low price, our whole year’s work would go to waste!" Mu Guocai sighed and said.

Ling Feng also felt a bit speechless upon hearing this, that price was too low!

Then he smiled and asked: "How much per pound would it take to break even?"

"At least eighty cents, the orchard’s annual investment is considerable." Mu Guocai said.

Ling Feng smiled upon hearing this, the old man was honest and hadn’t invented a high price to deceive him.

So he quickly said: "How about this, I’ll purchase them at two yuan a pound."

"What?"

Mu Guocai was taken aback, his eyes widened!

Two yuan a pound, that’s higher than Fuji apples’ purchase price!

He couldn’t quite believe it, and couldn’t help but remind: "Mr. Ling, Red Jin apples aren’t popular, if you buy them at such a high price, you might not make a profit!"

"Don’t worry, Uncle Mu, I’m not reselling them, I’m using them for brewing!" Ling Feng smiled.

Mu Guocai was surprised again: "They can be used to brew wine?"

"Dad, Brother Ling already has apple wine, I just drank it at noon, instantly recalled our homegrown apples’ taste, so he decided to come and buy apples!" Mu Lingling explained.

"Is that so?"

Mu Guocai realized and then looked at Ling Feng: "Are you really going to buy at two yuan a pound? Our village has tens of thousands of pounds now!"