Chapter 31: After the Internship

The orchard leased by An Songyu’s family is not particularly large, but it contains a wide variety of fruit trees. To a professional orchardist focused on intensive management, this might be a drawback. However, for a family intending to operate it only temporarily and relying on a fruit shop owned by relatives as their primary distribution channel, it proves to be exceptionally suitable.

It is now mid-June, and most of the trees in the orchard are in their ripening season. Because the orchard has been neglected for quite some time, most of the current fruit varieties are not the latest ones found on the market. Nevertheless, the flavor is quite good; after all, these varieties were carefully selected by the village committee back in the day. An Jianmin’s family fruit shop is their own business, and by marketing these as "vintage boutique fruits," they not only appeal to the sense of nostalgia among some citizens but also win over the hearts of many young people after they taste the samples before buying.

An Songyu has already finished her internship. Since Nanshi is not far from Shuncheng, she can easily return home on weekends to help out—especially now that she has made up her mind to forgo campus recruitment and job hunting for the time being. Compared to those around her, she certainly has more free time. As for pursuing further studies, An Songyu has not considered it for the moment. The hotel management major she originally chose is a field where she has had almost no opportunity to apply her knowledge over the past two decades. Having lived through this time once before, applying the knowledge she gained in university to her recent graduation thesis is already a significant achievement.

Returning to the family orchard, she saw that the people who were working in the silkworm room not long ago had now moved to the orchard. Over the years, the fruit trees had been left untended, growing not only exceptionally lush but also very tall. By the time An Songyu’s family leased the land, they had already missed the optimal pruning season. Even so, they hired elderly villagers who used to care for the orchard to guide them, performing some thinning of the branches. Beyond that, there was no further management. After all, the recent period was the busiest time for the silkworm room, so the orchard received little more than basic maintenance. Fortunately, these trees were already in their peak fruiting years, so even without meticulous care, they bore plenty of fruit.

The quality of the fruit varied, however. The best were naturally selected for the fruit shop, while the more average ones were distributed to other villagers or sent to the various local farmhouse inns to serve visiting guests. Although these fruits were sorted, there was no difference in taste—only in appearance, as they were not quite as perfect. Offering them to guests for free was a gesture of goodwill.

An Songyu checked the fruit everyone was harvesting and, finding that her help wasn't needed, headed to the carambola (starfruit) grove on the other side. The carambola leased by her family is a locally improved, vintage variety. The bulk of the harvest usually falls between next month and September, but now that it is mid-June, some are already slowly ripening. An Songyu’s task was to pick these out before they over-ripened and spoiled on the trees.

She was not the only one in the carambola grove. After changing locations a few times, she followed the signs of activity to find an unpicked area. After harvesting two rows, she discovered the rest of her family working there. No wonder her uncle said they didn't need to worry about the orchard's output—it turned out everyone was already here! After a brief exchange of glances, they quickly reorganized their efforts.

An Songyu returned to the entrance of the orchard. She looked at the wampee, lychees, dragon fruit, mangoes, and even two or three baskets of papayas of various sizes that had just been picked. These were the selected ones suitable for the fruit shop. As for the sorted-out portion, the volume was actually larger than what was headed to the store. Such is the reality of an orchard without careful management.

After helping to record the tallies, An Songyu hopped on the orchard’s tricycle to deliver the remaining fruit to various households in the village. Ever since they leased the land in Jiang Village, An Songyu has returned home with bags full of goods every time she visits. Sometimes these are prepared by their own relatives, but more often, they are gifts from the other villagers. After all, the farmhouse inn business relies on holiday traffic, and the greater the variety of produce they have, the easier it is to attract visitors. Therefore, during the slow periods, the produce from their own plots needs to be well-managed. Harvesting such diverse crops is actually quite complicated; since the quantity of each is not large, it wouldn't be worth the effort to take them out to sell. Since An Songyu’s family does not grow these themselves, they have become the recipients of the villagers' care. Now that their own orchard has a harvest, An Songyu naturally wants to return the favor.

The harvest in the orchard soon concluded. Even though An Jianmin’s family has a wholesale stall, the daily consumption capacity for fruit remains limited, especially during the current peak season. It is worth noting that theirs is not the only orchard currently in full harvest.

After a busy half-day, An Songyu boarded the bus back to school, carrying the fruits her family had specially kept for her. Looking back at the village, she thought that by the time she returned, she would likely have already received her diploma. By then, not only would their house construction be finished, but the silkworm room would likely be busy again. As for the fruits continuing to ripen in the orchard, the quantity would surely only increase! With these thoughts, An Songyu leaned against the window and drifted into a hazy sleep.

When she woke up, the driver was announcing their arrival at the terminal. She quickly gathered her things and headed toward the university. In mid-June, Nansheng University is in the final, frantic moments for this year's graduates. An Songyu quickly threw herself into the mix. There was no time to return to Jiang Village, nor even enough time for more than a couple of dates with her boyfriend. She was even teased by her roommates for her habit of holing up in the library every day.

Each time, An Songyu could only smile awkwardly. She couldn't very well tell her friends what she had experienced during her three-month internship—which was why, after only a few months, she had put aside the professional knowledge she had spent four years studying so hard to master. Her impressions of past graduation seasons were not deep, but she was certain that this repeat of her final semester was the hardest she had ever worked.

Not until the final thesis defense was completely over did An Songyu finally breathe a sigh of relief. Although the process had been somewhat unsatisfactory, she was sure she would successfully receive her diploma. As for her grades... was she really the type of person to obsess over grades?

Jian Ziyu laughed when he heard this. If she weren't the type to care about grades, why would she have changed their dating spot to the library? But Jian Ziyu didn't dare say this aloud. He felt that since her internship ended, his girlfriend had not only changed significantly but had also become more temperamental. Things he used to say that might annoy her didn't necessarily bother her anymore, yet things he never thought would matter could cause her expression to change in an instant.

Jian Ziyu wasn't quite sure how to navigate her mood lately, so he decided that, for the short term, it would be best to just keep his head down and be well-behaved.