Snowstorm: I'm Super Rich in the Apocalypse-Chapter 357: Eating Oranges

Lu Jianguo naturally understood what his son meant, and it wasn’t that he really wanted to ask; he was just shocked earlier.

He said, "Okay, okay, we can talk about it later. Do you plan to give this to the base?"

Gu Pan nodded, "Yeah, this one is still best for the base to raise. We can’t raise it well ourselves, and it would be a waste."

Lu Jianguo really appreciated his daughter-in-law; she wasn’t arrogant or proud, she was talented but very humble.

He said, "Then, if this tree bears fruit later, you’ll both get a share."

The onlookers heard, but no one could object. After all, it was their property, and they could choose not to give it to the base, so however it was distributed seemed reasonable—they couldn’t do it anyway, they could only watch.

Lu Jianguo felt the onlookers had seen enough, and said to the outside, "Are you all not working?"

The crowd scattered with a laugh.

Lu Jianguo closed the door, then asked the two to sit down and talk.

Gu Pan didn’t sit but stretched out her hand to pick an orange, handing it to Lu Jianguo, "Dad, eat one before we hand them over, we both have eaten."

Lu Jianguo didn’t take the orange but smiled, "You girl really have a knack for things, I don’t like fruit, you guys eat."

Gu Pan still put the orange in his pocket, "Dad, we’ve eaten plenty outside, there’s more, just eat."

After all these years without fruit, who would believe he didn’t love it?

Ruisheng also said, "Dad, we picked a few more and they’re in our pockets. You eat this one, we won’t shortchange ourselves."

Left without options, Lu Jianguo just said, "Okay, I’ll eat it in a while."

Ruisheng promptly peeled the orange for Lu Jianguo, "Dad, eat now, if anyone else sees, you might not get to eat it."

Lu Jianguo really had no choice. The two kids were too thoughtful. He could only eat half, and insisted on giving the other half to Gu Pan and Ruisheng.

With no choice left, Gu Pan took out four oranges from her pocket, "Dad, we really do have more."

This time, Lu Jianguo finally ate with ease.

Gu Pan and Ruisheng also each took an orange to eat; this way, Lu Jianguo felt less pressure.

This time, Lu Jianguo spoke honestly while eating, "I haven’t had these for years, they taste really good."

Truth be told, what Lu Jianguo ate was from the tree and wasn’t tasty, but having not eaten for such a long time, the novelty of the flavor made it seem delicious.

The oranges Gu Pan and Ruisheng ate were from the Space, and those were genuinely sweet. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to give Lu Jianguo the sweet ones; they were just worried that if he later ate the ones from the tree, the big difference in taste might make him suspicious. Anyway, Gu Pan often gave Lu Jianguo fresh juice, but she always diluted it slightly with water, making it seem like mixed juice, though it still had nutritional value.

After eating, Lu Jianguo was anxious to deliver the tree to the planting area, so he let Gu Pan and Ruisheng go home.

At this time, most neighbors were at work, so they had to wait until the evening when everyone was back to share the oranges.

Now heading home, they first tidied up the house. Although it was a single floor now, it was expanded with shipping containers, which took some time to clean up.

Moreover, they recently upgraded the connection from the shipping containers to the villa’s first floor, making it much stronger, as if they were all now connected.

Guo Gang, following everyone’s request, took the day off. They had enough contribution points, so Guo Gang stayed home planning to break down the walls between a few homes to connect them, as they could afford the base’s materials.

After Gu Pan and Ruisheng finished cleaning, they joined Guo Gang to help with the work; Squad Leader Fang was there too. Though his health wasn’t great, he could still help Guo Gang out.

Meng Meng could help too, so the work went quite fast.

In the evening, Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng called their friends over using walkie-talkies, as they had a generator; hence, their house was still bright when the base’s power went out.

After everyone arrived, Lu Ruisheng brought out a basket of oranges.

Meng Meng stared at the oranges, her eyes wide: "Is this the legendary orange?"

She had eaten them as a child but had somewhat forgotten the taste. Later, she saw them in picture books, and now seeing them again surprised her greatly.

Gu Pan smiled and nodded, handing over two oranges: "Yes, these are oranges. Try them."

Meng Meng, who was very close to Gu Pan, didn’t hesitate. She took them and ran to let Guo Gang smell them, saying they smelled like orange candy.

Guo Gang smiled and patted his daughter’s head: "Orange candy does smell like oranges."

Gu Pan called the others: "Hurry up, everyone grab and eat. These can’t be kept for long, and they’re precious. Let’s eat them quickly before someone else sees and it leads to trouble."

As she spoke, she and Lu Ruisheng each peeled an orange and handed them to the people around them.

Feng Zhekai didn’t take one: "You young people eat it; we’ll abstain."

Lu Ruisheng said, "There are plenty here, enough for everyone. Besides, except for Meng Meng, we’re all adults here; we’re all equal."

Squad Leader Fang refused to eat: "I’ll give mine to Meng Meng. Children carry hope, and who knows what might happen to me tomorrow? It would be a waste if I ate it."

Meng Meng looked at Squad Leader Fang seriously: "Uncle, children don’t have the physical strength of adults. If there’s danger, you’re more useful than I am, so you should eat it."

Gu Pan laughed. Meng Meng was really clever with her words, making it impossible for Squad Leader Fang to refuse.

Indeed, those words left Squad Leader Fang without a rebuttal.

Gu Pan quickly handed over a peeled orange: "Eat up, everyone. It’s rare for us to get a treat like this. If you don’t eat, everyone else will feel embarrassed to eat. Look at Chen Lang, he’s drooling already."

Chen Lang quickly wiped his chin: "No, I’m not!"

Everyone knew Gu Pan was joking to tease Chen Lang, and they all laughed.

Chen Lang was used to being the comic relief. He liked being the center of attention that way, bringing joy to everyone. What could be better?

From then on, no one hesitated, and each person began eating an orange.

Cheng Yang was moved to tears: "I never thought I’d get to eat an orange again in my lifetime."

Fang Lanlan pretended not to see Cheng Yang: "I don’t know him."

The jokes continued from one to the next, everyone laughing heartily, eating fruits they hadn’t tasted in four years, sharing jokes, and life seemed to get sweeter.

Gu Pan had calculated for everyone to have two oranges each with some left over. Hence, everyone had one and shared another, keeping the remaining few for herself, making everyone feel less awkward about taking them.

After everyone finished eating, Chen Shaonan finally realized: "I was so caught up in the novelty, I forgot to ask where you got these fresh fruits?"

Gu Pan could only half-truthfully reply: "Got them from an auction outside. I bought an orange tree and picked the oranges, then gave the tree to the base."

"A tree that big, bearing this many fruits and so sweet—isn’t it said that potted oranges are just for show?" Squad Leader Fang looked puzzled.

Gu Pan hurriedly explained: "It’s a new variety, grafted to produce plenty, and even then, this variety is considered less fruitful, yet it’s sweet."

This was indeed the case. In her past life, Gu Pan had seen this type of potted orange in the bird and flower market, heavily fruited but not very tasty. But now was not the time to be completely truthful. Blurred truths would have to do.

With few having clear memories of the pre-apocalypse flower and bird market, they also felt that Gu Pan’s explanation might make sense.

Then they asked Gu Pan what other fresh items were available at their auction.

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