After lunch, Zhao Erhu hurried to the city. He did not return until dusk, looking quite upset—likely he had discovered some troubling news, or perhaps the fruit merchant had deceived him in some way. A faint anger still lingered on Zhao Erhu's face, which eased a bit only after he caught sight of Lin Yue.
"What happened? From the look of you, I gather the news isn't good. Did that fruit merchant play some tricks?" Lin Yue asked with a smile, setting aside her embroidery work.
"It's outrageous! That fruit merchant is utterly unscrupulous. I wouldn't have known if I hadn't inquired. There's something wrong with those fruit trees. The buyer mainly wanted orange trees, and the other fruit trees were just an afterthought. We sought them because our local orange trees don't thrive well, yielding fruits that lack moisture and aren't sweet enough. That's why we had the fruit merchant ship them from afar.