Just like that, the rumors about Jimmy and I spread like wildfire.
Similar to the capital, with not much to do in the village people will eventually gossip.
“Don’t be discouraged. I believe my son would be a good match for you.”
“Isn’t your son just eight years old?”
“That’s right, more importantly he is my husband’s older brother’s wife’s younger brother…”
“From the neighboring village, right? He would be forty this year–”
It’s a small village, so everyone knows one another.
There were four more childhood friends of mine aside from Jimmy, but all of them are already spoken for, which means there was nobody left.
”There is another young man outside the village…”
“Dad, Don’t…. That’s unnecessary. You really don’t need to.”
Dad thinks I was hurt by the whole ordeal and has become more sympathetic towards me.
“Even if you say so, Irene… We would not want you to remain unwed now.”
“I can just work alone then.”
Frankly, with what I remember from my previous life, I had no problem with living alone.
I was ten years old when I recalled my previous life.
As I worked under the scorching sun harvesting the crops from the field and absent thought came to me.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just click this? It would be much easier”
“Click?”
Jimmy, who was working beside me, turned to me questioningly.
“Nothing.”
At the time, I think it must have been strange to hear that. However…
More of that vague memory came to me and I started to remember the whole picture.
I slowly regained my memories from my previous life.
In my past life, I was just a college student, living an ordinary and uneventful life.
“I studied in university back then, but I didn’t have a specialization yet. Though that wasn’t even an advantage in the past life either.”
I think this was the first time I remembered it.
In this life, I am from a family of farmers, but in my former life my parents were office workers.
I had the chance to work with soil back during grade school.
I used to watch shows about farmwork and also played farming games.
I could only remember so much of my previous life. Then I suddenly noticed the tomato.
“Is it possible to improve this strain?”
It was a small stalk with just as tiny tomatoes attached to it.
If this was propagated successfully, it could become a cherry tomato which has never been seen before.
I looked around for similar tomatoes, choosing the small yet strong strains to interbreed the two.
I think a guy I saw on TV before used some sort of bag and other things, but I couldn’t remember the details. I shook the flowers of the tomato and scattered the pollen carefully.
In that way by next year there should be another tomato.
And then as it grows and is pollinated, I’ll harvest the good seeds from it.
Next year, a small cluster of tomatoes grew. I repeated the same crude method and five years later, a cherry-sized tomato was made.
When I showed them to my parents they became speechless. Both of them leaned in closer.
“It’s a tiny tomato.”
“I can’t sell something so small.”
“But the color looks vibrant and it’s so cute!”
“Well, Dad. I think you should wrap it like this then.”
A small basket of vines with colorful tomatoes still attached to them made it look presentable.
“I think I can sell it like this, I guess.”
“Um. Do you want to try to?”
Without delay, I went ahead to the morning market in town. I was pleased to see that the women and children called the tomatoes “cute” and it seemed pretty popular. I sold ten baskets by noon.
Everytime I harvested a new batch, I went and sold it in the morning market.
Some people avoided the tomatoes because it looked strange, but it’s popularity started to get some traction with its size being the perfect bite-sized snack. It quickly became a delicacy.
“It’s all sold out today~”
Eventually I got used to the morning market routine, so I often went alone these days.
I delivered the vegetables in the general store and decided to loiter around a bit before I decided to head back.
“Are you closing?”
As I was closing up shop for the day, a man suddenly approached me.
“Yes, because the vegetables are sold out.”
“I see… We need to talk about these poor tomatoes.”
The man points at his basket.
It was the basket of tomatoes I sold earlier, with its contents gone though.
I wonder if this is a complaint…
“Yes, what about it?”
“Who made them?”
“I did.”
The man was surprised by that answer.
“You?”
“Yes, and it wasn’t a failure either. I improved on this strain… No, I made a small tomato.”
“Did you purposely make a small tomato?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
“Nothing really… I just saw a tomato and the idea came to me.”
I didn’t have much else to say after that.
I’m guessing the people are starting to make rumors about me.
“What is it? Why are you harassing me?”
“That’s what a responsible man would do…”
“Oi! Somebody call the guards!”
“Wait, wait! I’m not doing anything shady!”
The man panicked and prostrated himself to me.
Looking closer, I noticed that the man looked well put together.
“I want more of these tomatoes.”
“…As I said, it’s already sold out.”
“Where did you come from? Which village?”
“Hereford Village”
“It’s close by. From now on, I want you to sell me your whole stock of tomatoes.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Oh…”
“The harvest season is already over. There are none left.”
It was already autumn after all.
Unlike in the previous life, tomatoes were not grown all year round. They had to be planted again next year.
“Next year, shouldn’t you be able to manage it?”
“I won’t.”
“Actually…”
“Excuse me, I need to go.”
When I started to walk away, the man suddenly cut me off.
“No, hear me out!”
“Okay, though I am busy.”
“Listen, I have a younger brother that hates vegetables.”
As he started talking, I started to cancel him out and walk away.
“But these tomatoes were so good!”
“Is that so?~”
With the limited knowledge I have of my past life, I knew that water wasn’t enough. I started picking up fallen leaves and spread it evenly on the topsoil. This would make sure that the fertilizer is just enough.
This was once an experiment for me back in elementary. “Let’s make cherry tomatoes!” was the name of it, if I remember right.
This method still did it’s job, sure it may be crude, but it was still pollinated.
Despite this, the tomatoes were still delicious.
“Are the other vegetables you make also delicious?”
“I think it’s delicious… Your brother is just being a picky eater.”
The man slumped his shoulders, exasperated.
“That’s right. I’ve bought him lots of other vegetables to try before, but it was only the cherry tomatoes that he liked.”
He resembled like a big dog, with those big ears and tail, he looked like a frail pup.
“Well, I’m glad to hear that, but the only thing I can do now is collect the seeds for next year’s crop. If I sell them to you now, I wouldn’t have any to harvest.”
“I guess but that’s absurd!”
“Nope. Please come again next year.”
“Next year? But I want them sooner!”
“Oh, I’d need a greenhouse to do that~”
“Greenhouse?”
The man looked up, muttering the word to himself.
Oh, no. Are there even greenhouses in this world?
“Can you grow the tomatoes if you have a greenhouse?”
“I think so… Do you know what a greenhouse is?”
“I know what they are. Can you do it in a greenhouse?”
“Perhaps, yes.”
‘Well, let’s go to the royal palace then.”
“Wait, what?”
