Chapter 600: The Citrus Family

Chapter 600: Chapter 600: The Citrus Family

The relationships within the citrus family might seem complex, but they actually follow a pattern:

Pomelo + Mandarin (Loose-skin mandarin) → Orange

Oranges resemble mandarins but have the hard-to-peel skin of a pomelo.

Citron + Orange → Lemon

Lemons inherited the orange’s difficult-to-peel skin and the citron’s sour, bitter taste.

Orange + Mandarin (Loose-skin mandarin) → Tangerine

Tangerines look almost identical to mandarins, but their skin is thicker due to the influence of the orange.

Orange + Pomelo → Grapefruit

Grapefruits look very similar to pomelos but inherited the orange’s sweet fragrance.

Besides hybridization, the citrus family has another secret to propagation: bud mutation. It’s like nature’s "genetic lottery," always keeping the family full of surprises.

Bud mutation is a form of somatic mutation in plants.

A single citrus tree has thousands upon thousands of buds. If the genetic material of just one bud makes a small "mistake" during replication, the branch that grows from it might bear fruit with completely different characteristics.

For example, on a tree that produces sweet oranges, one branch might suddenly bear fruit that is seedless, sweeter, and has a "navel" at its base. This is the origin story of the navel orange—a beautiful accident that changed the entire citrus industry.

According to statistics, over 60% of all citrus varieties originate from bud mutations.

Wenzhou mandarins, Cara Cara navel oranges, early-ripening tangerines... these familiar varieties are all gifts brought by "bud mutation."

The grafting method mentioned in the intelligence can accelerate bud mutation.

And it was obvious that the intelligence had predicted the bud mutation would result in a fruit that could be sun-dried to produce better Dried Tangerine Peel.

After washing up, the two of them had breakfast at Old Liang’s house.

Gao Yuan’s brow was still furrowed with worry. He sighed while drinking his congee. "Xiao Li, what do you think we should do? The core production areas in Xinhui are a lost cause."

"If it really comes to it... should we settle for second best?"

Gao Yuan said, "Besides Xinhui’s Dried Tangerine Peel, other places produce decent ones. For example, there’s the Dried Tangerine Peel from Sichuan, and also from Fujian. Although they aren’t as famous as the Xinhui variety, they’re still good medicinal ingredients. As long as we maintain strict quality control and don’t use those artificially aged and dyed fakes, they should be usable."

"Plus, they’re cheaper. In business, you always have to consider the cost, right?"

Li Xu put down his chopsticks and shook his head, his tone firm. "Elder Gao, what was our original intention when we founded this traditional Chinese medicine company? Was it to make money? Was it to just follow the crowd?"

"No. It was to produce genuine, top-tier, life-saving medicinal ingredients."

"If our very first product is just a mediocre, ’good enough’ item, how will we ever compete against those crooked merchants selling fakes? How will we build our reputation that ’If it’s from the Ding Clan, it’s a masterpiece’?"

"Since Xinhui’s Dried Tangerine Peel is the king of authentic medicinal ingredients, we have to get it. And we have to get the best."

Gao Yuan was taken aback by Li Xu’s words, then he nodded. "You’re right. I was thinking about it the wrong way. Alright, let’s try to figure something else out."

Li Xu, pretending to be unwilling to give up, suggested, "Elder Gao, I don’t think we should just focus on the managed orchards. Xinhui is a big place. Could there be some forgotten corners? Or maybe some abandoned old gardens? Let’s go look around again and try our luck."

"Alright. It’s a long shot, but let’s go."

...

Under Li Xu’s seemingly aimless but actually precise guidance, they didn’t return to the popular production areas. Instead, they arrived at the relatively remote eastern end of Tianma Village.

After passing through a small, overgrown path, the view suddenly opened up before them.

An orchard enclosed by a wall appeared before their eyes.

The wall was somewhat dilapidated, and the main gate was covered in rust. It was clear no one had tended to the place in a long time.

But through the wall, they could still see lush, green foliage and tall trees growing inside.

"This is..." Gao Yuan was puzzled.

Li Xu pointed at the orchard. "Old Liang, whose garden is this? Why does it look abandoned?"

Old Liang glanced over and waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, that garden. It used to be called the ’Ancient Tangerine Garden’. The owner was a stubborn old man who grew tea-branch tangerines his whole life. After he passed away, his son didn’t want to continue the business. He thought growing trees was too slow a way to make money, so he just abandoned the place and went to the city to do business."

"There are indeed a lot of old trees in that garden, all of them purebred, air-layered tangerines. It’s a pity. With no one to look after them, they’ve long since gone wild."

"And another thing..." Old Liang continued, "The trees in this garden have all ’gone crazy.’ They only grow leaves and no fruit, or the fruit they do produce is misshapen and completely useless."

"’Gone crazy?’"

A thought flashed through Li Xu’s mind. ’This matches the intelligence.’

"Can we go inside and take a look?" Li Xu asked.

"The gate isn’t even locked. Go right ahead. No one cares about it anyway," Old Liang said.

The three of them pushed open the rusty iron gate and walked into the orchard.

A desolate air washed over them.

The citrus trees here were indeed very tall, with thick trunks and dense foliage. Some had even grown to be three or four meters high.

Their bark was covered in moss, a testament to their great age.

But, just as Old Liang had said, there was almost no fruit on the trees. The one or two they could spot were withered, small, and lifeless.

Gao Yuan walked up and carefully inspected an old tree.

He felt the trunk, then looked at the leaves, and finally shook his head with a sigh. "What a waste. These trees are indeed a fine variety, all of them decades-old air-layered tangerines. But due to a long-term lack of pruning and fertilization, their vegetative growth has become excessive while their reproductive growth has been suppressed. It’s what’s commonly known as ’running wild’."

"Moreover, the vigor of these trees has already declined. Their root systems are aging, and their ability to absorb nutrients is poor. A tree like this is like a dying old man—it’s beyond saving. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Li Xu asked.

"Unless you cut them all down and plant new saplings," Gao Yuan said helplessly. "But then you’d lose the decades of age on these trees. It would be such a shame."

Li Xu circled an old tree twice, then suddenly said, "Elder Gao, Old Liang, what if... what if we tried grafting?"

"Grafting?"

Gao Yuan and Old Liang were both stunned for a moment, then they both shook their heads.

"It’s useless," Gao Yuan explained. "Grafting usually involves taking a scion—a branch from a superior variety—and attaching it to a strong rootstock. But these old trees themselves are the source of the scions. Their root systems are already failing. Where would you graft it? Onto itself? That would be completely pointless."

"No." Li Xu shook his head. "I mean, we cut scions from these old trees and graft them onto... pomelo trees."

"Pomelo trees?" Old Liang asked in surprise. "Why pomelo trees?"

"Pomelo trees have well-developed root systems, a strong ability to absorb nutrients, good disease resistance, and a long lifespan," Li Xu explained. "Using them as rootstock—specifically, using ’red lemon’ or ’sour pomelo’ as rootstock—is a common method for improving citrus trees in many places. But here in Xinhui, people tend to reject this practice in pursuit of so-called ’pure bloodlines’."

"But for the branches of these old trees, which are on the verge of death yet possess extremely high medicinal value, this might be the only way to ’bring them back from the dead’ and grant them a new life."