Sour star fruit tree

After dinner, my father announced to the whole family: "Next week we will buy a car to avoid the rain and sun." My grandmother and mother were overjoyed, but my grandfather suddenly became pensive. He looked outside and clicked his tongue:

- My house gate is a bit narrow, should we cut down the star fruit tree...

My father insisted:

- We have to cut it down, Dad! That star fruit tree is useless. Nowadays people don't even eat sweet star fruit, let alone sour star fruit.

My grandmother turned to him and revealed:

- The other day, a stranger came in and asked to buy my star fruit tree. They offered five million, I was afraid of being scammed so I said no. Or my family would put it up for sale, it would be a pity to cut it down. My neighbor Mr. Tha, who knows about feng shui, said that thanks to the star fruit tree, our family has brought fortune into the house and has a lot of luck.

My father laughed:

- Oh! Mom! There are no more fairy tales. “Eat a star fruit and pay a lump of gold”. I don’t see any gold, I only see ripe yellow star fruit falling all over the tree, ruining the beauty of our house.

My mother is excited about some sour soup:

- Sour star fruit also has an effect. Cooking rươi soup or fish soup without sour star fruit is not delicious. Coming home tired from work, having a bowl of sour soup with star fruit will make you feel refreshed.

My father brushed it off:

- Oh well, if there's no star fruit, there's tamarind, green plum, sour ears, arrowroot... There's no shortage of substitute spices. Now that we've bought a car, we'll have to widen the gate, and the star fruit tree is right next to the entrance to the yard. Selling it would be good if we could get some money.

The whole family was chatting excitedly about selling the sour star fruit tree. My grandfather did not agree because the sour star fruit tree had been with my family for many years, planted by him himself. He had taught me how to distinguish between sour star fruit and sweet star fruit. He said that the sour star fruit tree has dark brown shoots, dark yellow when ripe, dark red flowers and darker leaves than the sweet star fruit tree. The sour star fruit tree is very easy to care for, grows quickly and bears fruit all year round. Sometimes my classmates came over to play, seeing that the star fruit was so full, they told me to bring out the cu leo ​​to pick, asked for some salt and chili and then sat down to eat deliciously, grimacing and smacking their lips. Those who could not eat sour things also drooled.

Everyone in my neighborhood praised my grandfather for having a good hand in growing such a fruitful star fruit tree. Every time he cooked sour soup, the women in the neighborhood would come to my house to ask for a few star fruit. My family never sold star fruit, but mostly gave them away or the overripe ones would fall to the base of the tree. Rarely has a sour star fruit tree produced as many fruits as my star fruit tree. The fruit grows from the bottom of the tree trunk, in heavy clusters, dozens of fruits peeking out from under the green foliage. Thanks to the shade of the star fruit tree, my yard always feels cool. The star fruit seeds germinated and sprouted into many young star fruit trees below. My grandfather told me to pull out the young star fruit trees and bring them back to the backyard to plant, but my father didn't like them. My father ordered some really delicious fruit trees like Cat mango, Xuan Dinh sapodilla, Cao Phong orange... to bring back to plant in the backyard. My father pulled out the young star fruit trees. After my father analyzed the value of fruit trees, my grandfather didn't regret the uprooted star fruit trees anymore. As for me, I think my father was right. It was enough for the whole family to have one big star fruit tree in the front yard. But now it would be a pity if the only star fruit tree was cut down or sold.

The next day, my father posted an advertisement for the sour star fruit tree on Facebook. Many people commented, praising the tree for its beautiful shape and its five very special branches. Several people came to the house to ask to buy it. They offered nearly ten million, which surprised my parents. My grandmother said:

- See? This sour star fruit tree is also very valuable. Why don't we sell it and open the gate to make it more spacious?

My grandfather insisted:

- No matter how much money I spend, I can't spend it all. I'll hire a worker to uproot the star fruit tree and plant it in the backyard. The gate is still open for cars to go in and out, but the star fruit tree is still in my house.

Hearing him say that, my parents did not dare to sell it without permission. So the star fruit tree was moved to the back of the garden, standing in a corner, providing shade and bearing fruit all year round. My grandfather was very happy. He said that each tree in the garden was like a relative. Even though the star fruit was not for sale and could not be eaten much, he still cherished it. He cherished and cared for each tree, making me love my garden even more. My childhood always had the familiar shadow of the star fruit tree.