Chapter 30 Watermelon

Neither of them got up early the next day. Lu An went to feed the pigs, while Zhao Xuan was preparing their meals for the day. The rice had just been cooked, and she was rubbing cooked oil on her hands and stuffing kimchi and poached eggs into the piping hot rice when there was a knock on the courtyard gate.

Seemingly in an effort to immediately allay the fear in the house, a voice came from outside after the knocking: "Xiao Zhao, Xiao Lu! Are you home?"

Needless to say, this title must belong to Yao Yuan.

Zhao Xuan responded from inside the door, "Coming!" She hurriedly walked out, still holding a ball of rice in her hand. She pressed down on the handle with her elbow, and the large iron gate opened with a thud, revealing the Yao family of three standing outside.

The dog seemed very happy. He was still wearing his taro leaf hat and today he was carrying his favorite toy gun. He poked his head out from behind his father and greeted Zhao Xuan with a grin: "Good morning, Sister Xuan!"

Zhao Xuan was somewhat surprised. She saw Yao Yuan riding a large tricycle with his wife and children on it, and a large bundle in the back. Zhang Xiaohe was wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat, and her jet-black hair was all tied up in the hat, clearly dressed to go out.

She asked, "What are you doing here...?"

Yao Yuan replied, "We're going to pick some watermelons in that village down there! We wanted to ask if you'd like to come. Have you finished your farm work? If you have, come with us for a walk. There are still many crops to harvest in that village."

After he finished speaking, Zhang Xiaohe added, "It will take a whole day to go and back. If you are free today, come with me. I have brought the food. Just the two of you can go! If you are not free, that's okay. We will bring you some watermelons when we come back tonight."

Isn't that a coincidence?

Zhao Xuan glanced sideways at the two large backpacks placed on the back of the tricycle in his yard.

At this moment, Lu An also returned with 460. The village was too quiet, and people's voices could be heard from a distance, so he understood the reason without asking. He glanced at Zhao Xuan and saw the hesitation in her eyes.

He suddenly smiled faintly. He knew that the watermelon was more tempting to Zhao Xuan, and that Zhao Xuan's refusal meant he wanted to discuss it with him first.

Lu An nodded and said in a low voice, "Okay, Brother Yao, please come in and wait a while. We'll go with you once we're ready."

The Yao family followed instructions and entered the courtyard. Upon seeing their luggage, they realized that the Yao family had also planned to go out for a trip.

While Zhao Xuan was still diligently making rice balls in the kitchen, Lu An explained, "There's a large stream not far from here where we can cool off. Now that the farm work is finished, Xuanxuan and I are going to go there to escape the heat."

“Then you…” Zhang Xiaohe suddenly felt a little embarrassed, feeling that her family had disturbed their plans.

“It’s alright,” Lu An turned to look at Zhao Xuan’s back as he stuffed a handful of vegetables into rice balls. “She prefers harvesting watermelons to cooling off.”

The rice balls were quickly made, neatly arranged in square stainless steel lunchboxes, one for each person, which were then stuffed into their backpacks. With everything else prepared, Lu An locked the door, hopped on a tricycle, and set off with Zhao Xuan in tow.

At this moment, 460 crawled out of the dog hole, its black bean-like eyes staring expectantly at Lu An and Zhao Xuan, its tongue lolling out and its tail wagging, as if hoping for something.

460 seemed to know its mission. It would obediently stay at home when its owner was not home. But today it knew that its owner had gone out for a trip and would be back soon, so it wanted to go too. Its paws had not yet trodden all over this mountainous area.

Zhao Xuan patted the truck bed: "Get in!"

460's eyes lit up, and he jumped into the back of the tricycle.

So, the two tricycles slowly set off, heading towards the unfamiliar village below.

Neither Zhao Xuan nor Lu An had been to that village. Firstly, they had enough supplies gathered from nearby villages for the winter, and secondly, that village was indeed quite far away, requiring a four-hour round trip, plus the time spent picking the produce, which would take up a whole day.

The village where the Yao family lived was called "Xiaxi Village," which, as the name suggests, was located downstream of a stream. Further downstream was their destination, "Xiwei Village." These names were not random guesses; they were all written on the stone tablet standing at the entrance of the village.

Zhao Xuan asked Lu An, "What's the name of the village we're staying in?"

"Shangxi Village."

"How did you know?" Zhao Xuan didn't remember there was any stone tablet at the entrance of the village. She always thought that perhaps the stone tablet was lost, perhaps the village name was inscribed in another place, or perhaps the village they lived in was actually an unnamed village.

Lu An replied, "I guessed."

Zhao Xuan pursed his lips and stopped talking.

With the Yao couple joining them, the journey seemed to pass more quickly. They didn't drive as fast as they had on their way to Taiping Town, but instead stopped and started. Yao Yuan and Lu An didn't ride very fast either, with the two tricycles running side by side. Zhang Xiaohe and Zhao Xuan, sitting in the back, could chat or exchange some food.

Zhang Xiaohe took out a thermos from her backpack and poured Zhao Xuan a cup using the included cup. Zhao Xuan stretched out his hand from the slightly swaying back compartment and quickly took it.

She first took a small sip of the milky white beverage in the cup. It was icy cold and had a faint aroma of rice and a hint of sweetness.

"Wow, it's rice water!" Zhao Xuan exclaimed, not because it was rice water, but because it was ice-cold. "Sister Xiao He, is your house powered on?"

Zhang Xiaohe smiled and said, "Yes, it took a long time to finally get it done. Since the electricity is on, Yao Yuan said he would go to the village down there to pick some watermelon ice to eat."

It turns out that both families were planning to go out and relax after completing an important phase.

Xiwei Village was no different from the other villages—dilapidated and desolate. Because it was uninhabited, it seemed even more eerie than the two villages they lived in.

The group of four did not enter the village, but instead rode their tricycle along its outer edge. Yao Yuan said that when he first decided to settle down, he had visited the village alone a few times and collected some supplies. However, the houses in Xiwei Village were more dilapidated than those in the other two villages; not a single habitable house remained.

“Most of the houses in the village are either collapsed or broken, and there’s hardly anything usable left. But the vegetables around here grow well,” Yao Yuan said, pointing ahead. “Ahead are melon fields, and further on, there are a few lotus ponds, and then a few acres of sugarcane fields. These things are mostly planted around this village, as well as some fruit trees, though we have some in our village too.”

When Yao Yuan first arrived, he saw the melon patch. Although it was called a melon patch, the field was already overgrown with weeds. The few melon vines were thin and weak, unable to compete with the weeds, so they could only grow clump together, sending new shoots towards the sky. Yao Yuan pulled up the surrounding weeds, separated the melon vines, and even loosened the soil. Later, he came to Xiwei Village again and saw that the watermelons were growing very well, already bearing many fist-sized fruits.

They soon arrived at the melon patch. Although it hadn't been tended, the watermelons were growing beautifully, each pale green and about the size of a ball. Yao Yuan picked a large one, tapped it, and broke it open on the spot. The rind was about a finger joint thick, the flesh inside was pink, the seeds were large, but the flesh was very fragrant.

Watermelon is a very fragrant fruit.

This was a conclusion Zhao Xuan reached after the apocalypse. Before the apocalypse, watermelons weighed over ten kilograms each, with thin rinds and plenty of flesh. The more expensive watermelons were seedless, and they would crack open with a gentle tap, revealing flesh that was either sandy or crisp, and each bite was cloyingly sweet. Back then, Zhao Xuan didn't pay much attention to the taste of watermelons, because this fruit was delicious no matter how you bought it, and he didn't care about its aroma either.

Only after the apocalypse, when she hadn't tasted any other strongly flavored foods for several years, did she belatedly realize how delicious this fruit was after taking a big bite of a not-so-sweet melon when her mouth was parched.

Its unique watermelon fragrance is so refreshing that just one sniff is enough to quench your thirst.

"Ah—" After squatting in the melon patch and swallowing a large slice of watermelon, Zhao Xuan let out a long, satisfied sigh.

Lu An was squatting not far from her, cutting a slice of watermelon into small pieces with a knife and feeding it to 460. Hearing Zhao Xuan's voice, he suddenly smiled. He thought Zhao Xuan was especially cute at that moment.

The watermelons, which hadn't been specially cared for, weren't particularly sweet, but everyone found them incredibly delicious. Lu An picked out several large ones and carried them back to the tricycle. Each watermelon had a long section of vine left attached; storing them in a shady place would preserve them for a long time.

After picking the watermelons, Yao Yuan led them on their way. The dog ate slowly, so he sat on the edge of the back of the tricycle, holding a slice of watermelon, his feet dangling in the air. The scorching sun shone on his lowered head, but he didn't seem to mind the sun at all, focusing on eating the watermelon that was already showing its rind.

Beyond that is the lotus pond.

Lotus flowers are very common in the south, and they are planted in many rural ponds. Some are large lotus ponds that can be used as landscape features, while others are just small ponds with only a few patches of lotus flowers. The lotus flowers in Xiwei Village are just a few small patches in three ponds. If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of the current flowing under the water.

Xiwei Village is deserted, but the plants are growing very well. The melons in the melon field are beautiful, and the lotus flowers in these ponds are also beautiful. Perhaps because no one has picked them for a long time, the lotus leaves are lush and have covered the entire pond. Amidst the lush greenery, many pale pink lotus flowers have emerged. Some have already bloomed and their branches have drooped, while others have just sprouted teardrop-shaped buds. Many more flowers are in full bloom, with translucent petals overlapping each other, wrapping around a cluster of yellow stamens inside.

Since they had no boat and could not go into the pond, Zhao Xuan could only pick a few nearby lotus flowers and a few lotus pods at the edge of the pond.

The lotus pods were as big as a palm, and it wasn't the best time to eat them yet; she was just picking them for fun. However, the lotus seeds inside were edible. After digging them out of the pods, removing the green skin and the bitter core, they could be eaten plain. The taste wasn't particularly good, refreshing with a hint of sweetness, but since they had already eaten a lot of watermelon, the lotus seeds tasted rather bland.

Zhang Xiaohe picked a lot of lotus leaves, saying they could be dried to make lotus leaf tea or lotus leaf rice. Zhao Xuan didn't pick any; he already had many dried bamboo leaves at home, so he didn't need the lotus leaves.

If you ride your bike further ahead, there is a large sugarcane field. Yao Yuan has also cleared some weeds from it, and it is growing well now, but it is not yet time to harvest it.

Generally, it's best to wait until the weather gets colder so that the sugarcane accumulates more sugar and tastes better. Sugarcane with hard skin can be used to make sugar, while sugarcane with soft skin and thick flesh can be eaten by biting it. Zhao Xuan and her family never lacked sugar; every household stocked up on it, like vinegar—as long as it didn't spoil, it was safe to eat. Zhao Xuan herself had stockpiled a lot of white sugar and brown sugar, as well as a lot of loose sugar residue. This sugar residue was similar in color to brown sugar, but in large, hardened clumps, and it was very cheap in supermarkets, only a few yuan per pound. She had stored several boxes of it.

Zhao Xuan and Lu An don't eat much sweets. Even now, with resources scarce, they prefer meat to sugar. Meat is filling and keeps them full for hours. Speaking of sugar, they're even more lacking in salt. Although this seasoning can be found in every household—some might even have over ten kilograms—their demand is enormous. Various pickled foods, vegetables, and meats all require large amounts of salt. The wild boar they caught in the spring almost depleted their salt reserves.

The sugarcane stalks are still small, slender, and tender green. Although Zhao Xuan doesn't plan to come here to harvest sugarcane and make sugar in the fall, he still feels he should come and tend to the fields when he has time. Just because he doesn't need sugar now doesn't mean he won't need it in the future. Perhaps he could cut a few sections of sugarcane roots to try planting himself; if they survive, he won't have to come all the way to Xiwei Village.

The group of people and their dog walked and stopped frequently, and after looking at the melon fields, lotus ponds, and sugarcane groves along the village, it was past noon. Both tricycles were loaded with things. Zhao Xuan's tricycle had some dry grass in the bed, with more than a dozen watermelons on top, as well as a few lotus flowers and small lotus pods that she had picked, which she wrapped in large lotus leaves and placed in a corner.

Yao Yuan said that they could come to harvest the lotus roots in two months. As he spoke, he turned to Zhao Xuan and asked, "Have you ever harvested lotus roots before?"

Lu An and Zhao Xuan honestly shook their heads.

Yao Yuan shrugged: "I've never picked any either."

Since the outbreak of the serious illness, Zhao Xuan has not eaten lotus root. She has begun to miss the taste of fresh lotus root, as well as the sticky and glutinous lotus root starch, which is delicious when it is scalded with boiling water and sweetened with some sugar.

The dog looked a little lost and asked, "Mommy, what is lotus root?"

"It's the root of a lotus flower, which can be dug up and eaten. It's segmented, like a baby's arm."

"Is it tasty?"

"It's delicious! I'll stir-fry it for you when I dig it up again. It's especially delicious when stir-fried with meat."

After listening to their conversation, Lu An asked, "Sister Xiao He, has the dog started its education yet?"

"In our spare time, we taught him some characters and some arithmetic." The dog was five years old when the major illness broke out, and at that time he already knew many Chinese characters, as well as simple arithmetic and English. However, after the apocalypse, they were too busy running around, and the dog forgot most of what he had learned. Now that things have settled down, they plan to teach him again, but they find that a ten-year-old child does not know as much as a five-year-old.

Yao Yuan and Zhang Xiaohe kept this in mind. The child no longer needed profound knowledge, but Zhang Xiaohe still hoped he could read books fluently. The world was too lonely; monotonous labor was merely for survival, but humans cannot labor solely for survival.

Zhao Xuan said, "There is a library in Taiping Town. I saw it from the bus stop. You can go there when you have time in winter. If it wasn't burned down for heating, there should still be a lot of books left there."

The group chatted idly along the way, and just as they were about to find a place to rest and eat, a muffled rumble of thunder suddenly came from the sky, followed by a gust of wind carrying heavy moisture.

The rain clouds in the mountains are coming again.