Chapter 76

When Yoda woke up in the morning, he saw Zhou Ying and asked casually, "Um, how's the school I used to attend doing now?"

Zhou Ying said, "The school is no longer useful; all the children in the village go to school in town. But the well behind the school is still in good condition. The water there is sweet, and people still come here specifically to fetch water to make tea."

"By the way, the water we gave you yesterday was taken from there."

At this point, Zhou Ying realized that she hadn't returned the bucket of water she'd taken from Zhou Liu yesterday. She'd just casually left it there yesterday, and only now realized she'd forgotten to put the lid back on. In the chaos, someone had kicked it over, and all the water was gone.

Yoda stepped forward and took the empty bucket: "Then I'll go and fetch some back today too."

Zhou Ying nodded: "That works too. Just follow the main road uphill and you'll get there. The road has been repaired, so it's much easier to walk on now."

Seeing Yoda hurriedly leave with the bucket, Zhou Ying wondered, "Why are they all wanting to fetch water so early in the morning?"

"You?" Yoda looked at the white bucket that Shi Xing was carrying, which was exactly the same as his own, and couldn't help but laugh: "How come you thought of the same thing as me?"

Shi Xing picked it up and shook it, saying helplessly, "Last night Wang Mian kept shouting 'water, water, water,' but he wouldn't drink it when I tried to feed him. This morning, when I was a little more awake, I realized that he thought he was being poured water and drank it all at once."

Thinking of the water Zhou Ying poured for the two of them, Yoda and Shi Xing smiled knowingly and guiltily.

“So, I thought we should just bring some more back to make up for his heartache at not having any water.” As for whether drinking water still made any sense to Wang Mian now, the two of them tacitly agreed not to mention it.

Walking to the well behind the school, Yoda leaned closer to take a look. His reflection was mirrored on the clear surface of the well, just as it had always been.

Shi Xing picked up the bucket from the well, with a weight hanging on one side of it.

Yoda recalled the first time the two of them saw it. They were a little curious and asked the school teacher what was going on. They learned that it was impossible to lift water by just putting the bucket down. You had to put a heavy object on one side of the bucket to lift the water up.

I never expected that after so many years, even though there's no one left at the school, the plastic bucket is still the same one.

Yoda watched as Shi Xing carefully lifted the water, little by little, and poured it into the buckets the two of them had brought. Yoda's bucket was only half full before he stopped pouring.

“Hey, let’s fill it up. It’s not too heavy, and it’s not far,” Yoda said.

Shi Xing lifted the bucket of water upside down, shook it, and showed it to Yoda. It wasn't that he was reluctant to pour out more; it was that all the water he had brought up had been poured out: "This is exactly all. I'm afraid it's too heavy. If I can't lift it later, you can take over, okay?"

"Hmm." Yoda took it, glanced at Shi Xing, seemed to want to say something, but didn't.

When the two returned, they walked to their old school. The original teaching building was now empty. Yoda couldn't help but say, "Well, actually..."

Shi Xing spoke first: "Actually, it's all in the past, isn't it?"

Yoda looked up and saw Shi Xing staring at the stairwell of the teaching building. He said, "After your accident, I suddenly became very afraid of chandeliers, and I subconsciously avoided them in every design."

Yoda thought of the chandelier that had been removed from Shi Xing's apartment and knew what was bothering him. But seeing Shi Xing's calm expression now, she smiled and said, "Well, we can't just not have any chandeliers at all."

Shi Xing smiled and said, "Yes, but I can always find another alternative. Ceiling lights are also becoming more popular, so chandeliers are not so necessary anymore."

As he spoke, Shi Xing pulled a ring out of his pocket. Yoda saw it and was shocked: "How did it end up with you?"

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that it wasn't the one he had prepared; the one Shi Xing was holding was obviously a women's ring.

Shi Xing looked at Yoda, his eyes gentle yet firm: "Will you marry me?"

Yoda shook his head, a little confused: "Hey, wait a minute." Yoda reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring, but it was a men's ring. He said in confusion, "How did you do that? It's almost the same style as mine."

Seeing Yoda's confused expression, Shi Xing explained, "Do you remember the one you put in the drawer under your bed?"

Yoda blushed instantly: "You opened it and looked at it?"

Shi Xing said smugly, "I don't need to open it. Just by touching the shape, I know it's a ring."

Yoda clicked his tongue in amazement: "You're so amazing. Wait, how did you know it was this style without even looking?"

In an effort to prove his innocence, Shi Xing tried to evoke Yoda's memories: "That summer, we had just been to the museum. You kept looking at that Eastern Jin Dynasty gold ring inlaid with diamonds and even took pictures of it carefully from every angle. So, as soon as I touched the ring, I knew that you must have made it based on that design. So I made a women's version."

When Yoda saw the diamond, he told Shixing that diamonds could be used to process stone, glass, and ceramics, making them the perfect ring for two people who wanted to become designers. He suggested they make a ring like that for their wedding, hoping they could both excel in the design field.

Later, during the time when Shi Xing was watching over the comatose Yoda, although he always held onto the hope that Yoda would wake up, he couldn't help but feel anxious when no one was around.

It was around that time that I learned by chance that Vajra also signifies becoming more spiritually resilient through spiritual practice. So, when I thought about proposing, I chose the same design.

Yoda nodded, realizing that he might have overreacted a bit, and added, "Everyone has a little secret, right? I don't mind you peeking."

Shi Xing found Yoda's evasive and evasive expression somewhat amusing, and nodded in agreement, saying, "Yes, I don't mind you peeking. Have you finished watching?"

Yoda was bewildered: "What?"

Shi Xing raised an eyebrow: "I'll send you the information from your old account."

Yoda opened his mouth in surprise, paused for a few seconds, and then jumped up in a panic: "I, I, I, I didn't see it."

Seeing Shi Xing calmly observing him, Yoda conceded defeat: "You cheated, didn't you? How do you know everything?"

Shi Xing: "It's all because of you. Sometimes when you're looking at the chat window, you might think of sending me a message, so the chat window shows that the other person is typing. I've seen it so many times, so I already knew."

Yoda was completely speechless. How could he have gotten caught like this? Anyway, Shixing found out, and Yoda couldn't help but complain: "What kind of stuff are you sending me? It's all sorts of dimensions and specifications for renovations, or pictures of furniture styles. You're using me as a memo pad. You have no idea how long it took me to read all of your messages so I wouldn't miss anything."

Shi Xing bowed his head and apologized seriously: "It was my fault. I will correct all future messages according to your request."

Seeing how passively things were going, Yoda, who was already somewhat weak, finally realized belatedly that he was a little embarrassed.

Shi Xing looked up at Yoda and said, word by word, "You've read all the information I gave you, Yoda. In fact, you've never missed any of the time that belongs to us."

"So, can you answer me now?"

Shi Xing held up the ring, waiting for the person in front of him to say the answer they both already knew.

Yoda's smile deepened as she looked at Shi Xing. She finally understood what the opportune moment she had been waiting for was.

Even though they've been moving closer to each other, she'll wait until Shi Xing is healthy again. She'll let a rational, clear-headed Shi Xing decide their future. Because the naive, impulsive, and passionate Yoda has already decided to be with Shi Xing.

"I do." That's what Yoda thought as a young man, and that's what Yoda thinks now. Love is not about demanding, but about waiting.

Looking at the ring on her hand, which fit her finger perfectly, Yoda asked curiously, "When did you measure my hand?"

Shi Xing smiled and said, "Everyone has a little secret. I'll leave the answer to you to guess."

Yoda scoffed, "Fine, I'll find out sooner or later anyway. Now it's my turn."

Gently, she slipped the ring she had secretly prepared long ago, intending to give it to Shi Xing, onto his finger. Thankfully, even after so much time, it still fit perfectly. Yoda breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Shi Xing with an air of self-assurance: "Now it's your turn to say you do."

Shi Xing gently ran his thumb along the inside of the ring on his fingertip, his heart filled with peace and happiness. Looking at the vibrant Yoda, the memories of past fears and anxieties gradually faded away: "I do."

Once Wang Mian was fully awake, everyone prepared to return home.

Zhou Ying walked over excitedly and told Yoda and the others to wait a moment: "We also grow coffee beans here, we must try them."

Yoda and Shixing exchanged a glance, and Yoda said, "Let's not. You've already gone to a lot of trouble taking care of everyone last night."

Because Wang Mian was drunk, he had to stay overnight at Zhou Ying's house, and her whole family gave up their best bedroom. When the family went to stay with relatives, they even prepared a lot of food to entertain them.

Zhou Ying waved her hand: "No trouble at all. I just put it in the pot, and it's almost done now."

"pot?"

As everyone wondered what was going on, Zhou Ying brought out a pressure cooker from the kitchen. The pressure had been released, and the pot was filled with brown water, with coffee beans floating up and down in the boiling water.

While somewhat shocked—I never expected Zhou Ying to brew coffee this way—I thought, coffee beans are beans, and since they're beans, they can be brewed. After brewing, it should be similar to mung bean water.

Yoda took the coffee, or rather, the coffee water, that Zhou Ying handed him and took a sip. Zhou Ying peeked over: "How is it?"

Yoda nodded in surprise: "Hmm, I didn't expect coffee beans could be brewed into coffee." After saying that, Yoda realized that what he said was pointless.

Zhou Ying didn't think this was nonsense; on the contrary, she was greatly encouraged and said with a satisfied smile, "I used to think that coffee beans could only be made with a special coffee machine, but our conditions here are simple and we don't have that much equipment. So I thought I'd give it a try, and the coffee I brewed actually had an energizing effect."

Yoda asked curiously, "You can grow coffee beans here?"

Zhou Ying: "It's just a temporary trial. After all, if the village wants to develop, it has to try everything. If we're lucky enough to find a development opportunity, then we'll have hit the jackpot."

"If the yield is high in the future, maybe you can use the straw mats we weave and drink the coffee we produce in the city. However, there has been a lot of rain this year, and the coffee beans are a bit sour. We will study it further, and the finished product will definitely be better in the future."

After saying goodbye to Zhou Ying, he slowly returned home with a large cup of special coffee in his hand.

Liu Si watched the farmland receding outside the car window. The scenery on the way here was the same, but she hadn't felt anything special then. After all, farmland like this was everywhere; even if she saw it before, she wouldn't have paid attention, always subconsciously ignoring it.

But after getting to know Zhou Ying, seeing how she and the villagers worked hard to develop their hometown, and seeing the warm and simple atmosphere of the villagers, now when I look at these things, it's as if I can see vivid people guarding the land.

Liu Si couldn't help but sigh, "These are all the hopes of each and every village."

Yoda turned his head and joked, "Yes, it seems you still need to travel more and get out of the house. Look at how much poetic insight you've gained. If you go out a few more times, maybe you can try being a poet."

Liu Si gently tapped the back of Yoda's armrest and said reproachfully, "Sister Yoda, you're just making fun of me." Then she suddenly noticed the ring on Yoda's finger, and when she turned her head, she saw that Shi Xing also had one on his hand.

Liu Si exclaimed excitedly, "Wow, wow, when did you two propose? I didn't even know!? What happened? It's so sudden!"

Yoda became even more excited: "This is so sudden! Is she going into labor?!"