It is said that the Zhou family's orchard is quite close to the mass grave, right next to it. However, the eldest son of the Zhou family had a high thorn wall built around it, which not only blocked the mass grave but also prevented wild animals or people from running into the orchard to steal fruit.
“My dad said he asked the villagers to help him fence off the entire orchard with thorns. It took more than a month to finish and cost a lot of money, but it was worth it. Look, all the fruit trees on this mountain belong to our family.” Xingxing waved her little hand, encompassing the entire orchard in her palm.
The orchard was surrounded by an adobe wall with a large wooden gate in the middle, big enough for a horse-drawn carriage to pass through. Inside the gate, the terrain was flat, and at the foot of the hill were five thatched huts. During the fruit-bearing season, Zhou Laoda and his wife would come to keep watch and stay in these thatched huts.
After Fu Ge returned to the village, he would come over to keep watch at night. However, he later raised pigs, chickens, ducks and geese on the mountain, so he hired people to take care of them. The wages were settled once a month.
They hired villagers, specifically those who were on good terms with Zhou Laoda, such as Zhou Fafu and Zhou Fagen. These people took turns keeping watch at night, with three people coming each time, as it was safer with more people.
There are houses on the mountain where people can stay. If they get tired while patrolling at night, they can stay on the mountain instead of having to come down to the foot of the mountain.
Over the past few years, Xiao Hui and Xiao Hei have had several litters of puppies, with at least four puppies per litter. Currently, they have more than twenty puppies, all of whom have grown up. Originally, Boss Zhou was worried about having too many puppies and wanted to take them to the market to sell.
Later, after buying the mountain to plant fruit trees, all these dogs were put here to guard the orchard. The orchard was so big, and with more than twenty dogs scattered around, four dogs guarding each spot, it didn't feel like too many dogs. On the contrary, it saved manpower.
Little Grey and Little Black are also living comfortably in the orchard and don't want to go back to the village. With them around, the group of dogs are more obedient and won't cause trouble.
There are people guarding the mountain during the day, and today it was Zhou Fafu and Zhou Fagen's turn. The two of them came down the mountain just now. Just now, Tangguo rushed up the mountain and frantically picked mulberries, bayberries, loquats and grapes. Zhou Fafu and Zhou Fagen were twitching at the sight. This silly girl can eat too much. She can eat all the fruit from one tree by herself.
But they couldn't stop her. Candy was strong and fast. Neither of the two men could match her strength or speed. They could only coax her a few words, telling her to take it easy and not to be foolish enough to eat the whole tree.
"There are so many trees in the mountains, even if you eat one, there are still plenty left." That's how Candy always replied to them.
"No matter how many fruit trees there are, they can't withstand your ransacking. Can you please calm down, my dear?" Zhou Fagen shook his head. Only Zhou Laoda and his wife were kind-hearted enough to indulge this silly girl's recklessness. If she had any other master, she wouldn't be so willful. She should be grateful if she wasn't beaten every day.
At this moment, Zhou Fagen and Zhou Fafu were somewhat dazed when they saw the handsome young man and pretty young girl entering through the gate. Three years is not a long time, but the short, stout boy from back then has now grown into a slender and tall young lady.
The young man beside her was as tall and straight as a pine tree. Both of them had an otherworldly air about them, like immortals who had mistakenly entered the mortal world. Their beauty was breathtaking.
“Xingya, I’ve brought the young master to pick fruit. You wait here, you don’t need to lift a finger, I’ll pick it for you,” Zhou Fafu said loudly.
"Uncle Fat, you don't need to trouble yourself. We just want to take a look around the orchard. You guys go about your business and don't worry about us," Xingxing replied loudly.
Zhou Fafu chuckled and said heartily, "Alright, you guys have fun by yourselves. Your Uncle Fagen and I still have to go feed the pigs, so we won't keep you company."
At this moment, Zhang Xiantao and Zhao Mingyue slowly followed into the orchard. They had seen some wild fruits outside. Zhao Mingyue grew up in the forest and knew which ones were edible and which ones were not. Zhang Xiantao then pestered him to go pick wild fruits together.
So they fell behind a step, and now they caught up with a bunch of fruit wrapped in a handkerchief, presenting them to Xingxing like a treasure, "Princess, Mingyue and I picked these fruits ourselves, try them, I just ate some, they were delicious."
Xingxing smiled, her eyes narrowing. As she watched the once-white handkerchief turn red with fruit juice, her smile deepened. She stretched out two slender fingers, pinched a fruit, and put it in her mouth.
"Don't eat yet, go wash up at the spring over there before you eat." Zhu Lin took her hand and led her to the spring next to the thatched hut where water was bubbling.
"Why are you suddenly being so picky? Mingyue and I ate a lot and we're fine, but you're making a fuss." Zhang Xiantao glared at Zhu Lin's back from behind, but her voice was very soft. She only dared to mutter a few words behind his back, not daring to let the boy find out.
However, Zhu Lin had good hearing and quick reflexes. When Zhang Xiantao glared at him, he suddenly turned around and looked at her. The latter was caught red-handed and was so shocked that she dropped the fruit in her hand and scattered it all over the ground.
"Ah, my fruit, Mingyue and I picked it together." Zhang Xiantao felt heartbroken.
Seeing her beloved being bullied, Zhao Mingyue was displeased. She glared at Zhu Lin with a cold look in her eyes. Zhu Lin gave her a cold glance, turned around without any emotion, and ignored the two simpletons.
"This is outrageous! We can't beat him, and we can't out-talk him," Zhao Mingyue said angrily as she squatted down to pick up fruit with Zhang Xiantao. As she picked up the fruit, she comforted her, "Xiantao, don't be sad. I will definitely practice martial arts hard in the future. When I can beat him, he won't dare to bully you like this."
He was referring to Zhu Lin. Zhu Lin had intimidated Zhang Xiantao with a cold face more than once. In the past, Zhang Xiantao and Zhao Mingyue were unaware of this and resented being treated coldly. The two of them were of one mind and decided to teach Zhu Lin a lesson after discussing it.
So one dark and stormy night, the two sneaked to Zhu Lin's door. First, Zhao Mingyue used a pipe to blow sleeping powder to knock him unconscious. Then, the two took wooden sticks and went into the room, where they beat the person on the bed.
After the beating, they realized they had only hit a pillow disguised as a dummy placed under the blanket. The two realized things had gone off track and, after a moment of shock, were about to flee when the white-clad youth beat them severely with a wooden stick, leaving them unable to get out of bed for three days.
Zhang Xiantao sobered up after that and never dared to dream of disciplining the young man again. Hearing Zhao Mingyue say this now, although she was very touched, she was still rational. She reached out and touched her beloved's face, and said earnestly:
"Mingyue, let's stop dreaming in broad daylight. We can't beat him in a fight, we probably never will. Zhu Lin is a monster, he's not someone we mortals can compare to. Let's live our lives properly and not make trouble for ourselves."
"That's not necessarily true. We're not done yet. Who can say for sure that we'll never beat him? Things change, and life is unpredictable." Zhao Mingyue suddenly declared with a firm tone, like a dragon soaring to the top.
"These two idiots." Zhu Lin shook his head speechlessly. The two defeated opponents behind him always spoke their opinions about him so openly and confidently, never caring that he would hear them.
Xingxing found it amusing and actually chuckled. After washing the fruit, she stood up and waved to Zhang Xiantao and the other girl, "Bring the fruit to the spring to wash. Later, I'll take you to pick bayberries, mulberries, loquats, grapes, plums, and peaches."
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