Chapter 26 Resigning to Go Home and Farm (3)
Plant a seed of doubt, and it will grow into a towering tree.
Because of his two uncles' heroic act of "cutting off their own arms," Bai Ye thought of Zi Xiao's parents. He was originally kind and happy to the two elderly people, but now he was afraid and nervous.
The old lady was especially hospitable and prepared a very lavish meal for dinner.
Braised yellow croaker, braised bamboo shoots, tomato and egg soup, and stir-fried pork with chili peppers.
Even the rice is pure white rice.
"Xiao Fan, you've worked hard. Eat, eat quickly." Ge Guifen picked up a whole yellow croaker and put it in her grandson's bowl.
Bai Ye stared at the fragrant yellow croaker, but couldn't bring himself to eat it.
He kept staring into the yellow croaker's eyes, trying to read something in them, such as unresolved grief or misery.
I even recalled a reading comprehension passage from my college entrance exam: "It was already dead, but a strange light still shone in its eyes."
That beam of light once stumped countless college entrance exam takers.
But now, Bai Ye is in a difficult position.
He poked the fish's eyes with his chopsticks, muttering to himself, "Why isn't there that eerie glow? Back in the mental hospital, the dead fish eyes were always filled with resentment, even more terrifying than anything eerie. Why doesn't this fish have that?"
"Xiao Fan? Xiao Fan?"
Ge Guifen was dumbfounded. Why was her grandson poking the fish's eyes so hard when he didn't eat fish?
Most importantly, the yellow croaker meat is so tender; if you poke it any further, it will fall apart.
"Eat up, it tastes delicious, just as good as what you get in big cities."
Ge Guifen looked expectant, holding her rice bowl without moving.
Bai Ye managed a weak smile, gritted his teeth, and with a blink of an eye, began to eat the fish.
The food looked and smelled delicious, but it tasted like cardboard.
Before going to bed, Bai Ye was so scared that she trembled and vomited up everything she had eaten for dinner.
Several chickens in the yard came attracted by the smell and frantically pecked at the vomit.
The muddy ground was hard, and each peck from its sharp beak produced a crisp sound, yet it caused widespread unease.
Looking up, Bai Ye saw that the night was even darker. He glanced at the time again and realized it was almost midnight.
"The period from midnight to 3 a.m. is when the strange activity is most frequent."
Bai Ye thought about making money to level up to level two, and turned to look at the room on the right. The two elderly people had gone to bed early and were sleeping very well, without snoring at all.
It's so quiet!
The silence was unsettling.
"Go take a look? Hmm, what if it's not?"
Bai Ye sat on the threshold, somewhat conflicted.
To be honest, the two elderly people were very kind to him and loved him dearly. Moreover, they showed no intention of harming him whatsoever.
Even in broad daylight, the sinister eeriness cannot completely conceal its malice, just like the middle-aged man in the funeral errand service whose eyes concealed a deep-seated hostility.
The other person's eyes were so red they looked like they were about to bleed.
Bai Ye recalled the eyes of the two old men. Li Dashi's one eye was bluish-white due to cataracts, while his other eye, though cloudy, was dark and his expression was sometimes blank but clear.
As for Ge Guifen, she was exactly like a typical old farm woman, with a gentle and slightly shrewd look in her eyes, yet she remained natural.
"So be it, may he die sooner rather than later. If I keep this grudge in my heart, I can't grow this vegetable anymore."
Bai Ye is not one to engage in internal strife; once he has made a decision, he immediately puts it into action.
He tiptoed to the window and then poked a hole in the paper windowpane with his finger.
The moonlight was bright and clear, and the two elderly people could be clearly seen lying on the wooden bed, sleeping peacefully.
They have normal human bodies and limbs, and their exposed skin is not dry and bloodless, nor does it have a strange skeletal appearance.
After watching for a while, Bai Ye felt relieved.
It's not weird; they don't operate at night.
"call--"
"I'm dying of laughter, I'm such a coward."
Bai Ye made a self-deprecating joke and went back to his room to sleep in a cheerful mood.
The next morning, I got up early again.
Besides helping with fetching water and chopping firewood, he also inquired about farmyard manure from Li Dashi.
"Grandpa, my second uncle said the land is too barren and we need to bury some fertilizer. I see the toilet at home is quite clean, so there's not much fertilizer to use."
For the first time in his life, Bai Ye didn't leave after using the toilet; instead, he turned around and peeked inside to check.
This sight was quite a spectacle.
Aside from seeing those plump, white maggots on TV dramas, this was the first time I'd encountered them head-on in real life.
Moreover, the sheer number of them and the foul odor were comparable to those of a scene of rotting corpses.
Fighting poison with poison—no wonder those staff members who have finished disposing of corpses like to stay in the toilet to let the stench dissipate.
Bai Ye didn't dare to recall the scene clearly, and said vaguely, "I'm not good at picking fertilizer. I'm going to ask some strong uncles in the village for help. Grandpa, do you think it's okay if I go to the village to buy fertilizer from house to house?"
Li Dashi burst out laughing after hearing this, "Xiao Fan, you really are something!"
"Grandpa?" Bai Ye realized something was wrong and quickly asked, "Do you think I did something wrong?"
Li Dashi nodded, “The land is too poor, so we need to fertilize it, but we can’t use human fertilizer, it’s too hot. If you pour buckets of it down, no matter what kind of vegetables you grow, they won’t survive.”
"Is it too hot?"
"Yes, that's right. This person is fat, so we need to water it with water later, and only after the vegetables have sprouted. We'll talk about that later. Go find your second uncle now and ask him to get some cow dung to bury in the ground. If cow dung isn't enough, duck dung will do..."
Bai Ye understood; there was so much more to it than met the eye.
Thank goodness I asked, otherwise I would have been in deep trouble with all that weird knowledge I found online.
Li Jianjun seemed to have expected this. When his nephew came looking for him, he took him to a cattle farm on the back mountain without saying a word.
There were more than a dozen cows being raised there, and the straw piled up under the cowshed was damp and full of manure, reaching a height of more than a meter.
"These are all good fertilizers. Just bury them in the ground and they'll keep you well-nourished."
Li Jianjun looked at the cow dung and was overjoyed. "These are all my treasures. If Xiao Fan weren't my nephew, I wouldn't have been willing to give them to you."
Bai Ye immediately offered to pay for it himself.
The words had barely left his mouth when he received a slap on the back of the head, causing him to wince in pain.
Li Jianjun: "You keep talking nonsense. I'm your second uncle, why would I ask you for money?"
"Second Uncle, your fertilizer is excellent. My two acres of land are too barren; I'm afraid I'll need quite a bit of it."
"But we can't talk about money, it'll hurt our feelings."
Before Bai Ye could say anything more, Li Jianjun threw over a nine-toothed rake, saying, "Hurry up and pull these out. I'll find you some sacks, fill them up, and take them to the field."
"Me, pretend?"
Bai Ye couldn't help but ask in return.
Li Jianjun turned his head and snorted, "What, you're a college student, can't even pretend to be dung?"
Bai Ye immediately shook his head, "Second Uncle, that's not what I meant. If I'm going to fill a sack, could I only fill it halfway?"
As she spoke, her face turned red. "Well, I might not be able to carry it."
Li Jianjun looked at his tall nephew, who was 1.8 meters tall, with a puzzled expression, then suddenly realized what he meant, and finally couldn't help but feel disgusted.
Bai Ye felt extremely uncomfortable being stared at, unable to express his inner turmoil. He was immersing himself in the role, using Li Bufan's body.
This guy sits in the office all day, either typing away on his computer or scrolling through his phone. His only exercise is the short run he takes to catch the subway every day.
Sigh, the fact that I didn't gain weight from too much pressure is already a testament to life's kindness.
While comforting herself with the thought that "one should learn to be content," Bai Ye secretly glanced at her second uncle's taut muscles, feeling quite envious.
Li Jianjun wanted to help more, since he only had one nephew, but when he saw the young man almost staggering while carrying half a bag of manure, he immediately refused to help.
"That brat has no strength at all. How will he take care of the vegetable garden? He should go and train himself."
They just dusted themselves off and left.
Bai Ye and Er Kang tried their best to salvage the situation, but in the end, they were left with nothing and could only resign themselves to carrying the bags halfway through.
Two mu of land, approximately 1333 square meters.
A standard basketball court is about 420 square meters in area, and two acres is roughly three such basketball courts.
These turned soil surfaces need to be evenly covered with cow manure fertilizer, and that's not enough; they also need to be covered with a thin layer of soil.
Covering it with one layer isn't enough; you have to turn it over every few days and water it as well.
Fortunately, there is a tap at the entrance of Lijia Village, and a hose can be connected to it to run directly to the fields, saving the hard work of carrying buckets of water.
Bai Ye worked alone for three whole days, almost 14 hours a day, at such a high intensity that his whole body was red, swollen and sore.
I finally finished and was thinking of taking a break when my second uncle came with people to urge me to get back to work.
They said they were going to build a framework.
"Second Uncle, do we have to get it done today?" Bai Ye was exhausted, the sun was swaying in front of him.
Li Jianjun nodded, "There's no other way, we have to act quickly. If we don't set up the scaffolding now, it will be too late once the seedlings have grown."
He paused, then asked suspiciously, "Have you planted the rapeseed yet?"
"?"
Bai Ye looked up, completely bewildered, her eyes clear yet adorably naive. "Second Uncle, aren't rapeseed seeds just sown directly into the ground?"
Li Jianjun slapped his forehead and sighed.
After a long pause, he said, "Take out those packets of vegetable seeds you bought, go to the backyard, dig a hole, and sow them in."
Bai Ye didn't understand, but she did as instructed.
The pit has been dug; the soil is fertile and there are no weeds.
He watched as his second uncle poured a packet of lettuce seeds into a bowl, added water, stirred it with his fingers, and then set it aside.
Using the same method, I started preparing the rapeseed and tomatoes.
"Hey, Uncle, it's not time to plant tomatoes yet."
Bai Ye couldn't help but say, "I checked, and tomatoes can't be planted for another two months."
"You don't know anything. Tomato seedlings take a long time to transplant. If you don't plant them now, you'll miss the chance when they can be planted in the greenhouse."
"Oh, Second Uncle, you're an expert, you're right." Bai Ye trusted Li Jianjun more than she trusted him to check online. "By the way, Second Uncle, why did you soak all the seeds in water?"
"Soaking the seeds allows them to fully absorb water, making them more likely to survive when sown in the soil."
As Li Jianjun spoke, he assigned tasks, "In a little while, you divide that plot of land into three sections, scatter all three bowls of vegetable seeds into them, you know how to use a rake, right? After you've scattered them, rake them a couple of times, then water the land thoroughly, and build a small plastic shed to cover it up."
Bai Ye didn't participate in the work of setting up the greenhouse in the field. Li Jianjun kept him at home and started taking care of the vegetable seeds.
I've heard of transplanting, supposedly to increase yield.
But Bai Ye never expected that even with just two acres of land, it would be so troublesome to do.
He soaked the three bowls of vegetable seeds for just the right amount of time, then sprinkled them little by little into the soil, and slowly raked them with a rake.
The thought that these vegetables were actually from his customers made Bai Ye stop, then squat down and poked the small round seeds with his finger.
"How can you give me a five-star review for such tiny little things?"
Bai Ye couldn't help but laugh, but she was still looking forward to these seeds slowly sprouting and growing in the soil. When they grew a pair of small leaves, it would be time to transplant them.
Before going to sleep, Bai Ye prayed in her heart: May all my clients grow up healthy and strong, drink more water and eat more fat, grow big and strong yet tender, and have plump, delicate and shiny fruit!
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.
Bai Ye, who was fast asleep, heard a series of mournful cries.
The sound seemed to emerge from the ground, climbing up from the cracks in the rocks, sharp, piercing, and intermittent. It was like someone scraping a knife against your ear, or like someone tearing apart a blackboard with sharp fingernails, or even more like a dying sob and accusation.
The cries were delicate, both soft and heavy, each one piercing straight into the ears.
At first, Bai Ye thought it was a dream, a nightmare.
To escape the terrifying sounds in his dream, he simply turned over and pulled the blanket over his head.
In a half-asleep, half-awake state, I silently repeated to myself, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."
But with this turn, the baby-like cry became even louder, now right next to his heart, as if the baby had entered his body.
"?"
"!"
Bai Ye woke up with a start, so frightened that she threw off the covers and jumped out of bed.
In the hazy moonlight, he saw with his own eyes a group of fist-sized, limbless infants, soaking wet, crawling on a wooden bed.
She would climb for a while, then look up and cry, then cry for a while again, then lower her head and curl up into a ball.
More babies crawled toward his pillow, but after missing their target, they all turned their heads away.
Bai Ye finally saw clearly that these fist-sized babies had no facial features.
They were indistinct and indescribable, amidst the interplay of darkness and shadow. The more Bai Ye looked at them, the faster his heart raced, and his adrenaline surged wildly.
“Strange, strange, strange…”
He could only utter one word before he could no longer speak.
This thing is more terrifying than any other bizarre thing I've ever seen before.
If we're talking about the scariest horror movies in the world, those featuring babies definitely deserve a spot on the list.
Bai Ye had seen many horror movies about ghost babies, but even he was still stunned by the sight of these densely packed, faceless, fist-like infants.
These fist-shaped infants are constantly emerging from under the wooden bed. They crawl at varying speeds, and despite having no limbs, they can suddenly grow sharp teeth to bite the edge of the bed.
"Waaaaah—"
Suddenly, the sharpest cry rang out.
The fist-shaped infant lying next to the pillow turned its head and faced Bai Ye, then scrambled and crawled straight towards him.
Bai Ye couldn't dodge in time and was hit squarely in the face by the fist-shaped baby. He was caught in a chaotic and tense situation, using both his hands and feet.
"Go, go, go... open!"
"Waaaaah—"
"!!!"
Bai Ye's entire body stiffened, and he was unable to move.
The room was quiet for a few seconds, and then all the fist-shaped infants pounced on Bai Ye.
In a short while, except for his eyes and one nostril, Bai Ye was covered in these strange things.
The sticky, damp texture, accompanied by a foul stench, caused these strange creatures to wriggle and crawl all over my body, their cries never ceasing.
Bai Ye's heart pounded like a drum as he began to think about his own epitaph.
But considering that dying here would most likely mean complete dissipation, there would be no need for an epitaph.
Suddenly, I felt disheartened again.
"cold……"
A soft murmur sounded in my ear.
Bai Ye didn't hear clearly until the third time he heard the word "cold," when he finally realized that it was coming from a large fist resting on his shoulder.
Can we communicate?
Does that mean I can still avoid death?
Bai Ye felt a renewed hope and, disregarding his disgust and fear, carefully cradled the baby's fist.
To show sincerity, they even held it high with both hands, making it eye-level with themselves.
"Um... hello?"
I really don't know what to say.
The baby fist trembled twice, then tried to open its mouth, revealing sharp teeth, and said in a high-pitched voice, "Cold, so cold."
The next second, she suddenly started trembling all over and began to wail again, "It hurts, it hurts so much!"
What happened?
Aren't you monsters preparing to attack and harm me?
How did it become that you yourselves are in pain and cold?
"Um, little one, what's wrong? I mean, is there anything I can do for you?"
Bai Ye's tone was gentle, if one ignored his trembling voice.
The fist-shaped baby was squeezed in Bai Ye's palm, rolling back and forth, gurgling, and soon fell down.
Bai Ye was caught off guard and was so frightened that he almost lost his mind. But when he looked down, he found that the other person was completely unharmed.
However, the baby fist that fell down started to bounce outwards, and after a few bounces it turned around and whimpered, as if urging it on.
Bai Ye barely understood what was happening, and with a tragic sense of "so be it," he followed them out.
Stepping over the threshold, I walked into the yard, turned and turned again, and finally stood in front of a small patch of land at the back of the yard.
Bai Ye clearly remembers that this is the place where she planted vegetable seeds this afternoon, and she specially covered it with plastic film before going to bed at night.
But then, the plastic film was actually peeled off?
Bai Ye squatted down, preparing to cover it up again, when he glanced at the edge of the soil and found traces that looked like bamboo leaves.
A chicken came by.
Holy crap! My clients!
Bai Ye was immediately startled and looked down to rummage around. "Don't peck them all off! Oh no, I covered them up so tightly, how did the chicken manage to pry them open?"
He turned the soil with two fingers, and after a few turns, he dug out a potato.
Hmm, something's not right?
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the faceless fist-shaped infant that had been clinging to it earlier.
Bai Ye turned his head to look again, and all the fist-shaped infants that had been densely hanging on his body had disappeared.
"?"
Bai Ye clenched his fist, and the other person rubbed it against his palm, saying with difficulty, "Water, drink water."
There was a bucket of water nearby, so Bai Ye scooped up a spoonful of water, thought for a moment, and poured it on the fist-shaped baby.
The other party shook their head, clearly not happy.
He thought there wasn't enough water, so he scooped up a big spoonful. The baby with the fist took off running and burrowed into the ground.
Bai Ye tilted his hand, and a spoonful of water was poured into the soil.
"Isn't it too wet? My dish." Bai Ye thought to himself.
But something amazing happened: the small patch of soil that had been wetted suddenly started bubbling, and one after another, fist-sized babies crawled out of it, lying sprawled on the surface of the soil, rolling around in circles.
"It's cold, so cold."
"Wow, that feels so good."
"Drink water, drink water."
Bai Ye's eyes were filled with confusion, then doubt, and finally astonishment.
He was uncertain, but when he thought about the world he lived in, he felt that nothing was impossible.
Take a deep breath, and then another deep breath.
This time, Bai Ye picked up a fist-shaped baby and couldn't help but poke its mouth. "Hey, little kid, are you a lettuce seed?"
The faceless fist-like infant turned its head and bit.
Bai Ye reacted quickly and threw it away.
The other person fell to the ground, wailing and protesting, "Waaah, waaah, waaah..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com