Chapter 25 Resigning to Go Home and Farm (2)
In addition to cowpea seeds, Bai Ye also bought lettuce, cucumber, tomato, rapeseed, loofah, and okra seeds on the shopkeeper's recommendation.
He already had a plan in mind. Now was the perfect time to plant leafy greens that prefer cool and humid conditions. In a little over a month, he would plant loofah, long beans, and okra. As soon as summer arrived, these vegetables would start to grow like crazy.
He picked them just in time to sell them at a good price before they were mass-produced and put on the market in large quantities.
However, "My customers are these vegetable seeds? How am I supposed to get a five-star review?"
Bai Ye didn't understand this, but he had important things to do right now, so he immediately rode his bike to his uncle's house.
If Li Jianping was puzzled by Li Bufan's enthusiastic words on the phone, then seeing his nephew face to face, cheerful and radiant like a fiery little sun, was even more frightening.
What trauma did this child experience outside?
Li Jianping, fearing that his child would be upset, whispered to his mother, "Mom, ask Xiaofan if he's encountered any difficulties outside. If he needs money or anything, he should tell us."
The old lady, Ge Guifen, nodded with a somber expression. "They said he was fired by his employer. It must have been a big blow to him."
"How could that be? Xiao Fan is such a good child. He's honest, obedient, and hardworking."
"I don't know, but it's definitely not Xiao Fan's fault. He's upset inside, but he's forcing a smile in front of us. Let's not call him out on it."
After discussing it, the mother and son decided, "Alright, let our nephew (grandson) be blessed with sunshine."
Bai Ye was unaware of all this. After the pleasantries and lively conversation ended, he planned to take the old man home.
"Uncle, I have to take Grandma back quickly. It will get dark and the mountain road will be difficult to drive on. My eldest uncle will need to use the electric car tomorrow, so I have to return it to him as well. He needs to charge it tonight."
As she spoke, Bai Ye patted the back seat of the electric scooter and called out, "Grandma, get on, I'll give you a ride."
"Hey, I'm coming right now."
He picked up things as he walked.
They filled the footrests and front basket of the electric scooter with bags of all sizes.
Bai Ye didn't complain at all, and simply placed his heels on the edge to make as much room as possible.
Then, with a shout of "Let's go!", the electric scooter sped off, heading towards Lijia Village, a village with eighteen bends in the mountain road.
Back home, I helped move things, and then the two elderly people tidied up and prepared dinner, while Bai Ye drove the electric bike to the other side of the village to return it.
When I came back, dinner was already prepared.
Rice with millet and vegetables, stir-fried bean sprouts and greens, stewed tofu, and egg and meat patties.
Ge Guifen pulled him to sit down and pushed the heaviest bowl of rice on the table towards him, saying, "Xiao Fan, you must be starving, hurry up and eat."
"Eat meat, eat meat! Your grandma brought back some fresh pork. This steamed meatloaf smells delicious." The old man, Li Dashi, fumbled around on the table, trying to push the best dish on the table towards his grandson.
Bai Ye held the bowl and chopsticks, but didn't touch them.
He was very excited, he couldn't describe the feeling, and he felt like crying.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"
Ge Guifen thought that her grandson used to live in a big city and probably wouldn't appreciate such simple food, so she said, "Eat a little first, and when your uncle comes down the mountain tomorrow, have him bring back some seafood."
"No need! These are fine."
Bai Ye picked up her bowl and ate heartily, but carefully picked up the food.
I was quite nervous and expectant as I put each bite of food into my mouth.
There was no change; it wasn't alive; there were no maggots.
The rice also has the unique aroma of millet and regular rice.
I'm so grateful, I'm finally getting to eat human food!
Bai Ye almost cried with joy. Looking at the two old people in front of him, he was almost certain that they wouldn't turn into monsters in the middle of the night.
Hmm, probably not. They eat human food, so it's different from those other things, right?
After the meal, Bai Ye volunteered to wash the dishes and pots.
Afterwards, I sat down with the two elderly people on the doorstep and chatted.
When it came to making a living in the future, both elderly people had something to say.
Ge Guifen: "I don't understand what you mean by organic vegetables, but the land in our Lijia Village is excellent for growing vegetables. As long as the seedlings are planted, they will all survive. Each batch of vegetables is so fresh and tender, and they taste so sweet. But what do you expect to find in big cities? You want to eat these simple farm vegetables?"
Li Dashi: "Xiao Fan said he wanted to build a large greenhouse and start mass cultivation. I don't know much about these things. In the old days, we only planted grain when we cleared land. I'll have to ask his second uncle about this."
Ge Guifen nodded and patted her grandson's hand. "Your second uncle has also been growing vegetables for the past two years. He has experience, so you can learn from him and make money too."
At this point, the old lady smiled again, "Your second uncle is going to build a new house in the fall, and he'll be making a lot of money. Don't be afraid, Xiao Fan, you can make money too."
The two elderly people comforted their grandson with their own experience, telling him not to worry, there was nothing shameful about living in a small mountain village.
Bai Ye wasn't afraid at all. He had been a laborer for ten years, doing countless jobs and dealing with both humans and ghosts. He had no shortage of patience or endurance.
“Okay, Grandma and Grandpa, I’ll go see my second uncle first thing tomorrow morning and ask him for guidance.”
As night deepened, Bai Ye began boiling water.
These earthen houses are quite comfortable to live in, except that there's no gas stove. Apart from not needing to use candles, everything else is very primitive.
Cooking over a fire goes without saying, and boiling water for bathing is the same.
The two elderly people weren't used to a thorough wash, so they just wiped themselves down and went to sleep.
The remaining hot water allowed Bai Ye to take a comfortable full-body bath.
Once she lay down on the bed, listening to the creaking of the mattress as she turned over, Bai Ye didn't feel stifled at all.
The primitive life in the small mountain village has its own unique charm!
However, starting at two o'clock in the morning, the village roosters began to crow, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"
As soon as one rooster crows, another immediately takes its place, and the roosters of the entire village crow one after another.
After finally getting some rest, Bai Ye was drowsy, and it was almost 3 a.m.
"Ooh ooh ooh—"
Another round of dominating the music scene has begun.
At five in the morning, Bai Ye sat up with dark circles under his eyes, recalling the days when he used to stay up all night working on documents.
I never imagined that even after leaving the workplace, I still wouldn't be able to get a full night's sleep.
"Xiao Fan, why are you up? Don't you young people usually sleep late? Sleep a little longer, I'll just put your breakfast in the pot."
Ge Guifen got up to fetch water, and was surprised to see that her grandson was up even earlier than she was.
Unable to express her grievances, Bai Ye vaguely changed the subject, "Grandma, why are you up so early?"
"The water tank is empty. I'll go fetch some water from the mountain stream."
Lijia Village is located on a mountaintop. At the highest peak, a mountain stream flows gently, and the water flowing from the cracks in the rocks is clear and sweet, even better than well water.
The villagers usually fetch water from the mountain stream for drinking and cooking.
Bai Ye immediately took on the task, carrying the carrying pole and buckets, saying, "Grandma, I'll go fetch water. You rest at home."
After saying that, he turned and walked away.
The mountain stream was hidden deep inside, and the mountaintop was covered in heavy morning dew. By the time Bai Ye reached there, his trouser legs were almost completely soaked.
To his surprise, there were already many people queuing to fetch water, and the line was very long.
Moreover, most of them are elderly people, as well as some middle-aged and elderly people.
Bai Ye, with her sharp eyes, spotted Li Jianjun in the middle of the line and, without saying a word, enthusiastically called out, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle!"
Then, shamelessly, he cut in line, saying, "Second Uncle, you're here really early. It's not even dawn yet."
After saying that, he nodded and bowed to the people behind him, "Uncles and elders, I am Xiao Fan. I came to fetch water for my grandmother. I'll have a chat with my second uncle and then go back to the back of the line in a little while."
"It's Xiao Fan! You're back from the city?"
"No need, no need. Just stand behind your second uncle. We won't miss you."
"Xiao Fan is very good; he knows how to care for his grandma."
Bai Ye thanked him repeatedly, and this time she stood behind Li Jianjun with a genuine sense of security.
Thinking about his ambitious farming business, he quickly asked the other party, "Second Uncle, I've quit my job and come back. I want to get some land to build greenhouses for growing vegetables. Do you have any suggestions?"
"Why aren't you working in the office anymore?"
"It's meaningless. I work overtime until the middle of the night every day. Renting a place and eating in the city is expensive. I haven't saved much money over the years."
“Then come back and do it. Growing vegetables is hard work, but you can earn some money. This is the perfect time to plant lettuce and rapeseed. I’ll take you to the village chief to get some permits, fence off a few adjacent plots of land, and build greenhouses.”
Li Jianjun has benefited from growing vegetables and highly approves of this industry.
He even wanted his children, who were working away from home, to come back and work with him, but his own children thought the job was too low-class and were unwilling.
My nephew is a college student, yet he doesn't seem to mind.
Li Jianjun was eager to share all the skills he knew with the other party.
This child has suffered. He lost his parents at a young age. If he doesn't stand on his own two feet, he'll have a hard time in the future.
The uncle and nephew took turns queuing up and finalized the deal.
At nine o'clock in the morning, Bai Ye went to the village chief's house with his second uncle. In addition to their own plot of land, they also rented an acre of land next door.
The neighbors are all easy to talk to, and no one is a troublemaker.
"Take advantage of the sunny weather these next few days and turn the soil over quickly. I'll find someone to build a scaffold later. I have some plastic sheeting ready; you can use it for now."
Bai Ye, who knew almost nothing about agriculture, was extremely grateful to his second uncle.
A true farmer is enthusiastic, proactive, and considerate in everything he does.
"Thank you, Second Uncle. I'll go home and get the rake now."
After walking a few steps, Li Jianjun called out again, "Your uncle will go to the township later and bring you back some fertilizer?"
Bai Ye immediately shook his head, "Second Uncle, I don't use any chemically synthesized pesticides or fertilizers, and I don't need any growth promoters either."
"Then how do you plant it? Don't you care about yield?"
“I grow organic vegetables, and I plan to sell them to boutique supermarkets.”
"I don't understand, but Xiao Fan, without fertilizer, the vegetables won't grow big."
"Grandpa said that, just like when we used to grow vegetables, we should use farmyard manure, and they will grow well and be juicy."
Li Jianjun felt that his nephew was doing something thankless. Nowadays, with large-scale vegetable farming, where can you find people who use only farmyard manure? That kind of planting speed is too slow and affects making money.
They're young after all.
Li Jianjun waved his hand, turned around and left.
In the afternoon, my eldest uncle Li Jianye and second uncle Li Jianjun came to help in the field, and the three of them worked enthusiastically to turn the soil.
Lijia Village has little farmland, but even fewer people live there, so half of the land is abandoned.
The wasteland was left uncultivated and gradually became overgrown with weeds. The process of turning over the soil, besides loosening it, mainly involved digging out the weeds by the roots.
Digging grass is a delicate task that Bai Ye can do, but turning over soil is a physically demanding task, and he couldn't keep going for more than half an hour.
Looking down, I saw two blisters on my delicate palms, glistening and sparkling in the sunlight.
Li Jianjun leaned closer for a look and clicked his tongue, saying, "You college students are the ones who have such fair skin and tender flesh, you're living a good life!"
“I really don’t know what you were thinking. Why did you leave your comfortable office job to go home and farm? Farming is not an easy job. You have to work from dawn till dusk, and you’ll be exhausted.” Li Jianye said seriously.
Bai Ye recalled Li Bufan's five years of hardship and couldn't help but sigh, "Even sitting in an office is tiring for my uncles, mainly mentally exhausting, and they're prone to breakdowns."
"What the heck?"
"It's about emotional breakdown, or the accumulation of emotions over a long period of time can easily lead to anxiety and depression."
"don't know."
"Well, there's nothing much to understand. Everyone has their own way of making a living."
Talking about mental stress with a farmer is like talking to a brick wall.
Bai Ye didn't intend to explain clearly, nor did she explain that she preferred physical suffering to mental pain.
Li Jianjun and Li Jianye felt sorry for their nephew, so they sped up the soil turning over. Bai Ye followed behind, carrying a basket and trying to dig out all the grass roots, leaving none behind.
Just as they were getting into the swing of things, a shout rang out from the other side of the river.
"Jianjun, your wife is calling you home."
Li Jianjun slapped his forehead, "I almost forgot, we're going to build a new stove at home."
Li Jianye nodded, "This is a meticulous job. I'll go back with you and lend a hand."
Bai Ye was dumbfounded. There was still half of the land left to be turned over. I couldn't work alone until the middle of the night!
"Uncles, how about I pay other villagers to help build the stove? Could we—"
"Nonsense! Why should we trouble others to build our own stove? It's just making us a laughingstock." Li Jianjun glared at him.
Bai Ye didn't understand why he had to do it himself just to build a stove.
"In that case, Second Uncle, could you please find two uncles from the village to help me turn the soil? I'll pay them."
This time, Li Jianye objected, saying, "It's a waste of money."
Bai Ye forced a smile on his face, but inside he was screaming, "No way! The first step of the mission is to turn the soil and remove the weeds. The strange thing only gave me one day, and I have to finish it today!"
The thought of being penalized for not finishing the work made Bai Ye's face scrunch up.
Then he thought about how he hadn't even planted the rapeseed yet, and he was already losing money on the scam. His warm heart suddenly turned completely cold.
But what can be done? A scholar is utterly useless.
We have no choice but to accept our fate.
Bai Ye hung his head in dejection, lamenting the amount of ghost coins that were about to be deducted: "I wonder how much will be deducted for failing to complete the first step on time?"
"Alright, stop crying. I didn't say you had to do it all by yourself."
Without saying a word, Li Jianjun grabbed his left hand with his right hand and pulled hard.
"Crack—"
His entire left arm was torn off his body.
white night:"!"
Stunned, speechless.
Li Jianye thought for a moment, then pulled off his right arm and twisted his head off.
white night:"!!"
At this moment, his face was deathly pale.
And with each of these two arms, he held a rake, continuing to turn the soil with one hand.
Li Jianye's head spun in mid-air as he watched the two headless, armless figures walk away. He turned back and glared at his dumbfounded nephew, "Hurry up and get to work!"
"Ah! Ah, oh, I'll do it, I'll get to work right away."
Bai Ye followed behind, occasionally glancing up to see the two arms floating in front of him turning over the soil, and then secretly glancing at the head of the supervisor beside him.
My heart is ice-cold.
It truly lives up to its reputation as a bizarre world; not only are the clients they serve eccentric, but even their methods of labor are novel.
Sigh, how could I forget about this meal just because of a meal? The people here are all incredibly skilled.
Wait a minute!
Bai Ye thought of something and couldn't help but start to ponder: If his eldest and second uncles could do this, what about his maternal grandparents?
What's the situation with the two elderly people living together?
If it's a highly bizarre or eerie situation...
Bai Ye jolted awake, looked up at the sky, and exclaimed, "Oh my god, the sun is about to set!"
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