Pale face, thin hands, can't do work
Jiang Lin entered the store reluctantly. He glanced at the electronic menu and was shocked by his consumption concept.
"Hello, I would like to ask, is your milk tea made with fresh milk?"
The clerk hesitated for a few seconds and said, "I'm sorry, our milk tea uses a formula uniformly prepared by the headquarters, and we don't have fresh milk."
Pei Xu teased: "Mr. Jiang, how about I go to the supermarket and buy you a bottle of pure milk?"
Jiang Lin disdainfully ordered a glass of hand-made lemonade for four dollars, and watched the clerk silently as he took out three slices of yellow lemon from the refrigerator and put them into the cup. He used a hammer to hammer it a few times, and then added syrup, purified water and ice cubes. Then a glass of hand-made lemonade was delivered to his hands.
The electric car passed through the busy streets and drove all the way to the direction of Peijia Village. Pei Xu inserted the straw and handed it to him: "Big star, aren't you thirsty?"
Jiang Lin didn't answer, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, "Then I said I wanted to drink iced Americano, how come you didn't hear me?"
"How can hot pot water taste as good as lemon water?"
"Hot pot water?" Jiang Lin raised his voice, "Three lemons, symbolically pounded a few times, added with syrup and boiling water. This is the shabbiest lemon tea I've ever seen!"
Pei Xu corrected him: "I paid four dollars and gave you fresh fruit and lemon, so be content."
"I'm not satisfied. The coffee and juice I drink are made with real ingredients. I can't get used to this."
The afternoon sun was scorching. Entering the cement road of Peijia Village, Jiang Lin felt instantly comfortable. A cool mountain breeze blew, and a scene of green came into view, making him feel relaxed and leisurely.
Jiang Lin looked at the sugar canes and couldn't help complaining, "Are you going to export the sugar canes from your village to the Japanese?"
Pei Xu didn't understand what he meant: "What do you mean?"
"A piece of sugarcane with many sugarcane knots is as good as the Shaolin Temple's stick. If you don't have a set of strong teeth, you will be eaten by others in the future."
Pei Xu understood the humor in his words and chuckled, "It's an improvement to be able to grow to this size. Before, it couldn't survive or was only knee-high."
Jiang Lin tilted his head and frowned: "Pei Xu, do people with myopia have their own filters? You can also praise this."
"To be honest, most of the people in the village are elderly grandparents who farm at home. Sugarcane is a new crop planted in recent years, but the soil and technology in Peijia Village are not up to par, and the grandparents are unwilling to let the land go to waste and grow weeds, so they continue to grow it year after year."
“How do you sell this appearance?”
"At the beginning, if the harvest was not good, we would not have to worry about sales, but now that the harvest is good." Pei Xu half-squinted his eyes and looked at the sugarcane field. "Like you said, it is difficult to sell. I searched a lot of information on the Internet and finally contacted a sugar factory in the city. They are willing to purchase in bulk, but the price is relatively low."
“Can you recover the cost?”
"The cost is not high. The sugarcane seeds are left over from previous years."
Jiang Lin interrupted him: "What do sugarcane seeds look like?"
Pei Xu held his forehead and asked helplessly: "What do you imagine sugarcane seeds to be like?"
"A seed."
Pei Xu gave him a thumbs up and said, "Congratulations, you were wrong. I suggest you search what sugarcane seeds look like when you get home."
Jiang Lin asked guiltily: "Where were you talking about just now?"
Pei Xu continued, "Grandparents were reluctant to spend money on fertilizers to improve the soil and increase nutrients, so... you see. But even if there is a small profit, they will not give up this land."
"Then why did you return to the village? Did you just graduate and have a passionate ideal, and you got carried away?"
Pei Xu was silent for a long time. Jiang Lin looked at the rearview mirror and saw that he was looking deeply at everything on this land.
Pei Xu asked: "What about you? Why do you want to farm? Are you just filming a show with agriculture as the background? Is it a job or are you farming with all your heart?"
Pei Xu's question stumped Jiang Lin, and he couldn't give an answer.
The electric bike stopped under the big banyan tree, and Jiang Lin handed him the backpack: "Do you really want to go home?"
Pei Xu slung it over one shoulder: "What else? Should I sleep outdoors?"
"The way your dad acted last night, I think it's going to be very dangerous for you to go home."
Pei Xu resolutely walked towards home, waved his hand, and said loudly: "Big star, if my leg is broken, you can buy me lemonade next time!"
Jiang Lin looked at the lemonade in his hand and took a sip tentatively: "It's okay."
In Peijia Village at night, the street lights were dim, but the sky was dotted with stars, occasionally flashing brightly. Jiang Lin's cell phone vibrated again and again, and finally, he took the trouble to answer the call.
He asked indifferently, "What's the matter?"
A middle-aged man's voice came from the receiver: "I heard that you participated in a farming variety show?"
"yes."
"Jiang Lin, how long are you going to keep messing around?" The slightly angry question made Jiang Lin feel uncomfortable.
Jiang Lin said expressionlessly: "If you have nothing else to do, I'll hang up."
Moths and unknown insects lingered around the street lights, flying towards the light recklessly. Jiang Lin leaned against the lamppost with one hand in his pocket, his back looking lonely.
"I've told you before that it's not easy to get into the entertainment industry, but you keep clamoring to pursue your dreams. You're already 26 years old, and instead of starting a family and building a career, you're participating in some random variety show. Can you farm? Can you tell the difference between vegetables?"
"Start a family? Like you?" Jiang Lin asked coldly, "You are a successful person, you have a successful career, but don't forget who gave you what you have today?"
The voice on the other end of the phone increased: "Jiang Lin, is this your attitude towards your father?"
“Hahahahaha.” Jiang Lin laughed for a while, tears welling up in his eyes. “Now you remember that you are a father. What were you doing all those years? Let me remind you, your son’s name is Jiang Letong, not Jiang Lin.”
"Jiang Lin, I don't want to quarrel with you today. As a father, I remind you not to ruin your future."
"Thank you for your reminder. My future will continue to be bright and I will not rot in the ground."
Jiang Lin squatted on the side of the road. There was darkness in the distance, just like his past two years. He had no job, no notice, and could only stay in the rented house playing games. His day and night schedule were reversed. The "friends" around him gradually drifted away from him. The peak of the mountain and the abyss were only a thought away.
When he walked on the road, the dogs at the villagers' doorsteps only raised their eyes when they saw him. Jiang Lin said self-deprecatingly: "The dogs despise me and don't want to look at me any more."
Pei Zongli changed his strategy and took the approach of a loving father. Zhao Sumei prepared some side dishes, and the two of them sat opposite each other and had a couple of drinks.
Pei Xu felt vaguely uneasy, thinking that Pei Zongli's sudden show of goodwill must be a trick.
"A Xu, among the four of you sisters, you are the most promising one. Your two older brothers went out to work before graduating from elementary school, and your second sister did the same. The conditions of her husband's family were also average. Only you are the most motivated. Not only did your studies not make your mother and I worry, but your tuition also didn't cost much of our family's money."
"Dad, why are you bringing this up all of a sudden?"
"Dad is old now, and I can't help you much, so I just hope you can live your life well."
Pei Xu handed him a handful of peanuts: "Aren't we doing fine now?"
Pei Zongli said seriously: "Dad just wants you to go back to Beijing. Dad will feel relieved if you go back to Beijing."
Pei Xu chewed peanuts, looked away, and thought to himself, "Comrade Pei, the medicine is the same, just a change of name."
Pei Xu picked up the beer, aimed the bottle cap at the edge of the table, and knocked it hard. The bottle cap opened and foam came out.
The light yellow beer was poured into the cup, and a layer of white foam floated up. Pei Xu clinked glasses with him: "Dad, drink!"
Pei Zongli raised his head and swallowed, "Dad, slow down."
A few drops of liquid flowed from the corner of his mouth, and Pei Zongli wiped them away with his hand. He returned to the main topic: "A Xu, Dad is doing this for your own good. You are young and energetic now, and you want to make a career. Dad understands your feelings, but we have to change our mindsets. Beijing is the place where you can show your talents. In our remote mountain area, some people can't even understand Mandarin. They are all farmers who only know how to farm. There is no development."
Pei Xu filled his glass again and said, "Dad, the government has introduced the 'Three Rural Policies' to help agricultural development. Moreover, technology is changing with each passing day. Farming is no longer a traditional concept. The country encourages young people to join agriculture and become new farmers. Farming is a sunrise industry."
Pei Zongli waved his hand and said, "Don't fool me. Old people often say, 'If you don't study well, you can only go home to farm.' This is the truth. I have never seen any college students go home to farm. Only those who have no future will go home to farm."
"Old comrade, you have old ideas."
Pei Zongli gradually became impatient: "Old ideas? Listen to what the villagers are saying about our family and you now? They say you are crazy!"
Pei Xu disagreed, "I can't control what others say, and I don't want to listen. I am the master of my own life."
Pei Zongli slammed the table angrily, causing the wine in the glass to ripple. "What kind of life do you have? Your life will be ruined if you stay in the village!" Zhao Sumei heard his roar and hurried downstairs.
Zhao Sumei advised: "Lao Li, what are you doing? Why are you so angry?"
Pei Zongli pulled her hand away, "Don't interfere in this matter!" He pointed at Pei Xu and cursed, "You don't care about your face, but your mother and I still have our face! People will say that my son went home to farm after graduating from college, and he has no future!"
Pei Xu drank it all in one gulp, patted the crushed peanuts on his hands, and went upstairs without saying a word.
He knew very well that if he didn't evacuate the scene, last night's farce would happen again!
It's not that I'm shameless, it's just that I'm shy and need to save myself from embarrassment!
The crowing of the rooster in the early morning could not wake Jiang Lin up, so the director team knocked on his door.
Jiang Lin opened the door a little and asked sleepily, "What's the matter?"
"The chief director looked at the material we sent back and asked us to tell you something."
Jiang Lin keenly caught the word "men" and immediately understood what was going on. The other guests were probably like him, doing nothing in the village these days and becoming village vagrants.
"What?"
The director team said seriously: "Please take farming seriously. We really need to farm the land! In other words, if the show fails, you will fail too. Jiang Lin, you won't be able to win this comeback!"
Jiang Lin closed the door and climbed onto the stupid bed, avoiding his stupid responsibilities.
Pei Qi accidentally fell on the mountain and hit his knee.
The setting sun cast a green halo over the top of the banyan tree. Jiang Lin was sitting under the tree. He saw Pei Qi limping by with a machete in his hand. He stepped forward to support him and asked with concern, "Grandpa, what happened to you?"
Pei Qi smiled kindly: "It's okay, it's just a bump. Just rub some medicinal wine on it and it will be fine."
Jiang Lin moved a chair for him to sit on, and Pei Qi rolled up his trouser legs.
His knee was bruised and bleeding, but the dark pants covered it up well.
Jiang Lin frowned and said anxiously: "Grandpa, let's go to the hospital."
Pei Qi looked normal. He looked at the sky and sighed, "The weather forecast says it will rain the day after tomorrow. The mango trees on the mountain haven't finished thinning out their dense branches yet."
Jiang Lin was searching through boxes and cabinets in the room for medicinal wine, and said anxiously, "It's already this late, and you're still taking care of the fruit trees."
"You can't just ignore it. Thin out the branches, it will rain just right!"
Jiang Lin half-knelt in front of him, carefully wiping the blood with a tissue, his face showing pain.
"Grandpa, you don't have to go tomorrow. Rest at home and I'll help you."
Pei Qi asked, "You?"
"That's right."
Pei Qi smiled and said, “You have a pale face and thin hands, you can’t do this kind of work.”
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