Page 44

"Mr. Song?"

"It's me." Song Zhou's eyes curved as he explained, "I'm not very good at cooking, and I was afraid of wasting this fish."

Lu Ao stared at the box tucked in Song Zhou's arm—the one he had spent a hefty sum mailing out that morning—and felt immense regret. Had he known Song Zhou would come over, he would not have wasted that money.

Song Zhou held up the watermelon in his hand. "I also brought a watermelon. It's nicely chilled. Shall we go back and eat some?"

Lu Ao's voice was muffled. "I haven't finished watering yet."

"It's fine. I'll make it rain for you."

Lu Ao walked out of the field and stood beside Song Zhou.

Above them, beneath the brilliant sunset, a patch of cloud instantly drifted over. As it floated, it turned into a dark raincloud, and then a fine drizzle began to fall.

The three mu of land by Lu Ao's feet were entirely shrouded beneath the raincloud, nourished by the gentle rain.

Lu Ao stared at the raincloud overhead for a long while before saying, "Mr. Song, teach me how to make it rain."

"Sure." Song Zhou handed him the watermelon while carrying the foam box himself. "Let's go back first."

Song Zhou took hold of Lu Ao's wrist. His vision blurred, and he found himself in front of his own courtyard.

He opened the gate and led Song Zhou inside.

The old courtyard was especially cool. With the evening breeze blowing now, sitting in the yard made the summer heat almost imperceptible.

Best of all, there were no mosquitoes at all in Lu Ao's yard, making it vastly more comfortable to sit outside and enjoy the cool air.

Lu Ao had Song Zhou sit down. "Sit here for a moment. I'm going to take a shower."

After fishing and watering the fields, he was already filthy.

Song Zhou bent over and waved a hand. "All right."

Lu Ao went back to his room and quickly washed his hair and showered.

Song Zhou carried the still-chilled watermelon over to wash it. Once it was clean, he set it on the counter and gave a light wave of his hand. Wind blades neatly sliced the watermelon into several pieces.

He found a large basket, put the watermelon inside, and carried it out.

When Lu Ao came out, toweling his hair dry, he caught the fresh, faint scent of watermelon before he even reached the courtyard.

He had just used body wash and shampoo. Even though they were mild varieties, their scent was fairly strong. Yet now, he could not smell them at all. The watermelon fragrance had forcefully taken over his senses.

Lu Ao poked his head out. "You cut the watermelon?"

"Mm. A little demon grew these watermelons. They taste pretty good, so I brought one for you to try."

Song Zhou looked up at Lu Ao. Lu Ao wore loose shorts and a T-shirt, his straight, jade-white long legs extending from the hems.

It was an utterly ordinary sight, yet Song Zhou's heart suddenly trembled.

The tremor was so slight that even he barely noticed it.

Lu Ao went to wash his hands, then plopped down across from Song Zhou. He picked up a slice of watermelon and offered it to Song Zhou first before taking one for himself and biting into it.

The moment the watermelon flesh entered his mouth, its fresh flavor swept through Lu Ao's entire palate like a storm.

The taste was so fresh that Lu Ao's eyes immediately lit up.

He bought quite a lot of watermelon every year. Most of them were sweet and pleasantly grainy, but they were never particularly amazing.

Those watermelons tasted somewhat like sugar water. No matter how sweet they were, they still felt a little bland.

The watermelon Song Zhou had brought was entirely different. It possessed an exceptionally fresh watermelon flavor—not sweetness, but the unique taste of watermelon itself.

That flavor even gave one an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

With one bite, the entire summer seemed to become lighter.

Lu Ao narrowed his eyes and savored it for a while, then suddenly set down the watermelon and ran into the house.

Song Zhou was puzzled.

The next moment, Lu Ao came out carrying a box of toothpicks, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Song Zhou. "This watermelon is so good. Can I save some seeds?"

"Why wouldn't you be able to?" Song Zhou chuckled. He reached for a toothpick too and copied Lu Ao, picking the seeds out of the watermelon.

After carefully picking out the seeds, Lu Ao took a huge, satisfied bite. "This watermelon is so good."

Song Zhou ate a piece. Seeing him like this, he simply took on the task of picking out watermelon seeds for him.

Lu Ao hurriedly waved his hands. "No need. You eat."

"I'll save some room for dinner." Song Zhou held a toothpick between his long fingers and picked the seeds out of a slice of watermelon in just a few motions. He handed it to Lu Ao. "If you like them, I'll bring you a few more."

Lu Ao shook his head in refusal, revealing neat teeth. "No, no. I'll try growing them myself when the time comes."

Lu Ao's manner of eating watermelon was actually quite elegant. None of its abundant juice got on his face or hands, yet the way he took big bites and the slight curve of his eyes could easily stir anyone's appetite.

Song Zhou watched with a smile in his eyes.

Before meeting Lu Ao, Song Zhou had gone more than three years without eating anything at all.

In some sense, he was already a god.

Gods had no desires or wants and did not need human food to satisfy their hunger.

Many people called this severance of desire transcendence or something similar, regarding it as proof of successful cultivation.

Yet this sort of transcendence was not so good for those who attained it.

Song Zhou understood in his heart that if he continued transcending like this, then once he truly reached a state of having no desires or wants, he would no longer even possess consciousness. He would become something more ethereal and immense.

At that point, there would be no more Song Zhou.

Lu Ao had quite an appetite, so one large watermelon was nothing much to him.

One handed slices over while the other ate, and soon they had finished more than half the watermelon, leaving only the final two pieces.

Lu Ao handed one slice back to Song Zhou. "There are only two pieces left. Here, one each. Let's finish them together."

Song Zhou had just been about to refuse when Lu Ao shoved it into his hand. "One more piece shouldn't make you too full. We're having hot pot later."

Only then did Song Zhou accept the watermelon and take a small bite with curved eyes.

After finishing the watermelon, Lu Ao went to prepare the seafood hot pot broth.

He had replaced his refrigerator with a double-door one, and it was packed with ingredients. Shrimp, crab, snails, and fish went without saying, and there was also plenty of pork, beef, chicken, and more.

Lu Ao simmered chicken and fish bones into the soup base.