Meeting

Li Ping hung up the phone and could no longer sit still. After changing clothes, he ran downstairs.

Li Sheng was watching cartoons in the living room with his son. Seeing him like this, he asked in confusion, "Where are you rushing off to? Is your ass on fire?"

Li Ping waved a hand. "Going to settle a major life matter."

Li Sheng hurriedly stood and followed after him. "What major life matter? Going to see your girlfriend?"

"No. I'll explain it to you later." Li Ping picked up his car keys from the stand, a trace of gravity on his handsome face. He hurriedly told his brother, "Bro, I'm going on a long trip. If I'm not back in two days, cover for me for a couple of days. I'll ask you for leave afterward."

Seeing how agitated he was, Li Sheng grew worried. "Where are you going? How about I have a driver take you?"

"No need." Li Ping pulled open the door and hurried toward the garage. By the end, he was running.

Li Ping had been to Zhao Danshi's hometown once before, so getting there again was easy.

His hometown was quite far from X City, and Li Ping had set out late. By the time he reached the county town, it was already dark.

Li Ping called Zhao Danshi. "Danshi, I'm already in your county town. I'll be there soon. Are you home?"

Zhao Danshi was startled. "So fast? I'm still out of town. How about you stay in the county town for the night? I'll do my best to get back tomorrow."

"Alright. I'll stay in the county town tonight and go see your grandpa tomorrow."

Zhao Danshi had arranged for over thirty thousand jin of vegetables during the day and had already collected over ten thousand jin. There were still over twenty thousand jin to load tomorrow. He told Li Ping, "Senior Brother, I still have some things to handle here. I might not get back until evening. Go to my house and rest first tomorrow."

Li Ping was already very close to him and was no longer as anxious as before. Hearing that, he asked, "Where are you? Do you need me to come help?"

"No need. It's just some minor work matters. Just wait for me back home."

Zhao Danshi rubbed his belly. He had done quite a lot of work today, and perhaps because he was too tired, his stomach felt uncomfortable. The baby kept moving around inside. Talking to Li Ping made him feel much better, and the little one gradually calmed down too.

Zhao Danshi was reluctant to hang up and chatted with Li Ping about this and that. "Senior Brother, the weather's a little cold. Did you bring enough clothes?"

"I brought enough. It's actually fine—I'm not afraid of the cold. What about you? What are you doing? Are you cold?"

Zhao Danshi was resting in a small inn in town. The conditions were poor; there was no air conditioning or electric blanket, and even hot water was limited to one bucket, carried upstairs personally by the owner. After showering, he lay under the covers and called Li Ping. Before long, his feet had gone cold again, freezing uncomfortably.

He rested his left foot against his right calf. "I'm getting ready to sleep. Senior Brother, where are you staying tonight? Are you used to it?"

"I'm used to it." Li Ping's voice carried a smile. "The conditions in your town are pretty decent. The quilt is very warm. When I used to go out of town for field research, I even slept outdoors in a sleeping bag. The inn is much better than that."

There was only one inn in Zhao Danshi's town. The moment Li Ping mentioned it, he remembered. Smiling, he said, "The landlady at that inn is very nice. Get up early tomorrow and ask her which breakfast place nearby is good. Our local rice rolls are pretty good—you should try them."

"Alright." Li Ping's voice softened. "Anything else you recommend?"

Zhao Danshi thought for a moment. "You can visit Cloud-Ring Temple. It isn't famous, but it has over a thousand years of history. The Buddha statues and buildings have both been preserved quite well."

The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the baby and simply chatted idly.

Only when the phone grew a little hot did Zhao Danshi rub his eyes, so sleepy that tears were about to come out, and say to the person on the other end, "Senior Brother, I'm going to sleep. Good night."

"Mm, good night." Li Ping's magnetic voice followed Zhao Danshi into his dreams.

The next day, Zhao Danshi's alarm rang at six thirty. After washing up energetically, he drove back to the village they had agreed on.

The villagers had risen even earlier than he had, and quite a few people were already working in the fields.

Zhao Danshi drove to the village entrance and called the villagers he had contacted the day before.

The families selling vegetables had pulled up their cabbages and radishes early and left them in the fields. Once they heard that Zhao Danshi had driven over to the village entrance, they hurriedly told him to wait while they carried the radishes and cabbages over.

As soon as he saw Zhao Danshi's truck, the man from one household approached carrying a shoulder pole. Wiping away sweat, he asked, "Little Zhao, shall we weigh them now and move the vegetables onto the truck?"

Zhao Danshi climbed down from the cab and put on gloves. "Brother, let me take a look at your vegetables first."

"Take a look. Don't worry, I'm not fooling you. They're all fresh, juicy cabbages pulled straight from the ground." The man and several others who arrived afterward carried the scale down from Zhao Danshi's truck and let him inspect the vegetables as he pleased.

After looking over the cabbages, Zhao Danshi went to inspect the radishes. Everything was fresh, with very few yellow or rotten leaves.

Zhao Danshi smiled. "Let's weigh them."

After deducting the tare, they weighed the vegetables basket by basket. The weighed cabbages did not need to be bagged and were simply dumped into the truck bed. Zhao Danshi stood nearby recording everything in a notebook, while the man also held a notebook so they could settle the accounts together later.

After weighing for a while, Zhao Danshi could no longer remain standing and simply sat down on a rock nearby.

Zhao Danshi was collecting a great deal of vegetables that day. From seven in the morning until after ten, he finally loaded up the first truckful.

Looking at the radishes exposed on top, Zhao Danshi suddenly remembered something. "Brother, do you still want the radish leaves from your field? If not, could you bring over a few baskets to cover these radishes? The weather's cold and windy now. I'm afraid the radishes on top will freeze."

The man laughed heartily. "Why not? I'll have them bring over a few baskets right away."

The other families standing nearby also said they did not want their radish leaves and could bring them over for Zhao Danshi free of charge.

Zhao Danshi asked Watcher in his mind, "Radish leaves have some Bio-Energy too, right?"

Watcher replied slowly, "They do, but less than half as much as radishes. One kilogram has roughly 0.1 to 0.2 Bio-Energy."

As long as there was some, that was enough. Who cared whether it was much or little? Zhao Danshi smiled cheerfully at the families waiting to settle their accounts.

The others went to gather radish leaves while Zhao Danshi began calculating the bills with the heads of each household, paying every account in cash.

It was past eleven by the time they finally settled all the accounts. Zhao Danshi slowly drove the truck out of the village. The villagers continued pulling radishes and cabbages, since Zhao Danshi would return again that afternoon.

When he had first begun collecting vegetables, Zhao Danshi accepted everything. Later, he found that other vegetables were expensive and did not provide much more Bio-Energy than radishes and cabbages, making them not worth the cost. So he stopped buying other vegetables and focused exclusively on radishes and cabbages.

Once the truck was far from the village and reached a relatively secluded area, Zhao Danshi pulled over. He walked to the truck bed and summoned Watcher. "These are today's vegetables."

Watcher floated beside him, its silver-white body scattering sheets of light as it said in a businesslike tone, "Total: 6,200 kilograms. Cabbage: 4,576.7 kilograms, 0.3 Bio-Energy per kilogram, totaling 1,373.01 Bio-Energy. Radishes: 1,533 kilograms, 0.28 Bio-Energy per kilogram, totaling 429.24 Bio-Energy. Radish leaves: 90.3 kilograms, 0.09 Bio-Energy per kilogram, totaling 8.127 Bio-Energy."

The radish leaves contained even less Bio-Energy than Zhao Danshi had expected. He nodded. "Alright, got it. I'll collect another batch this afternoon."

There were many professional vegetable farmers in this village. After being out for so many days, this was the first time Zhao Danshi had collected such a large quantity of vegetables in one go. With the afternoon batch included, gathering over thirteen thousand Bio-Energy would not be a problem.

Ever since he had gotten pregnant, Zhao Danshi tired especially easily. He drove to another small town, had a fast-food restaurant make him two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, then hurriedly ate and returned to the truck to rest. After sleeping for a while, he still had to drive back and continue collecting vegetables.

Li Ping did not follow Zhao Danshi's suggestion to go sightseeing. Instead, he drove to Zhao Danshi's home early in the morning.

The moment the old man opened the door and saw him, he smiled and welcomed him in. "Come in, come in. You're here to see Danshi, aren't you?"

"Mm, he asked me to come."

"Oh, that child. He went out himself and specifically asked you to come over." The old man poured him tea. "Sit, sit."

Li Ping smiled and asked, "Grandpa, how has Danshi been lately?"

"He's doing very well." The old man smiled. "He's even put on a little weight."

Li Ping could not help asking, "What about the baby?"

"They say the due date is in February. He'll go over to the baby's mother in a few days."

Li Ping racked his brains but could not figure out who the baby's mother was. Clutching his cup, panic suddenly rose in his heart. What if Zhao Danshi had been helping him take care of an unborn child all this time... No! Don't think about it! Li Ping steadied himself.

After sitting for a while, the old man noticed that his expression did not look good and tentatively asked, "You must be tired after driving all this way, right? How about you rest in Danshi's room for a while?"

Li Ping's heart stirred. He wanted to see what Zhao Danshi's room looked like, so he raised his head and smiled. "I am rather tired. Then I won't stand on ceremony."

"What's there to stand on ceremony about?" The old man got to his feet and led the way with shuffling steps. "I just washed Danshi's sheets and quilt these past two days. They've all been freshly changed."

"It's fine. I don't mind. As long as Danshi doesn't mind."

"You're his friend. Why would he mind? It's right here." The old man opened Zhao Danshi's bedroom door and pointed. "The toilet is at the other end of the courtyard. If you need to use it, go over there."

By the time Zhao Danshi returned that afternoon, the evening glow had already appeared. Li Ping and the old man sat in the courtyard on small stools, picking vegetables. Dahei lay nearby. The two chatted and laughed, creating a rather cozy atmosphere.

Hearing the door open, both of them stood at once.

The old man immediately said, "Why were you out for so long? You must be tired. Come sit down."

Li Ping looked in Zhao Danshi's direction. Zhao Danshi seemed to have lost some weight. His face was full of exhaustion, no bigger than a palm, and utterly out of proportion with his slightly protruding belly.

Li Ping's heart jolted. He hurried over and asked in a low voice, "You're sick?"

Their eyes met. Zhao Danshi shook his head at him. "No."

Li Ping's suspicious gaze fell on Zhao Danshi's protruding lower abdomen. Following his gaze, Zhao Danshi quickly grabbed his wrist and turned to the old man. "Grandpa, I need to talk to Senior Brother about something. Rest for a while first. I'll cook when I come out."

The old man waved a hand. "No need. You two go talk. I'll cook."

Zhao Danshi quickly pulled Li Ping toward his room. A vague sense of foreboding rose in Li Ping's heart.

Once inside, Zhao Danshi shut the door.

Li Ping was about to ask again when Zhao Danshi turned around and spoke in the darkness. "Senior Brother, I'm not sick. I'm just pregnant. The baby is yours."