Staying

The two of them ate and shopped their way around the county town. By the time they returned to the village, it was already past six in the evening.

They had packed up the lunch dishes to bring back, so there was no need to cook much for dinner. Stir-frying one green vegetable would be enough.

The old man kept touching the leather shoes in his arms and grumbled all the way, "They're far too expensive. Why spend so much on a pair of shoes? A pair of thick cotton shoes costs me less than eighty yuan."

Zhao Danshi only smiled and said nothing, letting him mutter away.

Though the old man complained, the joy at the corners of his eyes and brows was impossible to hide. On the way back, quite a few people noticed the shoebox in his arms and asked what it was. He raised his voice high and loudly told them that his grandson had bought him a pair of shoes.

Afraid that the old man would be reluctant to wear them, Zhao Danshi deliberately cut off the tag as soon as they got home. He also told him that if he did not wear the shoes, they would easily get damp and deteriorate even faster.

There was little entertainment in the village, and everyone went to bed early. By eight o'clock, there were hardly any lights left in the whole village. Likewise, everyone woke early, and by a little after six in the morning, many people were already outside working.

After returning, Zhao Danshi made a point of going to the fields to help the old man finish all the recent work: watering, fertilizing, and weeding. He was not particularly skilled at any of it, but he was patient and did a decent job.

One day, while he was picking peppers, Watcher's voice rang out in his mind again. "These peppers contain quite a bit of Bio-Energy."

Zhao Danshi glanced at the bucket of peppers by his feet and casually asked, "How much is quite a bit?"

"About 0.67 Bio-Energy per kilogram. Don't think that number is small. Compared with peppers from other places, the quality of these peppers is already excellent. The peppers you buy on the market probably only contain around 0.48 Bio-Energy per kilogram."

Zhao Danshi had a habit of cooking and would usually buy some vegetables to keep in the refrigerator. Watcher had probably taken plenty of opportunities to scan the vegetables he bought.

Something stirred in Zhao Danshi's mind. "How much energy do you need to repair yourself?"

"Well, conservatively speaking, one hundred thousand Bio-Energy should be enough to repair most of the problems."

Zhao Danshi said, "...Your demands aren't low at all."

"It only looks high." Watcher tried to persuade him. "According to information my colleagues sent back, some plane hosts could not even afford enough food when they first started. A few years later, earning tens of millions of Bio-Energy was no problem for them."

Zhao Danshi said, "Hosts differ from one another. I probably don't have the ability to earn tens of millions of Bio-Energy every year. How about you find another host? See if someone can quickly earn you one hundred thousand Bio-Energy and help repair your body."

Watcher immediately replied, "It's fine. I have faith in you. By the way, can you give me a bucket of these peppers? The energy is a little low, but I can make do with it."

Zhao Danshi refused decisively. "Sorry, no."

The only cash crop the old man grew was these peppers. Every market day, he picked peppers to sell. A jin of peppers sold for roughly 2.1 to 3.2 yuan, and the price varied from one market day to the next.

The old man had planted over two mu of peppers. Now, at every market, he could sell seventy or eighty jin, bringing in nearly three thousand yuan a month.

The old man had farmed his entire life. He had no real pension and refused to accept money from his sons. His only source of income was the vegetables in his fields and the savings he had accumulated over a lifetime.

Zhao Danshi knew the old man would not mind if he used the peppers for something else, but he still did not want to simply hand them over to Watcher.

Watcher had not expected such a clean-cut refusal and asked in confusion, "Why? This little bit of pepper isn't a big deal to you."

"But it's a big deal to my grandfather. It's his property, and I have no right to decide whether to give the peppers to you for free. Since all living things contain energy, how about I cut some weeds for you after I finish this work?"

"No, that won't do. Weeds contain less than 0.05 Bio-Energy per kilogram. That amount is too little for me. It isn't even enough to offset the energy wasted on scanning."

Zhao Danshi shrugged helplessly. "Then I'll think of another way for you."

Watcher said, "Do you still not trust me?"

Zhao Danshi found the question strange. "As an adult, is trust really that cheap? Did the hosts you encountered before trust you the moment they met you?"

Watcher fell silent. It seemed the hosts its colleagues had encountered were all easy to deal with. They might not have trusted them at first sight, but at least there had not been any major issues after talking.

Zhao Danshi ignored it and continued picking peppers.

The small peppers dotted the plants like stars. He had to be careful while picking them, making sure not to break the branches or pick any green peppers and leaves along with them. If there was too much debris, no dealers at the market would buy them.

Picking peppers was hard work. Some people specifically carried a chair into the fields so they could sit while picking. Often, after finishing a mu of peppers, their hands would nearly cramp up.

Peppers had to be picked at the right time. If he was going to market the next morning, he had to pick one batch that afternoon, then get up at dawn the following day to pick another batch.

If they were picked too early, the peppers could easily rot at home due to respiration. Dealers would not even buy peppers of poor quality at a reduced price.

Picking them too late would not work either, because he might miss the market. By the time he arrived as it was winding down, most pepper dealers would already have left. The few remaining dealers would find excuses to force the price down.

Zhao Danshi picked peppers alongside the old man for two days, until his hands nearly cramped. He could hardly imagine how exhausting it must have been for the old man to work in the fields all day before he came back.

Farmers did not earn money easily. For a mere two or three thousand yuan, his grandfather had to labor like this day after day just to earn enough for living expenses.

In the blink of an eye, five days had passed, and Zhao Danshi had to return to work.

The old man was deeply reluctant to see him leave, but he could not delay his grandson's proper business. Before Zhao Danshi left, the old man stuffed his suitcase full of things: wild honey, dried bamboo shoots, dried vegetables, dried peppers, and all sorts of odds and ends.

Zhao Danshi had not brought a suitcase back with him in the first place. The old man had been afraid he would have trouble carrying things, and also worried that he would find a woven sack embarrassing, so he had specially gone to the county town to buy him a suitcase.

The suitcase alone had cost more than three hundred yuan, more than the things inside it.

The old man reminded Zhao Danshi to work hard after returning and take good care of himself.

The man driving the three-wheeler was still the same uncle. When he saw Zhao Danshi, he smiled at the old man. "It's fine. New Year's will be here in a few months. He can come back then."

Zhao Danshi waved to his grandfather. "I'm heading back to work first. When some time has passed and I'm free, I'll come back and take you to my place for a visit."

The old man's eyes reddened. "Mm. If you're too busy, just call Grandpa a few more times."

Zhao Danshi sat in the cargo bed of the three-wheeler and looked back at his grandfather for a long time.

It was not until the three-wheeler had slowly gone far away that Zhao Danshi realized the old man's repeated gestures of raising a hand to his eyes had probably been wiping away tears.

Zhao Danshi's heart was struck hard, and his own eyes reddened as well.

The old man was already so old. Every meeting might be one less, and he did not know when they would meet again—or whether something unexpected might happen before then.

As he waited for the bus in the county town, he felt terrible.

There were very few bus routes in the county town, and they came slowly. Zhao Danshi sat there for nearly an hour, watching people come and go through the town. Most of them were elderly, and the ache in his heart only deepened.

The ties between people were so fleeting. Even with family, the time they truly spent together was only a little over ten years. After that, they could only see one another during holidays and festivals.

Zhao Danshi rested his elbows on his knees, his eyes red as he stared at the passing pedestrians, a fierce struggle raging inside him.

He thought of Watcher and asked, "Watcher, you said we could benefit each other. I can provide you with energy, but what exactly can you do for me?"

"What do you want to do? Tell me first, and I'll see whether I can help."

"If I wanted to stay here and farm, how would you help me?"

"I can provide you with fertilizer and Spirit Spring Water, ensuring that your vegetables are a cut above the rest. I can also provide information to help you sell them for a higher price," Watcher said. "As long as you can provide the corresponding Bio-Energy, I can get you many good things. If you provide enough Bio-Energy, I can even open my Marketplace to you, allowing you to purchase high-quality goods from various planes."

Zhao Danshi suddenly stood up, pulled his suitcase, and returned to the Three-Way Junction.

The three-wheeler uncle's vehicle was not full yet, so he was still waiting there for passengers. Seeing Zhao Danshi, he was very surprised. "What's wrong? Did you leave something behind?"

Zhao Danshi stuffed his luggage into the cargo bed. "No, my plans changed. I need to stay a few more days."

"Ah." The three-wheeler uncle nodded with a smile. "Staying a few more days is good. You can keep your grandfather company. Hurry and get in. Let's head back."

When Zhao Danshi returned to the courtyard, he saw his grandfather sitting there, doing nothing but staring blankly ahead. Dahei, the wolfdog, lay beside him, occasionally twitching its ears.

Seeing how lonely the old man looked, Zhao Danshi's heart clenched. He stepped forward and lightly knocked on the courtyard gate. "Grandpa, I'm back again."

Dahei happily sprang up and ran circles around Zhao Danshi.

The old man immediately got to his feet in alarm and came over to grab his suitcase. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Zhao Danshi took a deep breath. "No. I just still have some vacation time, so I plan to stay a few more days."

He did not dare tell him directly that he wanted to stay, afraid the old man would worry.

Only then did the old man relax. He patted Zhao Danshi's arm and helped pull the suitcase back inside, saying repeatedly, "It's good to stay a few more days. Go inside and rest first. I'll go buy a chicken."

"Grandpa, don't buy one. Isn't there still plenty of food at home?"

"How could that little bit of food be enough for the two of us? Besides, there's Dahei too!" The old man went inside to get money, beaming as he walked with far lighter steps than usual. "Your Auntie Huajiao has raised plenty of chickens, all free-range in the fields. I'll ask her to save one for me."

Watching the old man leave with the big wolfdog, Zhao Danshi let out a breath. He went back inside, checked the time, and planned to call his boss around noon to tell him that he intended to stay in the countryside for a while.