Pregnancy

The luggage his eldest brother had sent arrived quickly. It had everything, from pots and pans to pillows, mats, and quilts.

Zhao Danshi made a special trip to town to get an internet line installed, along with WiFi. It cost eighty-eight yuan a month for 100M. He specifically tested it, and the download speed was around 12M—more than enough for his daily needs.

Seeing this, the old man knew Zhao Danshi had set his heart on staying to farm. He might have grumbled inwardly, but he did not hesitate when it came to helping his grandson sort out the fields.

The other villagers also heard that Zhao Danshi was returning to farm. Quite a few came to gawk, but not many thought well of his prospects.

Since Zhao Danshi planned to live in the village, he had gathered plenty of information about it.

Quite a few people had moved away from their village. Only 262 households still had their household registrations there.

Of those 262 households, some entire families had gone out to work, some had left behind elderly people and children, and only a very few young and middle-aged couples remained home to care for their children.

The people who remained in the village were hardworking. They raised cattle and pigs, chickens and ducks.

After asking around, Zhao Danshi learned that raising livestock in the village was not very profitable. They had no channels for selling such things and mostly sold them individually, so their income was average. On top of that, their small-scale operations could not reduce costs, leaving them with little profit.

For the time being, Zhao Danshi had no plans to take the livestock route. His schedule now consisted of working outside in the mornings and afternoons, then staying home at noon and in the evenings to take on design jobs.

Most of the weeds in the fields had already died. It was time to plow and ridge the land.

Zhao Danshi did not know how to plow, so he specifically hired someone from town. It cost three hundred yuan a day, with the man bringing his own diesel and machinery. Zhao Danshi had a little over two mu of land, and the man finished it in most of a day. Following village custom, Zhao Danshi bought meat and liquor and treated him to a meal.

When the man who had plowed the field heard that Zhao Danshi intended to farm, he smoked after the meal and tried to talk him out of it. "You were doing so well in the city. Why come back to farm? Don't just look at how vegetables sell for two or three yuan per jin. The poor-looking ones can't be sold, and once you subtract the costs of pesticides, fertilizer, and so on, there's not much left in hand."

The old man chimed in from the side. "Exactly. Quite a few people in the village grow vegetables too."

Zhao Danshi could not tell outsiders that he had the Watcher as a cheat, so he merely smiled. "I want to give it a try."

The man who had plowed the field had seen plenty in life. He clicked his tongue. "A lot of people around here grow vegetables. Competition is fierce, and vegetables are hard to sell. Many vegetable farmers end up letting their crops rot in the fields. If you really want to plant them, you'd better make plans in advance."

Zhao Danshi thanked him for the reminder and secretly decided to grow more varieties of vegetables, with less of each kind. If things really did not work out, he would open a Taobao store.

Once the land had been plowed, Zhao Danshi hired his neighbor, Brother Spoon, to make the ridges.

Spoon was one of the few able-bodied adults left in the village. It was already autumn, and rice, peanuts, and the like had long since been harvested, so there was not much work in the fields. Since Zhao Danshi was willing to pay, he came.

Zhao Danshi chatted with him as they worked, sweat streaming down their bodies beneath the sun.

Brother Spoon asked, "Danshi, what are you planning to grow after plowing so many mu of land?"

"Some leafy greens, radishes, and tomatoes. In a couple of days, I'll put up a greenhouse too and see if I can catch the New Year vegetable market."

Brother Spoon could not help shaking his head at that. He sincerely advised, "Quite a few old folks around here specifically grow vegetables to sell during the New Year. There are only so many people in town. Waiting until New Year might not mean you can sell them."

Zhao Danshi smiled. "I know. I'll haul them to the county town to sell then. They should sell faster there."

"The city is so far away. The vegetable money might not even cover the travel costs. Can you make any money?"

"It's fine. I'll try it first. If it doesn't work, I'll think of another way to make a living next year."

Brother Spoon was a full generation older than him, and his son was already in middle school. Hearing that, he found it hard to say more, though he was certain Zhao Danshi would lose money this year.

The other villagers thought the same. Quite a few worried for him, while some watched him working in the fields with the mentality of waiting to see a joke.

After finally getting the land ready, Zhao Danshi sought out the Watcher before sowing. They had already discussed it, and after Zhao Danshi haggled for a long time, the Watcher finally agreed to provide fertilizer at a price of twenty bio-energy per kilogram.

Over the past few days, Zhao Danshi had secretly bought all sorts of miscellaneous vegetables and fruits for the Watcher. After working himself to the bone, he had only managed to save up enough for one kilogram of fertilizer. Looking at the fertilizer that had appeared out of thin air in his hand, he deeply suspected that he had been scammed.

The Watcher assured him solemnly, "Don't worry. This fertilizer is highly effective. No matter what you grow, you'll definitely get good yields. If your vegetables can't be sold when the time comes, just give them to me. I'll pay you the corresponding points."

Zhao Danshi did not believe it. "What use would those points be to me?"

"You can buy things. You'll understand once the shop opens later." The Watcher had never encountered such a difficult host. It specially reminded Zhao Danshi, "The fertilizer I provide is good, but don't neglect the effects of other fertilizers when you plant. The same goes for pesticides and the like. Use what needs to be used."

"Fine, I know." Zhao Danshi had specifically read some books beforehand, and with his grandfather helping him, he knew everything he needed to know. "Other than providing fertilizer, what else can you help me with during the growing process?"

"I can check on the plants' growth progress?" the Watcher said. "I have a scanning function. If you notice something wrong with the plants, I can inspect them for you, and then you can treat the problem accordingly."

"For free?"

The Watcher said weakly, "Scanning requires bio-energy. I won't charge you any additional handling fees, but you at least need to have the bio-energy prepared for me."

Zhao Danshi was somewhat disappointed. "All right, deal."

With that, both sides breathed a sigh of relief. With the Watcher helping him, Zhao Danshi felt that growing vegetables should not pose any major problems.

The Watcher also felt that Zhao Danshi now needed it, so their future transactions would only increase, and it would gain more and more energy. Perhaps in the end, without needing to ask anyone for help, it could repair its own body with the energy Zhao Danshi earned through transactions alone.

News of Zhao Danshi returning to the countryside to farm spread, and many classmates and friends asked about it on WeChat. Zhao Danshi replied to each of them while asking them to help introduce him to more work.

Ever since college, he had sought every possible way to make money. He had paid for all his university tuition and living expenses himself. Everyone who knew him knew he was exceptionally resilient, and not many believed he would fail this time by returning to the countryside to farm.

Many people kindly introduced jobs to him, some of them especially difficult or especially low-paying.

Zhao Danshi did not have much room to be picky now. As long as a job was not too outrageous, he generally accepted it. In the end, his monthly income could stay around four or five thousand yuan.

He did not have to pay rent or transportation costs at home, so his savings progressed about as quickly as when he had lived in the city.

Looking at the bank notifications he received every month, Zhao Danshi planned to save for another two years and see whether he could build a small house in the countryside.

The family courtyard was too old. Its living conditions were indeed worse than other people's. The rooms were dark, damp, and cramped—worse than any place Zhao Danshi had ever lived before.

No one disliked a large house. He wanted to work hard so that his grandfather could live in a spacious, bright home too.

He only had a little over one hundred thousand yuan in savings. Building a house in the countryside would not cost too much, but he would still need to prepare one or two hundred thousand yuan. Besides construction, there would also be basic decoration and furniture.

After more than a month in the countryside, the weather gradually turned colder.

Zhao Danshi had brought enough clothes, and farming involved enough physical labor that his health was even better than before. This change of seasons, he had unusually not caught a cold.

Just as he was feeling glad about it, he ate the old man's steamed fish at lunch one day. The moment it entered his mouth, the fish was bitter and dry, utterly lacking its usual freshness. He could not help covering his mouth and running outside to vomit.

The old man hurried out after him, patting his back as he asked worriedly, "What happened? Did something get stuck?"

Zhao Danshi had not realized what was wrong yet. "Grandpa, was today's fish not fresh? Why does it taste fishy and dry to me?"

"No," the old man said, utterly baffled. "How could it not be fresh? I bought it alive and only killed it ten minutes before putting it in the pot."

"That's impossible. It tastes off to me." Zhao Danshi returned inside and caught the fishy smell. Frowning as he suppressed the nausea in his chest, he felt like vomiting again.

Seeing how miserable he looked, the old man reached out to feel his forehead, concern in his eyes. "Did you catch a cold?"

"Probably not?" Zhao Danshi was not sure either. "I feel pretty good. Other than being a little nauseous, I don't feel unwell anywhere."

"You definitely caught a cold. I'll make you some ginger soup." The old man headed into the kitchen.

Zhao Danshi drank more than half a bowl of piping-hot ginger soup, and the plate of steamed fish was taken away. Looking at the dishes on the table, he still had no appetite.

The old man had no choice but to personally go into the kitchen and cook him some porridge, along with a plate of sour and spicy pickled vegetables.

It was past two by the time Zhao Danshi finally ate. With the plain porridge and side dishes, the nausea finally subsided. He drank three large bowls of porridge in one go, rubbing his stomach with a satisfied sigh.

The old man found some cold medicine in the room and gave it to him. "Take some cold medicine first. If you still don't feel well later, we'll go to the clinic."

Without thinking much of it, Zhao Danshi took the cold medicine and casually tore open the foil packaging.

Unexpectedly, the Watcher's somewhat flat voice suddenly rang in his mind. "Don't take cold medicine. You're pregnant, not sick."

"What?!" Zhao Danshi cried out in shock, shooting up from his chair, his face turning pale.

Seeing him like that, the old man hurriedly asked, "What is it? What happened?"

The Watcher repeated with certainty, "You're pregnant. This is morning sickness."

Zhao Danshi ran toward his room as though his ass were on fire, shouting as he ran, "It's nothing! I just remembered there's a design a client asked me to make that I haven't submitted yet. I'll submit it first, Grandpa. Eat by yourself!"

The moment he returned to his room, Zhao Danshi slammed the door shut. "If I remember correctly, I'm male, right?!"

He was a grown man. Pregnant, my ass!