After the New Year, Yu Xiuyuan and Yun Chuan did not return to South Mountain until the first lunar month was over.
It was already three in the afternoon when they reached the little courtyard. They opened the windows to air the place out, then cleaned together and put fresh sheets and a duvet cover on the bed.
Yun Chuan told Yu Xiuyuan to lie down and rest for a while, then left the bedroom himself.
Yu Xiuyuan had slept against Yun Chuan's shoulder throughout the journey and was not sleepy, but that did not stop him from lying in bed and playing on his phone.
Every retiree knew that lying in bed with your phone was the simplest of pleasures.
No one could resist it.
After playing for a while, Yu Xiuyuan realized something was off. He had assumed Yun Chuan had gone to the kitchen to cook, but the sounds suggested otherwise. Yun Chuan had opened the door and gone into the courtyard.
He put down his phone, got out of bed, and went to the window to look outside. Yun Chuan was standing in front of the vegetable patch, holding his phone and occasionally typing something.
Only then did Yu Xiuyuan notice the peas in the vegetable patch. Auntie Xie was reliable. Sure enough, the peas were still doing well and had produced plenty of pods, some mature and some tender.
Yu Xiuyuan reckoned the peas had been growing for quite some time and might be nearing the end of their lives.
He did not really understand the details. In any case, once the peas died of old age, he would plant something else.
At that thought, Yu Xiuyuan realized what Yun Chuan was doing.
Most likely, he wanted to grow vegetables with him but knew absolutely