The Phone Rang

"Scarcity makes things precious. There's no rush. Let's leave it at this for this year." Ye Huan nodded. He had been on his own before, and he had only been doing trial planting. How much could he possibly grow?

Hadn't they seen that he hadn't even filled the vegetable plot? His parents had even grumbled about it after coming home.

"For fruit trees, we're mainly growing peaches, with watermelons and strawberries as supplements. We'll get through this year, then start scaling up properly tomorrow. I need to think about which varieties to plant," Ye Huan said.

Ye Huan's parents asked no questions. Whatever seeds he gave them, they would plant. Their son could handle the market. With an income of over ten thousand a day, his parents now had no other thoughts whatsoever: they had to farm, and they had to plant every inch.

Once Grandpa finished eating, he ambled home, humming a little tune. Life was getting more comfortable by the day.

The two little girls still hadn't had their fill of chatting after a whole morning, so once they were full, they sat in the living room watching cartoons and chatting some more. Ye Huan's dad no longer had to get up early to pick vegetables, so he wasn't sleepy at noon either and wandered here and there.

His mom went for an afternoon nap, and Bai Jie went home for a nap too.

Ye Huan had wanted to take a nap himself, but then an old classmate called. Answering the phone, he lay down on the recliner outside the courtyard. Luckily, there were several big trees outside, so he was out of the sun.

"Hey, what made you think to call me?" Ye Huan asked after settling down.

"I heard you got fired. How are things? Where are you now?" a woman's voice came through.

"Yeah, I came back to my hometown over a month ago. What have you been up to? You only just heard?" Ye Huan laughed, not because the person on the other end was his goddess, girlfriend, crush, or anything like that, but because she was Chen Xixi, his closest female friend throughout his four years at university-the kind who was purely a buddy.

"Oh, I heard it from the girls. I only recently got back to the country."

"Right. Where are you? Magic City or the capital?" Ye Huan asked.

"My actual job will be in Magic City, but right now I'm back home in Jinling. I got together with a few old classmates, and they told me what happened to you. What's going on with you? Back to your hometown? You're not coming back out?"

"Yeah, I've only just realized that farming suits me best. If I'd known, I should've applied to that agricultural university right on your doorstep. Haha! Such a regret." Ye Huan laughed too.

"A veteran computer big shot from Shenzhen University went home to farm? Why do I find that so hard to believe? Enough joking. A few of our old classmates were thinking that since it's been a few years since graduation, we should find a time to get together," Chen Xixi said.

"All rumors. I'm not worth a damn. I really did come back to farm, and I've already got things up and running," Ye Huan said. "A reunion? Sure. Let me know the time and place in advance. It's no easy feat for me to make a trip out of the mountains."

"I have no idea what you're after. The beauty of the mountains, or the brawn of the wild boars?"

"Bro, what kind of wild nonsense are you spouting? Hahaha!" Ye Huan laughed, speechless.

"All right, I'm done chatting with you. We'll probably hold it near the university or over here near me. We'll see what everyone says. Keep an eye on the group messages."

"All right!" Ye Huan nodded. It really had been several years since graduation, and seeing his classmates would be nice. He had made some fairly close friends at university, such as his dormmates.

People online always said class reunions were about breaking up as many couples as possible, but how many years had it been since they graduated? He didn't even know whether any of them were married yet.

As for rekindling an old flame? Ye Huan gave a disdainful snort. Never mind that he wouldn't do it-with the way his ex-girlfriend had climbed into someone else's BMW right in front of him, how could she possibly rekindle things with a loser like him?

He tucked his phone away and couldn't be bothered to go upstairs again. It was fine outside, not too hot, so he lay there on the recliner and drifted into a light doze.

"I smiled smugly, then smiled smugly again, smiling at the mortal world without growing old." Ye Huan had only just fallen asleep when his phone woke him again.

He pulled out his phone and looked in annoyance to see who it was. He had finally managed to doze off. His phone hardly ever rang anymore-what was going on today?

Seeing that it was the beautiful woman he had once bravely rescued, he answered, puzzled. "Hmm? Hello." She shared his surname, Ye, but he didn't know how to address her. Miss Ye? That didn't fit. Sister Ye? That didn't seem right either.

So he simply didn't address her at all.

"Ye Huan, did you go back to your hometown? Your Moments feed is full of scenery from back home," Ye Yingying asked.

"Yeah, that's right. I argued with my boss and got fired, so I just came home," Ye Huan confirmed.

"My best friend and I happen to be looking for somewhere to visit next month. What's it like over there?" Ye Yingying asked again.

"Oh, the scenery's pretty decent. There are mountains, water, and good food, but that's about it. There aren't any scenic attractions or anything. It's all completely natural." Ye Huan breathed a sigh of relief. He had wondered what this was about.

"Really? That's great! My best friend loves places that are completely natural. She says tourist attractions are the most boring places, and I think so too." Ye Yingying was pleasantly surprised.

"Is it easy to find somewhere to stay?" she asked.

"There definitely aren't any hotels or guesthouses here. The nearest ones are in town, but that's still a long way from my place. My house is being remodeled, though. If there are just two of you, we should have room," Ye Huan said after some thought.

"That's wonderful! Don't worry, it'll only be the two of us. You've met my best friend too. She's Wan Qianqian, the one who'd just broken up with her boyfriend and asked me to keep her company back when you rescued me."

"All right. With another month, the remodeling will definitely be finished. I'll just buy a new big bed and some bedding," Ye Huan said with a nod. Come on over. We all know each other anyway, and it's only two gorgeous women.

"Sorry for the trouble, then. That Xiaobai in your videos is so cute. Is it there?"

"Yeah, it is. But it's a wolf," Ye Huan said with a laugh.

"What? Xiaobai is a wolf?" Ye Yingying's voice shot up three pitches.

"Yeah. When I went into the mountains, it was caught in a hunter's trap. Its dad found me, and I rescued it. Then its dad might have thought I was raising it pretty well, so he dumped it on me," Ye Huan explained to her with a laugh.

"Oh my goodness, Xiaobai is a wolf! It's so cute. I'm getting a little impatient to come visit you."

"There's no rush. It really wouldn't be convenient to come now. Everything's a mess, and the house is still being remodeled, mainly the toilet and bathroom. Out here in the rural mountains, even I couldn't stay without fixing those up," Ye Huan said with a wry smile.

After studying for four years and working for four years in a big city like Shenzhen, he had long since grown accustomed to a convenient, efficient life. Now that he was back, he could do without takeout and go six months between trips to the movies, but when it came to bathing and the toilet, he really wasn't used to the setup back home anymore.

So as soon as he had money, he hired a construction crew to remodel the place, including some simple renovations around the house. Besides the new pavilion in the courtyard and the gas stove, he also had the family's big earthen stove refurbished.

He loved the rice crust from that earthen stove that he had eaten so often as a child and thought about it every day. After coming home, he had made it a few times on Grandpa's big stove and finally satisfied his craving.