Page 45

Qing Mengzhu was working with his back to the sun when someone suddenly called, "Brother Mengzhu."

He turned to look but couldn't see anyone, and for a moment he couldn't tell where the voice had come from.

Then the voice called again, cheerfully, "Brother Mengzhu, over here! We're in the river."

Qing Mengzhu lowered his gaze and finally saw Qing Pingdun and several young people bobbing in the river, grinning at him with their white teeth showing.

Qing Mengzhu straightened up. "You're out swimming this early?"

Qing Pingdun said, "Yeah, it's too stuffy, so we came out for a swim."

It was too hard for Qing Mengzhu to talk to them from the field.

He decided to walk over to the riverbank to chat. As he passed the tomato patch, he picked several big, red tomatoes and brought them along. "Want some tomatoes?"

Qing Pingdun and his friends shouted in unison, "Yes!"

Qing Mengzhu raised his hand and deftly tossed the tomatoes toward them. "Catch."

They caught some of the tomatoes. Others fell into the river with a plop and floated back up. They scooped those out, rinsed them off, and took big bites.

Qing Pingdun said, "Brother Mengzhu, your tomatoes really are the best. They're sweet and full of tomato flavor. How do you grow them?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "Give them plenty of fertilizer, tend them often, and hope for good weather. That's about it. The deep parts of this river are over two meters, aren't they?"

Treading water, Qing Pingdun said, "Some are over three meters, but most of it is less than two."

Qing Mengzhu hadn't dared swim much in the river as a child, so he didn't know how deep the village river was. Hearing that, he couldn't help feeling surprised and worried about its depth. He reminded them, "The forecast says there'll be a rainstorm today. Be careful while you're swimming."

Qing Pingdun and the other young people didn't mind the reminder. They smiled and replied, "Got it."

After chatting a little longer, Qing Mengzhu went back to work, while Qing Pingdun and the others continued swimming.

The summer sun was dazzlingly bright, and everyone working in the fields was sweating under it.

The clear blue sky stretched from one horizon to the other, with no sign of a rainstorm in sight.

Qing Mengzhu worked all morning. It wasn't until after eleven that he headed home with vegetables in his arms and his two little canine shadows following him.

He took a quick shower, made lunch for himself and the puppies, and prepared to take a nap after eating.

Just then, as he passed through the courtyard, he suddenly saw a patch of dark cloud on the horizon.

The cloud didn't cover a large area, but it was so dark and heavy that it looked a little frightening.

It seemed the rainstorm in the forecast really was coming.

Qing Mengzhu hurriedly moved the pots of Luring Grass and Dragon Rosy Cloud Fruit from the courtyard into the house. Then he grabbed his raincoat and prepared to go to the field to pull the shade cover over the tomato seedling cups to shield them from the rain.

Otherwise, if a downpour washed away the soil and tender shoots in the cups, all his work raising this batch of tomato seedlings would be wasted.

As he headed out, the two puppies barked and pattered eagerly after him on their four short legs.

"Hey, it's raining. Don't come." Qing Mengzhu turned and pushed the puppies back into the courtyard. "Stay home."

The puppies barked in their little baby voices.

Qing Mengzhu pushed them again, pressing on their heads as he ushered them back inside. "Don't get in the way."

With that, he quickly shut and locked the courtyard gate. Even after he had walked several steps away, he could still hear the puppies barking in the courtyard.

The dark clouds on the horizon were spreading, their dense blackness frightening to behold.

On his way to the fields, Qing Mengzhu saw quite a few people hurrying there just like him, while many others scrambled to bring in the fruits and vegetables they had set out to dry in front of their homes.

The air felt so oppressive that it was as if something were clinging to his skin. There wasn't a breath of wind, and he didn't know when the rainstorm would suddenly break.

He hurried to the field and quickly pulled the shade cover over the tomato seedlings, then weighed down its edges with soil to keep the wind and rain from lifting it.

It was called a shade shelter, but it was really just a simple enclosure made by bending bamboo strips into arches, sticking them into the soil, and covering them with black composite film. It was nothing like a sturdy, tightly constructed shade shelter.

If the edges weren't properly weighed down with soil, the wind and rain could easily lift the film and blow the vegetables inside into a mess.

Qing Mengzhu quickly dug up soil and secured the shade covers one by one. Then he pushed the supports for the tomatoes, yardlong beans, and other plants firmly into the soil, trying to drive them deeper so the wind and rain wouldn't knock them over.

As Qing Mengzhu worked, the wind gradually picked up, lifting the hem of his clothes. The rainstorm was about to break.

He didn't dare delay. He hurried to the pond and drove the ducks out of the water.

The ducks had grown up, and he now fed them twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. They were very familiar with him and didn't avoid him.

As he herded them with a bamboo pole, the ducks quacked and waddled slowly up the pond bank.

Watching how slowly they moved, Qing Mengzhu wished he could simply grab the last two ducks by the neck and carry them.

Fortunately, by herding them from side to side with the bamboo pole, Qing Mengzhu finally managed to get them to the backyard before the downpour fully broke.

The hazel grouse were in the backyard. Because the sky was so dark, they had huddled fearfully inside their coop.

The coop was covered with plastic sheeting, so the rain probably wouldn't have been much of a problem, but Qing Mengzhu still carried them to the front courtyard and tucked them under the eaves.

As for the ducks, he had to let them huddle under the shelter in the backyard for the time being.

While Qing Mengzhu was busy, raindrops began to fall, hitting his eyelids and the tip of his nose.

He settled the ducks, covered the fertilizer vat, and hurried toward the front courtyard.

As he came out, he saw the otter standing in front of its den, rubbing its face.

On the other side, the red fox was also peering out from the entrance to its den. Both little animals looked alert and tense.

Seeing them like that, Qing Mengzhu hesitated for a moment, then beckoned to them. "Do you want to come home with me and get out of the rain?"

The two little animals didn't seem to understand. The otter in particular held its paws in front of it and stared blankly at Qing Mengzhu.

Qing Mengzhu took two steps forward and beckoned to them again, motioning for them to follow. The otter would probably be all right, but with a rainstorm this severe, the red fox's den would likely flood, and the fox would be flooded out too. It might even get sick from the rain.

Qing Mengzhu called to them a few times to see if it would work. He wasn't sure whether the two little creatures could understand him.

But looking back every few steps seemed to get the message across. The otter followed first, and the red fox followed slowly behind.

The rain came pattering down, and Qing Mengzhu quickly broke into a run, his long legs carrying him forward. The otter and the red fox ran after him.

He opened the courtyard gate and rushed inside. The two puppies barked a greeting, but when they saw the otter and red fox behind him, they raised their tails and barked warily in their little baby voices, even trying to bite them.

Qing Mengzhu quickly scooped up one puppy in each hand, supporting their soft, warm bellies, and opened the courtyard gate to let the otter and red fox in.

Neither the otter nor the red fox entered. Instead, they huddled beneath the entrance to his home, one on each side, like a pair of door gods.

Qing Mengzhu saw that the rain could hardly reach them there, so he left them alone.

The raindrops came pounding down so loudly that Qing Mengzhu wondered if it had started to hail.

He stuck his head out and watched carefully for a while. It really was just rain, but it was coming down extremely hard.

A cool, damp wind swept in, blowing away all the summer heat. The weather was no longer hot and stuffy; it was even a little cold. Goosebumps rose all over Qing Mengzhu's arms, and he felt better only after putting on a shirt.

The rainstorm went on for over an hour, leaving Qing Mengzhu's courtyard full of standing water. Eventually, he had to put on a bamboo hat and clear the dead branches and fallen leaves clogging the drain, lest the courtyard flood.

The water in the courtyard reached his ankles and was still rising.

At first, Qing Mengzhu had been delighted that, after such a long time without rain, a thoroughly refreshing downpour had finally arrived. But seeing this, his heart began to sink.

Sometime after three in the afternoon, close to four, the rain eased, leaving only fine strands of drizzle drifting down.