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Gong Quantiao shook his head. "It's all the same. The land around here is very flat."

After driving a little farther, Gong Quantiao pulled over and pointed to a patch in a large tomato field below the road. "Only the tomatoes on the two mu in the middle are badly split. I can't figure out why."

Qing Mengzhu shaded his eyes and looked down at the tomato field. "Let's go take a look."

Gong Quantiao hurriedly led the way. "We can get down from here."

They followed a ridge between the fields and soon reached the tomato patch.

Qing Mengzhu could tell at a glance that Gong Quantiao's tomatoes were a different variety from his own.

Gong Quantiao's tomatoes were pinker and larger, and they looked like a variety meant to be eaten as fruit.

These tomatoes should have been round, pink, and good-looking, but many had split open, exposing their greenish-yellow insides. They looked misshapen and downright ugly.

Qing Mengzhu reached up and picked a tomato. The split was deep, and the skin around its edges had hardened. Its tomato scent was rather faint.

The tomato must have started splitting as soon as it began to grow.

Holding the tomato, Qing Mengzhu went farther into the field, picking fruit and examining it.

He soon discovered that most of the split tomatoes had deep cracks, just like the first one he had picked.

Gong Quantiao asked Qing Mengzhu hopefully, "Can you find the cause?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "Did you use a growth hormone when this batch of tomatoes had just started to set fruit?"

Gong Quantiao nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, I did. But I used it on my other tomatoes too. Was there something wrong with the hormone? Did some expired hormone get mixed in?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "That's possible, but I'm more inclined to think you made the concentration too high when you sprayed these two plots, causing the fruit to split."

Gong Quantiao said, "Oh, what should I do?"

Qing Mengzhu said, "Try giving them some additional fertilizer. I think the tomatoes may have grown too fast and split because they weren't getting enough water and nutrients. Give them extra water and fertilizer and see if you can save them. If that doesn't work, you'll just have to wait for this batch of split fruit to finish growing. The next batch should be fine."

Gong Quantiao was skeptical. "I'll give it a try."

After Qing Mengzhu gave his advice, Gong Quantiao invited him home for lunch.

Qing Mengzhu declined. "You don't have to be so polite. I have livestock at home, and I need to get back to feed them at noon. I can't stay."

Gong Quantiao said, "You can feed them after lunch."

Qing Mengzhu smiled. "It'll be too late by then. Besides, I have something else to do at home, so I can't stay."

Thinking about returning to his fields, Qing Mengzhu skipped his nap after lunch and went straight out to bury the fertilizer. He kept working until the sun was setting before carrying some vegetables home.

He had just reached his gate when he spotted a familiar car again.

A tall man had just gotten out of the car. He turned his face and happened to meet Qing Mengzhu's eyes.

Surprised, Qing Mengzhu went over to greet him. "What brings you here? Didn't you have work today?"

Ming Chunxi said, "It's Friday. I came over after work."

Ming Chunxi explained, "I sent you a message, but you didn't reply."

Qing Mengzhu took out his phone and opened WeChat. Sure enough, there was a message from Ming Chunxi. "I was working all afternoon and hardly looked at my phone."

Ming Chunxi had guessed as much. "About the lotus tea last time-someone stole your lotuses?"

Qing Mengzhu opened the door to let Ming Chunxi inside, blocking the two puppies with his foot when they rushed out. "It's all right. They've caught the person. How did you know?"

Ming Chunxi said, "Zhao Hexi told me. Will the thief retaliate after getting out of detention?"

Only then did Qing Mengzhu realize why he had come, and warmth filled his heart. "There are plenty of people in the village, and I'm no pushover. The thief probably won't dare."

"Besides-" Qing Mengzhu gestured for Ming Chunxi to look at the puppies he was holding back with his foot. "I have dogs too. It'll be fine."

The two puppies looked curiously at Ming Chunxi, their short little tails wagging slightly.

Ming Chunxi couldn't see what use the two puppies would be against a thief. He lowered his eyes to look at them, then raised his head again.

As they entered the courtyard, Ming Chunxi said, "I wanted to ask if you'd like to install a surveillance camera in your field."

Qing Mengzhu said, "Put a camera in the field? That seems a little excessive."

People came and went through the fields, and so far, he had never heard of anyone installing a surveillance camera in one.

Ming Chunxi said, "It's not expensive. A 360-degree camera costs a little over a thousand yuan. It has algorithmic enhancement and can capture people's faces very clearly. If anyone steals from your field in the future, the footage can serve as evidence."

Qing Mengzhu thought for a moment. "Would it be a problem if it filmed passersby?"

Ming Chunxi said, "You just need to adjust the angle. Passersby probably won't go out of their way to enter your field."

Ming Chunxi had made the trip specifically to discuss the camera.

Qing Mengzhu didn't want to let his thoughtfulness go to waste, so he ultimately agreed.

A friend of Ming Chunxi's installed the camera. He ran a company in Vine City.

After Qing Mengzhu explained what he needed, the man reassured him. "Our industry is well established now. Plenty of people who run orchards or grow greenhouse vegetables install cameras. They're safer and more convenient than keeping dogs the traditional way."

Qing Mengzhu said, "I see. I really didn't realize things had advanced so much."

The man laughed. "Our industry has developed pretty quickly, mainly because our country's industry has developed so fast. Hardware prices have come down, so the hardware and software together don't cost much, but installing them can give you real peace of mind."

While the man was installing the camera in Qing Mengzhu's field, Tan Wenlei and several villagers working nearby came over to watch.

Everyone was curious about the solar-powered camera, which looked like a streetlight.

After hearing the price, several people said they were tempted, but in the end, none of them placed an order.

Although installing a camera in a field wasn't particularly expensive, there was no need to spend the extra money. If they needed one, they could always ask later.

Qing Changhong, however, hurried over after hearing the news and promptly ordered several cameras.

He raised chickens on the mountain and needed cameras to keep an eye on them.

Qing Changhong said, "I lose several chickens every month, and I don't even know how. Someone might be taking them, or wild animals might be carrying them off. I'll feel better with a camera installed."

Tan Wenlei nodded repeatedly in agreement. "You really do need one. Your free-range chickens don't sell cheap."

Qing Changhong said, "I'd install one even if they sold cheap. I keep taking losses without knowing why, and it's so frustrating."

Ming Chunxi's friend worked efficiently and had the cameras installed in just one day.

He also provided after-sales service. If there were any problems, they could contact his company, and someone would come over to resolve them.

Qing Mengzhu was grateful to Ming Chunxi and specifically asked him to stay at his home for two days.

Ming Chunxi helped with the weeding and burying fertilizer. Whatever Qing Mengzhu did, he helped with it, looking nothing like an elite executive at a major company.

Only at night, when Qing Mengzhu watched him put on non-prescription glasses and rapidly write code at his computer, saw the shadow his high nose cast across his face, and admired the fine lines visible beneath his T-shirt, did it feel real that this man was indeed an elite.

Qing Mengzhu didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt that Ming Chunxi was particularly relaxed at his place, a little more human.

It was unlike how he was outside, where it seemed as though he were wrapped in a layer of code, responding to different people with the precision of a preset program.

Of course, he was charming that way too, but Qing Mengzhu preferred how Ming Chunxi was at his place.

Qing Mengzhu always exercised restraint around Ming Chunxi, yet seventy or eighty percent of his attention was drawn to him involuntarily.

It wasn't until Sunday night, after dinner, when Ming Chunxi had left, that Qing Mengzhu regained one hundred percent of his attention.

That came as a relief, but it also made the house feel a little empty.

Even the fluffy, barking puppies couldn't completely dispel that emptiness.

On Monday, Qing Mengzhu got up on time, following his usual routine.