Chapter 54

The village is mostly inhabited by middle-aged and elderly people who have stayed behind. It is very quiet at night, with only the occasional chirping of insects and barking of dogs.

They walked along the road into the fields, where the solar streetlights on both sides provided them with a warm, orange light.

The countryside was quiet, and the evening breeze was cool. Even without stars, walking in such a place would be very pleasant, let alone with a sky full of stars tonight.

Qing Mengzhu looked up at the stars. "I used to be very anxious."

Ming Chunxi turned to look at him, somewhat surprised. "What do you mean?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I've always felt like there's no way back. If I don't work hard one day, my life will be over."

Ming Chunxi's voice was gentle. "Are you feeling better now?"

Qing Mengzhu nodded. "Much better. I feel that as long as I'm willing to work hard, the land will definitely give me some reward. At the very least, I won't end up homeless and starving. Thinking like this makes me feel much better."

Ming Chunxi paused for a moment, then said, "Besides relying on the land, perhaps you could try trusting your friends."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "I will in the future. I used to get stuck on things, afraid of causing too much trouble for my friends, and I didn't know how to repay the favor."

Ming Chunxi: "Not every friendship is based on an equal exchange."

"Yes, but I don't want to gamble with people's hearts." Qing Mengzhu turned to look at him. "What about you? Sometimes I don't understand why you are so much richer and more hardworking than the average person?"

Ming Chunxi: "Is it possible that a life without pursuing ideals can easily feel empty?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Do you feel that pursuing your ideals fills your life so much that you don't have time for anything else?"

Ming Chunxi replied without hesitation, "No."

Qing Mengzhu smiled and said, "That's wonderful; everyone is pursuing their ideal life."

Ming Chunxi fell silent for a moment, then said, "Work when you're working, and hang out with friends when you're resting. I think that's a good thing."

Qing Mengzhu: "I think it's great too. This is the life I've always dreamed of."

Ming Chunxi was about to say something when the two dogs, now awake, chased after them, barking, "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu turned her head, beckoned Gouzi over, and began to rub the Guard's head. "Why are you here?"

The Dharma Protector, tongue lolling out, barked, "Woof woof!"

Qing Mengzhu: "You followed us after you saw us come out, right?"

Dharma Protector: "Woof!"

Ming Chunxi Qing Mengzhu laughing and playing with the dogs, Ming Chunxi bent down and gently rubbed the Dharma Protector's neck. "They're so well-behaved."

Qing Mengzhu: "You've always been a good girl, and now that you're more sensible, you're even better, aren't you?"

The Guard who met Qing Mengzhu's gaze proudly and loudly barked, "Woof woof!"

Looking at Qing Mengzhu's smiling face, Ming Chunxi felt that this peaceful life was quite nice.

Chapter 54

After Qixi Festival, the weather has cooled down a bit.

It's not noticeable during the day, but the temperature is a bit lower at night, and the wind mostly turns to a northerly wind, which is dry and cool.

The crops grew better after the weather cooled down.

The new batch of tomatoes that Qing Mengzhu planted has started to flower, and they should bear fruit next month.

Now the chili peppers are in their peak season, with more peppers on the trees than there are lanterns hanging on the trees during the Lunar New Year; we can't finish picking them all each time.

At this moment, the seeds of Gastrodia elata and Asparagus cochinchinensis that he planted also sprouted one after another.

What surprised him most was that one morning when he woke up, he found a side shoot sprouting from the flowerpot where he planted bamboo.

He examined the flowerpot several times to confirm that it was a bamboo bud and not some other weed.

Not only the side shoots, but this section of bamboo has also turned greener, no longer resembling a piece of yellow jade.

Judging from Qing Mengzhu's rudimentary planting skills, he was certain that this bamboo stalk would survive. With proper care, it should sprout many side shoots within a month, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

If things go well, these side shoots will continue to grow and then within two or three years grow into a grove of bamboo, from which he can then harvest fresh bamboo shoots.

Overjoyed, Qing Mengzhu immediately put the planting of bamboo on the agenda.

He selected a fertile spot on his own mountain near the road, intending to clear the land and plant bamboo.

Bamboo has a well-developed root system that can easily crush other plants, so he deliberately avoided planting gastrodia elata there.

Besides that, he didn't choose any other places where bamboo had been planted before.

If you plant bamboo in a place where it has been planted before, it is easy for the bamboo to spread pests and diseases from the previous bamboo. It is safer to find another place to plant it.

Now, the task of picking and selling vegetables for the Qing Mengzhu family has been largely entrusted to Feng Ningxiang and the others, so he no longer needs to go to the vegetable garden in the mornings.

Taking advantage of the cool weather, he went up the mountain early in the morning with a hoe, intending to first clear out the area where he planted bamboo, dig out tree roots and stones from under the soil, and then apply a layer of base fertilizer.

Once everything is done, we'll choose a day after it rains to transplant the bamboo from the flowerpot.

There's no need to be particular about the season for planting bamboo; it can generally be transplanted after it rains.

Bamboo has a well-developed root system, but it doesn't burrow into the soil; instead, it grows sideways. When transplanting, you can simply dig a shallow hole and bury it, making it very easy to grow.

The tree roots underground were difficult to dig out. Qing Mengzhu was busy all morning, and only after the sun rose and the weather got warm did he go down the mountain to go home and rest.

No need to carry the hoe anymore, just leave it in the grass.

This is his family's mountain, and no one usually comes up here.

Qing Mengzhu even took off her gloves and put them together with the hoe, only taking her mobile phone with her.

He forgot to charge his electric scooter yesterday, so he didn't ride it today.

It wasn't far anyway, so I just strolled back.

The village is crisscrossed by rivers, so you're likely to encounter one no matter which way you go.

When Qing Mengzhu returned home, she saw a group of children playing in the river from afar on the main road.

It's hot, and adults and children alike enjoy swimming in the river. However, children can only swim with an adult present; swimming alone is dangerous, and no family allows it.

Qing Mengzhu could tell from the group of children that they had sneaked out to play, so she walked over there to call the children swimming to get up.

Before he could even get close, a little boy who looked only three or four years old seemed to want to call out to the person in the water. He took two steps forward, then stumbled and slid straight into the water.

The children were stunned. One girl jumped into the water and tried to rescue the little boy.

After the little boy drowned, he struggled desperately, but the girl who jumped in to rescue him couldn't get close. Instead, she was hit several times and seemed to be running out of strength.

It all happened in a split second.

Qing Mengzhu felt a buzzing in her head, as if she had returned to that summer when her father went swimming in the wild and unfortunately drowned, looking soaking wet after being pulled out.

Before this, he had never imagined that life was so fragile, that a person could disappear into the river of time in just a few minutes and never be seen again.

Once the children on the shore realized what was happening, they immediately knelt down and tried to reach out and pull the little boy up.

The little boy slipped into deeper water while struggling.

The girl who had originally gone to rescue the little boy was too scared to follow. She paddled in the water for a moment and called to the people on the shore to call for an adult.

The children's piercing cries and pleas for help shattered Qing Mengzhu's nightmare like needles.

Qing Mengzhu shivered, and as if waking from a dream, ran over. "Go find the others!"

With that, he plunged into the river.

The river water was noticeably cooler than the air temperature; apart from the surface layer warmed by the sun, the bottom was icy cold.

The cold water clung to Qing Mengzhu's hands and feet like the limbs of some cold-blooded animal, and his face turned pale instantly.

He strained his eyes and sank underwater to pinpoint the location of the drowning boy.

The river water wasn't clear; the bottom was a mess, and all he could see was a muddy yellow. The sand and debris in the river obscured his vision like fog.