Chapter 52: The Old Peach Tree
They pushed deeper into the mountains.
After another two or three li, they finally arrived at the old house.
Jian Xingxia coaxed Liang Chengcheng to cheer her up. “You picked the perfect time to come. It’s been clear these past few days, so the road is still passable.”
Jian Xingxia added, “The day I first came back, it happened to pour heavily. The mountain road was nothing but mud, and even the tricycle couldn’t move. I had to lug my suitcase by hand across these last few hundred meters.”
Hearing this as they carried the luggage down from the vehicle together, Liang Chengcheng gave Jian Xingxia a hug. “Poor Xiaxia.”
The moment she stepped inside the old house, Liang Chengcheng instantly perked up.
“What beautiful flowers!”
A moment later, she gasped in awe. “Oh my god, how can there be such a massive old peach tree!”
The typical lifespan of a peach tree was only twenty to thirty years. Over time, not only would its yield dwindle, but the tree itself would accumulate pests and diseases, naturally aging until it died.
Yet the canopy of this old peach tree in the backyard practically took up half the courtyard. Half of it hung inside the yard, while the other half of the branches grew tall and proud, stretching right over the wall.
Jian Xingxia didn’t dare say a word.
When she lived at her grandmother’s house as a child, the old peach tree already looked like this. Now that so many years had passed, the old peach tree still looked exactly the same.
Originally, she had been just as astonished as Liang Chengcheng. But now that she was the “Proprietress,” she could accept any bizarre or wondrous anomaly.
Liang Chengcheng offered a sincere suggestion: “Xiaxia, you should ask the elders in the village if there’s any proof of this peach tree’s age. If it’s old enough, you can get it cordoned off as a protected plant.”
Jian Xingxia shook her head.
Before she could speak, Liang Chengcheng suddenly realized something. “Ah, I’m sorry, Xiaxia, I forgot…”
Jian Xingxia had no other family left. Her father, her only surviving relative, already had another family of his own.
Jian Xingxia smiled, not minding it much. “Silly Orange, this tree belongs to my family, and I can live here in peace and quiet. If this tree became a protected plant, I wouldn’t even have a place to stay.”
Liang Chengcheng nodded. “True. We used to have an old pine tree at our place, and people from the neighborhood and the plant protection association came by to look at it every single day. My grandma got so annoyed that she finally let them dig it up and take it away.”
Shifting the subject, Liang Chengcheng looked at the peaches hanging precariously from the branches, her mouth watering a bit.
“Xiaxia, do you think these peaches are good?”
Jian Xingxia went straight to grab a pole and a large woven sack.
She handed the pole to Liang Chengcheng while she held the woven sack open with both hands like a large sheet of cloth to catch them.
“Give it a try. I think the texture is pretty decent.”
Liang Chengcheng used the bamboo pole to knock the very tip of a peach branch, trying her best to bring the fruit down without harming the old tree. The peaches on this tree weighed nearly a catty each, and the slender twigs couldn’t hold their weight. With several heavy thuds, four or five peaches tumbled down.
Jian Xingxia shifted nimbly, catching every single one without missing a drop.
There were three outdoor faucets in the courtyard: one outside the bathroom, one next to the well, and one near the backyard gate.
Liang Chengcheng turned on the faucet by the well to wash the peaches.
“The mountains have running water and electricity now? That’s wonderful.”
The moment she arrived at the old house, she had spotted the expanse of photovoltaic panels on the roof and in the courtyard. She wasn’t particularly curious about that, though; when they went to the countryside for practical classes, plenty of villages had them installed. Liang Chengcheng assumed it was the same for Jian Xingxia’s grandmother’s house.
Jian Xingxia smiled. “We have electricity, but there’s no municipal running water. There are plenty of water sources in the mountains—wells, creeks, and springs. We install our own water pumps to pump the water into a massive tank on the roof. Our daily water supply flows down from that tank.”
Because the water tank was placed high and was quite large, the water pressure was decent, no worse than tap water.
Liang Chengcheng was pleasantly surprised. “Doesn’t that mean you don’t have to pay water bills?”
“No electricity bills either.”
Jian Xingxia suggested that Liang Chengcheng explore the yard first. “I planted some vegetables out back. I’ll go check on them before the sun sets and give them some water while I’m at it.”
“I’ll come too.”
Jian Xingxia quickly declined. “No, don’t. You’ve been traveling all day, and you twisted your ankle several times in those high heels earlier. Take a rest first, and I’ll take you out there tomorrow during the day.”
“Alright then.”
Liang Chengcheng massaged her foot, listening to Jian Xingxia. “I’ll unpack my luggage first and change into different shoes.”
“Okay. This room is yours. There’s only one bathroom, out in the backyard. The water heater you bought has arrived, and it’s up and running.”
Giving her a brief rundown, Jian Xingxia shouldered her hoe and headed out from the backyard.
There was naturally nothing unusual about the small vegetable patch right next to the backyard. After a quick inspection, she hurried through the patch of tall wild grass to the other large field.
Since the furniture delivery workers had arrived unexpectedly today, Jian Xingxia had sent Dahei into the mountains early in the morning to gather chestnuts. She had strictly instructed him to keep an eye on the time and head back the moment his shift was up.
She had left his “wages” by the edge of the clearing beforehand. Coming over to check now, the basket of wages had vanished.
In its place stood four massive, bulging sacks of chestnuts.
Jian Xingxia tried to heft one up—oof, she couldn’t lift it at all. Her strength wasn’t half bad; when she worked as a delivery runner in the dorm buildings, she could handle four 6L bottles of mineral water in a single trip. But a single sack of these chestnuts far exceeded fifty catties. Jian Xingxia felt she could only drag it along, not carry it back.
Forget it, she would leave them here for now. When Dahei came for his next shift, she would just have him carry them back.
Seeing the wages gone and the chestnuts delivered, Jian Xingxia knew Dahei had already gone back, which set her mind at ease.
She turned back toward the old house.
Liang Chengcheng had already taken a quick shower and changed into a lightweight nightdress. On her feet were the new slippers Jian Xingxia had bought for her.
“These are mine, right?” Liang Chengcheng kicked up a foot, showing off the green dog-patterned slippers. She had spotted them on the tricycle this afternoon, and Jian Xingxia had mentioned the whole vehicle load was bought for her.
Jian Xingxia laughed. “Of course they’re yours!”
Liang Chengcheng handed Jian Xingxia a massive peach.
“This peach is absolutely delicious, so sweet and fragrant! The flesh is so soft, it’s just pure peach juice with every bite!”
Having eaten it, Liang Chengcheng immediately slipped into her family heiress persona and asked Jian Xingxia, “Are there more peach trees like this around here? What’s the yield? Is it possible to establish an independent peach orchard?”
Jian Xingxia burst out laughing. “There are plenty of peach trees, but as you saw, they’re scattered all over the mountains. No one tends to them, so the fruit they bear is just average.”
Jian Xingxia thought about it and said, “This one at my place was meticulously cared for by my grandmother. She used to dig a pit right beneath the tree and bury fish scales, fish innards, and whatever bones or meat scraps we didn’t eat.”
Fish fertilizer was an exceptional nutrient boost for flowers and fruits.
Liang Chengcheng felt a deep sense of regret. “It would be wonderful if there were a peach orchard. The quality of this peach is outstanding.”
Jian Xingxia reminded her, “Transportation is also a major hurdle.”
Although the mountain road was paved, it wasn’t suitable for cargo trucks. The village had installed concrete bollards specifically to block large vehicles. It was only because Jian Xingxia had just returned that the villagers gave her face, helping to move them aside so the trucks carrying the solar power system and the furniture could get through. Otherwise, regular heavy trucks couldn’t get in at all.
“Fair enough,” Liang Chengcheng pivoted and suggested instead, “But Xiaxia, this peach tree of yours truly is remarkable. It looks beautiful and bears excellent fruit. Why don’t you start a homestay up here in the mountains? That could count as a unique draw.”
Liang Chengcheng excelled at spending money, and she was equally enthusiastic about figuring out ways to make it. Since she couldn’t supply her family’s restaurants, she wanted Jian Xingxia to find a way to make use of it.
