Chapter 92: Growing Toward the Sun
Kuang Biao could hardly wait!
He roughly estimated how big 20 square meters would be. The moment Huai Yu turned around, his bamboo roots were already shooting into the ground with a shua shua shua sound.
Then the soil began to bulge, and one chubby bamboo shoot after another started stubbornly pushing their way out of the earth…
When Huai Yu returned carrying the basket, she found a fresh, lush little bamboo grove had already sprouted. Judging by the area… it had to be more than 20 square meters!
She took a deep breath and decided she needed to buy a ruler next time.
From now on, she’d draw the boundary—not a single centimeter more!
But this time, she just circled around the new bamboo casually, then shook her head and sighed dramatically, “Kuang Biao, oh Kuang Biao… you’re not being honest! We agreed on 20 square meters, but this has to be at least two more!”
Kuang Biao did some mental math—he was pretty sure he’d gone three meters over. But since Huai Yu didn’t seem to notice, he felt smug again.
Nothing better than getting a good deal—bamboo really loves a bargain!
He eyed the two chubby gray geese in the basket with exaggerated disdain. “Look at these dummies, just eat and drink without a brain… They’ll flop around the bamboo grove like it’s nothing!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll watch them for you! I’m bamboo—solid as a nail, one leaf at a time!”
Huai Yu thought to herself, Yeah, each bamboo leaf really is like a nail—one that can pierce through tree trunks.
While there was still light in the sky, she carried the basket into the depths of the bamboo grove. Kuang Biao shouted after her, “You’re going too far in! It’s not convenient to check on them from there. Why not keep them near the edge, just behind the house?”
“No can do,” Huai Yu replied seriously.
“These two geese are destructive and fast runners. What if they poke a hole in your neat square-shaped grove?”
Pfft, as if I’d be afraid of that, Kuang Biao thought.
But Huai Yu’s consideration made him a bit bashful. “Listen to you, being all polite… Do I look like the kind of bamboo who’s afraid of a missing patch?”
His bamboo leaves rustled like a strong, proud declaration, “Relax, I will keep an eye on them!”
“If they get hungry, they can even eat my bamboo shoots. I’ve got plenty—you don’t need to worry.”
Huai Yu figured she really couldn’t worry much anymore.
If those geese decided to jab her, she couldn’t even fight back. This was the best she could do.
Her baby chicks were still her favorite.
Not too mutated, still fluffy and yellow, with cute chirpy voices and zero threat.
Come to think of it, even though the geese had cost more, you really do get what you pay for. These mutated animals… no more “great deals” next time.
Huai Yu was done with that, but Boss Tang? He was very tempted.
Not to mention, the geese’s combat power alone was enviable.
And apparently they were becoming trendy in the capital. Now that he has free time, maybe he should get one too?
But he didn’t have much experience or connections in this area.
After thinking it over, he decided to visit his buddy at the police station—Gao Ming.
“Ming, my man, I need to ask you about something…”
He didn’t even finish his sentence before Gao Ming was already clutching his hand with desperation in his eyes, “Bro! You have to help me! I’m begging you!”
He gripped Tang’s hand tightly. “There’s a treasure in the upcoming auction—a treasure I raised myself with love and care! You can’t let anyone else buy it! They won’t treat it right!”
With snot and tears, it was clear the man truly cared.
But Boss Tang stared at the hand gripping his so tightly, a growing sense of doom creeping up his spine.
A moment later, his face turned green.
…
The two pounds of pork she’d just bought had been minced and stir-fried, good for another two days. The five pounds of pork fat had been rendered into two large containers of lard. Paired with the bamboo shoots she sliced today…
Wow!
The aroma, the crunch, the richness—it was all on point.
After eating her fill and cleaning up, she pulled out the three new books she’d gotten today—
“Eight Babies from One Pregnancy: The Innocent Girl’s Domineering Takeover”
“The Lover Out of Reach”
“Growing Toward the Sun”
Which one to read?
With the solar lamp shining above, Huai Yu basked in the joy of a sudden windfall of mental nourishment.
The first two books were a bit over-filtered for her mood. She wasn’t in the mood to figure out how to raise geese either—she’d find out by tomorrow anyway.
And as for the one Boss Tang called “A toad raising a swan” kind of story… those five words alone had shattered all her romantic illusions.
So—
She opened “Growing Toward the Sun.” The title alone evoked a sense of chasing light—tragic yet uplifting… Surely this would be a classic, dramatic romance, right?
Huai Yu was full of hope.
One minute in, her brows furrowed. She felt the vibes of star-crossed lovers and an unbreakable heroine.
Three minutes in, her face twisted with indescribable expression.
Ten minutes in, she was zoning out.
Half an hour later, Huai Yu couldn’t take it anymore and drifted off to sleep.
The new book slipped from her hand, pages falling open to a striking prologue:
“The sun casts its radiant feathered arrows,
Onto its bright and delicate flower crown.
At night, wind and rain strip her petals,
But in the morning, she still turns toward the sun.”
Chapter One: Key Tips for Growing Sunflowers
…
In her dreams, Huai Yu cultivated 100 acres of land and sowed them with sunflower seeds. She tirelessly managed irrigation, fertilization, weeding, and pest control.
Eventually, a sea of sunflowers bloomed, following the sun by day, chasing the twilight… then after sunset, twisting their heads in unison to eerily return to their original positions…
She was jolted awake by this Lovecraftian nightmare, her whole body aching, bones creaking.
She was even a little sore.
In a daze, she rummaged around and pulled out a pack of the nutritional fluid she’d stocked up on, deciding to drink it later.
Not because she missed the taste, but because she’d finally realized: she might still be growing.
Her regular meals weren’t enough—she needed this nutrient blend to make up the difference… even if it tasted awful.
Full and organized, she headed to the pond to fetch two buckets of water for settling.
The four or five-acre pond was clear, full of green aquatic plants—but not a single trace of those tiny fish and shrimp she caught last time. Relying on this pond for fish? Might as well wait for the Year of the Monkey.
Holding her pricey fish trap, she debated: should she head to the mountain to set it first, or go straight to the Jinyuan Community market?
Oh, right—she needed to bring a basket of bamboo shoots to Zhou Qian…
Ah!
She finally remembered what she’d forgotten during her lovely morning—
The geese!
Her geese!
She grabbed her hoe and dashed toward the bamboo grove behind the house.
As soon as she rounded the corner, she froze.
Overnight, a thick blanket of fresh green bamboo leaves now covered the ground. The once lush bamboo grove was visibly thinned.
Sunlight streamed in, making the once dim and damp grove inexplicably bright.
But what exactly had happened?
Huai Yu didn’t dare to imagine.
—
Author’s note:
The sunflower poem is from 1943, written by Wang Yaping.
