Chapter 155: A Tacit Understanding Is Pretty Nice
The next day, as usual, Wen Yao headed out to check on the duck coop, only to spot a few extra people out in the fields. Aside from the Wang brothers, Wang Yong and Wang Yuan, there were a handful of old men who looked to be around the same age as Old Man Wen.
The group had gathered together and were wandering around the plots. They moved with extreme caution, utterly terrified of stepping on a single seedling.
Every gesture and touch as they inspected the sprouts was filled with meticulous care, as if they were afraid they might damage even a single leaf.
And who else could be leading them right down the center but Old Man Wen?
“Grandpappy, what are you all doing?” Just as Wen Yao was about to lift her foot to step into the field and walk over, Old Man Wen’s hand shot up instantly as he barked, “Freeze! You stay right there.”
Left with no choice, Wen Yao pulled her foot back. She looked down at her feet; there wasn’t anything beneath them.
Old Man Wen carefully wove his way out, twisting left and right to avoid brushing against a single seedling. He took a close look at the ground beneath Wen Yao’s feet, and only after seeing that she hadn’t actually stepped on anything did he let out a sigh of relief.
Wen Yao looked utterly bewildered.
“You careless girl, you’re always so clumsy. Don’t you go trampling them,” Old Man Wen chided affectionately.
Wen Yao: “…”
After a brief silence, she burst into a roaring laugh, saying as she chuckled, “Grandpappy, aren’t you being a bit too overprotective? They’re all growing perfectly fine now. A single step isn’t going to kill them.”
Old Man Wen’s face flushed red at the girl’s teasing. He knew he was being overly anxious, but the moment he thought about the incredible benefits of these crops, he couldn’t bear it. He couldn’t even bear to see them lose a single leaf.
“What brought you out here anyway?” Old Man Wen asked.
Wen Yao glanced into the field. There was Old Uncle Wang, another old man they had to call Second Grandpa—who was Old Man Wen’s cousin—and another fellow from the village whom everyone called Limping Yang because of his bad leg. All of them were incredibly close friends of Old Man Wen.
“Grandpappy, what are you guys up to? Why are Uncle Wang and the others here too?” Wen Yao asked curiously.
Old Man Wen flicked the pipe in his hand. “Your Uncle Wang and the others just came to take a look.”
Wen Yao offered a casual “oh” and didn’t press further. Grandma had mentioned before that these few men were Grandpappy’s childhood friends who had grown up with him. It was highly likely that Old Man Wen had already told them about the crops planted in these fields.
“Then you all enjoy your walk. I’m heading home to find Grandma.” With that, Wen Yao called out toward the field and waved her hand. “Uncle Wang, Second Grandpa, Uncle Yang, I’m leaving now!”
The three men lifted their heads from the field and waved back. “Aye, walk slowly now! Don’t trip!”
Wen Yao answered back, skipping away happily in high spirits.
Old Man Wen watched Wen Yao walk away with eyes filled with nothing but doting affection. Only after she was far gone did he carefully return to the field, stepping up to his old companions. “Nothing absolutely must go wrong with the things in this field. Other people might be able to forget what happened that year, but I can’t.”
At the mention of this, the expressions on the other three men’s faces shifted into different shades of emotion, though the common thread among them all was sorrow and lingering dread.
“Alright, rest assured. We’ll come by to check on it more often these days and make sure it’s well tended to,” the three promised.
Old Man Wen looked at the three of them, hesitating for a long moment before finally saying, “Eldest was the one who managed to find these seeds. Once the harvest comes in, I’ll speak with him and make sure to save some seeds for each of your families.”
The three men’s faces lit up with joy. “Cousin / Brother Wen, thank you so very much.”
Old Man Wen waved his hand. “Out of everyone who survived back then, only us few brothers are left. None of you want to encounter that kind of tragedy ever again. Therefore, you must keep the contents of this field an absolute secret. You can’t even tell your own families. If people find out and come to steal it, it would be one thing if they managed to keep it alive. But if they ruin it, this is life-saving food we’re talking about—what a terrible waste that would be.”
The three nodded in rapid succession, promising their agreement.
When Wen Yao returned home, she related the encounter to Old Madam Luo.
Old Madam Luo was busy tidying up her crocks of soybean paste. She let out a soft sigh. “This is a knot in your grandpappy’s heart. Decades ago, when your grandpappy was only a few years old, a terrible famine struck our region and claimed many lives. In your grandpappy’s family, he was the eldest; his two younger brothers both perished, and only he managed to survive. Your Second Grandpa’s family had it even worse. The things your dad told him yesterday—he’s taken every single word straight to heart.”
Wen Yao felt a sharp pang of sympathy. “Grandma, there’s actually a history like that?”
Wen Yao had always assumed this was merely a world inside a book, a place devoid of a real past or history. She never expected that even a world inside a book had evolved into a fully independent reality, where every single person’s existence left a genuine trace.
These details might not have been written by the original author, yet they comprised the actual lives of these people.
Old Madam Luo talked a great deal with Wen Yao, and when she turned her head, she noticed the girl was spacing out.
“What are you thinking about?” Old Madam Luo called out.
Wen Yao snapped out of her thoughts. “Nothing, Grandma. What did you just say?”
Seeing that she hadn’t really been listening, and considering these matters were all in the past anyway with no real need to dwell on them, Old Madam Luo shook her head. “It’s nothing. I was just saying that if your grandpappy wants to guard it, just let him. He won’t feel at peace unless he watches it himself. By the way, how has business been at your roast duck restaurant lately?”
At the mention of this, Wen Yao definitely had plenty to say.
“We can sell out every single duck each day now. Sister Qiu even mentioned that it’s still not enough to meet demand, and she asked when our family’s ducks will finally grow up,” Wen Yao smiled.
Hearing that business was booming brought immense relief to Old Madam Luo. The tension left her shoulders, and her smile widened. “Your second and third aunts wish they could practically live in the duck coop right now. But no matter how fast they grow, it’ll still take a month or two. It can’t happen overnight.”
It was just like her soybean paste; the first batch would take at least a month to finish. To put it plainly, one absolutely could not rush when it came to making money.
“Just what on earth is that stuff you planted along the foot of the wall? I see it’s grown quite tall.” Old Madam Luo felt that when it came to the eldest brother’s family, both Wen Xiuyi and Wen Yao acted completely eccentric all day long. Only Xiao Jun and Datou were somewhat normal. She truly didn’t know what kind of things those two were constantly brewing up day in and day out.
The sunflowers Wen Yao had planted were growing beautifully now. Perhaps because they were products of the space, every single sunflower had grown incredibly thick and robust. Miraculously, every single one had survived, without a single dud among the seeds.
“Flowers, Grandma. Edible flowers,” Wen Yao answered. Since they were already laying all their cards on the table—with the potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes out in the open, not to mention the chilis and tomatoes—Wen Yao had noticed that Old Man Wen and Old Madam Luo didn’t even care to ask questions anymore. There was no longer any need for them to hide or be secretive.
Being completely open about it while maintaining a tacit understanding was actually pretty nice.
Upon hearing this, Old Madam Luo wondered if it was another rare commodity.
“It couldn’t possibly be another crop that can fill people’s bellies, could it?” Old Madam Luo asked. If the old man found out about something like that, wouldn’t he end up sitting at the eldest son’s house every single day?
Wen Yao burst out laughing. “Grandma, not everything can fill a belly. I don’t really know how to describe it to you for the time being. Once it fully grows, I’ll show you. Actually, it’s quite similar to our pumpkin seeds; it’s a type of melon seed.”
A visible trace of mild disappointment flickered in Old Madam Luo’s eyes. “Oh, so it’s just melon seeds.” She had assumed it was another lucrative item. Since it was just a snack, she would just let the children grow it for fun.
