Fantasy Farm

translator: baumkuchen  editor: ellabells

The next day, the two fugitives who had regained consciousness finally cleared Lu Qingjiu of suspicion. After an examination, it was found that the wounds on their bodies weren’t serious, most were just flesh wounds. In their statement of confession, they said that their injuries had been caused by the chickens of Lu Qingjiu’s home pecking them. 

They were pecked by chickens? Obviously, the police officers didn’t believe them. But the two men’s attitudes remained firm as they continued to insist that it had happened like that, refusing to change their minds no matter what. From their expressions, it appeared that they were frightened by everything that had happened that night. Although the police officers in charge of the interrogation found this situation very strange, since their lives weren’t in danger, and they were escaped murderers, they couldn’t be bothered to look into it further.

Of course, this naturally didn’t include Hu Shu. Hu Shu was more than forty years old and could be considered a veteran police officer. While he hasn’t handled a thousand cases, there were at least eight hundred. However, these two cases involving Lu Qingjiu both had a hint of the supernatural.

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Originally, Hu Shu hadn’t believed in such things, but the case of the female ghost had truly left too deep of an impression on him. When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

Just as Hu Shu was lost in thought, his superior walked over and patted him on the shoulder, saying, “How is it, has there been any progress with the case?”

Hearing this, Hu Shu let out a bitter laugh, but didn’t give his superior a definite answer.

The case the police officer was agonising over had nothing to do with Lu Qingjiu. He had gone to the city, made his statement, and was currently driving the pickup truck back home. It needed to be said, ever since Bai Yuehu brought the pickup truck over, life became much more convenient. Now, whether he wanted to stock up on goods or take a trip to town, it was much easier. Most importantly, this pickup truck was incredibly oil efficient, basically tantamounting to zero oil consumption.

On the way home, Lu Qingjiu received a message from Zhu Miaomiao. A photograph was included in the message, showing Zhang Chuyang standing at the entrance to his office building, a brilliant smile on his face. However, what was most eye-catching about the photo wasn’t Zhang Chuyang, but rather, the fire-red banner hanging above Zhang Chuyang’s head: Congratulations President Zhang for his amazing million-dollar hair!

Lu Qingjiu, “……” He almost lost his grip on his phone and dropped it onto the ground. 

Zhu Miaomiao also sent over a voice message at the same time, saying that Zhang Chuyang shocked the entire department after his return. Everyone said that they never saw such an effective hair transplant before, and with such good results, too. There were quite a few people who were worried about their receding hairlines who tried to find out Zhu Miaomiao and Zhang Chuyang’s secret to success. But neither of them said anything, tacitly keeping Lu Qingjiu’s secret.

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“If there’s a good business opportunity, I’ll let you know in advance,” Zhu Miaomiao said, “If you’re okay with it, I’ll bring the person over, but if not, then never mind.”

Lu Qingjiu thanked Zhu Miaomiao and even sent her a big red packet. If not for Zhu Miaomiao’s help this time, he wouldn’t have been able to reach someone like Zhang Chuyang.

The moment Lu Qingjiu returned home, he spotted Yin Xun squatting at the entrance, staring at him with a pitiful eyes. 

“What’s with that look?” Lu Qingjiu broke out in goosebumps from his stare.

“If you had come back any later, Bai Yuehu and I would have starved to death,” Yin Xun cried, “The moment he gets hungry, his mood becomes horrible. I suspect that he was thinking of eating me.” It was the literal kind of eating, okay?

Bai Yuehu, sitting on his rocking chair off to the side, gave Yin Xun a look. Lu Qingjiu found the look in his eyes to be slightly familiar. Wasn’t it the kind of look Yin Xun had when looking at pork?

For a moment, he didn’t quite know whether to laugh or cry. He went out early today and didn’t make them breakfast, assuming that the two of them would be able to come up with something on their own. But after that time they got food poisoning, Bai Yuehu clearly didn’t have any interest whatsoever in Yin Xun’s cooking.

Lu Qingjiu said, “Okay, you two just wait a little, I’ll make you guys some noodles first.”

Noodles were the fastest to make, it would first stave off their hunger.

As he was preparing the noodles, Yin Xun ran over to ask Lu Qingjiu about what had happened last night. Lu Qingjiu had his head lowered to select vegetables. Upon hearing Yin Xun’s question, he looked up and said, “Last night, two thieves broke into the house. I had to go give my statement at the police station early this morning.”

“Thieves?” Yin Xun replied, “Why are they fretting over such small matters…” 

Lu Qingjiu responded, “What are you calling a ‘small matter’?” His hand movements paused. He asked, “Yin Xun, my chicks were picked by you, right?”

Yin Xun said, “Yup.”

Lu Qingjiu asked, “When you were picking them, you didn’t notice anything off about them?”

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Yin Xun’s expression was full of innocence, “Off? What could be off with them, it was just picking chicks, there wasn’t really anything to ‘pick’.” 

Lu Qingjiu, “Really?”

Yin Xun said, “Yeah.” His reply was very certain, without any intention of explaining exactly what was up with those chicks. Furthermore, from what he had said in the beginning, it was clear he already knew about those chicks’ fighting power. Otherwise, the one he would be worried about wouldn’t be the thieves, but rather Lu Qingjiu, who was targeted by the thieves.

Seeing Yin Xun didn’t want to speak further, Lu Qingjiu could only inwardly sigh and changed the subject before going back to focus on making noodles.

After Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun had their meal, the tense atmosphere in the house finally eased up. Don’t talk about how Bai Yuehu usually looked lazy and relaxed, the moment he got hungry, the look in that pair of beautiful phoenix eyes really couldn’t be withstood — in Yin Xun’s words, whoever he looked at, it was as if he was considering whether they could be eaten. 

After he finished making the noodles, Lu Qingjiu planned to go to the fields to pick some cabbage and chillies, and then use his newly-bought mason jars to make a jar of Leaping Water Cabbage. The weather was hot lately, Leaping Water Cabbage was both convenient and appetising, very suited to being a side dish.

Shuifu village was situated at a high altitude in the mountains, so under normal circumstances it wouldn’t get particularly hot. It was just today being an exception. It was only the end of June, but the temperature had been constantly rising. Yesterday’s highest temperature had already reached 37 degrees Celsius.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

There were pretty much no air conditioners in the village. Lu Qingjiu planned to find a time to go to town and get someone to install air conditioners in his home, and also in Yin Xun’s while they were at it.

Ever since he returned here, Yin Xun had helped Lu Qingjiu out a lot. All the relationships in the village from top to bottom were managed by him. Otherwise, the “outsider” Lu Qingjiu, who hadn’t been back to the village for a very long time, would have been ostracized. The smaller a village was, the more exclusive it would be. A village like Shuifu village hadn’t had outsiders come to live here for more than ten years. And someone like Lu Qingjiu, whose elders were no longer present, he was pretty much considered half an outsider. 

Lu Qingjiu picked several cabbages and placed them in his backpack. The Chinese cabbages were planted by Bai Yuehu. They tasted much better than those sold in town, fresh and sweet. Even if one just boiled them in plain water, they would still taste really good.

This patch of farmland had the best growth. In the last few days, another batch of tomatoes had started to ripen. Chao Qianyu even called to say that he was preparing to find a time to come over and collect the goods.

After carrying the cabbage back home, Lu Qingjiu first rinsed them clean, then began to prepare the ingredients for Leaping Water Cabbage. Leaping Water Cabbage was a type of pickled vegetable with a crisp texture; sour, spicy and appetising. When Lu Qingjiu lived on his own, he liked preparing it as a side-dish. This was his first time making it since coming here. After filling the mason jar, there was still some cabbage left. As Lu Qingjiu looked at it, he thought of simply giving it to Xiao Hua and Xiao Hei to eat. Eventually, he took the remaining cabbage and walked towards the pigsty.

By this time, the sky had already darkened. Lu Qingjiu originally thought Xiao Hua and Xiao Hei were already sleeping. He never thought that before he even neared the pigsty, he began to hear the sound of whispering. Lu Qingjiu immediately went on the alert. He deliberately lightened his footsteps, carefully walked over to the side of the pigsty, and looked inside. 

This look shocked Lu Qingjiu into dropping the cabbage in his hands on the ground.