Gourd Farm

Chapter 17:  The Car Broke Down

I looked over at the other side and saw the fruits and cucumbers. It seemed like the cucumbers were growing faster than the watermelon, and now the cucumber seedlings were almost as tall as the watermelon.

The temperature in the greenhouse was a bit too high, so I lifted both ends of the doors to allow for better ventilation, which would be beneficial for growth.

It seemed like I needed to closely monitor the growth of the seedlings in the next few days. While the use of gourd water could speed up their growth, the temperature and humidity still needed to be controlled manually.

This batch of seedlings cost me all my savings, so I couldn't afford any mistakes.

Another day passed by quickly. I finally bought an electric vehicle, which cost me 3,200 yuan. It was a lot of money, but it was worth it as it made things more convenient. I wouldn't have to wake up so early to set up my stall these days.

Business has been booming for watermelons these past few days. Every time I sell them, they're quickly bought up by returning customers. There used to be another watermelon seller by the roadside, but they seem to have disappeared these days due to lack of business.

Today was the same as usual. I finished selling all my watermelons early in the day, but I didn't bring too many with me these past few days as I needed to rush back to take care of my watermelon seedlings.

Riding the electric vehicle was a lot better than my old bicycle, even though I felt hot wind blowing on my face. The old bicycle was full of bumps and there was no breeze to cool me down.

Today, I got home earlier than usual and didn't need to take the small road. Normally, I'd take the shortcut to save time, but the new vehicle was too precious to risk damaging on the bumpy dirt road.

After riding for a little over ten minutes, I spotted a familiar figure.

"Hey, isn't that the Watermelon Girl?"

I didn't see her this morning when I was setting up my stall. I thought something might have come up and she couldn't make it. But ever since I've been coming here to set up stalls, I've never seen her absent.

As I got closer, I saw that the Watermelon Girl was squatting on the ground with red eyes, as if she had just finished crying.

"Watermelon Girl, what are you doing here on this hot day?" I asked.

"Huh? Are you talking to me?" she replied.

The Watermelon Girl turned around and took off her hat. Yang Feng noticed that her eyebrows were furrowed, so he asked, "I mean, are there any other people besides you and me on this road?"

"I have a name, you know. Who told you to call me Watermelon Girl?" The Watermelon Girl was a little annoyed, but she still spoke softly and gently.

Perhaps it was the first time she had ever had such a close conversation with Yang Feng. Her fair face turned slightly red, either from the heat or from being angry with Yang Feng.

“Sorry about that, I just said that without thinking.”

Looking at the angry and shy expression on the watermelon girl's face, Yang Feng wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.

"By the way, why didn't you go to set up your stall in the morning?"

With such a long time of knowing each other, watermelon girl would definitely set up her stall as usual unless there was heavy rain.

"My bike broke down and I couldn't find the reason why. I can't even push it. It's so hot today, and the watermelons are almost getting spoiled under the sun."

The watermelon girl lowered her head, looking full of grievances, and as she spoke, her eyes began to turn red again.

Looking at this cart of watermelons covered with grass, but still scorching hot from the sun, Yang Feng felt sorry for her.

"Don't worry, let's move all the watermelons onto my car first, then tow the car to town and get it repaired." he said.

Although she didn't want to trouble anyone, there was no other way now. If she continued to drag it along, the watermelons would all spoil.

They quickly moved all the watermelons onto Yang Feng's car. With the heavy load gone, it was relatively easy to tow the lighter bike.

Once everything was secured with a rope, Yang Feng let the watermelon girl hold the front of the car and they set off. In no time, they arrived at a repair shop in town.

"Boss, can you take a look at this bike? It stopped working halfway through and we can't get it to work no matter what we try," Yang Feng asked the repairman, pushing the bike over.

Turning to look at the watermelon girl, who had been following behind him with her head lowered, he wondered what she was thinking.

"Okay, let me take a look."

After the repair shop owner quickly took apart the vehicle's parts with wrenches and screwdrivers, he used electronic pulses to test it for a while, and the result showed that the controller had burned out, possibly due to the aging of the battery and the excessive load caused by towing too much weight.

Now there are two more cars to repair in front, and the shop owner said to come back in two hours to pick up the car once they have fixed the problem, so there is no need to rush.

“Uh, why don't we sell watermelons for a while? Waiting here is just a waste of time,” suggested Yang Feng.

He almost called for the watermelon girl again, but luckily he stopped himself in time.

“Okay.”

The watermelon girl seems to always be like this, with no temper and speaking softly.

With the watermelon girl in tow, they arrived at a school gate, which was not far from the vehicle repair shop.

It's almost time for school to be out, and there won't be many people on the roadside, especially with watermelons being so common on the streets.

It seems that a good sales strategy is needed, otherwise it will be difficult to attract customers.

There are indeed a lot of people at the school gate, and it took a long time to find a parking space.

Yang Feng put the good large watermelons on the top and stood on the tricycle to start shouting.

"Big and sweet watermelons on sale cheaply, if it’s not sweet, don't pay, if it’s not tasty then smash them directly."

He shouted loudly twice, and the parents who were preparing to pick up their children looked over.

The watermelon girl beside him couldn't stand this kind of situation, blushing like an apple. She probably regrets meeting Yang Feng now.

But this is exactly what Yang Feng wants. Seeing that almost everyone around is attracted, he picked up a large and round watermelon and slammed it to the ground.

"Crack."

The large watermelon was smashed into several pieces, and the red flesh stood out on the concrete ground.

"What are you doing? Why did you smash the good watermelon?"

The watermelon girl looked at her broken watermelon, forgetting her shyness. This is what her family worked hard to grow.It can't be treated like this. She can hardly bear to eat it herself on a regular day.

"Don't worry, you'll see soon."

Yang Feng waved his hand, indicating the watermelon girl not to be upset.

People around saw the big and red watermelon and found it quite affordable.

"Young man, give me one with the same quality as the one you just smashed."

"Yes, give me one too. We're almost out of watermelon at home."

"Pick one for us too. Our grandson wanted to eat watermelon yesterday."