Gourd Farm

Chapter 18: Helping Out

It's about time, and I suppose the car on the other side should be repaired by now.

The two people tidied up their things. Yang Feng picked up the watermelon that had fallen on the ground and threw it in the trash.

Fortunately, the security guard didn't come over at this moment. If he saw this mess on the ground, he would have been furious and might have even resorted to violence.

"Boss, is the car fixed?"

"Yes, it's fixed. It's fifty yuan in total."

The watermelon girl paid the money, and now she seemed to be back to her previous mood. Her face was relaxed and filled with ease.

"I'm going back now. There are still a lot of things to do at home," said the watermelon girl.

Yang Feng saw that things on this side were almost finished, and he needed to go and let some air into his greenhouse. So, he said goodbye.

"Well, thank you so much for today!" the watermelon girl said.

"Okay, you've said thank you more than ten times today," Yang Feng replied with a smile.

"I'm not called the watermelon girl, my name is Xia Ying," her voice came from a short distance away.

"Xia Ying, my name is Yang Feng," he shouted back with a loud voice, seeing that Xia Ying had not gone too far yet.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Yang Feng had exerted too much force, and his throat was sore from shouting. Xia Ying heard it, but only paused for a moment before continuing on her way without looking back.

"Xia Ying, that's a pretty good name," he muttered to himself as he repeated it a couple of times to remember it. Then, he stopped thinking about it and quickly revved the throttle to go back home to tend to his crops.

As soon as Yang Feng entered the greenhouse, he was hit by a wave of heat. He quickly lifted the door curtain. After observing for a few days, he noticed that the seedlings grew faster inside the greenhouse than outside. In just a few days, they had grown more than ten centimeters tall.

"Yang Feng, are you in there?" a rough voice called out.

"Yeah, I'm here."

He took off his gloves and walked outside the greenhouse upon hearing a rough voice calling his name.

 It turned out to be his uncle who he hasn't seen since returning home. He was surprised as he thought that his family had moved to live in the county, wondering how come his uncle had the time to come back today.

"Uncle, I haven't seen you for a while."

"Yeah, it's been a while. I just got back to the village. I was actually planning to call you but I heard from the villagers that you had come back some time ago."

"Is there something you need from me, Uncle?"

"Well, you know we bought a house in the county before. We're planning to move in tomorrow."

"Oh, I see, Uncle. I'll definitely come tomorrow."

"Uncle, it's been a while since I last saw you."

"Yeah, it's been a while. I just came back to the village. I was actually planning to call you, but I heard from the villagers that you came back a while ago."

"Is there something you need from me, Uncle?"

"Yeah, you know how we bought a house in the county a while ago? We're planning on moving in tomorrow."

"Oh, I see, Uncle. I'll definitely come tomorrow."

"Good, that's all I wanted to say. I'll go inform the others now."

"Alright."

These days, no matter what the occasion is, people always expect to receive gifts and hold feasts. It's hard to decline an invitation once it's been given. This housewarming party is acceptable, but there was another one recently where a student who passed a college entrance exam held a big feast and received many gifts. It's hard to understand why people are willing to put themselves through such trouble just for a few notes.

...

As soon as the sun rose, the atmosphere at Uncle's house became lively. The upbeat music shattered the tranquility of the village, while a group of mischievous children chased each other around. It seemed like it would be impossible to run the stall today.

Yesterday, Uncle asked for help to do some errands such as buying groceries, but there were not many young people left in the village. So, after breakfast, Yang Feng planned to go and lend a hand.

"Hey, is Xiao Feng at home?"

Who is this? Someone came over so early in the morning, but the voice sounds familiar.

"Yes, I'm home. Who is it?"

Before Yang Feng could go outside, a tall and cute girl jumped right in front of him.

"You can't even recognize my voice. It seems like we've been playing for so many years for nothing."

Looking up, it turned out to be Yang Nana, the daughter of Second Uncle'sfamily.

This girl has always liked to follow Yang Feng around since she was a child, like a little tail. It was only in recent years that she went to the big city and lost contact. But it has only been a few years since they last saw each other, and the little follower has grown into a young lady.

“Oh, how come you have time to come back? I heard you were in university.”

“If I'm in university, can't I come back to see you? Look at how surprised you are.”

After saying this, Yang Nana pouted and rolled her eyes.

"You're kidding, it's better for you to find a boyfriend than spend time seeing me."

"I don't need to find a boyfriend, the line of guys who chase after me is long."

Yang Feng glanced at the charming and graceful Yang Nana and nodded, "Well, that's true. Do you need anything from me?"

“Well, I forgot because you interrupted me. My dad sent me to call you for breakfast, saying it will be busy later.”

“I won't go. Look, the water is already boiling. I'll just make some noodles and eat before going.”

Today's event is definitely going to be crowded, and Yang Feng doesn't like to talk to those people.

"No, I won't go. I'll just cook some noodles and be on my way once I'm done," said Yang Feng.

"Oh, no way! We've already made food at home and we're just waiting for you," replied Yang Nana, as she dragged him towards the door.

Yang Feng tried to resist, but he couldn't win against the determined girl. "Alright, alright. But I need to make sure the stove is turned off first, or else we might come back to a burnt-down house," he said.

"Fine, fine. Hurry up, you're so slow," replied Yang Nana impatiently.

After putting out the fire in the pot and adding some cold water to it to make sure everything was safe, Yang Feng locked the door and followed Yang Nana to her house.

When they arrived at Second Uncle's house, it was already bustling with activity. Secind Uncle  was relatively wealthy, and he was a contractor who frequently worked outside the village. He was also the first person in the village to build a three-room bungalow.

There were already quite a few people in the house, and the cooks helping with the banquet had started bustling around the kitchen.

"Yang Feng, come and sit down quickly and have something to eat. It's going to be busy later."

Uncle Yang warmly greeted him at the door, of course, not just waiting for him. There were a lot of guests today and they had to be properly entertained.

Yang Feng found a seat and sat down. Before he could even start eating, Yang Nana had already brought over bowls and chopsticks.

In the morning, the dishes were cooked by the chef hired for the occasion. Looking at the five or six dishes on the table, Yang Feng served himself a bowl of porridge and took a steamed bun to eat on his own.

As he watched the others chatting and greeting each other, Yang Feng didn't join in and simply responded to anyone who greeted him.

"Yang Feng, come over here for a moment."

Yang Feng was eating his meal when his uncle appeared out of nowhere and pulled him aside.

"Uncle, is there anything you can't wait to say until we finish eating?"

Yang Feng didn't like this uncle very much. He never did any real work and always gossiped like an old woman.

"I heard that you've made a lot of money from selling goods recently. Look at you, building greenhouses and buying new cars."

"Uncle, is there something that can't wait until after I finish my meal?"

He never really liked this uncle who seemed to always gossip like an old woman.

"I heard you made quite a bit of money from your stall recently, and you're building a greenhouse and bought a new car."

"Yeah, I made a little money, but as you can see, I've invested it all."

"Little Feng, I watched you grow up. Is it too much to ask for a favor today?"

Yang Feng rolled his eyes, knowing that his uncle was up to no good. He always hung around with the wrong crowd, and as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together." There was never anything good when he wanted to talk to him.

"What's the matter? Just tell me first and I'll try to help if I can."

Since they were all relatives, it was difficult to outright refuse him. As long as it didn't involve borrowing money, he was willing to hear him out.