Chapter 5 – I Don’t Want to have a Cold War with Him Anymore
This time, Gu Wenzhu gave Xia Yi the cold shoulder for several days. He didn’t say a single word to him, acting as if Xia Yi didn’t even exist. When it was time to eat, Gu Wenzhu didn’t call him by name, just barked, “Eat.”
He became like a silent iron tower at home.
Xia Yi tiptoed around, too scared to eat much at meals. He would sneak glances at Gu Wenzhu, grabbing any chance to clean or sweep, terrified of angering him further: ‘Not only do you have bad intentions, but you eat so much you’re going to bankrupt the house! Get out!’
So, Xia Yi only ate half a meal each time, but then he’d get so hungry in the middle of the night that he would sneak into the kitchen to find food.
“179, scan to see if Gu Wenzhu is asleep?”
System: [He’s asleep.]
Tiptoeing into the kitchen, he began rummaging for food. In the dark, he accidentally knocked over a basin with a loud clatter and immediately froze in place.
“179, did Gu Wenzhu wake up?”
System: [He did, but he just lifted his head to glance at the kitchen and then went back to sleep.]
“I’m suffering from emotional neglect at home; this is so miserable.”
System: [Stop talking and eat already.]
Every night he sneaked food, and luckily, each time he managed to find something to quell his hunger.
…
During this time, Xia Yi went to check on his potato plot every day. With Gu Wenzhu giving him the cold shoulder, the atmosphere at home felt frozen. Other than sleeping and eating, he spent all his time in the field.
Soon, the whole village knew about the poor nephew of Gu Wenzhu’s stepmother who had fled from famine. Having once been starved, he now anxiously guarded his tiny potato plot, watching it every day with eyes that practically glowed green, as if he might sleep there in the field—it was quite pitiful to behold.
Because of this, Xia Yi quickly became acquainted with the sympathetic villagers.
“Xiao Yi, going to check on your potatoes again?”
“Yes, Auntie Si, have you had breakfast yet?”
“Xiao Yi, I checked your potatoes for you; they haven’t sprouted yet.”
“Thanks, Uncle Wang.”
“An… An… potato… grow… potato…”
“Wang Jie, Dandan is starting to talk now, huh?”
…
Xia Yi squatted by the field, looking worried. It had been so many days, and the field still looked the same—no sprouts. He wondered if all the seedlings had died underground.
That night, tossing and turning in bed, he suddenly sat up, threw on his outer robe and shoes, and headed outside.
System: [Host, where are you going?]
Xia Yi: “I need to check on my field. I can’t sleep otherwise.”
System: [Didn’t you check it this morning?]
Xia Yi: “No wonder I miss it so much. I haven’t seen it for a whole afternoon.”
System: [……]
He walked along the familiar path to his plot, a path he could practically walk blindfolded.
The moonlight was like water, and from a distance, he could see a figure hunched over in his field.
Xia Yi’s heart skipped a beat, and he panicked. “179, scan quickly! Who’s in my field? What are they doing?” He also scanned the ground, looking for a stick or rock.
“Damn it, if they’re trying to ruin my potatoes, I’ll kill them.”
System: [Host, don’t panic. That’s Gu Wenzhu, loosening the soil in your potato field.]
Xia Yi froze, stopping in his tracks. Looking closer, he could see Gu Wenzhu’s figure crouching in the furrows of the field, slowly and carefully loosening the soil around each potato pit.
Suddenly, Xia Yi felt warmth spread through his chest, and the frustration and hurt he had felt from being ignored by Gu Wenzhu melted away.
“179, I think Gu Wenzhu is really a good person.”
“I don’t want to have this cold war with him anymore.”
After finishing loosening the soil, Gu Wenzhu returned home. As he entered the courtyard, he glanced at Xia Yi’s room. Through the window, it was completely dark—Xia Yi had clearly gone to bed. Gu Wenzhu headed toward the well to fetch water to wash up, but when he turned, he noticed a row of dripping clothes still hanging on the line—his clothes from earlier in the day, which hadn’t yet been washed.
There was even a pair of underpants hanging there, wet and swaying slightly in the breeze.
Gu Wenzhu stood there for a moment, staring blankly. After a while, he sighed softly, shook his head, and continued toward the well.
…
Not long after Gu Wenzhu loosened the soil that night, the potatoes sprouted. The tender young shoots stretched in the sunlight, delicate and fresh. Xia Yi stood on the path by the field, looking at the patch of tender green sprouts, feeling indescribable joy.
Villagers passing by with hoes noticed the lush green seedlings.
“Xiao Yi, your potatoes have finally sprouted!”
“Yes, Uncle Wang, you’re up early today.”
“Well, it wasn’t easy, but Xiao Yi finally got his sprouts.”
“Oh, it’s no big deal. They were bound to sprout eventually. Aunt Li, have you had breakfast yet?”
Xia Yi exchanged pleasantries with the villagers in an unhurried, polite manner, a faint smile on his face, exuding an air of calm.
“179, 179, the sprouts have finally come up! Hahaha, they’ve sprouted!”
“Hahaha, they’ve sprouted, they’ve sprouted! Hahaha!”
“179, I feel like rolling around on the ground.”
“179, I want to run a few laps along the field paths.”
System: [……]
As the weather grew warmer, the potato seedlings flourished, becoming lush and green. Xia Yi checked on them several times a day, picking off bugs and watering them, chatting with 179 about their growth, feeling incredibly uplifted.
With the harvest just two months away, Xia Yi’s heart brimmed with hope. Completing the first task would bring him one step closer to leaving this wretched world.
One afternoon, Xia Yi and Gu Wenzhu were sitting in the shade of the courtyard tree, eating lunch. Since the weather had turned hot, they’d moved the dining table out from the kitchen into the courtyard—it was both bright and cool.”
A dark cloud slowly drifted over, settling above the small courtyard, and the sky began to darken. Then, accompanied by flashes of lightning and claps of thunder, the rain started pouring down.
Gu Wenzhu hurriedly moved the dining table under the veranda.
The world grew even dimmer, and small hailstones, about the size of rice grains, mixed with the rain, bouncing all over the courtyard.
Xia Yi felt a sinking feeling in his heart, suddenly remembering his potato field. He couldn’t help but put down his chopsticks and anxiously look up at the sky from the veranda.
“179, I’m a bit worried about my potato seedlings. Can you scan them?”
[Host, the potato seedlings are currently safe. The hail isn’t large enough to cause any danger.]
But the hailstones soon grew larger, about the size of pigeon eggs, crashing down in tandem with the rain. The ground was quickly covered with a thick layer of them. You could even hear the roof tiles cracking, and the courtyard was littered with broken branches and leaves.
“179, scan the seedlings again.” Xia Yi rubbed his hands nervously, pacing under the eaves, his heart racing with worry.
[Host, the seedlings are in some danger now. Although potatoes are hail-resistant, the hailstones are a bit too large.]
“This won’t do. I need to check on my seedlings,” Xia Yi stopped pacing. “I’ll go to the nearby woods and get some banana leaves to shield them.”
[Host, no task is more important than your safety.] 179 remained calm during the critical moment.
“I don’t care! If this task fails, how will I ever get home?” Xia Yi quickly found a wooden washbasin, looked up at the darkened sky, gritted his teeth, and dashed outside with the basin over his head.
“Where are you going?” came Gu Wenzhu’s sharp shout from behind.
“I’m going to check on my potato seedlings,” Xia Yi called back as he ran.
Gu Wenzhu roared, “Are you trying to die? You’re still thinking about the potatoes at a time like this?”
Xia Yi didn’t respond, rushing in the direction of the field, the hail pounding loudly on the basin over his head, making his heart race with fear.
“My little seedlings, hold on! Dad’s coming to protect you with banana leaves!” he muttered.
“Ah!” Xia Yi let out a short scream as he slipped and fell heavily. The basin slipped from his hands, rolling away.
Hailstones immediately pelted him like bullets. He quickly covered his head with his hands, desperately looking around for the basin. His back and shoulders throbbed in pain from the impact of the hail, but he couldn’t think about that right now—he just needed to get up and reach the field. As he struggled to stand, a sharp pain shot through his ankle, and he fell back down.
He had twisted his ankle.
Sitting awkwardly in the hailstorm, Xia Yi squinted through the pain and found the basin nearby. He quickly grabbed it and held it over his head, trying to stand once more.
Just then, a shadow loomed in front of him. The next thing he knew, a thick raincoat was draped over him, shielding him from the painful hail.
It was Gu Wenzhu.
Gu Wenzhu scooped Xia Yi up in his arms and sprinted back towards the house, hunching over to shield him from the hail with his upper body.
Kicking open the half-closed courtyard door, Gu Wenzhu rushed inside and placed Xia Yi onto a bamboo bed. Squatting down, he asked, “Are you hurt?”
Xia Yi lay there, feeling pain all over his body, but none of it compared to the heartbreak over his ruined field. He turned away, choking back a sob, “My seedlings…”
Gu Wenzhu paused, confused. “They’re just potatoes. What’s so precious about them? If they’re destroyed, I’ll plant more for you.”
Xia Yi’s voice was thick with emotion, “You don’t understand. I just want my seedlings. They mean so much to me.”
Saying that, he turned his back to Gu Wenzhu, silently wallowing in his sadness.
He thought about how he had suddenly ended up in this unfamiliar world, constantly suppressing his fear of being in a strange body and working hard to find a way home. Now that he had finally found a sliver of hope, it was all destroyed by this hailstorm.
Overcome with grief, Xia Yi couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. He quietly wiped them away, not wanting Gu Wenzhu to see.
After a while, Xia Yi heard the rustling of movement behind him. He turned and saw Gu Wenzhu, wearing a bamboo hat and raincoat, carrying several old bamboo mats from the storage room. He rolled them up, tucked them under his arm, and prepared to head outside.
“Where are you going? The hail is still so heavy!” Xia Yi sat up, his eyes still red with tears.
“I’m going to save your seedlings,” Gu Wenzhu said with a glance at Xia Yi before rushing out into the storm.
“Don’t! Don’t go!” Xia Yi cried out, but Gu Wenzhu had already reached the courtyard gate and disappeared into the storm.
