Chapter 8 – The Plan
Xia Lu Nong rushed home, put down the load he was carrying, and quickly packed up some pickled vegetables and radish buns. He had been saving them from lunch for a treat in the evening, but they were now perfect for sharing with guests.
After preparing the buns, he hurried to the doorway, then remembered the fermented tofu in the cabinet. He grabbed that too—tonight’s canteen dishes were cabbage and stewed tofu, both quite plain, and the fermented tofu would be a perfect addition.
Balancing everything in his arms, Xia Lulong excitedly returned to Yan Xi Nian’s house, only to find that in addition to the cabbage and tofu, there was another dish on the table—steamed eggs with minced meat.
The silky, slightly yellow steamed eggs were topped with a thin layer of browned meat sauce, garnished with red pepper rings and green spring onions.
Xia Lu Nong’s eyes were glued to the dish. His stomach immediately growled in hunger, and his cravings nearly got the better of him.
Yan Xi Nian waved him over, “Come eat, we’re eating late tonight. You must be hungry.”
“Starving,” Xia Lu Nong replied honestly, “I feel like my stomach is hollow.”
Yan Xi Nian and Xia Huo Qu were close friends, and Xia Lu Nong had grown up under Yan Xi Nian’s watchful eyes, treating him like an older brother. He spoke freely without holding back.
Yan Xi Nian chuckled and invited him to sit down, scooping a large spoonful of the minced meat and steamed egg into his bowl. “Eat up if you’re hungry.”
Xia Lu Nong thanked him, picked up his bowl, and quietly started eating, while Xia Huo Qu and Yan Xi Nian chatted.
“I thought you’d be back last week,” Xia Lu Nong commented between bites.
“We accidentally provoked a herd of wild boars and got chased all the way to Ximen Mountain. Took quite a detour, otherwise, we would’ve been back earlier.”
“A herd?” Xia Huo Qu frowned. “I thought the nearby areas had been cleared. Where did the wild boars come from?”
“Hard to say. They might’ve migrated from elsewhere. We killed four of them, but a few are still out there. When we have time, we should take our bows and finish them off.”
“Not going this week?”
“Can’t. Old Du and the others have been wanting to set up a hydroelectric generator. I just got word that there’s a small one at Yangjiao’ao that’s still mostly intact. I’m planning to take some people to check it out.”
Xia Huo Qu glanced at his younger brother, frowning. “Yangjiao’ao hasn’t been cleared, right? There are a lot of mutated plants and animals there, aren’t there?”
“There shouldn’t be too many. Yangjiao’ao is a small place, it can’t support a complex ecosystem.” Yan Xi Nian reassured him. “With our skills, and if we take enough people, we should be able to get in and out safely.”
Xia Huo Qu pursed his lips and fell silent.
Yan Xi Nian didn’t press the issue, instead, he scooped more steamed eggs onto the brothers’ plates, encouraging them to eat more.
Xia Lu Nong sensed the tension between them, glancing back and forth but wisely keeping quiet, focusing on his meal instead.
After dinner, Xia Lu Nong volunteered to clean up the dishes and stepped outside.
When he returned, the atmosphere between Yan Xi Nian and Xia Huo Qu felt strange, as though they had just had an argument. Xia Lu Nong found it odd, as the two had always been close—practically like real brothers. In fact, as a child, he had often felt jealous, thinking that his brother and Yan Xi Nian were closer than he was with his own brother.
Seeing Xia Lu Nong come back, Xia Huo Qu said, “Xiao Nong, you should head to bed. I’m going to stay and talk with your brother Xi Nian for a while.”
“Okay,” Xia Lu Nong replied quietly, glancing at both of them. “Just don’t fight, okay?”
With that, he hurried off, eager to escape the strange atmosphere.
Xia Lu Nong had already gotten used to a routine of early bedtimes and early mornings. He brushed his teeth and lay in bed, initially wanting to stay awake to ask his brother what had happened. But before long, the sound of crickets lulled him into sleep.
—
The next morning, Xia Lu Nong woke up early, washing up, fetching water, and sweeping the floor. When his brother returned after fetching water, Xia Lu Nong didn’t even think about gossiping, instead saying eagerly, “Brother, I’m going to check on the vegetables we planted yesterday!”
Xia Huo Qu tossed him a shirt. “I’ll come with you.”
The two brothers grabbed their hoes and headed to the fields.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, and dew clung to the blades of grass. Xia Lu Nong’s pant legs quickly became soaked as he walked along the field paths. He thought about rolling up his pants, but he didn’t want his legs scratched by the grass or bitten by insects, so he endured the dampness.
When they reached the field, they found that the vegetable seedlings they planted the previous day seemed to have taken root. The stems and leaves were still firm, with no signs of wilting.
Xia Lu Nong breathed a sigh of relief and began inspecting the field. However, he soon noticed that while the seedlings hadn’t grown much, the freshly turned soil was already sprouting a thick layer of green grass shoots. From a distance, the grass almost looked like a smooth carpet of green.
“Wow, this grass grows way too fast.”
Xia Lu Nong bent down and pulled at the newly sprouted grass, only to find that the blades were very tender, but the roots were deep and strong. He could only pull off the top, leaving the roots in the soil.
“Whoa!” Xia Lu Nong exclaimed, striking the ground with his hoe. “This grass is sneaky!”
Xia Huo Qu finished inspecting the field and came back. Watching his brother struggle with the grass, he said, “Don’t bother with it. When farming, you have to focus on the big picture. As long as the grass doesn’t hinder the growth of the vegetables, it’s fine to leave it alone.”
“But it’s so frustrating,” Xia Lu Nong grumbled, chopping at the grassroots with his hoe. “If I don’t pull it all out, won’t the grass compete with the vegetables for nutrients?”
“It won’t take much. Besides, there’s grass everywhere. Even if you pull it all day, the wind will just blow the seeds back. Just let it be for now.”
Xia Lu Nong sighed and put down the hoe, panting, “Alright, farming is really hard work.”
“Nothing is easy,” Xia Huo Qu said. “The soil’s a bit dry. We can water the plants again today.”
Xia Lu Nong quickly grabbed the wooden ladle and followed behind his brother to fetch water and water the crops.
They hadn’t planted much, so watering wasn’t too difficult.
Xia Lu Nong recalled the conversation between his brother and Yan Xi Nian from last night and curiously asked, “Is the base really planning to build a hydroelectric station?”
“We don’t even know if the equipment still works. We’ll decide after we bring it back.”
“What if it works and you do manage to bring it back?”
“Then we’ll build it. There are quite a few towns nearby. If the base gets electricity, things will be much easier with some machinery.”
Xia Huo Qu didn’t want to talk much about it, so he added, “Getting the equipment won’t be easy. Don’t mention this to anyone else yet.”
Xia Lu Nong quickly patted his chest and promised, “I won’t tell anyone. I’m just talking to you.”
After they finished watering the crops and headed back, they saw Yan Xi Nian clearing weeds in the empty space in front of his house.
Xia Lu Nong greeted him, “Brother Xi Nian, have you had breakfast yet?”
“No, I’m waiting for you guys,” Yan Xi Nian straightened up, his tall figure casting a long shadow in the morning sunlight. “Lu Nong, didn’t you want to plant something around your house? You can use the land over here too.”
Xia Lu Nong looked up at his brother.
His brother nodded and said to Yan Xi Nian, “When we harvest, we’ll share some with you.”
Yan Xi Nian smiled, leaned the hoe against the wall outside the living room, and scooped water to wash his hands. “What’s for breakfast? I’ll go get it.”
Xia Lu Nong quickly offered, “I’ll go, brother Xi Nian. What do you want to eat?”
“Anything’s fine, you decide.” Yan Xi Nian went back inside, pulled out a stack of food tickets, and handed them to him. “Get me an extra steamed egg.”
Xia Lu Nong glanced at the tickets and took only the top two. “I’ll get a basic meal and a steamed egg.”
The basic meal cost one ticket, and the steamed egg was another ticket. Two tickets were just enough.
Yan Xi Nian handed him the rest of the tickets. “Take these. I’m heading out soon, so I won’t need them.”
Xia Lu Nong tucked his hands behind his back and said, “Food tickets don’t expire. You can use them when you get back, brother Xi Nian.”
Xia Huo Qu strode out from inside the house, glanced at them, and frowned. “Why are you talking about not needing things so early in the morning? It’s bad luck.”
Yan Xi Nian smiled. “What do you want to eat? I’ll grab something extra.”
“The basic meal is fine. I’m not going out, so there’s no need for anything special,” Xia Huo Qu replied before turning to Xia Lu Nong. “It’s getting late. Go to the cafeteria.”
Xia Lu Nong nodded, grabbed their family’s food tickets, and headed to the cafeteria.
After walking some distance, he glanced back and saw his brother talking with Yan Xi Nian. His brother seemed a bit agitated, but Yan Xi Nian appeared calm.
Who knows what they were talking about?
Now that Yan Xi Nian was back, Xia Lu Nong felt as if another older brother had returned. Even though nothing special had happened, he felt a sense of security. Along with that, there was also an inexplicable sense of jealousy.
Yan Xi Nian was the founder and leader of the entire base.
Xia Lu Nong soon noticed that many people were coming in and out of Yan Xi Nian’s house, and quite a few were unfamiliar faces.
Most of these unfamiliar people were tall and carried a fierce aura.
Liao Cheng had once mentioned that these were scavengers. They made their living by hunting and gathering supplies outside the base, often in dangerous areas, and they tended to have stronger beast forms. As a result, their lives were generally better.
Xia Lu Nong couldn’t quite imagine it.
But these people were friendly. When they saw him, they usually nodded or greeted him, and sometimes they exchanged a few words.
Yan Xi Nian, aside from being at home, would occasionally go out and walk around the base.
Xia Lu Nong observed quietly and realized that the people in the base held a certain reverence for him.
Though Yan Xi Nian had a good temper, he had no problem helping the Xia brothers clean up the area around their house.
Xia Lu Nong had planted strawberries, watermelons, and other fruits in the cleared land, and he had set up trellises for beans, bitter melon, and loofah beside the house.
When you’re busy, time flies by quickly.
Before they knew it, it was already mid-March.
One day, it rained, and the brothers came back from the fields wearing straw hats.
Xia Huo Qu stood in front of the courtyard, using the rain to wash his hands and feet, scrubbing them until they were white.
Xia Lu Nong wanted to do the same, but Xia Huo Qu stopped him and told him to mix some warm water from the kettle instead.
So the two brothers, one under the eaves and the other in the rain, washed up together.
After they finished, Xia Huo Qu, still damp, leaned against the wall under the eaves and casually said, “Tomorrow, I’m heading out with Xi Nian.”
Xia Lu Nong froze for a moment, realizing that his brother hadn’t mentioned this for several days.
The wind blew through the hallway, sending a chill through him. He shivered before looking up and asking, “Are you going to get the hydroelectric equipment?”
Thanks for the chapter 🙂