After breakfast, Wu Chun walked around the village alone.
The sorrow seemed to have been frozen only for the previous night, life went on, and after one night, everyone had to return to their original positions-those who had to work went to work, and those who had to farm went to farm.
The mill on the main street of the village began to creak and turn again. Several elderly ladies stood at the corner of the village, clasping their hands together and talking to each other.
Wu Chun finally stopped near a corn field.
There was only one middle-aged woman of around fifty in the field. This season, the corn had just grown to knee height. The woman, bent over and wearing a straw hat, was weeding the corn.
After a short thought, Wu Chun went into the field.
“Hey? Isn’t that Wu Chun? What brings you here?” The elderly woman asked warmly, wiping the sweat from her brow with her soil-covered hands.
“I’m just walking around to see if anyone needs help.”
Wu Chun said, rolling up his sleeves and smoothing out a row of corn next to the woman, and started to help with the weeding.
“Oh, I can do this work myself, you don’t need to help.” The woman hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.
Wu Chun smiled and replied, “Auntie, it’s not too hot right now. I’ll help you and we’ll finish faster.”
“Oh, that’s too kind of you,” she said somewhat hesitantly.
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Wu Chun said with a smile. “Let’s finish this quickly together, and when it gets hot, we can go home and rest.”
The old woman did not insist on stopping him. Instead, she returned to her original position. However, she didn’t start working right away; instead, she stared at Wu Chun for quite some time.
The person in front of her appeared to be fair-skinned, with a physique that was neither too thin nor too robust. He wore glasses, and when he lowered his head for a while, he used the back of his hand to wipe away the sweat. Despite his scholarly appearance, he didn’t look inexperienced when doing physical work.
He had already covered quite a distance in a short time.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, he straightened up, turned around and asked smilingly, “What are you thinking, Auntie?”
The elderly woman snapped out of her thoughts, realizing that she had to get back to work, and quickly joined in.
“I didn’t expect you college students to do this kind of work.”
Hearing the aunt’s exclamation, Wu Chun couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Why can’t college students do this kind of work? It’s not that challenging.”
“It’s hard!” The aunt tossed the pulled weeds aside and said seriously, “Those who have the ability aren’t farming at home! They all went to the big cities to make money and enjoy a comfortable life.” While continuing to bend down and pull out the weeds, she said to Wu Chun, “This kind of land doesn’t make much money. The crops are delicate. If there’s a problem in the field, the fall harvest won’t be good. Not only that, but you have to depend on the weather. If there’s a drought or a flood, there won’t be a good harvest. Farming is hard. In recent years, those who have the ability to do it have started to move away. I say, Young man, you’re a college student. Why come back to this place?”
Wu Chun smiled and remained silent; he did not know how to answer this question.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
At the moment, he had not achieved anything substantial, and whatever he said seemed to be unconvincing.
Lbkfnfg, Qe Jtec vlv cba fzqfma atja pera jr tf kjr atlcxlcu jybea tbk ab jcrkfg atlr defralbc, atf jeca cfza ab tlw revvfcis fzmijlwfv lc regqglrf, “Tbecu wjc, mbeiv la yf atja sbe gfjiis mjwf ab ifjv er ab j yfaafg ilof?”
“Cecalf, kts vb sbe jrx atja?”
Qe Jtec obecv la ragjcuf. Vlcmf gfaegclcu ab atf nliijuf, tf tjvc’a gfnfjifv wemt ab atf bearlvf kbgiv. Crlvf ogbw jmmbwqjcslcu atf nliijuf mtlfo ab j ofk fnfcar, tf tjv ifa atf mtlfo yglfois wfcalbc tlr qijc ab rajga j rlixkbgw ojgw.
However, Wu Chun couldn’t understand how these seemingly unrelated matters were connected to the idea of “leading them to a better life”.
“Did the village chief tell you anything like that?”
“Not exactly.” The aunt wiped off her sweat again and continued, “We just noticed you spending a lot of time with the village chief recently. When the chief also gave you a piece of land, we asked him, and he just said that you had come back to do something important.”
“Then you found this place?”
“Not at first. We thought you might be here for some kind of development. But what development could there be in this remote place? When we saw you helping one family today and another tomorrow, we ventured a bold guess.”
As he listened, Wu Chun’s movements gradually slowed down. He half-smiled and asked, “Auntie, thinking like this, aren’t you overestimating me?”
“It’s not that simple,” the aunt said, pausing for a moment before continuing with a somewhat sad tone, “Do you think this village can still be saved? I’m in my fifties this year, and the village hasn’t changed much over the years. Even with those four large wells in each direction, speaking of which, the child who went missing last night was found in one of those large wells.”
Wu Chun’s hand trembled as he instinctively pulled off a small piece of corn leaf. The aunt next to him sighed heavily.
“These four wells have taken lives before, but we can’t fill them. If we do, the crops will suffer during the dry season.”
“What about fencing them off?” Wu Chun took the opportunity to ask, “If there’s a way, with some money provided from above, but we still have to contribute a small part ourselves, would you be willing to fence these wells?”
“Of course we would be willing!” The aunt stood up straight, stretched her waist and said, “These wells have no protection. Every year at this time something happens. We can’t sit at home every day and watch over the children. Adding some safety measures, even if it doesn’t guarantee 100% safety, is worth saving one life.
The aunt turned her waist a few times, then bent down again, pulling weeds while talking to Wu Chun, “Although we’re poor, a few hundred yuan, we can still manage, even if it’s a little hard to come by.”
After helping the aunt with the weeding, she warmly invited Wu Chun to have dinner at her house.
Wu Chun declined, taking advantage of some time before sunset; he wanted to learn more.
Wu Chun visited a few more fields, helping them with their work and casually asking them about their thoughts. The answers were similar to what he had heard from the aunt.
Life always touches people’s hearts and reaches the deepest parts of their souls.
The most memorable words for Wu Chun came from an old man: “Every family has children; money can still be earned, but a lost life cannot be brought back.”
Busy until the afternoon, Wu Chun checked the time and decided to visit the village chief’s house.
The village chief seemed to have just returned from outside, possibly dealing with last night’s events. When Wu Chun pushed open the door, he saw the tired looking chief.
“Oh, it’s Wu Chun.”
Seeing Wu Chun enter, the village chief put his glasses back on and stood up.
“Village Chief, I came to discuss something with you.”
…
After leaving the village chief’s house, Wu Chun felt much lighter. Since there was still some time before Xu Shi Yao’s arrival, Wu Chun sat under a pine tree, leaned against it, gently closed his eyes, and began to think about some things.
After talking with the village chief, he planned to go to the city tomorrow to see if he could get some financial support.
Building protective fences for the four wells is not a small expense when calculated. The village chief reiterated that the city may provide some funding, but covering the entire cost remains a challenge.
There is more than one Shili village in this area.
Wu Chun rubbed his temples gently, feeling a mixture of emotions – some nostalgia and a sense of helplessness. When he thought about his birthplace, even though it was only a small county town, the conditions were much better than here.
What about beyond?
The distribution of resources in this world has always been extremely unfair. Some places have luxurious and unattainable conditions, while others are born with nothing.
Humans are no different.
Wu Chun sighed slowly and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. When he opened his eyes, he found that the darkening of the sky had come unexpectedly, catching him off guard.
Just as Wu Chun was about to stand up, he turned his head to see Xu Shiyao sitting next to him.
“When did you come out?”
Wu Chun was truly surprised. Every time Xu Shiyao appeared, the refreshing scent of pine wood would completely envelop him, making it hard to ignore. However, this time, Wu Chun hadn’t felt it at all.
Xu Shiyao pulled him into his arms and gently kneaded Wu Chun’s shoulders.
“I just came out a moment ago. I saw you thinking, so I didn’t want to disturb you.”
Wu Chun buried his face in Xu Shiyao’s embrace, eagerly inhaling the familiar scent of pine that surrounded Xu Shiyao. Wu Chun sighed in relief.
“Everything is fine, thankfully,” Wu Chun said in a low voice.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Shiyao asked with a smile.
“Nothing.”
Since Wu Chun did not elaborate, Xu Shiyao did not press further and changed the topic.
“How was your day today?”
“It’s okay, and there’s been some progress, I guess?”
“Tell me about it.”
Wu Chun found a comfortable position and began to tell Xu Shi Yao what he had done today. He felt like he had been busy all day, but when he talked about it now, it seemed like he hadn’t done much.
“Tomorrow, I’ll go to the city with the village chief.”
“Mm,” Xu Shi Yao replied quietly. “Take your time, everything will be fine.”
“Yes.”
Wu Chun replied lazily, suddenly remembering something. He quickly sat up from Xu Shi Yao’s embrace. “You met my grandfather last night.”
Xu Shi Yao paused for a moment, then whispered, “Yes, I saw you sleeping, so I didn’t want to wake you. I thought I’d walk you to the door first, but I unexpectedly ran into your grandfather.”
“Fortunately, my grandfather knows of your existence, otherwise seeing his nephew floating in the air in the middle of the night would have scared him to death,” Wu Chun teased.
Little did he know that this remark would elicit a silent apology from Xu Shiyao.
Wu Chun paused and looked at Xu Shi Yao’s apologetic expression and the cautious tone he used to utter those words.
It dawned on Wu Chun that to humans, Xu Shi Yao had always been cautious. It was this caution that made the difference between him and humans especially clear in Xu Shi Yao’s eyes.
The gap between humans and ghosts was something that Xu Shi Yao had never forgotten. It was just that he chose to hide this difference from Wu Chun.
As the saying goes, love knows no distance, and all distances can be bridged.
“There’s nothing to apologize for.”
Wu Chun gently held Xu Shiyao’s hands and said softly, “If my grandfather was really afraid of you, why would he turn off the lights and leave the door open for you? In his eyes, you were always the child he remembered.
For a child whom others can no longer take care of, the only thing left is to turn off the lights in the house at night.
Allow that child to return home briefly.
“Xu Shi Yao,” Wu Chun called softly.
“I’m here.”
Hearing the quick reply beside him, Wu Chun chuckled softly. “If I accidentally fall asleep again tonight, remember to accompany me home.”
Dimple: Hello, it’s been a while since I updated, I’m so sorry for disappearing without informing you! Now I’m back and will keep updating again! Happy new year btw! 💕💕
Rereading to refresh my memory about this one. I wonder if one day he will have his human body or will Wu Chun become something like him at the end of his life..🤔
Shall i spoil for ya…. Hehe