Chapter 3 Fountain Effects

After lunch, Li Feng sat alone on the doorstep, thinking about his future life. He didn’t want to go back to Beijing anymore. At home, he always had to do something to earn enough money for food and clothing. He had saved some money over the years, about 200,000 yuan, which was considered very rich in Lijiagang.

“Right.” Li Feng slapped his head. He had long dreamed of owning his own house. Now that he had the land and the money, he wanted to build a small villa with a small yard. The more he thought about it, the more eager he became. He had already chosen the place: the vacant lot in the thatched cottage in the peach forest. He shouldn’t need to cut down many peach trees.

In Taohuawu stands a Peach Blossom Temple, and beneath the temple lies the Peach Blossom Fairy. The Fairy plants peach trees and picks peach blossoms to buy wine. When sober, he sits before the flowers; when drunk, he sleeps beneath them. Half awake and half drunk, day after day, flowers bloom and fall year after year. I wish to die among flowers and wine, not bow before carriages and horses. The dust of carriages and horses is the delight of the rich, while wine cups and flowers are the fate of the poor. If you compare the rich to the poor, one is on the ground, the other in the sky. If you compare the poor to carriages and horses, he gets to drive, while I get to relax. Others laugh at me for being too crazy, but I laugh at them for not seeing through me. I don’t see the tombs of the heroes of Wuling, and I hoe the fields without flowers or wine. Li Feng envied this scene the most. Now that he has the ability to realize his dream, how can he not be excited?

Li Feng’s mouth watered at the thought of such a beautiful scene. “Let’s do it.” He grabbed a shovel and ran to the peach forest. Looking at the thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain, Li Feng suddenly thought that the cottage was more poetic. “Forget it, I already have a small cottage. I can’t live in a cottage forever.”

Li Feng took the shovel and dug to see. There was not much soil. Rocks were visible less than half a meter after digging. Maybe it was too close to the foot of the mountain. With its back against the mountain, there was a peach forest in front of the door, with the fragrance of fruit. In the distance, a white ribbon floated by, bringing up waves. It was so fairy-like, or even more popular than Tao Yuanming. It was only a few hundred meters away from the village. The roadbed was repaired without cement, only the bluestone slabs on the hill, which was quite interesting.

The more I thought about it, the more itchy I felt like a cat scratching me. But I knew that my parents would probably not agree, and I couldn’t come up with a reasonable reason. I just wanted to build a house because I liked it, and the villagers didn’t think I was stupid. I sat helplessly in the cool of the hut, thinking deeply about what I could do.

Looking around, I saw an abandoned pond next to the hut. It wasn’t big, about half an acre. The water was a mountain spring, clear and tranquil. From time to time, I saw a few small fish swimming by: crucian carp, croaker, and mullet. There hadn’t been a heavy rain, and there were plenty of water plants and a clump of reeds in the pond. From time to time, a kingfisher flew by, diving into the water and catching a small fish about an inch long. A white water bird with white feathers and red claws and beaks leisurely played in the pond, oblivious to the surroundings. These water birds are most commonly seen in flocks along the Lijiagang River. People don’t know what they are called, but they shout, “Osprey, you eat fish!” Actually, after Li Feng went to college, he found some time to visit some websites about water birds. This little bird has a good name: red-billed gull.

Unfortunately, the large birds Li Feng had seen as a child were now rare, especially egrets and swans. He had eaten a few white swans as a child, but now he heard they hadn’t been seen in years. Egrets, however, could be seen occasionally. These birds didn’t have as much meat as white swans, and with people’s living standards improving significantly in recent years, they were too lazy to hunt these birds, which only yielded a few pounds of meat.

As he looked, Li Feng suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a pond of the same size in his own space. Unfortunately, there was too little spring water. Picking up the net bag placed in the thatched cottage, Li Feng scooped back and forth in the water plants a few times. Not to mention that there were quite a few fish in the pond, and the crucian carp were jumping around for a few days.

“Hey, there’s another little carp.” Half its body was dyed red and yellow, a foot long, with whiskers at the corners of its mouth. It might one day transform into a dragon and ascend to heaven. The older generation often said carp leaped over the Dragon Gate, or soared through the fog on rainy and foggy days. Many people told of finding carp outside their homes on foggy mornings before liberation or in the 1950s and 1960s, wrapping them in red cloth and releasing them into the river. Unfortunately, Li Feng had never seen one, though his grandfather often told of it when he was alive, and few knew whether it was true or not.

However, seeing the carp inevitably reminded him of childhood legends, and he felt a touch more fondly. He carefully placed the carp into the space’s pond, along with a few crucian carp fillets. He’d expected the fish to be uncomfortable, but he hadn’t expected them to swim so happily. Even Li Feng was a little envious; the fish swimming freely, how wonderful it was. Seeing the spring water was fine, he used the wooden bucket from the hut to draw a bucket of water.

Li Feng took out his space and compared it to the spring water in the pond. The water in his space was clearer, while the rest was just like any other water, nothing special to him. Perhaps it was just a matter of psychic activity, but Li Feng always felt that the water in his space was special, but he couldn’t see why. He poured the last bucket of water onto the roots of a nearby peach tree and threw the bucket into his space. Li Feng checked the time; it was still early. He picked up his shovel and slowly wandered to his cornfield. Li Shan and the others were turning the soil and weeding. Li Feng looked at the hoe and felt dizzy. He didn’t like the semicircular hoe at all. No, the hoe didn’t like him. He remembered that every time he weeded, he always removed the excess grass from the corn seedlings, which Li Shan had criticized him for several times. He felt dizzy looking at the hoe.

“Mom, let me help you. Do you think there is any other work? I’ll just do the weeding.” Li Feng stuck the shovel on the edge of the field and looked around. He didn’t know what he could do. The corn seedlings were only more than ten centimeters long. There was no need for pollination or peeling of cobs. He really didn’t know what to do.

“Hey, kid, everything is fine here. You are bored. Go water the vegetable garden at home. We haven’t watered it for several days.” Zhang Lan felt funny when she saw her son frowning. She saw the old man’s mouth curled up slightly, thinking about when her son was a child and was chased and spanked by his own old man for damaging the seedlings while weeding. He was so cute at that time, but he has grown up in the blink of an eye.

Li Feng nodded and watered the vegetable garden—a task he could handle himself, but as for weeding, he was still nervous. He wandered around with his shovel, greeting his uncles and aunts. Seeing the villagers’ sincere smiles, Li Feng felt calmer. He chatted for a while, then asked if there were any construction crews in the village. He should find out sooner rather than later. If he rushed to find water, it would be too late.

Li Feng’s vegetable garden, about half an acre in size, was behind the courtyard, and it was home to a variety of vegetables: tomatoes, green peppers, beans, and bok choy. Along the wall, there were loofahs, and in the corners, winter melon vines, leeks, lettuce, and a small row of garlic sprouts. Li Feng was slightly taken aback by the abundance of vegetables; it seemed his parents rarely went to the market.

Alas, although the village is richer than in previous years, it can only provide food and clothing, and is still some distance away from being well-off. It is not worth it for my family. There are about fifty or sixty households, but only a few go to the market to buy vegetables in a day, unless there are guests.

The green peppers were already as thick as a little finger, much thicker than at other places. The eggplants were already blooming, and the tomatoes were the size of eyeballs. Li Feng looked around, mostly obscured by poplar trees. A thought struck him: why bother filling the ditch ahead? It’s so far away. The water in his own space kept bubbling up every day, and it didn’t seem to increase. Even after filling a bucket, the amount didn’t decrease. It was truly remarkable.

Grabbing the wooden bucket, I easily watered the vegetable garden. Then, wiping the sweat from my head, I realized how weak I really am. Every day, I sit in the office, sleep after work, and play on the computer. I really can’t remember how long it’s been since I last exercised. Back in school, I was in such good shape; no one on the basketball team could match my physique. But in just a few years, my fitness has declined so much.

Li Feng cooked dinner himself. His cooking skills weren’t great, so he prepared the usual homely dishes: stir-fried water celery he’d dug from the pond, wild garlic and eggs, crushed cucumbers with cilantro, a pot of red bean porridge, and steamed buns from the previous morning. All was ready. Within minutes, his father, Li Shan, and his mother, Zhang Lan, arrived, hoes and buckets in hand.

“Wow, old man, look, Xiaobao has learned to cook.” Zhang Lan’s face was filled with surprise and joy, and she felt even happier when she saw the old man’s pleased smile.

“Mom and Dad, wash your hands and eat. Let’s try your son’s cooking.” Li Feng was a little proud. After several years away from home, he had gained something. He washed his own clothes, cooked his own meals, and cleaned the house. It was much better than when he was little, running home whenever he wanted. Even in high school, he would bring his clothes home every weekend for Zhang Lan to wash. He even didn’t know how to wash socks and underwear. He had suffered a lot in Beijing over the years, and learned a lot.

“Well, the food my son cooks is delicious, don’t you think, old man?” Zhang Lan started praising him before she even started eating, and even did not let go of Li Shan who had just sat down.

“Yeah.” Li Shan picked up the steamed bun and took a big bite of the vegetable. Although he didn’t say anything, the smile on his face made Li Feng know that his father was very happy at the moment, happy from the bottom of his heart.

Zhang Lan and Li Shan were all smiles while having dinner. Li Feng also felt that today’s meal was particularly delicious, so he ate an extra steamed bun. In the evening, while waiting for his parents to go to bed, Li Feng entered the space. He didn’t know if his computer could receive a signal. Li Feng had a mobile wireless phone that he had subscribed to, but he hadn’t been able to access it for the past two days.

Now that I have some free time, I’m thinking about looking online and buying some flower and plant seeds to decorate my space. I’ve always been tired of seeing this gray, empty space. Planting flowers, plants, and trees would make it more comfortable. Speaking of trees, Li Feng already has a plan in mind. He’ll go up to the mountains in a couple of days and dig up some saplings to plant here. As for the peach tree in the yard, it was dug up when the house was built, so no one should pay attention to it. If not, I can only look for peach saplings in the mountains. However, those wild peach trees need to be grafted, which I don’t know.

In the following days, Li Feng went to the town and bought some seeds at the agricultural technology station, including lotus roots, lotus flowers, and water chestnuts. He spent nearly three hundred yuan. The seeds were really expensive and too shady.

“Hey, Mom, where did these green peppers come from? They are so big.” When Li Feng returned home and saw the juicy green peppers in the basket, he was puzzled and asked Zhang Lan beside him.

“Hehe, it’s just the backyard, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s because of too much fertilizer, the seedlings are so strong. Look, they were only as thick as my little finger a few days ago, but they are edible today. I thought they would take two days to eat. I’m making scrambled eggs with green peppers for lunch today, which was your favorite when you were a child.” Zhang Lan was a little puzzled. The vegetables grown in her own garden were so strong, probably because of the thick base fertilizer applied over the years.

“Really, Mom, I’ll go to the backyard and take a look.” Li Feng was anxious to know if it was the effect of the spring water in his space. When he arrived at the backyard, Li Feng was stunned. The vegetable garden had undergone considerable changes compared to a few days ago. Look at the eggplants, peppers, and tomatoes. Each one was as strong as a calf. Perhaps only soil and fertilizer could have such great vitality.

Li Feng glanced at a loofah in the corner. He remembered not watering this one, and its leaves were much smaller than those of the ones next to it. It seemed the spring water in his space had a certain effect on plant growth. The effect was quite noticeable, bringing the vegetables to market at least four or five days earlier. He’d have to be more careful when using spring water in the future.

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