Daily Life in the Countryside After Being Reborn-Chapter 214 - 23: Supreme Hami Melon (Part 2)

After being coerced by Xiao Xian to climb down the ladder, the old man thought she was going to call an adult from upstairs to help. But in a blur, that delicate-looking girl climbed the ladder like a monkey, swiftly changing the lightbulb in seconds.

Coming down the ladder, the girl found it a hassle and with a long step, she jumped down, scaring Bai Juyi out of his wits.

"Such a well-mannered child, acting like a little monkey," Bai Juyi muttered with disdain, but his fondness for Xiao Xian grew a bit more. At his age, not having any descendants close by, lively company was a pleasure of its own.

"Mr. Bai, here you go. Your utility bill notice was mistakenly put into our mailbox. My uncle asked me to bring it down to you," said Xiao Xian, her forehead breaking out in sweat after her exertions.

"Come in, I’ve got some ripe Hami melons in my greenhouse. I can’t eat them all myself, why don’t you come and have some," Bai Juyi stepped aside, making way for Xiao Xian to enter. freewebnσvel.cøm

Xiao Xian hesitated for a moment, pricking up her ears to listen to the noise upstairs. She hadn’t shut the door on her way out, so she could faintly hear the drama playing on the fourth floor. The heroine was crying miserably, and occasionally she could also hear Zhuo Feng sniffling. No need to guess, before the 45-minute episode was over, her aunt wouldn’t care where she had gone.

Xiao Xian followed him inside. When she borrowed the spring onion that day, she had only a brief glimpse of the old man’s interior decoration and knew about the sizable balcony in his place. Now that she was invited in, she finally had the chance to see the entire house in detail.

"What a big balcony, no wait, this must be the artificial greenhouse my grandfather mentioned?" Xiao Xian could finally see that the old man had converted the balcony of the house into several separate tent-like rooms. Several water pipes were drawn from the kitchen into those makeshift greenhouses, each about two square metres in size, lit by several high-wattage solar lights.

The high-wattage lights made it difficult to see the crops in the greenhouse clearly.

Bai Juyi turned off the lights, then pulled open a slit next to the "artificial greenhouse." Xiao Xian peered in, realizing that it wasn’t Zhuo Feng who had started planting fruits and vegetables in the old apartments; it had been the widowed old man who led the way.

Compared to the haphazardly laid soil and ponds on the rooftop, Mr. Bai’s greenhouses were pure art. Each greenhouse had wooden shelves over half a meter high, with specially-made flowerpots almost as big as the greenhouses themselves, looking clean and orderly.

"Is this a ’Black Eyebrow’ melon from Xinjiang?" Xiao Xian crawled into the "artificial greenhouse," truly amazed. Just the tent-like "artificial greenhouse" that could fit two or three people, for example, had ample sunlight during the day and even simulated the solar radiation of the Xinjiang region at night, using solar lamps for extra hours. If every "greenhouse" functioned this way, no wonder the old man had such a shockingly high electricity bill.

"You recognized it’s a ’Black Eyebrow’ just at a glance? Tell me how you figured it out. If you’re right, not only will I treat you to some melon, I’ll even let you take one back for your folks to try," Bai Juyi’s beard quivered as he laughed heartily, a twinkle of jest in his wrinkled eyes.

In fact, ’Black Eyebrow’ wasn’t difficult to recognize. The challenging part was that in Beijing, these kinds of Hami melons were quite rare, only showing up in a few numbers during the peak of summer at the State Guest House for entertaining foreign guests.

Xiao Xian pursed her lips, her hands restlessly patting the melons on the vines, "As long as you recognize it’s a Hami melon, it’s easy to spot the ’Black Eyebrow.’ That’s simple, the skin carries numerous dark green stripes, like the finely curved eyebrows of ancient beauties."

"Oh? I don’t believe it, just by that? Children your age probably haven’t even tasted Hami melon. Never mind, it’s rare to find someone who appreciates my melons," Mr. Bai said, picking a four or five-pound melon from the vine.

With a light slice from a fruit knife on the melon’s skin, there was a "swish" sound, and the jade-like green flesh was revealed. Xiao Xian bit into the flesh and felt the incredible smoothness between her teeth, the honey-sweet juice not only sticking to her mouth but also making her hand holding the melon sticky.

"I have a story about Hami melons; it wouldn’t hurt to tell you," Bai Juyi saw Xiao Xian quickly finishing the melon, his crow’s feet smoothing out, "Zhang Yinzhi of the Qing Dynasty mentioned Hami melons in his ’Western Expedition Chronicles’ - ’Meeting a postal rider on the road, he offered Hami melons, clustered by hundreds. Each person held a small basket, covered with a yellow cloth, carrying a melon and passing by in the blink of an eye, fast as a flying bird.’"

"Mr. Bai, your melons are really tasty," Xiao Xian listened to the story as she munched on the melon and suddenly felt as if she was back in Ge Village, the old man with sheep’s whiskers beard turning into Zhu Shijun. With the moon high overhead, her grandfather, fanning himself, told stories – contemplating those days, her yearning grew stronger.

"You sure have a sweet mouth, but looking at your expression, I’m afraid my melon tastes bitter," Bai Juyi noticed Xiao Xian’s melancholy and seemingly not wanting to be infected by her sadness, he asked her to take the rest of the large Hami melon and go upstairs.

Xiao Xian wanted to see more of the plants on the balcony, but she could already hear Zhuo Feng’s shouts from the stairwell, "Xiao Xian!"

"If you like, come and visit more often. There’s nothing much in this old man’s home, just lots of plants and flowers. Better get back," Bai Juyi closed the door, all the greenery being sealed off behind it. (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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