Gourd Farm Chapter 32
Translated by Etherna (ko-fi)
Chapter 32: My Employee Number 001
"You, this girl, you've always been prone to tears since you were little, and you still can't change that habit," remarked her mother.
"That's because of you," Xia Ying sobbed.
Her mother sighed. "Go have your meal; it'll get cold soon."
"Okay."
Watching Xia Ying's retreating figure, the old woman sighed again.
"Ah, this child has really been through a lot."
Inside her room, Xia Ying washed the strawberries she had bought in the morning, sat on a stool, picked one up, and took a small bite.
As the strawberry entered her mouth, Xia Ying, who had been shedding tears just a moment ago, broke into a sweet smile.
This was probably the happiest moment of her entire day. Her contentment was evident from the smile on her face. Life was tough, but there had to be a little sweetness.
"Xia Ying, remember to call your aunt later, okay?"
Xia Ying, who had been smiling moments ago, furrowed her brows upon hearing this.
"Oh, I got it."
Though she really didn't want to, she couldn't afford to anger her mother. She would have to find a way to deal with it for now. Maybe in the next few days, she could find her classmate, and if she did, she wouldn't have to go.
These past two days, Yang Feng had been delivering goods to the restaurant and spending the rest of his time working on the greenhouse. After several days of relentless work, now all three greenhouses, except for the first one, were fully functional.
Yang Meng and his son had come on the first day to help for a while, but they hadn't seen them since.
On the first day they came to help, the two of them were getting along fine.
Later, for some unknown reason, they had a heated argument, and Yang Meng angrily rode away on his bike, leaving behind an exasperated uncle.
"You ungrateful wretch, if you've got guts, just die out there and don't come back."
"I won't come back if I don't want to, I couldn't care less."
"Get lost!!"
"Hmph, if it weren't for you envying Yang Feng making money with the greenhouse, do you think I would willingly do this dirty and tiring work? It's all because of you."
"Why don't you open your eyes? I raised such an ungrateful thing like you."
By this time, Yang Meng had long disappeared and couldn't hear the uncle's complaints at all.
These days, Yang Feng was considering what to plant. He planned to grow fruits and vegetables—one greenhouse for tomatoes and another for strawberries.
"It seems like I'll need to hire an employee in the future; otherwise, I won't be able to manage everything by myself."
While the two greenhouses were still not operational, he decided to sell the watermelons in the first greenhouse.
He delivered the produce to the restaurant early in the morning and set up a stall here.
"Hmm, why didn't Xia Ying come today?"
They had been running the stall together for a while now, so suddenly being one person short felt a bit unusual.
Today was the weekend, and there were quite a few people passing by.
Since he started selling fruit boxes, business had been decent as long as he came by every day.
"Boss, give me two boxes of fruit."
"Yes, sure."
Two young girls on electric bikes pulled up in front of his stall.
"Boss, you haven't been here to set up your stall for three days, right?"
"Yeah, I had some things to attend to, so I couldn't make it."
These past few days, he had been delivering the restaurant's goods and then returning home immediately. It wasn't that he didn't want to set up the stall, but he just couldn't find the time.
"Boss, if you don't come back soon, we'll run out of supplies."
The girl sitting in the back seat spoke up.
"Well, I'm really sorry about that. I'll try to come here every day from now on."
He still had quite a few regular customers who came by every day, including housewives and students.
"Boss, you finally came to set up your stall."
Yang Feng was browsing an online forum, discussing greenhouse planting topics, when he was suddenly interrupted by a voice. He looked up and found the person vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place them.
"Do you not recognize me?"
The middle-aged man wearing a helmet looked at Yang Feng, who seemed hesitant, probably realizing that he had forgotten him.
"I'm the one who sells breakfast and makes sushi. I bought cucumbers from you before. Think about it."
"Oh, I remember now."
Listening to him, Yang Feng recalled the person.
"What are you planning to buy today?"
"Of course, cucumbers. These days, you're not any more diligent on this road than picking up my son."
"Oh?"
"You might not know, ever since I switched to your cucumbers, the sushi sold out on the first day, and it was just as popular the second day."
"After that, I cooked several pots of rice, but when the cucumbers ran out, the usual cucumbers I used didn't sell at all. If I can't get cucumbers today, my rice will go to waste."
"We run a small breakfast business, we can't afford such waste, and the most important thing is that our hard-earned reputation will be ruined."
"Sigh, I don't understand it either, but customers are just like this. When I changed, they said the taste was different. It's something I figured out after experimenting these past few days."
"I won't talk about others, but our son doesn't even eat cucumbers now, even when we switch to them."
"How much are you planning to buy today?"
"Well, give me twenty pounds."
The breakfast uncle hesitated a bit, because the temperature was low now, and it was fine to buy more. If he bought less, he might face a problem later.
The breakfast uncle asked for Yang Feng's number, saying he would contact him if he needed more.
After checking the time, Yang Feng also visited the school.
He finished his breakfast early today and bought some groceries at the supermarket. For so many days, he had been too busy, and all three meals were instant noodles, which he was getting tired of.
After buying the groceries, as he reached the supermarket's entrance, he saw Xia Ying hanging around.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
Xia Ying might have been lost in thought, or maybe Yang Feng's sudden greeting startled her.
"Oh, I..."
She stammered, as if something was bothering her. It explained why she hadn't been seen at the stall today.
"What's wrong? Are you facing difficulties?"
After spending quite some time together, they had become quite familiar friends. If there was anything he could help with, he would try his best.
"I've been looking for a job these past few days. I just inquired at the supermarket, and they said they hired all the positions yesterday."
"Oh, weren't you doing well with the stall? Why the rush to find a job?"
"Now that the watermelon season is over, I won't have any income if I stay at home. But I also don't want to work outside."
As Xia Ying spoke, her eyes started to well up with tears. Although they hadn't seen each other for a few days, she seemed even thinner than before, giving off an aura of vulnerability.
Looking at Xia Ying in front of him, Yang Feng was reminded of the last night in the big city, when she had been in a similar state.
"Why insist on working from home? To be honest, the pay outside is generally higher."
"I know that, but my mom has trouble with her legs, and I worry about her."
"Have you figured out what kind of job you want to find?"
"Sigh, no need to be picky. Right now, just having a job is good enough. If I can't find one in the next two days, I'll have to go to the big city."
