Song Tan's Notes

Thin skin, crispy flesh, bright red watermelon.

It was served on the coffee table with a unique fragrance. Although my brother and sister-in-law scoffed at the price of 41 kilograms, it did not stop them from reaching out and taking a piece.

Then he took a bite and his eyes widened.

Aunt Wu even sighed: "How come this melon is so delicious! If I had known, I would have waited for your dad to come back at noon to eat it together."

She originally thought that a few cents per pound was nothing special, so she cut it casually!

My brother, sister-in-law and children were so engrossed in their eating that they didn’t even raise their heads: “Isn’t there one more? Let’s cut it up and eat it together when Dad comes back!”

The nephew was even sadder: "Such a delicious watermelon, I want to hold it and eat half of it..."

The eldest sister-in-law loved her children, so she said, "Then when grandpa comes back, ask him to give you half of it. This melon is so delicious, maybe it really costs 40 yuan per pound!"

"Wu Fang, you said before that your company is a farm. Are these melons from your farm?"

Wu Fang nodded.

The eldest brother instantly became excited: "No wonder I am so willing to pay you. When you work as a security guard, do you just watch over the melon fields?"

Wu Fang: “…almost.”

The eldest brother became excited: "This melon tastes so good, your boss must have made a lot of money every year, right? Didn't you say that there are some of your former comrades in the security team? You watch the melon fields every day, but don't you think of a way to secretly trade in some?"

Wu Fang frowned.

The eldest brother continued, "You are still out of touch with society. The gatekeeper at the construction site needs to fiddle with two more steel pipes. What's the big deal about you getting a few melons?"

"If they really sell for 40 yuan per pound, and I can make 10 or 8 pieces in one night, I can earn half a month's salary."

"When working in society, you can't be stubborn."

"Why are you still holding on to that 5000 yuan salary?"

Wu Ma hesitated for a moment and said, "His salary is quite high. If he is found out, it would not be worthwhile to fire him."

The eldest brother laughed and said, "My brother! A disabled soldier! Can't they hire a healthy person for 5000 yuan? Why hire him? He is just taking up a quota to avoid taxes and get subsidies."

"Besides, it would be so embarrassing to be fired! Don't people want to maintain their reputation?"

"If you really get fired, you can still find a security job in our city. This job is not rare. Anyway, you get a subsidy every year, so you can make a living anyway."

Wu Fang said nothing and swallowed the last piece of watermelon.

Then he washed his hands and wiped his mouth, looking at his elder brother seriously:

"Even if a watermelon is worth 200 yuan, I'll probably go to jail if I steal a few. Brother, don't you care that your child won't pass the political review in the future, or that he has to listen to this kind of talk in person?"

The nephew who was enjoying eating the melon looked up at him:

"Uncle, did my dad ask you to steal watermelons?"

The room was filled with silence.

The next moment, the eldest sister-in-law hurriedly said, "No, your father and your uncle are talking about games. They are going to play the game of stealing watermelons later."

"Oh." The nephew lowered his head again: "Then I want to fight in the canyon."

The eldest brother quickly laughed again: "Look at you, you are still taking it seriously. I just said it casually. I didn't ask you to do it."

Wu Fang didn't say anything. He handed the braised pork, tea-wrapped rice dumplings, etc. to Wu Ma and said, "These are given away for free at the Dragon Boat Festival cafeteria. I brought them back especially for you to try. Let's cook them all for lunch."

These things looked ordinary, so Wu Ma didn't refuse them. She put the rice dumplings into the pot and boiled them, and soaked the tea leaves directly in the big kettle.

The moment the fragrance came out, she instantly regretted it: "This tea smells so good, I should have saved it for your dad!"

When Father Wu came back and the braised pork in the pot burst into an irresistible aroma, the whole family was speechless.

And then there are zongzi...

In short, the gift worth one or two thousand yuan was eaten up in one meal by Wu Fang. Since he still maintained a lot of training every day, his appetite was the best in the family. Among the five adults and one child, he ate one third of the food.

The remaining four people felt that the bowl was empty before they could taste anything.

The whole family was annoyed: "How can we eat it all in one meal..."

Wu Fang said casually: "It's made in the cafeteria, there's no need to treasure it so much, just eat it."

The sister-in-law was instantly surprised: "You can eat it every day?!"

Wu Fang said "hmm".

The eldest brother couldn't even sit still:

"What kind of company is this? They feed their employees this? Wu Fang, have you ever thought of selling some of the ingredients? If you open a restaurant with these vegetables, you can sell that meat dumpling for thirty or fifty yuan and people will buy it!"

Wu Fang shook his head: "It's not necessary. We can eat it every day. Why do we have to go through all this trouble?"

"Food and accommodation are provided, as well as work clothes and shoes. There is basically no money to spend on daily basis, so there is no need to worry about earning so much."

He said it lightly, then went back to his room to rest under the pretext of being sleepy. He lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the disbelief on his elder brother's face and the jealousy and unwillingness that were visible to the naked eye, while thinking in his heart:

Mid-Autumn Festival is the busy farming season, so you don’t have to go back yet.

Can I wait until the New Year and only come back for three days?
……

The employees had their own mix of sadness and happiness during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, but for Qiao Qiao, every day now is happy and different.

At this time, the setting sun shines, and the entire river beach looks like it is covered with a layer of gold.

The green reeds and the gradually growing sweet sugarcane and sorghum sway in the wind, and the pasture becomes more lush and green.

Qiao Qiao, Chen Chi and Yang Zhengxin were wearing the same school uniform, squatting on the grass, each holding a chubby puppy that was less than a month old, and smiling brightly at the camera.

As a photographer, Lu Chuan was carefully adjusting the parameters of the camera, and then took a few clicks to freeze the scene in front of him.

After taking another look, he handed it to Song Tan beside him: "It's still the youth of youth!"

Song Tan raised his eyebrows: "My face should also be youthful."

Lu Chuan stretched out his hot palms and covered her eyes: "You are different, there are stories in your eyes, you can't act this youthful anymore."

Song Tan was a little surprised and couldn't help but reach out and press his palm, her eyelashes touching the hot palm in front of her: "Are my eyes very old and vicissitudes?"

Lu Chuan pressed down with a little force.

"No."

"The mentality is old and the eyes are lifeless, gloomy and full of negativity... It is very tiring to be with such people."

"Because you can't get love, the love you give can't be well perceived and accepted by the other party... In today's words, such a person can't love himself well, and he has no ability to love others."

"But you are different."

"Looking through your eyes and exploring your spiritual world, it's like you've been through a lot, but you still love me, and then you've been tempered..."

It was so unique that he could never forget it the first time he saw it.

However, after staying at Old Song's house for a while, he discovered that it might be because of her parents.

Although they live in a rural environment and are not good at expressing their love directly, Song Sancheng and Wulan will support their children unreservedly, which is already a very rare happiness.

Perhaps, Tan Tan has always maintained this love and has grown up alone until now.

He smiled: "In your eyes... there are mysterious stories, firm beliefs, and extremely strong self-confidence."

"I am neither old nor vicissitudes of life. Even when you look at me seriously, I can't help but want to explore more." (End of this chapter)