American Farmers: Facing a Cutoff at the Start

Fett slowly put down the receiver, his eyes becoming deep and unfathomable.

He quickly pressed the 'Call Log' button on the landline and retrieved the record of the previous call.

On the small, green-glowing LCD screen, a line of letters flashed:

"Private Number".

really.

The other party was very cautious and used a hidden number.

Was this seemingly random phone call a well-intentioned reminder?

Or was it a provocation from the killer?

What exactly is his purpose?

Fett leaned against the cabinet, quickly flipping through the original owner's memories of the car accident in his mind.

It was unremarkable, flawless, and without any clues.

"What's wrong, Fett?"

Lyra was clearing the dishes from the table when she saw Fett stand there in a daze, looking serious, after he hung up the phone.

She stopped what she was doing and asked worriedly, "Who called? What happened?"

Fett snapped out of his daze, quickly concealing the surprise and doubt in his eyes, and turned around with a helpless smile on his face:

"It's nothing, he's just an insurance salesman."

"The moment he heard me say I had no money and didn't want to buy insurance, he immediately died."

"Salespeople these days have absolutely no patience."

Leila gave him a suspicious look, but didn't investigate further, and carried the plate into the kitchen: "These kinds of calls are the most annoying, just ignore them."

"Crunch, crunch."

Heavy footsteps echoed from the porch, followed by the sound of stomping to remove mud.

The door was pushed open, and a damp, chilly scent unique to the forest, mixed with the smell of gunpowder, rushed in.

Old Frank and Roy walked in, their trousers soaked with dew and their boots covered in mud and dead leaves.

Old Frank carried the double-barreled shotgun, while Roy slung a Remington over his shoulder.

"How are you? Dad? Uncle Roy?" Fett went up to greet him.

"You didn't encounter any danger, did you?"

Don't worry!

Old Frank hung the gun back on the wall, saying as he took off his coat:

"That wild boar must have been a lone vagrant. We circled around it several times, but we didn't even see a single hair."

"I also dealt with a few troublesome coyotes and left them by the edge of the woods. Now we're safe."

Roy then untied a cloth bag from behind his back, pulled out a pair of huge, grayish-white objects, and casually tossed them onto the wooden floor with a crisp "click":

"Fett, look what we found!"

Fett went up and saw a pair of huge antlers on the floor.

Judging from the branching and thickness, this is at least from an old deer that has lived for five or six years.

Although the color has turned grayish due to exposure to wind and sun, the bone remains dense and hard, and the surface is covered with rough yet charming natural textures.

"We found it in the bushes by the stream."

Roy said with a smile:

"Now that you know how to forge knives, this stuff is the perfect material for making knife handles. A pair of these is enough for you to make several knife handles."

Fett picked up the antlers and weighed them in his hand; they were quite heavy, definitely a good thing.

"Thank you so much, Uncle Roy! This has been a huge help!"

Fett put the antlers aside, turned to old Frank, and said:

"Dad, I just checked, and the saws in the warehouse aren't very sharp, and the mesh bags are old and break easily when pulled, so they're unusable."

"Should we go to town and buy some more?"

"The customers are about to arrive, and it would be difficult to handle them if we didn't have the right tools."

Upon hearing this, old Frank slapped his forehead:

"Oh dear! I was so focused on dealing with the wild animals that I forgot about that!"

Leila added from the side, "Uncle Frank, we need to buy two more packs of stiffer cardstock. We're making those 'Friends and Family Discount Cards'."

"Also, please get a large copy of the Christmas tree size and price chart from the print shop while you're at it, so you can put it on the wall where it's eye-catching."

Hearing that Lyra kept these trivial yet important little things in mind, Fett couldn't help but smile and give her a thumbs up.

"Okay! I've got it all!"

"I'll go right now!"

The old man, without taking a break, grabbed the keys to the Ford F-150, stepped on the gas, and roared off into town.

More than an hour later.

The old pickup truck drove into the yard, kicking up dust, and old Frank returned fully loaded.

Several rolls of brand-new white plastic packing netting lay horizontally in the truck bed, and a dozen well-packaged replacement saw blades were thrown next to it.

Fett, who was sitting on the porch, casually stroking the cat Rosie in his arms, quickly put the cat down when he saw this, propped himself up on his knees, and stood up, wanting to go over and lend a hand.

"Fett! You can just sit there and touch Rosie!"

"Let me and my dad help!"

A delicate shout came from the side.

Leila and Roy were carrying the heavy sheet metal packing machine out of the warehouse.

The two men slammed the packing machine to the ground with a loud thud.

Roy laughed heartily, dusted off his hands, and strode onto the truck bed.

"Fett, leave the heavy lifting to us."

"Your task now is to recover from your injury. Don't move around too much, as it will affect the healing process!"

As he spoke, he picked up the several-dozen-pound roll of plastic netting and handed it to Leila and old Frank below.

Fett could only smile and retreat to his chair.

His wound wasn't serious to begin with; it was just a superficial injury.

After the body was strengthened by the system, the wounds healed very quickly. Not to mention carrying two boxes of saw blades, even carrying a wire mesh and running around the farm a couple of times would probably not be a big problem.

But there's no way to explain this; you can't just take the wires off in public and perform a squat for them.

Well, since resistance is futile, I might as well accept this patient treatment.

He pinched Rosie's ear, watching the crowd bustling about in the sunlight.

This is probably what is meant by the "burden of happiness".

As soon as the food was unloaded and stacked, an enticing aroma of food wafted over on the breeze.

Aunt Rachel, carrying a thick rag and a large, still steaming cast-iron pot, walked steadily down the path from the neighboring farm.

"Stop busying yourselves, let's eat while it's hot!"

The midday sun in winter was just right, and there was hardly any wind; it felt warm and cozy on my skin.

The group simply sat in a circle under the porch.

Aunt Rachel lifted the lid of the pot, revealing a large pot of thick, creamy chicken stew, steaming hot.

Everyone got a plate and started eating heartily, either sitting on the steps or leaning against the railing, enjoying the sunshine.

Fett secretly dipped a piece of bread in the soup and popped it into his mouth, then gave Aunt Rachel a thumbs up:

"Aunt Rachel, this stewed chicken is delicious! The chicken meat is firm yet tender, and the carrots even have a sweet taste."

"With such excellent ingredients from the farm, plus your cooking skills, you could open a restaurant there and it would be a huge success!"

This isn't just flattery from Fet; while it's still not as delicious as Chinese food, Aunt Rachel's cooking is indeed quite good.

In his past life, he had seen plenty of people from all over the world complaining about the food in other countries. He had also seen white housewives preparing meals for their families, pouring cans of food into a basin like feeding pigs, stirring it, and then baking it in the oven.

I'm already very satisfied to be able to eat this kind of food without having to do it myself.

Rachel's smile lines instantly blossomed, and her face glowed with the rosy radiance of approval.

"You're so sweet-talking!"

She gave a reproachful look, but her ladle moved without hesitation, reaching straight into the pot and carefully selecting the fattest, most tender chicken thigh meat with skin on, along with the thick broth, adding two large spoonfuls to Fett's plate.

"Since it's delicious, let's eat more!"

"Look at you, you've been through so much these past few days, your face has gotten so thin."

"This is a time when you're growing and recovering, so you need to eat more. You have to finish this whole pot!"

"Alright! Then I won't stand on ceremony!"