Chapter 116: Collecting Fruit Trees

Xiao Weiguo pondered for a moment. Having said everything that needed to be said, he followed his grandmother outside, intending to help her with some chores.

Inside the room, only Xiao Tieniu and Xiao Pingle remained, whispering about something unknown.

Upon reaching the stove, Grandmother checked the porridge and, finding it in good order, set her mind at ease, continuing to stir the cornmeal porridge with a wooden spoon. Xiao Weiguo stood by, watching the firewood and chatting cheerfully with her. Before long, the porridge was ready, and Grandmother called everyone to eat.

Looking at the bowls of cornmeal porridge on the table and the small dish of salted pickles in the center, Xiao Weiguo felt once again the reality of the era he was living in.

Xiao Weijun, on the other hand, was not prone to such sentimentality. He happily gulped down his cornmeal porridge, finishing it in no time and even licking the bowl clean. With a piece of salted vegetable hanging from his mouth, he announced, "I'm off to play!" and vanished in an instant.

Xiao Weiguo slowly savored his bowl. Fortunately, it wasn't the kind of coarse meal that included ground-up corn cobs, so it was quite palatable. As everyone finished, Xiao Weiguo was the last one left at the table. He hurried his pace and polished off the rest in a few mouthfuls.

Recalling another matter, he quickly brought out the small lockbox. Turning to his grandmother, who was collecting the bowls, he said, "Grandma, I brought back the lockbox I was keeping for you. You should keep it yourself from now on. Oh, and I took one small item out of it, but I left everything else untouched."

Grandmother set down the bowls and replied, "That belongs to you, so why bring it back? Just take it with you when you leave. Be a good boy and listen to me; Grandma doesn't need it."

If Xiao Weiguo were truly destitute, he might have accepted, but he was far from short on money. It was better for his grandmother to keep it; it would give her a sense of security.

He persisted, "Grandma, please listen. I don't have a use for it right now, and in the city, there are too many people and sticky fingers—it's easy to lose things. Since I'm not home every day, it's safer if you keep it. If I ever need it, I’ll ask you for it. Don't worry."

Hearing this, Grandmother could only concede, "Alright then, my good grandson. Grandma will keep it for now. Whenever you need it, just ask. And when you get married, I'll pass it all on to your wife." She chuckled warmly as she spoke.

Xiao Weiguo picked up the bag he had brought and handed the lockbox to her. He thought to himself that while things were fine for now, the coming decade—and the years leading up to it—might bring hidden dangers, especially regarding his grandmother’s status. Still, there was no need for excessive worry; his own standing, including his personal connections and job position, was steadily improving, which should help them weather the storm.

Ever since the meal, Xiao Pingle had felt as if he were walking on clouds, dazed and disoriented. He returned home in this same trance, tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. The news he had received was simply too shocking.

Xiao Weiguo, however, slept soundly. After returning to his small room and using his thoughts to tend to his internal space, he drifted off and did not wake until past six the next morning.

His grandfather was already preparing for work. In the brigade, the workday ran from 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM, and from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM, with no days off year-round. This schedule applied during the slack season; during busy farming periods, such as spring planting, they had to rise before dawn to reach the fields by first light, working until the sun went down and they could no longer see the furrows. In summer, when weeding was required three times over, the routine was the same—rising before dawn and working until darkness made it impossible to distinguish the seedlings.

Xiao Weiguo had a steamed sweet potato and some hot water for breakfast. He chatted with his grandmother about the brigade’s gossip. Despite being an elderly woman with bound feet, her intelligence-gathering skills were remarkable; no fresh news in the village escaped her. For instance, she mentioned how the Zhang family’s two sons had fought over a temporary job opening in the city. The younger brother had been so vicious that he broke the elder brother’s leg to prevent him from going, only for the factory recruiters to disqualify the younger brother for poor moral character. The opportunity ended up going to a neighbor’s son, leaving the brothers estranged and the family with nothing.

Xiao Weiguo considered his plans for the day. Since he was in the countryside, he decided to collect various fruit trees and transplant them into his space. As for tropical varieties, he would handle those if an opportunity arose. With this in mind, he bid his grandmother farewell and rode his bicycle toward the large mountain near the Xiao Brigade. If one looked carefully, almost all common northern fruit trees could be found there. Though the varieties weren't top-tier, he believed that with the space’s nourishment, their flavor would improve significantly within a generation or two.

When he reached a point where the bike could go no further, he checked his surroundings. Seeing no one, he tucked the bicycle into his space and entered the mountain alone.

He avoided the fully grown trees, focusing instead on the saplings found nearby. Since his space had an acceleration effect, the growth time was of no concern. Another reason he left the large trees alone was that the brigade members knew exactly where the fruit trees grew, and they would often come to harvest them in the autumn.

Xiao Weiguo collected about twenty or thirty types of trees, including apple, peach, grapevines, walnut, persimmon, pear, apricot, jujube, and hawthorn. Using his mind, he planted them evenly across the small hills in his space and poured a little spring water at the roots of each to ensure their survival. Looking at his thriving space, he felt deeply satisfied.

Suddenly, something long and thin struck down from above toward his neck. Thanks to his habit of keeping his consciousness expanded while searching for saplings, he detected it instantly. He quickly used his will to pin the creature to the ground. It was a green, pointed-headed snake—it looked venomous. A cold shiver ran down his spine; had it bitten him, there would be no antivenom to save him.

With a single thought, he killed the snake and hurried forward, keeping his senses fully expanded to guard against further danger. To his surprise, he had a stroke of luck—he discovered several medicinal herbs, including a wild ginseng plant that was over a decade old. Delighted, he carefully uprooted them and planted them in the medicinal section of his space.