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Chapter 60 ☆ Melon Field Night Watch
“Sister.” Xie Zhao’s voice was low and restrained, with a hint of roughness that made Cheng Yaoyao’s heart race.
Xie Zhao held her hands tightly, and she couldn’t break free. She closed her eyes as if to escape and said timidly, “If you dare… I, I’ll be angry!”
The cool night breeze blew by, and the jasmine flowers by the waterside trembled in the wind, their buds blooming and filling the air with an intoxicating fragrance.
Xie Zhao bent down and held Cheng Yaoyao completely in his arms, shielding their moment from the moonlight’s view.
“Be good, I’ll just take a look…”
_
Cheng Yaoyao sat aside angrily, tears still in her eyes, and refused to pay any attention to Xie Zhao no matter how much he coaxed her.
Men are all pigs!
Xie Zhao tried to calm her down, but Cheng Yaoyao was still angry. He picked up a watermelon that had been soaked in the river and broke it in half. He used a spoon to scoop out the sweetest part of the melon and fed it to Cheng Yaoyao: “Sister, have a bite.”
Cheng Yaoyao grabbed a handful of grass and threw it at Xie Zhao: “Get away, you big rascal!”
“…It was you who refused to let me go.” The word “rascal” made Xie Zhao’s ears burn. He pursed his lips and whispered to defend himself.
As soon as he spoke, Cheng Yaoyao got even angrier and rushed over to scratch him with red eyes: “You’re talking nonsense! Shame on you!”
“Okay, it’s me.” Xie Zhao held up the melon with one hand and stroked her hair with the other.
Cheng Yaoyao was enchanted by Xie Zhao’s voice. He whispered in her ear for a long time until she calmed down. She secretly glanced at Xie Zhao, who remained serious and didn’t tease her about what had happened. She finally relaxed.
Cheng Yaoyao pouted, looked at the watermelon in Xie Zhao’s hand, and asked, “Is this watermelon sweet?”
“Very sweet.” Xie Zhao said and immediately fed the spoonful of watermelon to Cheng Yaoyao’s mouth.
Cheng Yaoyao reluctantly opened her mouth and took a bite. The cold, sweet juice, like honey, rushed into her throat, making her feel refreshed.
Cheng Yaoyao perked up and took the spoon to start eating.
In Tianshui Village, the tradition is that you can eat melons when you visit the melon fields, but you can’t take them away. When Cheng Yaoyao arrived at the fields today, she picked a melon herself. It had been soaked in river water and was very cold, perfect for eating.
The melon wasn’t big, so Cheng Yaoyao and Xie Zhao took turns eating it and finished it quickly. Their hands were sticky with watermelon juice, so they went to the river to wash up.
Xie Zhao squeezed a handful of soapberry leaves, held Cheng Yaoyao’s hand, and rubbed it on. Cheng Yaoyao was still angry with Xie Zhao, so she pushed his hand away with disdain and washed her hands herself.
Xie Zhao lowered his eyes and said calmly, “Sister, don’t go too far. There might be a snake.”
“!!!” Cheng Yaoyao immediately stuck close to Xie Zhao, staring at the shimmering river water with caution. The water was dim at night, with bubbles popping up, scaring Cheng Yaoyao. “Where? Where’s the snake?”
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here.” Xie Zhao held her hand, applied soap liquid, and cleaned her slender fingers bit by bit. Only after her hands were clean did he pull her up.
Xie Zhao pulled up a rope and fished out a narrow-mouthed bamboo basket from the river. It made some noises inside.
Cheng Yaoyao came over to look. Inside were several small fish and many reddish-brown crayfish. “There really are crayfish! I’ll make spicy crayfish for you tomorrow!”
“Okay, then catch more.” Xie Zhao poured the fish and shrimp into one basket, added a few skinned frogs into the narrow-mouthed bamboo basket, and put the two baskets back into the water, waiting for more to fall in.
Xie Zhao said, “I’m going to check the melon field. Can you stay here?”
The melon field seemed endless, and the distant grass was pitch black, with occasional rustling sounds. Cheng Yaoyao shook her head without hesitation: “I don’t want to.”
Xie Zhao held her hand and said, “Then let’s go together.”
The moonlight was like frost, illuminating the ridges of the field below. Cheng Yaoyao followed Xie Zhao as they patrolled the melon field. The local people were simple and honest. Apart from some troublemakers and children, few people came to steal melons. The melon watchers were mostly concerned about small wild animals like hares and wild boars.
Cheng Yaoyao asked, “Are there any wild animals?”
“Ha?” Xie Zhao looked confused, “Is it an animal?”
“Well, it’s an animal that looks like a hedgehog.” Cheng Yaoyao explained, “To steal melons, you have to stab it with a steel fork…”
Xie Zhao said he had never seen a hedgehog and offered to catch one if Cheng Yaoyao wanted to play with it. Cheng Yaoyao remembered the bamboo rat that had died at Xie Zhao’s hands last time and politely declined.
However, Cheng Yaoyao’s mention reminded Xie Zhao. He set a few rabbit traps in the melon field. After inspecting the large melon field, he found nothing unusual except a grass snake that scared Cheng Yaoyao.
After a while, the dew began to fall. Cheng Yaoyao rubbed her arms and felt cold. Xie Zhao wrapped her in the blanket he brought and let her sleep in his arms for a while.
Cheng Yaoyao yawned and leaned comfortably in Xie Zhao’s arms: “Then wake me up in the middle of the night, and I’ll take your place.”
“Okay. Go to sleep.” Xie Zhao raised his hand and covered Cheng Yaoyao’s eyes.
The moonlight was blocked by Xie Zhao’s hand, making everything in front of her dark. Cheng Yaoyao leaned on Xie Zhao, feeling the warmth, and soon fell asleep.
Cheng Yaoyao slept soundly until she was woken by the sounds of birds singing and flowing water.
“Hm…” Cheng Yaoyao tilted her head and found she was resting her head on Xie Zhao’s legs. Xie Zhao supported his chin with one hand and had the other hand on her waist. His narrow eyes were closed, and the expression that usually kept people at a distance had softened.
Xie Zhao had eaten well, so his cheeks were fuller and his jawline smooth, showing pure masculine beauty. After a night, some green stubble appeared on his chin. Cheng Yaoyao touched it, and it was prickly.
Xie Zhao shivered and suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were clear and cold, showing no sign of sleepiness.
Cheng Yaoyao hesitated with her hand still raised, and his intense gaze made her heart race: “…”
“Sister.” Xie Zhao saw Cheng Yaoyao lying in his arms. His eyes softened immediately, and he pulled up the blanket that had slipped down. “Why did you wake up so early?”
“I was woken up by the birds singing.” Cheng Yaoyao withdrew her hand, grabbed the hem of Xie Zhao’s clothes, and hummed.
The sky was still gray, and it was early. Only the early birds were chirping. Xie Zhao said, “If you feel sleepy, sleep a little longer.”
“You didn’t even wake me up at night.” Cheng Yaoyao complained. She had a thick mat underneath and a blanket on top, but Xie Zhao’s coat was wet with dew. “Aren’t you cold?”
“I had nothing to do at night, so I slept for a while.” Xie Zhao asked, “Do you want to sleep more?”
Cheng Yaoyao, feeling dazed from waking up early, lay in Xie Zhao’s arms, half asleep and half awake. After a while, she said, “I’m not going to sleep anymore. I want to check if we caught any rabbits.”
Xie Zhao wrung out a wet towel and wiped Cheng Yaoyao’s face. The cold river water made her shiver and she woke up immediately. She squatted upstream to wash and then ran to check the traps with great interest.
Xie Zhao had set three traps. He caught a gray hare in one, a very small rabbit in another, and the third one missed. All the corn kernels were eaten, leaving many chicken claw-like footprints in the sand.
Xie Zhao put away the empty traps and said, “These are pheasant footprints.”
“Yeah!” After Cheng Yaoyao played with the little rabbit for a while, Xie Zhao let it go and tied the big rabbit’s four legs with a rope to carry it.
Xie Zhao had caught a lot of crayfish during the night. He poured the fish and shrimp from the two baskets together, which was quite heavy.
Xie Zhao carried the prey, and Cheng Yaoyao held the blanket. They walked back home in the morning dew and light.
They tiptoed into the yard. Grandma Xie was already up. She looked at Cheng Yaoyao with concern: “Yaoyao, are you tired from looking after the melon field? The water is ready, go wash yourself and then rest.”
“I’m not tired. I also caught a rabbit, so I can make spicy rabbit cubes.” Cheng Yaoyao stretched and boasted, “And spicy crayfish too!”
Xie Zhao held back his laughter, put down the crayfish and rabbit, and went to get water for Cheng Yaoyao.
Grandma Xie couldn’t help but laugh: “Okay, I’ll clean the shrimp later. Go wash yourself quickly, you’re covered in sand. Did you roll around on the ground? Didn’t you bring a blanket with you?”
“Ah?” Cheng Yaoyao froze and stammered, “Where… where is the sand?”
Grandma Xie patted her with a towel: “Your back and hair are covered with it. Really.”
“I, I, I… I’m going to get some clothes and take a shower!” Cheng Yaoyao ran off quickly.
Cheng Yaoyao enjoyed a hot bath and, when she came out with her hair down, Xie Zhao was already sitting at the table eating breakfast. Cheng Yaoyao went over, and Xie Zhao handed her a bowl of porridge.
Cheng Yaoyao ate a couple of bites and her eyelids drooped. Grandma Xie said with concern, “It’s not good to sleep in the melon field, right? Are you cold?”
“No… no.” Cheng Yaoyao shook her head vigorously, “It was quite fun. I’ll go again today.”
“Eat more, then take a nap.” Grandma Xie gave her some pickled basil leaves and said to Xie Zhao, “Brother Zhao, you too. Don’t work in the morning, go take a nap.”
“Yeah.” Xie Zhao nodded.
Cheng Yaoyao glanced at Xie Zhao. He hadn’t slept all night but looked energetic, unlike her, who looked sleepy.
Sleeping in the melon field wasn’t as comfortable as sleeping at home. Cheng Yaoyao was used to comfort and couldn’t adjust easily. After eating, she lay on the bed and fell asleep again until noon.
Grandma Xie cleaned the crayfish, peeled the meat, and marinated it with rice wine. Cheng Yaoyao added oil, chili sauce, bay leaves, and green peppercorns to the pot. After frying them until fragrant, she added the crayfish meat, stir-fried it briefly, added soy sauce and a bit of sugar, and let it coat the shrimp before serving.
The crayfish meat turned into tender balls. The sauce was spicy and slightly sweet, making people want to eat more. Pouring the hot sauce over rice made it so delicious that people could easily eat three bowls of rice!
The remaining fish were fried in oil and boiled into a pot of fragrant, milky fish soup. Grandma Xie preferred this light fish soup and praised it: “No one in my family likes fish because of the smell, but Yaoyao’s soup tastes good.”
Xie Zhao didn’t comment but kept eating, while Xie Fei praised the food. Cheng Yaoyao smiled proudly. It’s not that country people don’t like fish and shrimp, but they often can’t deal with the fishy smell, so they think it doesn’t taste good.
There were three or four pounds of peeled crayfish meat. We couldn’t finish it in one meal, so we soaked it all in the sauce. It tastes better after cooling down.
The next morning, Xie Zhao was going to drive a tractor into the city. Cheng Yaoyao packed a can of lobster meat and went with him.
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Vyl[Translator]
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