Harvesting Fantasies Chapter 3

Carrying the four little pigs, Avery and Hunter took Uncle Chen's pickup truck back to Shuifu Village.

After arriving home, Avery first sent the piglets to the pigpen, which he had cleaned in advance and covered the floor with clean straw. According to Hunter, pigs actually like cleanliness, and it is easier for them to grow meat if they live in a comfortable place.

Avery picked up the piglets and put them in the pigpen, and put clean pig grass and water in the trough. As soon as the two little white pigs entered, they twisted their fat little buttocks and started eating happily, but the two little black pigs stood hesitantly at the door of the pigpen without moving.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that they were unwilling to move, Avery asked in confusion, "Is there anything about this pigpen that doesn't suit your taste?"

Hearing Avery's question, the big black piglet actually nodded, stretched out its small trotters and pointed at the two little white pigs who were eating happily.

Avery: "You don't want to live with them?"

The black piglet grunted.

Avery looked at the piglet suspiciously: "Are you really a pig? Are you a transformed human?"

The black piglet looked at Avery innocently, as if he didn't understand what Avery was saying. Avery seriously suspected that he was pretending to be innocent. However, this black piglet shouldn't be a human. After all, if a human found someone willing to communicate with him, he would definitely show it immediately, and he wouldn't pretend to be stupid like this.

Avery thought about it, then took a piece of wood from the side and separated the two black piglets from the white piglets in the middle. In this way, the two little piglets tiptoed carefully into the pigpen, looked around, and then lay down on the clean straw to rest.

Seeing this, Avery ignored them and went back to the house.

Hunter was busy in the kitchen, putting away the things Avery bought one by one. Avery came in and asked him what he wanted to eat in the evening.

"Anything is fine." Hunter said casually, "I'll go pick some vegetables from the fields and we can have a hot pot?"

"Okay." Avery said, "I'll make some soup first...By the way, where can I get the pig grass? Or should I just feed them with fodder?"

"As for pig grass, you can ask the children in the village to help you collect it." Hunter said, "50 cents a basket, they can earn some pocket money so you don't have to run up the mountain. You can feed them the feed and add some vitamins that the pigs need. If the pigs eat too much, the meat won't be as tasty, but they won't get sick easily."

Hearing this, Avery nodded to indicate that he understood.

"I'm going to pick vegetables. You can make the soup first." Hunter went to his own field.

Avery put the bones he bought from the market into the pot, lit the fire and started to cook, and cut some of the meat he bought. The old house had a refrigerator, but it had not been used for a long time, so the cooling effect was not very good. Avery stuffed the remaining ingredients into the refrigerator, picked up the vegetables and went to the yard to wash them, but heard a loud splash, which sounded like the sound of a heavy object falling into the water.

The sound came from the backyard. Avery was stunned when he heard it, then he thought of something, put down the food in his hand and hurried to the backyard.

The backyard had not been cleaned up yet. It was surrounded by withered trees and messy weeds. There were white spider webs hanging on the walls. The black well in front of him looked particularly abrupt.

Avery had just clearly heard the sound of something falling into the water. He was afraid that a child from the village had accidentally fallen into the well, so he quickly walked to the edge of the well and looked inside.

The well mouth was pitch black and the end was out of sight. Avery shouted a few times but did not hear any cry for help from inside.

"Is there anyone there? Did someone fall in?" Avery continued to shout, "If there is someone, just shout------"

The well was quiet, with only deathly silence.

Avery called a few more times, but still got no response. He was wondering what else had fallen in, when Hunter's voice came from beside him: "Jiu'er? Jiu'er? Where are you?"

"I'm in the backyard." Avery responded.

"What are you doing in the backyard?" Hunter said, "I came back from picking vegetables. This cucumber is so sweet..."

Avery glanced at the well mouth: "I just heard the sound of something falling in, so I came to take a look."

"Oh, is there anything there?" Hunter stood at the door of the backyard, holding a half-eaten cucumber in his hand, looking at Avery from afar.

"No." Avery said.

"Then forget it." Hunter said, "Maybe a kid threw a rock outside the wall and it accidentally rolled into the well."

Avery thought about it and decided that it was okay as long as the person who fell into the well was not a human. He left the backyard and walked to Hunter's side, and walked towards the front yard together. Hunter looked at Avery, took another bite of the cucumber, and chewed it up with a crunch, and said vaguely: "What is that on your back?"

"On my back?" Avery turned his head to look behind him, "What is that?"

Hunter stretched out his hand and took out a black thing from Avery's back: "This..."

Avery saw clearly what was in Hunter's hand. It was actually a bunch of black hair that had stuck to his back at some point.

"Is this hair? Holy sh!t!" Hunter saw clearly that what he was holding was hair and threw it aside quickly, "What the hell? So disgusting."

Avery: ... He looked at the well in his backyard in silence, and a bad feeling arose in his heart.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's okay." Hunter said, "In the countryside, it's a remote place, there are always some strange things..."

Avery was surprised: "Strange things? For example?"

Hunter was silent for a moment, and then whispered to Avery, "Last summer, the youngest child of the Liu family was drowned."

"Drowned?" Avery said, "In the creek in the village? Isn't that creek very shallow?" There are not many rivers in their place. As far as he knows, the only water near the village is a creek that is deeper than the knees. The water in that creek is not fast and there are no aquatic plants. Even if you fall in it, it is easy to stand up.

"No." Hunter said, "It wouldn't be so strange if it happened there. He drowned in... the woods."

Avery didn't understand for a moment, and repeated in confusion: "In the woods?"

"Yes." Hunter whispered: "It was in the woods, there was no water around, the Liu family called the police at the time, and after the autopsy the police said he drowned."

Avery said: "......So what happened in the end?"

"What else can we do in the end?" Hunter said, "Just let it go. In fact, this kind of strange thing also happens in other villages, but not often, maybe one or two every few years."

Avery was speechless. He had actually encountered this kind of thing when he was working in the city before, but he didn't expect that such strange things would happen again in a new place.

"So if you encounter it in the future, just pretend you didn't see it." Hunter said, "Out of sight, out of mind."

Avery thought, this is how out of sight, out of mind is used...

Hunter handed Avery a cucumber, and the two of them squatted in the front yard and continued to wash the vegetables.

The cucumber tasted really good, crisp and sweet, without any bitterness, and very juicy, almost like fruit. After eating the cucumber, Avery felt better and asked, "Have you ever encountered anything strange?"

Hunter grinned, revealing his cute canine teeth again: "Maybe I've encountered it before, but I didn't notice it."

Avery thought it was good to have thick nerves.

Hunter picked a lot of vegetables, and after washing them, Avery added the stewed bone soup base into the hot pot base brought from the city. After it was cooked, it was brought to the yard. The two opened a few bottles of beer and happily began to eat hot pot and drink beer.

The taste of the hot pot is simple, but fortunately the ingredients are fresh, so the taste is not bad. The rich aroma of the bone soup filled the entire garden. Hunter drank a few glasses, and two blushes appeared on his cheeks, and he looked a little drunk.

Avery also felt drunk. He hadn't been drunk for a long time. He usually worked overtime and his mind was blurred. He had no time to stop and have a drink with his friends.

It's still more comfortable at home, and I don't have to think about punching in for work tomorrow. Just as Avery was thinking this, he saw Hunter, who was sitting in front of him, suddenly stretched out his hand, pointed behind him, and said vaguely: "It's... so dark."

"What?" Avery asked, "Didn't you turn on the light?"

Hunter tilted his head, looking very confused: "But it's still very dark."

Avery thought Hunter was completely drunk, until he turned his head and looked behind him, he understood the meaning of Hunter's words, and saw a black figure standing not far from them. The figure was like a black hole that absorbed light. When the light reached that position, it was all absorbed. Avery rubbed his eyes heavily, and then he could see clearly that the black figure was actually a group of human-shaped hair.

"Do you know what I'm most afraid of?" The woman's soft voice sounded in my ears.

Perhaps the alcohol paralyzed his nerves, Avery was not too afraid. He looked at the ball of hair and heard the woman ask again.

"Do you know what I'm most afraid of?" Black hair, closer to them.

Avery's lips moved slightly: "You are most afraid of..."

"What?"

"What...are you most afraid of being bald?" Drunk Avery said very seriously, and he thought his logic was perfect and there was nothing wrong with it. Otherwise, why would the female ghost have so much hair... He said this and touched his hair, sighing a little sadly, "Fortunately, I resigned early, otherwise I wouldn't be able to escape..."

The black shadow trembled twice, not knowing whether it was shocked by Avery's answer. After all, it was the first time she heard such an answer in so many years. The man in front of her was so pure and unpretentious, completely different from other coquettish b!tches.

The black shadow in front of him seemed to want to speak, but suddenly a thick black fog appeared around the yard. The female ghost sensed something and disappeared from Avery's sight the next moment, leaving only a dark water stain on the ground.

Avery felt that he was really drunk, otherwise how could that thing just disappear like that? Opposite him, Hunter opened another bottle and filled his glass.

"Drink..." Hunter said with a big tongue, "Keep drinking..."

Avery picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp, saying, "Drink!"

He couldn't remember what happened afterwards. It was the next morning when he remembered again. He and Hunter had been lying in the yard all night. When he got up, his back and waist ached and he felt like he was falling apart. Especially his head, which was about to explode after the hangover. Avery got up from the ground in a daze and pushed Hunter, who was sleeping beside him with crooked eyes and a crooked mouth.

"Ouch... Ouch..." Hunter screamed as soon as he opened his eyes, "My whole body hurts, Jiuer, did you beat me up when I was drunk last night?"

Avery: "......I'm in pain too, okay?"

Hunter said, "I can't do it anymore. My whole body hurts, especially my bu.tt." He rubbed his bu.tt and looked at Avery suspiciously, "You really didn't do anything to me?"

Avery: "The mirror is in the room, go look at your face and sober up."

Hunter: "I am so good-looking."

Avery: "You're so pretty, you're about to become a pig's head."

Hunter looked puzzled, staggered into the room and found the mirror hanging in the toilet. Then Avery heard a scream from him: "Avery------you must have beaten me while I was sleeping last night!"

Avery: "I didn't!"

Hunter: "Then why am I swollen but you are not?"

Avery: "Maybe it's because I'm good-looking."

Hunter: "......"You are really shameless.

Jokes aside, the face suddenly swelled up and they had to go see a doctor, so the two of them supported each other and limped to the village clinic. The villagers who knew them laughed when they saw how miserable they looked, and joked that maybe they were caught and beaten up for stealing corn in the middle of the night.

Hunter said with a sad face: "Aunt, please stop making fun of me."

After arriving at the clinic, the doctor examined Hunter and said that he was allergic to something and was not beaten by anyone. Only then was Avery cleared of suspicion.

"What are you allergic to?" Hunter didn't understand. "Isn't what I eat the same as usual?"

Avery thought for a while and said uncertainly: "Are you allergic to the hot pot ingredients I brought?"

Hunter was stunned: "......No way! Is there anyone who is allergic to hot pot soup base?!"

"It's possible." Avery analyzed it carefully, "There are a lot of spices in the hot pot ingredients. It's possible that you might be allergic... Of course, it's just a possibility. You're the first person I've seen who's allergic to hot pot ingredients."

Hunter shed tears of sadness.

Seeing that Hunter's symptoms were not particularly serious, the doctor prescribed some medicine for him to take when he got home, and said that he would be fine in two days if he stayed away from allergens.

Then the two disabled people supported each other and went back home.

After Avery returned home, he lay in bed for a long time before he felt better. When he got up to clean up the things in the front yard, he glanced at the location of the backyard and seemed to vaguely remember something, but he couldn't figure it out for a while. In the end, he really couldn't remember it, and he was too lazy to think about it. Anyway, it was not a big deal.

After cleaning up the house and eating something, Avery soaked the seeds in warm water and planned to plant some in the afternoon. Soaking the seeds in warm water can make them germinate more easily, Hunter told him. After soaking the seeds, he went to the neighbor's house next door and saw the neighbor's children sitting in the yard weaving straw ropes. The neighbor had seen Avery when he was a child and had a good relationship with his grandmother. The next day after Avery came, he sent him a basket of sweet potatoes. Avery thanked him sincerely.

"What's the matter, Xiao Lu?" asked neighbor Uncle Li.

"I want to ask if Milo is okay?" Avery said, "I need some pig grass at home."

Milo Li is the name of the neighbor's child, whose full name is Milo. When he heard this, he nodded quickly, threw away the hemp rope in his hand, and said, "I'm fine, how many frames do you want?"

"A few frames are fine." Avery thought that Milo should be in elementary school at this age. "Is it dangerous to pick pig grass? Can a child go there?"

"It's okay." Uncle Li smiled when he heard about this, and said nonchalantly, "They have been wild there since they were young, and they don't even thank you, Brother Lu."

"Thank you, Brother Lu." Milo stood up happily. It was obvious that the child was very happy to get this pocket money, and his family had no objection.

"Don't you go to school?" Avery asked.

"It's only half a day." Uncle Li said indifferently, "I'll go home to farm in the future anyway, so what's the point of going to school? Not everyone can become a college student like you."

Avery gave Milo two dollars and saw him happily go out with a bamboo basket and sickle on his back.

Looking at his back, Avery hesitated to speak and said nothing. After all, this was someone else's family affair and it was not appropriate for him to interfere.

Afterwards, Avery took the seeds soaked in warm water and planted them in the field. He didn't plant too many this time. Most of them were seeds of vegetables that he usually eats, such as cucumbers and tomatoes. Of course, he didn't forget to plant some vegetables, and he also buried some potato tubers.

Anyway, it was his first time trying it, so Avery was not very particular and planted it casually. According to Hunter, if he didn't care about the yield and didn't sell it, it would be fine, so there was no need to take too much trouble to serve him.

Avery had cultivated less than half an acre of land when it was almost dark. He sweated a lot and his clothes were almost soaked. He sighed that only by farming by himself could one understand what it meant to sweat and every grain of rice was the result of hard work.

Seeing that it was getting late, Avery went back home, took a shower, changed clothes, and then steamed the buns he bought yesterday in the steamer to eat for dinner.

Just when the steamed buns were almost done, there was a knock on the front door. Avery went to open the door and saw that it was Milo who had gone to the back mountain to collect pig grass. He was holding a large basket of pig grass tied with ropes and smiling: "Brother Lu, I have cut the grass for you. I have nothing to do anyway, so I will help you feed the pigs."

Just as Avery was about to refuse, she saw the child running all the way towards the pigpen and couldn't stop him.

Helplessly, Avery had to turn back to the house, wrapped a few freshly steamed buns for the child, thought for a while, and took out a bar of chocolate from his suitcase.

Avery took the things to the pig pen, and before he arrived, he heard Milo yelling: "Brother Lu, your pig is so cute!"

Avery walked over and saw that the little black piglet who was praised by Milo was now proudly puffing out his chest with an expression that said, "Little kid, you have good vision."

Avery: "......" Why did he see the expression on the pig's face.

"Can I give it a name?" Milo turned his head and looked at Avery.

Avery: "......" He thought of Hunter's tragedy, but facing Milo's eager eyes, he could only think that if something happened, he must make the braised pork more delicious, "Okay."

"You can call her Xiaohua." Milo said, pointing at the big pig.

Avery: "......"Is this the choice of fate? He said tactfully, "Why call it Xiaohua? Isn't it better to call it another name?"

Milo said: "But its back is patterned." The pig's back was covered with a layer of soft fur, and the pattern was like a squirrel's, alternating between black and brown.

Avery: ... He couldn't refute it.

Milo said, "Your name is Xiaohei." He gave the smaller one a name, "You are the cutest pigs I have ever seen!"

Avery thought, it might be the most delicious...

Milo watched Xiaohua and Xiaohei eat their fill and their little bellies swell up, then he said goodbye to Avery with satisfaction, and asked embarrassedly if he could go with them to pick grass for the pigs next time. Avery nodded in agreement and gave the buns and chocolates in his hand to Milo.

Watching the child jumping away, Avery glanced at Xiaohua who was licking Xiaohei's fur and said, "Xiaohei, Xiaohua, you must grow up well."

Xiaohua: "......" Who are you calling? Who the hell is Xiaohua? ! As an excellent male, how could he possibly accept such a name!

Xiao Hei: "......" What what what? What is her brother talking about? Um... Pig grass is really delicious, smack, smack, smack, smack.

Xiaohua: You’re still eating. Once you get fat, I’ll kill you and eat your meat!

Xiao Hei felt very aggrieved: Brother, you are so mean... and you were obviously eating happily just now.

Xiaohua: Shut up! Don't talk!

Avery, who was standing next to the pigsty, naturally couldn't understand the conversation between the two little black pigs. He could only hear them humming, which he took as a sign that they were happy with their meal. When he turned back to the old house, he thought that he should buy some chickens to raise when he had time, so that the yard would be more lively...