Free Web NovelChapter 315: Chapter 315: Returning Home to Harvest the Crops
"Bin, is something wrong at the shop?" Director Kong asked nervously, thumping his chest loudly. "If anything’s up, just tell me. I have some pull here in the mainland."
This was true. Director Kong was an outlier in the Xiangjiang film industry. He had been close with the mainland from the very beginning, making significant investments, donating to many Hope Schools, and had even been received by high-level officials on several occasions. For ordinary problems, he could definitely handle them. Even for extraordinary ones, he could help get the word to the top.
Director Kong had invested a lot of resources into this film, and Hah’Er was its most crucial part. He was worried sick about any potential mishaps involving Hah’Er or Shen Yibin, which was why he was so flustered to hear Shen Yibin asking for a day off.
"It’s nothing serious. The vegetables and fruits we planted at the shop are ripe, and I plan to harvest them tomorrow. If you finish work early tomorrow, why don’t you come to the shop? I can make you dinner with them," Shen Yibin said casually. For some reason, with Maphario around, the watermelons, eggplants, corn, soybeans, and tomatoes were ripening much faster than normal varieties. It hadn’t been long at all, yet everything was ready to be harvested.
From sowing and watering to fertilizing and pest control, Maphario hadn’t let anyone help it. ’It’ll probably want to handle the harvest all by itself too, right?’ For its tiny body, harvesting so much produce would be no easy task. It would surely take a whole day, which was why Shen Yibin had asked Director Kong for leave.
"Haha, and here I was thinking it was something serious!" Hearing it wasn’t bad news, Director Kong let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, Harold has been working hard lately, too. Let him have a good rest tomorrow. I’ll try to wrap up early tomorrow and will definitely come to your shop to taste your cooking." Hah’Er’s filming was already way ahead of schedule, so taking one day off wouldn’t affect a thing.
"Great. You’ve been working hard too. We’ll have a good couple of drinks tomorrow." That was the truth. Shen Yibin only had to manage Hah’Er, but Director Kong had to manage the entire crew. On top of that, he frequently had conference calls with investors and had to deal with visiting reporters from home and abroad. He had even given up his favorite evening activities recently.
"In that case, why don’t I just give the whole crew the day off?" Director Kong said after a moment’s hesitation. "From noon tomorrow until noon the day after. Everyone’s been working hard lately. I’ll have Mr. Qin find someone to take them on a nice tour of Yunzhong City’s sights." ’Hmm, if I drink too much tomorrow night, I can sleep in a little and still have time to start work in the afternoon.’
Director Kong knew Shen Yibin wasn’t particularly fond of the entertainment industry, so he didn’t suggest bringing anyone else from the crew. Besides, Shen Yibin himself would be the one cooking that evening. Other than the director, who else on the crew was qualified to enjoy a delicacy made by Shen Yibin?
The plan was settled in just a few words. Shen Yibin took Hah’Er and Maphario home. After a night’s rest, Maphario arrived at the farm early the next morning, full of energy and ready to start harvesting the ripe produce.
’Now I get to see how you’re going to handle those big watermelons!’ Shen Yibin pulled up a chair and sat down nearby, his attention focused on the large watermelons in the sandpit. ’With Maphario’s tiny body, it probably can’t handle those, right?’
The morning glories, cinerarias, China asters, and sunflowers were ornamental, so they didn’t need picking. Maphario set its first target on the soybeans. It skillfully set up a stepladder, climbed to the same height as the pods, and placed a basket in Hah’Er’s paws. After a couple of squeaks, it began tearing open the pods with its claws, scooping out plump, golden soybeans with both paws and dropping them into the basket.
Although Shen Yibin didn’t know much about farming, based on his childhood memories of living in a village, he could tell that the soybean pods Maphario had grown were much denser than the ones he remembered, and the beans themselves were quite a bit larger.
’How should I cook these? Sprouting them seems like a waste. Maybe I should roast them as a snack for Hah’Er and Maphario?’ Shen Yibin subconsciously glanced at the girls in the shop. ’I hope you guys don’t sneak any, or we’ll probably have to use a lot more air freshener in here.’
Once the soybeans were picked, Maphario turned its attention to the corn. Shen Yibin perked up. For a creature its size, corn cobs would be much harder to pick than soybeans. ’What clever method does Maphario have?’
Maphario immediately shimmied up a cornstalk until it reached the base of an ear of corn, then started gnawing at it with a CRUNCH CRUNCH. In no time, a large cob fell to the ground. Hah’Er quickly picked it up and set it aside. ’Yeah, Maphario probably can’t carry that one itself.’
Climbing up and down the cornstalks, it harvested more than a dozen cobs in about ten minutes. After a moment of thought, Shen Yibin decided he would make roasted corn with them.
The eggplants were handled similarly. Maphario climbed up and gnawed off the stems, and Hah’Er gathered them together. The cooking options for eggplant, however, were much more numerous: braised eggplant, fish-fragrant eggplant, chrysanthemum eggplant, fried eggplant pockets... ’Oh, and I could add some of the nearby tomatoes to make tomato-eggplant patties.’
After picking the eggplants, Maphario lay on the ground for a short break, drank some water, and ate a few peanuts. Once it was rested, it started on the tomatoes. This time, however, it finally had to ask Hah’Er for help. It was fine if the corn and eggplants fell to the ground, but if the tomatoes fell, they’d turn into tomato sauce.
So, Hah’Er held out his paws underneath a tomato while Maphario gnawed through the stem from above. The tomato dropped gently onto Hah’Er’s thick, fleshy paws, remaining perfectly intact.
"SQUEAK! SQUEAK!" Maphario pointed at the tomatoes, then at its own mouth, and finally at Shen Yibin, Hah’Er, and the girls in the shop.
"Is it asking us to try some?" Shen Yibin felt a warm glow inside. ’My doting on you hasn’t been in vain. You even know to share food with us now.’
"Come on, everyone, come over and try the tomatoes Maphario grew!" Shen Yibin excitedly rinsed the tomatoes with water and handed them out to Hah’Er and the girls. They all admired the fruits in their hands for a long while before finally taking a bite.
You had to admit, the things Maphario grew were truly different. They were much sweeter than the ones from the market. Everyone ate them with nonstop praise, and Maphario squeaked happily, seemingly very satisfied that its labor had been recognized.
After a busy morning, the harvest in the farm area was complete. After lunch, it was finally time to tackle the peanuts and watermelons in the sandpit.
