Her Cultivation Diary

The spring breeze was gentle and warm, bringing smiles to everyone’s faces.

Tourists scattered about, chatting loudly while digging up vegetables. Some carried plastic bags, others baskets. Though plastic bags were cheaper, baskets seemed more convenient and gave a more authentic feel.

Several aunts wanted to borrow the baskets when taking photos!

They started chatting, "Your little basket looks well made and quite new, where did you buy it?"

"Oh! Just by the roadside, an old man was selling them there."

"I also saw an old man selling them, waited for a bit when they ran out of stock, made by elderly folks in the nearby village."

"I saw people buying them ahead, just joined in for the fun..."

"Me too... honestly, it’s worth it, didn’t it come in handy now?"

Indeed! Filming on TikTok or posting on Moments with plastic bags just lacked a bit of flair.

Those who didn’t buy or didn’t want to spend the money couldn’t help but lament: "Oh, it wasn’t expensive, should have bought it early on, could be handy on outings."

"Will check tonight to see if anyone is still selling. If not, I’ll come back in a few days to buy one."

Their chat heated up, even toddlers just learning to walk were having fun playing and poking around in the field.

Mothers remarked, "Oh dear, disappeared for a moment and hands are already covered in mud, isn’t it dirty?"

Nearby, a chorus of laughing aunts replied: "No worries! We’re already here, the kid is already dirty anyway, doesn’t matter. Plus, it’s good for kids to connect with nature."

Meanwhile, on another hillside, Song Tan leisurely brought over the strawberries as Lun Chuan came downstairs: "Just saw Qiaoqiao and them start live streaming, I’ll go pick a couple of watermelons from the field."

"Sure!" Song Tan put down the strawberries, and they headed to the back hills together.

Leaving the courtyard of the homestay, they could vaguely see the small house at the crossroad.

That was Old Man Li’s new home.

The cramped shed before was, thanks to Zhao Fangyuan’s eloquence, pried out two thousand dollars from unfilial sons to build the elderly a proper cement house.

White walls and grey tiles, looking brand new, not shabby at all.

For a lone old man, inside were just two partition walls, enough for an eight-immortal table in the living room, a small kitchen for boiling water and winter furnace, and a small bedroom.

An external storage room, and a toilet out back was enough.

Water and electricity were arranged by Secretary Xiaozu helping the elderly, everyone in the village knew his situation, who didn’t say he was foolish behind his back?

But now everything was settled, Old Man Li’s big yellow ox was gone, ancient home was gone, farmland was gone... Now he earned one or two thousand a month from Song Tan doing odd jobs, keeping an eye on the field, and that was that.

Lun Chuan sighed: "In terms of thorough consideration, I’m not as good as you."

Song Tan puzzled: "Why do you think of yourself this way?"

Lun Chuan was clearly the more meticulous one.

Lun Chuan shook his head: "For people like Elder Mr. Li, I generally wouldn’t get involved, each one tastes the fruit of their own making. But you truly thought it all through."

The old, lonely man lost everything, even if it’s a proper business, should anything happen, folks in the village would murmur, blaming Lao Song’s family for insisting on buying a house.

The house was bought, yet, Zhao Fangyuan managed to pull in leftover building materials to assemble a home — although the homestead still belonged to the Village Department, the children wouldn’t benefit in the future, but the investment here was more than just two thousand.

Plus, giving him a job — elderly folks in rural areas really can continue living as long as there’s a sense of purpose, as long as there’s income, no matter how small, enough to eat is what matters.

Now Old Man Li dined with everyone at the cafeteria, saving his wages monthly, his spirits gradually improving. Now going up and down the mountains, looking at the land and old home, he no longer carried that look of despair.

Village folks saw this, who wouldn’t say Lao Song’s family had a hometown spirit?

After all, kids growing up showed abilities yet remained kind!

Consequently, even his homestay was warmly welcomed by everyone, villagers brought back branches to plant, always lively carrying things too.

He gradually shared these thoughts with Song Tan, who blinked and finally nodded deeply: "Right! This is my long-term vision."

Lun Chuan: ...

His serious analysis seemed wasted, as it appeared Song Tan hadn’t considered all this, purely acting out of genuine kindness. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Lun Chuan couldn’t help but laugh again, holding her hand: "Mm, long-term vision."

They walked along the gentle slope to the watermelon field, Lun Chuan opened the live stream for Song Tan in advance: "Xiaoyang teams perfectly with Qiaoqiao, really knows how to play to trends on the internet."

Song Tan nodded too: "Yes! The child is so talented, about to go to summer camp soon..."

Must return home to stay for a while before departure to accompany his parents, Qiaoqiao would soon part ways with this young partner.

Looking back at the live stream soaring with lively conversations.

Song Tan glanced at the stream’s name—

[Rebirth of Me Picking Watermelons in May]

Good! The word [Watermelon] was the essence, not long after starting, viewers rapidly soared past fifty-thousand. Mind you, this was four o’clock in the afternoon!

Xiaoyang and Qiaoqiao already summoned the on-duty personnel from the lookout post to open the fence, now on the path, positioning the phone and eyeing the plump little watermelons with delight.

"Oh!" he exclaimed: "No wonder many get addicted to farming, the sense of achievement is immense!"

The stream exploded with laughing tears:

[Look at my dead and rotting cineraria, crying in the bathroom]

[Haha, wanted to transplant several-years-old cacti, and found out it was plastic]

[Buying pots, soil, flowers, buying pots, soil, flowers, buying pots, soil... where did my salary go?]

[Don’t know if you’ve grown sorrel, it blooms while I’m working, and clocks out when I do, a whole year seen only 3 blooms out of 20 pots]

[Stop discussing your doomed flowers, look at the watermelon.]

[What’s the point, he’s not selling them]

[Exactly! I just won’t watch!]

[I won’t watch either! Sooner he’ll become a forgotten niche influencer]

[Weren’t these comments AI-generated since you’re not watching?]

Xiaoyang glanced at the comment section, laughed heartily: "Hehe! These are early watermelons, not many are ripe now, so they aren’t for sale. But don’t worry, while we don’t sell, we can eat them live for you!"

He clenched his fist and shook it: "With one punch down, the watermelon will be no more!"