Fantasy Farm

Chapter 10 - The well

…sure is effective

translator: baumkuchen  editor: ellabells

Truthfully, Lu Qingjiu had reason to suspect that he too was prospective food in Bai Yuehu’s eyes. Obviously, foxes, as a type of spirit that had a long history of being privately raised by humans, were featured in many records dating back to as early as the time period of Strange Tales of Liaozhai. Lu Qingjiu believed that if Bai Yuehu really planned on eating him, he would’ve done so long ago.

Seeing Lu Qingjiu’s expression was off, Zhu Miaomiao asked, “I was just joking, that handsome brother shouldn’t actually be angry, right?”

“Probably not,” Lu Qingjiu replied, “He shouldn’t be that petty. How did you find your way here?” Even though he’d told Zhu Miaomiao his exact address, he never thought that she’d really be able to find her way here by herself.

Zhu Miaomiao replied, “Hahaha, I have good luck. The taxi driver just so happened to recognise this location and directly sent me here. Aiya… I’m so hungry, quickly make me some breakfast, I’m about to faint from hunger.”

Lu Qingjiu nodded, “Okay, I’ll make you some noodles.”

Even though Zhu Miaomiao and Lu Qingjiu were said to be co-workers, they were more like friends. In the beginning, when Lu Qingjiu had just joined the company, it was Zhu Miaomiao who helped take care of him. Zhu Miaomiao could be said to be Lu Qingjiu’s teacher. Zhu Miaomiao also knew about Lu Qingjiu’s family situation, so when she found out that Lu Qingjiu wanted to resign and return to his hometown, she repeatedly tried to advise him otherwise. Of course, in the end, Lu Qingjiu hadn’t changed his mind. Her running over to such a faraway village to come visit him, although it was on the pretext of being on vacation, was probably out of the concern that Lu Qingjiu wasn’t doing well.

Lu Qingjiu and Zhu Miaomiao were both clear on this in their hearts, but tacitly didn’t expose the truth.

Zhu Miaomiao let Lu Qingjiu go off to prepare breakfast while she took a walk around the courtyard. Lu Qingjiu repeatedly warned her to not go anywhere near the well in the inner courtyard, saying that they’d pulled out two dead people from there.

Zhu Miaomiao exclaimed, “Dead people? You only just left the company, how has your life suddenly become so exciting?”

Lu Qingjiu: “…” This wasn’t something he wanted either.

Zhu Miaomiao replied, “Okay, you go make breakfast, I’ll go take a look around.”

By the time Lu Qingjiu had finished making breakfast, Zhu Miaomiao was also done looking around the courtyard. She said the pigs in the pigsty were very cute, like two big squirrels.

“They are cute, it’s just that they’re very naughty,” Lu Qingjiu replied, “They’re always luring the next-door neighbours’ kid into sleeping with them, thankfully his parents still haven’t found out.”

“Hahahaha.” Hearing this, Zhu Miaomiao broke out into laughter.

“Isn’t your hat wet? You should take it off,” Lu Qingjiu said, “I’ll wash it for you.”

When Zhu Miaomiao got here, it was still raining outside. The black baseball hat on her head was completely soaked through.

“No need.” Zhu Miaomiao rubbed her head. “I’ll wash it myself later.”

“But you still shouldn’t wear it while it’s wet.” After Lu Qingjiu said this, he hesitated, having thought of something. In a small voice, he asked, “Zhu-jie, has your hair loss gotten worse?”

“Shut up, don’t say it.” In any case, with such a handsome stranger sitting next to her, Zhu Miaomiao was a little embarrassed, “The shitty boss is always urging us to work overtime every day, what can I can do? I want to go get a hair transplant…”

Lu Qingjiu thought of something and turned around to give Bai Yuehu a look.

Bai Yuehu seemed to have already guessed what he was thinking. He gave him a slight nod, before getting up and leaving the dining room, clearly giving Lu Qingjiu and Zhu Miaomiao space to talk alone.

“He left, quickly let me see it,” Lu Qingjiu said, “We’ve known each other for so long already.”

When Zhu Miaomiao lifted her hat, Lu Qingjiu let out a sigh. There really was a large bald spot on her head. The hair there was very sparse, one could clearly see the skin of her scalp. Zhu Miaomiao was actually very pretty, but unfortunately, her hair was very thin. Usually, in order to cover that up, she had to wear a hat. But constantly wearing a hat only made the hair loss worse. This was a vicious cycle with no end.

“Ugh.” Zhi Miaomiao hid her face in her palms. “My hair is done for.”

Lu Qingjiu pondered out loud, “I have an idea, just don’t know if it’ll work…”

Zhu Miaomiao said, “What’s your idea?”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “How about this, you should find some time later to pray to the well in the courtyard.”

Hearing this, Zhu Miaomiao stared blankly at Lu Qingjiu, “Pray? Didn’t you say that two people have died in that well? Me going there to pray… What am I going to be praying to?”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “It’s a little complicated, and I also don’t even know if it’ll work. Just try it out, if it doesn’t work we can think of something else.”

Originally, Zhu Miaomiao thought that Lu Qingjiu was just joking, but looking at his serious mien, she could only doubtfully nod her head in agreement.

There was no point in delaying, so Lu Qingjiu immediately went to the kitchen to grab a bowl, filled it with some offerings, and let Zhi Miaomiao bring it with her to the courtyard to place it down at the well and pray. Even though she felt that this was rather ridiculous, she still wanted to try curing the dead horse as if it were still a live one. In her heart, she silently chanted “I want long hair, I want long hair…” She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but after praying, she felt as if a cold breeze brushed past her head.

“Just doing this is enough?” Zhu Miaomiao returned to Lu Qingjiu’s side.

“En,” Lu Qingjiu replied, “We’ll see if it works tomorrow.”

Zhu Miaomiao ran a hand over her hair, and sighed, “How could doing this work? Ah whatever, it’s not like it costs me anything to try.”

Lu Qingjiu just smiled, not speaking.

A short while after that, Yin Xun also dropped by Lu Qingjiu’s courtyard. In his hands was a bucket containing two fish. He said, “Lu Qingjiu, I’ll be putting some fish in your pond!”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “What for?” He walked over and got a look at the two carp in the bucket. They looked very energetic, but he had no idea where Yin Xun had gotten them from, since there weren’t any rivers nearby.

“All outdoor bodies of water are required to contain fish, according to village rules,” Yin Xun replied, “It prevents the water from becoming contaminated or something.”

“Oh,” Lu Qingjiu replied, “Put them in then.”

“This is?” As Yin Xun went in to release the fish into the pond, he naturally spotted Zhu Miaomiao standing next to Lu Qingjiu.

“My ex co-worker, Zhu Miaomiao. She’s visiting for a few days,” Lu Qingjiu introduced, “And this is Yin Xun, my childhood friend. We grew up in Shuifu village together.”

Zhu Miaomiao and Yin Xun greeted each other.

“So what are we having for lunch today?” Yin Xun asked, “Since we have a guest, we need to prepare a good meal.”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “We can use the pork ribs we bought last time to make Wuxi Fried Spare Ribs, and maybe eat one of those fish as well?”

“Sounds good,” Yin Xun replied, “These fish were fished up by Wang Cong from over at the reservoir, they should taste pretty good.” Wang Cong was one of his friends in the village. Although Lu Qingjiu wasn’t very familiar with him, he was pretty close to Yin Xun.

Lu Qingjiu replied, “We should ask Uncle Li to help buy us some more meat when he goes to the market tomorrow, we don’t have much left.”

Yin Xun nodded his head.

After having a taste of a meal from a farming family, Zhu Miaomiao felt that Lu Qingjiu’s quality of life wasn’t bad and was finally reassured. She said that this place had enchanting scenery and that when she retired she also wanted to come live here. Lu Qingjiu knew she was just joking. This village was incredibly remote, they didn’t even have takeout, much less a shopping district. Even buying meat required one to have to take a trip to town. Someone like Zhu Miaomiao definitely wouldn’t be able to settle down here.

But just occasionally staying here for a few days, experiencing a new lifestyle, wasn’t bad.

Everyone had a good time that day. The four of them were just enough for a game of mahjong. Lu Qingjiu went over to borrow a set of mahjong tiles from a neighbouring auntie, this was the village’s only set of precious mahjong tiles. The four people then set up a table and started playing.

At first, Bai Yuehu didn’t know how to play, but he got the hang of it quickly. Zhu Miaomiao was a long-time player and easily slaughtered the other three rookies. Lu Qingjiu’s capabilities allowed him to just barely keep up. But Yin Xun had a face full of suffering and he didn’t understand why he kept losing so miserably even to the end.

After their game, everyone returned to their rooms to sleep. Lu Qingjiu was also a bit tired. As he laid on the bed and started to drift off, he was still thinking about what he wanted to make for breakfast tomorrow morning.

He originally planned on sleeping until 6am, but at a bit past 5am, he was shocked awake by a blood-curdling screech.  

“What the f*ck! What the f*cking f*ck!!” Zhu Miaomiao crazily slammed on the door, shocking Lu Qingjiu into rushing over without even putting on his shoes. The moment he opened the door he was faced with Zhu Miaomiao clutching at her hair and crying, “Lu Qingjiu, you’re my f*cking parent from my next life!”

Lu Qingjiu was in a daze, not understanding how he had suddenly acquired such a big daughter.

“I love you more than my own biological father!” Zhu Miaomiao screeched at the top of her lungs, “Do you see it? Do you see it!!!”

Lu Qingjiu: “…I, I see it.”

Zhu Miaomiao exclaimed, “My hair grew!! My hair grew!! So thick, so black, so hard!!”

Lu Qingjiu: “…” Feels like something isn’t quite right with that.

Zhu Miaomiao stroked her own hair, tears flowing down her face, saying that she never thought that she’d be able to realise her dreams like this. This head of hair was so dark and beautiful, it was more moving than the most handsome man in the world.

Lu Qingjiu looked at the time, then replied, “Are you so excited you can’t sleep?”

Zhu Miaomiao replied, “Too excited to sleep!”

Lu Qingjiu replied, “Then go feed the pigs and the chickens, I’m going back to sleep for a while longer.”

Zhu Miaomiao: “…”

Lu Qingjiu said, “Those with hair still have to work.”

Zhu Miaomiao: “Don’t you have anything to say about my hair?”

Lu Qingjiu honestly admitted, “No.”

“Goodbye,” Zhu Miaomiao heartlessly announced, “You’ve lost a valuable friend.”

Lu Qingjiu: “…”

Zhu Miaomiao resolutely turned away, gently stroking her hair, and skipped off to the courtyard to go feed the pigs.

Lu Qingjiu helplessly yawned and turned around to head back to his room, deciding to sleep a little longer.

The author has something to say:

Lu Qingjiu: Who doesn’t want a full head of beautiful, jet-black hair? You really are the most useful spirit here.

Female ghost: You’ve got that right.

Bai Yuehu: ………???

The name Fantasy Farm means that all the creatures that appear here all come from people’s fantasies, not that the main character is delusional. I wouldn’t write one of those stories that are tens of thousands of words long only for it all to have just been a dream.

I’m jealous… I haven’t eaten spare ribs in such a long time *drools*