Su Qingwei had not seen Lin Hao for several days, and for some reason, she found herself missing him.
That evening, while chatting, she asked, “Lin Hao, where have you been?”
Lin Hao replied, “Working. Why?”
Su Qingwei asked, “What kind of work is it?”
Lin Hao replied, “I’m in charge of picking lychees here.”
Su Qingwei became interested when she received his message. She sent him a cute emoticon, then typed, “Something this fun, and you didn’t tell me sooner!”
Lin Hao replied, “It’s not fun at all. It’s dirty and exhausting here. I’ve transferred to an easier job now.”
Su Qingwei typed a message, then rested her chin in her hands and stared at her Mobile Phone screen. “Can I come see you?”
Lin Hao replied, “Sure. Come over.”
Overjoyed, Su Qingwei typed, “Great! I’ll come find you tomorrow!”
Lin Hao told Su Qingwei where he was. To be honest, he did not want a girl to come to this remote mountain village.
In reality, Lin Hao’s old home was also in this village, so he was not a stranger here.
Because of that, he had an inexplicable feeling about this place.
He learned that Lin Yaoyang was not the actual boss either, but was also working for someone else.
The next day.
Lin Hao arrived at the orchard and saw several beautiful women.
The leader was a short-haired beauty wearing Glasses. She was slightly plump and about one hundred sixty-three centimeters tall.
Lin Hao was tall and broad-built. He did not have a beard yet, which meant he could still grow taller. He was already one hundred seventy-seven centimeters tall.
The short-haired girl was lively and outgoing. She said, “My name is Lin Xiaoting. Lin Yaoyang is my father. You’re Lin Hao, right?”
Lin Hao nodded. “We met yesterday.”
Lin Xiaoting sized him up for a while before smiling. “You ignored me yesterday. Today, you’re my Underling. Just watch—I’ll make things difficult for you.”
Lin Hao thought this girl was a little foolish, but he did not say it aloud. He had been so busy picking fruit yesterday; where would he have found the time to pay attention to her?
Today, Lin Hao worked under Lin Xiaoting’s direction. After weighing the picked fruit, they recorded its weight, variety, unit price, and person in charge.
That was all Lin Hao had to do.
Lin Hao also learned that Lin Xiaoting was three years older than him and was a third-year university student!
That made her one of his own people.
Since Lin Xiaoting was one of his own people, Lin Hao did not keep his distance, and they soon became familiar with each other.
Lin Xiaoting patted Lin Hao on the shoulder and said, “underling, hurry over there. They’ve picked several more cartloads of lychees. We need to move faster. We can’t let people laugh at us.”
Lin Hao looked at her. She really thought she was a big sister.
However, Lin Hao was working now, so he did not bother with trivial formalities.
For the next two-plus hours, they walked back and forth, sometimes busy and sometimes resting in the shade.
Seeing Lin Hao work in silence, Lin Xiaoting put her hands on her hips and said, “Underling, you don’t seem good at talking. Would a girl like a guy like you? Do you want your big sister to teach you a few tricks?”
Lin Hao could not take it anymore and countered, “Big sister, do you have a boyfriend?”
Lin Xiaoting was caught off guard by the question and stammered, “No... I think. But that doesn’t stop me from teaching you. Women understand women best.”
As she said this, she straightened her waist.
What a little brat!
Lin Hao did not think much of her. She did not even have a boyfriend, yet she wanted to teach him Picking Up Girls. It seemed like armchair theorizing.
After that, Lin Xiaoting taught Lin Hao how to approach girls, read their moods, comfort them, and so on.
Lin Hao did not listen closely; he was a man who had been through actual battles, after all.
At that moment, Lin Hao received a call. He took out his mobile phone and saw that it was Su Qingwei calling.
Lin Hao said, “Hello.”
On the other end, Su Qingwei looked at the green mountains and clear water before her and said, “I’ve arrived at Shangou Village. Where are you?”
The village was called Shangou Village, and Xiagou Village lay nearby.
Since Su Qingwei was unfamiliar with the area on her first visit, she could only call Lin Hao.
Lin Hao said, “I’m in the mountains. It’ll take me ten minutes to get out. Wait there for me.”
Su Qingwei replied, “Okay.”
Lin Xiaoting asked, “Is it a girl?”
Lin Hao did not hide it. “Yes.”
Lin Xiaoting sized him up. So this guy had a girlfriend. She had been teaching him all this for nothing.
At that moment, Lin Xiaoting felt somewhat awkward.
Someone like Lin Hao actually had a girlfriend?
Lin Xiaoting found it unbelievable and wondered what Lin Hao’s girlfriend looked like. She must be ordinary, right?
Lin Xiaoting asked, “Is she pretty?”
Lin Hao replied, “Average, I guess. You’ll see her soon. Keep an eye on things here for me; I’m leaving for a while.”
Lin Xiaoting took the notebook containing the records and watched Lin Hao’s departing figure, her mind filled with complicated thoughts.
Soon, Lin Hao returned, bringing a girl with him.
The moment she saw Su Qingwei, Lin Xiaoting felt utterly dazzled. She opened her mouth wide and said, “She’s so beautiful!”
“Wow.”
The other girls also stared at Su Qingwei. A girl of this caliber was unbeatable in the village.
Under normal circumstances, Su Qingwei would never have appeared in the village.
Lin Xiaoting’s face was full of astonishment. “Lin Hao, your girlfriend is this beautiful, and you told me she was average?”
Su Qingwei heard this and clarified, “Don’t misunderstand. My name is Su Qingwei. Lin Hao and I are only friends.”
“You two aren’t boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Lin Xiaoting pointed at them and finally sighed with relief, a smile slowly spreading across her face. She knew it—who would ever fall for Lin Hao?
Su Qingwei rolled her eyes at Lin Hao, blaming him for not explaining himself and causing the misunderstanding. “Lin Hao just broke up with his Ex-Girlfriend. She’s even prettier than me.”
Lin Xiaoting laughed in spite of herself. A second later, she asked, “Lin Hao, you have an ex-girlfriend?”
Lin Hao said helplessly, “Stop gossiping. This beauty wants to eat Lychees. Help her pick some.”
Smiling, Lin Xiaoting stepped forward and moved closer to Su Qingwei. “Sure. What kind of Lychee do you want? Feizixiao, Guiwei Lychee, Baitangying, Heiye, Nuomici, and Xianjinfeng are all available.”
Su Qingwei said hesitantly, “I don’t know which kind of Lychee I like. I don’t know their names.”
“I see. Then let’s try them one by one.”
Lin Xiaoting said fiercely, “Lin Hao, get her a hat. She’ll get tanned!”
Lin Hao brought over a straw hat and handed it to Su Qingwei. There were no city-style hats here; everyone used straw hats.
Wearing the Straw Hat, Su Qingwei felt its raised part press against her head. The sensation was unusual. It was her first time wearing this kind of farmer’s Straw Hat, and she found it awkward.
Afterward, they went to pick fruit.
If they wanted to pick fruit, they had to improve their efficiency.
Fortunately, Lin Hao’s task was straightforward.
After tasting several kinds of Lychee, Su Qingwei found what she was looking for. A smile appeared on her exquisite face. “This is the flavor! What kind of Lychee is this?”
Lin Xiaoting replied, “It’s called guiwei lychee.”
Su Qingwei said happily, “It has a pleasant fragrance. It’s truly special.”
Lin Xiaoting peeled open a lychee and let her smell it. “Remember, this is the fragrance of osmanthus flowers, which is why it’s called guiwei lychee. Have you ever heard of osmanthus cake?”
“So that’s how it is.”
Su Qingwei understood.
Lin Xiaoting shouted toward Lin Hao nearby, “Lin Hao, can’t you be a little more proactive?”
Lin Hao coughed and said, “Miss Su, take some guiwei lychees home to eat. Deduct the money from my wages.”
“That’s more like it.”
Lin Xiaoting smiled.
Su Qingwei said embarrassedly, “I’ll pay for them myself. I can’t make you spend money, Lin Hao. Otherwise, I won’t pick any.”
“All right.”
Lin Hao and Lin Xiaoting exchanged a glance, each harboring different thoughts.
Lin Xiaoting thought Su Qingwei was a good girl, so she pinched Lin Hao and urged him to hold on and not let her get away.
Lin Hao, meanwhile, thought that he and Su Qingwei were ordinary friends for now, so her behavior was understandable.
But he had taken her First Kiss, so their relationship could not be completely disentangled.
Today, the village chief found Lin Yaoyang to discuss an important tree in the village.
It turned out to be the village’s She Tree, more important to the village than the Lychee Tree. Lightning had struck it, and it was almost dead. Only one root remained alive, sending out a short new branch that had already withered yellow.
The village chief said, “Lin Yaoyang, go call Lin Hao over. We need to ask him to heal this she tree.”
Lin Yaoyang asked, “Can he heal it?”
The village chief replied, “I saw him heal the lychee tree with my own eyes. Today, it has grown much better than yesterday. How could that be fake?”
Lin Yaoyang had no choice but to agree. “All right, I’ll go notify Lin Hao.”
Lin Yaoyang planned to watch from beginning to end and see whether Lin Hao truly knew a Spell or whether the villagers’ story was only a rumor.