NOVPUB"So this is the famous sugarcane duck!" Lin Wanning spread her legs apart, pointing at the large row of sugarcane in front of her.
"Exactly, the red sugar we usually eat is made by extracting juice from sugarcane!" Xu Qingfan explained with a smile.
"The color, it’s different?" Zhang Yiyi’s small hand pointed at one green and one black sugarcane stalk, tilting her head as she asked Xu Qingfan.
"Ah, that’s because the juice content in the black sugarcane is higher, making it more suitable for eating directly, while the green sugarcane has a higher sugar content, making it better for making sugar."
"Wow~ Brother Fan, how do you know everything!" Xiao Ruawen said admiringly, looking up at Xu Qingfan.
"It’s just some common life knowledge, I remembered it when I watched the show about agriculture and wealth."
"I know, I know, is it that agriculture channel show? Last time I saw them building a slide for pigs to swim in winter!" Xiao Ruawen, with her index finger supporting her chin, recalled for a moment and then excitedly said.
"Yes, all this sugarcane here belongs to our family. You can just pull it out, but be careful not to get your hands pricked by the sugarcane leaves." Xu Qingfan picked up a hoe and went to the side to dig sweet potatoes among the vines.
"Xu Qingfan, should we pull out the sugarcane with its roots?" After picking out a long and thick sugarcane, Xia Xiaoxiao turned and asked.
"It doesn’t really matter, sugarcane is a one-time plant. If it’s too troublesome for you, just use a knife to cut off the bottom," Xu Qingfan said without looking up, swinging his hoe while muttering, "eighty, eighty."
Next to the sugarcane field were tomatoes and cucumbers. The round red tomatoes crowded together, shining translucently under the sunlight, which suddenly made Xiao Ruawen want to pick them.
"Brother Fan, is that vegetable garden over there ours too?" she asked.
Xu Qingfan tilted his head, considering, then said uncertainly, "I think it’s ours, no worries, go ahead and pick them!"
He remembered that in his previous life, watermelons had been planted on that piece of land. Although they ended up looking like winter melons due to poor nutrition, if the land belonged to his grandfather, then the tomatoes definitely also belonged to them.
"Yay!" Xiao Ruawen happily trotted over with her basket.
Xu Qingfan wiped the fine sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and bent over to pick out the sweet potatoes he had dug up.
Black sugarcane, like Sun Wukong’s magical staff, was being waved around by Lin Wanning, who excitedly ran up and asked Xu Qingfan, "Brother Qing Fan, how do we eat this sugarcane?"
"You bite off the outer black skin, then you can eat the flesh inside. Wait until we get home to wash it before eating; my grandma grows them with organic fertilizer!" Xu Qingfan picked up a few large sweet potatoes from the ground into his basket and with his dirty hands playfully tapped Lin Wanning’s nose.
The little girl’s nose, already damp from sweat, was immediately stamped with a mark of soil. "Brother Qing Fan, you’re mean!" Little Wanning pouted and complained.
"Alright, let’s head back home soon and turn on the air conditioner. If we keep staying out in the sun, we are going to get heatstroke." He was about to loudly call the little ones to leave, when he heard Xiao Ruawen’s scream.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Whimper~ Brother Fan, hurry over here! Quick!! Ahh whimper~ Brother Fan, come quick!!"
Xu Qingfan looked up and saw Xiao Ruawen standing in terror, not daring to move. Her face, which had been flushed from the sun, had turned white at some point.
"I’m coming, what’s wrong?" He quickly dropped his basket and rushed over like a sprinter.
"Ah!!!" Xia Xiaoxiao, being the closest, was the first to reach Xiao Ruawen. Seeing the scene in front of her, the little girl was also trembling with fear: "Xu... Xu Qingfan... Ruan Wen stepped on a snake!"
"Whimper~ What do we do, I’m so scared, I’m definitely done for, ah whimper whimper... Brother Fan, please save me!" Xiao Ruawen was talking incoherently, tears streaming down her face from fear.
Breathlessly, Xu Qingfan ran up and indeed saw a green snake under the little girl’s foot.
The green snake was almost a meter long, thicker than a thumb, slowly wriggling on the spot.
"Brother Fan~ I’m so scared whimper whimper…" Xiao Ruawen helplessly looked at Xu Qingfan.
To be honest, seeing such a large creature, not just Xiao Ruawen, but Xu Qingfan was also scared. He swallowed hard, trying to stay calm: "It’s alright, it’s okay, I’m here, nothing will happen, Ruan Wen, don’t be afraid." He turned to Lin Wanning, who was still in shock, and yelled, "Ningning, quick, bring me the hoe!"
"Okay!!!" Lin Wanning overcame her fear and, taking the hoe, ran toward Xu Qingfan.
"Whimper... Brother Fan, I’m so scared..." Xiao Ruawen’s left foot was right on the snake’s head and her thigh trembled violently from fear.
"Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, it’s okay, I’m here." Xu Qingfan took the hoe and walked over to Xiao Ruawen with forced ease.
As if sensing someone approaching, the snake, which had been docile until now, suddenly started to wriggle violently, scaring Xiao Ruawen half to death, "Ah whimper!"
"Don’t be afraid, don’t back off your foot yet, it’s okay, it’s okay." Xu Qingfan pressed down on the snake’s vital area with the hoe and slowly moved upward.
"Ah whimper... I’ll never dare to pick vegetables again!" Apparently revived by Xu Qingfan’s arrival, Xiao Ruawen said tearfully and pitifully.
"You don’t have to, you don’t have to. Ruan Wen slowly retract your foot." Xu Qingfan calmly advised her.
Truth be told, he was scared to death; the only green snake he knew was the bamboo viper, and that thing could be deadly to an adult with just one bite, let alone that both of them were still so young.
"Whimper... I can’t, I can’t move my leg... whimper..."
Some people, when they experience extreme fear, become physically paralyzed, and Xiao Ruawen was in that situation right now.
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"It’s okay, it’s okay, I’m here, don’t be afraid..." Xu Qingfan said, pressing down on the hoe with his left hand and slowly squatting down.
Zhang Yiyi, Lin Wanning, and Xia Xiaoxiao, frightened, forgot to breathe. The three little ones clenched their fists tightly, nervously watching the situation unfold.
"It’s going to be alright, it’s going to be alright..." Xu Qingfan muttered to himself, not sure if he was speaking to Xiao Ruawen or to reassure himself.
With his left hand on the hoe, his right hand slowly removed Xiao Ruawen’s shoe. After peeling it back a bit, he probed deeper with the hoe.
The gap of just a few millimeters took Xu Qingfan over three minutes to bridge. It was unclear whether he was shaking from fear or being overheated—his whole body seemed to be drenched.
"Ha, it’s okay now, all is well!" When the hoe finally replaced Lin Wanning’s shoe completely, Xu Qingfan let out a long breath of relief.
"Xiao Xiao, come and help Xiao Ruawen, it’s all fine now!" Xu Qingfan called, stepping on the metal part of the hoe and slowly getting to his feet.
"Ah? Okay!" Xia Xiaoxiao snapped out of her shock and jogged forward.
Seeing that the green snake was completely pinned down by the hoe, the little girl took a deep breath and helped Xiao Ruawen leave the orchard.
"Hoo..."
Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning quickly went up to comfort the frightened Xiao Ruawen.
"It’s okay now, Wenwen, it’s okay. With Brother Qingfan here, everything will definitely be alright!"
"Don’t be scared!" Zhang Yiyi took out a tissue to wipe the sweat off Xiao Ruawen who had slumped into Xia Xiaoxiao’s embrace.
"Woowoowoowoo~ I’m never coming to pick vegetables again!" Xiao Ruawen lamented, regaining a bit of her senses.
"Not coming anymore, too scary!" Lin Wanning agreed, nodding along.
After making sure they had all walked away, Xu Qingfan returned his gaze to the snake on the ground, still violently struggling, "You’re lucky. I’m letting you off today!" He said to the snake, bold. As soon as his body was far enough away, he released the hoe and ran for it!
Snake: ???
When the green snake felt the pressure disappear from above, it looked around warily, and upon confirming there was no danger, it slithered away with an air of disoriented indignance.
"Brother Fan, thank you!" When Xu Qingfan returned to their group, Xiao Ruawen suddenly hugged him tight.
"It’s nothing. Since I brought you guys out to have fun, I definitely need to bring everyone back safely!" Xu Qingfan said tenderly, patting Xiao Ruawen’s back.
"Mua~ muah~ mu-muah~" Like a woodpecker, Xiao Ruawen pecked his face with several kisses. "Brother Fan, you’re a hero! Mua~ I love you the most!!"
The sudden confession left Xu Qingfan bewildered. He scratched his head with a chuckle, "It was nothing, really. I was actually scared to death just now. Look, my whole body is soaking wet."
He lifted the hem of his shirt and wrung out the water, and indeed, water poured out.
Xiao Ruawen let go of Xu Qingfan and once again wore her optimistic, radiant smile. When she turned around, she noticed Xia Xiaoxiao looking at her with a strange expression.
"I love Xiao Xiao the most too, muah~ Xiao Xiao is the best!" Xiao Ruawen said shyly, sticking out her tongue and eagerly jumping into Xia Xiaoxiao’s arms to plant several forceful pecks on her soft cheek.
"Don’t you like Ningning and Yiyi?" Lin Wanning, holding Zhang Yiyi’s hand, pouted and asked.
"Of course not! I love Ningning and Yiyi too! I love you all the very, very most!" Xiao Ruawen repeated the gesture, hugging Lin Wanning and Zhang Yiyi in turn and planting kisses on each of their little faces.
Xu Qingfan: ...
[Hello? Is this Yao Yao Ling? I think I’ve just met a heartbreaker!]
"We should get going and take a shower. You’re soaking wet," Xia Xiaoxiao said helplessly, pulling the exuberant Xiao Ruawen from the group and patiently tying her disheveled hair.
"Right! Let’s go back, and after the shower, I’ll bake sweet potatoes for you all!" Xu Qingfan proposed.
"Let’s go back, let’s go home!"
"Sweet potatoes time!"
The little ones picked up the scattered sugarcane and vegetable baskets from the ground, and even the hoe and tomatoes left behind in the orchard were eventually retrieved by a brave Xu Qingfan.
On the way back, the tricycle was loaded with the fruits of their labor. Xu Qingfan pedaled at the front, while the four little ones excitedly pushed the cart from behind.
"Faster! Even faster!"
"Hahahahaha..."
"....."
Xiao Ruawen’s eyes were bright, her gaze fixed on Xu Qingfan’s back, her heart filled with indescribable emotions.
She suddenly recalled a line from Journey to the West: My ideal person is a hero among men...
(PS: Are there any readers who are good with AI, willing to help create an image of the five kids pushing the cart?)
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