A few days later, at seven in the morning, Jiang Le woke up naturally. After a quick wash, he drove to the small town at the foot of the mountain. The night before, he had received a delivery notification that the items he’d ordered online had arrived at the town’s parcel pickup point.

The deep parts of the pond behind the village were hard to reach without tools. Over the next few months, not only would it yield lotus pods, lotus roots, and water chestnuts, but it would also be home to many fish, shrimp, and eels—their numbers growing large since no one was catching them.

To that end, Jiang Le had bought an inflatable boat online, along with tools suitable for harvesting and setting nets to catch fish and shrimp.

Driving along the mountain road, around the base of the mountain, vast fields appeared on both sides, planted with watermelons of varying sizes and ripeness, their round forms nestled among the vines.

When he arrived in town, the morning market was still in full swing. Many local villagers had set up stalls by the roadside to sell their homegrown produce, while other vendors offered dried mountain specialties.

Jiang Le slowed his pace to browse several different stalls. Spotting some mushrooms and wood ear fungus of good quality, he asked the vendor to weigh out an entire sackful for him.

After a quick breakfast at a local eatery and packing up some freshly baked meat buns, Jiang Le set off on his return journey. The further he drove up the mountain, the fewer people he encountered; by the time he reached Jiangjia Village, he was completely alone—a situation he had grown accustomed to.

In the courtyard, Jiang Le opened the delivery box, took out the inflatable boat, and inflated it. Then, carrying the shrimp net cage and hoisting the inflatable boat, he headed toward the pond behind the village.

Unexpectedly, before he even got close, Jiang Le heard some unusual sounds coming from the water. He initially thought it might be a small animal that had wandered out of the woods, but as he approached, he saw the figure of a young man with dark skin. The man was wearing a wetsuit designed for entering the pond and was searching back and forth in the shallower areas.

The young man happened to look up and spotted Jiang Le carrying the inflatable boat.

“Oh my, you’re…” The dark-skinned young man looked at Jiang Le with obvious surprise.

Judging by his appearance, Jiang Le had fair skin and handsome features, with long, well-proportioned limbs and a supple, healthy physique. He looked like a city tourist who’d stumbled upon a chance vacation, completely out of place in the surrounding environment.

Jiang Le hadn’t expected anyone else to be here either. After a few brief exchanges, the two shared some information.

The dark-skinned young man’s name was Mao Xiaofei. He was just over twenty years old and lived in Maojia Village, three or four kilometers from Jiangjia Village. He’d taken the day off to go fishing and wanted to take some home to make fish soup for his grandfather.

According to Mao Xiaofei, he’d been here once before, just a couple of days ago, but hadn’t run into Jiang Le then.

“You just catch fish with your bare hands?” Jiang Le asked him.

Mao Xiaofei gave an embarrassed smile and pointed to the net bag tossed aside in the grass: “I was actually going to use a net, but I hadn’t used it in so long that it had a few holes in it and was no good.”

He glanced at the net cage in Jiang Le’s hand, hesitated, and said nothing.

Jiang Le didn’t say anything either. He simply put some bait into the few net cages he’d brought, then set them along the edge of the pond, letting them disappear into the water plants.

He then launched the rubber boat into the water, climbed aboard, and slowly paddled toward the center, picking ripe lotus pods as he searched for mature water chestnuts beneath the water chestnut leaves.

About half an hour passed like this, with neither of them speaking.

During this time, Mao Xiaofei often stole glances at Jiang Le, but not knowing how to strike up a conversation, and sensing that Jiang Le didn’t seem particularly keen on socializing, he simply held his tongue.

It wasn’t easy to catch fish by hand in the pond, where the water level was quite high; Mao Xiaofei only managed to catch a few small crayfish and felt a bit discouraged.

By this time, Jiang Le had already made a full circuit of the pond, gathering quite a few water chestnuts and lotus pods from the inflatable boat. He rowed the boat to the shore and climbed out.

Mao Xiaofei also emerged from the water on the other side, rinsed the mud off his rain boots, and prepared to say goodbye to Jiang Le: “Um, bro, I’m heading out…” Only then did Jiang Le speak up: “Wait a minute.”

Mao Xiaofei looked at Jiang Le in confusion and saw him bending down to retrieve the net cage he had set out earlier.

Few people came to this pond to catch fish or shrimp, so the creatures inside had no guard against human bait. Jiang Le’s bait was particularly enticing, and in just over half an hour, the net cages were already filled with a good catch.

Jiang Le emptied the fish and shrimp out of the traps, and two eels of different sizes even fell out along with them. He picked out the two largest fish, which together weighed over three pounds. “These two fish are for you.”

Mao Xiaofei felt a bit embarrassed for a moment. “You don’t have to give them to me,” he said, though his gaze lingered on the fish with obvious reluctance.

Jiang Le didn’t say much: “I don’t like eating fish. I was just testing out the new gear I just bought. If you don’t take them, I’ll just have to throw them back.” Only then did Mao Xiaofei pick up the fish, his face clearly beaming with joy.

Jiang Le added, “You can take some water chestnuts too.”

With that, he deflated the inflatable boat and began packing up the gear he’d brought.

Mao Xiaofei could tell he wasn’t much of a talker, but that what he said came from the heart, so he kept thanking him. In addition to the fish, he took a handful of water chestnuts, and only then did he ask Jiang Le where he lived.

Jiang Le looked at Mao Xiaofei curiously, wondering why he was asking.

Mao Xiaofei said, “We grow watermelons at my house. I’ll bring you two watermelons later!”

His expression seemed to imply that if Jiang Le didn’t tell him where he lived, he wouldn’t accept the gifts Jiang Le had given him.

Jiang Le then roughly pointed out the address to Mao Xiaofei.

After all, this was just a temporary stop for him; there was no need to keep it a secret.

After Mao Xiaofei left, Jiang Le cast his net a few more times. He really didn’t care much for fish, so he kept only the crayfish from his catch. When he returned home at noon, he put the crayfish in a basin of water to keep them alive.

Around three or four in the afternoon, Jiang Le was in the yard using a knife to trim bamboo strips—these were to be used for trellises once the cucumbers and tomatoes grew a bit larger. He heard footsteps approaching from a distance, and before they even reached the gate, Mao Xiaofei’s voice rang out.

“Brother Jiang, Brother Jiang?”

Not knowing exactly which household it was, he could only call out loudly and wait for Jiang Le to answer.

Jiang Le walked out and opened the courtyard gate, seeing Mao Xiaofei carrying two large watermelons that together weighed an estimated thirty or forty pounds.

“That much?” Jiang Le asked.

“I grew them myself—they’re not worth much,” Mao Xiaofei said with a smile.

The watermelons were cut into several slices, and the two ate and chatted. Most of the time, Jiang Le would ask a question, and Mao Xiaofei would respond with three or four sentences without a second thought, completely unaware that he was being led on.

By the time they’d finished the two slices of watermelon, Jiang Le had a good grasp of Mao Xiaofei’s background.

Mao Xiaofei, a native of Maojia village, had lived with his grandfather since childhood. He wasn’t cut out for school, so he dropped out after junior high. In recent years, worried about his grandfather’s poor health, he rarely ventured into the city, instead taking odd jobs nearby.

Odd jobs offer flexible hours but aren’t available every day, so Mao Xiaofei grew some watermelons at home. When farmers came to buy them, it helped supplement the household income. But this was limited; most of the money he earned, aside from covering daily expenses, went toward buying medicine for his grandfather.

“The first crop of watermelons still fetched a decent price, but the second crop doesn’t sell for much.” Mao Xiaofei gestured with his hands to indicate the size of a farm cargo tricycle. “A whole load like that—even when buyers come to the door, they might not even pay a full red note for it. When you break it down, a dime a pound is already a good price.”

Farmers can’t get high prices, and customers can’t get them cheap—that’s the contradictory reality most of the time.

“But we still have to sell them,” Mao Xiaofei said. “Even if we make an extra five or ten yuan, it’s better than letting them rot in the ground.”

Jiang Le thought for a moment and asked him, “How many watermelons do you have left to sell?”

Mao Xiaofei didn’t hesitate: “Five or six thousand jin, I guess. Once this crop is harvested, that’ll be about it.”

That works out to about five or six hundred watermelons, each weighing ten jin.

Jiang Le looked at his faded, worn-out vest. “I have a friend who works in procurement. I’ll ask him if he wants any watermelons.” Mao Xiaofei’s eyes lit up. Watching Jiang Le pick up his phone and tap the screen a few times, he asked excitedly, “Really? That’s great.”

In reality, Jiang Le was just tapping the screen randomly and glancing at the time. When he was sourcing goods in Hai City, he had never bought fruit in bulk. Back then, watermelons weren’t widely available yet, so they weren’t on his shopping list.

The proceeds from selling the house had been transferred to Jiang Le’s account a couple of days earlier, and he had already been planning to launch a second round of large-scale purchasing. Buying Mao Xiaofei’s watermelons on the side would also be convenient for him, Jiang Le thought.

About two minutes later, Jiang Le picked up his phone again, then looked up at Mao Xiaofei and said, “He said he’d buy them at 30 cents a pound, but only the five or six thousand pounds you have here. He doesn’t want any more than that.”

Mao Xiaofei hadn’t expected this to actually work out; he immediately nodded vigorously, his face flushing with excitement.

Thirty cents might sound like a low price, but for this second crop of watermelons, it was actually the highest possible price—double what they’d normally fetch.

“How will we handle the transportation?” Mao Xiaofei asked. “Do I drive them out myself, or what? I can drive them to town!”

“No need,” Jiang Le said. “Just pick the fresh melons every morning, load them onto a truck, and unload them at that spot by the roadside at the edge of my village. My friend will drive over to pick them up when the time comes.”

Mao Xiaofei didn’t think twice about it. He immediately wanted to go back and check on his own melon field, but halfway there, he remembered to turn back and ask Jiang Le for his number so he could add him on WeChat.

The moment he accepted Mao Xiaofei’s friend request, Jiang Le received a photo of the watermelon field that Mao had just taken.

“We’ll be able to harvest about a thousand pounds tomorrow.”

The next morning, before dawn, Mao Xiaofei had already picked the watermelons and transported them to the entrance of Jiang Family Village. He sent a WeChat message asking Jiang Le if he needed to wait there.

Jiang Le told him to go back. Only after Mao Xiaofei had left did he go over and enter all the watermelons into the system.

The warehouse immediately displayed the weight of the newly received watermelons: 925 jin, which was at least as much as the 900 jin Mao Xiaofei had mentioned.

Jiang Le transferred the money in both coins and bills at a rate of 30 cents per jin. This went on for about ten days, and in the end, he had purchased a total of over 6,000 jin of watermelons from Mao Xiaofei.