Chapter Thirty-One: The Water Ghost

  Gossip is a woman's nature. Once the gossip fire is ignited, it erupts like a volcano and cannot be stopped.

  Huang Wenfeng followed Song Hu behind and walked into the courtyard, then handed the child over to Song Hu to take care of, while she quietly squatted by the door, secretly peeking at her good sister and Song Wen who were walking towards the lake. She wanted to see if her good sister would spark any romance with Song Wen, but what caught her eye was just the two standing under the osmanthus tree talking, not as exciting as she had imagined.

  She had thought that when she gave him the flowers, Song Wen would be so moved that he would cry and walk up to her, hold her soft little hand, say some things that should or shouldn't be said, and then...and then...do something embarrassing.

  Have to say that Huang Wenfeng's imagination is very rich, but the plot seems to have not developed according to her imagination.

  After seeing the two talking for a while, they walked towards the courtyard. Huang Wenfeng hastily turned around and unexpectedly bumped into Song Hu's head, who was also sneaking around to take a peek.

  "What are you doing here? You're asking for death!" Huang Wenfeng rubbed his sore forehead and asked angrily.

  "I saw you staring over here so intently, I thought there must be something good to see, so I wanted to take a look too. But then you suddenly turned around. By the way, did you see anything?" Song Hu asked with a curious expression.

  "Nothing." Huang Wenfeng said angrily.

  Seeing that her little secret was exposed, Huang Wenfeng was a bit annoyed and angry. When she saw that the daughter she had asked Song Hu to take care of was gone, she couldn't help but ask: "Where's QiQi?"

  "In San Shu's place." After saying this, he was about to go out of the door again.

  Just now he didn't see anything, and thought to take a look outside to see what was attracting his wife.

  Huang Wenfeng took a look and hastily pushed him in.

  As soon as she entered the hall, she saw QiQi being held in her third uncle's Song Yuanshui's arms, curiously holding a piece of candy and spinning around.

  The little guy saw Huang Wenfeng and cried for his mother to hold him, so Huang Wenfeng hurried over to pick him up.

  A moment later, Song Wen walked in with a bouquet of yellow orchids. Huang Xiao Jun followed behind him, her face slightly flushed, and it was unclear what had happened.

  Huang Wenfeng saw the flowers in Song Wen's arms and exclaimed, asking Huang Xiaojun behind her: "Xiaojun, isn't this your favorite orchid? How did it end up with Song Wen?"

  Sometimes it has to be said that women are born performers, the lies they tell offhand sound as if they were true from the start, leaving you wondering what's real and what's not.

  At this time, Huang Wenfeng's expression was like that, as if she really didn't know that her good sister wanted to give flowers to Song Wen.

  Next to Song Hu, slightly pursed his lips, in the car it seemed Huang Xiaojun had told them that they wanted to send flowers to Song Wen, but he didn't dare say more. In Fujian there is a proverb called "listen to your wife and become rich and noble", but this was good advice.

  Huang Xiaojun glared at Huang Wenfeng with a bad temper, thinking she was being nosy, but still said: "Last time, didn't Song Wen introduce my dad to use wild boar stomach to stew medicinal materials? After my dad ate it, his stomach disease got better. I thought there's no need to thank him, so I just brought a pot of orchids to show my appreciation."

  Huang Xiaojun's face was calm and collected, but in reality, she was nervous. She didn't even know why she had picked up the orchid pot. It wasn't until now that she remembered flowers have their own language, and orchids symbolize nobility, elegance, and unwavering loyalty. She couldn't help but think: He wouldn't misunderstand her intentions, would he? They had only met three times after all. As she thought this, she secretly glanced at Song Wen, and seeing that his expression hadn't changed, she finally felt relieved.

  "Song Wen, you have to take good care of it now. This is Xiao Jun's treasure, and she won't even let others look at it. She takes care of it like a precious baby, every morning she carefully wipes its leaves, sprays water mist, and makes it clean and beautiful. You must also take care of it in the same way!" Huang Wenfeng said with a smile.

  Song Wen's face suddenly fell as he listened to Huang Wenfeng's words. This was not taking care of flowers, but serving a master. The orchid in his hands felt like a hot potato. His face involuntarily twitched, and he forced out a smile, turning to Huang Xiaojun and saying, "Why don't you take it back?"

  Huang Xiaojun didn't say a word, but just smiled brightly at him.

  He suddenly felt overwhelmed with pressure and couldn't bear it, so he said: "I'm afraid I won't be able to raise him well?"

  "Actually, growing orchids is very simple. Just put them in a well-ventilated area with humid air and indirect sunlight. On cold or rainy days, remember to bring them indoors to avoid frostbite or root rot from prolonged rain. Normally, keep the soil moist but not too wet or dry. As long as you remember these tips, you can grow orchids well." Huang Xiaojun heard that he didn't know how to grow orchids and immediately shared her secrets for growing orchids with him.

  Song Wen suddenly realized that he was serving not a master, but an ancestor.

  She glanced at Huang Xiaojun, seemingly unable to refuse this gift, and reluctantly accepted it. After looking around, she placed the orchid on the Eight Immortals table in the main hall for worshiping gods, and asked Huang Xiaojun: "How about this? Is it okay to put it here?"

  Huang Xiaojun shook her head, "It's not suitable here with people coming and going all the time, and the air is too stale. It's also inconvenient for you to water it. It's best if it can absorb dew and sunlight, but not be exposed to scorching sun."

  "I'll take it upstairs."

  As she spoke, Song Wen put the orchid on the balcony upstairs.

  There is plenty of sunshine there, and it's not afraid of the sun, and there's also dew at night. After putting it away, he specially called Huang Xiaojun to take a look, and Huang Xiaojun nodded slightly.

  It's rare to have guests, so at noon Song Wen naturally couldn't help but go into the kitchen to cook a sumptuous lunch.

  After dinner, Qiqi insisted on going to see the calf, so Huang Wenfeng had to take her there with Huang Xiaojun. Song Wen and Song Hu were brewing tea in the house.

  Just after drinking a few sips of tea, Song Wen saw Song Hu sneaking over and asking, "Have you heard?"

  "What's going on?" Song Wen asked curiously.

  "You don't know, I heard that Little Soldier went to the reservoir to catch turtles and almost got pulled into the water by a water ghost."

  "Really?" Song Wen heard this and his eyes widened instantly.

  The water ghost, when I was a kid, adults would often scare kids with it, but I never thought it actually existed.

  "Why would I cheat you? I heard that this afternoon, the village will let people go to drag the net and catch water ghosts. Are you going to watch?"

  "Then go take a look."

  Song Wen was also a bit curious and agreed to go take a look together.

  The reservoir in the village was originally built for irrigation and power generation, but it's very old now. Although it is still generating electricity, few people use it because the electricity generated by the reservoir is unstable, household appliances are prone to damage, and now that electricity is cheap, everyone uses the national grid, so the reservoir's electricity has become useless.

  The reservoir has a water ghost, which is a big deal. Although the electricity generated by the reservoir is no longer used by many households, its function of irrigating farmland is still being played out. Moreover, there are often adults and children going to the reservoir to fish, and some tourists who come to play here feel that the scenery is good and often go over. If something happens, it's even more troublesome. So after hearing about it, the village immediately contacted someone to catch the water ghost and also caught fish.

  The reservoir generates electricity but no one uses it, so the village doesn't make any money. The village originally wanted to lease the reservoir to someone to raise fish, but every year there are mountain floods and the reservoir needs to release water, so it's only possible to raise fish from September to March of the following year. After calculating the costs, the villagers felt it wasn't worth it, so no one was willing to take on the lease. However, someone wanted to lease it to raise ducks, but raising ducks is too smelly and the village didn't agree. In the end, the village decided to raise fish themselves, buying some fish fry and releasing them into the reservoir. They can sell the fish for money, which can be used to provide some benefits to the villagers and increase the village's income.

  There are fish in the reservoir, and many people go to fish. The village charges money for those who come to fish, 10 yuan per hour, and offers a discount for fishing all day.

  Qiqi was tired from playing in the backyard, and then she was brought back by Huang Wenfeng and Huang Xiaojun. Several people started drinking tea in the house. Song Yuanshui had already left with great tact, leaving space for these young people.

  After chatting for a while, Huang Xiaojun looked at the time and was about to leave. Before leaving, she took out several documents from her bag.

  "This flower expo is about to open again, I have a booth over there and have arranged for several passes. If you want to go, just take this and you can get in for free."

  "What's the point of going to the flower expo? I'd rather sleep at home." Song Hu muttered, looking at his admission ticket.

  Huang Wenfeng listened and gave him a cold stare, he immediately shut up.

  The Flower Expo is the Nanzhou Flower Expo, held in the Nanzhou Flower Expo Park. According to official news, the park covers an area of 7,800 mu. There are 2,700 mu of flower expo garden, 1,500 mu of flower production base, 1,500 mu of comprehensive service area, 500 mu of flower technology park, and 18,000 square meters of main exhibition hall. Currently, there are over 2,000 varieties of flowers and trees, with over 10 million seedlings cultivated every year. It is a modern agricultural park that integrates flower production, sales, display, export, tourism, leisure agriculture, conference training, fitness and entertainment. To be honest, the Flower Expo Park is really not bad, nestled in the mountains and surrounded by water, with lush green grass, beautiful flowers, trees, pavilions, and courtyards. In addition to local flowers and trees from Nanzhou, there are also precious plants from Taiwan and abroad.

  Song Wen had been there before, the air and scenery were not bad. However, when he went that time, there was no ticket, and since then, he has never gone again. To be honest, except for those beautiful flowers, grasses, and trees, everything else is useless. Moreover, except during the Flower Expo period, the park is almost deserted, with hardly anyone in sight, not even a shadow of a person.

  Now that he heard it's free to get in, he thought to himself, "Why not go take a look?" Otherwise, taking the bus from Songjiabao for half a day and spending 80 yuan on tickets just to get in isn't worth it. Honestly, it's really not worth it, might as well stay home and sleep like Ah Hu said. It seems that with 80 yuan, you can eat dozens of bowls of noodles, over ten bowls of beef soup, over ten bowls of fish porridge, and over ten steamer baskets of small buns. If it's tea eggs, you can even eat eighty of them, or a hundred if they're cheaper. Why waste that money on useless tickets?