Chapter 465: Watermelons and Peaches

On this side, watching Lu Chuan pull himself together and head upstairs—presumably still unwilling to give up and wanting to contact Li Li—Song Tan immediately pulled out her phone and called her eldest aunt:

"Hello, Auntie! It seems like my brother Lu Chuan has had a falling out with Li Li..."

"It's nothing, it's nothing... We're family, why mention such things..."

"... I was just thinking, I'm afraid he might take his money and run off to see Li Li in secret, so I came up with a plan. I'll say I used his wages to buy 10 boxes of peaches, 8 to be sent to you all, and 2 left for Li Li..."

"... That's just talk, how could I actually take my brother Lu Chuan's hard-earned money? I was planning to send two boxes to you and my eldest aunt anyway..."

"... Yes, yes, yes... You all must not let it slip. Pretend I sent them and the money was collected, but in reality, those 2,500 yuan for the peaches will all be transferred to you, Auntie, to save."

"... It's our own orchard... no need to send too many... just take a few to have a fresh taste... what's this about money..."

Zhang Yanping, standing to the side, watched Song Tan vigilantly. Only after she hung up the phone did he size her up: "Don't tell me I also have a 5,000 yuan salary, and you split half of it with my mom?"

Song Tan:...

She said sincerely: "Brother Yanping, you should have more confidence in your own worth—2,500 is already a family discount!"

And just at this moment, the entire house suddenly emitted a faint 'click' sound, and then everything around was pitch black.

Old Wang:... Actually, there really isn't.

"I came so late, I'm starving. Let's cut the watermelon first!"

"The lights are out everywhere in the village. I guess some circuit must be broken somewhere; after all, it's summer."

A crescent moon hung overhead, its light hazy and weak, causing the road to refract a faint, pale white. The mountains and fields on all sides were pitch black, the summer heat was steaming, and even the mosquitoes around them were buzzing exceptionally loudly.

"I checked the navigation, we'll be there soon, 10 minutes at most!"

8:00 PM.

Qiao Qiao laughed: "Alright, go ahead. Be careful, don't catch any poisonous insects."

By the courtyard wall, a bundle of mugwort was burning as usual—because there were no mosquitoes at home this year, everyone unanimously agreed that the mugwort was of high quality and effective, so they lit a bundle in the courtyard every evening until everyone finished their work.

Qiao Qiao, whose phone battery was down to 20%:...

For an adult like Qiao Qiao who had long since seen fireflies in their true form, it was truly a case of 'thanks but no thanks'; it only gave him goosebumps.

Before long, distant headlights gradually approached and finally slowed to a stop on the open ground in front of the gate.

Everyone was stunned.

And just then, Boss Qian finally hurried out of the house. Seeing the person who arrived, he complained: "Old Wang! I told you to hurry up and come over. Look at you, dragging it out until now!"

"The power is out!"

Secretary Xiao Zhu coughed dryly: "I'll call and ask how long it will take to fix..."

Although she had to cultivate at night and couldn't play for long, having electricity and not playing, versus having no electricity and being unable to play, were two different things!

"Is it broken? Is the power out?"

It's unreasonable.

Ah, come to think of it, she had been home for half a year and the power hadn't gone out once, making her forget about this!

Looking at Secretary Xiao Zhu to the side, she saw her walk outside the courtyard, and before long, she returned:

And Qiao Qiao made up his mind! "I'll have to buy a household generator later."

Qiao Qiao realized belatedly and finally remembered that during the peak electricity usage period every summer, the village would always have power outages every few days.

In recent years, the fireflies in the village had become fewer. But this year, behind their house and in front of their rooms, the fireflies were once again lively, and Li Li had been craving them for a long time.

The road is bad, the circuits are bad... Sigh!

The ones that fly are still considered delicate, but the ones that crawl are very hair-raising; only small children wouldn't be afraid.

The middle-aged man inside hesitated before getting out of the car. Looking at the pitch-black surroundings, even his movements were much slower.

However, despite saying that, Seventh Cousin still nimbly took out his watermelon knife, and with one swift motion, sliced it in two!

Good heavens!

Li Li said loudly, and then asked dejectedly: "The tablet is out of power... then how will I watch TV tonight?"

"That's... it's as if the power outage was caused by me." The boss opposite was also unhappy: "No matter how good the peaches are, what can you see in the middle of the night? I was originally planning to come tomorrow..."

The next moment, his body moved faster than his mind, and without hesitation, he opened his mouth and bit off the tip of the watermelon!

Come tomorrow? Then would he even be able to eat this watermelon?

Li Li glanced at the stranger who had come from afar, then looked at Qiao Qiao expectantly: "Sister, can I go catch fireflies?"

But before the words could leave his mouth, a piece of ice-cold watermelon was shoved into his hand. The unique, fresh fragrance of the watermelon wafted over, making his whole body feel as if it were soaked in cool well water, and even his bones let out a sigh and a groan.

"Good, good, good!"

Boss Qian was anxious and hurriedly patted his shoulder: "Come, come, eat some watermelon. You must be hot and thirsty after the journey, right?"

There was air conditioning in the car, and he had brought his own tea; other than the road being bumpy and difficult to travel, everything else was fine.

Qiao Qiao blinked in confusion.

Everyone:... Aren't these peaches delicious enough? Why are they thinking about watermelon while eating peaches!

Li Li, however, moved quickly: "I'll go get the flashlight!"

He hadn't yet recovered from his astonishment when he saw Boss Qian to the side already annoyed: "Mmm, mmm, mmm, why is it so delicious! Why is it so delicious! This is a completely different style from the peaches!"

"

Fireflies were flying in mid-air, and some were crawling on the leaves.

And in the distance, the village gradually became lively again.

Old Wang, while eating watermelon, watched Boss Qian, who had already lost the initiative as a wholesaler. What, what kind of taste is this?!

However, he usually worked during the day, had to do homework at night, and watched TV, so he really had no time. Today, seeing the power outage, he couldn't hold back anymore.

And just then, the sound of a car engine suddenly came from afar.

And at this moment, Boss Qian, who had been waiting anxiously, looked at the feast on the table and the tightly closed refrigerator, and finally received a call from his good brother, Boss Wang—

"Little sister, can I take all the watermelons?! You tell me the price!"

Eight o'clock was just when it had completely turned dark. At this hour, many people who had been working had only just returned home to finish their meals.

Occasionally, one could hear the 'crackling' sound of an electric mosquito swatter.

Night finally descended heavily upon the mountain village.

"Is this... a power outage?"

Boss Qian couldn't wait any longer and darted to the refrigerator in three or two steps, then hugged out the large watermelon that weighed at least 20 jin, looking at everyone expectantly:

And Zhang Yanping looked at his phone with relief: "Luckily it's fully charged."

He wasn't unfamiliar with this situation.

It was hot, the daytime heat hadn't dissipated yet, and without fans or air conditioning, it was hard to fall asleep, so everyone could only wave their cattail fans, wear slippers, and stroll slowly through the village to chat. ===== CHAPTER 466 =====