Chapter 604: 604
The first half of autumn had passed by without Fangzheng really taking note of it . He was indifferent about it anyway . All he had felt was that the weather was hot . Now that the autumnal equinox had arrived, he finally realized it was autumn .
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As the autumnal winds blew, they brought with them the coolness of autumn . It was different from the coolness that an air conditioner provided . Instead, it was a chill that went right to your heart . When Fangzheng looked up into the sky, the sky seemed to be higher and bluer than before . The light amid the blueness gave one a wider perspective, making one’s mood better . As he took in a deep breath, it felt like every cell in his body was jumping for joy . It was absolutely comfortable!
The saying “The autumn air is invigorating” perfectly described the present situation .
After gathering his disciples, Fangzheng led them down the mountain .
The villagers enjoyed planting all sorts of vegetables they liked in their back and front yards . Typically, there would be two fruit trees in everyone’s backyards . ( Box novel . c om )
The moment Fangzheng came down, everyone knew what he was there for . This was because Fangzheng had loved sweeping through the village the moment the weather turned cool since a young age…
“Abbot Fangzheng, come to my place . The cucumbers have ripened and are delicious . ” A middle-aged woman stood in her vegetable garden . She looked like she was ridding the weeds, but she immediately got up when she saw Fangzheng, waving her hands and calling out to him .
Fangzheng did not stand on ceremony . He immediately answered her and entered with his disciples . The moment he entered the vegetable garden, Fangzheng’s eyes were locked onto a cucumber with a tiny yellow flower growing above it . The cucumber wasn’t huge, and it was covered in bristles, but it looked extremely juicy . Fangzheng immediately plucked it off…
Red Boy did the same, but Fangzheng rapped him on the head . “Go to the well and get some cool water . ”
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Red Boy pouted his lips . Although he was unhappy that Fangzheng had robbed him of the right to pluck delicious food for himself, he still did as he was told .
Fangzheng continued plucking a few cucumbers and got Monkey to carry them .
At that moment, the middle-aged woman came with several huge tomatoes in her arms . They were varied in size and color . One was large and red, perhaps a result of being overly ripe . There were even some ruptures on its skin, revealing the pink flesh within! Although it had ruptured, none of the juices flowed out . The ample juices appeared especially beautiful under the sunlight .
There was another type of tomato which was yellow . In fact, it was the same breed as the red one . Only their colors were different . It was a yellow color just like that of an egg yolk . Its surface was not as plump as the red one’s, but it looked more translucent, making it look extremely beautiful .
Fangzheng received the tomatoes and hurriedly thanked her . “Thank you, Auntie . ”
“Oh, come on . It’s me who should be thanking you . Kid, you are getting more polite as you grow up . In the past, you would steal my tomatoes and cucumbers when I didn’t give them to you . You wreaked havoc on them quite well . Furthermore, you always chose the cucumbers that had just grown . Tell me, could you have been any more prodigal?” The woman chuckled as she stuffed the tomatoes into Fangzheng’s hands while denouncing Fangzheng’s past misdeeds .
Back when Fangzheng heard these kinds of reprimands when he was young, he only felt unhappy, thinking that people were criticizing him .
But now, listening to such words made him feel the love the villagers had for him . Therefore, all Fangzheng did was listen with a silly smile . Then, he took two more tomatoes . He did not take the big and sweet ones from the woman’s hands but only the smaller ones .
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These tomatoes were about the size of table tennis balls . They were neither pure red or yellow in color . Instead, they were a mixture of red, green, and yellow, but some had more red, others more yellow . Green and other colors were just auxiliary colors . The myriad of colors made them beautiful . The locals called such tomatoes “little rubber balls . ” They weren’t large in size, but they were delicious when popped into one’s mouth . They were also different from the cherry tomatoes and baby tomatoes which were sold outside . They were not as sweet, but had a sourish sweetness to them . They tasted refreshing and were Fangzheng’s favorite kind!
( Box novel . c om ) Fangzheng had no idea why he liked the smaller ones when others preferred the big ones ever since he was a child . He enjoyed picking the small cucumbers and loved the “little rubber ball” tomatoes .
When the woman saw this, she laughed . “I knew you liked these . There are quite a lot this year . If you like them, take more . ”
Fangzheng did not stand on ceremony, and he immediately nodded before carrying them away with his monk robes .
Outside the vegetable garden, he saw that Red Boy had prepared a huge bucket of well water . The well water effused an ice-cold feeling due to it coming from underground . This had been nature’s refrigerator in the northeast since times immemorial . Fangzheng impatiently dunked the cucumbers and tomatoes into the bucket .
The cucumbers and tomatoes were extremely juicy to begin with . With them being thrown into the water, their colors were further accentuated . It made the colors stand out beautifully and whetted one’s appetite .
Squirrel could not help but climb up the bucket and reach his hand in, hoping to snag one .
When Fangzheng saw this, he pricked up his brows and kicked the little guy’s ass in what seemed like an accident . Squirrel splashed straight into the bucket .
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Fangzheng walked away . “We’ll keep them cool in the water . Let’s go get more . ” Then, Fangzheng bade the woman farewell and quickly ran away .
Monkey shook his head and followed after seeing this .
Red Boy leaned over the bucket and looked at the drenched Squirrel . He said with a look of pity, “Greedy guy, how dare you snatch food before Master? Look at you now . Hehe…”
With that said, Red Boy walked off as well .
Lone Wolf came over .
Squirrel said with an aggrieved look, “I wasn’t trying to eat them . I just wanted to take a look . ”
“Taking a look requires you to reach out with your hands?” asked Lone Wolf .
“I couldn’t help it…”
After leaving the first house, Fangzheng went straight to the house of the village secretary, Tan Juguo . He was advanced in age and seldom moved about unless something major was happening . In general, everything was left to Village Chief Wang Yougui, who ran around to handle all matters . In addition, Tan Juguo was well-respected in the village and had a sense of authority . Therefore, the typical person did not dare visit his home unnecessarily .
However, Fangzheng was an exception . He had always gone to Tan Juguo’s house from a young age . It was not for any reason other than the food his house had which Fangzheng enjoyed!
This situation could be described by the saying “Birds die in pursuit of food” . The gluttonous monk could be said to be unafraid of death when it came to food . He ultimately discovered that other than being shockingly stern when dealing with proper matters, Tan Juguo was quite a nice guy usually . Gradually, he became unafraid of him .
“Fangzheng, what brought you here?” Tan Juguo greeted Fangzheng when he saw him as he sat on his porch while smoking from a huge smoke pipe .
Fangzheng smiled . “Amitabha . Hunger . ”
Fangzheng could not lie, and Tan Juguo knew him very well anyway . How could Tan Juguo not know his thoughts already?
As expected, Tan Juguo rebuked him jokingly . “I knew it . Either you don’t come, or you wipe out the place when you do come . ”
Fangzheng chortled before opening the door to the garden without holding back .
When Tan Juguo saw this, he tapped his pipe and rebuked jokingly . “Those furry guys of yours better watch out . Be careful where you place your feet . Don’t trample my vegetable garden! Fangzheng, there’s something good in the northwestern corner . Search for it yourself, but don’t wander around randomly . ”