Chapter One Hundred and Eight: I Am Not Drunk

At eight in the evening, three tables began to eat at once. More than forty people occupied a broad stretch of open ground on the homestead.

Fortunately, the round tables they had bought were large enough, or they truly would not have been able to withstand so many people.

This meal had come together naturally into three tables. One was for Su Rou, Yang Yi, and the others who were especially close; the remaining people were split into two tables.

They came in every age: children, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged men and women. It should have been a group with a terrible generation gap, yet at that moment there was an inexplicable harmony among them.

They raised their glasses and chatted merrily. Fine food became the medium for their conversation. No one cared whether the person beside them was a steady middle-aged man or an impulsive young one. Their eyes were fixed only on the dishes they loved.

“Sis, we should still limit the number of guests a bit from now on. There are really too many people,” Zhong Di suggested.

He called it a suggestion, but the real reason was that he had left the matter of receiving guests entirely to his older sister and did not interfere at all.

“Mm, all right. There really are a bit too many. It may look livelier, but something essential to the farm stay is missing,” Zhong Hui said thoughtfully.

What leisure was meant to do was to let people feel their whole body and mind relax, to have them unknowingly set down some of their burdens. Yet in a setting like this, there was enjoyment, but no true relaxation. It was tiring.

After that, Zhong Di brought up some of the issues he had thought of that day, things like trash bins and such, which his sister would need to consider carefully and decide how to handle properly.

Besides that, they also discussed giving his sister a raise. After much deliberation, they finally agreed on an increase of one thousand yuan. Somehow, even giving someone a raise had become difficult.

It was not until the sky had gone completely dark that everyone finally finished and left one after another.

“Little brother, I’ll come again next time!” Sun Miaomiao said, her face faintly flushed; she seemed to have had a little to drink.

“Zhong, Zhong Di, my dad, my dad keeps talking about you, saying, saying why haven’t you come to my house yet.”

Su Rou was swaying all over, and Lin Xiao was helping support her from the side.

“She’s drunk, she’s drunk,” Lin Xiao explained awkwardly.

“I’m not drunk. That’s just what my dad said,” Su Rou immediately protested when she heard someone say she was drunk.

After some pushing and shoving, Su Rou was finally helped into the car by Lin Xiao. As for Sun Miaomiao and the others, they were in much better shape than Su Rou.

Mainly because the little brother was too good-looking, and the wine in their hands suddenly did not seem fragrant anymore.

But why did Su Rou have to speak so infuriatingly? What did she mean, her father kept talking about him going to her house?

Meeting the parents? No, no, they were not even at that stage yet. He had to keep a close eye on things.

After half an hour of running back and forth, Zhong Di finally saw everyone off.

“You ladies worked hard today. The overtime pay that should be given will definitely be given. Sorry to have delayed you.”

Zhong Di spoke politely to the women. They had been busy the whole time and never complained; when phone calls came in, they only said a few words before hanging up in a hurry.

With them putting in so much effort, the money due to them had to be paid in full.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Call us next time you need help.”

After seeing off the women, his sister, and his parents, Zhong Di finally let out a breath of relief. He was exhausted.

It was not that he had done so much work, but rather that he instinctively resisted this sort of setting. It was like those introverted people who feel worn out after a period of socializing.

Some people misunderstood introversion and extroversion, thinking that those who were good at socializing were extroverts, and those who were not were introverts.

In truth, whether one was good at socializing had little to do with introversion or extroversion. More accurately, anyone who could not gain energy from socializing counted as introverted, regardless of how good they were at it.

Zhong Di felt that he was an introvert. This whole afternoon had been pure torment. Next time there were many people around, slipping away quickly would be the smartest thing to do.

“Zhong Di, why are you still so listless? Come on, let’s stir-fry a couple of dishes and celebrate.”

After Shao Hong came in and saw Zhong Di collapsed on the bed, he asked in confusion. Then he quickly came up with an idea.

“No, no. I’m worn out. Getting some proper rest is what matters now.”

Shao Hong was so excited because he was clearly an extrovert. He was not especially strong in social situations, but in terms of how he recharged, he was an extrovert. That was fine too.

Having his enthusiasm dampened, Shao Hong stayed excited for a while longer before settling down. It was not until the raccoon dog and the yellow weasel came to fetch the eggs that he got into bed.

Those two had clearly learned to read the room. Seeing so many people, they did not come in; only after everyone had left did they come to ask for eggs.

The next morning, Zhong Di was awakened by a phone call.

"Damn it, who the hell is this, not letting people sleep in the morning?" Zhong Di sat up in frustration and looked at the time.

Eight-thirty? Where was Shao Hong? Off working, of course. So the lazy one was him? No, no, that could not be right.

He had forgotten to mute his phone last night. That was the kind of thing that made a person regretful.

It was an unknown number, and the caller ID showed that it was from around here. Zhong Di slid to answer.

Usually, if a number from another region was not saved in the contacts, it was likely a sales call. The moment one clicked into some website and left information, that information would be packaged and sold off by the site.

It was that straightforward. Zhong Di was also quite annoyed by this sort of thing. The so-called monetization of big data was, in truth, monetizing personal information. To some extent, that was actually illegal, and it left people feeling utterly unsafe.

“Hello, my friend. I’m Zaker. Are you there now?” Zaker’s voice came through the phone.

His pronunciation was not exactly standard, but after staying in the northwest for so long, understanding him was no problem at all. Not to mention this sort of speech; even if there were bits of various ethnic languages mixed in, Zhong Di could still understand it.

“Yes, you can come over.”

Zhong Di replied, remembering the arrangement they had made yesterday. Before leaving, he had left a note and sent the location. Luckily, Zaker had been to school and had made it through junior high, so reading a map and the like was no issue.

After a response from the other end, the call was hung up.

Mmm, roasted flatbread, baked buns, roasted whole lamb—heh heh heh, no, that was wrong. Inviting Zaker over was only for the farm stay’s development, to free Shao Hong from all this. It was absolutely not for satisfying such a petty appetite.

After giving himself this explanation, Zhong Di got out of bed.

His busy sister, his parents pulling weeds and working, Shao Hong filtering fermented soy milk. So the whole family was up and working, and only he had been sleeping late! Zhong Di felt a little ashamed.

Before, when it had only been Shao Hong, he had not felt much. But now...

Thinking of that, Zhong Di went over to help Shao Hong filter the fermented soy milk. After fermentation for a while, a layer of white film would form on the surface.

This was because, after fermenting for some time, the vast number of bacteria had run out of living space and begun to die, eventually forming a bacterial layer on the surface.

For plants, this was good stuff too, rich in amino acids.

While filtering, Zhong Di explained to Shao Hong the things he needed to pay attention to.

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