When I first arrived here, I found a bottle with a short story about bones in bamboo.
It said that the second half of the story was still in the bamboo grove, and you could dig it up if it was destined to be.
Of course, I didn’t go digging around deliberately. After all, didn’t it say that people might dig it up if it was destined to be? I was just more concerned about destiny rather than what the second half said.
Everything in the courtyard was growing slowly. Although I had been mentally prepared when we first set it up, after waiting for several weeks, I probably had my own predictions—I figured it would take more than a year for everything to fully grow.
In order to speed things up, I kept going to the mountains to look for moss. There was even a short period of time when I felt that the moss on the mountains was hiding from me.
The things that grew the slowest were the aquatic plants. I had entrusted my junior schoolmates with the task of seeing if there were any seeds we could plant in the garden, but they hadn’t replied yet.
At long last, the photovoltaic was finally installed and my wallet was empty. Now that I was poor, I focused more on working and spent more time in the restaurant. Our steamed crabs and rice dish had also been added to the menu and quickly became popular online, so business was getting better and better. I didn’t bother listening to the wind, rain, and snow before falling asleep now, so I had fewer dreams. I didn’t participate in the village activities either.
I had learned a lot during this period of time. As it turned out, the ancients had little time to meditate and do their own things during the day since they were so busy ensuring that they would have full stomachs. Between brewing wine, preparing food, washing dishes— washing dishes was like exercise; since I needed to wash all those heavy stone pots, my arms were much thicker now—cleaning, answering questions online, and handling the accounts, I was very busy.
But even so, I had proved that I could run a good business. My experience in Xilaimian had also helped me support Wushanju. Under my wise reform, Wushanju’s furnishings and business operations were also reformed, and great changes had begun to take place.
In the dead of night, I summed up my whole experience here in Rain Village. Starting up a farmhouse, building a house of my own, and creating my own courtyard were actually quite symbolic.
In fact, in ancient times, people faced three problems when they first reached adulthood, which were basically: surviving, finding shelter, and having their own surroundings.
But after I graduated from college, I didn’t actually experience this. I lived the first half of my life like a vagabond, and all that was left were a few friends, a bunch of bad debts, and good karma.
In fact, after doing all these things, I finally had an answer in my heart as to what I was doing with my life.
This answer was something that outsiders didn’t have to know; I was the only one that knew what it was.
Sitting at the door and looking out at the courtyard, I sometimes wondered what would happen during the latter half of my life.
With this kind of question hovering in the back of my mind, day after day passed by until one day, Fatty dug up a new bottle while repairing the greenhouse and cleaning up the bamboo forest.
There was also a note inside this one. We unfolded it and saw the ending of the story:
“Since we are so destined, I will tell you that I hid the gem in the bamboo forest at the back of the mountain.
“It doesn’t really mean anything to me, but before I tell you where I hid it, I want to tell you my story.
“Bamboo is a very magical thing. The parts you see aboveground are tall and straight, but the parts underground are ugly and twisted, just like a deformed snake slithering underground.
“This kind of thing is very similar to humans. My family has lived on the edge of the bamboo forest for generations. When I was born, my bones were weak and hollow, so my family cut bamboo down to make a brace to protect me while I got treatment. At that time, it was like bamboo was growing out of my whole body.
“Later, I really did get much better. During the long-term treatment, I learned a lot of things that others didn’t know.
“For example, there is a kind of insect called bamboo maggot. Sometimes when you pry open a relatively tender piece of bamboo, you’ll see a lot of white bugs densely packed inside. They really freaked me out when I was a child.
“These white bugs are the bamboo bees’ larvae. The bamboo brace on my body always made noise, and when I peeled it off and saw so many insects inside, I was greatly shocked.
“At that time, I always felt that the bamboo maggots would stay on my body and enter my hollow bones.
“Of course, this was pure nonsense. After I finally recovered, the only reminder of this period of my life was a green mark at the base of my thighs.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know how this green mark came to be, but it was the green color of bamboo.
“The doctor said that it was some kind of bruise caused by internal bleeding, but I didn’t think so. My flesh was very thin there, so I believed it was the color of my bones—my bones must have become a bamboo-like green color.”
As this person grew older, they began to have a strong belief that they were going to turn into a bamboo forest.
This was neither an illusion nor a fantasy. It was a strong instinct. This person even felt that they weren’t going to turn into a single piece of bamboo but a whole bamboo forest. This was their final destination.
<Chapter 25><Table of Contents><Chapter 27>
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In penance for bailing yesterday, I have another chapter for you today. Enjoy~~
MereBear's Translation 