Chapter 59: The Beekeeper

The artist's words brought the atmosphere down to a freezing point. But the director was still undeterred and said forcefully, "You didn't just dream that there was a cemetery, what if there is no cemetery in this village at all, are we not scaring ourselves away, come two people, come with me to the village head to have a look"

Under the director's stern gaze, two members of the crew came forward, although they were somewhat reluctant.

"No one leaves until we get back," said the director, "and I'll hold anyone who leaves responsible for breaking the contract."

Jiang Buhuan was about to say something when he saw that the director had already turned around and gone out the door.

"This village is so evil." Wu Ya stood beside Jiang Buhuan, whispering. Wu Ya stood beside Jiang Buhuan, whispering, "Why on earth did you choose this place for your show?"

Jiang Buhuan said: "I don't know." To be honest, the director was supposed to be a very reliable person, but for some reason when he arrived in the village he was in a strange state, like a different person.

The directors crossed the village path and soon reached the end of the village, the place described by the artist. But the further they went, the more apprehensive they became, because the surroundings were exactly as the artist had described them, and they even saw the mill that had been placed at the entrance to the village.

"Director Yan, do we still have to go over there," said one of the men following the director, already a little weak, in a trembling voice, "it feels like something is really wrong with this village."

The director didn't say anything and continued on his way with a sullen face. After leaving the village, there was only a path outside and there was no need to worry about getting lost, but the surroundings were getting more and more desolate and the feeling of foreboding was getting heavier and heavier.

Finally, once they had passed through a sparse grove of trees, a desolate cemetery came into view, with graves densely packed on top of tiny hillsides, some with offerings and incense and candles in front of them, exactly as the artist had described the picture.

The two men who came with the director froze in their tracks, not daring to move forward at all. The director, seeing this sight, was not even afraid, but instead cursed out, saying that the group of artists were simply cowards, that they were scared away by their dreams after only one night.

The two men behind him looked at each other, both seeing a look of horror in each other's eyes. The director's state seemed very wrong; the director was actually very good-tempered and hardly ever cursed on a regular basis, and the contrast with the man in front of him who kept spouting expletives was inexplicably creepy.

A slightly less courageous one couldn't take it anymore and said, " Director Yan, let's go back."

Director Yan looked at him coldly: "Go back"

The man shuddered, "Yes, isn't this a cemetery, that means what Hong said is true something is really wrong with this village."

Director Yan gave an odd smile, "Where do you want to go back to?"

The man was stunned by Director Yan's smile and didn't say anything for half a day. Director Yan collected his smile and his tone returned to its usual pitch: "Let's go."

"Where to, where to," the man asked carefully.

"Back where you live, of course, or where else would you want to go," says Director Yan.

Although they found Director Yan's reaction a little strange, the two didn't think much of it. They just wanted to get out of this strange village, the oddities emanating from it made them feel very uncomfortable, and although they didn't encounter anything for the moment, they didn't want to stay here any longer.

The three men left the cemetery and hurried back to the Willow House.

Lu Qingjiu came out of the house just in time to see the three of them hurrying forward, completely lacking the calmness of yesterday.

"What's wrong with them," Lu Qingjiu wondered, "it can't be that they really met something strange last night."

Bai Yuehu was next to Lu Qingjiu, a hoe in his hand, and he grunted, obviously still very upset with the group, which was the only group of humans who knew nothing about his food, if it had been a group of non-humans, they would have been on the plate last night.

Lu Qingjiu looked at Bai Yuehu's expression and couldn't help but smile, "I already said hello to them yesterday, they shouldn't touch your food again."

Bai Yuehu said, "They dare."

Lu Qingjiu followed Bai Yuehu to the field today because he was afraid that the group of people would disobey his advice and touch Bai Yuehu's vegetables again.

Bai Yuehu's tomatoes are already bearing fruit while the field next door is still green.

Lu Qingjiu at first thought he was looking for something, but on closer inspection he found Bai Yuehu's mouth was whispering and he was actually counting the number of tomatoes in his field.

Lu Qingjiu was dumbfounded. Yesterday he had wondered how those few people could be found out so easily, and how many vegetables they had not picked, but he had not expected Bai Yuehu to remember the quantity of all the vegetables in his vegetable patch.

Lu Qingjiu couldn't resist teasing him: "How many tomatoes are there in total?"

Bai Yuehu: "Are you asking about the cooked ones or all the ones that grow out"

Lu Qingjiu said, "It's cooked."

Bai Yuehu: "Two hundred and forty-two pills." After he finished, he added unhappily, "There were two hundred and fifty-four yesterday." As a result, twelve were picked by that group, huh?

Lu Qingjiu looked at Bai Yuehu's face and finally couldn't hold back his smile, he really found this petty Bai Yuehu cute, so cute that he wanted to touch Bai Yuehu's fluffy white ears again.

Bai Yuehu was puzzled by Lu Qingjiu's laugh, and he frowned slightly, "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at your cuteness." Lu Qingjiu said.

"Bai Yuehu doesn't understand Lu Qingjiu's mood.

"It's the first time I've seen a vegetable planting where you have to keep track of the quantity." Lu Qingjiu laughed, "It's really cute."

Bai Yuehu said, "All of us in the clan have to remember." He says it with a straight face, "or what if someone steals it"

Lu Qingjiu: "Hahahahahahaha."

Lu Qingjiu was relieved that the group didn't touch Bai Yuehu's food today, but he didn't know if the crew would listen to him, as he would have had to find a way to help Bai Yuehu if he had really pissed him off.

"Lu Qingjiu, who hadn't come to the family plot for a long time and was usually the only one who tended to the vegetable patch, rolled up his sleeves and was about to help Bai Yuehu with something when he saw Bai Yuehu waving his hand at him and saying. "You go back."

"Ah." Lu Qingjiu froze for a moment.

"Go and make lunch." Bai Yuehu said, "There's nothing for you to do in the field." With that he naturally picked up his hoe and prepared to go down to the field.

It must be said that Bai Yuehu, with his overly pretty face but carrying a hoe, is full of contradictions, but instead of being annoying, it brings a brighter smile to Lu Qingjiu's face.

Back in the courtyard, Yin Xun looked at Lu Qingjiu suspiciously and said, "Why are you wearing such a kind smile, like an elderly father who has watched his son go to university?

Lu Qingjiu looked at Yin Xun and said, "Do you think you can get into university?"

Yin Xun: "I don't think so."

Lu Qingjiu: "Alas, if you had gotten into university, my smile might have been a little brighter."

Yin Xun: ""He always felt that something was not quite right.

Lu Qingjiu had expected the programme team to take at least a few days to leave the area, but he had not expected them to be so efficient, and in the afternoon he heard the sound of a car starting. He went out to see that they were already packed and ready to go.

The star I saw earlier was standing next to him wearing sunglasses, his expression was bad as he was talking to someone on the phone, he seemed to notice Lu Qingjiu, his expression slightly frozen before he hung up the phone and came in Lu Qingjiu's direction.

He walked up to Lu Qingjiu's door and took off his sunglasses, revealing a pair of tired eyes, "Hello."

"Hello." Lu Qingjiu felt that since they had listened, they were saved, so his attitude was a little better than before.

"We'll be leaving soon." Jiang Buhuan said, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you earlier."

"It's fine." Lu Qingjiu said, "In the future, it's better to prepare in advance for such shows, or at least to say hello to the people in the village."

"Well." Jiang Buhuan said, "It was indeed an accident this time, but can I ask why you cared about us?" Almost everyone in the village looked at them and walked around, and even if they asked them face to face, they received cold and wary looks. But they were unkind enough to pick vegetables from their fields. When I think about it, Jiang Buhuan feels that he has gone too far.

"Oh, maybe because I'm back from outside too." Lu Qingjiu said, "This village is very xenophobic, it's better if you want to do the show somewhere else."

"Yeah, why would you pick a place like that." Jiang Buhuan turned his head to look at the director and muttered, "It's really weird now, and all of us had nightmares last night."

"Nightmares," Lu Qingjiu said, "about what?"

Jiang Buhuan was about to reply when his agent came over and told him that the team would be leaving soon. Seeing this Jiang Buhuan had to show his regret and said, "If you can, let's exchange a WeChat, I'll talk to you in detail on WeChat."

Lu Qingjiu readily agreed, and was curious as to what Jiang Buhuan had dreamt.

With the equipment loaded, the convoy slowly drove out of Shuifu Village when Lu Qingjiu saw Jiang Buhuan send a message describing his dream last night.

Lu Qingjiu looked at Jiang Buhuan's description, but he remembered his own dream. In the dream he had captured with his dreamcatcher, he had also heard the sound of loud water and the roar of a wild animal, could there be a connection between the two dreams?

Lu Qingjiu looked at the time, it was almost twelve o'clock and his lunch was not yet ready, so he did not want to starve Yin Xun and Bai Yuehu at home.

Jiang Buhuan gets into the nanny car, in which the director and the other artists are also present. I don't know if it was the horrible dream last night, but Jiang Buhuan's mind has been a little unsettled and he has a bad feeling about it.

"What's wrong with you, A-hwan." Wu Ya sits next to Jiang Buhuan, his voice soft with enquiry, "Why do you keep frowning?"

"Not feeling very well." Jiang Buhuan pinches his brow.

Wu Ya said, "Oh then do you want to sleep a bit more?"

Jiang Buhuan said, "No." Although he felt tired, he did not want to sleep.

Wu Ya said, "I'll take a nap then, I'm so tired." She yawned and closed her eyes against the seat and fell asleep.

The car was filled with this drowsy atmosphere and before we knew it, all the people around Jiang Buhuan who were awake were sleeping, as if they were all exhausted.

Jiang Buhuan was also a little sleepy and he yawned, feeling his eyelids getting heavy. But just as he was about to fall asleep, the Buddha statue that had been hanging on his chest since shortly after his birth suddenly emitted a searing heat that scalded Jiang Buhuan and he opened his eyes with a jolt, stunned by the scene before him. The driver, who had been driving, had fallen over the steering wheel, and the car was about to run off the narrow mountain road out of control.

Jiang Buhuan was in a cold sweat and with the quickest of reflexes he lunged at the driver, grabbed the steering wheel and swerved the car hard. Fortunately, the car was not going too fast at this point and the front of the car hit the cliff and came to a stop with a thud.

Jiang Buhuan saw this and hurriedly looked behind him at the equipment truck that was following them. The crew on the truck did not seem to be affected and when they saw this they hurriedly slammed on the brakes and did not crash straight over.

Jiang Buhuan's body was shaking. If he had woken up a few seconds later, the whole bus would have been killed here. Jiang Buhuan was so thankful when he felt a gaze on him, he turned his head and saw the director sitting by the window, staring at him with a resentful look. The next thing he knows, the director is asking what is going on in a worried tone.

The staff on the other cars were also stunned by the operation of this car and all gathered around to see what was going on in the car.

The people who had fallen asleep in the car all woke up one after another, obviously unaware of what was happening and with blank looks on their faces. The driver's whole face was white with fear after he realised he had fallen asleep, and he staggered out of the driver's seat.

"The whole car was asleep." Jiang Buhuan says, "Luckily I was awake and twisted the steering wheel."

"How could they have fallen asleep?" The others were incredulous, it was normal for one person to fall asleep, but how could a car full of people fall asleep?

"I don't know." Wu Ya was full of confusion, "I just feel so sleepy."

"There must be something wrong with that village." Another artist made a fearful sound, "Let's hurry up and leave, we almost died here, this village is too evil, I don't want to come here again."

The crowd made a lot of noise and hurried off again, only this time, everyone lifted their spirits a hundredfold and stared at the driver at the wheel, not daring to wander off again.

Jiang Buhuan, who hadn't said much since, felt some pain in his chest and reached out to touch it, only to find that he had been burned in the centre of his chest with red marks that looked exactly like the Buddha statue he had hung over his heart. If it hadn't been for the statue, they would have lost all the people in the car today!

The rest of the journey was uneventful and the team managed to leave Shuifu Village without any further incident.

Lu Qingjiu was surprised to learn about Jiang Buhuan's encounter on WeChat and told Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun about it over lunch.

Bai Yuehu had a bad impression of these people, and not taking action to kill them was already the greatest mercy, and when he heard the news of their accident he didn't even give them a look, obviously very uninterested.

It was Yin Xun who wondered, "It's strange, there have been outsiders in Shuifu Village before, and although they weren't welcome, at least they weren't in danger of dying."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Yes, too."

"But I did notice one thing," Yin Xun says. Yin Xun says, "Most of the people who come to Shuifu Village are invited."

Lu Qingjiu said, "How so?"

Yin Xun said, "You don't have to say it, you were originally brought up here and are considered from here, take Zhu Miaomiao for example, she is also from outside the country but it was at your invitation that she came over." He took a bite of the tenderly fried lettuce, "So maybe it's because of that that she didn't react much"

"But according to you, the programme team was also invited

Please." Lu Qingjiu found this statement somewhat flawed, "Remember the Liu family who gave them the keys to the old house"

Yin Xun said, "Hey, that's right."

Lu Qingjiu says: "Unless"

Yin Xun: "Unless what"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Unless the people who invited them here are not from the Liu family at all."

Yin Xun froze and said, "What do you mean?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I'm just guessing, it's not much fun, I'll make some silver ear soup tonight.

Yin Xun said, "I don't know, but I've heard that they make their own artificial hives and trick the bees into coming in to build a nest, and when there are queens inside, they move into the hives."

Lu Qingjiu was about to say that he should study the tutorials on the internet before doing anything, when Bai Yuehu, who was sitting next to him, said, "I'll catch the bees, you just prepare the hives."

"OK." Lu Qingjiu didn't argue with him either, and agreed readily.

After the spring, Lu Qingjiu rebuilt the chicken and cow pens. The cows that Bai Yuehu brought back last year had been hibernating all winter and had not received any milk.

Yin Xun ran as fast as she could, taking the cucumber she had just picked and feeding it to Cow, excited that she had never had cucumber-flavoured milk before.

Lu Qingjiu looked at his back for a moment, not knowing what to say, but the Cow's characteristics were like a pair of wings for Yin Xun's imagination, literally taking him up into the sky and flying.

So that evening they had a very subtle taste of cucumber-flavoured milk. Lu Qingjiu liked it, but Bai Yuehu disliked it so much that he put it aside after one taste.

Once Jiang Buhuan and his family had left, the village was quiet again and Uncle Li's family next door gave Lu Qingjiu a loquat from their tree.

The loquats in the countryside are small and have little flesh, but they are particularly sweet and have a very strong flavour, unlike the large but bland loquats sold in the market. Lu Qingjiu was eating the loquat when the owner of the seed shop called to say that the seedlings Lu Qingjiu had ordered had arrived, including oranges, apples and loquats, and asked Lu Qingjiu what he wanted.

Lu Qingjiu has also picked out a few plants to plant in both the back and front yards. If they grow at the normal rate, it should take a few years before the fruit is ready to eat, but with Bai Yuehu, a big producer of ripening, it works much better than fertiliser and we may be able to eat our own fruit this autumn.

Yin Xun quietly nicknamed Bai Yuehu White Fertilizer, but of course he didn't dare to do so in front of Bai Yuehu and told Lu Qingjiu about it in private.

Lu Qingjiu laughed after hearing this, saying that Yin Xun must not let Bai Yuehu know about it, or else Yin Xun himself would most likely be turned into fertilizer.

Yin Xun nodded his head as if he was still very much alive.

Bai Yuehu was always very active, he said he would catch bees for Lu Qingjiu, and after only three days he had caught them. Lu Qingjiu hadn't even finished his beehive when he saw Bai Yuehu coming back with a plastic bag, and when he got home, he put the bag on the table and said, "I've caught the bees.

Lu Qingjiu was stunned: "Where is it?"

"Here." Bai Yuehu points to the plastic bag.

Lu Qingjiu :""

Yin Xun :""

The two of them had never kept bees, but they knew that this was obviously not something that could be caught in a plastic bag

Bai Yuehu picked up the bag and ripped it open, showing it to Lu Qingjiu. Lu Qingjiu was startled by his action, but when he saw that no bees had flown out of the pocket, he went over and took a look. He saw four or five bees in the pocket, but the bees didn't look right, even if they were about the size of a bird, their upper body looked like a bird's, and they even had bird feathers on their wings.

Bai Yuehu: "Yeah."

Lu Qingjiu: "Bees still have feathers"

Bai Yuehu: "Maybe it's just too cold."

Lu Qingjiu: "Why is that head so big?"

Bai Yuehu: "Because I eat a lot"

Lu Qingjiu: ""You're fooling the fools.

What made Lu Qingjiu laugh and cry was when the bees looked up at them after hearing their conversation, their eyes revealing a look of pity, as if they were being bullied.

Lu Qingjiu was about to say something else when the bees actually spoke human in a whisper, one of them said in a trembling voice, "Brother, don't doubt it, I'm really a bee, buzzing buzzing buzzing."

Lu Qingjiu: ""God damn buzzing, which bee is buzzing with its mouth No, the point is not that, it is which bee can speak human ah also speaks Mandarin This is a high-quality bee after nine years of compulsory education

Several others buzzed in tandem, wanting to put "I am a bee" on their heads.

Bai Yuehu was pleased to see a few shivering 'bees' forced to claim their identity: "See, I told you they were bees."

Lu Qingjiu decided to give up on the details and said, "All right."

Bees are bees, let's just get by, what else can we do?

The author has something to say: Bai Yuehu: I am a fox.

Lu Qingjiu: Well, well, well.

Bai Yuehu: They are bees.

Lu Qingjiu: OK, OK, OK.

Bai Yuehu points to Yin Xun: This is the ingredient.

Yin Xun: Meow Meow Meow