Chapter Thirty: Planting Trees

The next morning, all six rose early. Huang Kang was already busy preparing breakfast. He bustled about the kitchen while Jiang Yun helped out, and the other four sat at the dining table.

“Steamed buns are here!” Jiang Yun announced as she brought them over.

“And steamed dumplings!”

“Fried dough sticks!”

“And rice porridge!” Jiang Yun added, setting the bowls down.

Everyone began to eat.

“What’s this black thing in the porridge?” Ouyang Na asked.

Huang Kang chuckled to himself; clearly, Ouyang Na was clueless about these things.

“It’s century egg,” he replied.

“What’s that?” she pressed.

“Century egg is also called preserved egg.”

“Oh, so that’s what preserved egg is!” Ouyang Na exclaimed in awe.

She took a sip of the porridge. “I have to say, the taste is really unique!”

The others smiled, saying nothing.

Just then, the production team arrived with a task card. Jiang Yun accepted it and read aloud: “The six of you need to plant two hundred saplings. If you don’t finish, no lunch for you.”

“What? Two hundred trees? How long will that take?” Ouyang Na complained.

“Yeah, two hundred trees—that’ll take us until tomorrow,” Guan Tong agreed.

“Let’s get going now,” He Ling called the group to action.

They gathered their tools and set off.

“Director, can we use the electric tricycle parked outside?” Jiang Yun asked.

“You can, but you need to answer one question first,” the camera crew replied.

“What question?”

“If someone has fifty yuan, spends twenty on clothes—thirty left. Fifteen on shoes—fifteen left. Nine on candy—six left. Finally, six on food—zero left. Add up all the money spent: it comes to fifty-one. So, the question is, why does it seem like they spent fifty-one yuan?”

Jiang Yun shook her head with a smile. She had already spotted the logical flaw.

He Ling, Huang Kang, and the others crowded around, counting on their fingers and puzzling over the math.

“Jiang Yun, do you know why?” Huang Kang asked.

Jiang Yun nodded.

“Then tell us! Quickly!” Ouyang Na bounced impatiently.

“First of all, the question itself is flawed,” Jiang Yun explained.

“It’s flawed?” The five exclaimed in unison.

They fell silent, bewildered.

Deciding not to keep them in suspense, Jiang Yun elaborated, “You can’t add up the remaining balances.”

“Oh! Now I get it!” He Ling suddenly saw the light.

Huang Kang understood too.

Only Yue Yun, Guan Tong, and Ouyang Na were still confused.

“Think about it this way,” Jiang Yun continued. “If you spent just one yuan each time and added up the remaining amounts, wouldn’t you get more back than you started with?”

“Oh, now I understand!” The last three finally caught on.

“Director, you’re too much! The question was a trick from the start!”

The director just smiled.

He Ling clapped Jiang Yun on the shoulder. “From now on, you’re our family’s logic expert!”

With the riddle solved, Jiang Yun got the key to the electric tricycle.

She drove the group to their destination—a broad hillside strewn with saplings.

The six hopped out, grabbed their tools, and started planting.

“First, dig a hole, then set in the sapling, then fill the earth and water it!” He Ling explained to Ouyang Na and Guan Tong, the two “hopeless” types when it came to practical tasks.

“Let’s do it this way: the two girls carry the saplings, and the four of us dig and fill,” Jiang Yun suggested.

He Ling considered this. “That works.”

So Jiang Yun and the other three dug holes, while Guan Tong and Ouyang Na carried saplings to the freshly dug spots.

With four digging, the girls couldn’t keep up, and soon they were lagging behind.

Yue Yun, a bit overweight, soon tired. “I’m too heavy for this. Digging is exhausting. Mind if I help carry saplings instead?”

The others nodded.

The saplings weren’t large—one person could handle them easily.

But before long, Yue Yun again complained of exhaustion and sat down to rest.

Jiang Yun frowned but said nothing; it wasn’t his place.

He Ling spoke up instead. “Come on, Yue, if you slow down, we’ll miss lunch!”

Feeling embarrassed, Yue Yun got up and resumed carrying saplings.

Guan Tong and Ouyang Na were sweating but didn’t complain. Seeing that, Yue Yun couldn’t justify slacking off—otherwise, people would say he couldn’t even keep up with the girls.

Everyone threw themselves into the work.

“We’ve only planted eighty saplings so far, and it’s less than an hour till eleven,” someone noted.

They were working fast—since eight o’clock, only two hours had passed, yet eighty saplings were done.

“Let’s push hard for the last stretch! Let’s aim for a hundred by eleven!” He Ling encouraged them.

Jiang Yun, feeling the heat, shed his jacket even though the weather was chilly—he’d almost caught a cold when they first arrived.

Yue Yun, after carrying saplings for a while, switched to digging again, but his efforts were half-hearted.

“You’re digging too shallow,” Jiang Yun remarked to him. “The trees won’t survive that way.”

Jiang Yun’s impression of Yue Yun was worsening—he seemed intent on slacking off, perhaps treating the show as mere performance. Like now, they’d make a show of planting for the cameras, as if a few spadefuls were enough.

Yue Yun kept digging, ignoring Jiang Yun, though he was clearly annoyed.

He did his own thing, digging shallow holes to save effort.

“Yue Yun…” Jiang Yun called again. “Your holes are too shallow…”

“Then you do it!” Yue Yun snapped, tossing aside his spade.

“What’s going on?” He Ling and Huang Kang hurried over, hearing the commotion.

Jiang Yun was speechless; he’d only pointed out a problem—was that so offensive?

“It’s nothing. Yue Yun’s holes were too shallow, so I mentioned it.” Jiang Yun explained.

“In that case, Yue, you’d better just carry saplings,” Huang Kang decided.

Yue Yun stood there for a moment, then, frowning, went back to carrying saplings.

He Ling patted Jiang Yun’s shoulder, telling him not to take it to heart.

Jiang Yun kept digging, growing more annoyed with Yue Yun’s attitude.

By eleven o’clock, they had planted a hundred trees.

“Director, even though we only managed half, we worked hard! Can’t you cut us some slack?”

The director replied, “Since you only completed half the task, lunch today will be vegetarian—no meat dishes.”

“What?” Ouyang Na wailed.

“Vegetarian food is healthy,” Guan Tong said.

“Yes, it’s good for you,” Yue Yun agreed with a laugh, as if he’d forgotten all about his earlier irritation.

But Jiang Yun hadn’t forgotten. He still felt unsettled, frustrated at having been snapped at for no reason. His mood was sour.

“Ouch!”