Chapter 306 Harvest and the Ends of the Earth

Looking at the sky, it was already noon. Liang Liang slung his hoe over his shoulder and went home for lunch.

I pondered the lyrics of this song as I walked.

Because of my intense focus on figuring things out, I almost bumped into a tree a few times.

By the time I got to my doorstep, the lyrics of this song had already reached a certain point.

A sky above

Stepping on a piece of land

The green in the sky is the footsteps of spring.

Warm sunshine brings rain

Wild geese flying north dance in the sky

Sow a grain of millet in spring

Sweat drips onto the soil

Beautiful lotus flowers float on the water.

A gentle breeze blows against my face.

Diligent people hoe the fields at noon

He waved to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Listen to the pulse of the earth like a drum.

See the rice seedlings breaking through the soil in the rain

There is a kind of smile called happiness.

This is a complete paragraph.

Here he removed the line about whether anyone knows the suffering of farmers.

He didn't want to write a sad song; he wanted to use a cheerful rhythm to express the farmers' expectations and joy of a bountiful harvest.

When I got home, my mother had already prepared dinner.

After lunch, Liang Bentang would take a one-hour nap as usual, a habit he had developed over many years.

Liang Liang, however, did not have the habit of taking a nap. He walked back and forth on the foundation where he was recuperating, holding the lyrics and even composing music for them.

Wait a minute! The lyrics and music should be available, so why can't I find them?

The melody seems to be on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't quite grasp it. I guess I'd need to slap myself hard in the face to remember it...

etc!

Did the hard slap remind you of that?

What lyrics contain the phrase "a hard slap"?

Slap him to death?

No! There is no such word.

Slap him to death!

No, not at all!

Does a hard slap remind me of her?

Should I slap him hard and forget him?

It seems like it's almost here, or maybe I've forgotten about that hard slap in the face!

Liang Liang jumped up with a shout. He found it! It was a song with the lyrics "I forgot it with a hard slap"—or rather, a song with that line in the lyrics.

As the saying goes, excessive joy leads to sorrow. Liang Liang was so caught up in his happiness that tragedy struck.

He forgot that he was standing on a foundation 1.2 meters above the ground, which was made of reinforced concrete and less than a foot wide. As soon as he jumped, he veered off the foundation and fell directly to the ground.

Fortunately, the ground was covered with yellow soil excavated during the foundation excavation.

He sat down on the yellow earth and was perfectly fine.

If he jumped straight up and down, he might end up sitting on a concrete beam, and the consequences would be unimaginable. He might even become the first eunuch in China, and then he would never have to harm women again.

Liang Liang felt a chill in his crotch, so he stood up, dusted himself off, and moved his arms and legs around. After realizing he was perfectly fine, he ran like the wind to Xu Mei's house.

Today is Sunday, and Xu Mei has the day off.

However, she wasn't idle. Her family also had more than ten acres of land, and as a fifteen-year-old girl, she couldn't do much farm work.

During holidays, you have to help with chores at home.

When Liang Liang arrived at Xu Mei's house, Xu Mei's father and mother were just walking out the door, carrying hoes and plastic buckets full of seeds.

"Uncle Xu! Auntie! Why are you in such a hurry? Wouldn't it be better to rest for a while at noon?"

"We have to finish planting that plot of land on the west side today. If we rest a little longer at noon, we'll be working until dark."

"There's no need to be in such a hurry. I estimate that my plot of land to the east of the house will be planted in another hour and a half. I'll come and help you plant it then!"

"No need, no need! You're a precious person now, your health is delicate. If you overwork yourself, we can't afford to take care of you," Xu Mei's mother said to Liang Liang with a smile.

"What benefactor? No matter where I go in life, I will always be a farmer, and I will never forget that."

"It's good that you don't forget your roots. We need to get to work in the fields. We can't chat with you anymore."

Where is Xu Mei?

"She's at home. I won't let her go this afternoon; she's exhausted from the morning. You can go in now!"

Liang Liang agreed and went into the courtyard. He called out to Xu Mei, but no one answered, so he went into the house.

Xu Mei was sleeping on her side on the kang (a heated brick bed).

The little girl was probably tired from working in the morning; she fell asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed) without even taking off her work pants.

Liang Liang had come to get his guitar and play his piece, but seeing that the little girl was asleep, he felt bad about disturbing her.

Liang Liang leaned on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked at Xu Mei.

The more I look at her, the prettier she seems.

Her cheeks were as red as apples; if you took a bite...

Huh! Why are his eyelids still moving while he's sleeping? And the corners of his mouth are even turned up.

"Fine! Pretending to be asleep! I'll teach you a lesson."

When they were little, Liang Liang and Xu Mei were used to playing around, but they haven't been playing around as much in recent years since they grew up.

Without thinking much, Liang Liang reached out and tickled Xu Mei.

Xu Mei smiled and twisted her body, and someone's lewd hand touched something it shouldn't have.

Xu Mei's face immediately turned red.

Liang Liang quickly explained, "It wasn't intentional, it just slipped!"

"That won't do! You have to take responsibility if you touch her!"

"What are you saying? Don't slander me. Besides, touches through clothes don't count. I didn't feel anything, so how can it count!"

"You still want it to feel like there's no clothing between you? You still want to feel something!"

Where has this all gotten to? It's like the underworld is being dragged into the realm of the dead, even though there's no Bridge of Helplessness between us.

"I just remembered a new song, so I'm borrowing your guitar for a bit," Liang Liang quickly changed the subject, trying to shift the focus.

Liang Liang gave his guitar to Xu Mei, and he didn't have one left. If he needed one, he would naturally have to get it from Xu Mei.

Being young, Xu Mei was easily fooled. In the blink of an eye, she forgot about being molested earlier and turned to get her guitar.

"An acoustic guitar will do!"

After Xu Mei took out the acoustic guitar, Liang Liang tuned the strings and then began to practice.

While figuring it out, I wrote down the score in a notebook.

Xu Mei was watching Liang Liang write down the score; it was a song with a very cheerful rhythm.

During the notation process, another verse of lyrics suddenly came to Liang Liang's mind.

Liang Liang seized the fleeting moment and wrote down the newly emerged lyrics.

"Brother Liang! What's the name of this song?"

"Tianya... ah, it's not called harvest."

Liang Liang decided to name the piece "Harvest," and the melody was a cover of "Bamboo Song" by the island singer Ren, which was originally sung by the Japanese singer Nakado Yuki.

The song covered by the singer surnamed Ren is called "Tianya" (meaning "the ends of the earth"). It was released in 1999 and was very popular at the time.

Nakado Yuki's original song "Bamboo Song" was released much earlier than "Tianya" (End of the World), in 1995.

The singer surnamed Ren's first line is "Darkness and gloom, an irresistible shooting star."

Liang Liang used the analogy of having one side of sky above his head and one side of earth below his feet to correspond, which is quite neat.

The original song was accompanied by Western instruments, but now that the lyrics are related to farmers, Liang Liang plans to use traditional Chinese instruments as the main accompaniment, supplemented by guitar and keyboard for a more three-dimensional feel.

After figuring out how to write down the piece, Liang Liang turned to Xu Mei and asked, "Do you want to hear it?"

"Of course I want to hear it."

Liang Liang started playing the guitar, but after playing only two bars of the intro, he looked up and saw Gao Xing riding a bicycle to the street corner near Xu Mei's house.