Endless Silver Machine

Under Xiaoling's guidance, the two visited the entire village in one morning.

The scenery in Ling's memory has not changed at all. Things that are new to Aika only make Ling feel a little melancholy in his heart.

The problem he just realized has been lingering in Ling's mind. Her footsteps gradually fell behind Aika and Xiaoling.

"This is the sea you once painted, that stone..."

Aika still has some impressions of the scene here, especially the protruding reef in the offshore sea, which also appears in Xiao Ling's paintings.

"Do you still remember that painting..."

When her work was mentioned, Xiaoling looked at the reef with some embarrassment.

"Because the painting is very good, I am very impressed. Do you want to be a painter in the future?"

"I haven't considered that kind of thing yet."

"I just wanted to know if you've ever had such thoughts."

"Maybe that's not bad."

After visiting the village, the three returned to the orchard they passed before.

"Oh? You're back."

The uncle in charge of the orchard harvest happened to come out carrying a slowly loading basket.

"Sorry it took so long."

Although it did not exceed the time agreed with the uncle, Ling still greeted him politely.

"Then let's do twice the work in one time! Of course, I'm talking about boys. Miss eldest and Miss Liang can just help me."

"I'll do it with him."

Ling politely declined the uncle's kindness.

"In this case, I will come too!"

She was the only one receiving preferential treatment, and Xiaoling was restless.

"Miss Liang's words should be fine, but the eldest lady..."

Xiaoling's self-assertion made the uncle scratch his head in embarrassment.

"It doesn't matter. I will tell my parents that I asked for it myself."

"That's not the problem..." The uncle seemed a little embarrassed to say it. After struggling for a few seconds, he finally expressed his difficulty, "The eldest lady has never done farm work. Wouldn't it be a bit too much to do this kind of thing right away? Reluctantly…”

"I've done housework too!"

"Eh?"

Even Ling himself was surprised, let alone the dumbfounded uncle.

"When will Miss..."

"Just yesterday! Right, Brother Aika, Sister Liang?"

Xiao Ling confirmed to Aika and Ling with a confident look.

When organizing the warehouse, Aunt Sophia did most of the work by herself... Aika wanted to say this. But judging from this situation, the uncle would never agree to let Xiaoling participate in the harvest of the orchard unless he answered in the affirmative.

Aika didn't want to leave her here alone.

"Miss Ling really helped a lot when we were tidying up our house."

Although this unprecedented lie may reach Aunt Sophia's ears later, if Xiaoling can express herself here, the lie will become true.

"Um……"

The uncle frowned and worried for a while, then reluctantly agreed to Xiao Ling's request.

People in the village doted on Xiao Ling, maybe because of her age, but also largely because of her status and background.

When the uncle called Xiao Ling "Miss", Ling behind him almost covered his face. When Aika turned around to see Ling's reaction, she glared back hard.

"Get the ladder in the storage room over there. Don't use the one that's too high. It's unnecessary and dangerous." The uncle gestured to the storage shed not far away. "The scissors and baskets are also there. If you still have If you can’t find something else you need, just ask other people.”

There are many villagers working in the orchards, and helping each other is common.

"Well, I understand."

"You are a boy, take responsibility."

The uncle patted Aika on the shoulder, gave him a meaningful look, and then walked away carrying the seemingly heavy basket.

When I pushed open the door of the storage room, I saw that there was no dust flying as expected. On the contrary, it was neatly organized inside. It didn't take much effort for Aika to find the tools she needed.

"Is this the kind of ladder that uncle is talking about?"

"Well, this height is about right."

Ling looked up and down the ladder.

"What a sure statement."

"If I told you that I climbed up directly without a ladder, would you believe it?"

"If it was before coming here, I probably would have believed it."

Aika looked at Xiao Ling who was looking around elsewhere and smiled lightly. I can't imagine the eldest lady climbing up the tree.

"Don't look at me like that in the past. In fact, I am very capable, but I never had a chance."

Ling didn't know for what purpose, and tried her best to defend Aika.

"Okay, okay, I believe you."

"That perfunctory tone again!"

"Anyway, I'll take the ladder with me. You can put the tools you need in the basket and take them with you."

Xiaoling was still looking at the tools piled on the table and didn't notice the bickering between the two. Aika put the dissatisfied Ling aside and called Xiao Ling over.

After carrying tools of all sizes to the tree, saying hello to the adults working around, the work officially began.

Aika set up a ladder under the tree and stood up with the scissors. He had helped with this kind of work many times in his own home and was already familiar with it.

"Ling, help me take over from below."

Just because it was a familiar job, Aika was careless. His original intention was to let Ling play Luo Luo's usual role, but Xiao Ling also reacted to this sentence.

"Do you need my help?"

She came to the bottom of the ladder full of expectations, and Ling also took a step forward, but after seeing Xiao Ling, she immediately took back her steps.

"Ah...yes."

Aika glanced at Ling sheepishly, her expression a little complicated. The look in Aika's eyes showed more disappointment than blame.

"If you're cool, come up too."

"Eh?"

Aika's unexpected suggestion made Ling's expression change.

"It's easier to cut on the branches, and two people are more efficient. I'll leave it to Ling next."

"Well, leave it to me."

Being given things that only she could do made Xiaoling more motivated.

Aika blinked at Ling, then stepped on the thick branches and got into the canopy of the tree.

"Sister Liang, be careful."

"um. Thank you."

In fact, he was lying to Aika just now when he told him that he had climbed a tree. He was able to estimate the height of the ladder just because he knew the approximate height of the fruit trees in the orchard.

She didn't expect that lie to help her at this embarrassing moment. Ling didn't know if she should feel lucky.

"It should be...no problem."

She grabbed the handrail of the stairs and climbed up. The ladder was held very firmly by Aika and did not feel shaky.

Ling patted her trembling thighs, then carefully stretched out her feet and stepped on the swaying branches.

"babble……"

That sense of security disappeared without a trace in an instant, and Ling's voice accidentally leaked out.

Aika got into the other side of the tree canopy and naturally didn't notice Ling's nervousness.

She clung to the intricate branches, bending down to search for ripe fruits.

Tie the cut fruit with a string. Xiaoling will pull the string after untying the fruit. It's such a simple process.

The ripe fruits on Aika's side have basically been harvested. He is now returning along the original path, and then he sees Ling, who has moved a little bit, and has not even completed one-third of the work.

"Do you need help?"

"don't want."

"At times like this, you are still exactly the same as you were in the past."

"Please don't make this comparison in front of me, okay?"

Ling replied stubbornly while continuing the work at hand.

"Then I'll go down first. If you have any trouble, just call me."

"There won't be any trouble."

"That's best."

Aika held the trunk and walked slowly past Ling.

In order to make room for Aika in this small space, Ling moved slightly to the side.

The consequence of not concentrating enough was the moment when her right foot stepped on the air.

"ah!"

If you fall from here, you won't be seriously injured. At most, your ankle will be twisted. However, at the moment of falling, fear will fill my heart, and I will not even notice such a thing.

"Don't move."

But the body did not fall. Aika grabbed the branch extending from her head with one hand, and the other hand went around Ling's back and firmly grasped her waist.

He was very lucky to be able to rescue Ling in time. In order to prevent the two of them from falling together, Aika did not bother to control the strength of his hands.

There was a dull pain in the tightly held waist, but it was precisely because of this pain that the fear in Ling's heart was dispelled.

"Are you okay? There was a lot of movement just now."

After returning to the ground safely, Xiaoling ran over immediately.

"Judging from the results, there is no problem..."

This is what Aika explained to her.

In the following work, Ling gradually mastered the skills, and that kind of accident never happened again.

At noon, Aunt Sophia brought a lunch box. After lunch, their work continued.

As the sky began to darken, the villagers began to call it a day. Thanks to the participation of the three young people, the remaining work will be completed tomorrow morning. In order to celebrate, Aika was dragged by the uncles in the village to drink a few sips of wine, and then was dragged back home by Ling.

Even in her dreams, Aika still recalls such a fulfilling day.

…………