The paperwork for the second plot was a simple, handwritten contract. Lin Feng paid Brother Wang another nine hundred yuan, his cash reserves thinning again but his confidence swelling. Four acres stretched before him, a kingdom of weeds and potential.
The next three days were pure, back-breaking labor. The new plot was even more overgrown than the first. He attacked it with a rented scythe in the mornings before his delivery shifts, his muscles burning in protest. The late summer sun beat down relentlessly. He drank from his water bottle—always laced with a few drops from the jade—and felt the fatigue melt away, replaced by a steady, tireless drive. The pendant wasn't just growing plants; it was fueling him.
On the fourth day, as he wrestled a particularly stubborn root cluster, a voice called out.
"Need a hand, or are you planning to fight that weed all day?"
Lin Feng straightened up, wiping sweat from his forehead. A young man, perhaps a year or two younger than him, stood at the edge of the plot. He was lean, with sun-browned skin and calloused hands, wearing worn work pants and a faded t-shirt. He had an open, curious face.
"I'm managing," Lin Feng said cautiously. Strangers near his secret operation made him nervous.
"Looks like hard work for one guy," the young man said, not moving. "I'm Ma Tao. My family has a small plot a mile down the river. I saw you clearing this land. You planting vegetables?"
"Yeah," Lin Feng replied, his guard still up. "Trying to."
Ma Tao nodded, surveying the cleared section. "You've done a good job on the first part. The plants look... really healthy." There was genuine admiration in his voice, not suspicion.
A thought, risky and sudden, struck Lin Feng. He was exhausted. The new plot needed to be cleared, tilled, and planted immediately to keep up his production schedule. He couldn't do it alone and maintain everything else. He needed time for deliveries, for customer management. This Ma Tao looked like he knew his way around a field.
"Are you looking for work?" The question left Lin Feng's mouth before he could overthink it.
Ma Tao's eyebrows shot up. "Work? Here?"
"Temporary. Just to help me get this second plot cleared and planted. A few days of hard labor. Cash payment." Lin Feng kept his tone casual, as if hiring help was a normal thing for him.
Ma Tao scratched his chin, thinking. "My family's plot is mostly idle now. My dad's back is bad. I could use some extra cash. What's the pay?"
They negotiated quickly. Fifty yuan for a half-day, a hundred for a full one. It was fair for farm labor in the area. Lin Feng would provide simple tools.
"Deal," Ma Tao said, spitting on his palm and holding it out. Lin Feng, after a slight hesitation, shook it.
Ma Tao started that afternoon. He was a good worker—strong, focused, and knew how to handle tools efficiently. Lin Feng worked alongside him for a few hours, directing the overall plan. He had decided to dedicate the new plot primarily to longer-term, high-value crops: more tomatoes, cucumbers, a section for eggplants, and a trial patch of melons.
As they worked, Lin Feng kept the crucial task for himself. Every evening, after Ma Tao left, he would perform the "special watering." He bought a second, identical watering can. One was always filled with plain river water and left in the open. The other, he used privately with the jade-infused water. To any observer, he was just a diligent farmer doing extra evening irrigation.
Having Ma Tao there changed the dynamic. Lin Feng couldn't just stare at the miraculous growth in the first plot with wonder; he had to act like it was normal. He found himself offering casual, made-up explanations. "The river silt here is surprisingly rich," he'd say, or "I think the morning mist from the water helps."
Ma Tao just nodded, accepting it. "You got lucky with this spot," he said once. "My family's land is heavier clay. Doesn't drain as well."
Over the next five days, with Ma Tao's help, the second plot was transformed. The weeds were gone, the soil turned, neat rows formed. Lin Feng felt a surge of pride that had nothing to do with the jade. This was visible, honest work, and they had done it together.
On the day they finished planting the last of the melon seeds, Lin Feng paid Ma Tao for the full week. "The hard part's done," Lin Feng said. "But I might need help later with harvesting, if you're available. It's going to get busy."
Ma Tao counted the cash, a satisfied smile on his face. "Just call me. My phone is almost always on." He paused, looking at the now-orderly expanse of two cultivated plots. "You're building something good here, Lin Feng."
After Ma Tao left, Lin Feng walked the boundary of his four acres. The first plot was a lush, productive jungle of green and red. The second was a neat grid of dark soil and tiny green sprouts, waiting for its first secret watering. The green tricycle sat under the tree, ready.
That evening, as he prepared his special watering can, he realized his world had quietly expanded. It wasn't just him and the jade anymore. There was land, a vehicle, customers who relied on him, and now… something like an employee. A connection.
He carefully dripped water onto the new seedlings. "Grow strong," he whispered, a nightly ritual now. The city lights twinkled in the distance, but here, by the river, his own small lights—the green shoots in the dark soil—were just beginning to glow.