Fruit Farmer In A Cultivation World

Thud

The hoe dug into the ground.

As he pulled, a layer of soil was overturned and he raised the tool over his head in a practiced manner.

The blade shone a little under the moonlight before swiftly rushing towards the ground once again.

Thud

Sen Lin repeated his actions.

Over and over again.

It wasn't even a field that would see any crops planted on it. In fact, the place he was tilling was just a few steps away from his front door.

Aside from weed, nothing ever really grew here.

It was a futile action but he didn't care.

At the moment, he wanted to do nothing but distract himself from the loud voices occupying his head.

He finally stopped when his arms and back started hurting from the intensive labor.

It had been a long time since his head had been so noisy. As someone used to loneliness, he believed he'd become a good company for himself.

Or I was just good at looking away from things that bothered me and pretend I was doing well.

Sen Lin mocked himself with a bitter smile and walked back into his hut.

Laying down on his bed, he found himself restless again.

He felt as if he was going mad.

The scenes from earlier kept playing in his head accompanied by aunt Tong's words.

He was confused…

Where had he gone wrong?

Back on Earth, he'd managed to get the loan sharks off his back by working his ass off for over a decade. He juggled several jobs at a time, going so far as to skip meals to put his body to work for longer.

He hadn't been lazy in this life either. So why was it that he was suddenly ridden with so much guilt when he hadn't changed?

Sen Lin kept thinking until he finally reached a conclusion – It's because I've received so much help in this life.

Unlike back on Earth, the villagers here had been nothing but warm to him.

When he first came to the village after wandering the streets of East Ridge City for over two years, he'd been in a terrible state.

Sen Lin, who knew his body's conditions best, knew he wouldn't have made it past the first year. But just as he'd given up on life, the villagers had pulled him out of his swamp of despair.

Aunt Tong bought him warm clothes to keep the cold away while the late uncle Yu often visited with food. The former would check up on his every other day while the latter often introduced him to some odd jobs after he had recovered.

And those two weren't the only ones. There were many other elderlies in the village who'd treated him as if he were their own kin. Many of them had passed away three years back when the village had a poor harvest.

The relief grains from the capital had been too late and many of these elderlies had willingly given up on their share of food so that the youngsters of the village could keep on living.

"We old bones don't have much longer to live anyways. Save the food for yourself," the words of grandpa Ji, a kind old man echoed in his ears. It was what the elder had said to him after handing him a sack of rice and walking away.

The old man hadn't made it through the winter but Sen Lin had been able to survive thanks to the sack of rice.

Hoooh.

Sen Lin breathed out of his mouth.

Thinking of all the sacrifices good hearted people had made for him only made him feel worse.

What had he done to pay them back?

He couldn't think of anything.

Even back when he got constable Wu to take away Lin Zedong, he'd only done so to preserve his life's normalcy.

He could have easily asked the law enforcer to round up the other troublemakers and rid the village of them but he didn't.

Sen Lin had never really thought about it much but now he felt like his actions had really been selfish. He'd heard of the ruckus the thugs had caused in the village from both aunt Tong and Gao Xuan.

But in his mind, they weren't worth bothering with as they didn't involve him.

As his thoughts reached this point, Sen Lin's confusion grew even greater.

Was he thinking this way because he had come across how Yu Yao had been bullied today? If not for today's incident, would he have still thought this way?

He couldn't tell.

He knew he was selfish and indifferent to others. He'd watched children younger than him get abused or starve to death when he used to roam the streets of East Ridge City.

Still, he'd never been bothered by what he saw. He'd been through shitty things more times than he could count.

In his mind, it was natural for there to be unfortunate individuals in this world. And he was just one of them.

Exactly because of that, he couldn't quell the doubts taking shape in his heart.

Do I feel this guilty because I didn't help my benefactors? Or do I feel bad because now I've the luxury to care about others?

The confusion grew once again.

So far, thinking hadn't helped one bit. If anything, they just piled more questions on top of his already troubled mind.

It finally became too much…

He couldn't contain his restlessness anymore.

Sen Lin walked out of the hut and descended the hill for the second time that day.

Soon, he found himself in front of a small house. It was painted in brown and was in a considerably better condition than the shabby house where little Ying and her grandfather lived.

Looking through the window, he could see two thugs talking while warming themselves near the hearth.

After his talk with aunt Tong earlier, he'd done a bit of investigation. These two thugs were the ones who had bullied Yu Yao.

Knock Knock

The door opened and a young teen of around 18 years of age looked up at Sen Lin.

"What business do you have with us?" The thug asked cautiously. He was somewhat unnerved by the visitor's expression that constantly warped between an uncomfortable smile and confusion.

"Nothing much," Sen Lin replied. "I just wanted to see if you could help me understand myself a bit."

Without waiting for the other party to grasp the meaning of his words, he grabbed the man's shirt by the collar threw a punch with all his strength.