Hesha was surprised to discover that after not seeing it for a while, the vegetables in Meili’s garden had all grown robust and flourishing. Melon vines wound around the wooden racks, forming a green canopy; round cabbages like green flower buds were neatly arranged in the vegetable patch; long, emerald-green turnip leaves were planted too densely and squeezed each other…
It looked as beautiful as her own garden.
“When I came to see it some time ago, these vegetables were still growing just so-so. How did you manage this?” Hesha exclaimed.
She had been busy throughout the entire Gorse Month, hardly having the chance to visit her friend. Only after finishing all the matters at home did she hurriedly come to play with her friend.
Meili’s amber eyes showed a hint of guilt, but her tone was calm: “Burned some plant ash to use as fertilizer.”
Hesha believed it easily, even muttering why her own family used to do the same but the results weren’t that good.
After sending Hesha off at dusk, Meili finished dinner and, while the sky was still bright, headed toward the small lake near the forest as she was familiar with the route. Recently the weather was hot, and she would go there to swim; the water there was clean and she could bathe directly.
It wasn’t dark yet, and she wasn’t afraid to go alone.
Besides, the swamp monster had been staying in this area recently.
Sinking into the bottom of the lake, the light above could penetrate directly. Meili held her breath for a while, then flicked her legs lightly and shot out of the water like a fish.
Water still dripped from her lashes as she squinted and saw a blurry figure appear in front of her.
She was so startled she leaned back, then finally saw clearly that it was the swamp monster.
“Which mud pit did you stay in all day today?” Meili greeted him, seeing a small blade of grass growing on his shoulder, blooming a tiny white flower that swayed in the wind.
She wrung out her hair and climbed ashore, then suddenly strode quickly up to the swamp monster, jumped up to pluck that flower, and ran off after turning her head.
She looked back and laughed loudly, “You’re giving this to me!”
───♡───
At night, a sudden downpour came. Meili hurried to close the windows, and as she stood by the window, she saw from afar a slowly moving figure approaching through the rain.
He crossed the open field, then came up the slope, and walked into her yard.
Meili: “???”
She stood by the window looking down, ignoring the rain outside, sticking her head out.
“Why did you suddenly come over?” she whispered.
Thinking of the ghost of Mrs. Pegg next door, she felt a vague guilty conscience. After all, her current body belonged to Mrs. Pegg’s daughter, and now this scene—once separated from the horror movie atmosphere—seemed to change flavor, turning into something like a secret rendezvous.
The swamp monster raised his long arm, just enough to reach the second-floor window. In his hand was a purple iris.
Meili stared at that purple iris, stunned.
The faint fragrance of the iris had already been washed away by the rain, leaving only the scent of water vapor and earth.
Meili took the flower, her hand chilled by the rainwater.
Before she could say anything more, the swamp monster turned and left, as suddenly and silently as he came.
Standing by the window for a while, Meili closed it. Crystal-clear water droplets rolled on the petals of the purple iris in her hand, the whole way here beaten pitifully by the rain.
Meili suddenly realized—this was the first time the swamp monster had taken the initiative to give her a flower, without her provoking him first.
She kept the iris in a vase for a few days, and it was about to wither. When Hesha came to play and saw it, she casually asked, “Did you go to that big pond on the west side?”
Meili: “What?”
Hesha pointed to the purple iris: “Only the big pond on the west side grows this kind of purple iris. They’re blooming right now. Didn’t you pick this one there?”
Meili: “…I picked it up by the roadside.”
Recently, Hesha had free time again and was thinking about taking her little partner everywhere to play. Hearing this, she suggested, “Then let’s go to that big pond later! You can pick a new iris to take home, this one is already withered.”
Meili agreed. Hesha led the way, and she memorized the path. She had already almost memorized all the small paths and little forests nearby.
The big pond on the west side was a place she had never been before. This could be considered exploring a new map. That place was especially far from her home, and the two walked for a long time before arriving.
Before they even reached the place, they could see from afar clusters of green by the pond, mixed with patches of purple flowers.
“There used to be a lot of wild duck eggs here. When I was little, I often came to pick them. But in the last couple of years, there are fewer…” Hesha walked ahead, as talkative as usual.
Just as they were about to reach the patch of iris flowers, Meili suddenly stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Hesha’s waist, and lifted her, lightly sending her two steps away. Hesha staggered to stand firm, confused as she turned back to look at her.
Meili pointed at the grass Hesha almost stepped on and seriously said, “There was a snake just now.”
Hesha: “Ah! Snake! Where!”
Meili: “It already went into the water.”
While talking, she glanced down from the corner of her eye.
There—Hesha couldn’t see it, but she could.
The swamp monster, whom she hadn’t seen for three days, had half his body stuck in the pond, his arm and head drooping over the grass by the roadside. His appearance was truly gloomy and withdrawn.
Hesha almost stepped on his arm just now.
Although Hesha couldn’t touch him at all, and stepping on him wouldn’t matter, by the time she reacted, she had already moved.
This behavior was really too silly.
Hesha went to pick flowers on the side, while Meili stayed where she was, pretending to pick two purple irises. Seeing that Hesha wasn’t paying attention, she quickly squatted down and touched the swamp monster’s head.
He had been washed clean before, but after some time, he had turned back into that damp plaster flowerpot, with moss and small grass growing on him. Perhaps he had been staying here too long this time—thin vines even crawled up his back.
Meili moved his head a little, brushed aside his wet gray hair, and looked at his lifeless gray pupils.
“You lie here like this, people passing by will step on you.”
Not caring whether he reacted or not, she casually pushed his arm that was lying on the roadside back into the pond, and the half of his body pressed on the grass was also shoved down.
“Meili, what are you doing?” Hesha walked over and asked strangely.
Meili instinctively stood up and showed a smile. “I saw a pretty bug in the grass and tried to catch it, but it ran away.”
With a seemingly casual light kick of her foot, the swamp monster’s head that was still resting by the roadside also fell into the pond.
There was less water near the pond’s edge, mostly mud and water plants. As long as it wasn’t a clean lake with not much mud, Meili wasn’t worried that the swamp monster would accidentally be washed clean again.
After dealing with Hesha for a while, she turned back to search—only to find the swamp monster standing by the iris flower patch, his body bent into a U-shape.
Meili: “.…” What was wrong with him, was he in a bad mood?
“Meili, let’s go!”
“Coming.” Meili hugged a bundle of purple irises and chased after Hesha, unconsciously looking back again and again along the way.
“What is it, did you drop something?” Hesha asked.
“No… I just think the big patch of purple irises here is really pretty.” Meili answered.
“I think they’re very pretty too, but it’s a pity this kind of purple iris only grows in the big pond here. They don’t grow anywhere else.”
The purple irises said to grow nowhere else—even before too long passed, Meili saw them in that marshy area near the small lake where she bathed.
In the middle of a small clump of green iris leaves, a few buds had just sprouted, showing pointed tips of purple.
The swamp monster bent down, silently buried beside the newly grown irises.
They had grown in, at least this time he didn’t plant the flowers on himself.
Facing this bizarre scene and twisted body, Meili reached out without any psychological burden and stroked the arched back.
His back was wet, slippery, and cold. When her hand brushed over it, she could clearly feel the protruding bones underneath.
…Wasn’t he made of mud? Where did bones come from?
“You’ve been busy planting flowers recently?” Meili knelt by the shore, forcibly lifting his head buried in the marsh.
The swamp monster seemed like a man who was sleeping soundly and then suddenly called up by his girlfriend to chat—eyes dull, reaction sluggish.
Meili didn’t make things hard for him. After speaking, she pushed his head back into the marshy mud—one could say she was very considerate.
His sudden gift of flowers only happened that once. Gradually, Meili stopped thinking about what consideration had led him to take the initiative to give her an iris, because she realized the swamp monster didn’t seem to consider anything at all.
In autumn, she stocked up some food, and together with Hesha ran around and gathered a lot of dried fruits and mushrooms.
Before winter arrived, she also harvested all the vegetables in her garden. It turned out much better than she had expected at first.
It took her two days to finish tidying everything up. Except for some vegetables that could survive the winter untouched, the rest were all harvested and stored inside. Just potatoes and turnips alone filled four full baskets.
The weather was clear, and with the garden work done, Meili began a thorough cleaning, preparing to clean the whole house.
She cleaned up some dust and cobwebs, then carried basins of water up and down twice, wiping the railings, stairs, and several windows.
While mopping the floor, something flickered in front of her eyes. Meili suddenly saw a small gray-furred animal dart past her feet. Judging from the shape and size, it seemed to be a rat.
“Feicui! There’s a rat in the house!” She grabbed the mop and went to question the house pet cat. But the cat lord, busy sunbathing, glanced at her and ignored her. His cat face clearly wrote: “What does a rat have to do with this lord.”
Meili could only roll up her sleeves, grab a long pole and a broom, and go punish the rat herself. She searched the first floor thoroughly, not even sparing the bottoms of every cabinet and corner.
But the rat seemed to have disappeared into thin air. No matter what, she couldn’t find it.
Although the rat wasn’t found, Meili discovered a basement by accident during her search.
Under the west wall, after moving a small cabinet aside, there was a little door on the floor that could be pulled open outward.
“Knock-knock—” Underneath was hollow, and it seemed quite spacious.
Meili watched for a moment, then grabbed the ring on the door and was about to pull it up.
Suddenly, a voice behind her said, “Don’t move.”
The sudden voice startled her. Her hand loosened, and the door that had just been pulled open a small crack fell back with a bang. She turned around in panic, one foot stepping on the door.
Mrs. Pegg, who had always stayed in the dark room, had for some reason come downstairs, standing there coldly watching her.
Meili pulled the corner of her mouth, “I just thought the basement would be more suitable for storing vegetables. I harvested a lot these past two days…”
Mrs. Pegg repeated, “Don’t touch that door.”
Meili felt a coldness crawl up her ankle. She nodded and said okay, stopped talking, and quickly moved the cabinet she had shifted back to its original place.
Only then did Mrs. Pegg walk back to the second floor.
Looking at her back, Meili suddenly noticed that her red hair had grown much duller during this time, no longer as bright as in the beginning.
