The world's top. In the farmland of East District 13. Nini, wearing a cotton mask, toiled among the rows of ryegrass.
Just as Nini straightened up and wiped the sweat from her face with a towel, she saw her good friend Shanshan standing in front of her.
She threw the shovel in her hand, rushed over excitedly, and hugged her. "Shanshan!! Why did you come down!! I'm so happy! I was still thinking about you yesterday!!"
"I missed you, too, so I came down. I also brought you a gift, a banana."
Only then did Nini notice the large bunch of things lying next to Shanshan. The green tree trunk, which was taller than her, was hung with long strings of yellow and green strips.
"What is this?" She squatted down and pinched it curiously with her hands.
"banana."
"Shanshan, bananas are supposed to be black and soft. This is not a banana. You've been deceived."
"What is a lie?"
"Lying means telling a lie. For example, I am a man, but I am not a man, so I lied to you."
Shining's eyes blinked. "Why would he lie to me?"
"Did he charge you for this? Mom said there are scammers who sell fake things to cheat people out of money. If you find out you've been cheated and go find them, they'll have already taken a boat to another island. There are a lot of these scammers."
Shanshan looked down at the thing lying on the side, "Is this thing really not a banana?"
"Really not. Are you hungry? I'll treat you to some pan-fried mushroom slices. They're fried in fish oil and are so delicious. This is the lunch my mother gave me."
As she spoke, Nini took out a small tin box wrapped in a bag from the side and handed it to Shanshan.
"Just sit over there and rest for a while. I'll play with you when I'm done."
Nini squatted down again and picked up the small shovel to clean the weeds and mushrooms in the soil.
Shanshan half squatted down holding the small box and asked curiously: "Why do you want to throw these away?"
"Because they will steal the nutrients from the ryegrass. Only when they are all cleared away can the ryegrass grow big. Then my mother can sell the ryegrass for money, and then I can go back to live a good life."
"Oh. Then I'll help you."
"Okay, then go over there and we'll compete."
The two worked in the field, chatting casually, but after just three minutes, Nini saw a pair of white hands reaching out and pulling out the weeds she was about to remove. She looked up and found it was Shanshan. "I'm done."
Nini stood up, looked around, and said in surprise: "Wow! Shanshan, you are really good at work. You actually finished it all!"
"Can we go play now?" asked Winky.
"Okay! Let's go talk to mom." Nini pulled Shanshan and ran towards Donna in the distance.
When Donna saw the green-eyed child walking towards her without wearing anything, she became very nervous.
She quickly wrapped the towel she used to wipe her sweat around Shining's mouth and nose. It was a bit dirty, but it was better than having mushrooms growing in the lungs.
"Shanshan, don't your parents care about you? Why did they let you come down here alone?"
"My mother agreed to let me come down." Shanshan replied calmly.
"How can you agree to this? This is too dangerous. What about your father?"
"My dad is on the boat."
As soon as these words came out, Donna understood instantly that Shanshan's father was also a sailor like her deceased husband, and judging from the fact that she was able to stay on the Crown of the World, he held a high position on the ship.
But when it comes to sailing, no matter how much money you make, you can lose it all if you’re not careful.
Because of this relationship, she instantly felt much closer to the child.
Shanshan shook his head. "He doesn't drive the boat, the fish drive the boat, and my dad is responsible for walking around the boat."
"You're lying. A merman can't drive a boat."
"Why would I lie to you?"
Donna, with slightly red eyes, reached out to stop Nini. She took out a few coins from her arms, thought for a while, and took out a few more and stuffed them into her daughter's arms.
"Don't say anything. Take Shanshan out to play. Have fun. She will stay at our house tonight. I will send her back upstairs tomorrow."
"Wow! Mom gave me so much pocket money. Mom is so nice! Let's go, we can buy some delicious food."
Nini pulled Shanshan towards the farmers' gathering point in the distance. The village was deserted and most people went to work in the fields.
She pulled Shanshan excitedly to the store which was filled with all kinds of miscellaneous items.
"Sister Vanessa, I want this, this, and this!"
Nini bought all the snacks she wanted and shared them enthusiastically with her good friends.
"Try this. It tastes sour when you put it in your mouth. And this one is spicy at first, but gradually becomes sweet."
Most of the snacks are low-quality hard candies, but for Nini, these are good things that she can't usually eat.
Shanshan put the candy into her mouth and kept chewing it with no expression on her face.
"How is it? Is it delicious? Is it very delicious?" Nini asked excitedly, holding her hand.
"I didn't feel anything." Shanshan said truthfully.
"That's impossible. Sister Vanessa's candy is the best. Open your mouth."
Nini reached her hand into Shanshan's mouth, put the half-melted candy into her own mouth, sucked it, and then put it back.
"It's sweet and delicious, can't you taste it, Shanshan?"
Shanshan looked at Nini's drooping eyebrows and asked, "Are you unhappy?"
"I'm not unhappy. Maybe you don't like candy. Come on, I'll take you to try something good. You'll definitely like it."
Nini pulled Shanshan and rushed towards the alley on the left. Soon they arrived at their destination. There was a pile of mushrooms of various colors growing in the corner of the wall. The Crown of the World had everything. There were as many mushrooms as one wanted.
After selecting for a while, Nini confidently picked two mushrooms, whose umbrella skirts were dripping with black water.
She pulled Shanshan to sit on a basin-sized mushroom and introduced the mushroom in her hand: "This is a black water mushroom. If you smell it gently, you will soon see the little man dancing in front of you. It's fun."
"Don't tell mom, this is what other kids in the village taught me, and mom doesn't allow me to learn it."
As she spoke, Nini put the mushroom in front of her nose and inhaled it, then passed it to Shanshan, who did as she was told.
Less than a minute later, Nini's eyes were slightly confused. "Did you see that? Look, those little people are coming. There are blue, red and purple ones. Their dance is so beautiful."
Shanshan looked at the empty streets and recalled the depressed look in Nini's eyes when she was eating candy just now.
Then Shanshan nodded vigorously. "Yes, I saw it. The little people came out one by one. It was really beautiful."
Nini took Shanshan's hand and giggled. Seeing the other person laughing, Shanshan also laughed.
Two little girls sat on the mushrooms and started pointing at the empty street.
41-1=40
(End of this chapter)