farm(1)

Another peaceful day, well that's what everyone would like to believe. The temperature is just right, but a person was stuck in his room writing down notes for his next songs. 

Deciding it was finally time to get some sunlight he went out of his dark room. 

"Arghhh my eyes!"

The sunlight coming from the outside burned his eyes, he can't remember how long he had been inside his room busy with composing tunes that stuck inside his head.

"Oh you look like a zombie!" Papa Xie exclaimed, seeing his son come out of his room with dark eye bags, messy clothes and hair.

"Can you even go with us to your grandma's place? It looked like you'd just fall. Just leave the field to us people."

Xie Mingze snapped out of his sleepy state, he nearly forgot that today is the day they would visit the farm where his grandmother is to help with the farm, even his aunt and cousins would be there to help. It was a family bonding and tradition, they also planned to make mochi after. The sweet and soft taste was something he always looked forward to after a heavy work.

"No, I want to go with you!"

He hadn't seen his grandma for a long time, he wanted to join them completely forgetting the reason why he left the room was because he has a date with Fen Yichen. As soon as Mingze sprinted back to his room, Fen Yichen entered through the front door. Seeing all of the packages around the house he asked.

"Auntie, where are you going?"

"Did Mingze not tell you? We are going to farm today with the family."

"Ming didn't tell me. Supposedly we are going to have our first date today, but it's fine family is important."

At the mention of the first date Mama Xie frowned. That child, how could he just forget? Feeling a bit sorry for Fen Yichen she extended an invitation to him. 

"Then do you want to join us? It's not a place you would go normally, but the place is refreshing. You can relax under the trees and we could do picnics."

"I want to go."

It's a shame he would need to cancel the reservations he made, but it would be better to join the Xie family.

***

Since it was decided that Fen Yichen would join them, he brought his black pickup so they could put the things on the back. The parent sit on the back so they could sleep and rest, while Fen Yichen would be driving and Xie Mingze would be in charge of the navigation.

"Little Yi are you sure you want to use your car? We could always hire a small truck."

The road to the farm was a bit bumpy, there are no cemented roads and overgrown plants so there's a chance of the car getting scratched up. They knew his vehicle was expensive without being told, if anything happens to it they can't pay, plus the smell of the fermented food might smell in the car.

"No worries, I want to take you there. You guys are more important than some piece of metal."

"Why are you suddenly joining in a family trip?" Xie Mingze asked yawning in the process, the black bags under his eyes was pretty apparent and Fen Yichen felt a bit sorry for him.

"I need to go since a certain someone forgot our date."

Oh shoot. He even got help from Hai Zheyan and Oliver for his outfit, but in the end the date didn't happen because he forget about it. Now he feels a bit guilty. 

"I'm sorry, I'll work twice as hard in the farm and give you my share of mochi."

The precious prize needs to be given up since he made a mistake. The rule was for the men of the family to farm for the next turnover of the crops, the money made would be used for his grandparent's medicine and housing. Since they need to do their filial pity, while the woman of the household would cook for them after the heavy workload.

Finally they loaded the food and things they bought for his grandparents, Xie Mingze checked the backseat and saw a big basket of supplements and ginseng. It would be a lie to say he wasn't surprised. Isn't this a last minute decision? How did he even managed to prepare some gift? 

"Little Ming, help bringing up the jar of wine in the trunk. Don't let Little Yi work by himself, it doesn't mean that just because you're his boyfriend you would make him do all of the work!" His mother scolded him with her hand on her hips.

"Don't worry auntie, Ming looks so tired he needs to rest. You can sit there first, I'll be helping them in your place."

Does he look that haggard? Xie Mingze checked his reflection in the bathroom mirror and saw a zombie reflected. He looked like someone who had been shot three times and awakened as a zombie, even his hair can be a bird's nest and his eye bags were so freaking bad it wouldn't be a surprise if he collapsed.

"I can't believe I let anyone see me like this. I look so pitiful."

"You're still cute." There was another person in the mirror.

"Maybe you should get your eye checked. It's so blurry you would need an eye doctor." Xie Mingze said while rolling his eyes. He grabbed the comb at the bathroom sink and tried to straighten out the birdnest on his head. It hurts, it was so tangled it was hard to straightened out. He gritted his teeth and tried to use force but only his scalp was hurt.

"That's not how it works, you should gently brush it. Give me the comb, I'll fix it for you." 

Fen Yichen gently combed the placed where the hair was tangled until it untangled, he did it multiple times without any pain and before he knew it Mingze's hair was once again back to normal.