Chapter 58: Starlight's Little Trouble

When the postman delivered the mail, Lu Xingchen was in the greenhouse tying stakes for the tomato seedlings. Hearing Erzhuzi shouting "Xingchen, your letter!" at the front gate, he didn't even bother to untie the hemp rope in his hand, running out barefooted while his canvas shoes kicked off and got stained with a layer of mud on the ridge.

The envelope was made of kraft paper, stamped with the red characters of the "Provincial Youth Science and Technology Competition Organizing Committee," and felt stiff to the touch.

Xingchen pinched the edges of the envelope, his fingers trembling slightly, and had to pull three times before sliding the letter out. On the pale blue stationery, the fountain pen characters were neatly printed: "Student Lu Xingchen, following the preliminary review, your project 'Space Tomato Planting Observation' meets the competition requirements. Please report to the Provincial Science and Technology Museum on September 15th with physical samples and complete experimental records..."

"Mom! I can go to the provincial competition!" He turned and ran back home, the letter rustling in his hand, almost knocking over the radix isatidis when passing the drying rack.

Su Yao was steaming buns in the kitchen. Hearing the shout, she came out holding her apron, the tip of her nose dusted white with flour: "Run slower, don't fall!"

Xingchen shoved the letter into Su Yao's hands, his eyes shining like stars at night: "Look, look, the organizing committee wants me to go to the competition! And I have to bring tomato samples!" Su Yao held the letter, reading it word by word, and didn't look up until the third time: "Our Xingchen is truly amazing, going to the provincial level to broaden your horizons."

Yet the excitement didn't last long before Xingchen wilted. He squatted at the entrance of the greenhouse, leafing through the nearly filled experimental record book, his brows knitted into a tight knot. The early germination records were neat and tidy, but by the section on stunted seedlings, the handwriting became messy, and some parts were even stained with tear rings—back then, in his rush to save the seedlings, he had missed recording much of the data, especially the part involving the spiritual spring water, which he didn't dare write down at all.

"What's wrong? Looking so gloomy." Coming back from the army base, Lu Zhanye saw his son staring blankly at the notebook all by himself, placed his military water canteen on the stone table, and asked, "What, you don't want to go to the competition anymore?" Xingchen shook his head, pushing the notebook toward him: "Look at this, the data for the stunted seedlings is incomplete, the judges will definitely dock points."

Lu Zhanye flipped through two pages, pointing to one of them and saying, "Doesn't this record the change in soil pH? And the dosage of sulfur powder is quite detailed." Xingchen pouted: "But the stunted seedlings didn't grow well at the beginning, and the leaf changes weren't fully recorded. Professor Zhang said the experimental records must be clear from start to finish."

At dinner, Xingchen poked listlessly at the corn gruel in his bowl, barely eating anything.

Lu Shihhan held up a white flour bun and sidled over: "Brother, why aren't you eating? Are you afraid of getting lost in the provincial capital? I'll draw you a map." Using a pair of chopsticks dipped in vegetable soup, she drew on the table, the crooked lines resembling a little snake.

Su Yao placed a piece of egg into his bowl: "Are you worried the records aren't complete?" Xingchen nodded, his eye rims turning a bit red: "I'm afraid the judges will think I'm careless and bring shame to our village." Su Yao put down her chopsticks and wiped a grain of rice from the corner of his mouth: "We'll just fill in whatever can be filled. Think about it, from discovering the stunted seedlings to improving the soil, that's part of the experiment itself; how could it be considered careless?"

That night, the lights at the medicine factory stayed on very late. Su Yao spread Xingchen's record book out on the desk, brought out the soil test report given by Professor Zhang, and used a ruler to draw a table. "Look, we can plot the soil pH changes into a curve, and mark the time the sulfur powder was used so the judges will understand at a glance." Holding Xingchen's hand, she taught him to use different colored pencils to highlight key points: "Use a green pen for normal seedlings, and a yellow pen for stunted seedlings, making the comparison clear."

Xingchen leaned over the desk, filling in the omitted leaf lengths bit by bit. When he reached the part about using the spiritual spring water, the tip of his pen paused, and he looked up at Su Yao: "Mom, can I write about this part?" Su Yao thought for a moment: "Just write 'attempted to use special water quality for auxiliary watering.' No need to go into too much detail, just focus on the observed changes."

Lu Yuxuan returned from the stationery factory with his schoolbag on his back. Seeing the two of them busy, he put down his bag and went off to look for materials.

He flipped through a waste paper box, fished out a transparent plastic board, and found several pieces of colored plastic tubing: "I'll make you a sample box, layering the tomatoes, leaves, and soils so it looks professional." He glued the plastic board together, getting glue all over his hands, which gleamed under the moonlight.

"Brother, look at my growth chart." Yuxuan pulled a drawing out of his schoolbag, which used crayons to depict the process of tomatoes from sprouting to fruiting, with dates marked at every step, alongside a little figure crouched in the fields observing—clearly meant to be Xingchen. Xingchen took the drawing and suddenly smiled: "This little figure really looks like me."

Yet past midnight, Xingchen started worrying again. Pinching that pressed, stunted leaf, he still felt it wasn't good enough: "Shouldn the sample be the sturdiest one? This leaf has curled edges." Su Yao arranged several leaves together, some large, some small, some green, some yellow: "Take them all. What the judges want to see is the whole process, not just the best one."

When Lu Zhanye got up in the middle of the night, he saw the main room was still brightly lit. Pushing the door open, he found Xingchen slumped over the desk dozing off, still clutching a pencil in his hand. Treading lightly, he fetched a thin quilt and draped it over his son. Su Yao looked up and smiled at him, the red veins in her eyes clearly visible.

"Don't work too hard, finish it tomorrow." Lu Zhanye pushed the enamel mug on the table toward Su Yao; the tea inside had long since gone cold.

Su Yao shook her head: "Xingchen has something heavy on his mind; he won't be able to sleep until it's done." Flipping to the last page of the record, she suddenly said, "Why don't we also add the data Su Wan helped record? She came over every day afterward to record the condition of the seedlings, even more carefully than Xingchen."

Early the next morning, Xingchen went to find Su Wan. She was organizing radix isatidis in front of the medicine cabinet. Hearing that he wanted to borrow the records, she quickly took a small notebook out of the drawer: "My notes might not be standard, take a look and see if they're any use."

The notebook had been fashioned out of an exercise book, the edges of the pages frayed, but the handwriting inside was neat and orderly, even noting the weather when the tomatoes bloomed.

"Aunt Wan, you kept better notes than I did." Xingchen flipped through the notebook, suddenly feeling his face grow a bit warm—he used to suspect her, yet she had been so earnest when recording data.

Su Wan lowered her head, the tips of her ears turning slightly red: "As long as it helps." Pointing to one of the pages, she said, "It rained briefly that afternoon, and since you didn't record it that day, I filled it in."

Halfway through organizing, Professor Zhang sent someone over with a test report detailing the changes in vitamin content across different growth stages of the tomatoes. "Professor Zhang said these data can help earn you extra credit." The young man delivering the letter was Professor Zhang's assistant and also brought an old camera: "The professor said to take a few photos of the tomatoes and paste them into the report to make it more intuitive."

When taking photos, Xingchen deliberately chose that cluster of earliest-ripening tomatoes and placed those curled-edge leaves nearby. "We want these, they're authentic." Su Yao helped him adjust the angle of the tomatoes, the sunlight streaming through the window and illuminating the bright red fruit so clearly that even the downy fuzz was visible.

Three days before departure, Xingchen gathered all the materials into a thick stack and placed them inside the sample box Yuxuan had made.

The box had three layers: the bottom layer held soil samples, the middle layer contained leaf specimens, and the top layer displayed two tomatoes—one red and one green—secured with transparent tape for fear they would get damaged on the road.

"Would it be too simple?" Xingchen touched the edges of the box, feeling it lacked refinement. Hearing this, Widow Li fetched a piece of red silk cloth from her house: "Wrap the box in this, it'll look festive." Her hands shook slightly, and though the edges of the silk cloth were cut crookedly, the finished package looked rather nice.

Lu Zhanye went to the commune to get an introduction letter and borrowed a military canteen from a comrade for Xingchen to take along: "It's filled with cooled boiled water, drink it if you get thirsty on the way."

Stuffing the canteen into the side pocket of Xingchen's schoolbag, he pulled out five yuan: "Meals in the provincial capital are expensive, don't be stingy with your money."

The night before departure, Xingchen placed the sample box by his pillow, tossing and turning unable to sleep. He climbed out of bed and walked to the window, seeing that the greenhouse light was still on; Mom must still be inside. Stealing over quietly, he indeed found Su Yao watering those few stunted seedlings, her movements as gentle as if she were afraid of waking them.

"Mom, why aren't you asleep yet?" Xingchen stood at the doorway, the moonlight stretching his shadow long. Su Yao straightened up: "Just checking on them a bit more. The samples you're taking were plucked from right here." Pointing to that cluster of former stunted seedlings, which now grew as robustly as the rest and bore three red tomatoes, she said, "Look how hard they tried."

Suddenly, Xingchen stopped worrying so much. Thinking back over the past few months—from the anticipation at sowing time, to the burning anxiety when the stunted seedlings appeared, to everyone bustling together to fix the soil—weren't all these the most precious experimental records? Even if the judges felt it wasn't professional enough, he had done his best.

"Mom, I've figured it out."

Taking Su Yao's hand, Xingchen walked back toward the house: "Even if I don't win a prize, it doesn't matter; what I've learned is worth more than any certificate."

Su Yao smiled and stroked his head. The stars in the night sky twinkled brightly, resembling a scattering of broken diamonds that illuminated the path clearly.

Before falling asleep, Xingchen placed the organized records under his pillow and set the sample box on the bedside table, the red silk cloth casting a soft glow in the moonlight. Closing his eyes, he could already picture the gates of the Provincial Science and Technology Museum and the judges in white lab coats, yet his heart no longer fluttered with panic—he was carrying not just tomato samples, but the hopes of the entire village.

Early the next morning, Lu Zhanye rode his bicycle to send Xingchen off to the county town to catch the bus.

Su Yao tugged Xingchen's schoolbag straps tighter: "Call home when you get there, don't let people worry." Xingchen nodded, holding the sample box as he sat on the backseat. The plastic board felt a bit warm from the sun, yet he held it tightly, as if clutching a precious treasure.

As the bicycle rolled past the village entrance, Xingchen looked back. The canvas of the greenhouse swayed gently in the wind, like it was waving goodbye to him. He suddenly felt that no matter the outcome of the competition, this trip was entirely worthwhile—he was going to let the people in the provincial capital know that the space tomatoes of Lu Family Village grew remarkably well.