Where Stars Never Meet

The Farm

The very next day, the group deserted Adrein's home at seven in the morning in a car, headed to the farm, which will take 30 minutes ride. The farm had a small resthouse, in which they will be staying. It was surrounded by fruit bearing trees, like mangoes of different variants, coconut trees, lanzones, rambutan, avocado and passion fruit. There was also a tempting rows of pineapple spanning at the distance. As they passed through the mouthwatering field, they saw at least 10 cows enjoying the taste of grass in between the coconut trees. They passed on several people working on the field who smiled at them, waving at Adrein. Adrein showed his respect by waving back and greeting them. They all looked like they adored Adrein so much, seeing how happy they were to see Adrein back. There was a lake in the middle of the farm and the house was uphill, that when you stand at the terrace you can have full view of the entire farm. The breeze was refreshing and the view was astonishing!

As soon as they got off the car, Jia stood in front of the house and admired the view served right before her eyes. She inhaled deeply, filling her stomach with the kind of air she experienced for the first time. The wind was softly blowing her straight hair turning it into a mess, but she couldn't care less! She lifted her hands up in the air and closed her eyes. Adrein, who was standing next to the car's door was delighted to see that she liked the place.

"Hey!" Michael tapped Adrein's shoulder, "you have a week to spend with her, so help us first with this." He said pointing at the things they packed for the vacation.

They unloaded the car, and entered the house. The resthouse was big enough to accomodate guests. There were 4 rooms upstairs and one room downstairs for the caretaker of the house. When their things were settled, Adrein took them on a tour at the farm. They first visited the area for livestock. Everyone was kind and showed them how they were doing things in their provincial way, in which, they specifically addressed to Jia, being a foreign in their community.

Adrein catched a chicken and held it in his hands carefully, looking like he was used to it.

"Woah!" Jia surprisingly said.

"Wanna hold it?" Adrein asked her.

"Don't they bite?"

Everyone, including the workers, chuckled at Jia.

"They don't. Just be gentle to them." Adrein said. "Come on, give me your hands."

Jia held out her shaking hands. Adrein looked at her and couldn't help but grin.

"Jia, relax. I got you." Adrein told her.

"Okay."

Adrein carefully hand the chicken over to Jia. It cuckled, and Jia was frightened. "Oh my god!", she said in fear. Instead of giving her assistance, everyone around her bursted in laughters, including Adrein, in which she have seen for the first time.

"Won't somebody please help me? I don't think she likes me! She's trying to escape! I can feel she was trying to move her wings!" She screamed but no one seemed to be paying attention to what she was saying, they were all cracking up at the sight of her. "Come on! Adrein!", she called out.

"Okay, okay. Relax. I'll get it." Adrein finally said and took the hen from her. Adrein carressed the hen's feather and it stood still in his palm.

"She really doesn't like me." Jia murmured. Adrein looked at her and gave her a sweet grin, trying to hold his laughter.

After visiting the livestock area, they went to the farmers who were currently harvesting rambutan, as expected, the tour seemed to be exclusive for Jia, considering that she was new to all of this. They showed the different fruits they were planting at the farm, and gave her a brief lesson about them. Jia learned that some of the fruits they have were seasonal, meaning it only bears fruit during a specific season. However, they managed to develop a certain farming technique, that would help them harvest fruits the entire year, so as not to lose an income.