The dim yellow sunlight fell across the wooden house, its walls covered in black cracks, making the whole place look bleak and desolate.
After arriving at the Family Fun Farm Camp, everyone got out of the car one after another.
A middle-aged woman was already waiting there with a child.
The woman had brown hair and green eyes, with her hair tied back. She wore blue ranch overalls and had an average build. Her complexion was sallow, freckles dotted the skin beneath her eyes, and faint wrinkles lined her cheeks, as though she had weathered many hard years.
The child beside her also had brown hair and was holding a cute little piglet in his arms. His clear eyes stared blankly at Lucian and the others.
"You must be the Tennysons, right?" the middle-aged woman said with a faint smile.
"That's right. I'm Grandpa Max." Dressed in his floral shirt, Grandpa introduced everyone one by one. "These are my grandkids. Lucian, Ben, and Gwen."
"Lucian? Why doesn't he have your last name?" the woman asked.
"Ah, Lucian is my grandson on my daughter's side. His father's surname is Jiang, while my daughter's surname is Tennyson." Grandpa Max smiled, though a trace of sadness flashed through his eyes.
Hearing that, the woman didn't press the issue any further. "My name is Joan Maplewood."
Then she pulled the child beside her closer. "This is my son, Todd."
"Hi, nice to meet you!" Todd greeted them warmly, his eyes curving into crescents.
"Oh, this is so not nice," Ben muttered, lowering his gaze, looking thoroughly miserable.
"Alright, introductions are over. Time to start working." Joan pointed to the truck parked beside the storage shed and continued, "You can start by unloading the feed from the truck."
Grandpa Max smiled knowingly. "Happy to."
As soon as he said it, Grandpa Max led by example and went over first to start hauling feed.
"Mm, this really takes me back!" Grandpa Max took a deep breath of the manure-filled air.
"When I was little, I went to Uncle Jedediah's farm every summer to learn the value of hard work."
"That's exactly what you two need to learn."
After hearing Grandpa's words, Ben shook his head and sighed, looking like life had lost all meaning.
Once she had assigned the work, Joan and Todd headed off as well. They had their own jobs to do.
"Alright, time for the hero to make his entrance!"
Ben rolled up his imaginary sleeves, strode forward, and lifted a huge sack of feed.
"Ah! This is heavy!"
Ben's narrow waist instantly bent over, making him look like a little shrimp.
Gwen frowned miserably. Was she really supposed to do farm work too?
Thud.
Ben dropped the feed onto the ground.
Then he pressed the Omnitrix, about to transform. "Leave this kind of heavy lifting to Four Arms!"
But Grandpa Max put a hand on Ben and stopped him.
"No using the Omnitrix. Otherwise, there's no point in us coming here," Grandpa Max said sternly.
Lucian stood to the side and shrugged, perfectly unconcerned. He wasn't the one who had to carry anything.
Besides, it was good for Ben and Gwen to get some exercise and experience how hard life could be.
Ben and Gwen looked like they were on the verge of tears. Under Grandpa Max's supervision, they started unloading the feed from the truck.
...
Time passed little by little, and just before night fell, they finally finished moving all the cargo.
Ding, ding, ding!
The sound of a bell came from Joan's house.
It was the signal for dinner.
But Ben and Gwen had already collapsed on top of the piled-up feed and were sleeping like the dead, completely worn out.
Grandpa Max and Lucian exchanged a smile, then brought them over to Joan's house.
...
The table was set with a plain, rustic meal.
Joan sat at the head of the table, Grandpa Max sat beside her, and Lucian sat next to him. As for Todd, Ben, and Gwen, they just sat wherever.
Grandpa Max picked up a spoon, scooped up a spoonful of thick liquid, and took a careful taste.
"Mmm, this is delicious!" Grandpa Max's eyes lit up as he praised it. "You can't find food like this in the city."
"If this even counts as food..." Gwen's face looked miserable as she kept stirring the food in her bowl with a spoon.
Ben propped his chin on one hand and sighed. "No TV, no video games, no malls. How do people here even have fun?"
Ben felt like he'd fallen from heaven straight into hell.
Could anyone really stand this kind of dull life?
While feeding the little piglet in his arms, Todd said, "Everyone's usually too busy to feel bored. After work, they just go to sleep, so there's no time to think about stuff like that."
"But you'd never guess what I saw yesterday..." Todd said mysteriously.
The moment Joan heard that, she picked up her bowl and chopsticks. "Alright, Todd, after dinner, take them to get some rest. We have to get up early to work tomorrow."
"What?!" Ben's eyes widened, and he turned to look out the window. "It's not even dark yet! Why do we have to sleep so early? That's insane!"
Grandpa Max walked over and patted Ben on the shoulder. "Trust me, you'll be glad you went to bed early tomorrow."
"Grandpa's right. Unless you want to end up dead tired tomorrow," Lucian said, taking a slurp of instant noodles.
Of course, he had no intention of eating the food here, so he had secretly stashed some supplies...
"Cuz, can I have a bite?" Gwen leaned over, her face full of hope.
The tempting smell of the instant noodles was practically tugging her soul out of her body.
"No." Lucian shook his head.
"Why not?" Gwen asked, disappointed.
"Because Grandpa won't allow it," Lucian answered honestly.
"Grandpa!!" Gwen was so upset she was practically about to cry.
"No. You two are only allowed to eat farm food for the next few days." Grandpa Max looked stern on the surface, but inwardly his heart ached.
There was no helping it. This was the only way to make Ben and Gwen understand that life wasn't easy.
After dinner, Todd led Lucian and the others to their lodging.
On both sides of the path were withered trees and tangled weeds, and every so often the sound of insects echoed through the dark.
Night had fully fallen.
With nothing to do on the way, Ben started trying to make conversation.
"Hey, Todd, what exactly did you see yesterday? Tell us," Ben asked curiously.
"I saw..." Todd started, but then his voice cut off. He shook his head bitterly. "Forget it. You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."
"Don't worry. We've seen plenty of weird stuff this summer. One more won't make any difference," Lucian said, patting Todd on the shoulder.
Of course, he already had a rough idea of the answer.
Todd took a deep breath. "Then I'll say it?"
"Go ahead."
"Yesterday, at Old Man Jason's ranch, I saw a mummy!! A real walking dead person, an ancient Egyptian mummy..."