78: Chapter 78 Eric's Reply
It wasn't an official holiday. It was something Dave had decided on the spur of the moment. He said the first batch of mushrooms had grown so well that it would be a shame not to celebrate.
So, the townspeople set up a few tables at the entrance of the farm, laying out roasted mushrooms, mushroom soup, mushroom salad, and some pies that a few elderly ladies had made with mushrooms.
Eric stood on the edge of the crowd, clutching the letter in his hand.
The postman had delivered it in the morning. On the envelope, it read "Millfield, to Eric," in shaky, crooked handwriting, like a child who had just learned to write. He stared at those words for a long time, unable to bring himself to open it.
He was afraid that if he opened it, he would find out it wasn't meant for him.
"Eric! Come over and eat some mushrooms!" Dave shouted from over there.
Eric tucked the letter into his pocket and walked over.
The table was covered in mushrooms. Roasted, boiled, stir-fried, raw. He picked up a raw one, put it in his mouth, and chewed. A fresh, sweet taste spread across his tongue, exactly the same as the first one he had grown.
"Is it good?" someone asked from beside him.
He turned his head; it was that girl. The one who wrote messages with him, named Sarah.
Eric nodded.
Sarah looked at the letter in his hand. "Who wrote it?"
Eric said, "Xinfeng Town."
Sarah paused for a moment. "That Mark?"
Eric nodded.
Sarah leaned in. "Open it and see."
Eric opened the envelope. There was only a single sheet of paper inside, with just a few lines of text. He looked down and read it very slowly.
"Eric, I received your letter. I saw the mushrooms you wrote about. I also saw the ones you grew. I read every one of the handwritten letters you sent. I remember all the words you wrote. Thank you for writing."
Eric stared at those few lines of text for a long time.
Sarah asked from the side, "What does it say?"
Eric handed the letter to her. After reading it, Sarah looked up, her eyes a little red.
"He said he saw them."
Eric didn't speak. He remembered that day Mark stood at the door, and Yuki turned the computer around, the data on the screen, the IP addresses, the operation logs. He thought they would scold him, report him, and make him leave Millfield forever.
But Mark just squatted down, looked him in the eye, and said, "What you wrote is real."
Eric folded the letter and put it in his pocket.
"I'm going to grow mushrooms," he said.
In the afternoon, Eric worked on the farm.
He squatted in front of the shelves, looking at them one by one. The mushrooms were stark white, cluster after cluster, shimmering under the lights. He came to see them every day, watered them every day, and talked to them every day. He didn't know why he had to talk to the mushrooms; he just wanted to.
"Mark saw what I grew," he said to the mushrooms.
The mushrooms didn't answer.
But he felt as if they moved slightly.
Sarah walked over and squatted beside him.
"I want to write a letter too," she said.
Eric turned to look at her.
Sarah said, "To that Mark. Tell him how the mushrooms are growing, tell him how many people came, tell him—"
She paused. "Tell him we aren't bad people."
Eric was silent for a moment, then said, "He knows."
Sarah looked at him.
Eric said, "When he left, he said one thing. He said data can lie, but letters cannot."
Sarah paused.
Eric took the letter out of his pocket, unfolded it, and placed it next to the mushroom shelf.
"Take a look."
Sarah looked down. She read those few lines over and over again.
Then she stood up and ran out. After a while, she ran back with paper and a pen.
"I'll write," she said.
Eric nodded.
Sarah squatted beside the shelf and began to write. She wrote very slowly, thinking for a long time for every single character. When she finished, she handed the paper to Eric.
"Take a look."
Eric took it and read it.
"Hello, Mark. My name is Sarah. I'm the one who wrote messages with Eric. You said you saw the mushrooms. Thank you. We grew those mushrooms together. Eric waters them, I fertilize them. A few other friends help too. The mushrooms are growing very well. Dave held a Mushroom Festival today. A lot of people came. Everyone ate the mushrooms. They all said they were delicious. Thank you for seeing us."
Eric finished reading and returned the letter to her.
"Good," he said.
Sarah smiled. That smile was different from the one she had when she wrote the messages. That smile back then had been stifled, afraid of being seen by others. This smile now welled up from her eyes.
That night, Eric and Sarah sat at the entrance of the farm and read that letter again.
Dave walked over, holding two glasses of wine.
"What are you looking at?"
Eric handed him the letter. Dave took it, read it, and smiled.
"This Mark is a good person."
Eric asked, "Do you know him?"
Dave shook his head. "I don't know him. But what he said is right."
He handed the wine to Eric and Sarah and sat down himself.
"Do you know why I started growing mushrooms?"
Eric shook his head.
Dave looked at the lights in the distance and said slowly, "Because someone saw me. In my town, after the coal mine closed, no one came, no one looked, and no one knew we were still alive. Later, the people from Xinfeng Town came. They squatted down and watched us grow mushrooms. They watched for a few days, then said, 'You can do it.'"
He turned his head and looked at Eric.
"I've read all those messages you wrote. I know you want Millfield to be seen."
Eric lowered his head.
Dave patted his shoulder. "No need to be embarrassed. Wanting to be seen is not a bad thing."
He stood up and walked toward the town. After taking two steps, he turned back.
"That Mark, he can see. So keep his letter."
Eric stuck the letter on the wall by his bedside.
Every day when he woke up, it was the first thing he saw. He could recite those lines by heart, but he still looked at them every day.
Sarah wrote one too and sent it off. Then they waited.
They waited for three days. On the fourth day, a reply came.
It wasn't written by Mark. It was written by Yuki. The letter was very short, only one line of text:
"Sarah, I saw most of your letter. I also saw that Mushroom Festival."
Sarah took the letter, ran to the farm, and found Eric.
"She saw it!" she shouted. "Yuki saw it!"
Eric took the letter and glanced at it.
The letter didn't say "I saw it"; it said "I saw most of it."
He paused for a moment, then smiled.
He understood what Yuki meant by "most of it" in the letter. The mushrooms, the messages, the desire to be seen—Yuki had seen all of that. But the things she hadn't come for, the things that weren't written down, the things hidden between the lines—she was looking at those too.
Sarah asked, "Why did she write 'most of it'?"
Eric thought about it and said, "Because the rest, we have to see for ourselves."
That night, Eric wrote a very long letter.
It wasn't sent to Mark, but to Yuki.
"Hello, Yuki. My name is Eric. You said you saw 'most of it.' I know the rest is for us to see for ourselves. I want to try. So I'm writing this letter to tell you what I've seen. I see the mushrooms growing out of the soil, white, cluster after cluster. I see Dave standing at the farm entrance, smiling at the mushrooms. I see that when Sarah writes letters, her hands don't shake anymore. I see myself, no longer afraid of being seen."
After he finished writing, he looked at it for a long time.
Then he went to find Dave.
"Dave, can you help me mail this letter?"
Dave took it and glanced at it.
"To whom?"
Eric said, "Xinfeng Town. Yuki."
Dave nodded. "Sure."
After that letter was sent, Eric went to the town entrance every day to wait for the postman.
The postman was an old man who rode a broken bicycle and came twice a week. Tuesday and Friday.
On Tuesday, the postman came. There was no letter for Eric.
On Friday, the postman came again. Still nothing.
Eric squatted at the town entrance, looking at the road. The road was winding, stretching into the distance. There was nothing.
Sarah walked over and squatted beside him.
"Still hasn't come?"
Eric shook his head.
Sarah said, "Maybe it's still on the way."
Eric didn't speak.
Sarah said, "Maybe she hasn't finished reading it yet."
Eric paused.
Sarah said, "You said you saw yourself. Maybe she is looking too."
Eric was silent for a while, then stood up.
"Let's go, let's go grow mushrooms."
That afternoon, Eric worked on the farm.
He squatted in front of the shelves, looking at the mushrooms. One by one, stark white, like stars.
Sarah was watering nearby. She watered very slowly, making sure every single one was watered enough.
Neither of them spoke.
When the sun was about to set, the postman came.
The bicycle creaked and groaned as it rode in from the end of the road. The old postman saw Eric, stopped, and pulled a letter from his bag.
"From Xinfeng Town."
Eric took it. On the envelope, it read "To Eric," in a very familiar handwriting.
He opened the envelope. There was only a single sheet of paper inside, with just one line of text:
"Eric, what you saw, I also saw. —Yuki"
Eric stared at that line of text for a long time.
Sarah leaned in. "What does it say?"
Eric handed the letter to her.
Sarah finished reading and looked up. Her eyes were red.
"She saw it."
Eric nodded.
He folded the letter and put it in his pocket. In that pocket, there was already Mark's letter. The two letters were placed together, folded neatly.
He stood up and walked into the farm.
"Where are you going?" Sarah asked.
Eric said, "Grow mushrooms."
Sarah paused for a moment, then smiled.
She followed him, squatted beside him, and continued watering.
The mushroom shelves shimmered with white light under the lamps. One by one, they grew quietly.
Eric looked at them, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
He thought, Yuki saw it. Mark saw it too.
So, these things he grew were being seen by someone too.
That night, Eric sat at the entrance of the farm, clutching those two letters in his hand.
Dave walked over and handed him a glass of wine.
"Did you read it?"
Eric nodded.
Dave sat down beside him, looking at those lights in the distance.
"Yuki, she's not one to talk much," he said. "But she can see everything."
Eric asked, "How do you know?"
Dave smiled. "Because she's been to Millfield. She's been here quite a few times. Every time, she wouldn't say a word, just squatted there and watched. Watched the mushrooms, watched the people, watched those messages."
He turned his head and looked at Eric.
"The things you thought she couldn't see, she saw them all."
Eric paused.
Dave stood up and patted his shoulder. "So keep her letter."
Eric stuck those two letters on the wall.
Mark's, Yuki's. Stuck side by side.
Every day when he woke up, it was the first thing he saw.
Those words were shaky and crooked, like a child who had just learned to write.
But he felt they were the most beautiful words he had ever seen.