# Chapter 34: New Employees, Moving House
Bai Feng and Shenmu walked downstairs together and saw a middle-aged man dressed as a gentleman and a beautiful woman dressed as a lady sitting in the Living Room. Needless to say, these two were Shenmu's parents.
"You must be Shenmu's Classmate. Welcome to our Home. I am Shenmu's Father, and this is Shenmu's Mother. It's a pleasure to meet you." The middle-aged man dressed as a gentleman greeted Bai Feng very kindly.
Bai Feng found it hard to imagine that such a polite and gentle man could be the person Shenmu described as being severely at odds with both his Father and son.
"Hello," Shenmu's Mother also said with a kind smile.
"Hello, Uncle, Auntie. My name is Bai Feng. Please forgive my abrupt visit today." Bai Feng wasn't the type to be good at social maneuvering, so he didn't know how to interact with Shenmu's parents. He could only try his best to be polite.
Shenmu's Father laughed heartily, "Hahaha... Not abrupt at all, not abrupt. Even if there's a mistake, it's Shenmu's fault. He didn't say anything beforehand about a Classmate coming over today."
Hearing this, Shenmu, who had been holding his fists, clenched them tighter.
Alright, Bai Feng understood now. Shenmu's Father's gentleness and politeness were for outsiders; he was quite strict with his own son.
He could only say awkwardly, "My visit was a last-minute decision, you can't blame Shenmu..."
Shenmu's Mother also noticed the tense atmosphere between Father and son at this point, so she quickly changed the subject. "Right, it's getting late. Why don't Classmate Bai Feng stay for dinner before leaving? It's rare for Shenmu to bring a Classmate Home."
Bai Feng quickly shook his head and refused. "No, I shouldn't trouble Uncle and Auntie. I need to head Home now. My family is also waiting for me for dinner."
Are you kidding? In this kind of family atmosphere, it would be strange if he could eat anything. It would be hard to digest. Besides, he and Shenmu came back not because they had a good relationship, but just to help him with a small favor.
So, after greeting Shenmu's parents, Bai Feng quickly left.
The next day at School, Bai Feng saw that Shenmu looked upset, so he asked if he had argued with his Father again. He just nodded slightly and didn't say anything else, clearly indicating a significant conflict between Father and son.
Another day passed. During class, Bai Feng suddenly received a small note from Shenmu, saying he had something to tell him after class.
Dafu, who was sitting next to him, happened to see the note and quietly leaned over to say, "When did you get so close to that cold-faced guy?"
"Don't lean so close to me!" Bai Feng pushed him away in annoyance.
Dafu pouted his small mouth and said aggrievedly, "But we met first..."
Bai Feng thought to himself: Because weirdness is contagious.
After class, under Dafu's "resentful" gaze, Bai Feng went straight to the Corridor where he had agreed to meet Shenmu.
"Classmate Bai Feng, I want to ask you for a favor," Shenmu said, looking a bit hesitant.
"Go ahead," Bai Feng said, puzzled.
"I've secretly brought Grandfather's Pokémon back," Shenmu took a deep breath and said. "But I don't know where to put them."
If he put them at Home, his Father definitely wouldn't agree and might even fly into a rage. But if he put them outside, he had only recently been brought to Biyi City by his Father and didn't know anyone at all.
Later, he went to inquire about the boarding service at a Pokémon Day Care, but it required parental consent; children under sixteen couldn't handle it alone.
Of course, he couldn't ask his parents. Having no other options, Shenmu had to ask Bai Feng, the only person he could consider knowing.
"So you want those Pokémon to stay with me temporarily?" Bai Feng asked.
Shenmu nodded sheepishly. He knew it was a bit inappropriate, as they weren't that close, but he was truly at a dead end.
"Can we ask how many Pokémon there are and what types they are?" Bai Feng didn't directly refuse but asked another question.
"Five!" Shenmu quickly said, afraid Bai Feng would refuse if he delayed. "There are five in total: one Machamp, one Nidoking, one Nidoqueen, one Vaporeon, and one Leavanny."
"These five..." Bai Feng frowned in thought, then suddenly looked up and said, "How about this? I can take them in, and you won't even have to pay for their food costs."
"How can I do that!" Shenmu said anxiously.
"Don't rush, let me finish," Bai Feng even stopped Shenmu from speaking further. "I have an Orchard, and I happen to be short on helpers right now. If they can come and work for me, I can provide free food and lodging."
Since buying Fangcun Mountain, Bai Feng had felt the work was getting a bit strenuous, so hiring some new employees was necessary.
Shenmu's eyes lit up upon hearing this. Then he thought for a moment before saying, "Although I personally think there's no problem, I still need to ask the Pokémon for their opinion first."
"Of course," Bai Feng nodded, then suddenly added, "How about we go visit my Orchard together after School? Do you have those Pokémon with you? If you do, bring them along. They can make a good decision after seeing it for themselves!"
"I have them," Shenmu quickly nodded. He had nowhere else to put them if he didn't carry them.
So the two agreed to go to Fangxing Mountain together after School.
After School that afternoon, Bai Feng told Dongyu and then took Shenmu to Fangxing Mountain.
Walking along the mountain path, Bai Feng pointed to the fruit trees covering the mountain and said to Shenmu, "Look, this is my Orchard!"
Shenmu stared blankly at the beautiful fruit trees blooming with fresh flowers and unconsciously asked, "Is all of this yours alone?"
Bai Feng replied with a slight hint of pride, "That's right. How about releasing those five Pokémon now? It's a good chance for them to get to know this place better."
"Oh, oh... okay," Shenmu numbly took out five Poké Balls, and then the five Pokémon appeared before the two of them.
Looking at the unfamiliar environment, the five Pokémon looked at Shenmu in confusion. So Shenmu told them about Bai Feng wanting to hire them.
Bai Feng explained, "If you work for me here, you'll be earning your keep with your own abilities from now on. You won't feel like a burden, and you won't have to worry about being driven away."
Bai Feng's words hit a sore spot in the hearts of the five Pokémon. When they were kept in someone else's Home before, didn't they feel like a heavy burden and have to watch others' expressions? That kind of life was truly difficult.
Now, although Shenmu had brought them back, they still worried every day about whether they would cause trouble for Shenmu.
"Really won't be driven away? And free food and lodging?" Vaporeon asked cautiously.
"Of course!" Bai Feng replied.
Just then, a flock of Talonflame flew across the sky. Bai Feng pointed at them and said, "Look, the Talonflame are also working here. Their task is to patrol and guard. They've been working here for several years and don't have to worry about food, drink, or lodging every day. They just need to work hard!"
Hearing this, Vaporeon finally believed Bai Feng's words. It was very envious of the Talonflame's way of life, so it jumped up happily and immediately accepted Bai Feng's offer of employment.
Seeing that Vaporeon had agreed, the other four Pokémon also expressed their willingness one after another.
Seeing that the five Pokémon had found a Home, Shenmu immediately became so emotional that tears welled up in his eyes.
"This is great! Now Grandfather and I won't have to worry about you having nowhere to go anymore!" After speaking, Shenmu looked at Bai Feng again and said, "Classmate Bai Feng, thank you for your help, I really..."
Bai Feng raised his hand to stop Shenmu from continuing and explained, "I'm not just doing this to help you. As you can see, managing such a large Orchard by myself is too tiring. Hiring employees is a necessity."
Classmate Shenmu nodded and didn't say anything more, but looked at the five Pokémon and said, "From now on, work hard here. I'll come visit you often."
Seeing them create such a "tragic and heroic" atmosphere, Bai Feng quickly said, "Let me show you around and introduce you to your usual work tasks."
With that, Bai Feng took Shenmu and the five Pokémon for a stroll on the mountain, introducing each Pokémon to what they would be doing in the future.
Managing an Orchard is a very tedious task; every fruit tree needs careful nurturing. But Bai Feng usually spent most of his time on sorting out the arbor diagrams for the fruit trees and lighting up the root arbor diagrams, so many miscellaneous tasks were neglected.
Although the Diggersby family usually helped, there were only three of them. Now with the addition of Fangcun Mountain, the workload would be too large if they still relied only on the three of them.
The five Pokémon listened very attentively to Bai Feng's explanation. In their opinion, the workload Bai Feng described was not large at all and was completely manageable for them.
During this time, they also encountered the Diggersby family who were working. The family of three Diggersby kindly introduced the five Pokémon to how to manage fruit trees and how to care for them. They got to know each other initially.
Upon reaching the mountain top, Bai Feng pointed to the Staff Dormitory, which was already half-built, and said to the five Pokémon, "This is the dormitory being built for you. You can move in when it's finished. For now, you'll have to make do with staying in the Wooden House."
The five Pokémon had no objections upon hearing this. Although the Wooden House was simple, living there felt secure.
In the following days, the five Pokémon settled down on Fangxing Mountain, and Bai Feng also arranged work for each of them.
Machamp, Nidoking, and Nidoqueen were strong and sturdy, so Bai Feng assigned them some physical labor, such as helping transport the harvested berries to the Warehouse at the foot of the mountain every day, and occasionally clearing new land on Fangcun Mountain.
Vaporeon, being Water-type, was responsible for watering the fruit trees every day.
Since there were no rivers on Fangxing Mountain and Fangcun Mountain, the only water source was in the Mountain Valley between the two mountains, so fetching water was not convenient. Watering the fruit trees on the mountain could only be done manually.
Bai Feng had considered building water facilities, but after inquiring, he gave up immediately. It was too expensive; it was more cost-effective to hire Water-type Pokémon! Water-type Pokémon could also train their moves at the same time.
Leavanny was assigned to manage the fruit trees with the Diggersby family, such as picking fruit and pruning fruit trees. Leavanny could do these tasks very well.
Bai Feng, meanwhile, went to School during the day, returned to the Orphanage for meals at noon and in the afternoon, and after dusk, went to Fangxing Mountain and Fangcun Mountain to cultivate fruit trees. He would only return to the Orphanage to sleep around eleven or twelve o'clock every night.
These days were busy and hard, but Bai Feng was full of motivation every day and never slacked off.
Shenmu also often came to Fangcun Mountain. Besides visiting Vaporeon and the others, he would occasionally lend Bai Feng a hand.
As time went on, his relationship with Bai Feng grew better and better. Sometimes he would even stay with Bai Feng on Fangcun Mountain until very late before returning.
Compared to returning to that constantly oppressive Home, he preferred staying with Bai Feng on Fangcun Mountain, reading a book, training Pokémon, or doing some farm work. It was very relaxed and comfortable.
Initially, Shenmu's parents naturally scolded him constantly for coming Home late every day, but Shenmu usually let it go in one ear and out the other. When he really couldn't stand it, he would have a big argument with his Father.
Later, after Shenmu's Father learned that Shenmu was spending his days at Bai Feng's Orchard, he gradually stopped restricting him so much.
As long as Shenmu wasn't causing trouble outside, Shenmu's Father felt that nothing else was a big deal. If he didn't come Home, then so be it. Anyway, they always argued when he was Home.
In the process of getting along with Bai Feng, Shenmu grew more and more respectful of him. He admired Bai Feng's ability to repeat complex and tedious work day after day for cultivating fruit trees, and he also admired Bai Feng's ability to run his own venture at such a young age.
If he had Bai Feng's capability, would he still be afraid of his Father and unable to find a place for Grandfather's Pokémon? Certainly not. He probably would have already confronted his Father.
With Bai Feng as a role model, Shenmu began to study seriously. Besides studying the Breeding Major knowledge taught at School, he would also attend the Battle Major courses.
Although his Father had forced him into the Breeding Major, Shenmu hadn't given up hope. He wanted to become a strong Pokémon Trainer through his own efforts and leave his Father speechless!
Time flew by, and a month passed in the blink of an eye. Both the employees' dormitory and Bai Feng's new Home were already built. Taking advantage of a day off from School, Bai Feng moved his Home and invited Director Meili, all the children from the Orphanage, and Shenmu to his new Home as guests.
To be precise, Shenmu came by himself. He came to Fangxing Mountain as usual to visit Vaporeon and the others and happened to encounter Bai Feng moving and hosting guests, so Bai Feng invited him along.
The Pokémon had already moved into the new dormitory. To celebrate their move, Bai Feng not only gave them extra meals but also gave them money, which was all stored with Dongyu. If the Pokémon wanted to buy anything, they could ask Dongyu for help.
Bai Feng's new Home was built very large. Besides a particularly large Garden, there were many, many rooms. There were two main houses, built right next to each other. Both their location and internal structure were almost identical, only the interior decorations were different. These were the residences of Bai Ye and Bai Feng, mother and son.
Popplio and Helioptile also had their own rooms, but unfortunately, they didn't want to live alone in a room and insisted on living with Bai Feng. Bai Feng had no choice but to let them.
Bai Ye, meanwhile, moved into the new Home with the dark green Pokémon Egg.
In the evening, everyone from the Orphanage stayed overnight in the new house, planning to add some liveliness to Bai Feng's new Home.
In the middle of the night, Bai Feng tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He glanced at Popplio and Helioptile next to him, who were already drooling in their sleep, and quietly got out of bed without disturbing them.
Everyone was asleep by then. After a lively afternoon, everyone was quite tired, so the Yard was very quiet, almost excessively so.
The bright moonlight shone directly down, giving a strangely cold feeling. Bai Feng couldn't help but shiver.
It was a bit cold!
After all, living on the mountain top, even though Fangxing Mountain wasn't high, the temperature was always a bit lower than at the foot of the mountain.
"Gardevoir~" My dear!
Just then, Bai Feng suddenly heard Bai Ye's voice. Turning his head, he saw that the light was still on in Bai Ye's Room, and she was standing by the window, holding the dark green Pokémon Egg.
Bai Feng walked to the window and asked, "Mom, why aren't you sleeping so late? Are you too happy to sleep, like me?"
After leaving the Island and working hard for several years, he finally had his own Home. Bai Feng's emotions were excited and complex, which was why he was tossing and turning in bed and had to come out for a walk.
"Gardevoir~" Yes.
Gardevoir nodded.
Bai Feng joked, "Then we mother and son are quite in sync!"
"Gardevoir~" Of course!
Bai Ye raised her chin and said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Hahaha..." Bai Feng laughed happily at the sight. He didn't dare to laugh too loudly, afraid of waking others up.
Suddenly, he looked at Bai Ye again and asked, "Mom, do you like your life now?"
"Gardevoir~ Gardevoir~" Yes, I like it very much!
Bai Ye answered without hesitation. Every day, planting, training, eating whatever she wanted, playing whatever she wanted, it was very interesting, much more interesting than the monotonous, unchanging life on the Island day after day.
On the Island, there was no TV to watch, no internet to use, no endless supply of berries and Pokéblocks, and no warm and comfortable big house, only Trees, rocks, the Beach, the sea... When the weather was bad, they also had to endure strong winds and heavy rain. Typhoons were commonplace there, and life was hard.
Bai Ye's mind was simple, and her requirements for life were also simple. It was much easier for her to find happiness.
"That's good!" Hearing Bai Ye's words, Bai Feng breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, it's very late. It's better to go to sleep early. I'm going to sleep too."
"Gardevoir~" Okay, go to sleep quickly, or you won't grow tall!
After chatting for a few sentences, their emotions miraculously calmed down. They lay down in bed and fell asleep shortly after, sleeping soundly until dawn.
The next day, before the children were up, Director Meili and Dongyu were already busy in the Kitchen early in the morning. Bai Feng heard the sound and quickly went to help.
After breakfast was ready, Bai Feng was about to go wake the children up to eat, but he saw Bai Ye fiddling with something in the Yard.
"Mom, breakfast is ready, what are you doing?" Bai Feng walked over and asked, puzzled.
Bai Ye heard the voice and turned around. In one hand, she was holding a small shovel covered in wet mud, and in the other hand, she held an unknown green plant, which looked a bit wilted from being held.
"Gardevoir~ Gardevoir~" I'm planting flowers and grass. It would be a shame not to plant some flowers and grass in such a large Garden!
Gardevoir replied with a smile.
"But you don't have to be busy so early in the morning. It's not too late to get busy after breakfast. Look at all this mud on you, how will you eat later?"
Saying this, Bai Feng walked to a nearby water basin, filled a basin of water for Bai Ye, brought it to her, and used a towel to wipe the mud off her face and chest.
Bai Ye pouted and said, "I woke up early, I had nothing to do!"
(End of Chapter)