1
The first morning after applying the medicines, the children arrived at Tomás's door before sunrise.
Xiao Wang was there, bouncing with excitement. Mei held her stone tightly. Li Wei carried his leaf. Little Feng had found a piece of bark and was determined to use it.
Tomás smiled at them.
Ready to be scientists?
They nodded, serious and eager.
They walked to Chen Guang's field while the sky turned from black to gray. The old farmer was already there, standing among his vegetables, waiting.
The four squares were easy to see. Tomás had marked them with small sticks tied with colored grass: red for the bark medicine, blue for the leaf medicine, yellow for both together, and plain sticks for the control.
They approached the first square. Red. Bark medicine only.
Tomás knelt and examined the plants closely. The black spots were still there. Maybe a little less? It was hard to tell.
He looked at the children.
What do you see?
Wang leaned in.
Spots. Still there. Maybe... smaller?
Mei touched a leaf gently.
Some leaves have new spots. Small ones. At the edges.
Li Wei pointed.
This one looks the same. Not better, not worse.
Tomás wrote everything in his notebook:
*Day 1 - Bark medicine only: Spots still present. Some possibly smaller. New spots appearing on some leaves. Mixed results.*
2
They moved to the next square. Blue. Leaf medicine only.
This one looked different. The black spots were still there, but the leaves around them seemed... healthier? Greener? Less wilted?
Tomás examined carefully.
This one is interesting. The spots are not gone, but the plant looks stronger. The leaves are not dying as fast.
Mei pointed to a leaf with a large spot.
This one has a spot, but the rest of the leaf is good. Before, the whole leaf would turn bad.
Tomás nodded.
Good observation, Mei. The leaf medicine might not kill the fungus, but it helps the plant fight it.
He wrote:
*Day 1 - Leaf medicine only: Spots present, but plants appear healthier. Less wilting. Possible that medicine strengthens plant rather than killing fungus.*
3
The third square was the most anticipated. Yellow. Both medicines together.
Tomás knelt and looked. And looked again.
The plants here were... different. The black spots were smaller. Fewer. The leaves around them were green and firm. New growth was visible at the tips.
He felt a small thrill.
This one is working. Look. The spots are smaller. The plants are healthier. The new leaves have no spots at all.
The children crowded around, pointing, exclaiming.
Here! No spots!
This one has only a tiny spot!
Look, new leaf!
Tomás wrote quickly:
*Day 1 - Both medicines together: Significant improvement. Spots smaller and fewer. New growth healthy. Plants appear stronger. Best result so far.*
4
The last square was the control. Nothing.
The plants here were the worst. The black spots had spread. Some leaves were completely covered, brown and dying. The stems were weak, bent.
Tomás looked at it, then at the other squares. The difference was clear.
This is why we have a control - he explained to the children - Without this, we would not know if the medicines really work. Maybe the fungus just stops by itself? But look. Here, with no medicine, it keeps spreading. Here, with medicine, it stops. That means the medicine is working.
Wang nodded slowly.
So the sick ones tell us the truth.
Yes. They are the proof.
5
For the next four days, they returned every morning.
Each day, the results became clearer. The control square got worse. The bark-only square stayed about the same. The leaf-only square stayed healthy but the spots did not go away.
But the both-medicines square improved more and more. The black spots shrank. New leaves grew. The plants looked almost normal.
On the fifth day, Chen Guang himself knelt beside the both-medicines square and touched the leaves with something like wonder.
They are... better. Much better.
Tomás nodded.
The combination works. The bark stops the fungus. The leaves help the plant stay strong. Together, they do what neither can do alone.
Chen Guang looked at him for a long moment. Then, slowly, a smile appeared on his face. It was the first time Tomás had seen him smile.
You did it.
Tomás shook his head.
We did it. Granny Liu's bark. Hunter Shi's leaves. The children's eyes. And your patience.
Chen Guang looked at the children, who were beaming with pride.
Thank you - he said.
Then, in careful, halting Spanish:
Gracias.
The children gasped. Then they laughed, clapped, jumped with joy.
Tomás felt his eyes sting a little.
De nada, Chen Guang. De nada.
6
That afternoon, they applied the winning medicine to the rest of Chen Guang's field.
The children helped, carefully brushing the mixture onto leaves, talking to the plants as they worked. Chen Guang worked beside them, silent but present. Other villagers came to watch, curious about the commotion.
By evening, the whole field had been treated. Rows and rows of vegetables, each leaf touched by the brown liquid made from bark and leaves and water.
As the sun set, Chen Guang stood at the edge of his field and looked at his plants.
They will live now - he said. It was not a question.
Tomás stood beside him.
Yes. They will live.
Chen Guang nodded slowly. Then he said:
You came from nowhere. You speak like a child. You know nothing of our ways. But you saved my field.
Tomás shrugged.
I had help.
Chen Guang looked at him.
You had help because you asked. Because you listened. Because you did not pretend to know everything.
He paused.
That is rare. In anyone.
Tomás did not know what to say.
Chen Guang put a hand on his shoulder, the way elders do in the village.
You are welcome here, Tomás. You and your strange questions.
It was the closest thing to a formal acceptance Tomás had received.
7
That night, by the fire, the children could not stop talking.
They told their parents about the experiment, about the four squares, about the control that got worse, about the medicine that worked. They used words like "observar" and "control" and "medicina," mixing Spanish and Chinese in a way that made Tomás smile.
Wei Chen sat beside him, watching.
You have done something - he said quietly.
What?
You have given them a story. A story they will tell their children. About the time the foreigner came and taught them to save the fields.
Tomás looked at the children, their faces lit by the fire, their hands waving as they talked.
I just wanted to help.
Wei Chen smiled.
That is why it worked.
Later, alone in his house, Tomás wrote in his notebook.
He wrote about the experiment, the results, the successful medicine. He wrote about Chen Guang's smile and his "gracias." He wrote about the children, who were becoming something more than just village kids.
Then he wrote:
Today, I think I became part of this village. Not just a guest, not just a strange foreigner. Part of it.
Chen Guang said I am welcome. He put his hand on my shoulder. That means something here.
The experiment worked. Science worked. In a world of cultivators and spiritual beasts and ancient mysteries, a simple agricultural experiment saved a field.
That is what I do. That is who I am.
Y mañana, más. And tomorrow, more.
He closed the notebook and lay down.
Outside, the Shenmu whispered. Somewhere under it, a small líng cǎo was growing, its golden dots bright in the moonlight.
Todo a su tiempo. Everything in its time.