It has been a few days already since the crow worked in the garden with us.
I saw she had her eyebrows tied and she complained but to herself; she never did in front of us.
It looked like she was having a hard time, so I asked her, “Are you okay with it?”
“I’m not okay with it.”
Her answer was frank, I could sense it through her facial expression.
“You can quit.”
“No.” She shook her head.
“Why?”
“Because I want to support my life without flying around to take other human's food.”
“Oh it is unbelievable that a crow learns how to grow vegetables,” Robert said.
“Do you want to laugh at me?” Crow said.
“No. I just said,” Robert said.
“I don’t care if you laugh at me,” the crow said and turned to me. “What should I start?”
I thought for a moment then I asked her, “What vegetable do you like?”
“I don’t know. I have eaten meat and fruit.”
“Well, you can do some basics, like…” I looked around then I pointed at small pots I put on a wooden table. “Put bell pepper seeds. One seed for each pot.”
“Okay,” the crow said and flew to work on that table.
Robert and I began to make new soil to grow cucumbers. About one minute later, the crow flew to us.
“I finished,” she said.
Robert opened eyes, “Fast,”
The crow giggled, “I bet we will be the best business men.”
“No, we cannot,” I said.
“Why not?” Robert said.
“Because we are animals. We can do business, but we can’t beat humans. Humans are the best and strongest businessmen in the world.”
“Really?” Crow said.
I nodded, “Yes. They can do every type of business, wood, metal, fire, water, stem, stone, land, sky. Also they can do business by using humans and gods. Even ghosts.”
“Is it true?” Robert and Crow asked.
“Yes, it’s true. They are great businessmen. Nowadays, when a person dies, they will use that case to earn popularity through social media, to sell or promote their product, to gain benefits from socializing for their job and more.”
“That’s what they are doing,” both of them wagged their heads.
Caw, caw.
I unlocked the door with my eyes open half, “What’s the matter?”
“I didn't come to laugh at you,” the crow said. “I heard the news that the US stopped giving funds and there are a lot of people who are in money trouble, especially NGO. So I think what you have said is correct. We should help ourselves, and should not wait for help from others. I decided to follow your words. And I come to learn from you.”
“It's so nice to hear it, but the sun does not rise,” I said while my mouth was yawning.
“Okay. I’ll be back when the sun rises. See you.”
Caw, caw.
I opened the door and got out when I heard the sound.
“Good morning, pig,” the crow said.
“Good morning,” I said. “You are friendly to me today. Anything wrong with you?”
“You are smart.” The crow laughed. “I came to laugh at you.”
I raised my eyebrows, “About my online business?”
“You are smart again.” The crow laughed.
“You can laugh at me, I laugh at myself as well,” I said with a smile.
“I heard it has returned to being active in the US. Are you happy now?”
“I want to clarify. First, I am not living in the US, so it doesn't affect my career. Second, since I am not living in the US, it doesn't affect my career though it is banned or not banned. Third, I don't believe in businessmen at all, so I don't rely on them anymore.”
“Then what will you do?”
“I will create my own castle.”
“How?”
“I don't know yet. I am figuring it out.”
“Okay. I wish you success. Bye. I'm going to find food.”
The crow flew after she said it.
“You don’t work tonight,” Robert walked near me.
“I want to take a break to think,” I said.
“What is it?” He said before he sat on the ground next to my chair.
“Recent news about the business conflict between the US and China. It scares me.”
“What do you think?”
“I think we are like rabbits and ants. When the elephants fight, we suffer.”
“So?”
“So, nothing is better than standing strong on our own.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. I am thinking. I just know that I don’t want my business to rely on others, especially those elephants and tigers.”
“I am taking photos,” I said.
“Taking photos of alphabets?”
“Yes.”
“What is it for?”
“To make a stop motion video.”
“A stop motion? What is it?”
“It's a kind of animation video using photos. Let me show you.”
Robert waited till my video was finished.
“Ah I understand,” he said. “It's called a stop motion animation or video. But why do you make it?”
“To promote my website,” I described while I was uploading the video. “Now the business market seems narrow. We need to do something new to promote our business to compete with humans.”
“I see.” Robert wagged his head.
“Pig, where do you come from?” Robert asked.
“I went to the market to buy this box,” I said and showed him.
“What is it?”
“It’s a foam container box.”
“What is it for?”
“Well,” I put it on the table, “I am thinking of building a mini-studio to take photos or film of our product to promote on an online platform. And I decided to use this box to be the studio.”
“Take a photo!” Robert said with a smile. “Interesting.”
“Good morning,” Robert said.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Last night, you went to bed late. You should sleep more.”
“No need,” I said, then I went to get a shovel and went next to him. “It is enough sleep for me. I can't let you garden alone.”
“I think I am useless. I can't help you,” Robert said in a sad tone.
"Don't say that. You help me a lot.”
“I don't think so. I think I am stupid and dumb. I can't even learn how to write on a blog. I can't be like you.” He dropped his face.
“It's true you can't be like me,” I stated, “and you don't have to be like me. You have to be you.”
Robert raised his face.
“Though you change your face, your body shape or your behavior to be like me, you can't be me. It's impossible, and it's not necessary to do that. What you have to do is you must be you. Trust me.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Find yourself and be yourself. And I believe you can do it.”
“Um.” Robert nodded his head. His smile came back.
I and Robert were in the yard. He laid on the ground, and I sat on a chair. Once in a while, he sighed.
“What's the matter?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said.
“If there is nothing, why did you sigh?”
“Pitiful.”
“You?”
“No, you!”
I opened my eyes, “Why am I pitiful?”
“You work very hard. During the day you work in the garden. At night you work online. See? It is late at night, and you're still working.”
I looked at the laptop that was laying on my laps, then I turned to Robert and spoke with a smile, “It is called a life. It has ups and downs like waves in the sea. When we are at a low level, we must work hard. When we are at a high level, we can take a rest. It's not pitiful; it's natural.”
“I see.” Robert wagged his head. “What are you doing?”
“I am creating videos to upload on my video account.”
“How many videos do you create?”
“The more videos the better.”
“Why do you make so many videos?”
“Before, I uploaded three videos a day, but now I have to upload five or more because the economy is not good; everyone needs to survive, so they become content creators. Nowadays the online industry is so competitive.”
Robert sighed again, “So pitiful.”
“What are you doing, Pig?” Robert asked.
“I am submitting a new tax form to adsense,” I said.
“I remember that you said you stopped earning from youtube.”
“Yes, I did,” I said while my fingers were typing, “I closed my adsense but adsense didn’t allow me to remove it because of the threshold. I thought it would not be a bother, but they sent me recently to fill out a new form of tax. I thought of going back to adsense to find a way to remove it, but it turned out to re-open. I don’t have a clue what’s going on and why it is like this. Since I don’t want my head to spin around, I decided to re-partner with adsense. And now I must fill the tax form and submit it.”
“Doing a job with humans is complicated.” Robert sighed.
I wagged my head, “It’s my karma. It’s me myself who wants to be like a human while I am a pig.”
“Pig,” Robert called me. “There are many ding sounds from your phone.”
“I think they are notifications that there are comments on my videos,” I said.
“Videos?”
“Yes.” I walked out of the bathroom. “I am learning marketing. To remember the lesson, I have to take note but writing in a book makes me feel sleepy and bored, so I created my own way of taking note by making a video of each lesson that I learn, like a slideshow presentation, then uploading it onto a video platform. And there are a lot of comments.”
“They praise your videos, don't they?”
“Well, there were but a few. Most of them said I am showing off that I am skillful in marketing.”
“Hate comments!”
“It’s freedom of speech.” I smiled. “I don't mind.”
