Pastoral Daily Life

Xiao Feng and Wang Shuxiu got together thanks to the matchmaker called “Heavy Rain”.

As the saying goes, heavy rain keeps customers away, but Xiao Feng never thought he would be caught in a rainstorm at Xiaohua’s Home Cooking Restaurant. At the beginning of the rain, Xiao Feng hesitated for a few seconds and didn’t leave. For one thing, he wanted to stay with Wang Shuxiu for a while longer, and for another, he didn’t take the heavy rain to heart, thinking that it would stop soon. Who knew that the rain was getting heavier and heavier, with no tendency to stop, and that the water on the road rose above his calves, making it impossible to leave. Not to mention Xiao Feng himself, Wang Shuxiu also did not feel comfortable with him leaving, especially since Xiao Feng also intended to return to the vegetable greenhouse. It was dark and rainy and the road wasn’t easy to travel, so Wang Shuxiu stopped him and Xiao Feng naturally stayed.

Speaking of Xiao Feng, Wang Shuxiu always realised that it was the existence of the card and chess parlour that made her feel uncomfortable. Later, Xiao Feng closed the card and chess parlour, plus Lin Mei always whispered in her ear that she should find a man, so Wang Shuxiu’s mind became more accommodating. Although she didn’t want to admit that a woman couldn’t live without a man, Lin Mei was right, she was still young and would have no problem living to her 60s or 70s, taking into account her current physical condition. If she had to be alone for the next 20 or 30 years, it would be a bit bleak to think about. If people who didn’t know the truth thought that she was keeping herself for Lu Yishui, she would die of vomiting blood!

Wang Shuxiu figured it out for herself, but she was still a little uncomfortable with Xiao Feng. Lin Mei didn’t think too much of it and enthusiastically decided to help Wang Shuxiu meet someone else. To be honest, in Lin Mei’s opinion, Wang Shuxiu’s conditions lacked a little. Of course, if you said she was in poor condition, Wang Shuxiu’s face was there and no one who saw her could be unhappy. But if you said she was well off, Wang Shuxiu was old, divorced and with a child in tow, and was unemployed, running her own small restaurant, which was no match for someone who had a regular, stable job.

Lin Mei was a bit anxious for Wang Shuxiu, but Wang Shuxiu didn’t care. On the contrary, when Xiao Feng heard that Lin Mei was helping introduce Wang Shuxiu to someone, he ran to the small restaurant three times a day. He didn’t say anything, but just followed Wang Shuxiu unhurriedly and helped out when he saw any work. Sometimes when there were more customers, or when there were people he knew, Xiao Feng was not shy about coming out to greet them, and people who didn’t know thought that Xiao Feng owned the restaurant.

After a while, Lin Mei could see that Brother Feng was interested and that Wang Shuxiu wasn’t completely unresponsive. The two of them looked good, but they were just short of a little push. Lin Mei pondered that Wang Shuxiu’s heart was probably not settled and Xiao Feng also saw it, so he simply didn’t say anything. He would go to take care of his own affairs every day and when he was done, he would come to the small restaurant. He washed dishes, cleaned up, and occasionally greeted customers, proving by his actions that he was connected to the Xiaohua’s owner.

The two of them got along so uneventfully until this heavy rain gave them an opportunity for a breakthrough. Wang Shuxiu was accustomed to being alone at all times. And now there was someone with her when the lightning was flashing, helping to close the windows, lock the doors and check if the house was leaking, Wang Shuxiu’s heart suddenly settled down and she recognised Xiao Feng from the bottom of her heart.

While she was making rapid progress, Lu Lingxi, who was far away in Lingshui Village, didn’t know that he had a new father and was happily squatting in front of Dahei and teasing him. One dog and one man were “meeting after a long goodbye” in an intimate manner, completely ignoring Yan Yue next to them. It was a rare occasion for Yan Yue not to be sour. In fact, he missed Dahei a little bit after not seeing him for a few days. Seeing that Lu Lingxi’s thoughts were all on Dahei, Yan Yue smiled indulgently, opened the trunk, took out the tools from it and began to pack up the things he brought this time.

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The two of them came here not only to pick up Dahei, but also to transplant the evolved eelgrass they had propagated to the bottom of the Lingshui River, and to dig up some more eelgrass to cultivate. Lu Lingxi had already tested it at home, and the evolved eelgrass had a remarkable effect on the absorption of cyanide in the water. When he compared the concentration of cyanide in the water before and after the eelgrass was transplanted, the latter’s concentration was significantly lower and the water was clearer. This result made Lu Lingxi quite happy, and even Yan Yue was a little surprised.

Lu Lingxi’s mind was simple and he just thought that the eelgrass could purify the Lingshui River, but Yan Yue was calculating the huge economic value of it. After the evolution of the eelgrass, Yan Yue had deliberately checked the river records of Fengcheng. According to the distribution of several industrial areas in Fengcheng, there had to be many rivers facing the same pollution as the Lingshui River. In the eyes of the government, how to solve the pollution was surely a big problem, but in Yan Yue’s eyes, it was quite a big business opportunity. Yan Yue was prepared to take the Lingshui River as a pilot case, and if the purification was successful, he would seek out Ye Sange to talk about it.

By the time Yan Yue finished packing up the things, Lu Lingxi and Dahei were almost done hugging. Lu Lingxi looked at Yan Yue with some embarrassment and stood on his tiptoes to give Yan Yue a kiss on the cheek. Yan Yue smiled and put his big hand over Lu Lingxi’s head, rubbing it dotingly.

“Xiao Xi and Dahei stay in the plant nursery, I’m going to talk to Uncle Li about the house.”

“Oh.” Lu Lingxi nodded obediently.

The house Yan Yue was talking about was the very same small courtyard where the two lived. When Du Lin had initially transferred the small courtyard to Lu Lingxi along with the plant nursery, the lease contract between her and the owner of the small courtyard was still three years away from expiring. Lu Lingxi didn’t think much of it at first, and because he didn’t have any money, he went along with Du Lin’s lease contract at the time. But now, because of the presence of the big willow tree, Lingshui Village had changed from what it used to be. It would be troublesome in case the other party stopped renting to them. Yan Yue thought that he could simply buy the house and sign a new agreement for the land in the plant nursery behind it, changing the original five-year lease to the maximum of thirty years.

It wasn’t difficult to re-sign the contract for the land in the plant nursery, but it was the purchase of the small courtyard that was difficult. Strictly speaking, the transfer of residential land in rural China was not allowed, but in fact there were quite a few private transfers, so it depended on the means of each individual.

The reason why Yan Yue was looking for Uncle Li was because the owner of the small courtyard was one of Uncle Li’s cousins. The old man had followed his children abroad a few years ago and the small courtyard had been left vacant until Du Lin rented it. At that time, it was Uncle Li who arranged everything, and Yan Yue hoped that Uncle Li would help pull the strings again. The situation with the house was not clear and Yan Yue didn’t want Lu Lingxi to worry about it, so he simply didn’t take him there.

As soon as Yan Yue left, Lu Lingxi felt bored. After thinking for a long time and feeling that there was nothing to do in the plant nursery, he secretly took Dahei to the Lingshui River.

A small shovel, a bucket, gloves and a mask, Lu Lingxi’s equipment was complete, all specially prepared for this visit. With the experience of digging eelgrass last time, Lu Lingxi felt that he should not get mud all over his body like he did last time. After carrying the bucket with the evolved eelgrass to the river, Lu Lingxi didn’t rush to transplant it, but first took a small shovel to clean up the stones and broken glass in the area where it had to be transplanted, and then shovelled the silt nearby for a long time to dig a few suitable holes.

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One, two, three, four, five… Lu Lingxi didn’t plant the eelgrass in one place but distributed it evenly along the river bank. When he finished with the last clump of eelgrass, the white panel suddenly floated out and two lines of green characters were displayed below.

Eelgrass ecological community formed, water purification +50%, bonus plant heart +500

Choose to evolve the plants of common origin simultaneously?

Lu Lingxi was taken aback for a moment and quickly chose “yes”.

As he selected “yes”, a section of the river appeared on the white panel. The colour of the river was shown as black and the range was exactly the range where he had planted this eelgrass. With the example of the willow ecological community, Lu Lingxi was no stranger to new ecological communities. Perhaps it was the difference between solid soil and flowing water, but the eelgrass ecological community wasn’t directly purifying the underground soil as the willow ecological community, but rather purified the water with the evolutionary effect +50%.

Lu Lingxi was actually satisfied with this. With this eelgrass purifying the water, the roots of the big willow tree should soon be able to extend over, and the purification of the soil would not be limited to this side of the Lingshui River but would continue to spread towards the other side. As he thought about it, Dahei, who had been crouching quietly beside him, suddenly stood up and growled in a low voice towards his back.

Lu Lingxi could understand that Dahei was giving a warning. He paused and turned to look over. Not far behind him, a yellow local dog leapt out from the direction of the village. This dog didn’t look like a dog raised by a family, but like a stray dog.

The big yellow dog was obviously very surprised to see Dahei, arching its back and confronting Dahei for a long time before slowly lying down on the ground, showing a submissive attitude. Dahei narrowed his eyes, still looking wary, and didn’t immediately relax. Lu Lingxi didn’t quite understand Dahei’s reaction; he remembered that Dahei didn’t have this attitude towards the dogs in the village. Was there something different about this big yellow dog?

“Ah Huang.” (Huang – yellow)

Two dogs, one black and one yellow were at a standstill when a young boy, who looked about five or six years old, ran from far away from the village. He seemed to be calling the big yellow dog’s name. The little boy didn’t notice Dahei until he was running closer and, very surprised, pointed at him and yelled, “Big black dog!”

When Dahei met the little boy, his attitude wasn’t as fierce as before, and he quietly crouched on the ground, his eyes becoming gentle.

When the little boy turned his head and saw Lu Lingxi, his big round eyes opened wide and he asked curiously, “Is the big black dog your dog, Brother?”

Perhaps from the sun the little boy looked a bit dark-skinned, but his eyes were big and bright, very energetic. Lu Lingxi nodded and smiled kindly at the little boy. “Dahei, come back,” he called.

Dahei twitched his ears, got up and trotted over to Lu Lingxi’s side, crouching down in front of him. Lu Lingxi habitually stroked Dahei’s head, and the little boy’s eyes lit up as he excitedly called out, “Brother, you talk to Dahei, can you understand what Dahei is saying?”

Lu Lingxi was taken aback for a moment, somewhat failing to react to the logic in the little boy’s words. Talking to Dahei = understanding what Dahei is saying?

While he was still at a loss, the little boy said excitedly, “I can also, I can also understand what Ah Huang says.” Without waiting for Lu Lingxi’s reaction, the little boy said happily, “Ah Huang.”

The big yellow dog gave a low bark.

The little boy’s face bulged and he said to Lu Lingxi, “Ah Huang is a bit afraid of your Dahei dog, Brother, can you make Dahei not bite Ah Huang?”

His bulging face was so cute that Lu Lingxi laughed and nodded cooperatively.

The little boy looked even happier, and he leaned to Lu Lingxi’s side unconsciously, looking at his gloves curiously. “Brother, are you playing in the water? Ah Huang said that the water was poisonous and wouldn’t let me go to the river to play. Last time Ah Huang drank the water from the river, his stomach hurt for a long time.”

Lu Lingxi’s hand that was touching Dahei paused and his expression was a little odd, “Did Ah Huang really say that?”

He didn’t take seriously the little boy’s initial claim that he could understand the big yellow dog’s words. Dogs are very clever animals, and generally people who keep dogs for a long time will basically form a tacit understanding, or a unique sense of connection, with them. Dogs can understand their owners’ words, understand their instructions, and even read their eyes, so he assumed that the little boy was talking about these things. Of course Dahei was an exception. In Lu Lingxi’s heart, Dahei was unique.

It was only when he heard the little boy say that the river water was poisonous that Lu Lingxi became a little unsure.

The little boy nodded vigorously and looked at the big yellow dog. The big yellow dog seemed to be very scared of Dahei and avoided him from afar, barking at the little boy. The little boy blinked and said in a soft tone, “Ah Huang said that he likes you very much, Brother, and I like you too.”

Lu Lingxi curved his eyes and smiled faintly.

It was rare for the boy to find someone who believed him and was willing to listen to him talk about Ah Huang, so he sat beside Lu Lingxi and talked non-stop. Ah Huang was not his dog, his grandmother didn’t allow him to have a dog. He had found Ah Huang under the willow tree the last time he was there, the time Ah Huang had a stomach ache. He liked Ah Huang very much. He could understand Ah Huang’s words, but no one believed him, his friends thought he was a liar, and even his mother didn’t believe him.

Lu Lingxi didn’t have much experience with children, so he just listened to what the little boy was saying. But the more the little boy spoke, the more puzzled Lu Lingxi’s expression became. Now he was beginning to believe that the little boy could really understand the words of the big yellow dog. Perhaps because of Dahei, Lu Lingxi felt that the appearance of another “Big Yellow” (analogical to Dahei = Big Black) wasn’t something difficult to accept. But just because he could accept it, it didn’t mean that others could accept it too. After thinking about it, Lu Lingxi rubbed the little boy’s head and said seriously, “In future, don’t tell others that you can understand Ah Huang’s speech.”

“Why?”

Lu Lingxi found a reason, “You see I can also understand Dahei’s speech, but this is a little secret between Dahei and me. You can also think of it as a little secret between you and Ah Huang. How’s that?”

The little boy nodded cluelessly and asked rhetorically, “Is it also a little secret between me and Brother?”

Lu Lingxi gave an “en” and nodded heavily.

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