Pastoral Daily Life

“Spit it out, spit it out.” Lu Lingxi didn’t care about watering anymore and anxiously tried to open Dahei’s mouth to make him spit it out. Unfortunately, Dahei ate so fast that the whole tomato had been swallowed and nothing could be seen.

Lu Lingxi was speechless and worried that something might happen to Dahei, so he flicked his fingers on Dahei’s head several times and reprimanded, “How can you eat indiscriminately?”

Dahei opened his mouth wide and squinted at Lu Lingxi with an innocent look.

Since he had already eaten the tomato, there was nothing Lu Lingxi could do. He could only keep an eye on Dahei’s condition, just in case something happened. The dog and the man looked at each other until midnight. Dahei was still in great spirits but Lu Lingxi was so sleepy that he couldn’t hold on any longer and fell asleep in a daze.

Because he went to sleep too late at night, Lu Lingxi did not get up at five o’clock the next morning and missed the time to go to the flower market. It was only when Wang Shuxiu called him that he woke up.

“I’m going to your Aunt Lin’s house for something after work, I won’t be home in the morning, so remember to buy yourself some breakfast.”

Wang Shuxiu rattled a few instructions and hung up without waiting for Lu Lingxi to say anything. Lu Lingxi rubbed his eyes and threw away the phone, suddenly thinking of last night, “Dahei.”

As soon as he called out, Dahei, who was lying at the head of the bed, immediately came over, stuck out his tongue and licked his face enthusiastically. Lu Lingxi rubbed Dahei’s fur, made sure he was okay, and finally put his mind at ease. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he took a look at the tomatoes in the backyard. He had only watered half of them last night and the tomatoes on this half were already starting to turn red, while the other half that had not been watered was still a bit green. Calculating that it was still early, Lu Lingxi decided to finish watering the other half left from last night. He had just finished connecting the hose when Yi Hang climbed over the fence and jumped in.

“Lao San… fuck, your tomatoes have been given a growth accelerator?”

Turning around the corner, Yi Hang looked at the tomatoes in the backyard that were already heavy with fruit in surprise.

“The seeds are of the fast-growing type,” Lu Lingxi said vaguely, “I guess.”

Yi Hang didn’t know anything about these things, so he listened and let it go. He picked a tomato the size of his fist. It was a little hard to squeeze, the skin was just slightly red, and it looked a bit unripe. Yi Hang was just curious at first, he didn’t really expect Lao San to grow tomatoes. But when he looked at the tomato in his hand, he could smell a faint fragrance of it up close. Yi Hang could not resist lifting up the hem of his t-shirt, wiped the tomato haphazardly and directly bit into it.

Lu Lingxi: “…don’t eat it.”

He just lowered his head to get the hose when Yi Hang bit the tomato and it was too late to stop him.

Yi Hang finished the tomato in three bites and wondered, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Lingxi was afraid that something would happen to Dahei last night, so he took his phone and looked up a lot of information, which said that it was best not to eat unripe tomatoes, as there seemed to be something in them that was bad for your health.

Yi Hang didn’t care, “What can happen if you eat one. You’re just too cautious, Lao San. Besides, do you think the tomatoes sold outside are ripe since they are red?” He said that as he tried to pick another one, but when he met Lu Lingxi’s disapproving gaze, he laughed and let it go. “Speaking of which, Lao San, where did you get the seeds? They taste really good.” Yi Hang squinted his eyes enjoying the aftertaste and praised Lu Lingxi. The tomatoes were still green, but the taste was sour and sweet. It’s just that there was a little less juice because it was not ripe yet. It was so much better than the tomatoes sold in the market that had a bland taste. This tomato had exactly the same taste Yi Hang remembered from his childhood.

After this praise, Yi Hang shouted that this summer’s tomato supply depended on Lu Lingxi, so don’t forget him when these tomatoes were ripe.

Lu Lingxi nodded helplessly, looking at Yi Hang the same way he was looking at Dahei.

Yi Hang smiled and was about to head inside when he was startled to see Dahei. “Damn, when did you get a dog, Lao San?” Yi Hang exclaimed. No wonder he was surprised; Dahei was lying silently on the ground with a small bucket in front of him, so he really couldn’t be seen without looking closely. Yi Hang and Dahei’s eyes met and Yi Hang subconsciously took a step back. He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but he felt that this dog was looking at him with a wary look in its eyes, like it could pounce and bite him at any moment.

“This is Dahei.” Lu Lingxi walked over, stroked Dahei’s head and introduced him, then pointed at Yi Hang and said to Dahei, “This is Yi Hang, Dahei, remember.”

Dahei looked at Yi Hang, lowered his head and turned his eyes away. Last time, when Dahei bit Lu Yishui, Lu Lingxi had warned him not to bite people casually. Thinking about how Yi Hang was too lazy to go through the front door every time and just went over the fence, Lu Lingxi was worried that one day Yi Hang would be bitten by Dahei.

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With Lu Lingxi around, Yi Hang also regained his courage and had the heart to tease Dahei, “Yo, Dahei, right? I’ll find you a little bitch some day, how about that?”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

Dahei squinted his eyes and looked up at Yi Hang, then turned in the opposite direction, presenting Yi Hang his ass.

Yi Hang: “……”

Lu Lingxi couldn’t help but laugh. Although Dahei was not as wary of everyone now as he was at the beginning, perhaps because of his personality, he didn’t bother to take a look at ordinary people, and it was only Brother Dong and Yan Yue who could make Dahei look at them patiently. Lu Lingxi thought that maybe it was because they had saved Dahei’s life.

Yi Hang was frustrated by Dahei and could only look at Lu Lingxi sarcastically. “Right, Lao San, I have something to tell you.” Yi Hang deliberately came to Lu Lingxi this time after hearing his mother mention the news about Du Lin.

“My cousin might be going back to her hometown in the near future.”

Lu Lingxi was puzzled: “Is Sister Du going to visit her hometown?”

Yi Hang guessed at first glance that Lu Lingxi didn’t understand what he meant, and patiently explained: “It’s not about going to visit, I’m afraid she won’t come back. I heard my mother mention it seems that Cousin’s old home is to be demolished and you can get a house and a shop with the compensation. Cousin’s husband wants to go there to develop.”

Lu Lingxi reacted, “Do you mean Tiny Garden is going to be closed?”

Yi Hang shook his head, “Not necessarily, Cousin spent a lot of thought on Tiny Garden, she certainly won’t want to close it. She’ll either find someone to take care of it, like you, or sell it.”

Lu Lingxi let out a sigh and didn’t speak again.

The thing that Yi Hang mentioned to Lu Lingxi was exactly what Du Lin hesitated about. She graduated from university several years ago and started out working for others. After earning some money, she started the Tiny Garden business. It can be said that Tiny Garden was her other child, and she had poured a lot of her heart and soul into it. From the bottom of her heart, she couldn’t let go of Tiny Garden, but with the opportunity to return to her hometown, it was a difficult choice.

“Linzi, I’m telling you, this opportunity is really rare. If you don’t think of yourself, you have to think of our future children. Neither of us has a Fengcheng family register, and we can’t afford to buy a house here. We can’t live in a rented apartment when our child is born, can we? Even if we rent a house, what about going to school? This time our hometown is going to be demolished and two houses are directly given as a compensation. Let’s sell one for a shop and go back to gardening. Isn’t it better than staying here? ”

It was Du Lin’s husband, Zhang Hua, who was talking. He had had enough of being adrift and wanted to go back. The problem was that although he was talking about selling a house for a shop, the money was still not enough. He calculated that they would have to sell Tiny Garden and borrow some more to get enough money for the shop. It was Tiny Garden that Du Lin couldn’t part with right now.

“I’ll think about it.” Du Lin hesitated.

“What else is there to think about?” Zhang Hua was a little anxious. There were only a few shops on the street, and the relatives back home had deliberately withheld the news of the demolition trying to take advantage of their family. They only just found out that their old home was going to be demolished. They had received the news late, and there really wasn’t anything good left if they delayed any longer.

“Linzi, didn’t you always say that Xiao Lu is not bad? He is sensible and likes these flowers and plants as much as you do. It’s not safe to sell it to others but what else is there to worry about if you sell it to him? ”

Du Lin didn’t say anything. If she really wanted to sell the shop, Lu Lingxi would be a good candidate. But she was afraid that the child wouldn’t have the money to buy it. The couple discussed and discussed, and the matter dragged on for another half week. Only three days later did Lu Lingxi hear about this matter from Du Lin’s mouth.

“Xiao Xi, this is the situation, what do you think?”

Early that morning, Du Lin came to the shop hugging her stomach to look for Lu Lingxi. She was not an indecisive person. She couldn’t make up her mind before, but once she made up her mind, she was straightforward. In Du Lin’s heart, Lu Lingxi was really a good candidate to take over. After only half a month of working in the shop, Lu Lingxi had already gained a reputation in the neighbourhood, and the business would definitely be good in the long run. She had a good impression of Lu Lingxi and was confident in the Tiny Garden business, so she thought she would help the child out. Apart from that, it was also Du Lin’s selfishness. She didn’t feel comfortable selling the business to someone else. They were in a hurry and didn’t have time to choose someone slowly, and she was afraid that someone who didn’t know anything would ruin her hard work.

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When Du Lin finished speaking, she looked at Lu Lingxi expectantly, waiting for his answer.

The last time Lu Lingxi heard Yi Hang’s words, he had actually thought about it, but his main problem was that he didn’t have any money and he still owed Yan Yue 400,000.

Facing Du Lin’s expectant gaze, Lu Lingxi shook his head somewhat embarrassedly. “I know Sister Du has good intentions, but I don’t have so much money.”

Du Lin thought for a moment and said, “Look, Xiao Xi, don’t make a decision in a hurry, go back and talk to your family to see if you can borrow some money. Don’t look at the amount of money you think is a lot right now. The business will be profitable in a year or two once it’s up and running. It’s much better to work for yourself than to work for others all the time.”

Du Lin meant well, so Lu Lingxi nodded. “Okay, I’ll go back and discuss it with my mother and give you news tomorrow, Sister Du.”

“I’ll wait for you then,” Du Lin said and left. She had a mess waiting for her at home to go back and clean up.

As soon as Du Lin left, Lu Lingxi took a pen and did some calculations. Du Lin’s Tiny Garden was actually not only this shop, but also several acres of land that she rented where Du Lin’s own plant nursery (a garden where young plants or seedlings of flowers are cultivated), the source of the plants in the shop, was located. This shop was rented by Du Lin; the contract was signed for three years, and it had been only one year now, with two years to go. The shop, plus the plant nursery, added up to about 200,000 yuan. The last time Lu Lingxi was hospitalised, it cost a lot of money, and Wang Shuxiu didn’t have much money left in her hand, so it wasn’t enough to cover the price Du Lin mentioned.

Lu Lingxi let out a small sigh, looking at the spring orchid that had already taken root. He really wished he had five of them all of a sudden, so that he would have enough money for everything. When he had something on his mind, he didn’t know how to hide it and everything was written on his face.

After Yan Yue once again came to the door with a stupid question like “How long can this geranium bask in the sun in a day”, he saw the boy’s strangeness at a glance.