Pastoral Daily Life

Chapter 100

As a heavily industrial city, Fengcheng had many polluted rivers, and the Lingshui River really didn’t rank high among them. It was just that Songjia’s poisoning had become so big that the higher-ups had to make the Lingshui River the first priority for purification. Yan Yue received news that the funds for the management of the Lingshui River had been approved, and now it was up to the Environmental Protection Bureau when to start the external tender.

“It should be at the beginning of the year.” Yan Yue gave Lu Lingxi an analysis, “Right now the river is still frozen, so it’s impossible to purify it. When the bidding is done at the beginning of the year, the ice will be gone by the beginning of spring and the timing will be right. How about that? Are you sure?” He finished, asking with a smile.

Lu Lingxi gestured for Yan Yue to look at the windowsill, on which was a pot of aquatic chlorophytum. The water inside was fetched from the downstream section of the Lingshui River, and the toxic cyanide in it had been purified. Lu Lingxi raised his chin with pride and the smile on Yan Yue’s face deepened as he continued: “The scale of purification this time is not large and it should not be eye-catching to many companies. At that time if we let Ye Sange say hello, it won’t be a problem to win this project. As long as the effect of eelgrass is outstanding, we will hire someone to promote it and our fame will be out there.”

Tiny Garden Technology Company now had some name in the circle, and the launch of the new chlorophytum had earned Tiny Garden a good reputation. If the eelgrass could also be a big success, Tiny Garden’s position would be further consolidated. If similar tenders for pollution control were carried out in the future, they would be able to compete for them.

After listening to Yan Yue’s plans, Lu Lingxi thought about it and felt that he would have to continue growing aquatic plants in the pond next year. The evolution of the eelgrass was only for cyanide; other water source problems included the excess of heavy metals, eutrophication of water, toxic organic matter deposition, and the eelgrass couldn’t solve all the problems.

When he said this to Yan Yue, Yan Yue’s heart moved, “Shall we contract a few more acres of land and dig a larger pond?”

Lu Lingxi’s eyes lit up; he thought this was a good idea. “We can dig it by the Lingshui River, it will be easy to divert water then.”

The two of them planned with great enthusiasm for a long time, and the more Lu Lingxi talked, the more excited he became. He simply suggested, “How about we call Uncle Xiao and the others to go to the plant nursery with us sometime? We can also catch fish in the pond to eat.”

The small pond in the plant nursery was used by Lu Lingxi to raise a lot of fish, both big and small. At first, Lu Lingxi was worried that the victoria would not be able to spend the winter outdoors, so he thought of moving it into the greenhouse, but who would have thought that the victoria, evolved to the second level, would not be afraid of the cold and would grow well inside the pond. Thanks to its presence, the pond didn’t freeze over much, with only a thin layer of ice forming near the edges. This didn’t affect their ability to catch fish.

He looked bashfully at Yan Yue after he finished, and Yan Yue nodded with a smile. In the past, whenever Lu Lingxi followed Xiao Hong and the others out, Yan Yue was always alone at home. This time, if they went to the plant nursery, Yan Yue, as the co-owner, could somewhat be counted as part of the family.

“Let’s do it on Monday then, there are fewer people in the shop.”

“Good.”

Lu Lingxi’s proposal to go to the plant nursery quickly gained the approval of everyone. Wang Shuxiu had never been to the plant nursery before, and she joked with Zhou Xiaoman that this time she was taking advantage of Zhou Xiaoman and the others. The two got along very well over this period of time; with Zhou Xiaoman being gentle and Wang Shuxiu being spirited, they actually unexpectedly complemented each other.

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As they got to know each other, Zhou Xiaoman also began to talk to Wang Shuxiu about the things in her heart. She and Xiao Hong were good in every way, but they didn’t have children.

“It would be nice to have a child as obedient as Xiao Xi.” Zhou Xiaoman said enviously.

“Don’t worry, there will definitely be one. I heard from the little bastard that there is a hundred year old willow tree there in Lingshui Village, which is called the tree god by the locals and is particularly spiritual. This time we’ll go and worship the tree god too, so maybe there will be a child.”

Zhou Xiaoman didn’t believe in such things before, but because she had no children over the years, she also started to worship the gods. Hearing about the tree god, she immediately nodded. “Okay, let’s go and worship.”

While the two discussed it, Monday arrived.

Early in the morning, Xiao Hong took Zhou Xiaoman to the Hongfu Community. He said to Zhou Xiaoman as he parked the car, “Ah Feng said that the environment of this community is particularly good, don’t look that the house is dilapidated. In the summer all flowers and plants make it look like a park. If you like it, let’s buy a house here too, so we can come and live here in summer and go back to the northwest in winter.”

Zhou Xiaoman liked this idea. Although the northwest was her hometown, the environment there had been seriously damaged by mining and gold mining over the years. In the summer, when there was a drought, there was a lot of dust and dirt outside. The doctor had also said that her inability to conceive a child was probably related to the environment around her. The doctor also cited the fact that there were now more people who were infertile and although there was nothing wrong with their bodies, they couldn’t get pregnant. Why was that? For one thing, the environment was not good, the smog and dust had an impact. Then there was the bad food, such as recycled waste cooking oil and fertiliser-ripened vegetables. These didn’t look like a big deal for a while, but over the years they became a big problem.

Thinking of this, Zhou Xiaoman nodded. “Let’s ask around first and see if anyone is selling their house.”

The two of them got out of the car and went into the house, and Lu Lingxi and the others were all packed up. Wang Shuxiu greeted Xiao Hong and Zhou Xiaoman and invited them to have some breakfast first. She had cooked the cakes in the morning and boiled a pot of porridge. This was the first time Xiao Hong had met Yan Yue. Hearing that Yan Yue was the next-door neighbour and a partner in Lu Lingxi’s gardening shop, Xiao Hong smiled heartily at Yan Yue, saying that he relied on him to take care of his nephew.

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Yan Yue smiled politely. Xiao Hong’s figure was really as tall and strong as Lu Lingxi had said. Thinking about the 10,000 yuan red packet, he felt that it was really something that Xiao Hong could do.

In front of everyone, Xiao Hong was very warm to Yan Yue. With his back turned, Xiao Hong quietly pulled Xiao Feng and asked what was going on with Yan Yue. This young man didn’t look simple and he didn’t look like someone who needed to open a gardening shop in partnership with Lu Lingxi. Even if Wang Shuxiu didn’t notice anything, he didn’t believe Xiao Feng would miss the point, so why didn’t he remind Wang Shuxiu to keep Xiao Xi away from this guy?

Xiao Feng smiled wryly and told the whole story. Because Lu Yishui was involved in these matters, Xiao Feng was afraid that Xiao Hong would misunderstand, so he never mentioned it before. Now that Xiao Hong asked, he didn’t hide it anymore. When he finished speaking, Xiao Hong reacted. Lu Yishui in his mine was Wang Shuxiu’s ex-husband and Lu Lingxi’s father?! He glared at Xiao Feng with a weird expression, turned his head and laughed heartily again.

Since Xiao Feng had said that Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi had an unusual relationship, he didn’t get involved in it. But Yan Yue was black enough, just like him when he was young.

When they finished their breakfast and went out, they saw Xiao Baiwan poking his head out of the car window waiting for them. Xiao Hong was proud, “With our Baiwan around, there’s no need to lock the car when going anywhere.” As soon as he opened the door on his side, Xiao Baiwan immediately rushed out and barked at Dahei.

Dahei followed Lu Lingxi, completely ignoring Xiao Baiwan’s provocation. Instead, it was the Xiaohei hanging from Dahei’s head who struggled to lean forward and show his tongue at Xiao Baiwan.

“Ssss.”

Xiao Baiwan let out a low growl of dissatisfaction.

“Meow.”

A white kitten descended from the sky and stepped unceremoniously onto Xiao Baiwan’s head, slapped him with its two paws and jumped in front of Dahei.

People: “……”

Xiao Baiwan was furious and was about to lunge at the kitten with his teeth bared. Dahei reacted quickly and stepped in front of the kitten. The two dogs were once again pitted against each other.

“Xiao Baiwan, come back.” Xiao Hong shouted.

Xiao Baiwan was a little aggrieved, but obediently retreated slowly.

Lu Lingxi let out a sigh of relief, still really afraid that the two dogs would fight. Although he didn’t think Dahei would lose, he was worried that Dahei would get hurt.

“Let’s go, Dahei, get in the car.”

Lu Lingxi beckoned the kitten, who leapt into the air and slapped Xiaohei to the ground with one paw before jumping up to the first floor window, looking at Dahei from above, proudly saying “Meow.”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

Until he got into the car, Lu Lingxi still felt funny when he remembered what had just happened. The little kitten upstairs had an inexplicable possessiveness towards Dahei. He felt that if it were a human’s mentality, the kitten would probably mean that only it could tease Dahei, only it could step on Dahei whenever it wanted, and no one could bully Dahei but it.

Lu Lingxi stroked Dahei’s head, and Xiaohei slowly wrapped himself around his hand. Lu Lingxi gently poked Xiaohei with a finger and couldn’t help but smile as he watched Xiaohei stagger from his poke. Although Xiaohei seemed to be of no use at all and even the kitten from upstairs could slap it away with a paw, Lu Lingxi felt that if Xiaohei could make Dahei so wary before, Xiaohei would not be useless. But… in the future, Xiaohei would have to eat less; he had gained a lot of weight in just a few days.

Yan Yue and he had a tacit understanding. Yan Yue said, “From now on we have to give Xiaohei less to eat. These days he was eating sugar and his teeth are about to fall out.”

As a snake with a passion for sweets, Xiaohei heard Yan Yue’s words and immediately hissed in Yan Yue’s direction in protest.

Lu Lingxi held back his laughter, took Xiaohei and skillfully tied him into a knot, distracting him from the thought of sweets.

When they arrived at the plant nursery, it was still early. Uncle Li was very happy to see so many people there and invited them to his house for lunch, but Lu Lingxi politely declined. He usually bothered Uncle Li enough, so it would be too embarrassing for him to bother him any further by bringing people here this time.

“Xiao Xi, child, you’re just being too polite with me.” Uncle Li complained.

Lu Lingxi curved his eyes and didn’t say anything.

“By the way.” Uncle Li thought of something and pulled Lu Lingxi to tell him about Fang Lei in a low voice. He didn’t know who Fang Lei was, but he knew that recently there was always someone appearing suspiciously near the plant nursery, and often looking for Xiao Shi to talk to. Uncle Li suspected that someone was trying to get into the plant nursery again and was trying to use Xiao Shi.

In addition to this, Uncle Li also suspected Xu San. This man’s behaviour was very obvious, but Xu San actually didn’t say anything to him, and it was only when the old dog noticed that something was wrong that it alerted Uncle Li.

“Humph! If Xu San dares to commit the same old mistake, I’ll have Lao Xu break his legs.” Uncle Li said indignantly.

The old man was grumpy, and Lu Lingxi hurriedly pacified him. He wasn’t worried that someone would try to get into the plant nursery, as Xiao Shi was under Yu Xiaojuan’s strict control and never went into the plant nursery, so no one could ask him to do anything even if they wanted to. Besides, Xiao Shi was so quirky that it wasn’t certain who would coax whom.

But according to the old man, the other party had repeatedly come looking for Xiao Shi, which was a bit strange. Lu Lingxi was worried that the other party might have been thinking of Ah Huang because Xiao Shi had said something. But it could be that he was overthinking it. Who in their right mind would believe what Xiao Shi said?