Pastoral Daily Life

Chapter 101

After parting with Uncle Li, Lu Lingxi privately mentioned to Yan Yue what Uncle Li had told him. No matter whether the man Uncle Li described was after the plant nursery or Xiao Shi, it was still related to them. Unfortunately, Xiao Shi went to his grandmother’s house two days ago and would not be back for a week, otherwise they could’ve asked Xiao Shi what was going on.

Yan Yue didn’t take it seriously when he heard it. Tiny Garden and Luxuan Gardening were now in their “honeymoon” period, and with Luxuan Gardening behind them, ordinary gardeners wouldn’t dare to make any moves. As for Lu Lingxi’s concern that the other party had found out the secret of Xiao Shi and Ah Huang, it didn’t matter much. Who would believe the words of a child, and there was no proof of such things.

He said it firmly, and as Lu Lingxi listened, he stopped worrying, taking Wang Shuxiu and the others to look around the plant nursery. When the plant nursery was originally planned, it was divided into two parts: greenhouse planting and open-air planting. Now it was winter, the open-air part was bare and there was nothing to see, and all the plants were inside the greenhouse.

Once you entered the greenhouse, you were greeted with strikingly lush vegetation. Plants of all kinds were growing vigorously and were very pleasing to the eye. Accustomed to the winter depression outside, at first glance everyone had a sense of spring flowers blooming and the seasons changing.

Zhou Xiaoman took a breath and exclaimed, “The air is so good in here.”

The greenhouse was well ventilated, and the vibrant green plants inside were full of vitality. A sniff of the air was really refreshing and lung-cleansing, not at all comparable to the dry and dusty air outside. Wang Shuxiu was used to the greenery of the community in summer, and smiling at Zhou Xiaoman’s comment, she said, “The environment of our community in summer is similar to this one, and the air is just as good.”

Xiao Feng nodded in agreement; he had been to the community several times in summer and the environment was really not worse than here.

Zhou Xiaoman had already thought of buying a house in the community and hearing them say so, immediately looked at Xiao Hong. Xiao Hong smiled and said, “Let’s go back and buy a house, in the future we will live in Fengcheng in the summer.”

Xiao Feng was most happy about this plan of Xiao Hong. Xiao Hong was the only family he had left, and Fengcheng and his hometown in the northwest were too far apart. So if Xiao Hong could really live in the community in the future, it would be much better than before.

They chatted as they strolled along the greenhouse, and after looking at the green plants they went to the flower growing area. The greenhouse was kept at a temperature of around 20 degrees and the flowers inside were basically in bloom. The various colours of flowers were very bright and their fragrance was intoxicating. Uncle Li was especially attentive to taking care of these flowers recently. It would be the end of the year soon, and there would be a small peak in sales in the flower market before the end of the year. Last time Uncle Li joked with Lu Lingxi that the size of this year’s red envelopes depended on this sale.

Xiao Feng and the others were very surprised to see the entire plant nursery. No one expected Lu Lingxi to manage the plant nursery so well. Wang Shuxiu was happy in her heart; she was relieved that the little bastard was so capable.

“Not bad, Xiao Xi has a future.”

Xiao Feng was restrained in character, but Xiao Hong was forthright in temperament. He immediately patted Ling Xi on the shoulder happily and praised him vigorously.

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Lu Lingxi smiled with his eyes curved, intuitively guessing that his shoulders were probably going to be black and blue.

After they had finished looking at the plant nursery, Wang Shuxiu dragged Zhou Xiaoman to worship the big willow tree. The two of them also found some red cloth strips from somewhere and tied them to the willow tree, saying that people in the village said that like this one could ask for the blessing of the tree god. After eating lunch and resting for a while, Lu Lingxi began to pack up and prepare to go back to Fengcheng. It was when Uncle Li suddenly approached with a wary face, pulled Lu Lingxi aside and whispered, “That man is here again.”

Lu Lingxi immediately realised who Uncle Li was talking about. He whispered to Yan Yue, who called Dahei, excused himself and left the small courtyard with Lu LIngxi. Hearing Uncle Li say that the man was at the big willow tree, the two simply went to find him.

Under the big willow tree at the entrance of the village, Fang Lei wandered around but couldn’t find Xiao Shi. Only Ah Huang was lying lazily on the ground sunbathing. Fang Lei threw the bones he had brought to Ah Huang, squatted down not far from him and asked, “Where is Xiao Shi, why isn’t he with you today?”

Through his observation, Fang Lei found that Ah Huang could understand his words. Not the kind of conditioned reflexes that would be trained, but really understood him, just like Dahei did.

Ah Huang waved his tail, not meaning to pay any attention to Fang Lei at all. As for the bones Fang Lei brought over, Ah Huang also just took a glance at them and turned its head away.

Fang Lei couldn’t help but laugh, but he also knew that this dog was very arrogant and only recognised Xiao Shi as its master. Sometimes, when he made Xiao Shi happy, Ah Huang condescended to look at him, as if this was already a great gift. Fang Lei sometimes couldn’t help comparing Dahei and Ah Huang, and he felt that the two dogs had completely different personalities. Dahei was stable and reliable, while Ah Huang was a bit big-headed.

Thinking about this, Fang Lei felt that he had gone even more crazy recently. He never thought that one day he would actually analyse the personalities of the two dogs like he did with people. Although neither of the two dogs was an ordinary dog, this kind of behaviour was a bit too insane.

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Fang Lei waited for a while, but Ah Huang had no intention of eating the bones at all, and Xiao Shi never appeared. He was already sure that Xiao Shi probably had gone somewhere and wasn’t coming over, otherwise this was usually the time when Xiao Shi was playing like crazy. His legs were numb from squatting, so Fang Lei simply stood up. He had actually stopped by today thinking he would come to see Xiao Shi and Ah Huang. Since Xiao Shi wasn’t here, there was no need for him to wait any longer.

As these thoughts flashed by, Fang Lei was about to leave when Ah Huang, who had been lying down, suddenly stood up and pressed his body to the ground, assuming a submissive stance.

Fang Lei immediately turned around, his pupils slightly shrinking as he blurted out, “Dahei.”

A hint of surprise flashed in Yan Yue’s eyes. He glanced at the bones on the ground, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, revealing an appropriately polite smile. “Why is Officer Fang here?”

Yan Yue didn’t expect the one Uncle Li was talking about would be Fang Lei, and he was now 100% sure that Fang Lei had come for Ah Huang, or rather for Xiao Shi. He was a bit confused as to where Fang Lei found out the secret of Xiao Shi and Ah Huang. What was even more odd was that he actually believed it, didn’t he? These thoughts flew through Yan Yue’s mind but no slightest trace of them could be seen on his face.

Behind Yan Yue, Lu Lingxi stroked Dahei’s head. He was even more surprised by Fang Lei’s appearance. It was a good thing that Yan Yue was half blocking him, so Fang Lei couldn’t see the surprise on his face.

Fang Lei’s eyes shifted from Yan Yue to Lu Lingxi and he instantly realised something. He quickly smiled and said in a very friendly way, “I’m here to look for Xiao Shi. The little boss is Brother Xiao Xi that Xiao Shi spoke of, right?”

From the first moment he saw Dahei, Fang Lei connected the dots. The reason why Ah Huang and Xiao Shi initially attracted his attention was precisely because he had seen Dahei and Lu Lingxi’s mode of communication, and then he had a familiar feeling when he saw Xiao Shi and Ah Huang getting along.

At first, he didn’t really believe Xiao Shi’s words, but as he got acquainted with Xiao Shi, Xiao Shi revealed more and more. Even though Xiao Shi was very smart, he was after all only five years old and still a child, and was easily trapped by Fang Lei’s words. In Xiao Shi’s narrative, Brother Xiao Xi’s name appeared very frequently. Fang Lei hadn’t thought much about it when he heard the name, but now that he saw Dahei, he suddenly had a bolder suspicion. Xiao Shi and Ah Huang were not the only ones in this world who could communicate, Lu Lingxi and Dahei could definitely do so too.

While Fang Lei was thinking, Yan Yue had already nodded in acknowledgement of Fang Lei’s words. But… he said indifferently, “I’m afraid Officer Fang has made a trip for nothing. Xiao Shi has gone to his grandmother’s house and is not in Lingshui Village these days.”

“That’s okay.” Fang Lei smiled carelessly, “I just stopped by to see Xiao Shi and was about to go back.”

He didn’t linger after he finished speaking, nodded to Yan Yue and Lu Lingxi and left. The moment they passed each other, Fang Lei seemed to want to say something, but hesitated and didn’t say anything.

Yan Yue looked at his back quietly, his expression thoughtful.