Pastoral Daily Life

Chapter 17

When Wang Shuxiu received a call from Lu Lingxi and hurried back, what she saw was Lu Yishui crouching over his injured leg, sitting in the living room and wailing, while a big black dog squatted opposite him, staring at him intently.

“What’s going on?” As soon as she heard that Lu Yishui had come home, she quickly hung up the phone and called a taxi just to rush back, afraid that Lu Lingxi would suffer alone. She was still not clear what had happened.

Lu Lingxi told about Lu Yishui climbing over the fence from the backyard instead of coming through the main entrance, and being bitten by Dahei. After speaking, he touched Dahei’s head, worried that Wang Shuxiu would be angry with Dahei.

Lu Yishui grunted and scolded: “Little bastard, you’ve grown up, huh? You let that dog bite your old man! Hurry up and take that dog away from me.”

Wang Shuxiu listened to Lu Lingxi’s words and snorted, “Deserve it!” Lu Lingxi didn’t know why Lu Yishui didn’t go through the front door, but she knew. He was just afraid that Brother Feng’s people would see him, so he had to sneak around.

After interrupting Lu Yishui’s grumbling, Wang Shuxiu questioned suspiciously, “What are you doing back here?”

Lu Yishui straightened up. “This is my home, why can’t I come back?” Seeing that Wang Shuxiu was about to get angry, Lu Yishui suddenly softened his tone and begged, “Xiaohua, I was wrong, I really know I was wrong this time. I’ll never gamble again, I’ll be a son of a bitch if I gamble. Brother Feng is really going to kill me this time. He said that if I don’t pay back the money, he will send me to the northwest to work in the mine. Xiaohua, can you watch me being forced to death by Brother Feng? Once a couple is always a couple, Xiaohua, please save me just this once more.”

When Lu Yishui spoke pitifully, Wang Shuxiu laughed coldly, “Be a son of a bitch if you gamble? I’ve heard you say that many times before. Brother Feng should have sent you to the coal mine in the northwest to save you from coming here and causing trouble. I’m telling you, Lu Yishui, you should give up. I won’t give you any money, not only that, I’ll divorce you.”

Wang Shuxiu had not divorced before because of Lu Lingxi. But this time Lu Lingxi was so badly injured that he almost lost his life, and Lu Yishui was still at the gambling table without even showing his face, so Wang Shuxiu was completely heartbroken. Even if Lu Lingxi regained his memory and made trouble with her later, she was still sure to divorce this time.

When Wang Shuxiu mentioned divorce, Lu Yishui immediately exploded. “What divorce? Who wants to divorce you? Little bastard, son, do you want to see this family fall apart?”

This phrase was Lu Yishui’s golden phrase. Perhaps it was because Lu Yishui had told Lu Lingxi too many times about the hardships he had suffered growing up without a father, but Lu Lingxi was very sensitive to the topic of divorce. Every time Wang Shuxiu mentioned it, Lu Lingxi would oppose it in every way. Lu Yishui was used to pulling Lu Lingxi in as an ally, but he forgot that the current Lu Lingxi was no longer the old Lu Lingxi.

When the conversation turned to him, Lu Lingxi looked seriously at Wang Shuxiu and said, “Mom, if you want to get a divorce, just do it. I will take care of you in future.”

Although Lu Yishui was the father of this body, Lu Lingxi had only seen him three times after he woke up and every time the impression of Li Yishui’s character in his eyes got worse and worse. He really had no feelings for Lu Yishui at all. He didn’t know how this body’s original owner would have chosen to act in this situation, but he was now Lu Lingxi and his heart ached for Wang Shuxiu. He hoped that Wang Shuxiu could get out of this kind of life.

“Little bastard, you…” Lu Yishui lunged to hit Lu Lingxi.

As soon as he got up, Dahei straightened up and gave a low growl. Dahei’s growl stirred up a bad memory in Lu Yishui and fear flashed across his face as he reluctantly sat down again.

“Divorce is divorce, but…” Lu Yishui’s eyes twinkled, “Xiaohua, sell the house to pay back Brother Feng for me, and I’ll divorce you.”

“Bah, nice try!” Wang Shuxiu was furious, “This house is my son’s, Lu Yishui, don’t even think about this house.”

“Then I won’t divorce!” Lu Yishui said disdainfully.

Wang Shuxiu was so angry that she looked around to find something to beat Lu Yishui with, but when she turned her head and saw Dahei, she pointed at Lu Yishui and said, “Bite him.”

Dahei understood Wang Shuxiu’s words, shook his fur and slowly stood up.

“Wang Xiaohua, don’t go too far… hey hey, damn dog, don’t come closer…”

Lu Yishui didn’t think Wang Shuxiu was serious, but Dahei was serious. At that moment, Lu Yishui no longer cared about anything. Dragging his injured leg, he opened the door and ran away. Dahei slowly walked to the door, barked and heard Lu Yishui “ouch” outside. He had probably run into something in the dark.

After scaring Lu Yishui, Dahei calmly walked back and squatted at Lu Lingxi’s feet.

Lu Lingxi: “……”

Wang Shuxiu was originally furious, but she couldn’t help but laugh at this scene. “Is this the dog you said you wanted to keep?” Wang Shuxiu asked as she closed the door.

Lu Lingxi nodded nervously.

Wang Shuxiu seemed to want to say something, but waved her hand half-heartedly, “Forget it, I thought that you were going to raise a puppy like a Pekingese. I didn’t expect it to be such a big guy. Okay, for the sake of him biting the old bastard, let him be big.”

Lu Lingxi breathed a sigh of relief, stroked Dahei’s head and complimented him, “Dahei is very smart, sensible and capable. There are many people who like him and there are people who competed with me to adopt Dahei.”

Wang Shuxiu’s expression became weird. Just a stray dog, and there were people who wanted to adopt it? The little bastard didn’t even know how to lie now. She didn’t believe it but pretended that she did, saying casually, “Fine, fine, whatever you say. What’s the name again, oh yes, Dahei, Dahei is a good dog.”

s

Lu Lingxi felt Wang Shuxiu’s words were perfunctory and was a little aggrieved for Dahei. He thought of Yan Yue. Obviously, there were many people who liked Dahei, and Yan Yue liked Dahei. Yan Yue also wanted to adopt Dahei, he even came to see Dahei every day.

“Okay, okay, go to bed.” Wang Shuxiu had asked for a leave to rush back, so she didn’t bother to go back to work. Seeing that it was getting late and the little bastard had the intention of continuing to praise Dahei, she hurriedly urged Lu Lingxi to go to sleep.

Lu Lingxi was still a bit worried about Lu Yishui’s gambling debts. He remembered the man named Brother Feng from the last time. He was a little worried that if Lu Yishui didn’t pay back the money, Brother Feng would come to trouble Wang Shuxiu.

Wang Shuxiu waved her hand, “Don’t worry, Brother Feng is okay, not the kind of person who messes around.” He would only deal with Lu Yishui, never involving his family. As for how Lu Yishui would find the money, she didn’t care.

Lu Lingxi relaxed and prepared to go back to bed. Dahei consciously followed him, with no intention of going back to the backyard.

Lu Lingxi smiled and scratched Dahei’s chin, “You want to sleep with me?”

Dahei squinted his eyes comfortably and curled up, lying at the head of Lu Lingxi’s bed.

After a good night’s sleep, when Lu Lingxi had to go to work the next day, Wang Shuxiu insisted that Lu Lingxi take Dahei with him. She knew Lu Yishui; the old bastard would never give up, he was still thinking about the house and was probably waiting for Lu Lingxi somewhere. Wang Shuxiu said to Dahei bitterly, “Remember that old bastard last night? Bite him when you see him, don’t be polite.”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

One man and one dog walked to Tiny Garden. Dahei seemed to like staying in Tiny Garden very much but refused to go to the pet shop across the street no matter how much Lu Lingxi tried to coax him. Fortunately, he didn’t bark or make trouble, but just curled up under the wicker chair at the entrance and slept. Some customers didn’t even notice that there was a dog in the shop. Occasionally, when a customer saw Dahei and tried to tease him, Dahei wouldn’t even lift his eyelids and continued to sleep after turning in another direction.

Recently the business of Tiny Garden was quite booming because of Lao Han’s vigorous advertising. Lu Lingxi was busy all morning and planned to take Dahei to the pet shop across the street for lunch while no one was around when someone walked in.

“Excuse me…”

“Grandpa Su?” Lu Lingxi turned around, slightly baffled. The customer at the door was Su Lang’s grandfather Su Weizheng. When he was hospitalised, Su Weizheng even went to the hospital to see him a few times.

“Xiao Xi, why are you here?” Su Weizheng was very surprised.

Lu Lingxi explained, “I work here.”

“Oh.” Su Weizheng suddenly realized and said with a smile, “You are the very powerful young man they mentioned.”

Lu Lingxi couldn’t help but feel guilty when hearing that. When he first watered the golden pothos at the hospital, he didn’t know anything and it was Su Lang who showed him how to do it. And now within a few days, he had become a very powerful person everyone talked about. Would Grandpa Su find it strange?

s

Lu Lingxi’s heart was drumming, but Su Weizheng knew nothing about it. With a smile, he showed the flower he was holding in his hands to Lu Lingxi, “Xiao Xi, can you help me and take a look? Why does this pot of flowers keep growing leaves but not blooming?”

Su Weizheng was talking about the violet he was holding. He explained, “A former student gave me this pot of flowers a while ago, and it has been growing very well. The student said it was going to bloom in a few days. But it’s almost autumn and it’s still not blooming, so I don’t know what’s going on?”

When it came to business, Lu Lingxi dismissed the messy thoughts in his head, scanned the violet, and the white panel appeared.

Plant name: Violet

Plant needs: Vernalisation treatment

Plant viability: High

The term “vernalisation treatment” originally referred to the act of giving germinating seeds a certain amount of time at low temperatures in order to promote the formation of flower buds. It was called vernalisation because low temperatures would bring on spring. Later on, it came to mean the treatment of not only germinating seeds, but also plants in the growing season to promote the formation of flower buds.

The pot of violets in front of them was a perennial crop. The student who gave it to Su Weizheng probably did not know anything about it and it had not undergone the low temperature treatment.

Lu Lingxi, who had been studying flowers for some time, tried to make it as easy to understand as possible, and Su Weizheng soon understood.

“Then what should I do?”

The flowering of violets was greatly affected by temperature, and there were many artificial means to regulate the timing of violet flowering. Lu Lingxi gave Su Weizheng a detailed explanation, and it was up to Su Weizheng to decide what to do.

Since he retired, Su Weizheng enjoyed tinkering with flowers and plants. He usually met old men and old ladies to discuss these things together. It was rare to meet a young man like Lu Lingxi. The boy had a nice voice and his expression was gentle when he talked about flowers and plants. The old man had a very good impression of Lu Lingxi before, and now that he saw him like this, he liked him even more, so much so that he wanted Lu Lingxi to be his own grandson.

The old man and the young man had a warm chat, and Su Weizheng was so happy that he asked Lu Lingxi to go to the flower market with him early tomorrow morning.

“Xiao Xi, let me tell you, the flower market is not far from here, it’s by the river not too far behind. The market opens at six in the morning in summer and there are all kinds of flowers in it. You should really go and have a look, Xiao Xi.”

Lu Lingxi was moved by Su Weizheng’s words, and he calculated that if he went there at six in the morning, he would have enough time to return before nine.

“Okay then, Grandpa Su, tell me the time and the place and I’ll find you.”

“Let’s do it this way, tomorrow morning at six o’clock, we’ll meet at this street corner.”

Lu Lingxi nodded, “No problem.”

Elder Su left with the flowers in his hands satisfied, and Lu Lingxi called Dahei, “Let’s go, let’s go eat.”

Dahei wagged his tail and stood up. But when he walked out, he suddenly stood still, baring his teeth towards the left and giving a low growl.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Lingxi followed the direction of Dahei’s gaze and looked over. A little white Pekingese was so scared by Dahei that it shivered, pawing its master’s leg and refusing to move.

Lu Lingxi was speechless and flicked his finger on Dahei’s head, “Scaring other dogs again?”

Dahei wagged his tail, aggrieved, and gave a low whimper as he followed Lu Lingxi.

At the intersection on the left, Lu Yishui wiped his sweat. He was almost discovered by that damn dog. Thinking of that dog made his right leg ache dully; the bite he received last night hadn’t healed yet. Just wait, don’t let him catch that dog. If it does, he will sell it to a hot pot restaurant, Lu Yishui thought with hatred.

There was no way today; the dog was with the little bastard and Li Yishui didn’t dare to show his face. Lu Yishui was limping away about to leave when he turned his head and saw a familiar car parked not far away. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and an idea came to his mind.