Chapter 11

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

Chai Mi didn't discuss it much with her mother Su Wan; after all, Chai Mi knew her mother's personality well — sometimes, a slightly firmer attitude worked better.

By the time it was past eleven, Chai Mi had bought lunch in advance. Fortunately, by now her mother Su Wan's condition had improved a lot; she'd had an IV drip in the morning and could move around a bit. Aside from some weakness, there were no major issues.

After eating lunch, Chai Mi felt her mother's complexion looked a bit better. She gave a few instructions, then went out, hailed a taxi, and returned home.

When she arrived home, it was already noon. The weather was stiflingly hot, yet the house was deathly quiet.

Chai Mi hadn't even entered the Courtyard when she heard Lao Qingniu mooing and howling, constantly trying to break free of its tether rope. The sound was miserable, restless.

Because Lao Qingniu was already old, its bodily functions had long since declined. Its milk wasn't very plentiful, and since her mother Su Wan thought the Calf was cute, even at eight months old the Calf hadn't been weaned.

Thus Lao Qingniu suddenly couldn't see the Calf, and with the forced weaning, it couldn't cope — not to mention it missed the Calf excessively.

Chai Mi walked up beside Lao Qingniu and took a look. Lao Qingniu's eyes were bloodshot, clearly a bit "heaty"; its calls were also somewhat hoarse.

Chai Mi cursed inwardly: That damnable Lao Diao Pozi, forcibly seizing our family's Calf, making the old cow suffer.

Raising cattle isn't quite the same as raising poultry and such; it's easy to develop feelings raising cattle. They say raise a dog, raise a cat — those things understand human nature. But in reality, cattle raised by people also understand human nature. Especially since a Calf is also carried for ten months; since ancient times there's been the idiom "licking the calf, deep affection," enough to show a mother cow's love for her Calf.

Chai Mi ran to the Wu Zi where fodder was stored and saw there were still some withered green grasses — presumably cut on the mountain by her mother Su Wan the past couple of days. Chai Mi grabbed some at random and fed them to Lao Qingniu.

Lao Qingniu's Teeth/Dental condition wasn't great; ordinarily Chai Mi's mother always tried to get some green grass to feed it. In this era, grazing cattle was still possible, but because the Calf had never been put on a tether rope, taking it out to graze meant it would run everywhere. And by the Dragon Boat Festival, the Crops were already fairly tall; the Calf running wild would trample other families' Crops.

Now is different from the past; now Reform and Opening-up has happened, land was divided among households. They're all individual families' Crops; if the Calf trampled or ate someone's Crops, it was hard to settle.

Common folk plant a bit of Tian di, and all they talk about is "heaven-sent seedlings."

They say "live by the grace of heaven," people live on the Five Grains. Heaven bestows a meal, only then do the Crops have green shoots, so they're called "heaven-sent seedlings."

Trample the field seedlings, and you'll suffer Vengeance.

So there was no way to graze the cattle; they could only go out and cut green grass to feed them.

One can say that mother Calf with the purple flowers and clean face grew so smoothly, so well-proportioned — it was entirely the achievement of Chai Mi's mother — Su Wan alone.

Chai Mi knew her mother was especially attached to this Calf, and even more meticulous with Lao Qingniu.

Actually Chai Mi herself also especially liked this Lao Qingniu. In the first few years when the family was struggling, when Chai Mi went to junior high, they relied entirely on Lao Qingniu producing one Calf a year, selling it for money to supplement household expenses and pay Tuition.

Now Lao Qingniu is old; the family wanted to keep a Calf, keep a root — but Wang Huirong snatched it away.

How could this not make one Angry?

Chai Mi fed the green grass to Lao Qingniu. Lao Qingniu ate a few mouthfuls, but after a Time it still kept mooing.

Chai Mi went and fetched a bucket of water to give it to drink, but afterward it still kept calling.

Ai…

Chai Mi sighed, murmuring rather helplessly: Being a mother — none of it is Easy.