Chapter 1532

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

Around eleven o'clock noon, Wang Dashan drove the car to the town, met up with Wang Xiaohua here, and everyone ate lunch together at He Ji Restaurant at the town street entrance.

Wang Dashan didn't get off the expressway at the county town, but instead exited at the Shangang Town expressway exit.

After eating lunch with Wang Xiaohua, they dropped Wang Xiaohua and Zhang Ruoshui off in the town, giving the two of them some alone time.

Meanwhile, Wang Dashan and Du Xiaojuan, bringing Li Xiulan and Wang Dujin along, went over to Wang Erhai's place to visit Wang Erhai, as well as Zhang Yueran who was about to give birth.

Arriving at the county city side, Du Xiaojuan, as always, sold the valuable gifts first, then went to see Wang Erhai and Zhang Yueran; additionally, this time she had also bought some baby supplies in advance.

Baby clothes, diaper rash cream, baby bottles, automatic bottle warmers, and so on.

Then she also incidentally bought some gifts for Wang Xiaohua and Zhang Ruoshui, planning to give them when they returned in the evening.

Wang Dashan watched Du Xiaojuan shopping with big bags and small bags, following behind carrying the shopping bags, somewhat speechless:

"Why are you buying so many things? My second brother isn't an outsider, there's no need to give this many gifts!"

Du Xiaojuan, however, said:

"Precisely because he's not an outsider, we should give even better gifts! Besides, we have so much money now we don't know where to spend it; giving valuable gifts out gives you, this big man, face — aren't you happy about that?"

The moment face was mentioned, Wang Dashan stopped objecting.

After all, he indeed cared a great deal about face.

And at this time, on the other side.

Wang Xiaohua and Zhang Ruoshui were walking shoulder to shoulder along the town's streets.

Today was market day, and also a Saturday; the market was a bit more lively than on ordinary days, but only a bit more lively — there wasn't the kind of shoulder-to-shoulder market day scene from childhood.

"Living in this small town, it must be quite pleasant, right?"

Zhang Ruoshui tried to find a topic to chat about.

Wang Xiaohua then said:

"It's alright. I'm a local, I know this town inside out. Its only advantage is the air is still pretty good; there's no entertainment to speak of. People who like quiet might like it; people who like bustle definitely wouldn't get used to living here."

Zhang Ruoshui then said:

"Then I'd definitely get used to it; I just like quiet."

Then she sighed:

"Working in the city, the pressure is so great. Every day there are endless tasks, unmeetable quotas..."

Wang Xiaohua then said:

"Feeling work pressure is high — that's because you don't actually like your current job."

Zhang Ruoshui's eyes immediately lit up:

"Huh, how did you know? You're so clever!"

Wang Xiaohua was somewhat speechless:

"Isn't that obvious at a glance? By the way, is there any kind of work you'd like to do?"

Zhang Ruoshui then said:

"Saying it out loud, don't laugh at me — I don't know what work I'd like to do either."

"Then do you have anything you like doing?"

"I like reading, but I read very slowly; I like cooking, but I cook very slowly too. Back when I was at home, I took the initiative to cook, but my mom disliked how slow I was and wouldn't let me cook — she'd do it herself, saying by the time I finished, she'd be starved flat."

Wang Xiaohua then said:

"Slow has slow's way of living, fast has fast's way of living. Your slow-and-steady personality, putting you in a fast-paced city to live and work, would indeed make you quite maladjusted. Why not go test for a more relaxed civil servant position, or a public institution post?"

Wang Xiaohua felt that for someone like Zhang Ruoshui, wanting to not be eliminated in the city would probably be very difficult; only those units without hard assessment quotas could let her live well.

But Zhang Ruoshui gave a bitter laugh:

"It's not that I haven't tried testing for them. I did, but my problem-solving speed is too slow — I only get forty or fifty points, so..."

Wang Xiaohua exhaled a breath of turbid air:

"Then how did you test into university?"

Zhang Ruoshui smiled embarrassedly:

"I only did the basic questions, the ones I knew how to do, and then barely tested into a second-tier university. For math's final challenging problems, I didn't even dare look at them, and had no time to look."

Wang Xiaohua was truly at a loss for words regarding this.

Getting along, he discovered Zhang Ruoshui really was stupid; everything was half a beat slow.

Zhang Ruoshui spoke again at this time:

"Sometimes I think, why don't I just go live in a rural area? The rural pace is slow. But my parents are both in the city, my hometown isn't in a rural area, so coming to your town, I feel pretty good."

Wang Xiaohua smiled:

"On this point, you're actually different from most girls. Most girls seeing this poor, backward small town all can't wait to escape — how could they possibly feel good about it?"

The two chatted idly as they walked, and before they knew it, they had already arrived at the market side.

Up ahead there was an old granny selling kittens she had raised at home.

Zhang Ruoshui walked over, squatted down to look, and couldn't help revealing a look of fondness:

"What a cute little orange cat!"

Wang Xiaohua smiled:

"Want it?"

Zhang Ruoshui nodded.

The old woman revealed a simple, honest smile:

"This is the last one. My old mother cat gave birth to a litter of four kittens! This last one, you all take it. 15 yuan to you all!"

Zhang Ruoshui was surprised:

"This cheap?"

Wang Xiaohua then said:

"Rural area kittens and puppies, none are precious. It's just this price."

Zhang Ruoshui then said:

"How about we buy the little kitty?"

Wang Xiaohua instead advised her:

"You think it over. This isn't a matter of 15 yuan."

"Then what is it a matter of?"

"You buy it, then you have to take good care of it. No matter how you put it, it's a little life. You can't just abandon it halfway because feeding is troublesome, because you dislike its feces and urine being too smelly. Raising a pet is the same as raising a child."

Zhang Ruoshui thought for a bit, then said:

"What you say is right. Raising a pet is the same as raising a child. Rest assured, I won't lightly abandon it. Tomorrow I'll bring it to my rental house to raise."

Wang Xiaohua looked at her, revealing a trace of surprise:

"You're sure?"

Zhang Ruoshui nodded:

"Sure!"

Wang Xiaohua smiled:

"Then you decide yourself. Just once a decision is made, you have to be responsible to the end."

Zhang Ruoshui nodded solemnly once more.

Then she paid the old woman 15 yuan, buying that little orange cat.

She held the little orange cat, first brought it back to Wang Xiaohua's dormitory to place there and raise for a bit, wait until tomorrow then take it away.

For this she even specially had Wang Xiaohua bring her to the nearby vegetable market, bought a fish, cooked the fish meat and fed the cat.

Because in this small town, there simply wasn't any cat food for sale.

Zhang Ruoshui said to Wang Xiaohua:

"Xiao Hua, do you believe me? I will definitely raise this cat well, just like it's a child."

Wang Xiaohua glanced at her, sighed:

"You can't even take care of yourself, yet raise a cat..."

He felt Zhang Ruoshui was not only stupid, but also her mind was overly simple, overly idealistic.

So looking at this matter of raising a cat, it didn't become a plus in Wang Xiaohua's inner heart because of Zhang Ruoshui's overflowing love, but instead became a minus item.

Because two people living together, and raising a cat, are the same in essence.

At the start both are full of longing, imagining all beautiful scenes. But when it lands in reality, what you face is cat feces and cat urine everywhere, cat fur all over the floor, pet trash that has to be managed every day...