Chapter 1185: Where is my watermelon

In the middle of winter, considering that Xiangxiang had to go on a "long journey," Dabao's family made full preparations.

First, they took an old quilt and spread it in the back of the truck; while spreading it, the old mother was still worried:

"This iron sheet is so cold! Sigh, it's a pity there are no farmlands nearby, otherwise your dad and I could ride a tricycle to pull a cart of straw back to spread on it, that's what keeps out the cold."

The quilt was spread, but a cover couldn't be added on top for a while, so the old mother took out the clothes she made for Xiangxiang by hand—after all, it's not easy to buy pet clothes of this size!

For the New Year, Xiangxiang also dressed festively, in a red satin outfit, wishing it could wrap its pig hooves. Inside was an old cotton-padded jacket that had been taken apart; whether it was comfortable to wear or not was one thing, but it looked really warm.

Fortunately, Xiangxiang was big, otherwise, if this family begged her to let Xiangxiang sit in the back row, how could she refuse?

Then the question arose... the truck bed was so high, it wasn't easy for Xiangxiang to get up!

The whole family was lifting stools and chairs, stacking them one by one, forming a long staircase. Song Tan wanted to speak several times, but was gently patted on the back of her hand by Lu Chuan to soothe her.

"Don't scare them. Besides, they are about to part, give them a chance to work."

Song Tan then held back her laughter: "I'm just annoyed they are too slow... you say it's a matter of lifting it with one hand..."

Lu Chuan sighed helplessly: Actually, he was quite strong now, but why lift a pig for no reason? Let Xiangxiang's owner be busy for a while longer.

After much tossing and turning, Xiangxiang finally got on the car smoothly.

The silent old father looked at Xiangxiang, who had turned around twice in the truck bed, and at this moment, another hidden worry arose:

"Will Xiangxiang get carsick?"

It hadn't ridden in a car since it grew up, mainly because there was no car at home that could pull it.

Dabao also finally caught up with the train of thought slowly: "Will it jump out of the car halfway? Should we put a collar on it? But even if we put a collar on it, it doesn't understand, what if it still wants to jump, wouldn't that be..."

Song Tan felt that she had seen the care of ordinary people for their pets, but Dawang's owner wasn't this meticulous!

At this moment, she turned around, reached into the back seat, and pulled out a basket.

"Come, this is the watermelon, cucumber, radish, cabbage, etc., that we brought. Thinking that it wasn't easy for you to raise Xiangxiang so big, now that you trust us, we will take good care of him."

Dabao, who was shocked when he got off the car, was stunned, and even forgot about it for a moment.

And now that she took it out, Song Tan hesitated: "Should I take a radish out from inside? Xiangxiang gnawing on this radish along the way should make it quieter, right?"

"Xiangxiang doesn't like radishes..." The mother remembered something: "I'll go into the house and move a box of apples..."

"Impossible, absolutely no such possibility!"

The reader named Dabao stopped his mother, hurriedly stepped forward, staring eagerly at the basket, rubbing his hands and being polite repeatedly:

"This is so embarrassing... this is so embarrassing... you have helped me a lot, solving the top priority of our family!"

Those hands reached out and retracted, retracted and reached out, and finally held the basket hesitantly but firmly:

"I know your family's vegetables! Too polite, too polite! Come, I'll pick a radish for Xiangxiang, it will definitely love it!"

Although he said so, he hesitated for a long time while reaching out.

Give the biggest one, feeling reluctant.

Give the small one, feeling sorry for Xiangxiang...

After hemming and hawing for a long time, he finally picked a big one.

The old mother was still on the side urging: "Should you give that watermelon to Xiangxiang?"

"No, no, no!" The son said decisively: "Xiangxiang is going to live a good life over there, this watermelon actually... anyway, I haven't lived such a life yet, keep it for me to eat."

"This child..." The mother was a bit angry: How can a guest be so stingy when doing things?

But she was embarrassed to say it in front of people, so she had to hold it back.

Instead, Song Tan handed the basket forward again: "Eat whatever you want, it's brought for you!"

Saying that, she patted the truck railing casually: "Xiangxiang, eat a radish, be quiet on the road."

Then she handed the radish Dabao picked to it.

The pig mouth arched, and it lightly bit the radish.

Probably because of the habit formed at home, Xiangxiang ate fruit extra delicately, unlike the pigs at home, which would eat fiercely every time food came.

Instead, it chewed slowly and delicately, cherishing it.

Clearly, it was oinking happily, yet it still chewed slowly and delicately.

—This pig is really well-educated!

But if it eats so slowly when eating, I don't know if it will go hungry? The pigs at home really eat like hungry tigers...

It seems I have to pay close attention for the first few days.

She looked twice more, confirmed that the door railing of the truck bed was locked, then greeted them, and got into the car with Lu Chuan.

Finally, they set off again!

Until the car had gone a long way, Dabao finally reacted:

"Ah! I didn't change my clothes or take a photo!"

Looking at the basket again: "Where is my watermelon?"

The old father was still as calm as ever: "Our Xiangxiang is so well-behaved, it didn't even cry when it knew it was going to part, it got on the car when asked. It doesn't like radishes but still ate it..."

His eyes turned red, and tears flashed:

"I saw our Xiangxiang was too pitiful, so I secretly put the watermelon in."

"Sigh! Xiangxiang! Watermelon is too expensive this year, I couldn't bear to buy it for it..."

"Exactly." The mother also said to him: "Dabao, you can buy watermelon yourself if you want to eat it."

Dabao:... (*?????)

The return journey was much faster.

Lu Chuan drove steadily, Song Tan glanced at the rearview mirror, then suddenly turned to look back—only to see Xiangxiang still bowing its head and gnawing on something, its big red jacket particularly eye-catching.

"It's too delicate, how long has it been eating that radish?"

That's a pig!

If it were the pigs at home, two or three bites, and a radish would be gone.

Lu Chuan held back his laughter: "The radish should be finished by now, it's probably gnawing on the watermelon."

Watermelon?!

Song Tan was stunned for a moment, then reacted, and couldn't help but laugh: "Did Grandpa put it in or Grandma?"

Lu Chuan finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"The old man put it in. When closing the car door, I happened to see it from the rearview mirror, he was stuffing the watermelon into the back."

Good, good, good! Song Tan thought of the basket of vegetables and fruits she carried; the most expensive and most refreshing thing to eat in the middle of winter should be this watermelon.

"Eat, eat..."

She leaned back again: "It won't have such good treatment when it gets home."

However...

She looked at Lu Chuan again: "Are you going back to the Imperial Capital?"

Lu Chuan nodded: "Yes. It's not convenient to keep staying at your house—however, after the Lantern Festival, my mom might come to disturb you for a while. She needs to come and supervise the homestay here."

Song Tan sighed, then became spirited again: "Then... after the homestay is built, will you stay here?"

Lu Chuan nodded, and reached out to grab her hand: "I want to be closer to you."

"However," he laughed again: "I will come over as soon as possible. The flower bed at the door in March is waiting for me to tidy up—is it really okay to plant anything?"

"Yes!" Song Tan laughed, nodding seriously: "In the future, that will be your place, plant whatever you want—planting vegetables is also fine."

Lu Chuan:...

He silently withdrew his hand.

"Planting vegetables is unnecessary, I just planned a few color series of flowers, and by the way, I have to go back to the Imperial Capital and find a way to bring all the flowers on my balcony."

As for how to bring them...

He thought of the flowers that had climbed for many years to form large arches, thought of having to rebuild and transplant them, and at this moment, showed a slightly heartbroken expression.

In the river beach farm.

Today, there was a strong wind on the river, cold, although the sun was still out, the cows and sheep only came out for a stroll, then went back into the pen.

Their pen wasn't the small space provided by professional farmers where they only have a small range of activities, and the rest is just letting cows, sheep, and pigs bury their heads and eat, eating frantically to gain weight.

Instead, it was exceptionally spacious; although there were compartments, they didn't block them, allowing cows and sheep to stroll everywhere.

The disadvantage is that weight gain is slow, and it's quite labor-intensive; it needs to be cleaned every day, and disinfected regularly...

Previously, with Wu Lei and Song Tan's uncle's family helping, Zhang Wangjia felt he could handle it.

Now that the people have left for only a week, he felt a bit overwhelmed.

The first thing he did every morning was to prepare dry forage to feed them—the new machine was quite simple to operate, the dry forage was cleaned up and piled there at once, and could be taken as needed.

It's just that the dogs often came to make trouble; the two Border Collies didn't accept those cows and sheep, and insisted on being fed first every day...

Sigh! These two precious eggs, they have too many little thoughts, sometimes making people laugh and get angry when they make trouble.

Then, while the cows and sheep were eating, Zhang Wangjia couldn't easily do anything else, but had to carefully observe the situation of each one.

After all, if there's anything wrong with livestock, it will generally be reflected in their diet first.

After eating, he had to start shoveling poop.

Roughly cleaned up once, and had to do hygiene in the whole pen... If the weather was good and the cows and sheep went out, after finishing hygiene and disinfecting, he had to go to the river beach to continue shoveling poop.

If the pigs are moved over later, he would definitely have to hire someone.

Thinking while carrying a bucket of disinfectant* slowly to the pig pen next door.

Here, it was as simple as the cow and sheep pen, just a place to sleep and eat, but it was also spacious, bright, and clean.

He poured the bucket of disinfectant on the ground, then lit it, seeing that there were no combustibles in the empty and closed room, and then slowly closed the door and walked away.

Heard that the old Song family is preparing to have another pig, don't know if it will be raised on the back mountain directly or isolated here for two days first...

In short, his work must be done first.

Today is another busy but promising day!

Zhang Wangjia looked at the savings, made himself a cup of kudzu powder, happily opened his phone again, and continued living this quiet and plain life.

Until—

"Dongdong dong."

Someone knocked on the door: "Uncle Zhang, I'm Chen Yuan, the surveillance here needs to be re-wired, I'm here to tell you."

Zhang Wangjia hurriedly got up, went out high and low, looking at the energetic young man, unable to help but reveal a loving smile:

"Okay, you can see where to wire it."

"Good." Chen Yuan also laughed: "The surveillance wiring is all outside, there are a few wires inside that need to be re-pulled. Also, I heard you say last time that this switch is not convenient to touch..."

"Wait a moment, I brought tools today, I'll move it later."

"Good, good, good!" The switch is not convenient, but now he's used to being able to touch it; this is just a tiny, insignificant matter.

But the fact that people keep this in mind made Zhang Wangjia naturally happy.

He enthusiastically found a ladder for the person; when the other party stepped on the ladder, the trouser legs of his ankles shrank upward, revealing a section of cold gray metal.

Zhang Wangjia was suddenly stunned.

He had been staying on the river beach, and only went to the mountain canteen when eating, so although he knew that the old Song family had hired so many security guards, he didn't know the specific situation.

Seeing it now, he was stunned for a time.

Chen Yuan had just stood firm on the ladder, looked down and saw him stunned in place, unable to help but be puzzled: "Uncle Zhang, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing." Zhang Wangjia reacted, waving his hands repeatedly. After a while, he couldn't help but ask: "That... Captain Chen, your leg..."

"Oh, this." Chen Yuan subconsciously pulled up his trouser legs to look, and said casually:

"Had an accident and had an amputation, but now the prosthetic limb is done well, and if the daily running-in and training are in place, it doesn't affect anything."

"It's just that I have to take medicine often, which is troublesome."

After speaking, he was also stunned for a moment.

Before, when mentioning the injury at home, everyone was cautious, and when going out to meet relatives and friends, they were also regretful and cautiously avoided it.

Everyone had good intentions, but he became sensitive instead, feeling heavy in his heart every time.

But after working here for only a few days, everyone gathered together to restore daily training, discuss future arrangements, and study what to eat every day.

Apples and peaches on the mountain, watermelons planned for the land next year, heard there are strawberries in the greenhouse...

Then sleep early at night, sleep well all night... The phantom limb pain and other symptoms that used to happen often also became much less.

All of this, too many things occupied their attention, and now mentioning the wound again, he didn't feel there was anything.

Chen Yuan thought about it, and couldn't help but laugh.

And Zhang Wangjia asked: "Then you..."

He heard that Chen Yuan is the captain, and his salary is higher than others. His leg is injured, and he can still make everyone obey him, then others...

"Hmm," Chen Yuan nodded: "Everyone has some injuries."

Zhang Wangjia opened his mouth, paused, and then sighed heavily:

"Then just work hard here. The old Song family are all good people, and Tan Tan has a good heart, just say it directly if you have any difficulties."

"Okay!" Chen Yuan laughed: "We know, it's still good to be with old friends, it's really good."

It's just that it's a bit far from family and friends.

But it doesn't matter, later when the shifts are arranged, everyone can take turns to take time off. ===== CHAPTER 1186 =====