Chapter 81: Three Thousand is Fine

Song Tan had no idea how many men's hearts a single batch of tea leaves had broken; she only knew that this trip had taken her an entire day, and it was already six o'clock when she returned home.

"This day has been truly long."

After getting out of the car, Zhang Yanping stretched fiercely, feeling his entire body stiffen.

Only then did he rub his stomach and call out, "Auntie, what are we eating tonight? I'm so hungry!"

Wu Lan, still wearing her tea-picking sleeves, came out of the kitchen carrying a large basin:

"I found a pig leg in the freezer; I even forgot which year I froze it in, so I just had your uncle chop it up—we're eating this tonight!"

Zhang Yanping now had no extravagant demands for meat, only looking at her pitifully: "That Chinese milk vetch..."

Wu Lan laughed heartily: "You won't be shorted. Tantan is so picky that she won't even eat it if it didn't grow in the fields."

Song Tan sighed as well. It wasn't that she "wouldn't eat it if it didn't grow in the fields," but clearly, that was the only flavor she could accept now.

She had been home for a while, yet hadn't properly eaten a few bites of meat; it was truly heartbreaking to say out loud.

Just as they were talking, Qiao Qiao suddenly cheered:

"Such a big doggy!"

Only then did Wu Lan remember that her spendthrift daughter had specifically gone out today to buy someone else's dogs, saying that the small dogs weren't up to the task and that someone needed to watch the mountains and fields.

It wasn't that she didn't understand the logic, but understanding was one thing; her heart ached whenever she thought about spending money.

Fortunately, the high price of the tea leaves made up for some of her heartache, and she asked, "How much did these dogs cost?"

No sooner had she spoken than she saw a massive dog walking toward them; in the shadows of the night, it looked just like a yellow tiger!

"Oh my!"

This gave her a fright.

Song Sancheng ran over upon hearing the commotion, his mouth also hanging wide open, and then he happily rubbed his hands together on the side:

"This dog is huge! Truly huge!"

He looked back at Sibao on the side, looking and looking, only recognizing one: "Is this a German Shepherd? What kind of dog is this black one? Oh my, look at them, they look so handsome! This fur is so shiny and smooth, really good."

Wu Lan, however, widened her eyes, and only then did she react: "You got so many dogs all at once, what are they going to eat? And they're all so big; do we have to cook a pot of rice specifically for them every meal?"

I knew it.

Song Tan thought to herself: In the countryside, isn't raising dogs just about soaking leftovers in broth?

However, she didn't refute it, instead pointing to the back of the truck: "No need, the seller gave us dog food."

But Wu Lan was still dissatisfied: "I'll let the four dogs slide; these look like wolfhounds and are quite spirited. But this one, what is such a big dog here for? If you put it at the gate, no one will dare come to our house!"

She was talking about the Kangal, Dawang.

Song Tan already had arrangements: "It's the biggest, so it will go watch the pigs later. The others will go watch the chestnut orchard first."

"The black fungus on the mountain hasn't sprouted yet, but the white fungus will start growing before long. If someone picks it or carries it away, won't your heart ache?"

"That stuff is sold by the gram once dried."

Song Tan wasn't exaggerating; log-grown white fungus, even the ordinary kind, is sold by the gram because it has almost no weight once dried; it's very light.

Since the dogs were already brought home, what else could Wu Lan say? She only asked the most critical question:

"How much money?"

Zhang Yanping tensed up on the side.

Song Tan watched Qiao Qiao acting restless on the side, guiding him to reach out and touch the heads of the dogs, introducing them to each other:

"This is Dawang, the boss of the house. Dawang, this is Qiao Qiao; you must protect him well in the future. This is Dabao..."

She answered her mother's question while finding a moment: "Three thousand."

Zhang Yanping's heart skipped a beat, thinking to himself, why is this silly cousin so bold, daring to tell the truth?!

Wu Lan had indeed already started to feel the heartache:

"These five dogs cost three thousand? You really have too much money and nowhere to burn it."

The water Zhang Yanping had just taken into his mouth "puffed" right out.

Seeing Wu Lan's suspicious gaze, he hurriedly followed up: "Exactly! Too bad at managing a household. Auntie, I didn't even manage to talk her out of it today."

Who knew Wu Lan would change her tune: "Three thousand is fine. I know purebred dogs are expensive nowadays; it'll do. I see they are all quite obedient."

Indeed, after getting off the truck, they lined up in a row without barking randomly.

Qiao Qiao went to touch them, and they were all very gentle; these must be dogs that were well-trained. Looking at them, they were both fierce and well-behaved, the kind that wouldn't bite people easily, so it was reassuring to raise them.

"Exactly," Song Tan said: "These dogs didn't sell when they were small, and they were hard to sell when they got big, which is why I got a bargain and bought them back for three thousand."

"Otherwise, if it were when they were small, one would have cost three thousand."

Wu Lan was indeed beaming: "That's fine, I see some selling for seven or eight thousand online... I heard these kinds of dogs shouldn't just eat our food all the time; there's cheap dog food online, why don't you buy some back."

Song Tan shook her head and moved several boxes of dog food down from the back of the truck:

"Mom, look, this is dog food the seller gave away because they wanted to clear stock quickly; let's finish these with the rice and vegetables first."

She had a very serious look on her face:

"There are many places to spend money; we have to save a little."

Zhang Yanping instantly looked at his little cousin with newfound respect.

Not to mention anything else, this ability to read the room and please the elders couldn't be practiced without a hundred or eighty years of cultivation!

Is this truly a natural gift?

By comparison, he wasn't the older brother; he was clearly the younger one.

Song Tan didn't pay him any mind; after tidying up the dog food and dog supplies from the truck, she brought in a pile of straw from outside.

While introducing the dogs, she said: "Mom, it's a bit cool at night now, let them sleep here for tonight. I'll find time in the next two days to build their dog houses and then put them in the mountains."

Knowing that her daughter had gotten a bargain on the dogs this time, Wu Lan felt satisfied, pointing out to her daughter:

"That won't do; these dogs are all big, and they've changed environments, so you have to let them get familiar with us."

"Qiao Qiao, go get all the clothes out of the bottom drawer of the cabinet in your room. Those are our family's old clothes; we have nowhere to throw them, so they're perfect for padding the dog nests and letting them smell the scent."

She couldn't help her curiosity, stepping forward to tentatively touch Dawang's head.

This dog was tall, so she didn't need to bend over; she even had to lift her arm to touch the top of its head.

"Look at this face, the black mouth and yellow fur, how honest it looks! I see people raising those small dogs online, yapping and yapping, and they can't even watch the gate; how can they be as steady as this big dog?"

She touched each of them a couple of times, then turned and hurried into the kitchen:

"That pig leg meat is too fatty; you probably don't like to eat it, so I'll scoop out a few pieces to share with them."

Zhang Yanping looked at Song Tan, who was pretending to spread straw in a messy way, and felt nothing but admiration in his heart.

－－－－－－Author's Note－－－－－－

That is to say, will daily ten-thousand-word updates bring more monthly tickets?

Regarding the pig leg. I once ate a pig leg on the first day of 2021 that my mom had dug out of the freezer, which had been frozen in 2019.

7017k ===== CHAPTER 82 =====