Chapter 153: Worthy of a Big Reward

Watching the snowflakes in the sky fall thicker and faster, Cao Shujie was left speechless. He had only grumbled a bit, yet now snow was really coming down.

Cao Jianguo and Cao Shuchao also looked up at the sky.

Cao Jianguo’s face was far from relaxed. He spoke up, “You two stay here for now. I’ll head home and bring over the folding bed. I’ll keep watch here tonight.”

“Uncle Jianguo, I can keep watch here,” Cao Shuchao said immediately when he heard this.

But Cao Jianguo wouldn’t agree. “Shuchao, you need to go home. Your mother still needs someone to look after her at night. If the snow keeps falling like this, your wife won’t be able to manage everything alone at home.”

What he said was true, and Cao Shuchao knew it.

Cao Shujie interrupted the two of them. “Dad, Brother Chao, neither of you needs to stay here. I’ll just come up later tonight to have a look. We don’t have to guard it in shifts.”

“Just keep your phones on. If anything comes up, I’ll call you, and you can rush up if you need to.”

Having heard Cao Shujie say this, Cao Jianguo didn’t insist any further. Cao Shuchao hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

All the fruit in the orchard was already gone. With weather like this, who would come up here again—even to steal a cow? It wouldn’t be easy.

The snow really was coming down hard. When they came down the mountain from the orchard, the snow on the ground was deep enough to cover their shoes. Each step crunched loudly underfoot.

At the foot of the mountain, Cao Jianguo turned to his son and reminded him to be careful when heading up the mountain at night.

“Dad, don’t worry. When I go up, I’ll take Daha and Erha with me.” Cao Shujie grinned as he spoke.

Having raised the dogs for over half a year, they were finally going to be useful.

Hearing this, Cao Jianguo also laughed.

Still, he silently hoped the snowfall would ease up a bit.

Back at home, as soon as he entered the gate, he saw his wife and daughter bundled up in down jackets, thick hats, and cotton gloves, playing in the yard.

In front of Mengmeng, a few snowballs sat on the ground—it looked like she was getting ready for a snowball fight.

When she saw her father come in, Mengmeng shouted loudly, “Daddy, let’s build a snowman!”

“Come on! Hurry!”

She looked adorably eager.

“Alright, Daddy’s coming.” Cao Shujie set his things down and went to play in the snow with his daughter.

Cheng Xiaolin asked him, “How did it go? Is everything okay up on the mountain?”

Cao Shujie smiled. “Don’t worry, everything’s just fine up there.”

“The cows and the strawberry seedlings are all alright?” Cheng Xiaolin hadn’t gone up herself, but she’d been worrying about it.

“Everything’s fine. We made a point of checking them before we came back. All good.” Cao Shujie didn’t try to hide anything. He added, “I’ll have to go up again tonight to check on things.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” Cheng Xiaolin asked.

Gazing at Mengmeng, who was playing happily, carefree and without a worry in the world, Cao Shujie smiled. “What would you go for? Just look after Mengmeng at home.”

Watching Daha and Erha running back and forth in the snow, Cao Shujie added, “I’ll take Daha and Erha with me tonight. The two German Shepherds can stay home and guard the house.”

“We could take them all,” said Cheng Xiaolin.

“No need. Daha and Erha will be enough.”

Not until after they’d finished dinner and were getting ready for bed did Cao Shujie stand by the window and look outside. The snow was still falling, heavier than before, and looked like it was picking up.

Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t help but worry, but since her husband kept assuring her everything was fine, she decided not to ask again so as not to trouble him.

Cao Shujie set his alarm and, a little after one in the morning, got up to put on thick clothes, a warm hat, fleece-lined leather gloves, and fleece-lined shoes. He grabbed a high-powered flashlight, then took Daha and Erha outside.

Before leaving, he addressed the two German Shepherds in their doghouse: “Dahei, Xiaohei, take care of the house.”

“Woof.” Dahei barked once and nodded, as if telling Cao Shujie, “Don’t worry, as long as we’re here, nothing will go wrong.”

Upstairs, Cheng Xiaolin was also awake. When her husband got up, she kept her eyes closed and pretended to be asleep.

She watched as he opened the gate, led the two dogs out, then locked the door from outside. Still, she couldn’t help but worry, thinking to herself, “Heavy snow is even slipperier than rain, and it’s already hard enough to walk at ground level, let alone up in the mountains.”

She wanted to go with him, but when she looked back at Mengmeng fast asleep, she thought about how her daughter would feel if she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t find either parent. She might be so upset that she’d start crying, so Cheng Xiaolin gave up the idea.

As she silently prayed for her husband’s safety and good fortune, she suddenly heard her phone ping. Puzzled, she picked it up and saw a new message—from her husband.

She opened it: “Honey, go to sleep. Don’t worry, I’m fine. If I need help, I’ll call you.”

Seeing that, Cheng Xiaolin had the urge to grind her teeth. So her husband knew all along that she’d been pretending to sleep.

On the sloping mountain road, Cao Shujie stood by the roadside, staring at the snow that already came up over his shoes. Looking back at the footprints he had left, he felt a twinge of worry—the snow really was heavy.

——

But Daha and Erha were a different story. The two of them were positively energetic and excited in the snow. To them, it was as if tigers had returned to the mountains or dragons to the sea. Cao Shujie thought this icy, snowy world was their natural element.

It was then that he suddenly remembered that Daha and Erha had an official breed name: Siberian Husky. Their original habitat was just like this.

With this thought, a mischievous grin appeared at the corner of Cao Shujie’s mouth. Looking at the two Huskies in front of him, he thought, “Pulling a sled—that’s what they’re born for, isn’t it?”

“With all this snow, maybe I’ll make a sled tomorrow and try it out,” Cao Shujie thought. The idea had him itching to get started.

Next, he shouted, “Daha, Erha, let’s go! Time to check on the mountain.”

When the two dogs heard him, they howled and took off, legs flying, the snow hardly slowing them at all as they bounded up the mountain.

Cao Shujie struggled to keep his footing, but with both dogs harnessed and pulling him, he actually found it easier to make his way uphill.

At that moment, Cao Shujie grew even more certain that Huskies thrived in harsh conditions just like these. With the man and his two dogs reaching the orchard on the mountain, Cao Shujie went in and switched on the lights at the orchard gate. Coupled with the snow, the ground reflected the light, and the darkness of night was replaced by a bright, silvery glow.

“Wooo!” Daha was so happy at the sight of the snowy expanse that he rolled around, utterly delighted.

Erha howled as well and was no slower to join in the fun.

Cao Shujie didn’t rush them. He waited until they had played enough, then led them, step by uneven step, toward the cowshed.

Along the way, Cao Shujie checked both the old fruit trees and the saplings planted this year.

The white snow blanketed the branches, transforming the trees into something like snow-covered pines, weighing the limbs down until they drooped under the heavy snow—as if heralding a bountiful harvest in the year to come.

Cao Shujie was still regretting that he’d once again forgotten to bring his camera. If only he could have captured this moment to show his wife and child, it would have been wonderful.

Snapping back to himself, and seeing that the fruit trees were all fine, Cao Shujie kept moving forward, making a stop along the way to check on the strawberry seedlings.

The thin film covering the strawberry seedlings was already blanketed with snow, but from Cao Shujie’s inspection, there didn’t seem to be any real issues.

He opened the small gate in the wire mesh fence, led the two dogs into the cattle area, and saw that only a few cows were strolling through the snow, completely unbothered as the heavy snow fell on their backs.

The rest of the cows were all sheltering in the cowshed at the north end—some standing, some lying down, a few huddling together for warmth, and others munching on fodder piled on the ground. It painted a vibrant picture of all sorts of bovine life.

Seeing him enter with his two dogs, the cows didn’t panic at all; they simply went about their own business, unaffected.

Cao Shujie found this scene rather amusing.

He looked up at the H-beams and colored steel panels that formed the cowshed. Indeed, some snow had been blown in from the side by the wind, but it wasn’t enough to bother the cows resting inside.

“I’ll have Grandpa Zhenggang block off the sides next time,” Cao Shujie made a mental note of this, only to dismiss the idea a moment later.

After finishing up here, he didn’t hurry to leave. Exiting the cowshed, he wandered around the orchard with his two huskies on their leashes, taking another lap through his property.

On this snowy night, he pushed through wind and snow, tirelessly patrolling his land.

The one thing that made Cao Shujie uneasy was that the path he and the dogs had just walked was already nearly hidden beneath new layers of falling snow.

This snowstorm was no small matter.

By the time he finished making his round through the orchard, Cao Shujie felt frozen to the bone. His feet were icy and numb, even stomping them didn’t help. The two dogs, though, Daha and Erha, looked perfectly content and played with boundless energy.

No matter how he looked at them, Cao Shujie found them a bit irritating. The dogs seemed to sense danger and glanced back at him, puzzled, but he ignored them, walking onward. The two began to wonder if they’d imagined the threat altogether.

Cao Shujie opened the door and led the two dogs inside, turning on the air conditioner as soon as he entered.

While the air conditioner thrummed to life, the two dogs couldn’t settle down, staring longingly at the door, clearly eager to get back out into the snowy wilderness.

“You mutts, no matter how well I treat you, you don’t know what’s good for you. If you want to freeze, then go ahead and stay out there!” Cao Shujie muttered.

No sooner had he spoken than the two dogs darted out the door, romping and having the time of their lives in the snow.

“Maybe I’ll hook up a sled later and make you two pull me. Let’s see how much energy you really have,” Cao Shujie thought nastily to himself.

The small room was just starting to warm up, and Cao Shujie wanted a drink of water. He picked up the thermos, held a hand over the mouth, and found not a bit of warmth inside.

“Really should get a stove going. In this awful weather, you can’t even have a bit of hot water,” he thought.

Not only that—once the kiwi fruit and strawberries ripen next year, someone will have to stay overnight here, just in case anyone tries to steal things like Cao Jianqiu and Cao Shubao did.

By then, there should at least be a few pots and pans for cooking at night, right?

A stove seemed more and more essential.

Pondering this, Cao Shujie knew he’d have to wait a few more hours for daylight, then call the stove vendor in town and have one delivered.

At that moment, Daha, who was playing in the snow outside, suddenly howled and started running south.

Erha joined in, following him while howling as well, as if issuing a challenge.

Before Cao Shujie could react, he heard someone outside shout, “Daha, it’s me!”

“Brother Chao, what’s he doing here?” The question flashed through Cao Shujie’s mind, then he suddenly remembered something. He immediately called out from inside, “Daha, Erha, come back!”

Even at this distance, the two dogs heard him and turned at once, running back.

Cao Shujie stepped outside, looked at the dogs that had come to his side, then glanced south to see Cao Shuchao trudging through the snow toward him.

He called out, “Brother Chao, we already agreed, so what are you doing coming over in the middle of the night?”

Cao Shuchao hadn’t expected Cao Shujie to be here already. His thinking was simple—he was afraid Cao Shujie might not get up at night and wouldn’t feel fully at ease unless he came to see for himself.

Last night, when he got home and told his wife Ma Wenqian about it, Ma Wenqian insisted that he had to come over to take a look that night, assuring him there was nothing at home for him to worry about.

“Shujie, I just got up to go to the bathroom and couldn’t get back to sleep. I had nothing to do at home, so I came over to check things out,” Cao Shuchao said.

Cao Shujie didn’t believe that for a second, but there was no need to say more.

Noticing the snow piled on Cao Shuchao’s head and clothes, he quickly said, “Brother Chao, brush the snow off and come inside to warm up.”

“I want to take a look around the orchard first,” Cao Shuchao replied.

But Cao Shujie told him, “I just finished checking everything—fruit trees are fine, nothing’s wrong. Looking again won’t change anything. Come in and warm up first, then we can make another round later.”

This time, Cao Shuchao didn’t object and followed Cao Shujie into the small room. The air conditioner was now blasting warmth.

Entering from the cold outside, both men instantly felt warmer, though a prickly itch spread over their skin, rather uncomfortable.

Through the small window, Cao Shuchao watched the falling snowflakes outside, anxiety evident in his voice. “Who knows how long this snow will keep up?”

Cao Shujie didn’t know either. Facing nature’s power, there was nothing he could do.

“Don’t worry about anything, Brother Chao. We’ll figure things out after the snow stops,” Cao Shujie said.

Cao Shuchao nodded, and with nothing else to do, Cao Shujie remembered he had a speaker and switched it on, lowering the volume so they could chat while listening to music.

As they were talking, Daha and Erha’s barking rang out again.

Before Cao Shujie could step out, someone outside was shouting, “Daha, Erha! What are you barking at, you mutts? I’ve fed you for half a year and you still don’t recognize me?”

“Oh, it’s Uncle Jianguo,” Cao Shuchao said, getting up to head outside.

Cao Shujie hadn’t expected his dad to come as well. Turns out neither his father nor Brother Chao could really relax.

At the foot of the mountain, Cao Jianguo saw the orchard’s lights on and guessed it must be his son. Cao Shuchao wouldn’t have turned on the lights if he was here alone.

What he didn’t expect was to find Cao Shuchao here as well.

“You two are here so early? Checked the orchard yet? How is it?” Cao Jianguo asked.

“Dad, I’ve checked everything. The fruit trees are fine, strawberry seedlings are fine, and the cowshed is even sturdier—don’t worry,” Cao Shujie answered.

“Who knows when this snow is going to end,” Cao Jianguo said, frowning as he watched the falling snow.

All three headed inside. Only then did Cao Shujie notice that beyond the snow on his dad’s head and shoulders, his pant legs and one side of his body were crusted with snow, and there was even dark mud caked onto the side of his shoes.

“Dad, did you fall and hurt yourself?” Cao Shujie was worried. He hurried over to his father to see if there were any other injuries.

Cao Jianguo knew he couldn’t hide it from his son, so he didn’t deny it. He said, “When I was coming up just now, I lost my footing and slipped over to the area where the Chinese rose trees are. But it’s nothing serious.”

“Oh, Dad, didn’t I tell you not to come up here? You just wouldn’t listen,” Cao Shujie muttered.

Cao Shuchao tried to smooth things over, saying, “Shujie, Uncle Jianguo is just worried about this place.”

“Brother Chao, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m just worried that if Dad had really taken a bad fall, it would be even worse for him,” Cao Shujie said, still anxious.

He felt a bit lucky that his father’s fall wasn’t serious. Otherwise, it would have been a whole different problem.

Cao Jianguo waved him off a little impatiently. “Alright, I get it.”

But the old man was quite stubborn. Even if he understood, who knew if he’d do the same thing next time.

Cao Shujie also knew his father’s temperament and figured he’d have to talk him round slowly. After all, his dad just couldn’t stop worrying about this place.

Cao Shuchao added, “If only we had a deck of cards, the three of us could play Dou Dizhu.”

“Brother Chao, that’s a great idea. But Uncle Hua and Uncle Bao’s stores haven’t opened yet. I’ll go buy a few decks during the day, just in case,” Cao Shujie promised on the spot.

The three of them gazed out the window at the swirling white snow, chatting together. They didn’t feel like time was passing slowly at all.

Before they knew it, it was already six o’clock. After a long night, Cao Shujie’s stomach was aching with hunger. Just as he was thinking about heading down the mountain for some food to bring back, his phone started ringing.

It was his wife, Cheng Xiaolin, calling. When he picked up, he could hear the worry and anxiety in her voice. “Shujie, are you alright?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Cao Shujie raised his voice to reassure her.

“But you didn’t call me to say anything. Is everything in the orchard okay?” she asked.

Cao Shujie knew what his wife was worried about and answered seriously, “The strawberry seedlings, the fruit tree seedlings, and the cow—everything’s fine.”

“That’s good. I’ll start cooking now. Come home to eat in a bit,” Cheng Xiaolin said.

Looking at his father and Cao Shuchao, Cao Shujie said to his wife, “Honey, Dad and Brother Chao are both here tonight. Make extra food. I’ll come down and get it in a while.”

“I’ll call you when the food’s ready. Why don’t you all just come down to eat? Otherwise it’ll just get cold if you bring it back up,” Cheng Xiaolin replied.

Cao Shujie thought she was right, so he agreed right away.

After hanging up, he told his father Cao Jianguo and neighbor Cao Shuchao that they’d be going down together for breakfast. Cao Jianguo didn’t object. When he saw that Cao Shuchao was about to refuse, he said, “Chao, it’s only one meal. Do you really want to go home to eat right now?”

“Alright, sorry to trouble your wife tonight,” Cao Shuchao said.

“Brother Chao, don’t think that way,” Cao Shujie replied. He was feeling increasingly satisfied with his friend.

Say what you will, but on a night like this, with such terrible weather, Cao Shuchao still thought to come check on things in the middle of the night—that was enough to prove his sense of responsibility and how seriously he took the job.

People like this, Cao Shujie thought, deserved to be rewarded!

The snowfall didn’t stop until nearly ten o’clock the following morning.

Once it let up, Cao Shujie, his father Cao Jianguo, and Cao Shuchao all grabbed tools and started clearing the snow. They first cleared the road up the mountain so that when the snow melted in the low temperatures, it wouldn’t turn to ice and make the ascent difficult.

While they were working, time seemed to fly by. By the time they had cleared the entire 400-meter sloped road and made a path through the Parking Platform at the top, more than three hours had passed. All three men’s hands were numb from the cold.

They had to sit in the small house with the heater on for a long time before they finally felt warm again.

……

Anyi City is one of the sixteen prefecture-level cities in Dongshan Province, and its overall economic ranking is quite high among them.

Cao Shujie’s eldest uncle, Cao Jianlin, settled down in Anyi City after working hard for many years.

His two sons, Cao Shubin and Cao Shuxin, were both striving and making a living in this city, too.

Cao Shubin worked at a foreign-owned company as the Supply Chain Manager—a key position with a correspondingly high income.

His younger brother, Cao Shuxin, didn’t want to work for anybody else. He’d always done his own thing.

At first, he drove trucks for others. Later, he bought a cargo truck and started doing his own hauling.

In middle age, while working in transportation, he stumbled upon a business opportunity—he realized there was a lot of money in the waste recycling industry. On the spur of the moment, he quit hauling goods and opened a company called “High-Tech Renewable Energy Ltd.”

The name sounded grand, but in essence, it was still a recycling business.

But it wasn’t just about collecting old paper, scrap metal, or used items. He specialized in collecting industrial and engineering waste.

Because these contracts involved large quantities and high profits, his business took off rapidly.

In the past couple of years, he really hit his stride.

Of course, this line of work came with significant risks, especially when taking on large engineering contracts. No one was going to wait for him to cut up and sort every piece of waste before weighing it. At times like these, he’d have to estimate the value of an entire batch.

Cao Shuxin had only recently started dealing with this side of the business. With no previous experience, he struggled with pricing and often got led around by the nose during negotiations.

(End of this chapter)

Translator’s Notes

• tigers had returned to the mountains or dragons to the sea: This is a Chinese idiom (如鱼得水, though the text uses a variation) meaning to be in one’s element or to be in a situation where one can fully utilize one’s abilities, like a fish in water.

• Dou Dizhu: Lit. ‘Fight the Landlord,’ a popular Chinese card game, typically played by three people.

• Anyi City: A fictional city name, likely inspired by real Chinese city naming conventions. ‘Anyi’ (安邑) means ‘peaceful city/town’.