Chapter 19: What a Comfortable Life!

This time, Cao Shujie finally had a good sleep. When he woke up and came out of the west room, he saw his daughter Mengmeng sitting quietly next to the cardboard box, staring intently into the box.

“Mengmeng,” he called out.

Mengmeng heard her dad’s voice, looked up at him, and called out with a smile, “Dad!”

She didn’t move, still sitting on the small stool, pointing at the two little Huskies still sleeping in the cardboard box: “Dad, look, puppies, sleeping.”

“Dad, you were sleeping, now you’re awake.”

Cao Shujie’s face darkened. Although he knew Mengmeng didn’t mean anything else, in the complex mind of an adult, Cao Shujie subconsciously equated the words “puppy” and “dad.” If it were an older person, Cao Shujie would suspect they were mocking him, and might even throw a punch.

Moreover, his daughter was only focused on the two puppies and wasn’t sticking to him anymore, which also made Cao Shujie very sad: “Mengmeng, those two puppies are too annoying. They barked all night yesterday and only fell asleep this morning.”

He decided to expose their bad behavior and ruin their image in his daughter’s heart!

But it was useless. Mengmeng blinked her eyes, thought seriously for a moment, and then said, “Dad, I didn’t hear anything.”

Cao Shujie felt it was meaningless to discuss this with his daughter anymore. He was hungry anyway, so he’d go eat something first.

When Cao Shujie came out of the house with a steamed bun and a piece of crispy fish, he chewed and talked to his daughter.

Seeing that out of ten sentences his daughter spoke to him, six were said while looking down at the sleeping little Huskies, Cao Shujie wanted to fly over and kick, sending the cardboard box and the puppies inside flying.

These two dog things had just entered the house and already stolen his little darling’s heart, how hateful!

“Meow, meow”

The pitiful meows of a small wild cat came from nearby. This sound finally caught Mengmeng’s attention: “Huahua, hello.”

“Meow!”

The little wild cat seemed to be saying pitifully, ‘Why aren’t you playing with me anymore?’

Unfortunately, Mengmeng didn’t understand. Having just gotten the puppies, she was in the phase of preferring new things over old, her attention was on the little Huskies, so neglecting the kitten was inevitable.

Cao Shujie looked at the abandoned little wild cat, feeling a connection. He bit out the main bone from the middle of the crispy fish, chewed it up, and swallowed it. He broke off half of the remaining fish meat and threw it in front of the little wild cat: “Huahua, today we’re in the same boat. This is on me, eat up.”

The little wild cat smelled the fishy scent and ate with great relish.

Mengmeng looked at her dad blankly: “Dad, what is it?”

“It’s nothing, you go play with Daha and Erha,” Cao Shujie said casually.

…

Time always passes faster when you’re happy.

Cao Shujie gradually got used to this kind of life, waking up at sunrise and resting when the moon was up.

When they were in a leisurely mood, and his wife was also in the mood, the uninhibited couple would deeply explore the difference between positive and negative distance contact, and incidentally review the Pinyin letter ‘a’ they learned in elementary school.

Mengmeng also forgot the children’s playgrounds in the big city, forgot the park in the residential area where they lived in Beijing, forgot her playmates from when she was one or two and had no memory, and slowly became a little girl who could run around everywhere without her parents watching.

Cheng Xiaolin had originally said she couldn’t sit still, thinking of applying for a job at Cao Family Village Kindergarten, but since returning, she had been delayed by various things and still hadn’t gone.

As time entered April, the earth, selflessly giving like a mother, burst forth with a new wave of nutrients.

The leaves were all green, flowers bloomed in riotous colors, and the crops and fruit trees in the fields also began another wave of vigorous growth, as if competing to see who could display more splendor in this new life cycle!

On the 4th, Cao Shujie put his daughter on his shoulders, held her legs with his arms, and supported her body with his hands: “Mengmeng, let’s go, ride the big horse!”

“Giddy-up, hehe!” Mengmeng’s small hands tightly hugged her dad’s head, and her mouth let out laughter as pleasant as wind chimes.

“Dad, faster,” Mengmeng called out, she liked playing like this.

While her dad was running wildly with her, Mengmeng didn’t forget to call out to her mom behind her: “Mom, faster.”

“Puppies, run fast!”

Cheng Xiaolin was leading the two little Huskies, taking them out for a walk.

She had figured it out, these two little Huskies had too much energy. Don’t let their small size fool you, the restless gene was already deeply ingrained in their bones.

The cardboard box that was originally their home had already been ruined by the two of them, and the blue-eyed Husky’s head almost got stuck, so they had no choice but to get a new one.

When she saw this scene, Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t help but complain about her former colleague: How could Huskies be gentle?

So wild at such a young age, what would they be like when they grew up?

Cheng Xiaolin also found that she was increasingly fond of this carefree life.

You don’t have to worry about the money you earn, having to save it for utility bills (water, electricity, heating), for mortgage payments, for daily necessities (firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea), not daring to spend an extra cent on yourself.

Nor do you have to worry about what time you must get up in the morning, otherwise you’ll be late for work, and you might even have to work overtime after work!

She felt this was what life should be.

Especially seeing her husband’s complexion getting better and better, and his spirits full, when they were expressing affection, it seemed like time itself became longer, filling her with joy.

There was just one small drawback.

When they couldn’t help themselves, they still had to grit their teeth, afraid their in-laws, who lived in the same courtyard, might hear them again. Besides feeling a bit unfulfilled from holding back, everything else was OK!

“So good!” she muttered subconsciously.

“Daha, Erha, let’s go chase Mengmeng, run fast,” Cheng Xiaolin called out.

With that, she led the two puppies and ran forward first. The blue-eyed and brown-eyed little Huskies understood, they all sped up and charged forward, but unfortunately, under the restraint of the leash, Cheng Xiaolin’s speed clearly became the upper limit of their speed, limiting their performance.

As they ran, they encountered a local dog on the road.

After seeing the two little Huskies, the local dog barked “Woof woof.”

It was provoking them!

The two little Huskies, despite their small size, had absolute courage.

“Owooo! Oh oh oh!”

“Oh oh…”

The two little Huskies also stopped and barked furiously at the local dog, their momentum not weak at all.

Who doesn’t know how to argue? These brothers had never been afraid of any dog!

If Cheng Xiaolin hadn’t been holding the leash, the two brothers would have dared to go up and fight the other dog.

These little ones, barely ten days old, were already incredibly bold!

The local dog saw that the Husky brothers were not afraid of its provocation at all, and were even bouncing around wanting to fight it. Plus, they had an owner, so it tucked its tail and ran away.

“Owooo!”

“Owooo, oh… Woof!”

The two little Huskies let out triumphant barks, seemingly celebrating their brave performance.

Then they turned their dog heads, their dog eyes staring straight at Cheng Xiaolin, their dog faces full of serious expressions.

Cheng Xiaolin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and gave them a thumbs-up: “Daha, Erha, you two brothers are truly amazing.”

It was unclear if the two puppies truly understood, but they immediately stuck out their dog tongues, squinted their dog eyes, and made a comical dog face.

“Mom, faster!”

“Puppies, run fast!”

Cao Shujie and his daughter Mengmeng, who were ahead, didn’t know that an un-fought battle had occurred behind them. Seeing that Cheng Xiaolin hadn’t caught up, the father and daughter stopped running, and Mengmeng called for her mom.

“Coming,” Cheng Xiaolin responded: “Daha, Erha, run fast.”

The one person and two puppies caught up again.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain at the north end of Cao Family Village, Cao Shujie saw his father Cao Jianguo busy pouring water and handing out cigarettes over there.

The two-story building Cao Zhenggang and the others were constructing had already taken initial shape. At this rate, it would likely be completed by mid-month.

Cheng Xiaolin’s heart was filled with anticipation.

“Dad!” Cao Shujie and Cheng Xiaolin called out almost simultaneously.

Mengmeng also shouted loudly: “Grandfather!”

“Mengmeng, why did you come over?” Cao Jianguo asked her with a smile.

Mengmeng said: “Walking the dogs, looking at the house, playing!”

(End of this chapter)