Chapter 93: Mengmeng’s Feeling Pretty Proud

The couple stood at the front gate chatting, while the two little German Shepherds in the backseat of the car started howling again, “Ooooh, ooooh,” unhappy that no one was paying them any attention.

Cheng Xiaolin nagged, “Honey, hurry up and get them out. Don’t let them poop on the seats.”

“They’re fine, they’re in a cardboard box,” Cao Shujie replied.

Even so, he walked over, opened the back door, and carefully lifted out the box with the two little German Shepherds inside.

Before he could even carry them into the house, Mengmeng heard the noise and came running out.

She saw her dad holding a cardboard box and looked puzzled. “Daddy, what’s that?”

“It’s something fun,” Cao Shujie said with a smile.

He was planning to let Mengmeng guess, but the two pups inside the box weren’t cooperating. As soon as they heard more noise outside, they started howling again.

“Ah! Puppies!” Mengmeng’s ears perked up as she shouted in surprise.

She instinctively glanced into the house and saw that Daha and Erha were still inside, which confused her. “Daddy, puppies? But they’re not Daha and Erha.”

“These are new. Daddy got them just for you from someone else. Do you like them, Mengmeng?” Cao Shujie asked his daughter.

As soon as she heard that, Mengmeng nodded eagerly. “I love them, Daddy! Give them to me!”

At just over two years old, she had no fear at all. She stretched out her tiny arms, wanting to take the box from her dad.

But Cao Shujie knew his daughter wasn’t strong enough to carry it. Without waiting for her protests, he carried the box straight into the house.

Sensing they were in a strange place, the two little German Shepherds started barking even louder. They were scared and trying to puff themselves up.

What they didn’t expect was that their barking would attract the attention of Daha and Erha.

“Woof!”

“Ruff, ruff, ruff…”

Daha and Erha turned their heads and growled in Cao Shujie’s direction, letting out low, threatening barks.

The two little pups shrank back in fear, but they were born with the blood of fierce dogs. Their father was a powerful beast.

After the initial fright, they bounced back and started barking right back at Daha and Erha.

Now the house was in total chaos. Mengmeng, who had followed them inside, burst into delighted laughter at the scene, clapping her hands.

“Daddy, this is so fun! Hee hee!” she said innocently.

She reached for the box, trying to grab the puppies inside. Cao Shujie panicked, worried the pups might bite her if they got startled, and quickly lifted the box higher, out of her reach.

He warned her, “These puppies are fierce, Mengmeng. You can’t touch them. If they bite you, it’ll be bad.”

“I don’t believe you!” Mengmeng shook her head, thinking her dad was just making things up.

Cheng Xiaolin came in from behind and saw her daughter being mischievous. She frowned and said sternly, “Mengmeng, is your butt itchy again?”

“No, it’s not! Mommy, I want to play with the puppies, but Daddy won’t let me!” Mengmeng shouted, clearly upset.

She was expressing her frustration the only way she knew how.

Grandma Wang Yuelan came out of the house and saw her son had brought home two more dogs. She leaned in to take a closer look at the pups in the box and asked, “These look like big guard dogs, don’t they?”

She wasn’t sure—they were so small, and she’d never seen German Shepherds as puppies before.

But then Cao Jianguo came out and immediately recognized what they were.

There were a couple of families in the village who raised these dogs. They were great for guarding homes, but they also ate a ton.

“Shujie, where’d you get these?” Cao Jianguo asked his son.

“Dad, Manager Song Zhichao from the loan company has a friend who runs a livestock farm. I went there today to look at calves and saw he had a pair of big German Shepherds. They looked amazing,” Cao Shujie explained.

“So you just took two of his puppies?” Cao Jianguo asked.

“I was only going to take one, but both looked so good,” Cao Shujie said. “Besides, he had a bunch more and was planning to give them away.”

“I remember Old Man Chengjiang’s German Shepherd once had a litter of over ten. He didn’t want to keep them either—gave them all away,” Cao Jianguo recalled with a chuckle.

Cao Shujie nodded. “Yeah, these dogs eat a lot. Keeping them all would be a problem just feeding them.”

At that, Wang Yuelan glanced around at Daha, Erha, the little wild cat Huahua on the roof, and the rabbit Huahui in its cage. She sighed. Her son had only been home a few months and already brought back so many mouths to feed.

“Daddy, put it down!” Mengmeng cried, hopping in frustration because her dad was still holding the box out of reach.

Cao Shujie stopped teasing her and turned to his wife. “Linlin, can you clean out that spare iron cage? I’ll put them in there.”

Before Cheng Xiaolin could move, Wang Yuelan stepped in and grabbed the cage. “Linlin, leave it to me.”

But Cheng Xiaolin couldn’t just stand there doing nothing. She joined in to help, no matter how much her mother-in-law insisted she didn’t need to.

With both women working together, things went quickly. In no time, the cage was ready.

Once the puppies were inside, they got a better look at their surroundings and saw several people staring at them. That made them even more nervous, and they kept barking nonstop.

Mengmeng kept tapping on the cage and cheerfully shouted, “Hello, puppies!”

“Mengmeng, don’t stick your hand in there. What if they bite it off?” Cao Shujie warned.

Mengmeng gave him a sideways glance. “Daddy, you’re silly. I’m not.”

“…” Cao Shujie was speechless. He didn’t even want to argue with her.

The arrival of the two little German Shepherds brought a fresh wave of joy and energy into the household.

But Daha and Erha could clearly sense their status in the family slipping two notches. The dog brothers were starting to worry—if this kept up, they’d be even less favored, and their position in the family would be hanging by a thread.

“Awuu, awuu!” Daha turned to Erha and barked twice, as if asking, “What should we do?”

Erha glanced at the two little German Shepherds, then looked back at his big brother and let out a series of “awoo awoos” like a wolf howl. It was his way of saying, “They’re just two little pups. We’ve got plenty of time to train them and show them who’s boss around here.”

“Awuu!”

Daha mulled over his brother’s words and thought he made a good point.

At that moment, Daha’s eyes widened, his ears stood straight up, and a glint of challenge flashed in his gaze as he stared at the two little German Shepherds. It was a silent warning: “Step out of line, and you’ll regret it.”

…

Inside the house, Cao Shujie was telling his wife and parents that he had bought 50 calves, and that the Livestock Farm would deliver them the next day.

Cao Jianguo was stunned. “Shujie, why’d you buy so many? Wouldn’t it be better to start with ten or so and see how it goes?”

Cao Shujie waved him off. “Dad, I did the math. Fifty is just right. The grass on my 80-plus mu of land needs to be used up anyway.”

“I think you and your Uncle Hua are oversimplifying things. What about water supply? What about dealing with the manure?” Cao Jianguo scolded his son, thinking he was being too impulsive again.

But Cao Shujie replied, “Dad, that’s easy to fix. I’ll run temporary piping for now, then install proper water lines later. I’ll ask Grandpa Zhenggang to help build a steel-framed cattle shed. That area’s already been partially paved. Just need to expand it a bit more.”

Hearing that his son actually had a plan, Cao Jianguo finally let it go. “As long as you’ve thought it through. I just don’t want you jumping from one thing to another on a whim and messing everything up in the end.”

“Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t let that happen,” Cao Shujie promised.

That night, Cao Shujie called Cao Zhenggang to talk about the cattle shed. He specifically asked him to make sure the ground was properly paved, to use stainless steel for the frame, and to top it with color steel panels.

“Shujie, you sound more professional than me,” Cao Zhenggang chuckled. He’d originally planned to use red bricks and cement boards and thought the job would be a hassle.

But after hearing Cao Shujie’s plan, he realized it was just like building a factory workshop—much simpler.

What Cao Shujie wanted was essentially a mid-sized workshop.

When he learned that Cao Shujie planned to raise 50 cows, Cao Zhenggang was pretty surprised. He thought the step was a bit too big and that a more gradual approach would be safer.

But it wasn’t his place to say too much.

That night, as they were getting ready for bed, Cheng Xiaolin asked, “Honey, aren’t you tired from running around so much?”

“Heh, it’s not that bad. Most of the time I’m just relaxing,” Cao Shujie replied, knowing exactly what his wife was worried about. “Don’t worry, I’m putting my health first.”

“Okay then, let’s sleep early. We’ve got to take in the calves tomorrow,” Cheng Xiaolin said.

As night fell and the world grew quiet, two discordant barks rang out from the yard.

The two little German Shepherds, new to Cao Shujie’s home, couldn’t fall asleep. They kept letting out soft, continuous “awoo awoos.” The sound wasn’t loud, but it was nonstop.

Cheng Xiaolin and Mengmeng didn’t mind—they were already fast asleep.

Cao Shujie thought he was in for another sleepless night, but before long, he started feeling drowsy. His eyelids grew heavy, and soon he was fast asleep too.

Soft snores floated through the room, blending with the little German Shepherds’ howls outside. The sounds rose and fell in rhythm, oddly harmonious.

The next morning, around five, Cao Shujie woke up naturally, feeling refreshed and energized. He found it a bit strange.

But then he remembered—back when he was in Beijing, he’d often stay up late, constantly stressed, and barely slept.

At that time, when he first brought Daha and Erha home, their barking would keep him up all night.

But after a few months of adjustment, his sleep quality had improved a lot. Now, a bit of noise didn’t bother him anymore.

After getting dressed, he grabbed his phone and headed into the yard. Seeing the two little German Shepherds finally asleep, he felt a wave of contentment.

Daha and Erha were already awake, lazily sprawled in their cage. When they saw Cao Shujie approaching, the dog brothers perked up immediately.

“Awuu!”

“Awoo, awoo!”

Their short barks made it clear—they wanted to go out for a walk, stretch their legs.

“Let’s go!” Cao Shujie grabbed the leashes, opened the cage, clipped them on, and led the brothers outside.

Well-rested Huskies are bursting with energy. After months of growth, the two had gotten much bigger. Now over 30 jin and more than 40 centimeters tall, they took off running, dragging Cao Shujie along with them.

“Whoa, you two are growing fast,” Cao Shujie said, watching the two Huskies bounding ahead. A sense of pride welled up in him.

“Daha, Erha, slow down!” he called out.

The dog brothers obediently stopped in place and turned to look at him, their eyes full of mischief, almost mocking: “Can’t keep up, huh?”

Cao Shujie caught the look and walked up to give each of them a playful kick.

…

After leaving the house, they strolled through the orchard on the mountain. Looking at the ripening fruit, Cao Shujie figured it’d be ready for harvest in just a few days.

As he thought about how to sell it, he led Daha and Erha back home.

Before he even reached the door, he heard his daughter Mengmeng’s voice.

“Dahei, Erhei, I’m Mengmeng!”

As soon as he stepped inside, he saw his daughter standing in front of the dog cage, solemnly introducing herself to the two little German Shepherds.

When the pups didn’t respond, she tapped the cage with a small wooden stick in her hand. “Daddy said no touching with hands, hehe!”

“I’ve got this—pretty smart, huh?” Mengmeng giggled proudly. That way, they couldn’t bite her fingers.

Daha saw Mengmeng and let out a single bark, “Awuu!”

Mengmeng heard the noise and realized that Daddy was back with Daha and Erha. She immediately forgot about the two little German Shepherds and ran straight toward Cao Shujie.

“Daddy!”

“Mengmeng, how come you’re up so early?” Cao Shujie asked, puzzled.

Cheng Xiaolin’s voice came from inside the house. “Those two puppies started barking again and woke Mengmeng up. No matter how I tried, she wouldn’t go back to sleep. What was I supposed to do?”

“Daddy, the puppies are so cute!” Mengmeng ignored whatever her mom was saying and pointed excitedly at the two little German Shepherds.

But Daha and Erha were no longer obeying her commands, which annoyed Mengmeng.

“Right?” Cao Shujie said with a smile. “Then go ahead and play with the puppies, okay?”

“Okay!” Mengmeng nodded enthusiastically. “I love puppies!”

Wang Yuelan had finished making breakfast and called everyone to come eat.

While they were eating, Cao Jianguo asked, “Shujie, didn’t you say the folks were delivering the calf today? What time are they coming? I’ll go over and keep an eye on things for you.”

Cao Shujie checked his phone. There was no update yet. “They haven’t called. They need to feed the calf before loading it up. Probably a bit of a hassle.”

“Plus, the roads over there are under construction, so they’re not moving fast.”

“Alright then. Just let me know when they get here,” Cao Jianguo said, clearly invested in his son’s affairs.

(End of this chapter)