Song Tan's Notes

In July, the lotus pond is in full bloom.

Even before reaching the riverbank, people could see the vast expanse of lotus leaves and flowers swirling in the wind from a distance.

Looking down from above, one can see different colors in the center: creamy yellow, pinkish white, vermilion, and light blue, clearly indicating that it is a rare variety of lotus.

But if you look at the outer perimeter, you'll see just ordinary pink lotus flowers.

As Lu Chuan and his team drove past the intersection, they saw a large group of people walking slowly and chatting by the roadside.

After stopping the car and exchanging only a few words, upon hearing that they were going to the lotus pond later, the three grown men in the car immediately urged him on:
"Get off the bus, get off the bus! We're not in a hurry to put our things back, let's look around together!"

Lu Chuan was both amused and exasperated: "It won't take more than 5 minutes to drive back."

"Oh, you don't understand!"

Besides, shouting loudly, "Look at my son, how well-behaved he is! He finally calmed down, can't you let me enjoy this for a little longer?"

Indeed, while two little girls were running and jumping around laughing in the crowd, He Tuoluo looked serious and walked steadily.

Little Ten's glossy fur shimmered golden in the sunlight, but as they walked, its big tail would occasionally brush against He Tuoluo's back.

As they walked, she would nuzzle against him and whimper a couple of times.

Clearly, this dog hasn't fully released its energy yet!

Look! What an obedient son he is!

Not to mention, Old He's family adores the child, and they don't even dare to talk to him right now, for fear that he'll start making a fuss again.

His humble words left Lu Chuan with no choice but to park the car directly on the side of the road.

The sun overhead was blazing hot, and he pointed downwards:
"Once we get down there, we can pick a lotus leaf to use as a hat."

He has such fair skin and he's not afraid of getting sunburned, so what are a few rough old men afraid of?

Everyone quickly got off the bus and looked at the shimmering riverbank in front of them, the distant cliffs faintly visible, and the vast lotus ponds, reeds, and pastures...

The four writers couldn't come up with a single decent sentence, and in the end, Qin Yun could only sigh:
"Holy crap, it looks amazing no matter how you look at it!"

Yes, yes!

Yunfeng and He Kuang nodded repeatedly, their eyes already drawn to the greenery, and they stepped down without hesitation.

In that vast lotus pond, the lotus flowers in the middle are distinctly different from the others.

"Why are they grown differently? Won't they get mixed up when digging them up? The ones in the middle should be much more expensive, right?"

Ulan laughed: "It can be divided. This was all Tan Tan's idea. There are special sections in the middle. The ones inside are ornamental lotus flowers, which our Lu Chuan likes. We planted them for him to see."

Just like the sunflowers on the mountain, if it's just for eating sunflower seeds, Wulan wouldn't plant so many fancy varieties.

Outside are just ordinary lotus flowers, which are also beautiful. It's just that I don't feel as bad about picking lotus seeds, digging up lotus roots, and picking lotus leaves.

Everyone stared at Lu Chuan, and suddenly felt a little envious.

……

Even at five o'clock in the morning, the sun is still scorching hot in the middle of summer, but in the countryside, it seems perfectly natural to take a walk or stroll.

Everyone was wearing sun hats when they left the guesthouse, and they strolled along leisurely.

Although I was covered in sweat, the warm, moist breeze blowing on the riverbank made me feel slightly cool, but not like the coolness of an air conditioner. It was incredibly comfortable.

If you brought a teacup, take another sip!
Oops!

After drinking the warm tea, I broke out in a sweat and felt completely refreshed.

Ulan wiped the sweat from her forehead and glanced at her daughter and son beside her. Although their faces were a little red, they didn't seem to be sweating much.

Let's take another look at Lu Chuan.

Oh dear, the same is true for the young man's handsome face.

I knew it! They really should be from their family!

She was in a good mood because of this, so she said loudly again:

"You should have come two months earlier, and Tan Tan would have taken you to the lotus pond to pick lotus roots. They're especially tender when stir-fried, and they go really well with rice."

Not now. They're growing so vigorously now, with flowers and lotus pods, that I'm reluctant to dig up too many of them.

Lotus root shoots?!
Whether they had eaten it before or not, everyone was now filled with regret and sighs amidst their reminiscences.

Amidst the regretful sighs of the crowd, Song Tan pointed to the other side of the riverbank:
"There are still water chestnuts there, but not as many as over at the pond. I'll take you to the pond to pick fresh, tender water chestnuts in a couple of days. They're much smaller than those at the market, about the size of a quail egg, but they're incredibly tender and sweet."

That's a good feeling!

Everyone was very happy.

Thinking about the two-week vacation, with different farm stays every day, I'm really looking forward to it.

Walking down the gentle slope towards the riverbank, Lu Chuan briefly explained his plans for food to them:

For example, on which day it's water chestnut season, we can take them to the mountain to pick tender chestnuts.

Chestnut buns in July are only about the size of a chicken or duck egg, so it's not cost-effective to eat them at this time.

But when you open the thick, green chestnut bag, you'll find plump, milky-white chestnuts about the size of a fingertip.

The outer shell is thick and soft; you can peel it off with just a pinch of your fingernail, revealing a fluffy, adorable inside.

The inner membrane is also tender. After peeling off the whole piece, a tender, milky-yellow chestnut, not much bigger than a peanut, will appear.

When eaten fresh, chestnuts are sweet, crisp, and tender, offering a superior taste that cannot be matched by any chestnut kernels available in the market.

He was good at describing things, and he had actually eaten them. With just a few words, he made everyone open their mouths, wishing they could pick all the water chestnuts and chestnuts and take them home tomorrow.

But after his cravings were aroused, Lu Chuan then laughed and said:

"It's a bit too early to pick chestnuts now. Let's arrange it when you're about to leave. The texture won't change as they grow a little bigger, but they'll be bigger to eat."

Everyone:...

If this continues, will their two-week vacation be extended to a month?

Didn't they say that we could pick the peaches on the mountain when we were almost ready to leave?

And pomegranates, can pomegranates ripen or not?

What about those big, green dates? Maybe we can try a few fresh ones?
And pears...

All of this has caused quite a stir among the crowd.

Hey!
People sighed: What a spineless city dweller.

As they spoke, the group had already followed the gentle slope to the edge of the lotus pond.

Qin Yun felt the tranquility of the journey without any disturbance, and smelled the faint scent of mugwort ointment on his body. He couldn't help but praise, "Chuan'er, please make sure to get me a few boxes of mugwort ointment before you leave. It's so effective."

"Yes."

Moreover, she exclaimed with delight, "My yard has some flowers and plants, but in the summer I don't dare to stand in there at all. If I stay there for 5 minutes, I'll almost be carried away by mosquitoes."

But what about in the countryside?

Grasslands and forests, where haven't they been? This little bit of mugwort ointment is really so effective!

But then Dad Yun suddenly said, "I saw this in the live stream, it's 199 yuan a box..."

As a result, he didn't see the whole thing and thought he wouldn't be able to get it as usual. By the time he realized it, he really hadn't managed to get it.

Everyone here is relatively well-off and not so sensitive to the price of good stuff, so they all started talking at once, wanting to take a few more boxes with them. Lu Chuan glanced at Song Tan with a smile, and the other party replied enthusiastically, "Don't worry, since you're here, you won't leave empty-handed."

Moreover, he hurriedly and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting to her:
"I won't even mention your great kindness and gratitude, but thank you so much, Little Ten, for all your hard work these past few days—will it still be in charge tomorrow?"

Upon hearing this, and seeing He Tuoluo huffing and puffing and dragging his feet to the side, everyone burst into laughter.

Song Tan stared at Xiao Shi thoughtfully—

These two Border Collies are intelligent, but they're not exactly well-behaved dogs, so she has to keep them on a tight leash.

"Let's see how it performs," ​​Song Tan said calmly.

Xiao Shi turned his head, pricked up his ears, and listened attentively to what she was saying.

"If their performance isn't good enough, we'll arrange for them to rotate with Xiao Shiyi."

Good guy!
Xiao Shi understood what that meant!

If it doesn't work hard, all its meat and milk will be given to Eleven!
Then, it let out a pitiful "humph" from its throat, then flicked its tail, trotted a couple of steps to catch up with He Tuoluo, and then huffed and puffed as it tried to grab his strap.

He Tuoluo shuddered, arching and twisting like an eel:
"I! I'm not playing anymore."

He has regained a little strength, but no matter how he tries to dodge, he can't escape Xiao Shi. He is not only frustrated but also very discouraged. He can only swallow his anger and give up.

Xiao Shi stopped and barked softly at him, clearly dissatisfied.

This person in front of me is utterly useless!

At worst, it won't run so fast next time!
……

The closer you get to the riverbank, the cooler the wind becomes compared to the slope.

Yunfeng exclaimed, "Oh dear! We should have brought the kids' swimsuits and all that too."

"No rush," Lu Chuan said calmly. "We're not familiar with this area yet, so let's enjoy the scenery and play in the lotus pond."

"I'd like to come to the riverbank next; there's plenty of time."

As they spoke, the group arrived in the middle of the large lotus pond.

Several dogs in the ranch saw people coming and enthusiastically wagged their tails and surrounded them.

The king, like a fierce lion, leaped several times; his enormous body, ferocious face, and powerful physique made the children scream.

"Wow! It's huge!"

"As big as a tiger!"

"As big as a lion!"

Lu Chuan reached into his pocket and found a bib that he had just bought that day.

This bib isn't the king's favorite red, but rather a highly saturated and contrasting orange and azure blue.

And this is precisely the blue-yellow derivative color that dogs can best recognize!

"Your Majesty, these are new gifts my friends bought for you. Do you like them?"

"Wang! Wang Wang!"

I love it!

The king is the most authoritative of all the dogs, and also the one with the most bibs.

Aside from the bright red bib, he showed no preference for any of them, as he wore them all equally in turn.

There are triangular scarves, square scarves, lace scarves, and even bow scarves...

Every morning, it carefully selects a bib in its room and then brings it to Chen Chi or Qiao Qiao so they can change it for it.

This is an extremely important event in a dog's life!
Now, with a new, beautiful pet, it wagged its tail and barked again.

The deep voice made the children instantly hide behind their parents, clinging to their legs, looking over with a mixture of curiosity, timidity, and a little eagerness.

He Tuoluo even glanced at Xiao Shi beside him again.

Xiao Shi, such a big dog, couldn't get up at all when he pinned him down on the grass.

But compared to the king before her, she was so petite!

If this king comes to play with him tomorrow, then he...

He recalled the frenzied licking he'd received from Xiao Shi earlier that day, followed by an overwhelming stench of saliva. Looking at the King's large dog head, he instantly tightened his grip on Xiao Shi's neck again.

"Tomorrow, you'll still play with me tomorrow."

In short, don't want this big one.

……

The king has absolutely no interest in children's thoughts.

It just looked at the brand-new bib with its highly saturated color and found that it was a color and style it didn't have yet. It excitedly raised its head, eager to change into it immediately.

Qin Yun and He Kuang had met it before, but Yun Feng was seeing it for the first time. He clicked his tongue at the Great King and couldn't help but sigh:

"If you could keep this in the city, it would definitely turn heads wherever you took it out."

Song Tan thought to herself, "Isn't that right?"

It's hard to say that Wang Zhen, the original owner of the Great King, didn't have this kind of boasting mentality when raising it.

But he really was a good owner, even though he now loves someone else...

In short, before they even explored the riverbank, the presence of the king made them take out their phones and, with a mixture of hesitation and excitement, hug him tightly to take a picture, which took up a full half hour!
But for the king, this was just an ordinary meal.

It looks handsome and confident when it wears a bib, and no one can dislike it, so it becomes even better at showing itself off.

At this moment, when it grinned and panted, it not only lost all its fierceness but also appeared rather endearing.

……

At this moment, Yunfeng Qin Yun and the others, who had scattered, asked impatiently, "Can we pick lotus leaves?"

The sun was quite strong. Even though they considered themselves to be big, strong men, their faces were burning after being in the sun for more than half an hour.

"can."

Without hesitation, Song Tan said, "First, pick two leaves from the side to block the sun, and don't go inside."

They often come to tidy up the lotus leaves and small lotus pods, so the lotus pond isn't particularly densely packed at the edge, and you can even sit in a small boat inside.

However, because there was more space, many clumps of calamus, reeds and other plants grew densely along the edge of the lotus pond.

There might be snakes in there, so it's best not to let them step in for the time being.

Qiaoqiao, familiar with the route, called out loudly into the distance:

"Big White! Big White!"

The sound traveled along the water's surface, seemingly echoing throughout the canyon.

Soon, the distinctive high-pitched voice of a goose could be heard from afar—

"Goose, goose, goose—"

Everyone looked ahead in the direction of the sound.

Two large white geese, frantically treading the water and swaying gently, leading a large flock of ducks forward, appeared like water-splitting boats on the shimmering river, exuding an extraordinary air of dominance! (End of Chapter)