The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 105 Cows

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"Uncle Wei! Aunt Xue! They're here?"

Just as everyone was eating, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Liu Yun walked in with a group of waiters carrying dishes.

"Is that Xiaoyun? Helping out here?" Xue Hua quickly came to greet her, and Wei Jianguo also stood up.

"Ah! Yes, my mom doesn't want to manage the business anymore, so she handed it over to Yangyang's dad. His dad is too busy, so he asked me to help him..." Liu Yun said with a smile.

Seeing that the couple was so young, Liu Yun didn't seem surprised at all, which clearly meant she had learned something from her mother-in-law.

"With such a large business in your family, it'll be yours sooner or later, right? It's better if you get familiar with it sooner, so your mother can relax a bit..." Xue Hua said.

"Are all of you and Uncle Wei's colleagues here? I heard from the foreman that you and Uncle Wei are hosting a dinner party here, so I specially asked the kitchen to add two more dishes..." Liu Yun said.

Actually, the supervisor told her that "Wei Qingqing" had arrived. However, because of what the seemingly very young woman had told them at noon, she felt that Wei Qingqing wouldn't appear in the city unless there was an emergency. Would she be hosting a dinner party at a hotel if there were an emergency? Furthermore, since most of the guests were middle-aged or elderly people in their fifties or sixties, she could roughly guess who it was…

"Your family is rich, so I won't thank you..." Xue Hua said with a smile.

"Look at what you're saying. We're such a close friend, saying thank you is too much of a formality..." Liu Yun said with a smile.

"Hehehe..." Xue Hua chuckled, "Next year, let's go fishing together again..."

"Sure..." Liu Yun readily agreed happily.

However, fishing isn't always fun, especially when you can cast ten or more nets and not catch a single fish. But when you go out to sea on Yang Ming's boat, that kind of embarrassment doesn't happen. All you'll experience is the joy of a good catch, a joy that can be addictive, especially for agrarian societies.

Led by Xue Hua, Liu Yun toasted each of the school's leaders and teachers, exchanged a few polite words, and then left.

"Was that woman Zhang Yingning's daughter-in-law?" Principal Hu asked.

"Yes, that's her. She used to work at the magazine," Wei Jianguo said.

"I really didn't expect that you would know the owner of Yingning Hotel..." Principal Hu said with some surprise.

Zhang Yingning is definitely a high-society figure in the province.

"So what? Our son-in-law and Zhang Yingning are business partners..." Wei Jianguo said with a sense of pride, after all, his son-in-law was capable.

"Oh? What does your son-in-law do? Doesn't he live in a small mountain village?" Principal Hu became interested in Yang Ming.

"I'm selling vegetables, supplying vegetables to Yingning Hotel..." Xue Hua walked over with a glass of red wine and sat down next to Wei Jianguo.

"Selling vegetables? It's not the kind of vegetables that Yingning Hotel has been advertising really well lately, is it the kind your son-in-law provides?" Hong Tao said.

"It was him who provided it..." Wei Jianguo nodded.

"He's really hit the jackpot. Our daughter is so lucky to marry someone like him..." Hong Tao gave a thumbs up.

"Now, education and job are not important. The key is to have good character and be able to earn money to support your family..." Ding Jianjun said.

"What do you know?" Zhao Kui rolled his eyes at Ding Jianjun. "Old Wei's son-in-law is also a college graduate. He moved to the village because he supplies vegetables to the Yingning Hotel. Otherwise, why would their vegetables be of such high quality? There must be some kind of magic in this mountain valley..."

"Hehehe, I don't know if there's any spiritual energy there, but the air is pretty good. I heard they're planning to develop agritourism..." Xue Hua said with a smile.

"Oh? Then we should go and take a look when we have time..." Principal Hu said with a smile.

"Yes! We definitely have to go and support them..." Hong Tao nodded earnestly. "Could you give us a discount then?"

"Old Hong, we've been colleagues for decades. Old Wei's son-in-law is our son-in-law too. Now that his family is here, how can he possibly ask us for money?" Principal Hu said with a smile, pointing at Hong Tao.

"Old Hu, you don't understand. There are many farmhouses here, how can they accommodate so many of us? They certainly won't charge us for staying at our son-in-law's house, but we can't fit everyone there. We'll have to spread out to other villagers' homes. They're all honest and kind villagers, how can you just stay for free..." Hong Tao said, sounding very experienced. It's true that Director Hong often takes his wife and children to nearby farmhouses for tourism.

"Old Hong, now that we've come this far, I have to give you a serious reprimand. We are, after all, school leaders and teachers. How can we be so irresponsible? You only care about going to the farmhouse for fun, don't you care about the students? We should take turns going, one or two at a time. Can't our son-in-law's house accommodate everyone?" Principal Hu said.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant... Why don't you be the principal?" Hong Tao gave Principal Hu a thumbs up.

"Hey! Lao Xue, did you take any pictures of the scenery at your son-in-law's place? Let us have a look first..." A middle-aged female teacher walked over from the women's section and patted Xue Hua on the shoulder.

The female teacher's name is Ren Xia. She is 50 years old and teaches Chinese to second-year high school students. She and Xue Hua are best friends. In the afternoon, she was one of the people who picked up a stool to hit Ding Jianjun.

"Of course we did, we took a lot of photos with our phones..." Xue Hua quickly took out his phone and handed it to Ren Xia.

The woman took the phone, quickly found the photos, and ran back to the women's section, where a group of female teachers surrounded her.

"Wow! So our son-in-law lives in such a charming house?"

"Is this puppy quite cute?"

"Oh dear, what kind of pigeon is this? It looks so strange!"

"Hey hey hey... What's this? What is this? It looks like a weasel, and also like a little mouse? It's kind of cartoonish..."

"Two big pots! I've heard that cooking with big pots makes the food taste especially good, it's completely different from cooking on a gas stove..."

"Look at that earthen bed, it's so spacious, and there's even a big black cat lying on it..."

"Look at this parrot, it's huge..."

"Hmm? It even has a backyard? And a well in the backyard..."

"Phew! That's a donkey cart..."

The female teachers looked at the pictures and excitedly chattered away, their voices like a chorus of birds, making the men on the other side extremely envious.

"Hey... Lao Wei, did you take the picture?" Ding Jianjun sidled up to Wei Jianguo.

"I didn't take pictures of the house area, I took pictures of the old forest area..." Wei Jianguo said proudly.

"You have no sense of propriety!..." Ding Jianjun reached directly into Wei Jianguo's pocket and took out his phone.

A group of people from the men's section also gathered around.

"Wow... Old Wei went into the old forest?"

"Holy crap... what is this? Is it a rolling cage?"

"What a pity, the leaves have all turned yellow..."

"Is that a yellow bird in that cage?"

A bunch of grown men were making a big fuss.

"Hey hey hey... Change, change..." Ren Xia ran over with Xue Hua's phone, snatched Wei Jianguo's phone, shoved Xue Hua's phone into it, and ran off in a flash.

Then, both sides exclaimed in surprise again.

"Next summer vacation, we must go to that little mountain village for a visit, as a school perk..." Principal Hu said with a sigh.

This time they gave a precise time.

When high school students achieve a certain level of success in the college entrance examination, the school usually organizes a summer trip for the third-year teachers to relax and unwind, as a reward for the teachers who have made great contributions to the school.

The teachers cheered again. They had originally planned to pay for it themselves, but the principal was so understanding that he directly allocated public funds.

"Let's get this straight: whether or not we can visit our son-in-law's village isn't up to me, it's up to you. If we can rank in the top three in our city next year's college entrance exam, the Education Bureau will give our school a 10 yuan bonus. Then we'll have everything: 7 yuan for the senior teachers, 3 yuan for the school, and we'll have a 3 yuan minimum. But if we don't do well, then I can only apologize to everyone," Principal Hu said.

"So, we have a heavy burden on our shoulders?" Zhao Kui was a senior high school teacher, and he felt the pressure right then and there.

"Old Zhao, let me tell you... if our school doesn't get into the top ten, then you'll have to pay for us to go yourself..." Ding Jianjun immediately patted Zhao Kui on the shoulder, putting pressure on him.

Zhao Kui and the senior high school teachers were all dumbfounded...

The next morning, Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing woke up early and chatted on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Do you think something might happen to Mom and Dad after they ate so many fried dragon eggs?" Wei Qingqing couldn't help but worry as she thought about how the couple had finished off a whole bowl of fried dragon eggs.

"What could possibly happen?" Yang Ming asked.

"For example... if you last too long in that area, it could lead to someone getting pregnant..." Wei Qingqing said, her face flushed, gesturing as she spoke.

"How can you, as a daughter-in-law, talk about your parents-in-law like that?" Yang Ming said with a wicked smile.

"Where?" Wei Qingqing covered her head with the blanket and said in a muffled, embarrassed voice.

"Mmm, no, no..."

"There wasn't one to begin with..." Wei Qingqing blushed even more.

"You know... if someone really dies, will I have another little brother? You know, what if we have kids too..." Yang Ming chuckled, imagining two little kids of similar age, one calling the other "uncle," how ridiculous would that be? Of course, in the old society, this was very common. It was perfectly normal for a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young man to call a four or five-year-old "uncle."

"If Mom hears this, she'll skin you alive!" Wei Qingqing secretly peeked out.

"Hehe, never mind..." Yang Ming laughed, sat up from the kang, pulled the clothes covering the quilt over himself, and started to put them on. "I'm going to feed the livestock and milk them while I'm at it."

"How about I go with you..." With her in-laws arriving, Wei Qingqing was unusually eager to be helpful.

"No need, you go to sleep..." Yang Ming dressed neatly, got off the kang (heated brick bed), put on his shoes, and went out.

"Oh? Aunt Liu is up early!" Yang Ming had just stepped out when he saw Aunt Liu strolling back and forth under the big willow tree in front of her house.

"Oh! Good morning to you too..." Aunt Liu looked up and saw Yang Ming, forcing a smile.

"What's wrong with you?" Yang Ming asked.

"Me?" Aunt Liu was a little embarrassed, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I want to hide at your house for a while..."

"What's wrong?" Yang Ming asked.

"Sister-in-law, this is what Auntie asked me to bring to you. She wants to make sure you eat it..." Zheng Dahan's voice came out. This guy actually came from Aunt Liu's house. He was carrying a bag of red hawthorns in one hand.

"Hey, Da Han, what are you doing?" Yang Ming asked.

"Ah? Brother Yang..." Zheng Dahan's face turned red. "My aunt asked me to bring some hawthorns to my sister-in-law. They're washed."

"Oh!" Yang Ming nodded, then looked at Aunt Liu: "Since it's Grandma Bao'er's insistence, Aunt Liu, you can have two..."

"Oh!" Aunt Liu's face flushed red. She responded, took the flour sack from Zheng Dahan, grabbed a few red hawthorns, and started eating.

"You seem to really enjoy your food?" Yang Ming watched Liu Sao eat with relish, and a sour taste welled up in his mouth. "Is it sour?"

Aunt Liu's face turned even redder, and she glared fiercely at Yang Ming: "Get out of here, you're so annoying..." With that, she turned and ran into Yang Ming's house.

"What did I do to you? That's my house..." Yang Ming was a little confused.

"I'll just rely on your house..." Aunt Liu said rather arrogantly.

"Brother Yang, I'm off then..." Zheng Da smiled sheepishly, scratched his head, and ran off in a flash.

"What's wrong with these two?" Yang Ming was completely confused and, without thinking too much, went straight to the back garden.

Since Yang Zhengfang and Zhang Shufang stayed in the wooden house last night, the dairy processing machine placed in the wooden house cannot be used. At the very least, it can only be used after the couple comes out of the wooden house.

"Hehe, what are you carrying, Mingming?" Yang Ming was carrying a large bucket of milk and walking towards the hot spring pool when a young man who was wandering around greeted him with a smile.

"Huh?" Yang Ming looked at the young man in front of him, who appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He was energetic and looked about seven or eight parts like himself, and couldn't help but be a little surprised. "You are... Dad?"

"Son, am I that young now? Why are you so surprised?" The young man chuckled, quite pleased with himself.

The young man was Yang Zhengfang.

"Very young, and... radiant..." Yang Ming's eyes welled up with tears. Wasn't this the father he remembered from his childhood?

"Hehehe..." Yang Zhengfang chuckled, glancing at the bucket his son was carrying. "Where did you get this milk?"

"Uh! Produced by our own dairy cows..." Yang Ming said.

"Oh? Take me to see it..." Yang Zhengfang asked curiously.

"Ah... okay, wait until I've put the milk away..." Yang Ming felt a chill run down his spine. Fortunately, he did have two dairy cows among his cattle. However, these dairy cows were different from the black and white-spotted cows. They were crossbred dairy cows that looked no different from ordinary yellow cattle. Of course, purebred dairy cows wouldn't be sold in the livestock market.

Yang Ming poured the milk into a large vat, and then took Yang Zhengfang to see the cows.

"What kind of lousy cow is this? You call this a cow?" Yang Zhengfang roared. "Haven't you ever eaten pork? Haven't you seen a pig run? Haven't you ever drunk milk? Isn't there a cow printed on its skin?"

"Huh? Isn't this cheap? Two dairy cows that are producing milk only cost a thousand yuan. If it were two purebred dairy cows, it would cost twenty or thirty thousand yuan. Even a calf would cost ten thousand yuan..." Yang Ming said.

"You..." Yang Zhengfang was speechless for a moment before finally saying sullenly, "You little brat, you're also worried about money?"

"That's right, our money didn't just fall from the sky..." Yang Ming said.

"..." Yang Zhengfang was speechless. He snorted and turned to leave.

"Hehe, it's not appropriate for you to see this yet..." Yang Ming thought to himself with amusement, and quickly followed.

"What's wrong? Why are you so angry?" A beautiful young woman was standing outside the hot spring pool, about to go home, when she saw Yang Zhengfang returning in a huff and bumped into him. She couldn't help but ask.

"Your son is such an idiot... He spent so much money on a fishing boat. I always thought he was a shrewd and generous guy, but who would have thought..." Yang Zhengfang was furious and told his wife about his son buying a hybrid dairy cow.

"That silly boy, he doesn't save money where he should, but he's stingy about things he shouldn't," Zhang Shufang said, fuming.

"Who are you? How did you get in? Dad, what are you doing with her... I'll tell Mom..." Yang Ming was shocked to see his father and a beautiful woman arguing and was about to run into the hot spring to tell his mother.

"You little brat, are you pretending not to know your mother? Get over here right now..." Zhang Shufang shouted.

"Hehe, Mom, really, I don't recognize you..." Yang Ming chuckled foolishly.

"Stop arguing with your mother and tell her what really happened." Zhang Shufang knew there must be something going on. She would never forget the conversation she had with her son the night they moved to Sunshine Community.

"Nothing's wrong..." Yang Ming said with a grin.

"Hmph!" Zhang Shufang snorted and didn't press the matter further. "Your father and I will stay here for two days to help Zhang Yangfangfang supervise the construction. We'll stay in that little wooden house."

"How can that be? If you and my dad come to stay, and Qingqing and I don't let you stay in the main room, what will people in our village think of me? My uncle and the others will come and beat me up," Yang Ming said.

"Alright, as long as Qingqing doesn't object, I'll stay in your main room..." Zhang Shufang said without any hesitation.

"Why would she have a problem with that? When my parents-in-law come, they stay in the main house too," Yang Ming said with a smile.

"You're not so bad after all..." Yang Zhengfang snorted and said.

"Hehe, you've grown up and gotten married..." Yang Ming chuckled. "I heard from Qingqing's parents that you're also moving to the mountains. Why don't you take advantage of the construction crew now and build a house there?"

"That works too... We're planning to buy a house in Liujia Village. It was Sister Liu who helped us make the connection... We'll build a house for your father-in-law's family as well," Zhang Shufang said.

When the topic of their in-laws came up, Yang Zheng blushed a little. Now he finally understood why people blushed when "beauty and skincare" was mentioned. It was just too embarrassing. However, they didn't feel embarrassed at all. After all, in the countryside, the whole family slept on one big kang (heated brick bed). When the couple was intimate, they would wait until the children were asleep before they could do it. It was common for them to be caught by the children when they were suddenly awakened. Over time, they didn't feel embarrassed at all.

"Alright, I'll talk to Grandpa Huang's son later and ask him to call another construction team..." Yang Ming said.

"Your Uncle Huang and Uncle Liu haven't left yet, have they?" Yang Zhengfang's eyes lit up.

"Ah! I'm still here. I'll be leaving in about a week..." Yang Ming said.

"Hehe, we can open our fruit wine shop now..." Yang Zhengfang said, and ran off in a flash. He wanted to take advantage of the early hour to find Lao Huang and Lao Liu, lest they go into the mountains again and he couldn't find them.

"Your dad..." Zhang Shufang shook her head angrily and followed him away.

Once Yang Ming and the others could no longer see the two figures, he went to fetch the bucket and milk the cows.

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(End of this chapter)