The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 93 Guests are coming

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(Regarding the update votes from some brothers, I was indeed quite busy today. After uploading the chapter in the morning, I had to go out around noon and usually didn't return until four or five in the afternoon. After returning, I continued writing and saving up the draft until after ten at night. However, when saving up the draft, the broadband was disconnected, so I don't know exactly how many words I wrote for each chapter. I only know that each chapter is about five pages long. So, brothers, you don't need to vote for updates. Anyway, if nothing unexpected happens, there will be one chapter a day.)

After dinner, Xiao Bao went home to do his homework, while Wei Jianguo and Xue Hua rested on the kang (heated brick bed) and watched TV programs. Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing tidied up the table together.

Wei Qingqing took a broom and wiped the table clean, sweeping all the leftovers into a bowl, then took it out to feed the dog. Yang Ming then came to move the table.

"Yang Ming, have you fed your livestock?" Wei Jianguo suddenly asked.

"I fed him this morning," Yang Ming said, lifting up the kang table.

"You fed them this morning? You're really something!" Wei Jianguo quickly put on his shoes and got off the kang (heated brick bed). "Your livestock are only fed once a day?"

"They're not going to work in the fields, so why should we feed them three times a day?" Yang Ming asked, somewhat surprised.

"At least feed him once at night..." Wei Jianguo put on his shoes and hurriedly went out.

"Dad, wait for me..." Yang Ming put the kang table in the outer room and hurriedly followed him out.

"This is... insane. Farming is all mechanized now, who still uses livestock? What's wrong with skipping a feeding?" Xue Hua said through gritted teeth as he watched Wei Jianguo run away.

Yang Ming's livestock were only fed sporadically, once a day, just enough to keep them from starving.

"Hmph, back in my grandfather's day, he kept a donkey. He treated it like a treasure, feeding it three times a day... Let me tell you, my grandfather would never eat unless the donkey was full..." Wei Jianguo nodded in satisfaction as he watched the animal stuffing its mouthfuls of fodder.

"This is just livestock, why treat it like this?" Yang Ming was somewhat amused and exasperated.

"Of course it is. Livestock is the most important means of production for farmers. Just think about the days without livestock. People have to pull the plow and harrow the land by hand... How exhausted would they be?" Wei Jianguo said.

"Yes, yes, Dad is right..." Yang Ming said repeatedly.

"Alright, alright, remember this for the future. If the livestock are hungry, they won't have any strength. Donkeys and oxen are fine, but horses are the key. These things are precious. Not only do they need to eat bean cakes, but they also need to be fed a couple of eggs every few days." Wei Jianguo imparted his limited knowledge of animal husbandry to Yang Ming.

"Eat bean cakes? Beat eggs? I don't use it as a warhorse, why should I serve it like this?" Of course, Yang Ming only muttered these words to himself and didn't dare to say them out loud.

At night, Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing slept in the west room, leaving the east room to the two elderly people.

Nothing happened that night. The next day, at the crack of dawn, Yang Ming went to milk the cows as usual and then processed them into boxed milk.

Wei Jianguo was asked by Xue Hua to get up and make breakfast.

"We're guests now..." Wei Jianguo muttered, reluctantly carrying firewood to start a fire and cook.

"Oh? Why are you up so early, Dad?" Yang Ming returned with several boxes of milk and saw Wei Jianguo cooking over a fire.

"Oh! I'm a bed addict, I don't sleep well at your house, and since I have nothing to do, I... made breakfast." Wei Jianguo yawned and said.

"Oh! Dad, you go ahead with your work, I won't bother you any longer..." Yang Ming nodded and went into the west room, taking a large bowl and a pair of chopsticks with him before going in.

"...Am I busy? Don't bother me? This kid, can't you just say you'll take my place?..." Wei Jianguo blinked, sighed dejectedly, and continued cooking.

Before long, Yang Ming came out of the west room carrying a bowl of yellow egg liquid. He scooped some fine salt from the salt jar, sprinkled it into the egg liquid, and stirred it well.

The egg liquid was obviously from the egg of the Seven-Colored Bird. After Wei Jianguo and Xue Hua arrived, Yang Ming hid it away.

"Dad, go take a nap. I'll do the rest of the work for you," Yang Ming said.

"No need, no need, I'm willing to work. I usually teach students, so it's rare for me to do physical labor. Consider it exercise," Wei Jianguo said.

"You're our elder, can we just watch you work and rest on the side?" Yang Ming said with a smile.

"You're still acting out of filial piety, aren't you? If I don't accept it, wouldn't you feel really disappointed?" Wei Jianguo smiled mischievously.

"Ah...yes..." Yang Ming nodded blankly.

"Parents always love their children dearly. You are my son-in-law. As the saying goes, a son-in-law is like half a son. How could I not expect you to be filial?" Wei Jianguo stood up from the small stool, dusted himself off, washed his hands, and went inside.

"Giggle giggle..."

Laughter came from both the east and west rooms; it turned out the mother and daughter had been awake for a while and were listening inside.

Therefore, Yang Ming replaced Wei Jianguo as the cook.

Breakfast was the same as before: scrambled eggs, fresh milk, congee, pickled vegetable strips, and some fruit.

After placing the kang table on the floor of the outer room and setting out breakfast, Yang Ming suddenly felt a little awkward. The kang table was meant to be placed on the kang, but placing it on the floor and sitting on a small stool to eat would compress his stomach when picking up food, making him feel a bit suffocated... It seems that he should buy a large round table.

"Dinner's ready..." Yang Ming called out, knocking on the doorframe of the east room. "Mom and Dad, dinner's ready..."

He then slipped into the west room and, amidst Wei Qingqing's coquettish complaints, pulled out the lazy cat who was still in bed.

Wei Jianguo was more interested in the peaches, so he ate one before dinner to fill his stomach. Xue Hua was interested in the apples, so he used a fruit knife to peel them and cut them into small pieces to eat.

Wei Qingqing was somewhat dissatisfied with Yang Ming's barbarity, and she pouted as she drank her milk.

"Mom and Dad, do you think we should buy a round table?" Yang Ming asked, stuffing a piece of scrambled egg into his mouth.

"Buy a round table?" Xue Hua, who was cutting an apple, stopped, glanced at Yang Ming, and nodded. "A family should have a round table."

"If you ask me, we have an eight-immortal table at home, don't we? It's a family heirloom, made of walnut wood..." Wei Jianguo said to Xue Hua while biting into a peach.

"Their room is too small, and the eight-immortal table can't be folded up. If you put the eight-immortal table there, there's no place for people to stand," Xue Hua said.

"What's wrong with that? It makes the place feel more compact with an eight-immortal table, and it adds flavor to life. I remember when we were kids, after dinner, the adults would talk by the oil lamp, and we kids would crawl under the eight-immortal table to play," Wei Jianguo said.

"That works too... Once Yang Ming and Qingqing have a child, it'll be fun too," Xue Hua said.

"Did you hear that? Our eight-immortal table may not be made of rosewood or huanghuali, but it's still a family heirloom from the Wei family. How good have your father-in-law and mother-in-law been to you? Do you still dare to bully their daughter? How can you be so shameless?" Wei Qingqing glared at Yang Ming and said.

"Hehehe..." Yang Ming could only chuckle foolishly.

"And you still dare to talk? Do you think your dad and I are stupid? It's only because you didn't go too far in front of us that Yang Ming got a chance to scold you. Otherwise, who knows how much you bully people." Xue Hua glared at her daughter.

Wei Qingqing stuck out her little tongue, looking a little embarrassed.

"Hmph, do you really think we're fools? We've eaten more salt than you've walked roads..." Wei Jianguo said.

"I was wrong, I was wrong..." Xue Hua tugged at Wei Jianguo's sleeve.

"Uh! We've crossed more bridges than you've eaten meals..." Wei Jianguo quickly tried to salvage the situation.

"..." Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing exchanged a glance and burst into laughter. This time, they couldn't hold back any longer.

"You... really..." Xue Hua was also amused by Wei Jianguo, rolled her eyes at him, and covered her mouth to chuckle.

"I..." Wei Jianguo was puzzled for a long time before he finally understood, and couldn't help but blush.

"Alright! Stop laughing, it's time to eat..." Yang Ming suppressed his laughter and tugged at Wei Qingqing.

"Yes, yes, I won't laugh anymore..." Wei Qingqing's face turned red as she nodded repeatedly.

"Laugh if you want to, don't hold it in," Wei Jianguo muttered.

"Pfft..." Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing couldn't help but laugh again.

"You..." Xue Hua glared at Wei Jianguo, then shook his head and chuckled.

"What's wrong with me?" Wei Jianguo muttered, continuing to eat his peach.

So the four of them continued their meal in a cheerful atmosphere.

drop by drop...

The four of them were eating when a car horn sounded.

"It must be Zhang Yang and Fangfang..." Xue Hua asserted.

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true. Didn't Zhang Yingning say that they're coming here today to pick up Hanfu?" Wei Jianguo said.

"Aunt Zhang is here too?" Wei Qingqing was a little surprised.

With such a large business, how come Zhang Yingning seems to have so much free time?

"Not only did she come, but her husband came too..." Wei Jianguo said.

"Really? We've known Aunt Zhang for so long, but we've never met her husband..." Wei Qingqing was a little curious. What kind of man could live happily with a strong woman like Zhang Yingning for most of his life?

"Is it really that surprising? Aunt Liu has made two sets of Hanfu, which are for Aunt Zhang and her husband. They came to try them on today," Yang Ming said.

"You notified them?" Wei Qingqing asked.

"It wasn't me who notified her, but Aunt Zhang who called me every few days to ask about the progress of the Hanfu," Yang Ming said. In fact, he knew that asking about the progress of the Hanfu was a pretense; her real intention was to build a relationship with him. After boarding Yang Ming's fishing boat and going out to sea, Zhang Yingning, with her keen sense of business ups and downs over the years, naturally knew what kind of relationship she should maintain with Yang Ming.

"Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's see who's here outside..." Wei Jianguo said, standing up and walking outside. Xue Hua, Yang Ming, and Wei Qingqing quickly followed him out.

"Haha, Brother Qian, we're here! We just wanted to get here early so we could mooch a meal off you..." Sun Fangfang was as cheerful as ever.

"Brother, you're not being very kind. You're secretly eating good food while we can smell it from far away..." Zhang Yingning said in his usual cheerful manner.

It turned out that Sun Fangfang, Zhang Yang, Zhang Yingning and her husband... the four of them arrived together.

"Alright, alright, come in, everyone?" Yang Ming greeted everyone with a smile. Seeing an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, he said, "This must be Uncle Xia, right? Please come in..."

We ushered everyone inside, but not into the inner room, which was still stuffy and smelled strongly of body odor, making it unsuitable for entertaining guests.

"Hmph..." Sun Fangfang sat down on a small stool, picked up a pair of unused chopsticks, and started eating. "These eggs are good, but they have a strange taste. What seasonings did you add to them?"

"What seasoning? That's what we need to eat. Can I tell you?" Wei Qingqing sat down next to her and picked up her chopsticks to start eating.

"Stingy..." Sun Fangfang rolled her eyes at her and continued eating.

"Aunt Zhang, Uncle Xia, please sit down too. Zhang Yang, you're asking me to let you have a seat? ... I'll go fry some more eggs for you..." Yang Ming brought over four small stools, invited everyone to sit down, and then carried a large bowl into the west room.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and wash some fruit for us..." Sun Fangfang nudged Wei Qingqing with her elbow.

"What a disgrace..." Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes and went to wash the fruit for them.

"Remember to chop some pickled vegetables," Zhang Yingning called out.

"Alright, alright, just remember to pay for your meals..." Wei Qingqing chuckled.

"Then... don't cut it, Auntie doesn't have much money with her." Zhang Yingning was possessed by Scrooge at this moment.

"It's alright, just put it in the account."

"This child..." Xue Hua shook his head and sat down on the small stool. "He has no manners."

"That's what makes a lively child," Zhang Yingning said with a smile, picking up a glass of milk, inserting a straw, and taking a sip. "Mmm...this milk is delicious..."

"Hehe, have a peach. Peaches are good for you, apricots are bad for you. Eating this is good for your health..." Wei Jianguo handed a big peach to Zhang Yingning's husband.

"Do I look unwell?" Zhang Yingning's husband, who was also an eccentric person, said this as soon as he took the peach.

"Old Xia, what nonsense are you talking about?" Zhang Yingning rolled her eyes at her husband, and then laughed with Wei Jianguo and Xue Hua, "Let me introduce you, this is my husband, Xia Zhongshu. He has a very strange temper, so don't take it to heart."

"I know, your husband is like a donkey, he won't move if you lead him, and he'll back down if you hit him, just like my husband, Wei." Xue Hua noticed at a glance that Xia Zhongshu and Wei Jianguo were cut from the same cloth.

"...Hahahaha...So you old Wei are just as awful?" Zhang Yingning was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"That's right, our old Wei, the more you try to get him to eat something, the less he'll eat it. You might ask if he likes this? He really does. Once we went to..." Xue Hua began to list all sorts of faults Wei Jianguo had to say to Zhang Yingning.

"So you guys are this funny, huh? Hey, our Xia is just like that too. Let me tell you, once..." Zhang Yingning started listing Xia Zhongshu's faults.

As Wei Jianguo and Xia Zhongshu listened to the two women recounting their past embarrassing incidents, their faces flushed red with shame. However, when they looked at each other, they saw in each other's eyes a complex mix of emotions, including "birds of a feather flock together," "mutual appreciation," and "a true friend is hard to find."

"How about we go for a walk? It's kind of stuffy inside," Wei Jianguo suggested.

"I've had this in mind for a while..." Xia Zhongshu couldn't wait to get away from these two women who exposed their shortcomings.

So the two of them went out hand in hand for a stroll.

Seeing the two of them appreciating each other and how rare true friends are, three words came to Zhang Yang's mind: "Brokeback Mountain".

The fruit was washed, the eggs were scrambled, and a large plate of pickled vegetables was chopped. Except for two men who slipped away—well, escaped—the six of them sat around eating.

"You should get a big round table at home." Zhang Yingning also realized the inconvenience of not having a round table.

"My dad said to bring our family's eight-immortal table over," Wei Qingqing said.

"An eight-immortal table? That's fine, and it would be best to also get four large benches," Zhang Yingning said.

"Yes, yes, Sister Zhang, you're so thoughtful. If there were four big benches, everyone could sit around the table, that would be so much fun, it would feel like going back to the 1960s or 70s," Xue Hua said.

"Not only that, but we can also put a rocking chair in the room. When we're watching TV, we can lie down on it and relax..." Sun Fangfang added.

"If you ask me, it would be better to get a rattan chair. In the summer, we can move it to the yard, put it under the trees to cool off, and use it as a bed when we're sleepy. We can also put a few slices of sweet watermelon next to us..." Wei Qingqing chimed in.

"In that case, we might as well get a wire bed..." Zhang Yang muttered.

"Okay! Everyone, let's eat. The food's getting cold..." Yang Ming said with a smile, inviting everyone to eat.

"Come on, come on, let's eat..." Wei Qingqing called out.

After breakfast, Wei Qingqing and Sun Fangfang went to the hot springs, Xue Hua and Zhang Yingning went to Aunt Liu's house to look at Hanfu (traditional Han clothing), while Yang Ming took Zhang Yang to see the wolves. Yang Ming was already annoyed by Zhang Yang's constant boasting about how many wolves he had killed. "You can boast all you want, but why do you always portray me as a villain? This time, I'll show you how many wolves we caught and give him a good shock."

On the way to see the wolves...

"Zhang Yang, are you also planning to move to Zhengjia Village in the future?" Yang Ming asked.

"Of course, we even bought the land..." Zhang Yang said.

"Which piece of land?" Yang Ming asked curiously.

"It's right across from your house, on the other side of the river," Zhang Yang said.

"What about on the other side of the river?"

"Right? You're rich. When you build a bridge over the river in the future, it will be convenient for us to visit each other," Zhang Yang said.

"Aren't you all rich? Why don't you just set it up yourselves?"

"I'm no big shot at all. I'm just a small-time tycoon. You're the real big shot..." Zhang Yang said.

"So what if you're rich? You're not the Weaver Girl, and we're not the Cowherd. As for visiting other people's homes, we get bored if we don't see certain people."

"It seems we were just being presumptuous..." Zhang Yang glanced at Yang Ming with a rather resentful look, which made Yang Ming shudder. This guy was really disgusting. How could a grown man make such a disgusting expression and gesture?

"Alright, alright, as long as you don't disgust me with that look, I'll fix the bridge..." Yang Ming quickly compromised.

"That's more like it. As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, and with more money comes more responsibility to take care of your brothers," Zhang Yang said immediately, his expression serious.

"Where did this fallacy come from?"

"What kind of twisted logic is that? Zhang Zi said it himself."

"Which 'zi' is 'Zhang Zi'?"

"Zhang Zi is me..." Zhang Yang proudly puffed out his chest.

Yang Ming was speechless.

"Brother Qian, where are you taking me?" Zhang Yang only realized now that fences had been erected between the mountains, making them look somewhat unfamiliar.

"Where are we going? I'll take you to hunt wolves." Yang Ming grinned mischievously.

"Hunting wolves? Why don't you bring a spear?" Zhang Yang's eyes lit up.

"Using a spear to hunt wolves? You're so outdated..." Yang Ming said.

"You don't even need guns to hunt wolves anymore?" Zhang Yang was a little confused.

When Zhang Yang saw the more than twenty wolves inside the iron gate, he was immediately stunned and speechless.

"How about it? These are all the wolves we caught yesterday..." Yang Ming said proudly, pointing at the listless wolves.

"How...how did you catch him?" Zhang Yang asked in shock.

"That's easy! Let me tell you! I suddenly saw a wolf appear in front of me. I thought, wolf meat is delicious, wolf fur is soft, so I kicked it so hard it tumbled over and couldn't get up for a while. Just as I was smugly reaping my victory, suddenly about twenty more wolves rushed out and surrounded me. But who am I? I'm fearless and face them with a smile..."

"Hehehehe..." A burst of clear laughter rang out, and Liu Nannan stumbled out of the greenhouse, laughing so hard that tears streamed down her face. "Brother Yang, I've found you to be getting funnier and funnier. It was clearly Dahuang and the others who did the work, but you insisted on taking the credit for it yourself. It's killing me...hehehehe..."

"Liu Nannan, you dare to expose my secrets, I'll deduct half of your salary! And the milk is gone..." Yang Ming feigned anger and embarrassment.

But the little girl wasn't afraid at all; in the end, she even laughed so hard she sat down on the ground.

"These employees are getting harder and harder to manage these days..." Yang Ming could only smile wryly, touching his nose.

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(End of this chapter)