The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 58 Bird Catching

"I feel like Xiao Fen is a bit... different from before. Why does she and Yang Ming act like family, without any formality? ...Could it be that there's something going on between them...? No, if they really have something going on, why wouldn't his wife stand for it?" Zheng Dabao frowned as he watched Liu Sao's back, his mind filled with doubt.

"Uncle Da Bao, come over and rest for a while..." Yang Ming said.

"Oh, no need, no need. I have to go to a meeting in the township. They've made me late. You guys go ahead with your work, I'm leaving..." Zheng Dabao said quickly, coming back to his senses.

"You're going to the countryside? Alright, let Old Yang drive you there." Yang Ming said, gesturing to Old Yang, who then pressed a button in the car. The car tilted, and the pomegranate tree on the car slid down. Along with the pomegranate tree came five puppies: three yellow hamsters and two spotted puppies that were just a month old. As soon as the puppies got out of the car, they wagged their tails and ran to Yang Ming and Wei Qingqing's feet, where they sat down.

"My goodness, you've brought five more dogs..." Zheng Dabao was dumbfounded.

"Hehe, these two spotted dogs are what we plan to give to Bao'er. These three little yellow dogs are the offspring of my dad's big yellow dog. There were originally nine, but the other six were given away," Yang Ming said with a smile.

"This little silly dog ​​looks so clever, give me one!" Zheng Dabao looked at the three little yellow dogs and liked them from the bottom of his heart. Besides, little silly dogs are not worth much. It's very common for people living in the same village to want a puppy.

"Sure, Uncle Dabao, pick one if you like," Yang Ming said generously.

"Wait for me to come back, then let your aunt come and choose. In our family, your aunt is in charge..." Zheng Dabao smiled and got into the car.

When it comes to cuddling a dog, it's usually the most capable person in the family who does it, because that's how you get a dog that's considered powerful.

"I'm jealous..." After the transport truck carrying Zheng Dabao left, Wei Qingqing pouted and tugged at Yang Ming's arm, refusing to listen.

"What's wrong now?" Yang Ming grabbed her wrist and led her into his yard.

"Sister Liu just grabbed your wrist..." Wei Qingqing said sweetly.

"It was just a quick wrist-pulling, all in the heat of the moment..." Yang Ming said with a forced smile. Actually, he also felt that Aunt Liu was acting a bit strange today. She used to be quite reserved. Although she would chat and laugh, she would never have any physical contact with him.

"I have a feeling that something's not going to happen today. Aunt Liu has no intention of remarrying, so why is Bao'er's grandmother so determined to take her granddaughter away? Judging from Aunt Liu's attitude today, I feel that Aunt Liu and her in-laws have completely fallen out," Wei Qingqing said.

"Let them make a fuss, it's none of our business."

"Maybe it's related to you? Maybe it's because Bao'er recognized you as her godfather, and Bao'er's grandma found out. She thought that Aunt Liu wanted to remarry and was going to entrust her daughter to you, so she insisted on taking over the custody of her granddaughter..." Wei Qingqing guessed.

"What you said actually makes some sense..." Yang Ming frowned.

"You decide for yourself. I'm going to see my little pigeons. I haven't seen them for two days, and I miss them terribly." Wei Qingqing pulled her wrist out of Yang Ming's hand and went into the east wing.

"Don't you think we should do something?" Yang Ming followed him into the east wing.

In the east wing, the two little pigeons had grown quite a bit, their little spiky heads had blossomed, and they chirped all day long. Their large crop seemed to be insatiable, and they didn't know how to keep clean. As soon as they left the nest, they would stick out their rear ends and leave a puddle of droppings.

"Do something? We don't need to do anything, and it's not our place to do anything, otherwise we'll really give people something to talk about." Wei Qingqing held a small twig and teased the two little pigeons, making the two little guys flutter their little wings and chirp incessantly.

"That's true, but I'm always worried that Bao'er will be taken away. After all, Bao'er still has to go to school, and she can't always be under our noses..." Yang Ming squatted down next to Wei Qingqing.

"What you said is also a valid point..." Wei Qingqing said.

"You know, if we let Bao'er go to school in the city, with my mom taking care of her, we'd feel at ease..."

"You're always coming up with terrible ideas," Wei Qingqing rolled her eyes. "Can Bao'er live without Aunt Liu?"

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Just as Wei Qingqing was about to speak, she heard Old Liu's voice from outside: "Young man, are you inside?"

The two men exchanged a glance and went out of the east wing together. They saw Old Liu and Old Huang standing outside the gate. These two had witnessed the vicious dog biting people and dared not enter the yard on their own.

"Is that Grandpa Liu and Grandpa Huang? Come in quickly..." Yang Ming walked to the door and warmly invited them in.

"Your dogs..." Old Huang pointed to the puppies lazily sunbathing in the yard and asked somewhat timidly.

"It's alright, it's alright, we're at home, they don't bite..." Yang Ming quickly replied with a smile.

"That's good..." The two old men looked at each other, breathed a long sigh of relief, and followed Yang Ming into the house.

The three of them sat down in the east room, and the curtain was lifted to let the room air out. Wei Qingqing went to pour them water and wash fruit.

"Young man, where's that budgie? Did Miaomiao eat it?" Old Liu sat on the kang and looked around, but couldn't find the budgie.

"Could it have been eaten by the cat? Could it have been eaten by the cat? Could it have been eaten by the cat..." From the pile of quilts in the corner of the kang, a large budgie hopped out, jumped onto the windowsill, and chirped and mimicked the sounds.

"Doesn't Miaomiao like to eat birds in cages? We were afraid Miaomiao would eat it, so we let it out," Yang Ming explained.

"Squeak squeak..." Old Liu pursed his lips and whistled, which was the command to call the parrot.

Upon hearing the whistle, Tiger Skin shook its feathers violently, feigning fear, "Bad guy, bad guy... But I'm not going... Cut out my tongue, cut out my tongue..."

Old Liu pursed his lips and stood there stunned. Old Huang looked like he had seen a ghost. Even Yang Ming was a little surprised. When did Tiger Skin become so smart and able to express his thoughts clearly?

"Gentlemen, have some water..." Wei Qingqing came out with two cups of warm water, then turned around and went out again to get some large fruit from the west room and began to wash the fruit.

Old Liu and Old Huang then realized what was happening. Old Liu exclaimed, "Young man, you're the real expert! I can only make the parrot mimic speech, but you can make it talk. I, Old Liu, am truly impressed..."

Parrots mimic speech, but they only imitate the sounds; they don't actually know the meaning of the words. However, speaking is different; it's the beginning of mutual communication, which represents intelligence.

"Young man, my name is Huang Tongsheng, and this old Liu is Liu Baishui. We don't even know your name yet," Old Huang said.

"My name is Yang Ming, and that's my wife, Wei Qingqing," Yang Ming said, pointing to Wei Qingqing who was washing fruit in the outer room.

"Do you guys know Fatty Huang? He's just a small-time contractor," Old Huang said again.

"Huh?" Yang Ming was a little surprised. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said, "I don't know him. Why?"

"Fatty Huang is my son. I remembered when I saw your peaches. Last month, my son brought me some peaches, and they were exactly the same as yours," Old Huang said, pointing to the large peaches that Wei Qingqing was washing.

What Old Huang didn't say was that the couple really enjoyed the peaches. After finishing them, they thought about buying some more at the market. However, after wandering around the market for several days, they found that there were no peaches for sale at all. They even considered asking their son where the peaches came from, but they were afraid that their daughter-in-law would misunderstand... It wasn't worth it for a meal, so they gave up. Today, seeing the same peaches in this mountain village again, Old Huang naturally assumed that the young couple and their son must know each other.

"Your son is the contractor at Longteng, right?" Wei Qingqing, who could hear clearly from the outer room, interjected.

"Yes, yes, yes, they work for Longteng Real Estate," said Grandpa Huang.

"They helped dry our hot spring. Before they left, I gave them some peaches to take with them. It was the day you and Zhang Yang went hunting in the mountains," Wei Qingqing explained as she brought in the fruit and saw that Yang Ming didn't quite understand.

"Oh! It's the hot spring that Grandpa Huang's son built for us." Yang Ming suddenly realized.

The four of them ate fruit together, and Yang Ming asked, "Grandpa Huang, what brings you into the mountains? This road is difficult to travel, and I don't see any of you have a car."

"What kind of car are we driving? We two brothers went into the mountains to catch yellow birds, and we'll be staying until the end of November." After finishing a big peach, Old Liu grabbed another and started eating it. "Hmm, this peach tastes good, fragrant and soft, sweet and delicious."

"Hehe, don't just eat peaches, these grapes taste good too..." Yang Ming smiled and handed Old Liu a bunch of grapes.

"Never mind him. Yang Ming, I heard you're from the city. What made you decide to live in the mountains?" Old Huang said, munching on a big apple.

"It's nothing. The city is full of car exhaust, it's not comfortable to live there, so we moved to the mountains..." Yang Ming said with a smile.

"The air in the mountains is so fresh, especially in your house..." Old Huang nodded. He also felt that the air in Yang Ming's house was exceptionally fresh, especially under the persimmon tree outside.

"Uncle Huang, why does this birdcage look so strange? If you had used this birdcage back then, that big white cat wouldn't have caught the bird," Wei Qingqing said, pointing to the rolling birdcage in Old Huang's arms.

"Young lady, this isn't a birdcage for raising birds, it's a rolling cage for catching birds." Old Huang blushed a little, probably because the young lady had seen him throw a tantrum at the market.

"Yang Ming, Qingqing, are you inside?" At this moment, Aunt Liu's voice came from inside, and then she went straight into the house.

All four people in the room looked over.

"The two gentlemen are here too? I should thank you both for what you did earlier..." Aunt Liu greeted Old Huang and Old Liu with a smile. They had helped to mediate the fight, and although the effect wasn't great, their intentions were good, so she had to thank them.

"Sister Liu... how are you? Is your mother-in-law alright?" Yang Ming stood up and asked.

"It's nothing. Once you sent that ten thousand yuan over, everything was fine," Aunt Liu said sarcastically.

"It's good that everything is alright. We'll be living in the village from now on, so we can't let this cause a rift with the whole village." Wei Qingqing breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yang Mingqing, I still have work to do in the fields. When I go down to the fields, please take care of Bao'er for me and make sure no one takes her away," Aunt Liu said with a smile.

"No problem, we've got it covered," Wei Qingqing said.

"Alright, you guys go ahead with your work, I'm leaving..." Aunt Liu said as she walked out.

"Sister Liu, the pair of puppies I promised Bao'er came back today. You can take them with you." Wei Qingqing quickly followed and brought out a pair of spotted puppies from the side room, handing them to Sister Liu.

"Alright, alright, I'll take them. Your dog is really something else; it scared away three grown men." Aunt Liu laughed, picked up the two puppies, and turned to leave.

Wei Qingqing watched Liu Sao leave until she was out of sight before turning back into the house.

Wei Qingqing saw Liu Sao out, but the room fell silent.

"To be honest, about what happened today..." Old Huang pondered for a long time, unable to come up with a suitable word.

"It's nothing much today, it's just that these little punks made things complicated..." Old Liu said, picking at a grape. "They bit someone, drew blood, and that changes the nature of the situation..."

"Gentlemen, could you tell me in detail what happened?" Yang Ming asked.

"We don't know either. When we first arrived, we heard an old lady shouting in your yard. We thought there was a fight, so we came in to try and stop it. Who knew you had two children..." Old Huang slowly recounted what they knew in detail.

"So that's what happened. Bao'er's grandma even pushed Bao'er and scolded her quite harshly?" Yang Ming's face turned pale. Is this what a grandmother should do? If Bao'er were really raised by her, wouldn't little Bao'er become a doormat, constantly being beaten and scolded by her grandmother?

"No manners, typical of mountain folk..." Old Liu sighed.

"Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people, but the most honest and simple people also come from the mountains," Old Huang said with some disagreement.

"Gentlemen, aren't you planning to stay until the end of November? If you don't mind, why don't you stay at our house? Our west room is quite spacious," Yang Ming said.

"No, no, we two old men won't stay here. We're not going to be third wheels," Old Huang waved his hands repeatedly. "You two young people are living your lives, what are we two old men doing interfering for?"

"That's right, but we'll have to come here often in the future, and we can exchange tips on raising parrots," Old Liu said.

"Okay, you two rest inside. You'll have lunch at home. I'll go outside and finish my work."

"How about planting a pomegranate tree? I see it, it's quite a big pomegranate tree, one person definitely can't handle it. We can't just get a free meal from your house, we'll lend you a hand." Old Liu said, rolling up his sleeves and standing up.

The pomegranate tree is still outside the door and needs to be planted as soon as possible. Originally, Yang Ming thought that the pomegranate tree could be planted in the backyard, but Wei Qingqing thought that the pomegranate tree would look pretty when it bloomed, so she wanted to plant it in the small valley next to the hot spring pool. So, Yang Ming compromised.

With the help of Lao Huang and Lao Liu, it took a lot of effort to carry the pomegranate tree to the small valley. Wei Qingqing arrived a step earlier and led the two little girls who were playing in the hot spring pool to the wooden house to hide them temporarily. After soaking in the hot spring water, the two little girls relaxed all over, their pores opened, and their spirits quickly recovered.

"I know about planting trees, Yang Ming. Planting saplings is easy, but transplanting big trees is a different story. The side with dense foliage should face the sun so that it's easy for them to survive. Otherwise, they won't recover for three or four years." Old Huang was digging a hole and nagging beside Yang Ming.

"Do you even need to tell me? Everyone knows that." Old Liu curled his lip dismissively, glancing around the small valley. "This place is really nice, shrouded in mist, just like a fairyland. Young Yang is living a really good life..."

"Shh..." Suddenly, Old Huang put his index finger to his lips and remained motionless.

"What's wrong?" Old Liu asked in a low voice.

"There's a yellow bird. Keep your noise down so you don't scare it away. I'll go get the roly-poly cage." Old Huang moved with the gait of a cat, quietly leaving the valley. Then, crouching low, he quickly returned to Yang Ming's yard along the way he came. He took his roly-poly cage from the clothesline and then trotted back to the valley.

"Perilla seeds are the yellow bird's favorite food. They're fine as bait, but they won't work as a bird feed. Once the yellow bird eats perilla seeds, it won't eat anything else." Old Huang hid in the wooden house, his eyes fixed on the rolling cage hanging on a tree branch.

Behind him were Yang Ming and Lao Liu, as well as Wei Qingqing, Xiao Bao'er, and Liu Nannan, all dressed up. Everyone was watching the rolling cage with curiosity.

The birds in the rolling cage chirped and twittered, their melodious calls echoing through the valley, evoking the feeling of a nightingale in a secluded valley. The birds hopped and jumped around in the cage, causing it to sway gently against the trees.

Suddenly, a small black and yellow bird flew up from the woods and landed on the tree with the rolling cage hanging on it. This bird was about the same size as the old thief. If it were covered with the old thief's feathers, it would be impossible to tell whether it was a yellow bird or an old thief.

"See that? This yellow bird is male..." Old Huang said, pointing to the yellow bird that had landed on the branch.

"Grandpa Huang, how did you figure that out?" Little Bao asked, tilting her head up.

"The male's head is completely black, and its fur is bright, while the female's head has black stripes, and its fur is darker," Old Huang explained.

"Oh!" Xiao Bao nodded as if he understood, and continued to look at the yellow bird.

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