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Lin Lixuan raised his right hand to Zhao Liniang, spread his five fingers, then hooked his thumb. His four fingers shook in front of Zhao Liniang as he casually said, “Four taels.”
Lin Lixuan didn’t understand the market price of donkeys. He was born as a rich son in his previous life, and he always bought what he liked or what he was interested in. He never cared about the price. Even if he was a poor man in the mountainous area now, his habits were still engraved in his bones.
Zhao Liniang felt sorry for her precious only son. She never said anything before, but Ger Yan thought he was too “big-hearted”. He’d expressed to Lin-dage about his pain at watching Lin Lixuan spend money so indiscriminately. It was simply distressing. “Lin-dage, don’t spend money carelessly.” Ger Yan’s stiff face was full of annoyance and trying to persuade.
Biting his lip, he pulled his sleeve, as if saying “I’ll cry if you keep buying things”.
The damnable thing was that Lin Lixuan had bad taste. He liked seeing Ger Yan look distressed. Sometimes, he pretended to be stupid to tease him, and purposefully make Ger Yan anxious and distressed.
Lin Lixuan had never felt that he spent money carelessly. Money was something that they couldn’t take with them when they died. Rather than leaving it there and treating it like treasure, they might as well spend it to improve their quality of life and make their life more comfortable.
During this time, the living standard of the Lin family had risen to a higher level.
After Lin Lixuan finished saying the price, he pulled the reins and pulled the donkey to the firewood shed in the east with great interest. The donkey let out a sharp sound, stomped his feet, and excitedly followed behind him with his tail wagging back and forth. After they arrived, the little donkey stretched his neck and looked around his territory.
Zhao Liniang, who was left behind, was stunned in place. The smile on her face froze for a while. This really was a lively and healthy little donkey, with a soft and obedient mane, clean and tidy appearance. It could be seen that his previous owner took good care of him, but…no matter how good he was being taken care of, this foolish donkey was not worth four taels!!!
Four taels of silver!
Her eyes stared at the donkey’s short tail dangling in the air for a moment. The original joy turned into infinite distress for the silver. When she previously saw the little donkey as this amazing animal, now all she saw was a black cloud in front of her, covering all the light and casting her in shadow.
She seemed unsteady on her feet.
It must be the donkey seller who tricked her child. That wretched seller! He was too damnable. But her son was so smart and knowledgeable, and was the only Xiucai in their village, so how could he be deceived?
The smile on her face gradually disappeared, and Zhao Liniang fell into an infinite entanglement.
She stretched out her right hand in the air, making a gesture of wanting to persuade him. Her dry lips opened as she watched Lin Lixuan pick up the wooden plank from the ground, but she finally swallowed her words.
Looking at the little donkey, he was short and didn’t look strong. Even his tail was short…The cry earlier wasn’t crisp enough either. He was brought back to push the grinding disc, so he needed strength. What was the point of looking good?
—No matter how she looked at it, this was obviously a problem!
If she had wanted to buy a donkey, no more than two taels was enough. Zhao Liniang was angry as she thought of this. The more she stared at the donkey, the less pleasing he became.
However, when she thought about it, it was rare for her son to like something… Forget it. No! How could she forget this? She had to talk to Xuan’Er about this later.
Lin Lixuan tied the donkey to a wooden stake and picked up a few pieces of firewood. He planned on constructing a new building for their newcomer to protect him from the elements. The main building was situated in the middle of the Lin residence. Behind the main building were three rooms, and two connecting rooms on the left and right. The larger room was the kitchen. The small room was the firewood shed. There was a simple thatched shed in the yard beside the kitchen. This was where they kept the grindstone. The place was kept very clean. Although the newcomer was here to pull the grinding disc, he couldn’t live in the same building as the grindstone.
Otherwise, Lin Lixuan wouldn’t be able to stand the smell.
Would they even be able to eat the tofu then?
There was originally space for the firewood shed, but the little chicks and ducklings that had grown up now encroached the territory there. If they were going according to who came first, the donkey would never make the list. Since there were more livestock at home now, it was imperative to build a new building. For now, at least they had protection from the elements.
In ancient times, there were no vaccines to prevent and control epidemics. It was necessary to pay attention to cleanliness and hygiene when raising livestock.
The little donkey followed him in a daze and watched him picking up the planks. He stretched his neck with great curiosity and sniffed the plank. After sniffing, he turned his head and ignored it, as if knowing it wasn’t food. The little foodie of a donkey lost interest in the plank, then lowered his neck to look at the little rooster that had just run out of the firewood shed.
The rooster’s comb hadn’t grown yet, but the rooster had swift claws, running out of the firewood shed as if a dog was chasing behind it. There was a doorstep that wasn’t too tall or too short inside the firewood shed. The little rooster held its chest up high and raised his claws as he waved his wings. He flapped his wings twice in the air, then slammed into the little donkey’s front legs.
The little donkey snorted. His front legs exerted some strength and pushed the rooster back. The rooster jumped up and down and ran back to the flock. Chicken feathers littered the ground, showing the rooster’s embarrassing actions.
The little donkey made a gurgling noise in his throat. Lin Lixuan looked at the donkey differently after hearing the sound.
Did donkey’s laugh?
Ger Yan hurried back to the Lin residence. He was full of distraught as he hung one piece of clothing after another on the bamboo frame. “Ah!” Ger Yan’s hand was scratched by the protruding thorns on the bamboo ends. He couldn’t help but cry out in pain.
He shook his hand to try and relieve the pain. The wind blew his hair into his mouth. Ger Yan reached out and pushed his hair behind his ear. He saw a slight red mark on his index finger. The hot stinging pain spread from the red mark to the surrounding areas.
Ever since rushing home, Ger Yan had been restless. It was like there was an earthen jar hung over his head that had suddenly fallen on him today. Something he was too timid to think about came to his mind, and he began to doubt his relationship with Lin-dage more and more. Were they really husbands?
Or perhaps…there was another possibility?
As his mother said, husbands stayed together at night. Besides laying in the same bed under the same blanket, they also needed to do this and that at night. They couldn’t set this matter aside just because of pain or anything else… Moreover, his mother hoped that he could give birth to Lin-dage’s child.
Before marrying Lin-dage, even though he was a Shuang’er, he’d never thought about giving birth before.
Then his mother suddenly mentioned it today.
But…if it was for Lin-dage, he would be willing to give him a child.
Ger Yan lowered his gaze, his eyes becoming deep, and a faint red splotch came on his cheeks before turning into a deathly pale.
However, they were covered with blankets every night. Lin Lixuan had taught him how to read, and his cultural understanding had increased these days as well. A few days ago, with encouragement from Lin-dage, he wrote a limerick. Although it wasn’t very good…They also went to the county town together to sell tofu pudding, ate wontons together, bought oil, salt, and soy sauce together…but there seemed to be a layer that separated them. This suddenly made Ger Yan feel…feel like his relationship with Lin Lixuan was similar to his relationship with Ger Yu, just with the order reversed.
After Ger Yan hung the clothes, he turned around and happened to face Lin Lixuan, who was coming out of the firewood shed. Lin Lixuan saw him and smiled, his eyes turning into crescents. “Ger Yan,” Lin Lixuan called. He walked to Ger Yan’s side, then pulled him to the firewood shed to see the newly bought little donkey.
Although it was crowded, the donkey was still in the firewood shed. The four large legs of the beast were accompanied by a flock of chickens and ducks. He was pitifully squeezed in the corner with only enough space to turn. The room where the firewood was stacked had become lively for over a month because of the arrival of these little creatures.
Before, Lin Lixuan was holding the wooden plank with great interest and was ambitious in building a “luxury dormitory” for the little donkey—In fact, it was just a small grass shed. He wasn’t born a carpenter. He couldn’t even build a simple grass shed. No matter how perfect the planning was in his mind, he couldn’t do it.
The only person who knew how to do it was Zhao Liniang, but she didn’t want to see the donkey at all…
Holding the wooden plank and after making comparisons, the result of the pile was like a building block built by children. It fell down. There was no structure at all. Lin Lixuan put away the materials, abandoning them. He planned to have professionals come over to build it.
The little donkey looked at the stranger with wide eyes. Thinking the other person came to feed him, his eyes were full of longing and anticipation.
Lin Lixuan also looked at the youth with an expectant face along with his newly bought donkey. He thought the other party would be elated as he’d imagined. He still remembered the day Ger Yan’s face was full of curiosity as he squatted with a handful of tender grass to feed the other person’s donkey. Now that they had their own little donkey…he would get even better treatment, right?
The corners of Lin Lixuan’s mouth raised as he smiled wide. He was confident that he would be able to see the youth’s face full of joy, with those dimples deepening to expose his happy mood.
Who knew that Ger Yan wouldn’t act as he expected. He just glanced up and down before lowering his head. The hair on the back of his head hung down his chest as he said, “Buying a donkey is good. Really good… Lin-dage… I-I’m going to cook.” His voice was as small as a fly’s, which shocked Lin Lixuan. All his expectations were crushed.
What was wrong with Ger Yan?
Lin Lixuan patted the little donkey’s head, then gently kissed his ears. The little donkey followed his movements. Lin Lixuan untied the little donkey’s rope and decided not to leave the donkey here for the day. He tied him to the wooden stake at the door, then looked to see if it would rain today. It was better to leave him outside and let it be free today.
He led the donkey out the door, then heard the familiar sound of Ger Yan inside the kitchen. Lin Lixuan couldn’t help but frown. Had something . happened to Ger Yan?
