Chapter 54 Tian Jia Aweng

  In the distance, a waterfall cascades down from the mountain wall, spewing out countless jade beads that fall onto the calm and clear lake surface. The water is filled with ripples, disturbed by the falling jade beads, stirring up wave after wave of ripples.

  The mountains on both sides are lush and green, the bamboo is swaying gently, and the birds are flying and dancing in circles.

  On the lawn, water buffalo are leisurely, chicks and ducklings are playing, from time to time you can still see sparrows flying down to forage with chickens and ducks.

  In such a mountainous and natural scenery, if one observes quietly, it will make people feel that worldly affairs are like a dream. It's better to retreat here, be accompanied by mountains and rivers, and spend the rest of one's life with this idea.

  "What a great place!"

  Song Long looked at everything in front of him and sighed again.

  After graduating from university, he entered the government and became accustomed to the cruel scene of infighting and corruption within the organization, comparable to a battlefield. He really wanted to find a place like this to live, but once he entered the official circle, not even half of it was under his control. Moreover, his father was a deputy mayor, so how could he just leave whenever he wanted?

  A water buffalo with a calf is walking towards us while eating.

  Qiqi, who was playing with her mother, suddenly exclaimed: "Niu Niu, I want Niu Niu."

  As she spoke, she dragged her mother over there.

  Xi Ran grew up in the city since she was a child and had little contact with cows. She curiously followed them.

  Qiqi and Little Bull are also old friends, so she gently stroked Little Bull and pulled out a few blades of green grass from the ground to feed him.

  The calf didn't mind at all, and with her small hands, she started eating, sticking out her tongue to gently lick her, making her burst into laughter "hehehe".

  Xi Ran watched from the side with envy and also reached out to touch. Who knew that the little cow wouldn't give face, mooed, and turned its head away.

  "Little calf, let Brother Xi Ran touch you just once."

  Qiqi looked and hurriedly went forward, leaning against the little cow's ear and whispering.

  Perhaps after hearing Qiqi's words, Little Bull turned around and let Xi Ran touch it for a moment before running away.

  Qiqi felt proud, with her hands on her hips, and said complacently: "Little Bull is a good friend of mine and XiXi's. Brother XiXi even said he had drunk Big Bull's milk before?"

  Xiran, who had never seen the world, listened and suddenly felt a strong longing.

  "I'll have some too."

  Huang Wenfeng and Liu Yuxiang beside her couldn't help but smile at the childish words.

  Song Long and Song Hu looked at their wives and children, and they also smiled along with them.

  Song Long is now the vice county magistrate of Longxi County, and it should be said that with what he has done in Longxi County, he should have been promoted to a higher position, either as the county magistrate or transferred to the city, but there has been no news about him.

  He himself knew that his father was already the vice mayor of the city, and if his own son were to take office again in the same city, it would be hard to avoid being gossiped about.

  So several times someone in the city proposed it, but his father suppressed it, lest he be attacked because of it.

  Nowadays, there are many people in the officialdom, as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Those who want to climb up are like fish crossing a river, and if they're not careful, they'll become stepping stones for others to rise, so they must be guarded against.

  He doesn't care either, anyway it's like this.

  It is precisely because of this that he has plenty of time to accompany his wife and son on trips.

  He grew up in Songjiabao since he was a child. This place carries too many of his childhood stories, so whenever he has time, he will bring his wife and son to play here.

  It's always like this, people only think it's beautiful after they've lost it. At his age, although he's still young, he often reminisces about his childhood.

  After a while, Song Wen cooked the rice and called them in to eat.

  The dishes at noon are rich, with braised raccoon dog meat, garlic shoots stir-fried Sichuan cured meat, scallion fragrant raccoon dog meat, medicinal herbs stewed wolf meat, cold mixed Qingming vegetables, fried winter nest, tomato and egg, and also winter bamboo mouse soup.

  Today I saw Big Brother and Sister-in-law come over, Song Wen could be said to have spared no effort in preparing everything at home.

  "Come on, come on, eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold." Song Wen urged everyone to eat.

  A crowd of people gathered together, started eating, and praised Song Wen's culinary skills without end.

  The little dog next to it also barked loudly, and even the small hedgehog that didn't usually join in the fun slipped out of its hole and ran over. Song Wen quickly got them something to eat.

  Qiqi and Xiran had never seen a little hedgehog before, so they immediately stopped eating and ran over to catch the little hedgehog. Song Wen hastily stopped them, saying that these two little brats didn't know what was heavy or light, now the little hedgehog's fur was no longer soft like before, its quills were all hard, which ones could be touched?

  Huang Wenfeng and Liu Wenhxiang also hurried over to pull them back to their seats for dinner, but the two little ones were clearly not in the mood, their eyes kept darting towards the little hedgehog, even the fluffy, soft puppy was no longer liked.

  After dinner, the two little guys started playing around the little hedgehog, afraid to touch it, they picked up a small branch and teased it.

  The little hedgehog got annoyed and ran back into its hole all of a sudden.

  Two little guys rushed to chase after, Song Long and Song Hu worried about the children, and hurriedly followed. Their wives were busy cleaning up bowls and chopsticks, which was originally Song Wen's job, but he was pushed aside by two women, he saw that there was nothing for him to do, and also followed Song Long and Song Hu to the backyard.

  In the backyard, rows of vegetables were carefully tended to, with scallions, garlic, coriander and mustard greens that had been planted all grown up, a lush green expanse, truly delightful.

  Looking at the scene in the courtyard, Song Long smiled and said to Song Wen: "It seems that you really plan to come back and be your own Tienjia Ah Wong."

  "After being away for several years, I'm also tired. I don't have any great ambitions, I just want to go home and find a wife, have a child, and live a simple life, that's all." Song Wen said.

  "It's just like that, I also like this kind of life, but unfortunately, as a government official, one is not in control of oneself!" Song Long sighed and said.

  "What's wrong, isn't Uncle Deputy Mayor? With him backing you up, what are you afraid of?" Song Wen asked in puzzlement.

  Song Long was amused by what he said.

  "You think being a deputy mayor is a big deal? In China, there are at least 800 to 1,000 deputy mayors, so what's the fuss about him? Never mind, it's not worth mentioning, and talking about it gives me a headache."

  Qiqi and Xiran crouched at the entrance of the hole dug by the little hedgehog, looking at the little hedgehogs inside. They even used small twigs to gently poke them, trying to get the little hedgehogs out to play. But the little hedgehogs didn't comply with their wishes, refusing to come out no matter what.

  After a while, seeing that the little hedgehog was not coming out, the two of them suddenly felt a bit annoyed. At this time, they saw the big water buffalo bringing back the little calf and slowly walking back, so they ran over.

  Xi Ran ran over and gently stroked the little cow's head. Perhaps feeling that the boy in front of him had no malice, the little cow let him stroke it. Xi Ran stroked the little cow with an excited face, not much different from when Xi Xi first saw the little cow.

  Song Wen looked at him and walked over, picking him up with one hand and letting him sit on the back of a large water buffalo. The little guy was not afraid, carefully sitting on the water buffalo, curiously looking around.

  "How about it, is it like when you were a kid?" Song Wen turned back and asked Song Hu with a smile.

  Song Hu's family used to raise cattle, and during holidays, the task of herding them fell on his shoulders. He would often ride a water buffalo everywhere, sometimes even forgetting to return home for dinner.

  "When I was young, I was much more handsome than him." Song Hu said with a proud tone.

  "Blow!"

  "Me too! I want to ride the big cow, me too!" Kiki shouted loudly from the side, her eyes shining with envy.

  Qiqi is still young and can't ride on a big cow, but the small cow is also too small for her to ride.

  Song Wen found it difficult and thought for a moment before saying: "Qiqi is a young lady, she can't ride a water buffalo."

  "Naqi doesn't act like a lady, so Uncle let me ride the big water buffalo?"

  Song Wen was shocked upon hearing this.

  Song Hu and Song Long beside him burst out laughing.

  After a short rest, Song Wen took Song Long and others for a walk in the bamboo forest and dug up some shoots along the way.

  It was around 3-4 o'clock when Song Long feared it would be too late to go back and wanted to leave.

  Song Wen prepared a large pile of things for them to take back, including rabbit meat, wolf meat, cured meat, red sausage, and finally carried out a big bag of chestnuts.

  "What's with all this stuff? Can you even finish it?" Song Long said.

  "Eat slowly and don't finish it, maybe one day sister will come home and take some away. I still have a lot here, but I'm afraid of not finishing it."

  Song Long had no choice but to bring it along.

  Finally, under Xi Ran's reluctant gaze, he drove away.