Chapter 25: The Great Village Purchase

  After taking a big bus for more than three hours, I finally returned to my hometown and took a small bus. It only took ten minutes or so to reach the entrance of my home. Before the bus even stopped, I saw my white-haired old father standing on the platform, eagerly looking out for me.

  After getting off the minibus, Father walked over with a smile and wanted to help Ju'an carry things. His eyes were sour, and he said to his father, "Just wait for me at home, it's so hot outside on such a big day."

  "Dad smiled and said: 'It's been a bit urgent at home, let's take a look'".

  Switched the box to his right hand, holding onto his father's arm, and walked home.

  When they arrived home, her sister and brother-in-law, as well as their little niece Tongtong, were already there. As soon as Tongtong saw Ju'an, she cheered and ran over to him, hugging his leg and calling out: "Little uncle, little uncle, Tongtong almost died!"

  Put down the busy trunk, picked up Tongtong in one arm, and only then did he notice that a small head was shrinking behind his mother to measure Ju'an.

  "Has Rong forgotten about Second Master?"

  Mother pulled Rangrang out from behind her and pointed at Ju'an, saying: "Rangrang isn't familiar with Second Master during the New Year's festival, hurry up and call Second Master".

  She twisted her arm slightly and called out softly: "Second Master" in a tone similar to calling a kitten, if you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't even hear it.

  Jū ān knows that Rǎn rǎn is a bit timid, and during the New Year's holiday, Jū ān discovered this and mentioned it to his brother. His brother was also at a loss for what to do. Now both his brother and sister-in-law work, so every day after school, he just watches TV alone at home. He has an introverted personality and doesn't like playing with other kids. They've taken him downstairs several times, but he just stands on the side watching the other children play. There's also a student in his class who often bullies him.

  In her arms was Tongtong, and in her hand was Ranyan. They walked to the main room, where her sister had brought in a box. She opened it and took out two buckets of potato chips, giving one to each of the little ones.

  Tongtong opened the potato chips and grabbed a handful to put in her mouth, while Ranyan picked them up one by one and delicately placed them in her mouth, eating with great elegance.

  Accompanied two little guys playing for a while, let the two little guys watch TV.

  Juw An went to the kitchen and saw her sister, brother-in-law and parents wrapping dumplings together. After washing her hands, Juw An came over to help.

  Finished rolling out the dumpling wrappers in her brother-in-law's hands, she said: "Ran Ran, you're too timid, just like a little girl".

  "Ah, yes, they've been here for two days and it's nothing like when you and your brother were young. They're like little monkeys, watching TV all morning, and their mother doesn't know how to discipline them properly. They don't have any of the qualities of a boy, if I had raised them, they would be much more robust, just look at Tongtong, she's so sturdy."

  "It's enough to give it to you, on Tongtong's first day at kindergarten, the teacher called the parents and said that Tongtong snatched a stool from another child, making them cry." Her sister glanced at her mother and said.

  Then she turned her head and said to Ju An, "You don't know, Mom took Tongtong to the supermarket and was scolded by people. Tongtong saw the wooden barrel of sugar, picked it up and ate it. The salesperson came over and said that children can't do this. Guess what Mom said? She said if you don't taste it, how do you know if it's good or not? If it doesn't taste good, why buy it? At that time, I was standing next to her and wanted to find a hole to hide my head."

  "Dad said: 'Hmm, this food must be tasted, if you don't like to eat it, who will eat it after buying it back, not even letting you taste it?'"

  Juu looked at her parents' confident and self-assured expressions and couldn't help but laugh.

  Thinking back to when I was young, my brother and I would often get scolded by our father for trading things at home for sweets. Now that it's the next generation, he's become so righteous and confident, is it really true what people say about being closer to every other generation?

  "Little brother, when you have kids in the future, never let Mom and Dad take care of them. Just with this little one, your sister's husband and I are almost driven crazy. In kindergarten, the teacher taught dance, and among the children, there was one who learned slowly. When school was over, she ran to the child's grandmother and said, 'Your kid is too stupid, can't even learn a simple dance.' It was so embarrassing for me."

  Wrapping dumplings while chatting about the fun things of the little ones.

  Before long, Tongtong's little head stretched in from the door: "Little uncle, I've finished eating, is there any more?"

  Sister glared: "Not eating anymore? Not allowed to eat, finish dinner first then eat."

  Tongtong stood on horseback, pouting her small mouth, leaning against Ju'an's body, twisting and turning her chubby little fingers.

  "After brother finishes eating, then eat. Wait until this afternoon to eat again." Old mom said to Tongtong: "Brother sees you've finished eating, will he give some to you?"

  "Alright, I'll eat quickly, brother gave me so much." Tongtong said with a hand gesture.

  Sister said: "Ran Ran is not stingy, she shares everything with her sister to eat, unlike our family's, his stomach is a bottomless pit".

  Ju An smiled and patted her hands, brushing off the flour on them. Then she picked up Tongtong and sat him down on her lap, pinching his little nose gently.

  The little guy giggled and dodged the big hand that was trying to catch him.

  After finishing dinner, Ju An waited for the two little guys to take a nap before driving out in her brother-in-law's small car. If the little ones were awake, it would be impossible to leave. She had said that she needed to buy something and put it in the trunk, but with the kids along, it was hard to hide. She didn't have a driver's license, but this was Ju An's hometown, where everyone on the street could claim some kind of relationship, so driving without a license wasn't a big deal as long as nothing happened.

  Went to the flower and bird market on the edge of the small town, this market has been set up for less than two years, it is a key project in the county, what opening up new economic growth points in the county, set up.

  As soon as I entered the market, the houses were very beautiful, with rows of white walls and green tiles, neatly arranged on a 10-meter-wide road paved with green bricks. The whole scene was full of ancient charm, but there were few people. In fact, it wasn't just a few less, it was almost deserted, with most of the doors still closed, and the few open ones looked lazy and idle.

  Entering a pet store, I found that the owner was sleeping and didn't even notice me coming in. I knocked on the counter.

  The shop owner had just opened his eyes.

  He said in his local dialect: "I want to buy a few native dogs to raise, are there any here?"

  The shopkeeper changed his smile and said: "Big brother, want a local dog? Come this way to see." He then took Ju An to the side of a small square box. Inside, there were four or five little dogs surrounded by it. Ju An knew at a glance that these were the local dogs commonly seen in the county.

  "How much is it per piece?"

  The shop owner smiled and said: "Twenty-five for the public, twenty for the grass dog." (Grass dog is what they call the old mother dog at home)

  Living in comfort and feeling it's not expensive: "Is this a whole nest?"

  "It's just a month old, look at how clever these little guys are!" The shop owner teased a black and white puppy.

  "That's it, there are a few grass dogs here, I'll take them all." Ju An nodded slightly.

  The shop owner smiled and said: "This den has four grass dogs."

  "Let's give me that male one too, and we'll have a complete family with a pair."

  "Good!" The boss happily replied: "There's also a den over here, three slightly larger ones, two months old. Two grass dogs, or I'll give you the same price."

  Jū An nodded in agreement.

  "Brother, want a Husky? They're popular now. I have them cheap here, how about 300?" The shop owner continued to sell.

  "Ha! If I were in charge of security, what would I need a Husky for? As long as it doesn't lead the thieves into our house, that's good enough."

  "Taking care of the house is our local dog's good job, smart and protective of the home, foreign dogs are not capable." The shop owner nodded in agreement with Ju An's statement.

  Carrying a cage with eight small dogs in it, he returned to the car safely and casually threw the eight small dogs into space. Then came out and continued to wander around.

  Then bought about twenty fluffy goslings, anyway geese mainly eat grass, it's just that there is more grass. Also learned that European geese are domesticated from Greylag geese, while Chinese geese are domesticated from Swan geese. That's why I bought geese domestically instead of directly buying them in the US.

  Ducks also bought a dozen or so, mainly to eat duck eggs. As for the duck meat, Ju'an is not too fond of eating it. Jiangnan City loves to eat ducks, and Ju'an has lived in Jiangnan for several years, so he's had his fill of ducks.

  All were put into space, ducks and geese were directly put into the pond, dogs were placed in the yard to play, fortunately, Ju An stewed a pot of beef soup in the United States, which can support these guys for two weeks without any problem, let alone there is also a large pile of black bread.

  When I got home, Tongtong and Rangrang were already awake. Tongtong was playing with a jump rope on the sofa with Rangrang. Seeing me come back, she stretched out her little hand pointing at me and said: "Little uncle is very naughty, going out to play without taking Tongtong and brother."

  "Tomorrow your uncle will take you all to the United States, and he'll go out and buy something to bring back for Tongtong to eat."

  "What about the things?" Tongtong looked at Ju'an with empty hands and asked curiously.

  "Put the things away for now, and we'll give them to Tongtong and her brother when she arrives in America." The old mother hastily mediated, just fooling the little guy.

  On the third day after returning home, early in the morning when it was still a little dark, the whole family got up. After dressing the sleepy child, they checked again to make sure all necessary documents were ready, then boarded the pre-booked taxi and headed directly to Jiangnan Airport. From there, they transferred to Capital Airport for a direct flight to San Francisco.

  All the way, Rang still remained very quiet and obedient. Using Tongtong's mom's words, it was as if his butt had been pricked by a needle, and except when he slept, there wasn't a single moment when he behaved honestly.

  In the end, they had to take turns holding her in their arms before she would calm down. She was so excited that she had told her kindergarten classmates a while ago that she was going to visit her uncle's house soon. Uncle's house is very far away, and I have to take an airplane to get there. Looking at her rosy and chubby face, it's indescribably cute.