Chapter 42

"Good thing nothing is missing."

The first thing Li Dong did upon returning to 2018 was to check the items he had brought with him, especially the two bottles of Wuliangye. This was good stuff; at the very least, they were worth at least ten thousand yuan each.

"What's up with the geese, they've gone quiet?"

Li Dong noticed that the noisy geese had become much quieter. These two were not easy to deal with; whenever Li Dong got close, they would flap their wings and try to hit him, and their beaks would peck at him relentlessly.

"Huh."

Nothing was wrong; the geese were still alive, but they didn't attack Li Dong this time. Li Dong was delighted. "Did they really become intelligent?"

The geese seemed to have gained intelligence. Li Dong tried to untie the ropes, and the injured smaller swan even rubbed against him. Not only had they become intelligent, but they were also showing affection towards him. This made Li Dong very happy, and the idea of a Swan Lake seemed to be coming true.

However, the big swan was a bit proud. When Li Dong released it, it ignored him and strutted around the room with a haughty gait, even knocking over a teacup on Li Dong's desk. "You little brat."

Fortunately, the teacup didn't break; otherwise, he would have had to eat stewed swan tomorrow. This teacup was a birthday gift from his daughter. The swan had become intelligent, but it didn't seem to be very affectionate towards Li Dong, being quite proud. "No, it's affectionate towards me."

The two swans gave Li Dong a big surprise, but among the three wild chickens, only the rooster had become intelligent and showed affection towards him. "Sigh, it's not that I didn't give you a chance. It looks like I'll have to stew the wild chickens."

The other two wild chickens were added to the menu. Li Dong untied the intelligent rooster, which was very excited and clucked around the room. However, it was quickly subdued by a wing from the proud big swan. "Don't provoke it, you can't handle it."

If you think you can beat it, try flying. You can't fly as well as it can, and you're much smaller. You weigh about two pounds, while it weighs over twenty pounds. It's like Shaquille O'Neal versus Pan Xiaojian. How can you win?

"Damn."

Just as Li Dong had saved the rooster, another problem arose. The two little colorful turtles, for some reason, also went to provoke the big swan. Li Dong rushed over to save them, but it was a bit too late.

The shells of the two turtles were cracked, but fortunately, they weren't injured inside. These two troublemakers left Li Dong helpless. He found some band-aids and applied them to the turtles' shells in a cross pattern.

"Next time, don't get too close." He didn't care if the turtles understood.

These were gifts for his daughter. Li Dong found a box to settle the turtles. The two swans were a problem; the room wasn't big enough for them to play in, and Li Dong was afraid they would mess up his bedroom when he woke up.

"I'll take you to the reservoir first."

The two swans followed Li Dong out of the yard, wagging their tails. It was a good thing; otherwise, stewing the geese would have been a waste of effort.

When they arrived at the farm, Dahei, the dog, got excited and barked. The big swan flew up and gave Dahei a few pecks, making Dahei run to Li Dong's feet, whimpering. It was quite pitiful.

It seemed like the owner didn't love him anymore and had brought such a fierce creature. Li Dong patted Dahei. "Don't worry, I'll take them to the reservoir soon." He then put the two silly wild chickens in a cage and placed the intelligent rooster on a tree in the farmyard. "This will be your home soon."

The rooster was handsome, with a long tail and a nice call. Li Dong planned to let it nest in the tree and show off its beauty to guests.

How could it eat for free? Li Dong took the two swans to the reservoir, but the rooster jumped down from the tree and followed him. "Are you afraid of the dark, chicken?" Li Dong laughed and let it follow.

The big swan didn't show any affection towards Li Dong, being quite proud. However, its mate kept rubbing against Li Dong, unwilling to go into the water. This made the proud big swan very anxious. "Mate, you can't do this. You can't forget your husband because of the owner."

Strangely, animals seemed to become more intelligent when they crossed time and space, or perhaps they developed a sense of affection towards Li Dong. They were not afraid of him and liked to stay around him. Li Dong couldn't figure out why, but it might be related to him bringing them through time.

The two swans went into the water, and Li Dong turned to leave. The rooster followed him, clucking occasionally. It was quite interesting. When Li Dong walked a bit faster, the rooster even flew up and landed on his shoulder.

Li Dong was surprised. It was amazing and quite amusing. "Don't move around. If an owl lands on someone's shoulder, I end up with a wild rooster."

"I'll name you Ye Xiaizi."

"Cluck cluck cluck."

"Good, you agree."

Back home, Li Dong packed the black rice in vacuum-sealed bags, putting some in the fridge. He looked up information about black rice online. Although he had heard it was expensive, he didn't know that it was rich in protein, especially the eight essential amino acids, and various minerals, vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, and C.

This black fungus was really good, especially when it was naturally grown and quite expensive. "This can be considered organic and green black rice." Li Dong thought as he packed the bags. He would send some to his daughter and his parents back home.

After a busy day, he finally finished packing the forty pounds of black rice. It was almost midnight, and Li Dong took a hot shower and went to bed happily. The next day, he was woken up by Ye Xiaizi's clucking.

"What's the fuss about?"

"Chasing wild chickens."

Li Dong realized that Ye Xiaizi was his farm's mascot and couldn't be hurt. He quickly got up. "Don't, Uncle, this is my wild chicken." He waved to Ye Xiaizi, and it flew to his shoulder.

"Really, it's yours."

Han Weidong, who was driving a cart of corn to town to sell, was surprised. Keeping wild chickens as pets was quite rare. "Your wild chicken is stealing corn from my cart."

"Sorry, Uncle."

Li Dong looked at the corn and thought it was good. "I'll buy some. Give me twenty pounds."

"Sure."

Li Dong didn't pick the corn himself but asked Han Weidong to help. He examined the cart, an old-fashioned one that was rare nowadays. "Uncle, are you selling your cart and horse?"

"What?"

Han Weidong was puzzled. What did this young man from Li Family Village want? "You want to buy my cart and horse?"

"Uncle, you're getting older. I think it would be better to buy an electric tricycle."

Li Dong thought it would be good to have a cart. "Uncle, driving a cart is tiring, and taking care of such a large animal is a lot of work."

"You're right. The animal does consume a lot of feed."

Han Weidong agreed. He was getting older, and his legs were not as strong. Cutting grass on the mountain was becoming more difficult, so he had to buy feed, which was expensive.

An electric tricycle would be convenient. It could run with a button press, without the need for feed, just charging.

Li Dong saw an opportunity. "Uncle, how about this: I'll give you five thousand yuan and an electric tricycle. This way, you won't have to go to town to buy feed. I bought the tricycle for over five thousand yuan, and it's only half a year old."

Han Weidong thought about it. It was a good deal. His horse was worth about six thousand yuan, and the cart, with its wooden frame and rubber wheels, was not worth much. Five thousand yuan and a new tricycle was a good offer.

After some consideration, Han Weidong agreed. Li Dong was delighted. It was a great deal. He even offered to teach Han Weidong how to use the tricycle. Han Weidong happily loaded the corn onto the tricycle and said, "I'll bring the feed to your place later."

"Uncle, I'll come to get it later, no need to trouble you."

Li Dong led the somewhat proud horse, which was not yet familiar with him. After a morning of effort, he finally got the cart moving, though it was slow and stopped frequently. The horse was still adjusting to its new owner.

Li Dong decided to let it adapt and took the cart to the village carpenter for repairs. "Can you fix it up?" The cart was old and needed some new wood.

He spent over a thousand yuan on new wood and had it replaced. He also bought two long benches to put on the sides. "I'll paint it with pine oil and add a shock absorber later."

The cart was successfully modified and ready the next day. Li Dong was very happy and took it for a test drive. "I need to build a stable for the horse." This impulsive purchase meant more work ahead.

Sigh, Li Dong realized that taking care of an animal was not easy. The horse had a big appetite and needed both feed and grass. With many fields abandoned, he could cut grass on the hills. He planned to buy a simple grass cutter.

While applying pine oil to the cart, Li Dong's phone rang.

"Dad, you're calling again." His daughter's voice was a pleasant ringtone.

"Is it Gao Jia?"

"Brother-in-law."

"What's up?"

Li Dong put down the brush and oil can, held the phone to his ear, and shooed Ye Xiaizi away. "Go, go, get lost."

"Brother-in-law, what?"

"I'm not talking to you, it's my pet."

Li Dong laughed. "Jiajia, what's up?"

"Brother-in-law, you forgot. I told you about our team-building activity. We agreed to come to your farm on the 30th."

Gao Jia had to do a lot of talking to get everyone interested in a small, unknown farm.

To help Li Dong, Gao Jia had put in a lot of effort. If everyone was not satisfied, it would be difficult for her. "The 30th?"

He had returned on the 26th, and it was now the 28th, so it was the day after tomorrow. "Sure, come over. What do you want to eat? Wild chicken, wild softshell turtle, organic vegetables?"

"Wild chicken?"

"That's a good choice."

Li Dong planned to set up a fishing net to catch some fish and shrimp. He also had some mountain goods, dried wild fruits, and black rice, which he could let Gao Jia try and take some for her parents.

"Brother-in-law, what can we do there?"

"Do, fishing, boating."

There wasn't much else. Li Dong was a bit helpless; he didn't have the money to do more.

"Nothing special?"

Gao Jia smiled bitterly. She shouldn't have exaggerated too much. Now what could she do?

"Special?"

Li Dong couldn't think of anything special. Vegetable picking and fishing didn't seem very unique. 'Maybe I should set up a 1978 farm or a 1978 supply cooperative.'