Chapter 62

"Stop it, stop it."

Li Feng was tickled by his daughter and couldn't stop shivering. Li Dong was afraid of this, while Li Jingyi pouted and kept bumping her little head against Li Dong's chest, scratching his armpits with her small hands. "Hmph, no way, in the next half hour, you'll feel the power of the little witch."

"Be good."

Li Dong caught his daughter's hands, laughing and crying at the same time. "Let Dad off this time. I'll tell you, these two little turtles are not ordinary. They are genius turtles, and Dad went through a lot to get them."

Not only did Li Jingyi not believe Li Dong's words, but even Gao Jia, who was standing nearby, couldn't help rolling her eyes. Her brother-in-law was exaggerating too much. Turtles could be genius turtles?

"Lying."

Li Jingyi pouted and ignored her father. Besides, she didn't like turtles. They were black, dirty, and ugly, and they even had band-aids on them.

"Dad guarantees you'll be satisfied, maybe even surprised."

Li Feng cleaned the two little turtles and placed them on the dining table. The two little colorful turtles looked quite pretty when they were clean.

"Sister-in-law, should we take off the band-aids?"

"Let's take them off first."

The two little colorful turtles were not only mischievous but also fearless. They even provoked the swans and got injured, with some cracks in their shells.

"Hey, a cross?"

"How interesting."

The cracks were healed, leaving only a cross mark, as if it were carved. "Dad, is this the surprise you mentioned?"

"This doesn't count."

Li Dong started his performance, tapping three times, and the little colorful turtles crawled towards the spot he tapped, moving in perfect unison.

"Ah"

"Tap tap."

Li Dong tapped twice, and the little colorful turtles stopped. Li Jingyi was stunned, and Gao Jia looked at Li Dong in amazement. Could these two little colorful turtles really follow Li Dong's commands?

"How about that?"

Li Dong was a bit smug. "These are not ordinary colorful turtles. Among a thousand, there might not be even one genius colorful turtle. Dad didn't lie to you, right?"

"Dad, teach me quickly."

Li Jingyi tiptoed and kissed Li Dong's cheek. Li Dong was happy and agreed. He taught Li Jingyi to command the turtles: three taps to move, two taps to stop, and one tap for free play.

At first, the little colorful turtles didn't listen to Li Jingyi, which made her a bit sad. "It's okay, you need to try a few more times. Also, play with the little colorful turtles more so they can remember your scent. Oh, and be sure to cover the container."

"Huh?"

"These little guys are very mischievous."

Li Dong told her about how the little colorful turtles had poked his nose and been attacked by the swans. Li Jingyi liked the little colorful turtles even more. "Really, they're so cute."

"Sister-in-law, do you have more of these little colorful turtles?"

Gao Jia also wanted to keep a couple. These little creatures were much easier to take care of than cats or dogs and were quite entertaining.

"I'll try to find a couple for you."

"Thank you, brother-in-law."

"What are you talking about, let's eat."

"Coming."

"Put them in a small box for now, and we'll buy a proper container later."

"Okay."

Li Jingyi quickly fell in love with the little colorful turtles. They were so playful and smart, and it didn't take long for them to remember her scent.

In the afternoon, Gao Lan called back. She had to attend a project signing in the district.

"It's okay."

Li Jingyi waved her hand generously. She was too absorbed in the fun gift from her father to think about anything else.

"There's another gift."

During the birthday song, Li Dong took out a stamp album.

"What's this?"

"A stamp album. Didn't you say you recently got into stamp collecting?" Li Dong handed the album to Li Jingyi, who opened it. "Wow, so many old stamps, Dad, are these real?"

"Of course."

"Dad must have worked hard."

"Wow, I recognize this one."

Li Jingyi flipped through the album and was immediately attracted to a few horse stamps from 1978. "These are horse stamps, and a set can be worth several hundred to a thousand. Dad, you have five or six sets here. You're rich."

"So expensive?" Gao Jia was also surprised.

Li Feng thought about buying more later.

"Miniature sheets are even more expensive. A miniature sheet of horse stamps is now worth over five thousand."

"You know a lot."

Li Dong was impressed that his daughter knew so much.

"That's because I'm a genius."

The little girl was proud. "Dad, you're short of money, right? You can take the stamps back. I just play with them sometimes. They're too expensive, and it's not necessary."

"Don't worry, daughter. Dad is not short of money."

Li Dong ruffled Li Jingyi's hair, but he forgot his hands were still greasy from eating.

"Dad."

Li Jingyi enjoyed it at first, but when she saw the oil on Li Dong's hands, she pouted.

"Ha ha."

Li Jingyi pouted, and Li Dong couldn't resist pinching her chubby cheeks, which made Li Jingyi even more upset. She glanced at the cake, and Li Dong quickly jumped up. "No fooling around."

"Hehe, you fell for it."

Li Jingyi wouldn't do something as childish as smearing cake on someone. She stuck out her tongue at Li Dong with a smile.

"Jingyi, don't scare Dad."

"It's okay."

After lunch, Li Jingyi played with the little turtles, and Li Dong took her to school. "Dad, during the National Day holiday, I'll go to the farm. You have to prepare some good food for me."

"Of course, when you come, Dad will bring out all the good food."

Li Dong watched Li Jingyi go to school, then turned around to take Gao Jia to the tax bureau.

"Brother-in-law, do you remember Xu Yue?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"Next weekend, she and a few friends want to go out and play. They plan to come to your place."

"Sure, ask them what they want to eat, and I'll prepare in advance."

That's a good thing. Business is business.

"Last time, the dishes were great."

"Tell her we have wild boar meat and wild rabbit now. I'll save some for her. We'll see about the rest later."

After dropping Gao Jia off at work, Li Dong drove back to the farm. Tomorrow, Liu Mingdong and his friends would come, so Li Dong had to prepare in advance. He called Han Weiguo to come early to handle the wild game.

Wild game has a strong flavor and takes a long time to prepare, or it won't taste good.

"Also, pick some vegetables."

He watered the vegetable garden and spent the afternoon working there. The elderly villagers passing by commented on how diligent he was. Such diligent young people were rare these days. If Li Dong knew, he would be proud.

In 1978, Li Dong would have been considered lazy, but in 2018, he was a model of diligence.

After finishing the work in the vegetable garden, he cleaned the farm, took the donkey, the fawn, and the wild boy for a walk. The donkey and the fawn grazed, and the wild boy ate some grass seeds and insects.

"Ha ha ha, stop it, I don't eat insects."

The wild boy brought an insect to Li Dong's feet, showing a bit of filial piety.

"Where are the two swans?"

While tidying up the fishing gear, Li Dong thought about the two swans. They were still there, not caught by anyone.

The next morning, Li Dong got up early, prepared the fishing gear, and cleaned the yard. He took the donkey out, and the fawn and the wild boy were also let out to relieve themselves.

"Liu Kezhang."

Three cars arrived, one a luxury sedan. Rich people, indeed. They said four or five people, but there were only two guests: Liu Mingdong and a man in his forties.

"Mr. Li, your place is getting better and better."

"Thanks."

"Who's this?"

"Mr. Zhao, he's our benefactor."

"Liu Kezhang, you're joking."

Zhao Donglai didn't expect the place Liu Mingdong recommended to be a small farm in the mountains. However, Zhao Donglai was well-traveled and found Mr. Li quite amiable.

"Hey?"

"A deer?"

Li Dong was helpless. Little Hua came to join the fun, rubbing against his pants, making him laugh and cry at the same time. He wondered if she was using his pants as toilet paper again. "It came from the mountains and decided to stay."

"Really?"

Zhao Donglai was interested. He was a bit superstitious.

"A deer is a symbol of good luck and longevity. Mr. Li, congratulations."

"Thank you, thank you."

"Please come in."

"Mr. Zhao, let's see what Mr. Li has prepared for us."

Liu Mingdong's attitude was similar to when Tian Liang brought him here. This Mr. Zhao must be someone important.

"Hey, Mr. Li, you've redecorated?"

"Just added some things. I thought it lacked character, so I added some decorations." Li Feng smiled.

"The decoration is interesting. It's designed like a supply cooperative, right?" Zhao Donglai smiled. The place was clean, and the deer welcoming the guests made him, a superstitious person, feel good.

"Hey."

Zhao Donglai was attracted by a chair. Liu Mingdong didn't notice, but Li Dong did. The chair had a history. Zhao Donglai was just surprised to see it here.

"These wild eels are good."

"Wild chickens too?"

"What's this?"

"Black rice."

"Black rice, that's a good thing." Zhao Donglai smiled. "Mr. Li, you have a lot of good things here."

The black rice was good. Some of it was already cooked and dried, and there were about ten pounds of fresh ones.

Wild rabbit, wild chicken, wild eels, wild turtles, and wild boar meat—there were many good things, which surprised Zhao Donglai. No wonder Liu Mingdong said the farm, though small, had a lot of good things.

They didn't pay much attention to the Maotai and Wuliangye on the table. Who couldn't afford these? They were just for decoration.

After a tour, they went to the reservoir to fish. Zhao Donglai turned out to be a fishing expert.

In the morning, they caught two sea bass and one grass carp, a good harvest.

"Really fragrant. Mr. Li, you have a great chef."

"Mr. Zhao, Chef Han's skills are excellent." Liu Mingdong smiled, handing two bottles of Maotai to Li Dong to place on the table.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's try Chef Han's cooking."

"Everyone, please sit. I'll get the glasses."

But Li Dong didn't expect Liu Mingdong to come over for more drinks soon.

"Liu Kezhang, what's this?"

"Didn't expect Mr. Zhao to be a drinker. Two bottles of Maotai are not enough. I made a mistake. I see you have two bottles of Wuliangye."

"Ah, these?" Li Dong was speechless. You must be joking. These are over forty years old.

"What, fake?"

"It's not that."

"Liu Kezhang, you can't run away. Let's continue." Mr. Zhao came over.