Chapter 77

The little spotted deer is so cute with its beautiful pattern and big, watery eyes; it's simply a super-effective tool for winning the hearts of children and girls. Not only does little Han Qiqi love to circle around it, but Han Weiwei and Xu Yue also can't help but dote on it, taking quite a few photos with their phones.

"Little deer eating grass."

Han Qiqi pulled some grass and gave it to Little Flower, who nuzzled Qiqi's little hand, making Qiqi giggle.

"Uncle, the little deer doesn't eat grass."

Qiqi really likes Little Flower, but the grass she pulled wasn't eaten by Little Flower, so she ran to Li Dong in a hurry.

"Little Flower had breakfast, so she's not hungry now."

"Little Flower?"

"Is that the name of the deer?"

"Yes."

Li Dong didn't forget to greet Xu Jian and Han Wenjing.

"Uncle Xu, Auntie, rest in the room for a while."

"That's right, Dad, Mom, let's go inside quickly."

Xu Yue said, "The courtyard is really beautiful."

Han Qiqi was a bit reluctant to leave the deer, but Li Dong smiled and waved, and Little Flower happily followed into the yard. Little Qiqi immediately cheered and ran in, while the wild boy perched on a tree and flapped his wings as a greeting.

Little Qiqi waved her hand, and the wild boy immediately froze, scared.

The family walked into the courtyard and found it indeed as beautiful as Xu Yue had said. The small gourds on the trellis looked very nice, and Little Qiqi waved her little hand.

"Gourd boy."

"Ha ha ha."

Li Dong laughed and picked a small gourd to give to Little Qiqi. The gourds here are all small, suitable for both decoration and eating.

"Mom, gourd." Han Weiwei smiled and touched Little Qiqi's hand. "Did you say thank you to Uncle?"

"Thank you, Uncle."

"You're welcome."

Li Dong invited the family to rest inside. As soon as they entered, the 1970s-style decoration of the room made Xu Jian and Han Wenjing pause in amazement. Having experienced that era, they were deeply moved by the familiar scene.

"Old Xu, look, this soap box, we used to buy it."

The Longfeng soap box, Xu Jian nodded. "And the cigarettes, I still remember the brands. Young man, your decoration is quite thoughtful."

Indeed, Li Dong thought, many of these items were sourced from the 1978 supply cooperative, familiar to older people.

"Uncle, candy."

"Qiqi, the candies here are not for eating."

Xu Yue pulled Little Qiqi, thinking the candies were just for decoration. Li Dong smiled. "It's okay."

He gave Little Qiqi two candies, not daring to give more. Nowadays, children are not like those in 1978, who rarely got to eat candy and cherished it without fear of cavities. Now, they have the chance to eat candy almost every day.

Parents nowadays don't let their children eat too much candy. Qiqi happily took the candies, peeled one, and gave it to her mom.

"This..."

"These are edible, I just bought them a few days ago."

Li Dong invited everyone to sit down, poured tea, and then asked Xu Yue about the arrangements. "Let's go to the vegetable garden first. The vegetables I brought last time were picked from there."

"After picking the vegetables, we'll go to the reservoir to see the swans."

Xu Yue had planned this before coming. After that, they would take a walk, as Dad's back and legs are not good, so they wouldn't walk too far, just stroll around or go fishing.

"I'll prepare baskets and straw hats for you."

The straw hats from the "Learn from Dazhai" era made Xu Jian and Han Wenjing feel nostalgic, as they were both educated youth who experienced that time.

"Is there a stone mill here?"

"Yes."

Several stone mills, prepared by Li Dong for Li Jingyi's learning. "Can they still be used?"

"Yes."

Li Dong had tested these stone mills and even made new frames for them. He also prepared buckets, dippers, and small brooms as配套设施.

"Let's try it, it's been many years since I've used one."

"Yes, it brings back memories."

Xu Dad didn't expect this place to evoke so many memories.

Xu Yue was very happy, seeing that her parents were quite satisfied with the place. Bringing them here was a good decision.

The group, wearing straw hats and carrying small baskets, followed Li Dong to the vegetable garden.

"Tomatoes."

Little Qiqi was attracted by the bright red tomatoes.

"Come."

Li Dong picked one and gave it to Little Qiqi, who bit into the red tomato right away.

"Qiqi, it's not washed yet, you can't eat it."

"It's fine, no pesticides were used, just wipe it and it's good to eat."

Li Dong picked one and ate it, saying it was sweet and sour, very tasty. Seeing Li Dong eat it, Han Weiwei didn't say anything more.

"Cousin, try it, it's very tasty." Xu Yue had eaten the tomatoes before and knew they were clean and free of pesticides.

In the vegetable garden, they picked tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, peppers, and beans. As they passed a small pond, Han Wenjing noticed the plants and pointed excitedly. "Old Xu, look, isn't that water bamboo?"

The pond had little water, despite the rain a few days ago.

"Indeed, it's water bamboo."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Xu Yue realized there was a story.

"Dad, is there a story here?"

"There is a story indeed."

Xu Jian showed a hint of nostalgia. He had been responsible for growing water bamboo for several years, harvesting twice a year. The first time he met Han Wenjing was in the water bamboo field, where he was the deputy leader of the water bamboo group.

"Then we should pick some water bamboo today."

Xu Yue asked Li Dong if the water bamboo belonged to the farm and wanted to pick some.

"No problem."

"It's a bit early to pick now." Xu Jian said. "Water bamboo matures in October."

"That's fine, it's the most tender now."

Li Dong was about to start, but Xu Jian smiled and said, "I'll try too, it's been many years since I've picked water bamboo."

The water bamboo was as thick as a finger, very crisp. Li Dong picked a few and gave them to Han Weiwei and Xu Yue.

"Try it."

"Isn't water bamboo supposed to be cooked?"

Han Weiwei looked puzzled, and Xu Yue had the same expression, but Han Wenjing and Little Qiqi took the water bamboo and ate it right away. "It's the same old taste."

"Try it, it's sweet and crisp, we used to call it water cucumber."

Xu Jian laughed. "Your mom and I used to eat a lot of it."

Due to the lack of food, tender water bamboo was a good supplement. Han Weiwei and Xu Yue didn't know that tender water bamboo had such a name. They took the finger-thick water bamboo and found it really sweet and crisp, never imagining that water bamboo could be so delicious when eaten raw.

This was a completely different taste from cooked water bamboo, but it couldn't be eaten in large quantities. Li Dong and Xu Jian picked some, but not too much. Xu Jian said, "It's a waste to eat it this way. Mature water bamboo for cooking is at least three to five times heavier."

"Ouch."

"What's wrong, old man?"

"It's nothing."

Xu Jian smiled bitterly. "I'm old, and a bit of activity makes my back and waist ache."

"Dad, are you okay?"

Xu Yue had been listening to the story and taking photos, forgetting that her father had a bad back, especially with some rheumatism, and shouldn't have gone into the water.

"Uncle Xu, why don't you rest first?" Li Dong frowned, thinking that tiger bone wine might help.

Back at the farm, Xu Jian waved his hand. "You go play, I'll rest for a while and be fine."

"Uncle Xu, rest for a while, I'll take Auntie and the others to the reservoir."

Li Dong thought for a moment and poured a small cup of tiger bone wine for Xu Jian. "Uncle Xu, this is tiger bone medicinal wine, it helps with back pain. Do you want to try it?"

"Tiger bone wine?"

In the early 1990s, tiger bones and rhinoceros horns were banned from medicine, and tiger bone wine was no longer sold. There was no tiger bone wine on the market now, but it was very effective for rheumatism and back pain.

Li Dong nodded, and Xu Jian was surprised to find such a good thing in this small farm. He thanked Li Dong and took a sip, finding the medicinal taste quite strong. While Xu Jian rested, Li Dong took Han Weiwei, Xu Yue, Han Wenjing, and Little Qiqi to the reservoir to see the swans.

"Really beautiful."

The swans appeared, and Han Weiwei took many photos. The swans' performance was extremely beautiful, with heart-shaped poses, neck touching, and a series of graceful movements. Xu Yue was amazed, as she hadn't seen these actions before.

It was too beautiful, but the beauty was interrupted by an inharmonious call, as a large bird flew in.

"Big bird."

Despite her young age, Qiqi had sharp eyes.

Xu Yue and Han Weiwei didn't notice at first, but when they looked closely at the photos.

"Is that a red-crowned crane?"

"Red-crowned crane?"

"Do we have red-crowned cranes in our city?"

They were skeptical and turned to Li Dong. By then, Dandan had flown over, hungry and eager for food. Seeing Li Dong, it let out a joyful call.

Little Qiqi ran to the big bird, scared and hiding behind her mother. Li Dong smiled bitterly. "This is a red-crowned crane that was injured during migration a few days ago. I felt sorry for it and fed it some fish, and it decided to stay."

"Ah?"

What could Li Dong do? He set up a fishing net and found two carp to give to Dandan. The food lover ate happily and then, without Li Dong's instruction, performed an impromptu dance, stunning Xu Yue and Han Weiwei.

The red-crowned crane's dance was beautiful, and they quickly took photos. Today was a great day, not only seeing the swan lake but also the red-crowned crane's dance.

"Really incredible."

"Big bird dancing, Qiqi also dancing."

Qiqi ran out and started dancing, and Li Dong realized Dandan was a show-off. It let out an excited call and spread its wings, scaring Han Weiwei, who wanted to stop the crane from getting too close.

"It's okay."

The red-crowned crane danced with Qiqi, and Xu Yue captured this harmonious moment. It was truly amazing.

After Dandan flew away, Little Qiqi waved her little hand to say goodbye. "It's really magical."

Back at the farm, Xu Yue told Xu Jian about the magical moment. "Dad, you won't believe it, the red-crowned crane danced..."

"Really?"

Xu Jian thought about the strange thing he had just experienced. After drinking the medicinal wine, his back pain was much better, and his rheumatism felt warm. The wine really worked.

Li Dong arranged lunch, and his phone rang. It was Mr. Tian.

"Brother, you have good things here, why didn't you let me know?"

"Mr. Tian, what are you talking about?"

"Brother, Liu Kezhang said you helped with a wild boar stomach a few days ago. My stomach isn't good either, why didn't you think of me?"

Mr. Tian laughed, having heard about it at a dinner party the day before.

"Mr. Tian, if you had said earlier, I had a couple, but now only a small wild boar stomach is left." Li Dong smiled. "I'll save it for you."

"Make sure to save it for me."

"Let me know if you have any other good things."

"Actually, I do have something good."

Li Dong thought about the tiger bone wine. "Mr. Tian, have you heard of tiger bone wine?"

"Really? That's a good thing, it's rare now."

Tiger bone wine is a good thing, and Mr. Tian was excited. "I have some time at noon, brother, make sure to save the wine for me."

"It would be even better if you had tiger penis wine." Mr. Tian thought, but tiger bone wine also helps with that.

"Mr. Tian, I'll save it for you."

"Make sure to let me know if you have any other good things."