Chapter 52

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Li Han, half-asleep, rubbed his nose, which felt a bit itchy. No, it wasn't right; he grabbed with his big hand and indeed caught a small hand.

Baby and Dudu, wearing their little pajamas, were lying on both sides of Li Han, playfully poking his nose with their little fingers. "Hehe, Uncle is such a lazy bug, get up quickly, it's time to dry the little fish." Li Han, disturbed by Baby and Dudu, couldn't go back to sleep. He washed his face and walked out of the small courtyard.

Dudu and Baby were squatting by the sink, brushing their teeth. Li Han poked his head over to check. Today, the two little rascals were quite well-behaved, no white bubbles spilling out. He stretched his waist and moved around, feeling quite tired from the past two days.

Li Han saw that the two little ones still needed a bit more time, so he called out to Xiao Meili, took her to the bathroom, and then ran a lap around the yard. There was one more addition to the small fence by the yard: the big turtle Dudu had dug up. Dudu stubbornly gave it a name that made people laugh and cry, "Big Crab." This guy was quite old and wise, enjoying the good food at the small farm. The two little girls chased after it, feeding it fresh little fish and shrimp. It had a comfortable place to live, and Dudu had pestered her father to make a beautiful little turtle house for it.

Big Crab, with a pink bow on its head, slowly crawled past Li Han. Li Han chuckled; this guy still had a dog's eyes. When it saw Dudu, it circled around her, rubbing its head against Dudu's little shoes. But when it saw Li Han, it strutted past, head held high, completely ignoring him. Li Han wished he could stew the turtle's legs right now, but thinking of Dudu's pitiful eyes, he gave up. "I can't stoop to the level of a turtle, that would be too undignified."

Kicking over Big Crab, Li Han and Xiao Meili laughed and ran back to the small courtyard. Big Crab lay on its back, flailing its legs and head, unable to get up for a while. Xiao Bai, who was eating grass, couldn't stand it and kicked it back. Big Crab continued to crawl on the lawn with its head held high.

Back in the small courtyard, Dudu and Baby had finished brushing their teeth and washing their faces. They changed into their little worker outfits, with suspenders and little denim hats, though the pink bow didn't quite match. "Daddy Boss, Dudu is ready." "Uncle Boss, Baby is also ready."

"Alright, let's go." Li Han waved his hand, looking quite authoritative. His mother and sister, who were washing vegetables by the sink, were amused by the three of them. "Look at these kids, Xiao Han, come back early, and keep an eye on Dudu and Baby."

"Mom, I know."

Three little Marios, one big and two small, arrived at the small barn about 400 to 500 meters from the small building. Inside the barn were the little fish and shrimp they had caught over the past two days, arranged in circles in various sizes of buckets. Li Han carried the big buckets, while Dudu and Baby carried the small ones, placing them on the pickup truck. After four or five trips, they finished transporting the fish and shrimp that needed to be dried. The whole family had worked together, including Wei Li, Kedi, Bill, and Xiao Miqi, who often came to help pick up the little fish and shrimp. It was quite a lot, over ten pickup truck loads, several thousand pounds of little fish and shrimp. Most of them were dried and ground into feed for cows, sheep, chickens, and ducks. A smaller portion was cleaned and strung up to dry, to be eaten as dried fish, which tasted very good.

Li Han was the first to raise his hand in support. Indeed, Dudu and Baby had a new job, getting up early to transport and dry the little fish. Li Han clapped his hands, finished loading, and opened the car door. Dudu and Baby climbed in, with Dudu holding Xiao Meili in one hand and Big Crab in the other. This made Baby jealous, as she had been digging holes in the mud for the past two days to catch the big turtle, but unfortunately, she only caught crabs and lobsters, which all ended up in the family's stomach, and she never saw a turtle.

Li Han suspected that this big turtle was a pet from the previous farm owner, quite old and wise, and even more sycophantic than Xiao Meili. "Fasten your seatbelts, we're off." The place to dry the fish was a bit far from the small building, about five to six minutes away. They arrived at a sunny little hill, sparsely planted with fruit trees by the previous farm owner, which were not well-maintained. This place was perfect for drying fish, with plenty of sunlight and a flat farm area around, with only a few rabbits and squirrels, no other animals.

The two little ones jumped out of the car, brought out a small ladder, and started hanging the little fish on the branches. Li Han helped with the transportation. After a busy morning, the small hill was covered with silver little fish and red shrimp, looking very beautiful from a distance. Dad and Brother-in-law, who had been riding horses, came over to help. One by one, the big dried fish were hung up. The price of pickled fish in America was quite high, not because the fish were expensive, but because the labor was. Li Han had been reluctant to eat them before.

Dudu and Baby finished hanging the little fish, and their work for the day was done. The two little ones started talking about picking mushrooms. Thanks to the space spring water, many mushrooms had sprouted in the farm's small forest and lawn, which were extremely delicious. Wei Li, Kedi, Bill, and Xiao Miqi all loved mushroom cream soup, saying it was the most delicious they had ever tasted. Li Han gave some to them, and they all liked it. Dudu and Baby seemed to see a business opportunity, and now, in addition to picking lettuce, they had another task: picking mushrooms. They hopped and skipped, following Big Crab, who was indeed a strange turtle. He was quite capable, always finding mushrooms accurately. It seemed he had a special skill. Li Han thought, "I'll put up with you," and Big Crab, with his head held high, seemed to deliberately crawl past Li Han, looking quite arrogant.

"Hehe, Xiao Han, this guy really holds a grudge. You said you'd stew him, and look how he acts when he sees you. It's quite amusing," Brother-in-law said, hanging the big dried fish on the ladder.

Li Han was speechless, not sure if the turtle really understood him. "Next time Dudu isn't home, I'll stew him," Li Han said, pretending to grit his teeth.

"You, I think this turtle might be a spirit. Don't say such things," Dad said, finding the turtle too strange.

"Dad, I was just joking," Li Han said, not wanting to stew the turtle. He still needed it to find mushrooms and was a free laborer. The three of them worked for about ten minutes, hanging up two big buckets of dried fish, then patted their hands and got off the ladder.

Dad and Brother-in-law went riding again. Dad had really gotten addicted to it, neglecting the flowers and plants, and riding horses whenever he had free time. Brother-in-law accompanied him every day, and they left early in the morning and didn't come back until mealtime. Mom and Sister had a good scolding, and even Li Han was criticized. Li Han was innocent, but Mom and Sister blamed him, saying the horses weren't his and that he had asked Daina and Hutton to teach him. Li Han was speechless and could only accept the scolding.

After the dried fish were hung up, Li Han put the ladder in the pickup truck. It was still early, so he played with Xiao Meili for a while. Xiao Meili was getting smarter and had been helping Daina look after the lambs. Hutton said Xiao Meili was quite smart and could be a good herding dog if trained well. Li Han didn't think about that; Xiao Meili was his companion through thick and thin. He could find another herding dog. Xiao Meili seemed to like having a job and was getting better at herding sheep.

Being a pet dog was much more comfortable, with high treatment. Herding dogs worked hard and faced dangers like wolves, wild cats, and foxes. Office jobs were stable, high-paying, and had good benefits, including retirement. Why go out and risk your life with a gun, where you might encounter terrorists or bears? That would be too tiring.

Li Han played with Xiao Meili for a while, thinking Mom and Sister had probably finished breakfast. He squatted down and patted Xiao Meili. "Let's go find Dudu and Baby." Xiao Meili ran happily into the woods, and Li Han followed at a leisurely pace. Occasionally, Xiao Meili would run back and bark at Li Han, urging him to follow. Soon, Li Han found Dudu and Baby, who were picking a big mushroom, as big as a bowl. Li Han recognized it as a porcini mushroom, surprised to find such a good thing on the farm.

Dudu and Baby weren't afraid the mushrooms were poisonous. After multiple observations, Li Han found that the mushrooms Big Crab found were all edible. What a magical turtle. He wondered if stewing it would extend his life. Sensing Li Han's ill-intentioned gaze, Big Crab glanced back at him. "Is this guy really a spirit?" "Dudu, Baby, let's go back for breakfast, or Grandma and Mom will worry."

"Okay, let's eat, catch little fish," Dudu said happily, putting the mushroom in the basket.

"Baby wants to catch a big turtle," Baby said, looking enviously at the big turtle by Dudu's feet and pouting.

"Alright, let's catch a big turtle." Li Han rubbed the heads of Dudu and Baby, took the two little ones back down the hill, took the basket, opened the car door, and the two little ones, Big Crab, and Xiao Meili got in. Li Han drove the pickup back to the small farm, where breakfast was ready: sweet potato porridge, a few stir-fried dishes, a braised fish, a plate of pickled duck eggs, and some potstickers.

Li Han had two bowls of sweet potato porridge and two big potstickers, smacking his lips. "Hehe, the taste of home is the best. It would be even better with some pickles."

"Xiao Han, why don't you plant some pickles in the backyard? Mom can pickle a jar for you."

"And some fermented beans, hehe. I ordered a small stone mill a few days ago. In a couple of days, we can make our own tofu." Li Han had been busy for a few days, and the grassland renovation was almost complete. With the space spring water, the grassland was safe, and the irrigation channel was open. He felt quite proud.

"This kid, okay, Mom will do it." Zhang Xiuying, seeing her son's desire for the taste of home, smiled and agreed. "We don't have many seasonings left. Next time we go back to China, we'll buy more."

Li Han thought about using the space to smuggle some goods. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

[bookid=3118387, bookname=《才绝》]

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