Yan Yue and the others stayed at Lingshui Village until the evening and had dinner at Uncle Li’s house before returning to Fengcheng.
Although Uncle Li didn’t know who Elder Min was, he was very warm to him because he was a guest brought by Lu Lingxi. At dinner time, Auntie Li steamed two pots of oat noodle rolls and boiled a pot of braised lamb soup. The tomatoes and cucumbers in the yard were also ready to eat, and mixed with the kale picked from the plant nursery, it was a cold dish full of colour and flavour.
Elder Min was very impressed with the food and envied Uncle Li’s small yard. With the things you grow by yourself, you can rest assured that the authentic taste alone is much better than the vegetables that are sold in the market. Although Elder Min has been in politics for many years, his family was from the rural area of Fengcheng and he did a lot of farming work when he was a child, so he was able to talk to Uncle Li about the vegetables grown in his yard. The more they talked, the more they got to know each other, and Elder Min took advantage of the situation to ask Uncle Li about the doubts he had along the way.
Since the beginning of spring this year, it had not rained much in northern China. The drought in many places was severe, and even spring sowing was difficult. Elder Min noticed that in Fengcheng it hadn’t rained for nearly two months, but unexpectedly, Fengcheng couldn’t see any signs of drought at all, and the plants in the ground were all vibrant. When he was in the city a few days ago, Elder Min felt strange, but considering that the sanitation workers would water regularly, he didn’t think much about it. But today he went out of the city and all the way to Lingshui Village. Looking at the surrounding situation, Elder Min was a bit puzzled.
Speaking of this, Uncle Li himself actually found it strange. It could be said that this year was indeed dry. The water level of the Lingshui River was a few centimetres lower than in previous years. However, there was really no shortage of water in the ground this year. Some time ago, when the village was sowing, the ground was wet, and even watering was not necessary.
The people of the village firmly believed that the tree god blessed them, and the proof of this was that when Yan Yue hired someone to dig a well, the workers inadvertently dug up a section of tree roots several metres thick in diameter underground. The worker who dug the well at the time accidentally scraped the root and the water that came out of it was actually clear water. This incident caused quite a stir in the village and the workers filled the already half-formed well overnight and dug it in a different place.
“A tree god?”
Uncle Li spoke so fantastically that an odd expression appeared on Elder Min’s face.
Uncle Li laughed and said frankly, “The people in the village don’t know anything about science, and when they encounter something they don’t understand they like to blame it on gods and monsters.”
Elder Min laughed along, but in his heart he remembered the words “tree god”. The clear water flowing out from inside the scuffed tree roots was something even Elder Min had heard of for the first time, not to mention the villagers of Lingshui Village.
The sound of the two men chatting was quite loud, and everyone in the same room could hear it clearly. Lu Lingxi winked at Yan Yue, and a knowing smile appeared on Yan Yue’s face. The silent understanding seemed to flow like water entwining the two together, and Ye Kang, who was sitting aside, inexplicably felt as if he had been pushed away by something.
Not long after eating dinner, the group prepared to return to Fengcheng. Before leaving, Lu Lingxi went to the plant nursery to take a few pots of evolved daylilies and asked Elder Min to bring them to Elder Zhang and Elder Zhao. There were three pots of daylilies, exactly one for each of them.
The daylily was also known as worry-free, and the one Lu Lingxi picked was a rather common variety of daylily, “Song of Sunshine”. It was because of this name that Lu Lingxi raised this variety. After flowering, the “Song of Sunshine” was golden in colour, and the petals were blooming like the sun composing a song of life. Elder Min liked it very much at first glance. Perhaps because of his older age, he now liked this kind of brightly colored and vibrant plant more and more.
“Grandpa Min will be cheeky enough to borrow a blessing from Lao Zhang for once and accept this pot of daylilies.” Elder Min lovingly hugged the flower pot and said with a smile.
Lu Lingxi curved his eyes in a smile and followed Yan Yue to the car.
s
This time, Elder Min brought back not only daylilies but also samples of Zhugang. The next day he called Yan Yue and suggested that he had a friend who wanted to meet Yan Yue and Zheng Xinhe to talk about Zhugang. Anyone who could be called a friend by Elder Min was bound to be no ordinary person. Yan Yue was fine, but Zheng Xinhe got extremely excited after he found out about Elder Min’s background.
During Yan Yue’s and Lu Lingxi’s absence, Zheng Xinhe took Zhugang to a number of technological exhibitions. With its novel technology, environmentally friendly raw materials and even lower costs, Zhugang attracted a lot of attention at the various exhibitions. However, as was often the case with new things, although everyone knew it was a good thing, no one was willing to be the first one to try it. Although Zheng Xinhe was not discouraged, a flame of anxiety would occasionally rise in his heart. Now that Yan Yue had met Elder Min, Zheng Xinhe secretly vowed to seize this opportunity to promote Zhugang.
Not to mention Zheng Xinhe’s fist-pumping, Yan Yue also attached great importance to this meeting. He and Zheng Xinhe were thinking along the same lines; in order to successfully gain recognition for Zhugang as a new alternative to steel, it had to first gain the approval of official authorities. This recognition was not just about winning a few medals at a technology exhibition, but to get an official order, which meant that the other party really recognised the product.
Yan Yue checked the files on his computer one last time and closed it before realising that it was almost ten o’clock. He pushed the door open and saw Lu Lingxi sitting on the carpet with Dahei in his arms watching the video they had made in Kunnan. Xiaohei hissed excitedly with his tail wagging and his upper body twisting.
In the video, the little monkey was holding two red fruits, handing them to Lu Lingxi’s mouth. Lu Lingxi smiled at the camera and took a bite from the fruit in the little monkey’s hand, then scrunched up his face. It was so sour he couldn’t even speak.
“Zi-zi!”
The little monkey hurriedly knocked the fruit out of Lu Lingxi’s hand, climbed up the tree in a few steps and rushed to the other monkey that had picked the fruit the little monkey gave Lu Lingxi.
Yan Yue heard Fang Lei’s laughter in the video, and the sound of Lu Lingxi calling out to the little monkey. He walked over and sat behind Lu Lingxi, hugging him from behind, “Missing the little monkey?”
Lu Lingxi leaned into Yan Yue’s arms and let out a soft sigh.
The little monkey had made a lot of noise when they left, perhaps because it sensed that Lu Lingxi wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon, so the little monkey hugged Lu Lingxi’s neck and refused to let go. It was only after the big leading monkey jumped down from the tree and stroked the little monkey’s head and coaxed it for a long time that the little monkey let go, aggrieved. Lu Lingxi promised the little monkey that he would come back to visit it in the Kunnan rainforest when he had time. The little monkey seemed to have understood his words and squeaked several times.
Yan Yue slightly curled his lips when he thought of the scene, “We can go there again next year.”
Woof woof. Dahei barked excitedly.
Lu Lingxi amusedly stroked Dahei and assured him, “Don’t worry, we will definitely take Dahei next time.”
Dahei leaned against Lu Lingxi’s side contentedly, and Xiaohei dragged over the biscuit box vigorously and leaned over as well. The family of four sat on the floor, the little monkey’s squeaking came from the video once again. The time slowly approached eleven o’clock, and Yan Yue carried Lu Lingxi back to the bedroom. When they returned from Kunnan, Wang Shuxiu had agreed that Lu Lingxi would move in with Yan Yue next door. Lu Lingxi’s bedroom was vacated and prepared as a baby room.
“Big Brother Yan, in three months I’m going to have a little brother.” Lu Lingxi couldn’t sleep for a while, so he hugged Yan Yue and said excitedly.
Yan Yue lowered his head and kissed him, “I know, go to sleep.”
“I can’t sleep.” Lu Lingxi said softly.
Yan Yue’s eyes darkened slightly as he moved over and kissed Lu Lingxi. “Then don’t sleep yet.”
Lu Lingxi: “……”
s
Early the next morning, Yan Yue first dropped Lu Lingxi off at Tiny Garden, then drove to meet Zheng Xinhe to prepare for the appointment with Elder Min’s friend.
“Go for it, Big Brother Yan.” Lu Lingxi took Dahei to cheer Yan Yue on. Dahei waved his paw quite enthusiastically.
Yan Yue smiled and waved to Lu Lingxi as he drove away from Tiny Garden. When he was about to turn off the street of Tiny Garden, Yan Yue seemed to see a familiar figure. He slowed down the car and looked over. A few passers-by hurriedly walked past. Yan Yue glanced around, saw nothing and frowned slightly.
“Hoo hoo hoo.”
In the alley next to the street, Lu Yishui touched his heart that was about to jump out of his throat for a long time. “Bah, bad luck, as soon as I came, I saw Yan Yue.” He spat on the ground, cursing fiercely.
Lu Yishui couldn’t tell why he ran when he saw Yan Yue; it was simply a subconscious action. In fact, Yan Yue had not done anything to him, but had lent him 400,000 yuan instead. However, Lu Yishui was subconsciously afraid of Yan Yue. Compared to Xiao Feng with his brothers simply beating him up, it was this kind of immovable, unreasonable underhandedness on Yan Yue’s part that gave Lu Yishui the creeps just thinking about it. Of course, now he had found a reason; Yan Yue, the bastard, was actually hitting on Lu Lingxi.
Lu Yishui hatefully spat another mouthful of spittle on the ground, “Why should I be afraid of him? I’m rich now, I’m not the old Lu Yishui anymore. I am a member of the Lu family. When the old man Lu dies, Lao Tzu can at least inherit a few hundred million.” He repeated this passage several times in his mind, brushed off the newly bought t-shirt on his body, and walked towards Tiny Garden with his head held high. He hadn’t forgotten what the old man Lu had told him, that the prerequisite for admitting him to the Lu family was Lu Lingxi’s promise to acknowledge his ancestors. Lu Yishui felt that this was not a problem at all. Lu Lingxi was not stupid and the relatives as rich as the Lu family wouldn’t be pushed away even by a fool.
“Welcome…”
Inside Tiny Garden, Lu Lingxi put down the watering can without finishing a sentence. Dahei, who had been lying quietly on the floor, suddenly jumped up and rushed straight to the door, bared his teeth and growled a warning.
“Don’t come over here, damn dog!” Lu Yishui screamed, involuntarily remembering the last time he had been bitten by Dahei.
Lu Lingxi’s eyes widened suddenly as he realised that the person in front of him was Lu Yishui. He and Lu Yishui had only met a few times and it was a year ago. At that time, he didn’t have a deep impression of Lu Yishui as the man’s hair was dishevelled and covered half of his face. Nowadays, Lu Yishui had obviously been carefully groomed and dressed, and Lu Lingxi vaguely found the shadow of his father in his previous life in Lu Yishui’s face.
“Little bastard, I’m your dad.” Lu Yishui shouted at Lu Lingxi from the doorway, bouncing up and down.
Lu Lingxi frowned; he didn’t have any feelings for Lu Yishui, not like he did for Wang Shuxiu. Plus he had already recognised Xiao Feng as his father, so he couldn’t call Lu Yishui the word “Dad”.
When Lu Lingxi didn’t say anything, Lu Yishui became anxious, “Come here, little bastard, come over and get rid of the dog first, I’m looking for you for something.”
As soon as he said that, Lu Lingxi immediately reacted, “The Zhongjing Lu family found you?”
“What Zhongjing Lu family? That’s your grandfather’s family. We are the Lu family, from now on we will be rich people, father and son. Rich people, little bastard, do you understand? This shitty flower shop, you can open as many as you want.” Lu Yishui spitefully described the bright future to Lu Lingxi while trying to take a couple of steps inside the shop.
Dahei immediately gave a low growl.
Lu Yishui shrank back and pointed at Lu Lingxi, shouting, “Little bastard, you unfilial son, you…”
Lu Lingxi interrupted him, “I won’t recognise the Lu family.”
“What? Little bastard, are you stupid? Do you know how much money the Lu family has? We’ll be rich if you acknowledge it, so much better than you keeping this broken flower shop. Tell me, is it that Wang Xiaohua won’t let you admit it? Wait, I’ll go and find her.”
“You’re not allowed to find Mom.” Lu Lingxi immediately shouted. Wang Shuxiu was now almost seven months pregnant. What if she was pissed off and stimulated by Lu Yishui?
“Little bastard, you…” Lu Yishui shouted sternly.
Lu Lingxi bit his lip and said to Dahei, “Dahei, go.”
Hearing this command, Dahei immediately lunged towards Lu Yishui. Lu Yishui realised that Lu Lingxi really meant it, so he hurriedly turned around and ran away, stumbling. Unfortunately, his speed was no match for Dahei and he was easily pounced on by Dahei and pinned underneath, with one of Dahei’s paw pressed against the back of Lu Yishui’s head.
“Little… little… little… little…” Lu Yishui was so scared that he couldn’t speak clearly.
Lu Lingxi didn’t know what to do with Lu Yishui. After all, he was the father of this body. He knew that Dahei wouldn’t hurt Lu Yishui, at most he would scare him. “Dahei, come back.” Lu Lingxi looked coldly at Lu Yishui and said seriously, “Once again, I won’t recognise the Lu family, and you won’t go looking for Mom.”
“Little ba…” Lu Yishui rolled over and opened his mouth to scold. Dahei immediately arched his back and prepared to pounce. The word “bastard” was swallowed hard by Lu Yishui, who shrank back and dared not speak again.
Lu Lingxi didn’t look at him and turned around to go back to Tiny Garden. He thought for a while and found Xiao Feng’s phone number. This matter needed to be told to Xiao Feng first. When the call was answered, there was a bit of noise on the other side, “Dad?”
“Is it Xiao Xi?” Xiao Feng’s voice on the phone sounded quite happy, “Xiao Xi, you’re going to have another brother or sister.”
Lu Lingxi froze and heard Xiao Hong’s loud laugh on the other side of the phone, “Aunt is pregnant?”
“Yes.” Xiao Feng laughed, “Your Uncle is overjoyed.”
Lu Lingxi was also quite happy. Xiao Feng remembered that Lu Lingxi was looking for him, “What happened, is there something wrong, Xiao Xi?”
Lu Lingxi felt sorry to spoil the mood saying that Lu Yishui was back at this time, but he was worried that Lu Yishui had really gone to Wang Shuxiu, so he said it anyway. “Dad… is back.”
Xiao Feng reacted extremely quickly and immediately realised who the “dad” Lu Lingxi was referring to was. “He went to look for you?”
Lu Lingxi hummed, “He said he was going to look for Mom and I was worried…”
“It’s okay. I’m with your mom.”
Lu Lingxi relaxed. After hanging up the phone, Lu Lingxi was a little confused as to why the Lu family needed to recognise him. In the past, the Lu family didn’t care about this body, but now why did they have to recognise him? Was it because his elder brother’s… Lu Wei’an’s body was having problems again, so they needed him?
The more Lu Lingxi thought about it, the more he thought this was a possibility. He squatted in front of Dahei, stroked him and whispered, “This time I want to be selfish for once.”
Without any preamble, Dahei couldn’t understand the meaning of Lu Lingxi’s words. He just barked in a low voice and stretched out his tongue to tenderly lick Lu Lingxi’s fingers. Lu Lingxi curved his eyes in a smile.
“I know, I will always be with Dahei and Big Brother Yan.”
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