The Little Life of a Big Landlord

Chapter 41 Mid-Autumn Festival

Hand in hand, they walked along the mountain path in the light rain, feeling very content. Two small dogs chased each other around them, as playful as two little elves, running around them, tumbling and frolicking.

Peaceful...harmonious...

"Tell me, why does Aunt Liu's family cultivate so much land? I'm starting to worry." Thinking about her experiences these past few days, Wei Qingqing's face fell.

Aunt Liu's family planted eight mu of land, all of which were planted with corn. Zheng Bao'er was also on autumn break and helped her mother pick the corn. The corn leaves were serrated, and the mother and daughter picked corn for two days. Their arms and faces were almost scratched by the corn leaves, and with the added sweat... Every night when they came back, little Bao'er was sobbing. Yang Ming felt sorry for little Bao'er when he saw her suffering, so the next day he helped Aunt Liu pick corn in the field. Wei Qingqing had never done farm work before and didn't think it was anything special, so she followed her husband and went to the field to pick corn. Who knew that once she entered the cornfield, she would realize the hardships of farmers...

"Why don't you skip tomorrow..." Yang Ming said with some concern.

"I'm wondering now, when we were helping Aunt Liu pick corn, were your parents also picking corn in the field?" Wei Qingqing said.

"We bought a combine harvester two years ago. When the corn cobs are ripe, we can just drive the harvester around and pick them all," Yang Ming said.

The two went home hand in hand. Wei Qingqing went straight into the wing room in the front yard. Inside, the pigeons had hatched a pair of chicks. The incubation period for pigeons is 18 days, and the chicks grow faster every day. In about ten days, the pair of chicks had grown small spurs. Wei Qingqing would go to the pigeon nest every day to check on them.

"They've grown quite a bit, their little cones are almost blooming..." Wei Qingqing said happily.

Yang Ming also followed in with great interest, and the couple observed the baby pigeons together with great enthusiasm.

The couple excitedly pointed and gestured around the pigeon coop, while the father outside paced anxiously, and the mother, nestled inside, watched intently, her wings trembling as if to say, "If you dare touch it, I'll slap you."

Because their wings had been clipped, the two pigeons couldn't fly very high, so their nest was built on the ground. Wei Qingqing frowned. "Honey, don't you think the pigeon nest is a bit too low? What if a mouse comes out at night and snatches the baby pigeons away?"

"Oh no, how could you talk about rats in front of the pigeon coop? You can't talk about that. If you do, rats will definitely come out and snatch the baby pigeons away tonight," Yang Ming said, rubbing his forehead.

"No way?" Wei Qingqing was a little skeptical; this was too far-fetched.

"It was Grandpa Niu who told me..." Yang Ming said.

Grandpa Niu, the same old man who sold the pigeons to Wei Qingqing, was someone Yang Ming and his wife ran into again a few days ago when they went to the market in Majiagou. Grandpa Niu said that he had another pair of pigeons at home that would be ready to leave the nest in two weeks, and he would save them for them.

The spotted pigeon is a type of ornamental pigeon with a short beak and a snow-white body, but a small black spot the size of a corn kernel on its tail and forehead. Of course, black is the most common color, but red ones also exist.

"Oh no! What should we do?" Wei Qingqing was anxious. She had watched the two baby pigeons grow up day by day. If they were carried away by a mouse, she would be heartbroken.

"How would I know what to do? How about we bring Miaomiao over?" Yang Ming thought for a moment and said.

By the way, Yang Ming also took some time to put Miaomiao in the farm space and optimize it for a few days. The guy has become lazy now, always looking listless, but you can tell from its constantly twitching little ears that it is alert.

"Wouldn't it steal from its own nest? It's so sleazy..." Wei Qingqing's face showed a hint of distrust. It's true that Miaomiao is good at catching mice, but to ask it to protect a pair of chicks is like a fantasy. It would be good enough if the creature didn't eat them itself. Especially since she had witnessed Old Li's big white cat catching birds, she believed that her Miaomiao's bird-catching skills were no less than those of the big white cat.

"It's eating birds in cages, okay? If it wanted to eat these two little pigeons, it would have eaten them long ago!" Yang Ming defended Miao Miao.

"Alright! Tonight, we'll lock it in the side room." Wei Qingqing reluctantly chose to trust Miaomiao this once.

The couple left the side room and went back to the main room to cook. They worked together, one washing the pot and the other chopping vegetables.

Wei Qingqing was washing the pot when she suddenly stopped. "Honey, I'm still a little worried. How about you put the little pigeon in your farm space?"

"One day in the space is ten days. You won't recognize them when I release them tomorrow," Yang Ming said as he was slicing a piece of frozen pork belly.

In the ranch of the farm space, the four pigs have already given birth to two litters of piglets. The first litter has even grown into adult pigs and can reproduce. The pair of pigeons have also hatched three broods. The first two broods have grown up and joined the ranks of reproduction. The ranch can be described as prosperous and thriving.

"Alright then..." Wei Qingqing thought for a moment and continued washing the pot.

"Aunt Qingqing, look what I brought you!" At this moment, Zheng Bao'er ran in excitedly despite the drizzle, holding a string of grasshoppers strung together with foxtail grass in her hand.

"Grasshopper? When did you catch it?" Wei Qingqing's eyes lit up as she looked at the grasshopper. These days of farm work had yielded some results, including grasshoppers. After Yang Ming caught a string of grasshoppers and brought them home to stir-fry, Wei Qingqing fell in love with this delicacy.

"It drizzled in the afternoon, and the grasshoppers' wings got wet. When the cold wind blew, they couldn't even jump, so it was like picking them up," Zheng Bao'er said proudly.

"Right away, make salt water and soak it." Wei Qingqing's mood improved.

"Oh!" Zheng Bao'er responded, ran to the cupboard, took out a large bowl, poured water into the bowl, sprinkled some salt, and peeled off the grasshoppers one by one, removed their wings, and soaked them in the salt water.

"Eating too much of this can easily cause mouth ulcers," Yang Ming warned.

"I'm willing to risk everything for good food." Wei Qingqing didn't care at all. After washing the pot, she went outside to fetch firewood to start a fire.

Yang Ming's family moved here this year and didn't have any firewood stored. However, being near the mountains, they could easily cut a couple of handfuls of grass to make a meal. The couple usually went to the back mountain to cut down some diseased or misplaced small trees to use as firewood. Over the past month, they had indeed stored up quite a bit.

"Aunt Qingqing, the Mid-Autumn Festival is in three days. My mom said she's going to bake mooncakes. My mom's mooncakes are the best. I'll bring some over for you and Uncle Yang then," Xiao Bao said while picking grasshoppers.

"That's right, today is September 19th... Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here..." Reminded by Xiao Bao'er, Wei Qingqing finally remembered, "We've almost forgotten about the date."

"We'll go back to the city for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Our new house is all furnished now, so we'll bring my parents and your parents over and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together," Yang Ming said.

"Okay!" Wei Qingqing thought about it and realized that made sense, since both houses were for them to live in anyway.

"Uncle and Auntie, aren't you spending the Mid-Autumn Festival here?" Little Bao'er's face fell.

Since her father went away on a long trip, the little girl has been living with her mother. Her grandparents were still alive, but people in the countryside are not very warm towards girls, and the two elders didn't like her much. These days, the little girl is very happy to be with the uncle and aunt who moved in next door. She feels that she is loved again. Deep down, she has already regarded the uncle and aunt as family and always likes to go there whenever she has a chance. She also hopes that the uncle and aunt can spend the festival with her.

"Hehe, little girl, do you want to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with Auntie? In a big city, you know." Wei Qingqing tempted Xiao Bao'er while tending the fire.

"Really?" Xiao Bao'er's eyes lit up, but then dimmed. "Dad went on a long trip and I don't know when he'll be back. All my friends say that my dad will never come back. Now it's just me and Mom at home. If I leave too, Mom will have to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival alone..."

"..." Wei Qingqing and Yang Ming exchanged a glance and remained silent.

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