CHAPTER 64: OX CART DELIVERY

Old Ding quickly sized up the young man in front of him, and he looked like a slick talker.

But at this moment, it was just the time when cooking smoke curled up, and everyone was at home cooking and resting, so asking someone else would be even more troublesome.

"Does your village have someone named Jiang Hu?" Old Ding spoke unhurriedly.

Liu Yang was surprised: "Are you looking for Brother Jiang? Are you a relative of Brother Jiang?"

He had just gone to check on the crops in the field, saw an empty ox cart coming towards the village, felt curious, and came over to take a look.

Could it be that he really ran into a relative of Brother Jiang?

Who would have guessed Old Ding’s expression darkened: "Who’s his relative? I’m here to ask him to help me take care of the cow!"

Liu Yang looked at the old man, who seemed to have a bit of a temper, mumbled to himself, but still gave him directions.

Just this road to the end leads to Jiang Hu’s house, it’s quite easy to find.

Old Ding nodded with a sullen face, didn’t say thank you, and directly cracked the whip, driving the ox cart away.

Only when he was far off, did Liu Yang mutter: "Who is this old man, why did he suddenly come to find Brother Jiang to take care of a cow."

He did want to go up and have a look, but it was getting too late, and the old man’s temper was really a bit foul, so he quickly dismissed the idea.

Forget it, I’ll ask Brother Jiang tomorrow what is going on.

"Dad, it smells so good. When will Grandpa Ding come?" Da Wa stood under the eaves, constantly looking out into the distance.

Jiang Hu was cleaning fish nearby, although the wild boar was stewed, just one dish wouldn’t do.

Next to him, Second Aunt was washing vegetables. The vegetables from their garden were delicious, so she had specially picked some fresh and nice-looking ones to prepare more dishes tonight.

"Brother Hu, you forgot to buy wine today. Old Ding borrowed his ox cart for free, we must treat him well."

Although there was meat and veggies, without wine, something still felt lacking.

The family had previously brewed some low-quality wine, using a bit of it every time they made meat dishes to remove the smell, but today, when stewing the wild boar, used up the rest.

Jiang Hu: "No worries, I asked Little Ding, he said Old Ding doesn’t drink."

"Mom, there are three eggs today!"

Second Niu ran happily from the chicken coop, just after dumping the leftover bugs for the little chickens to the big chickens, and saw a few white things in the nest.

Second Aunt was overjoyed: "Great, just in time to fry an egg. Da Wa, go help mom cut some chives."

"Okay, mom." Da Wa casually picked up a nearby bamboo knife and went to work.

Jiang Hu glanced at Second Aunt, hesitated to speak, paused for a moment, then said: "When the chickens lay eggs tomorrow, I’ll cook you sugar water eggs."

Second Aunt was startled at first, then could only laugh and cry: "You still remember yesterday’s matter."

Jiang Hu snorted softly, of course he remembered. Second Aunt had given birth to four children for him, without a proper postpartum period, he felt guilty.

Nearby, Little Mi listened clearly, hurriedly patted the cot railing to draw her parents’ attention, then opened her mouth and shouted: "Love, love!"

Dad loves mom, loves her very much!

Second Aunt’s face instantly turned red with embarrassment, and Jiang Hu was also a bit awkward, pretending to sternly scold Little Mi after a while: "Kids should not talk like that."

Little Mi giggled, knowing her parents were embarrassed.

From the corner of her eye, she saw something on the small road in the distance, quickly looked carefully, and then got excited.

She continued to pound on the cot energetically: "People! People!"

Mom and Dad, look, someone’s coming!

Jiang Hu looked up, indeed he saw someone driving an ox cart over, and was overjoyed: "Second Aunt, Old Ding is here. I’ve finished cleaning the fish. You go cook, I’ll go greet him."

Saying this, Jiang Hu untied the apron from his waist and hurried out.

At this time, Da Wa also returned with the prepared chives, and Second Aunt told Second Niu to watch the little brothers and sisters, while she took Da Wa to the kitchen to cook.

The family’s small chives and scallions were discovered while clearing the wild garden around, just a few sparse roots, but they grew into a small patch, and from time to time, they could even sell a batch.

Jiang Hu just walked out of the yard a few steps when Old Ding arrived with the ox cart, Jiang Hu quickly said: "Old Ding you must be tired, let me drive the ox cart to the backyard. You go in and rest."

Old Ding, at this moment, had lost the sullen face and bad temper he showed when facing Liu Yang earlier, and even had a bit of a friendly smile.

"No worries, you lead the way, I’ll drive it myself." He wouldn’t feel at ease until he saw the cow pen with his own eyes.

Jiang Hu understood, so he didn’t insist. Though it was a thatched house, it had all necessary facilities, including pig and cow pens behind the house, enclosed by a small courtyard wall.

That afternoon, after setting the wild boar to stew, Jiang Hu purposely went to the field to gather some grass, which could be fed to both pigs and cows.

Old Ding led the cow into the pen, surveyed around, nodding lightly. The cow pen evidently had been tidied up, the ground was clean, and a pile of dry grass was placed beside it, where the cow was meant to sleep.

While Old Ding was tying up the cow, Jiang Hu fetched a bucket of water from the water jar and poured it into the trough, where the cow started to drink eagerly.

Then Jiang Hu brought over a bundle of fresh grass: "Old Ding, this grass is from my field. Be it rabbits or pigs, they especially like it, and it grows very well."

Old Ding nodded: "I can see that."

He then touched the cow’s neck: "Then I’ll leave this old friend to you. As I said, we are not looking to profit, this cow is a lifesaver for my family. Treat it well, and when it’s no longer needed, just bring it back."

Their family had moved to the town, where the cow was rarely needed, yet he made sure to cut grass for the cow daily despite being busy with his own tasks.

Over the past few months, though outsiders didn’t know, their youngest son frequently mentioned the family in Fu’an Village, occasionally bringing back vegetables, and indeed it was good.

Precisely because of this, after hearing about it from his son last night, Ding had thought about it all night and decided to send the cow to Little Lucky Star’s family, hoping to share in their good fortune.

Jiang Hu reassured that there was no problem, promising to take care of Big Water Buffalo, only using it to pull vegetables in the morning and not making it work otherwise.

Old Ding nodded. This Big Water Buffalo was like family to him. It was well cared for at home with plenty of food and drink, obviously he wouldn’t send it elsewhere to toil.

"By the way, I met someone on my way here, looked pretty slick, asked me what I was doing..."

Old Ding briefly recounted his encounter at the village entrance: "I didn’t treat him kindly. If anyone asks you, just tell them I have a bad temper, lest they set their sights on my Big Water Buffalo."

Slick talker?

Jiang Hu thought for a moment and knew who it was, couldn’t help but say: "Then thanks for your help, Old Ding. You met Liu Yang, the biggest gossip in our village. By tomorrow this whole matter will have spread throughout the village."