Chapter 32 (032) The Dog [Second Update]

Just as the popularity of beef brisket rice reached its peak, summer vacation was drawing to a close.

There are only five or six days left until September 1st, which is the most painful day for children across the country. When Yang Tao was delivering meals, he sighed that almost every child was catching up on their homework.

"I don't know how these kids, who are in the library every day, can fall behind on their homework so much."

It gives the impression of an unfinished building project being rushed to completion.

Fortunately, the sweltering heat of this summer has finally subsided. In the past few days, light rain has been falling, causing the temperature, which had been consistently around 40 degrees Celsius, to drop to just over 30 degrees Celsius.

Mrs. Wen took some time to review the accounts, and the income during this period was truly astonishing. After deducting all expenses, in just one month, the family's income had risen slightly, reaching six figures.

Even though Mrs. Wen knew that this six-figure sum was only temporary, after all, once school started, there would be her daughter's tuition fees, her husband's suggestion to buy a used van for grocery shopping, and the wages for the shop over the next few months, as well as the expenses for several employees...

Even after deducting these expenses, you can still have tens of thousands of yuan in savings.

Wen's mother closed the ledger with satisfaction.

She is not a greedy person. With this income, the couple can work hard to run their cold dishes, braised dishes, and claypot rice shop. They can make a steady income when school starts and by next year, their family's situation will definitely be better.

"Xiao Fan, don't bite the pen tip!"

Wen Fan said "oh" and obediently stopped biting.

Seeing that his mother was in a good mood, Wen Fan was eager to ask for a cup of full-sugar soy milk jade unicorn.

Before I could even finish my speech, Wen's mother told me that Zhang Shan and Yang Fei were leaving early.

Yang Fei looked annoyed: "I must have lost my mind. Why did I insist on joining the student council last year? And now, I've been notified at the last minute to go to school to help with orientation."

Yang Fei's school was in the next city, not far away, but the notice was given at the last minute, and Yang Fei, who was determined to get a master's degree in the future, could only agree with a grumbling.

Zhang Shan's situation was due to family reasons.

During this time, she and Yang Fei got along well, and she naturally told Yang Fei about her family matters.

Zhang Shan's voice was low and somber: "Actually, my parents have been calling me a lot lately. When I don't answer, they send me messages. They keep saying they still love me, that my brother was an accident, and that my mother is too old for an abortion; it's no different from giving birth. They know this has hurt me, and they hope I can go home and have a serious talk with them..."

Yang Fei frowned: "So what do you think?"

Zhang Shan lowered her head: "I don't know... I hate them, but my parents have been very good to me over the years."

Zhang Shan's confusion was written all over her face; this was the thing she couldn't understand the most.

Her parents clearly loved her, but their actions hurt her. This disconnect was so painful for her. If her parents had consistently acted this way, clearly expressing their desire for a son earlier in life, and if their actions and words had been consistent, perhaps she wouldn't be so lost.

How could they suddenly stab us in the back when we were so convinced of their love for them?

Yang Fei scoffed, ruthlessly shattering Zhang Shan's illusions.

"Your parents' pregnancy was not an accident. At their age, how could they have a child without the help of technology? Don't tell me you actually believe that."

"Also, your brother is nineteen years younger than you. Do you know what nineteen years means? To put it bluntly, when you start dating, your partner will have to ask around to see if your brother is your son."

Even female celebrities in the entertainment industry are not immune to such rumors: siblings so far apart in age, how can they keep each other company? One is busy looking for a job, while the other is still drinking milk, how can they keep each other company? They're just one becoming the other's blood bag.

Zhang Shan shivered.

Yang Fei: "To be honest, I have seen this before. You know our family was a demolition compensation household, right? Years ago, there were many wealthy demolition compensation households in this area, each family had ten or so houses. With so much money, there were all sorts of family dramas that you could watch from morning till night."

“One of the families wanted a son. Both of them had jobs, but after the demolition and redevelopment, they became rich and quit their jobs to have a second child, a son. The girl initially agreed, thinking that having a younger brother wouldn't be a problem, since the family had plenty of houses and no worries about food and drink.”

"Her parents also said nice things, that the family property would be divided in two, one for the siblings and one for the brother. But when the brother went to junior high school, her parents changed their minds. Not only did she not get a house, but even the family's life insurance was put in her brother's name."

Zhang Shan forced a smile: "My parents don't have that much money."

"There isn't that much money, but a family's resources are limited. Your parents' focus for the next few decades will only be on your younger brother."

How long does it take for a toddler to go from taking their first steps to becoming independent? Over the decades, aging parents will no longer have the energy to devote to their daughter's life. Furthermore, as the parents' bodies age, the responsibility of caring for their underage brother will fall on the older sister.

"Also, do they really love you? If you can't figure it out, just look at the young boss and her parents."

Zhang Shan's gaze fell upon the shop, where she saw the young owner doing his homework at the entrance. The owner's wife would occasionally bring him tea, and sometimes he would whine and ask for milk tea. The owner's wife could only reluctantly refuse once out of three times, and the other two times she mostly watched her daughter helplessly. On one occasion, she even saw the owner's wife secretly taking pictures of the sleeping young owner.

Who says love is invisible? If it's invisible, is it still love?

"Think it over carefully. There are some things that outsiders can hardly make decisions for you, but you need to think it through so that you don't become a booster for someone else's life for nothing."

Zhang Shan thought for a long time before finally thanking Yang Fei sincerely.

"Have you thought it through?"

Zhang Shan shook her head: "The specific goal is still vague, but I have thought some things through."

She's only a sophomore now, so talking about leaving her family and getting away from everything is too far-fetched. The only thing she can do is to see clearly what kind of path lies ahead.

Zhang Shan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted from her heart.

That's true. As long as you don't get caught up in whether you love someone or not, everything is just a temporary difficulty.

"I'm going home too."

During the month or so she went into hiding, few of her relatives stood by her side, and it's easy to imagine how her parents portrayed her to the outside world.

He is solitary, intolerant, and not generous enough.

Rather than this endless stalemate and then a muddled reconciliation, Zhang Shan felt it was necessary to return to the battlefield and face the realities head-on.

"School's about to start, I need to go home and ask for my tuition."

She had already been inquiring about how to get a loan, but now she thought, why bother?

Yang Fei patted Zhang Shan on the shoulder: "If you're unhappy about anything, remember to chat with me. Our school isn't far away."

Since they live in the same city, they'll likely have plenty of opportunities to meet in the future.

Yang Fei and Zhang Shan confirmed their departure dates with Wen's mother, and Yang Fei kept insisting that if they needed anyone during the winter break, they should continue to contact her.

"Our major gives us early holidays!"

Wen's mother smiled: "Okay, I'll come to you first if I need anything."

As schools gradually reopen, not only are the college students leaving the store, but the store's business has also cooled down a bit.

Wen's mother paid everyone's salary, but Qu Xiaoyu, who had just been admitted to university, started school the latest, so he was the last to leave.

Three days before the start of the school year, Wen's mother received a phone call to Wen Fan, saying, "The night market stall owner said we can go and hug the dog now."

The puppy is a month old and is now old enough to be separated from its mother.

Wen's father took Wen Fan on a trip, picked out a small male dog, and brought the puppy back in a basket.

Wen Fan felt a little lost, something she hadn't experienced in a long time. She had seen cats and dogs living better lives than people in the palace; sometimes, the dogs kept by the masters were more carefree than the palace maids themselves. But when it came to raising a dog herself, she didn't know how to do it.

Wen's father placed the puppy in her arms: "It's bound to whine tonight since it just left its mother."

Wen Fan stroked the warm puppy and looked up: "What does the puppy want to eat?"

"They can eat dog food...and human food too, but don't feed them anything too salty, and they can't eat chocolate..."

Wen Fan carefully noted it down. The puppy quickly became familiar with her in her arms. Its big ears drooped down, its body was short and round, and its paws were big. It whimpered, but this whimpering was more like a way of showing affection than looking for its mother.

Wen Fan's heart was completely melted.

"I'll make it something to eat."

Wen Fan went into the kitchen and, remembering that dogs shouldn't eat salty food, boiled chicken breast, added two egg yolks, diced various vegetables, steamed them, and mixed them together. But Wen Fan felt that this was too monotonous, so he looked for other seasonings in the kitchen and finally mixed a bowl of fragrant dog food.

"Eat."

The puppy sniffed the air, as if it knew there was something good in front of it, and immediately buried itself in the food bowl, its paws digging into it, making whimpering noises as it ate.

Mr. Wen was a little surprised: "Food possessiveness?"

He pretended to take away the food bowl, and the puppy anxiously circled around him, but didn't show its teeth.

Mr. Wen tried several times and was relieved to find that the child was not possessive of the food.

"It's a lovely puppy, let's give it a name."

The family brainstormed and finally settled on the egg yolk that the puppy had licked clean. The dog wasn't big, and its belly was round and full after eating half of it. Besides the egg yolk, the bowl was completely empty, with plenty of vegetables and chicken breast left over.

Let's call it Egg Yolk.

Wen Fan called out "Egg Yolk" twice, and the puppy looked up blankly. She smiled.

"Let's call it Egg Yolk."

The family was overjoyed to see the dog finish its meal and then sniff around everywhere. The puppy was exceptionally cute, and everyone who saw it was delighted.

Mr. Wen also mentioned that when he went to pick up the dog today, the stall owner said that it was obviously someone's pet. He didn't know why the dog had run away. He asked around, trying to find out who had lost the dog, but he couldn't find the owner no matter how hard he looked.

The vendor sighed, "These pet dogs are so silly. They're not even afraid of being hit while eating. I was thinking of taking the big dog home. As for the little dog, if you're interested, you can check if anyone has lost it. If you find the owner, you can contact me."

The whole family was fussing over the dog.

Only Qu Xiaoyu, who came to work, looked completely bewildered.

"This dog..."

Father Wen exclaimed excitedly, "Isn't it beautiful? Let's call it Egg Yolk!"

"No, I meant the breed of the dog..."

Wen's mother also found it amusing: "It's just a little mongrel, Egg Yolk, Egg Yolk, come here."

Qu Xiaoyu looked at Wen Fan: "This dog is better than..."

Wen Fan's eyes shone with pride: "I picked the best-looking one from the whole litter!"

Qu Xiaoyu: ...

No, this dog is a beagle!

Who told you to raise a beagle!

Although it's still in its prime, it's destined to become a monster!

Just as things were about to break down, the little dog began to show its true colors, its bark carrying a childish whimper.

Qu Xiaoyu: Here it comes, here it comes, the braying of a donkey!

Wen Fan exclaimed, "The egg yolk made a really good sound!"

Qu Xiaoyu: ...

Never mind, it's hard to explain.