Chapter 47 Little One, Little Two, Little Three, Little Four...

Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou took the stray puppies to the town's pet hospital. The four furry little guys had their first bath since birth and underwent a thorough physical examination. The veterinarian said they were still too young and would have to wait a while before they could get vaccinated.

The two purchased puppy formula and food from the pet store.

Back home, Su Tangtang found a spacious cardboard box, lined it with a soft old towel, and carefully placed the four dumplings inside.

She squatted down next to the cardboard box, resting her chin on her hands, her eyes sparkling. "Oh my god, how can someone be so cute!"

Huo Yizhou also bent down, his slender fingers gently stroking the head of one of the puppies, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Hmm, they are very cute."

Su Tangtang looked up at him, and suddenly had a brilliant idea, "Shall we give them names?"

Huo Yizhou nodded, "Okay, what do you want to call me?"

Su Tangtang stared at the four puppies and pondered for a moment, then pointed to each one with her finger, "These two pure white ones are called Xiao Yi and Xiao Er, this one with black and white markings is called Xiao San, and the last one that is pure black is called Xiao Si."

Huo Yizhou paused for a moment, then asked in a somewhat subtle tone, "Are you sure?"

Su Tangtang nodded solemnly, "Yes, it's so easy to remember."

Huo Yizhou chuckled, "I thought you would choose a cuter name, like Wangcai or Dafu or something."

Su Tangtang smiled, her eyes crinkling, "Isn't this cute? Simple, direct, and easy to remember."

Huo Yizhou's gaze fell on the black and white spotted dog, and he said meaningfully, "It's quite easy to remember, especially this one."

Su Tangtang was amused and laughed out loud, "It's not my fault, I arranged them in order, and it just happened to be number three."

Huo Yizhou pointed to the two almost identical pure white dumplings, "But it's not easy to tell the difference between Little One and Little Two."

Upon hearing this, Su Tangtang carefully picked up one of them and examined it closely. Huo Yizhou also picked up the other one.

The two observed carefully under the light, and Su Tangtang suddenly made a discovery, "Look, Xiao Yi's left eye has a very faint blue tint at the edge of the pupil, which is almost unnoticeable if you don't look closely."

Huo Yizhou leaned closer to look, his warm breath brushing against her ear.

He did see that faint blue hue, but said, "This feature is too subtle; you can't see it at all unless you pick it up."

"It's okay," Su Tangtang gently put the puppy back into the box, clapped her hands, and said cheerfully, "From now on, we'll call each other by name, and whoever runs over first will be Xiao Yi!"

Huo Yizhou chuckled softly as he looked at her quirky and clever appearance.

In the afternoon, the sun was blazing.

The two men, carrying farm tools, headed towards the field.

The weather was extremely hot. As soon as I reached the field, beads of sweat rolled down my skin and soaked my thin clothes.

Su Tangtang parted the somewhat withered vines, her eyes lighting up. "Look, there are still many small cucumbers that haven't ripened yet."

Although some cucumber vines have withered and turned yellow, a few still stubbornly stretch out their green leaves, with tender vines hanging with plump little cucumbers.

Huo Yizhou bent down to examine them. "Let's pick all the edible ones. These little cucumbers can also be taken back to cook; they're delicious."

Su Tangtang nodded in agreement and casually picked a bright green cucumber.

The weather was hot, so the two of them tacitly adopted a method of working for a while and then resting for a while. Although they had small fans hanging around their necks, they were still very hot.

By the time the sun was setting, the basket was already full of fresh and ripe cucumbers. At six o'clock, they loaded the heavy basket onto their electric scooter.

Soon, they arrived home.

"Let's make some cucumber and eggs tonight," Su Tangtang said as she unloaded the basket.

Huo Yizhou took the basket and nodded, saying, "There's still plenty left in the field. We can pickle the rest if we can't finish them."

"Good idea."

By the time the food was ready, it was already 7:30.

As dusk fell, a faint orange glow lingered on the horizon.

Before eating, Su Tangtang went to check on the puppies in the cardboard box. The four little guys smelled her scent and immediately let out soft whimpers, eagerly wriggling their tiny bodies.

"Are you starving?" she said with a smile as she poured out the milk pudding. The puppies weren't quite used to eating yet, and the third puppy was especially anxious. Before she knew it, her whole face had fallen into the food bowl, splashing a few drops of milk.

"What a silly little thing," Su Tangtang couldn't help but chuckle.

Huo Yizhou, who was carrying dishes into the main room, heard the laughter and couldn't help but ask, "What's making you so happy?"

As Su Tangtang pointed to Xiao San's wet face, she described the scene to him. Xiao Yi and Xiao Si also had milk stains around their mouths, looking adorable.

“They’re still too small,” Huo Yizhou said with a smile in his eyes, “but puppies grow very fast.”

“But I always feel that puppies are cutest when they are young,” Su Tangtang said, gently stroking the puppy’s head.

“Especially local dogs,” Huo Yizhou agreed, “They are always particularly cute when they are young, with a bit of silly innocence.”

“That’s right,” Su Tangtang replied with a smile, her gaze remaining tenderly fixed on the four puppies.

Once the puppies had eaten and drunk their fill, the two returned to the table and sat down.

Su Tangtang picked up a piece of stir-fried cucumber with her chopsticks, her eyes immediately curving into crescents. "So fresh and tender, so delicious."

Huo Yizhou put some more food into her bowl, saying, "Eat more if you like."

Su Tangtang nodded in satisfaction and took another big bite of the steamed bun.

After dinner, Su Tangtang tallied up her earnings over the past few days and then said, "Shall we pay back the money we borrowed from the production team? They were urging us to pay them back today, really."

Huo Yizhou gave a soft "Mmm," and said, "Okay, I'll return it when I go to take a shower later."

Su Tangtang took out all the cash and counted it carefully. "We have about 80,000 yuan on hand, plus the more than 10,000 yuan that Meng Meng and the others owe, so we have a total of more than 90,000 yuan."

She paused, then suddenly clutched the banknotes tightly to her chest, looking reluctant. "But after paying back the 60,000+ yuan to the production team, I only have 30,000+ yuan left... Suddenly I don't want to pay it back anymore."

Huo Yizhou was amused by her miserly appearance and gently advised, "Pay off the debt first, we can earn money again."

Su Tangtang sighed, her tone filled with emotion, "Selling vegetables, selling fruit, doing odd jobs, selling wheat, we've been busy for so long, and in the end we only made a net profit of a little over 30,000 yuan."

She rested her chin on her hand, her gaze drifting into the distance. "Every penny a farmer earns is truly hard-earned money."

Huo Yizhou nodded in deep agreement.

After chatting for a while, the two headed to the production crew's accommodation with the money. Just as they reached the door, they ran into Meng Meng and Ke Tangshu, who had just finished showering. Su Tangtang immediately called out to her, "Meng Meng, remember to pay back the money. We're about to return the money to the production crew, and we don't have much money left."

Meng Meng: "..."

She doesn't want to pay it back, at least not now.

They only have a little over ten thousand yuan on hand right now. If they return it all to Su Tangtang, they'll have very little left.

Her eyes darted around, and she made up an excuse, "What's the rush? It's not like I'm not going to return it to you. I'm not feeling well today and want to rest early. I'll bring it to you tomorrow."

Su Tangtang looked at her with some doubt, but finally nodded, "Okay, then tomorrow, don't forget."

Meng Meng turned her face away, her tone tinged with impatience, "Don't worry."

After they walked away, Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou handed the money they had prepared to the director. Upon seeing the thick wad of cash, the director beamed with joy. As he took the money, he said politely, "If you're short on cash, you can pay back less."

Su Tangtang quickly waved her hand, "No need, no need, the interest you collected is enough for us to live on for more than a month."

The director laughed heartily upon hearing this, put the money into his bag, and said, "That's enough. I heard you picked up four puppies today?"

“Yes,” Su Tangtang’s eyes lit up, “It’s especially cute, all fluffy.”

"Are you planning to keep it indefinitely?"

Su Tangtang nodded, "Let's keep it for now. It's such a small dog, it might not survive if we don't take care of it."

The director agreed, saying, "That's true."

After chatting for a few more minutes, the two went to take a shower.

-

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Su Tangtang and Huo Yizhou got up and, taking advantage of the cool morning air, prepared to do more work in the fields.

On the way, they met Zhou Yan and Qu Xian, who had also gotten up early.

"You guys are up so early too?" Zhou Yan greeted them.

Su Tangtang wiped the fine sweat from her forehead. "I'm thinking of finishing as soon as possible so I can go back. It'll get too hot once the sun comes out."

Zhou Yan smiled knowingly, "That's what we thought too."

“I have a psychological trauma now,” Zhou Yan said with a bitter face. “Just thinking about having to work in the fields makes my whole body ache.”

Qu Xian also rubbed his lower back and chimed in, "Me too, after a day's work, my back hurts terribly when I go to bed at night."

Su Tangtang deeply agreed, "Yes, my whole body aches and feels sore, it's so uncomfortable."

“I will never come to this show again, it’s too tiring,” Zhou Yan said with a sigh.

Su Tangtang agreed, saying, "I think so too. I won't do it a second time."

Zhou Yan's family's land is in front.

When they arrived at Su Tangtang's field, Zhou Yan said, "You've arrived. Get to work."

Su Tangtang nodded, "Okay, you won't have to walk far before you arrive."

Zhou Yan sighed and let out a long sigh.

Su Tangtang was both amused and exasperated. "Finish it as soon as possible so you can get some rest."

Qu Xiandao replied, "Yes."

After chatting for a bit, Su Tangtang went into the field, while Zhou Yan continued walking forward.

Yesterday afternoon, they pulled up half an acre of cucumber seedlings and bamboo poles. The dry cucumber seedlings were particularly prickly, and they suffered a lot while working on them.

Today's goal is to finish clearing the remaining half acre of land.

The two quickly got to work.

After working for about an hour, Su Tangtang was so tired that she couldn't straighten up. "Let's take a break. I really can't do any more."

Huo Yizhou didn't stop working. "You take a break, I'll work a little longer."

Su Tangtang asked with concern, "Aren't you tired?"

"It's alright," Huo Yizhou said calmly.

Su Tangtang gave a sincere thumbs up, "Amazing."

She wiped her sweat and pondered, "I originally thought we could finish it ourselves without hiring any workers, but at the current pace, it takes us two days to finish one acre, so it will take sixteen days to finish eight acres."

"It's been too long."

Huo Yizhou nodded, "I was just thinking about this too. Why don't we find some workers to help?"

Su Tangtang immediately agreed, "I think so too, let's go look for it this afternoon."

“Okay,” Huo Yizhou smiled, “but it’s so hot, I don’t know if anyone would be willing to do it.”

Su Tangtang said optimistically, "Let's look for it first."