"Grandma Ju, do you have any duck eggs at home? I'd like to exchange some with you."

When the puppy saw a stranger coming to the house, it started barking outside before Yang Donghu and the others even entered the yard.

As soon as Yang Donghu came in, a gray mixed-hair puppy bit his trouser leg. The puppy, which was only three months old, looked like a small black ball. Yang Donghu didn't mind the puppy making trouble. He lifted his foot and swung it back and forth. The puppy bit it and didn't want to let go, but its legs were short and it couldn't keep up with the movement. It jumped a few times and lost its balance and rolled on the ground.

But it obviously hadn't had enough fun. As soon as it got up from the ground, it howled twice and pounced over.

"Go away," Old Lady Ju used her cane to drive the puppy away, saying with a smile, "This puppy is causing trouble. Be careful not to let it chew on your clothes."

Yang Donghu squatted down and touched the puppy's soft head. The puppy raised its head and licked the palm of his hand, and gently bit it with its teeth: "It's okay, it's still small, it can't be hurt."

"It's hot outside. Let's talk inside first and take a break. What did you say you were doing?"

"I'll trade you some duck eggs."

Zhao Fangchu was having so much fun playing with the puppies outside that he didn't even want to go into the house. He drank a bowl of water from the teacup that Old Lady Ju brought from the kitchen, and then teased the puppies in the hot sun.

Old Lady Ju's aunt became more and more hunched. She was the oldest in the village, but her steps were still very steady when she walked.

Yang Donghu walked into the house and put the basket of eggs on the table. In the corner of the room, there were several fewer jars of pickled duck eggs than before, and only two jars were left for the old lady to eat herself.

The duck eggs at this time are pickled for a longer time than those during the Dragon Boat Festival. Later, Grandma Ju sealed a circle of white wine on the top of the jar. When the lid of the jar was opened, the smell of yellow mud was covered by the aroma of wine.

Old Mrs. Ju said that duck eggs nowadays take a long time to store, and after being cooked, they must be eaten with steamed buns or white porridge, otherwise they will be too salty.

Yang Donghu brought all the eggs in his home, but they were only enough to exchange for seven. Before leaving, Grandma Ju asked him to pick a puppy to take with him, so that it could guard the house when it grew up.

Old Lady Ju is always alone in the yard. The big yellow dog has been with her for several years. Now with more puppies, the yard seems more lively.

The puppy that bit Yang Donghu at the beginning had a black mouth, but now it had learned to be much more obedient. It squatted on the ground, wagging its tail, tilting its head and sticking out its tongue. As soon as Yang Donghu lifted his foot, it followed him and took two steps forward, as if they had a connection since the first time they met.

A pair of round eyes stared at the puppy like this. Yang Donghu was so soft-hearted that he tapped the puppy's head with his finger: "Then I want this one."

"I think it's okay. This puppy is destined to be with you."

"I want this, old lady."

The one Zhao Fangchu was holding was the fattest one here. Its skin color was lighter than the one Yang Donghu had chosen, and its round belly made its legs look even shorter.

Old Lady Ju had promised the two of them one puppy each, and she certainly wouldn't break her promise: "Okay, one for each of you. A weaned puppy is easy to raise, and it can eat whatever the family eats when you get home. If you want to feed it, just soak some cooled dry steamed buns in water until softened."

Yang Donghu had never raised a puppy, and neither had Zhao Fangchu, so they both listened attentively.

Old Mrs. Ju called the big yellow dog into the kitchen and closed the door, otherwise if it watched the puppy being taken away, it would be angry and refuse to eat.

For fear that the two puppies would bark randomly because they were unfamiliar with the place, Zhao Fangchu's puppy was also placed in Yang Donghu's yard so that the two puppies could keep each other company.

On their way back, they met Li Guihua's daughter Chen Si, who was coming back from the town in a panic. She bumped into Yang Donghu head-on and was so scared that she screamed and turned and ran away.

Yang Donghu had never had any contact with her, so he didn't know why she looked at him as if she had seen a ghost. However, he was not the type to ask questions. Besides, Li Guihua didn't get along with his family, so how could he possibly get close to her family?

Let them do whatever they want, as long as it doesn't bring harm to him, Yang Donghu doesn't intend to interfere.

It was a novelty when he just got the puppy, so Zhao Fangchu temporarily put the person in his heart behind his mind and hurriedly prepared a place for the puppy at home.

The corner of the earthen kiln in the yard has to be fenced off with a fence, otherwise the puppy will be full of energy, and its teeth and claws will become sharper and sharper as they grow longer, which is the time when it wants to cause trouble. The earthen kiln is not easy to dig, and when the puppy grows up, it will be destroyed in half a day.

Zhao Luochuan's family used to have a hunting dog, which his father raised for hunting. The dog was loyal, but also old, and it was difficult for anyone except Zhao Hai to control it. Not long after Zhao Hai's death, the dog started a hunger strike, and died after a few days of not eating or drinking.

Zhao Luochuan had been a hunter for a long time and had not thought about raising a dog. It was a matter of taste. Now Yang Donghu had brought home a little one. Even if he didn't use it as a hunting dog, he could use it as a loyal dog to guard the house when he was not at home most of the time.

Raising puppies is different from raising chickens. There is no need to keep them in cages. The Zhao family's yard is spacious, and the two dogs ran around happily in the yard as soon as they were born.

The chickens at home were also raised freely in and outside the yard. The puppy was not tall but ran very fast. He barked twice and scared the chickens away. One of them even flapped its wings and flew to the peach tree, and refused to come down no matter how much he called it.

This alone is not enough. The hens at home are laying eggs at the time. If they are often frightened like this, it will not be good if they keep the eggs in their stomachs.

Yang Donghu stepped forward to stop them, patted the puppy's butt twice, picked up the chicken from the tree, and then drove all the frightened chickens in the yard back to the firewood nest in the kitchen.

He didn't hit the puppy hard enough, and the puppy didn't feel any pain at all. The puppy didn't think it had done anything wrong, and it wagged its tail happily. After chasing the chicken, it jumped into the vegetable garden when no one was paying attention.

"Brother Chuan, this puppy is very naughty. We need to fence off the earthen kiln, otherwise the puppy will get naughty again. We are out of dry reeds at home. Go to the back of the house and chop some. I will tie them up for you later."

The reeds behind the house were tall and perfect for making a fence. Zhao Luochuan responded, picked up a sickle and went out without saying a word.

When Yang Donghu went to look for the puppy again, he searched the whole yard but couldn't find it. However, he heard a humming sound, so he followed the sound and found that the melon vines climbing on the vegetable racks in the vegetable garden had been pulled down. The vines were entangled and tied around the puppy's neck, preventing it from breaking free.

Yang Donghu was both angry and amused. He carried the two puppies out of the vegetable patch, placed them on the ground, and scolded them with a stern face: "Sit still and don't move. Is the vegetable patch a place for you two to play?"

How could the puppies understand what people were saying at this moment? They thought Yang Donghu was playing with them, so they turned over their belly and acted cute towards him, humming and waiting for Yang Donghu to touch them.

The melon vines were old and could not bear any fruit, so they should have been pulled out and planted with new vegetables. Yang Donghu had no bottom line at all, and his heart softened at the cute look of the puppy. His face was tense for only a moment, and then he gently touched the puppy's fur and played with them.