The old man saw the calf as soon as he came out of the house, but he didn't have time to ask. In fact, he couldn't help it in his heart.
After all, ever since he was discharged from the army due to injury and returned to Sandaliang, he has been dealing with cattle. As a lonely man, he has long regarded cattle as his own family.
So after the old ox passed away, the old man was really sad for a long time. He had been trying for more than half a year but couldn't buy a suitable calf. When he saw it today, he couldn't contain his excitement.
If it wasn't for the need to say hello to Xu Jianguo and Wen Sitian, according to Li Dashan's personality, he would have been the first to run to Niu Duzi.
"Good, very good. This calf looks strong. Where did you get it? I've been asking around for more than half a year, but either the price is too high or people don't want to sell it. But even the most expensive one can't match the quality of this one!" Li Dashan gently stroked the calf's head, his face full of kindness.
"Don't worry about where it came from. I got it back for you anyway. It's up to you to take care of it from now on!" Xu Jianguo said with a smile.
"Hahaha, okay, you can rest assured and leave this calf to me. Your grandpa Dashan may not be able to take care of babies, but when it comes to raising cattle, this is definitely the one!" Li Dashan said while giving a thumbs up.
Seeing the proud expression on the old man's face, Li Mancang and his son and Xu Jianguo immediately laughed.
Just when a few people were chatting happily, the courtyard door was pushed open from the outside, and Li Erniu and Wang Yan walked in with their two little ones.
"Establish a nation!"
The first person to speak was Wang Yan. When she saw Xu Jianguo, she immediately led her two children towards him with a smile on her face.
"Aunt Yanzi! These are your daughter and son, right?"
"Yes, yes, this is my daughter Li Xia, and this is my son Li Qiu. Li Xia is the older sister, and Li Qiu is the younger brother. I gave birth to them in the middle of the night. It was still summer when my daughter was born, and it was the beginning of autumn when my son was born." Wang Yan said with a smile, her face full of pride.
"Wow, it's the turn of summer and autumn, how great!" said Xu Jianguo.
"Hurry, Xiaoxia, Xiaoqiu, this is the Brother Jianguo I always told you about. Hurry and call for help!"
"Hello, Brother Jianguo!" The two little guys looked even younger than Lele, and they spoke a little unsteadily.
"Hey, hello!" Xu Jianguo said with a smile.
At this time, Wen Sitian also came over. She touched the two little heads with a smile on her face, took out two big black tens from her pocket, and stuffed one into each of their little hands.
"Here, this is the pocket money your sister-in-law gave you, take it!"
"Xiao Wen, this won't do. We can't take your money! Xiao Xia, Xiao Qiu, quickly return the money to your sister-in-law."
The two little guys had no idea what was going on. When they heard what their mother said, they didn’t know what to do for a moment.
Finally, after a lot of extreme tug-of-war, Wang Yan accepted the money, but she stuffed the two big black ten cards into Wenwen and Lele's hands, leaving Xu Jianguo and Wen Sitian speechless.
But they had no choice. This was the unique way of reciprocity in Longxia Country. It also implied the general principles of economics and reflected the value generated by cash flow.
Because Li Xia and Li Qiu are Li Erniu's children, their seniority is the same as Xu Jianguo and his three daughters. This means that Wenwen and Lele have to call the two younger kids aunt and uncle.
Looking at the awkward expressions on his daughter and eldest son's faces, Xu Jianguo couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Since there were so many people coming to our house today, we all decided to have dinner in the yard.
Originally, the four women were responsible for today's dinner, the men were responsible for setting up the table, pulling wires and connecting light bulbs, and the children were free to do whatever they wanted.
But Daya, who is already fifteen years old this year, refused to play with Funniu and the others and instead asked to help in the kitchen. Wen Sitian knew what the girl was thinking, so she nodded and agreed without much hesitation.
When Daya heard this, a smile immediately appeared on her face. She put her arm around her sister-in-law and went into the kitchen, winning praise from Zhang Meijuan, Wang Yan and Wang Erni.
Wen Sitian also touched her hair and said with a smile: "Our Daya has grown up!"
As for old man Li Dashan, he continued to busy himself with the calf.
Li Mancang and Li Erniu finally felt relieved when they saw the old man's happy expression.
After Xu Jianguo put the bags prepared for everyone into the house, he took out some snacks and candies for the children while no one else was paying attention. However, in order to avoid suspicion, he removed the outer packaging of the snacks. He went to the main room to ask Wen Sitian for a large bowl, put the things in the bowl, and brought it to the yard.
For the children who were eating the rice crust snack from later generations for the first time, it was like a delicacy from heaven. Fortunately, Xu Jianguo did not take too much, otherwise these little ones would not have had to eat dinner.
Li Xin went to make a pot of tea, and the tea he used was actually the one Xu Jianguo brought back from his last visit.
Li Dashan finally stopped circling around the calf, walked over, sat on the chair and started drinking tea.
A few people drank tea, smoked and chatted. After a while, the aroma of food from the kitchen drifted into the yard.
Xu Jianguo had not experienced the summer in Sandaliang Village for a long time. The geographical environment, surrounded by mountains, made the chirping of insects and birds particularly clear, and unknowingly, it would calm one's restless heart.
He was enjoying the state at this moment. Looking at the children squatting in the distance and playing happily, Xu Jianguo couldn't help but smile.
Because Li Mancang and Li Erniu had prepared in advance, many dishes that took time to stew had already been made in advance, so the five women in the kitchen only took more than an hour to put the delicious dishes on the table.
Seeing the delicious food coming, the children who were still playing immediately ran to the dining table under the leadership of Lele, staring at the dishes on the table with their big eyes without blinking.
This made Xu Jianguo, an old father, feel deeply powerless. Finally, led by Funiu and Erya, a group of little ones lined up one by one to wash their hands, and then sat down obediently at the small table prepared for them.
As the aroma of the century-old wine brought by Xu Jianguo spread in the courtyard, dinner officially began.
Li Dashan picked up the enamel pot in front of him and said with a smile: "Come on, Jianguo, Xiaowen and the children are back today. To celebrate our reunion, let's drink together!"
"Cheers!" Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them together.
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