The group went down the mountain. Liu Yongsheng felt a lot more relaxed since he came to Linshui Village. His legs and feet even had some strength, and he didn't shake much when walking up and down the mountain. In addition, he finally met his "old friend" today, and he poured out his heart to him. He let go of his long-standing worries and felt more relaxed. He decided to take a walk outside the village to see the places where his old friends had worked and lived in the past.

Captain Bao and Zhou Shi'an took them around to visit the large fields in Linshui Village, Meng Shengli's former private plot, and a piece of wasteland he had reclaimed at the foot of the mountain.

Meng Tao knew about this wasteland. This is what was written in the book. After Meng Jinniu came to Linshui Village and settled down, he built three thatched houses and surrounded them with a fence.

I just described it briefly. I didn't expect it to be so desolate and far away from the village.

The fields were covered with snow and nothing could be seen. I went to see the stone spring at the west end. The spring came out from the cracks in the underground rocks. The water was clear and warm in winter and cool in summer. It tasted good to drink. Unfortunately, the bubbles were too small, only as big as a washbasin, and people don't pay attention to these things now. Also, because it is too far away from the village, few people come here to fetch water, so it was not repaired and built into a well platform, and it was left to exist naturally among the pile of rocks.

Seeing that Liu Yongsheng was in good spirits, Liu Jianxin was afraid that he might be tired, so he gave him some advice. Liu Yongsheng nodded and listened to him, and then everyone went back to the village. It was already lunch time, but there were few chimneys smoking. This was not surprising, as it was the off-season for farming and it was winter, with long nights and short days. Most families only ate two meals a day, saving lunch.

In the Meng family courtyard, food was prepared. Aunt Yang and Aunt Yu were busy. Zhou Cuiling and Zhang Guoqing were playing with the puppy in the Jinniu room. When they saw Meng Tao coming back, they were afraid of holding her accountable for breaking her promise in the morning, so they stayed put. Naturally, Meng Tao would not rush to ask about it. She was not that stupid.

After a walk, everyone was hungry, so we had a sumptuous lunch. There was fried chicken with mushrooms, pork belly stewed with potatoes, braised rabbit meat, mapo tofu, cabbage stewed with vermicelli, and pumpkin soup. These were all great dishes to entertain guests. Aunt Yang and Aunt Yu were very good cooks, and everyone enjoyed the meal very much.

We had steamed pumpkin in the morning and pumpkin cut into small pieces for soup at noon, which was also very popular. Each person had a bowl and it was almost finished. Liu Yongsheng liked it very much and said to team leader Bao: "This pumpkin is really sweet and fragrant, and it's so soft. I've never eaten such delicious pumpkin. What are the rules for planting in your production team? Can you give me some seeds so I can take them back to the rest home to plant them?"

When Meng Tao heard this, she looked at Captain Bao and had already prepared an excuse in her mind - she had taken this pumpkin out of the Yunhai Space this morning, and she thought it would be Aunt Yang who asked first, but she didn't expect it to be Liu Yongsheng.

Unexpectedly, Captain Bao did not ask Meng Tao anything.

He just drank a bowl of pumpkin soup, which was indeed delicious, but he really didn't expect that the pumpkin was not produced in the village. He answered Liu Yongsheng very confidently and seriously: "I'm not bragging, the pumpkins and winter melons grown in our Linshui Village are delicious. The melons of this kind grown in other villages are not as good as those in our Linshui Village. Why? Because we are backed by the Daqing Mountain, and the southeast side is all loess. The pumpkins and winter melons in our team are all planted there. Not only do they produce a lot of fruits, but they are also fragrant, sweet, floury and especially delicious! This is taught by the elders. At first we didn't know the reason. Later, the technicians from the commune's agricultural science station came to see it and said it was a problem with the soil. That soil is suitable for growing this melon! You can ask for seeds, but to be honest, other villages have also asked us for seeds, and they have also had a good harvest, but they are not delicious, really!"

Zhou Shian also nodded, indicating that Captain Bao did not lie and this was the truth.

"Is that so?" Liu Yongsheng was slightly disappointed, but soon he said optimistically: "It doesn't matter, I'll take five or six back to try. Even if they don't taste good, they're still food. As long as they're edible, that's fine!"

"Okay!" Team Leader Bao said enthusiastically, "The educated youth live with Taohua. Young people don't like pumpkins and winter melons very much. They only like cabbages and potatoes. That's why they don't want melons in their rations. They only want cabbages. This pumpkin is probably the last one. I have several more upstairs. I'll go back and pick the biggest and best pumpkin for you. You can put it in the car and eat it. You can plant the seeds inside as you like."

"That's great, thank you, Captain!"

"You're welcome. No thanks!"

Meng Tao was speechless, but also found it funny: she couldn't even send the pumpkin seeds from her own space out.

For fear of disturbing him, everyone went to the side room. Shen Yu brought a chess set for Jinniu. Jinniu didn't know how to play yet, so everyone played with it first.

The puppy wagged its tail and circled around Meng Tao. Meng Tao picked it up. Zhou Cuiling said, "Look at this puppy. It only wants you and Jinniu to hold it. It doesn't want anyone else to hold it. It recognizes people at such a young age, and it only recognizes you Meng family members!"

"Of course, its surname is also Meng," said Meng Tao.

Zhou Cuiling laughed: "Are you serious? What's your name?"

"Call... I thought of more than a dozen names last night, and they all sound good. I don't know which one to choose. How about calling him Wangcai, Meng Wangcai!"

"Meng Wangcai? Isn't this name too rustic?"

"What's so earthy about it? I think it's pretty good, Wangcai, Meng Wangcai!" I also call her Meng Taohua.

"Okay, Meng Wangcai is Meng Wangcai. You have one more person in your family."

"Yes, there is one more brother."

The two girls were talking and playing without any care. Meng Zhehan, who was playing chess with Xu Yulin, couldn't put his chess piece down. He looked up at Meng Tao helplessly and said, "It's ok to call you Wangcai, but don't use the last name Meng. Also, Jinniu and I are your brothers, but it's not."

Meng Tao: “…”

Liu Jianye, Xu Yuting and Wang Tiegen who were watching could not help laughing, and Xu Yuting laughed even louder.

Shen Yu and Zhang Guoqing were standing at the door. Meng Jinniu was in a wheelchair inside the door, looking at several large wooden boxes, wondering how to disassemble them while minimizing damage and still being able to use them to pack other things. When he heard the laughter, he turned around and understood what was going on. Shen Yu also found it funny.

Taurus agreed with the name Wangcai, but Zhang Guoqing thought it was a pity as it lowered the grade of this excellent little wolfdog. If it had gone to some other place, it would definitely have been given a loud and nice name, such as "Chasing the Wind" or "Lightning". It is a small ball now, but when it grows up, you will know how brave and courageous it is. It is also the smartest among the guard dogs.

(End of this chapter)