Chapter 311 I'll be back after you finish eating the rice cake
He was still clutching cow dung in his hand when he buried his head in Tu Yao's arms, howling loudly.
Tu Yao's eyes also reddened, but she tried hard to hold them back.
He tapped his head and said, "Put the cow dung back."
Ding Dapang immediately and skillfully threw the cow dung back into the basket and continued howling next to her.
This time, Tu Yao stopped scolding him, patted his head, and let him howl.
She raised her head and looked at the vast land.
Compared to four years ago, the muddy paths have been paved with beautiful cement roads, and the field ditches have been cleaned up.
The distant mountains still stretched endlessly, and the symbols of signal stations could be faintly seen.
The houses in the front row have also been renovated, transforming from simple brick and tile bungalows into neat and clean brick and tile bungalows.
On the open land, lively voices drifted from all directions—familiar voices of the elderly, and unfamiliar voices of the young…
It has become a completely new Crane Village.
Ding Dapang seemed to be crying his heart out, and he couldn't stop.
Tu Yao's nose also felt a little sore. "Still crying."
She dragged the person out, shouting, "Who told you to stuff cow dung into my herbs!"
Ding Dapang's crying stopped abruptly. He became anxious, looked up immediately, and shouted before his tears had even dried, "Because the leaves have all turned yellow!"
"You said before that the leaves will change color if they lack fertilizer."
Tu Yao: ...
Tu Yao stared at his self-righteous posture and said softly, "But this row is Scutellaria baicalensis, and its leaves are naturally yellow."
Ding Dapang: ?
Ding Dapang opened his mouth in confusion: "...Huh?"
He scratched his chin awkwardly, then deflated with a series of snorts: "...Okay."
Tu Yao burst into laughter.
Big Fatty laughed even with tears in his eyes.
Four years have passed, and Da Pang still has the same round face, with all his emotions written on his face.
Emotions come quickly and go quickly; they're gone in an instant.
The two walked side by side, and Ding Dapang consciously squatted down by the ditch to wash his hands.
Tu Yao also washed along with them.
As they washed, they took off their shoes and washed their feet as well, soaking them side by side in the ditch.
"Fatty, why aren't you growing taller?"
Tu Yao looked at his round head. It had been four years, and he was still a little dwarf.
"...Nonsense!" Ding Dapang's face immediately turned red: "I grew three centimeters!"
Tu Yao laughed, "I've grown three centimeters too."
No wonder, the poor vision is still the same, it's as if it hasn't grown at all.
"You've grown too?" Ding Dapang stretched out his hand, gestured slightly, and nodded. Indeed.
“You’ve grown taller too, Xiao Mao.”
"You've lost weight too, Xiao Mao."
"It's gotten even darker, almost as dark as me, Xiao Mao."
"Is studying tiring, Xiao Mao?"
All she could hear was his incessant muttering, and Tu Yao didn't need to answer.
Suddenly, he asked again, "Xiao Mao, are you still leaving?"
The water was rushing under their feet, and tiny fish swam around their ankles, making them feel ticklish.
Tu Yao looked up at his anxious, dark eyes and nodded.
Ding Dapang pursed his lips: "...Then, can I call you this time?"
Tu Yao smiled and nodded: "Of course, I'll call you every day!"
Ding Dapang immediately laughed: "No way, I still have to go to school. Call me again when I'm on vacation!"
"One on Friday, one on Saturday, and one on Sunday."
"Call me later, otherwise I won't be able to get up."
Tu Yao: "Okay!"
After she finished speaking, she turned around and picked up the backpack that she had just tossed aside.
Tu Yao used to always carry a small bag, but this time she brought a big one.
Big Fatty watched as she took a large, sealed bag out of her purse and handed it to him.
"Give."
Before the fat man could even take it, he sniffed and recognized the smell: "It's rice cake!"
He opened it, and inside were neatly stacked rice cakes, so many that they were almost overflowing.
Big Fatty immediately took out a piece and started eating it.
It tastes the same as before, mixed with apple puree, soft and fluffy.
Tu Yao rested her chin on her hand and watched him eat.
While eating, the fat man stopped eating.
"What's the matter?"
Big Fatty looked up at her and couldn't help but whisper, "...Little Mao, I can't bear to eat it. What will I do after I finish it?"
Tu Yao lowered her hand that had been supporting her chin.
Big Fatty never asked her why she left, nor when she would return.
He only said he couldn't bear to eat the rice cake.
Tu Yao was silent for a moment, then wiped a crumb from the corner of his mouth and said, "Then you can eat one piece a day."
"I'll come back after you finish eating the rice cake and the herbs have grown."
"I'm never leaving again."
Big Fatty quickly counted them; there were fifty rice cakes.
He immediately nodded emphatically: "Yes!"
...
After meeting with the buyer, Luo Meili returned home, still feeling uneasy.
From afar, I could see her husband, Ding Da Pang, still squatting in the herb garden, head down, doing something I couldn't tell.
Startled, she quickly ran over.
"Ding Da Pang! Are you burying cow dung in the ground...?"
Before he could finish speaking, Ding Dapang looked up, grinned, and said, "I'm digging a ditch!"
"Dig a trench?"
“Scutellaria baicalensis doesn’t like water. If it rains in a couple of days and the water accumulates, the roots will rot. But if we dig a ditch, we won’t have to worry about that.”
Ding Dapang said in a serious tone, "I also have a bag of Scutellaria baicalensis seeds, which are improved varieties. The yield will double in the future."
"The land over there is dry, so I'll plant there."
He pointed to the other side, then picked up two bags, one big and one small, and hopped across to the other side.
Across a small ditch, he planted quickly, and even his back view was joyful.
It's always been like this: when Xiao Mao is growing button mushrooms, Ding Dapang is picking up cow dung.
When Xiao Mao planted some herbs, Ding Dapang dug a ditch.
The large bag he carefully placed to the side contained layers upon layers of rice cakes, almost overflowing.
Luo Meili watched quietly, then suddenly looked to the other side. The wide road was deserted.
...
In the suburban gardens of Yanjing, Tu Yao got out of the car and stopped at the main gate.
No matter how much time has passed, the garden remains the same as before: solemn, vast, and silent.
The gate was tightly closed, and only a few towering pine and cypress trees could be seen.
Tu Yao looked around and walked to the easternmost corner of the wall, where a small piece of land extended out from inside the garden.
She stepped on the soil beneath her feet; it was the most ordinary kind of soil.
Tu Yao opened her backpack, took out three herbs and a simple hoe, and then squatted down to start digging a hole.
She brought a sprig of mint, a sprig of selfheal, and a sprig of artemisia, which are the most common and easiest-to-grow herbs that can grow and survive anywhere.
She was so engrossed in digging that she didn't notice a car had stopped by the roadside at some point.
The car door opened, and a series of footsteps, quiet yet tinged with panic, slowly came to a stop behind her.
Hesitantly, he asked, "...Xiao Mao?"
Tu Yao paused, then quickly stood up and patted the dirt off her hands.
Turning around, looking at the middle-aged man in front of him, he smiled and called out:
"Uncle Liqing".
He tilted his head again and waved through the car window where he couldn't see anyone clearly.
"grandmother!"
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