“Xiaogouwa!”
Hearing Li Yi’s voice, the person at the door immediately turned around and strode toward Li Yi and the others.
“Uncle Shan Kui, Brother Yi, Sister-in-law, you’re back!” Little Dog said with a smile.
“Hmm, when did you get here? Why didn’t you come inside?” Li Yi asked.
“I just got here a little while ago. It’s so late; I figured Sister Meizi and Grandma must already be asleep, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to go in!” Little Dog said.
Li Yi glanced inside. The light was on in the main room, and he could hear the babbling cries of several children—clearly, they hadn’t gone to bed yet.
“You’re playing hard to get with me now, aren’t you…”
Before Li Yi could finish, Xiaogouwa chuckled and said, “It’s not that I’m ‘playing hard to get.’ It’s just that I just finished mucking out the calf pen and haven’t had time to bathe yet. I smell pretty bad—I don’t want to make the kids choke!”
“You’re definitely playing mind games with me. Come on, let’s go inside and talk!” Li Yi said with a laugh.
“Let’s not. We’ll just chat here for a bit. I actually have something I’d like to discuss with Brother Yi!” Xiaogouwa said.
“Alright!”
Li Yi then exchanged a few words with Jiang Xue and handed the burlap sack he was holding to his father to take inside.
After that, Li Yi turned to Xiaogouwa and said, “Judging by how you handled that calf today, you’ve picked up some pretty good veterinary skills!”
Xiaogouwa replied, looking a bit embarrassed: “It’s not bad. I’ve seen a lot and treated a lot, so I’ve gotten the hang of it!”
“Practice makes perfect—it’s the same with everything!” Li Yi said.
“Brother Yi, I’m getting married soon!” Xiao Gouwawa said.
“That’s great news. Have you set a date yet?”
“It’s set—the 18th of the 12th lunar month!”
Xiaogouwa continued, “Cui Ping actually wanted to move in sooner, but my mother passed away just last year, so I have to wait until after her first anniversary to get married!”
“That’s only right!”
People in this area take such matters very seriously; some families even observe a three-year mourning period for their elders, but ordinary folks generally avoid holding weddings within the first year.
“Xiaogouwa, what’s your fiancée like?” Li Yi asked again.
A faint smile flashed across Xiaogouwa’s lips as he replied, “She’s average-looking—not exactly pretty—but she’s a really good person!”
“In what way is she good?” Li Yi asked again.
“Well, how should I put it? Although Cuiping is a bit soft-hearted, she’s very kind and good at taking care of others. Most importantly, she doesn’t look down on her younger siblings—that’s what I’m most pleased about!” Xiaogouwa said with a smile.
Clearly, he was very pleased with his future wife.
Hearing this, Li Yi let out a long sigh of relief, then said, “That’s good. If you get the chance, bring her over so I can meet her!”
The reason Li Yi was so concerned about Xiaogouwa’s future wife was mainly because he felt so sorry for his younger brother.
In his previous life, Little Dog would, two years later and through the matchmaking of others, marry a notorious shrew from the neighboring village. After the wedding, that woman ran amok at home, turning Little Dog’s household into a complete mess!
She came from a large family with many sisters and three younger brothers. From the very start of their marriage, she had demanded a hefty dowry from Xiaogouwa, and after they were married, she only got worse, constantly taking things from her husband’s family to support her own.
If that were all, he might have been able to endure it.
But what was truly unbearable was that she also bullied Erdouzi, Daya, and Erya. She forced Xiaogouwa to split from his family and live on his own at the age of 16, and she even nearly sold Daya into servitude.
Because of this, Xiaogouwa, in a fit of rage, broke that woman’s leg, and as a result, he nearly ended up in prison.
Although Xiaogouwa finally divorced that woman in his forties, his life had already been ruined.
That’s why he’s so concerned about what kind of wife Xiaogouwa ends up with—he absolutely can’t let him end up with another nightmare like that from his past life!
“Alright!”
Then, changing the subject, Xiaogouwa asked, “Brother Yi, do you know anyone at the county livestock station?”
“Not at the livestock station, but I know people in other county departments. Have you run into some trouble?” Li Yi asked.
Xiaogouwa nodded and said, “I want to go to the Animal Husbandry Station to study for a while. You know, I learned all my veterinary skills from Cui Ping’s dad. My mentor is fine with large livestock, but he’s not so good with pigs and chickens.”
“My mentor says I have a real knack for being a vet. He thinks if I go to the county livestock station to learn from the experienced vets there, my skills will improve a lot. So I… I…”
“If that’s the case, I don’t think it’ll be a problem. I’ll swing by the county seat later and ask around for you!” Li Yi said.
“Thanks a lot, Brother Yi!”
“Don’t mention it. If your skills improve, I’ll benefit too—it’s only right that I help you!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Well… I’ll be waiting for your good news, Brother Yi!” Xiaogouwa said.
“Sure!”
Then Li Yi changed the subject and asked, “By the way, Little Dog, I haven’t seen Yongzi today. Where’s he gone?”
Xiaogouwa grinned and said, “That guy went to the city for a blind date. He won’t be in the village for a few days!”
“In town? That kid’s really come into his own—he’s actually going on a blind date with a girl from the city?” Zhou Yang said, a hint of surprise in his voice.
“Brother Yi, you might not know this, but ever since you helped our village set up the cattle and sheep farms and boosted the villagers’ incomes, the young men and women here have become quite sought after!”
Xiaogouwa continued, “Back in the day, girls from other villages would turn their noses up the moment they heard a potential suitor was from our Nianzishan Village, and even the girls here wanted to marry into other villages.”
“But now, when girls from other villages hear their match is from our village, they’d rather accept a smaller dowry just to marry here. There are plenty of guys like Dayong who go to the city to find matches. And the girls from our village don’t marry out anymore—they’re bringing in sons-in-law instead. It’s a whole new ballgame!”
Hearing this, Zhou Yang didn’t seem all that surprised.
After all, Nianzishan Village was now a village with its own industries. Even without counting the harvest from the fields, the livestock industry alone had significantly boosted the villagers’ incomes.
Take this year, for instance—it’s only the first half of the year, and each able-bodied villager has already received a share of over 700 yuan. That’s equivalent to more than two years’ income for an urban office worker.
More importantly, many families hadn’t yet split into separate households. Judging by the distribution of money and grain over the past two years, quite a few households had likely already become “ten-thousand-yuan households.”
They say that the economic base determines the superstructure. Now that the villagers have money, their standing in the marriage market has changed. Naturally, it’s become much easier to find a wife, while the conditions for marrying off a daughter have become much more demanding—a perfectly normal phenomenon!
“So when is Dayong coming back?”
“He didn’t say, but I imagine it won’t be long—after all, the village is about to start the harvest!” Xiaogouwa replied.
“You’re right. Then I won’t go looking for him!” Li Yi said with a smile.
“Alright, it’s getting pretty late. Brother Yi, I’ll head back now!”
“Alright, drive safely!”
“Alright…”
After watching Xiaogouwa leave, Li Yi strode back into the house.
Meanwhile, in the main hall of the Li family home, his mother, eldest sister, and the others were in shock over the half-snake-skin bag full of cash…