Chapter 904: A Mother’s Silent Love!
The village’s livestock farm was built right next to Li Yi’s house, divided into a cattle pen and a sheep pen!
The main reason for choosing this location was that the black rocky soil was simply unsuitable for growing crops, so converting it into a farm was a way to put the land to good use.
When Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang arrived at the cattle farm, they could see from a distance that a crowd had gathered by the cattle shed. Besides Li Yi’s father, Li Shankui, there were also the village Party branch secretary, Feng Kai, and the brigade leader, Zhang Tongfu, among others.
Since everyone’s attention was focused on the inside of the barn, they didn’t notice Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang’s arrival.
As they drew closer, Li Yi saw a young heifer lying on the ground inside the shed, panting heavily, while Xiaogouwa was fiddling with something behind her.
Meanwhile, the onlookers were buzzing with chatter:
“The foot came out first—this is trouble!”
“This cow probably won’t make it—she’s already collapsed. What a shame!”
“Ah, animals are just like people—the first birth is always the hardest!”
“You’re absolutely right. It’s been so long—even if it’s born, it’ll probably be stillborn…”
Hearing the crowd’s murmurs and seeing the scene before him, Li Yi had a pretty good idea of what was going on.
It was most likely the cow’s first pregnancy, and she was having a difficult labor!
There wasn’t much he could do to help in a situation like this, so he immediately decided to call his father and head back.
“Dad…”
The sudden voice instantly caught everyone’s attention, and they all turned to look.
When they saw it was Li Yi, Li Shankui immediately grinned and said, “Xiao Yi, why are you back? Where are Xiao Xue and the kids?”
“They came back with me. They’re at home right now!”
As he spoke, Li Yi couldn’t help but sigh. Ever since Yun Rui and Yun Jin had arrived, his standing at home had plummeted.
Especially with his parents—their attention was completely captivated by the two little ones.
Fortunately, he’d brought Jiang Xue and the kids back with him this time; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid a lecture from his old man…
Just then, Feng Kai said, puffing on his pipe, “Yi, you’re back just in time. I was just telling your dad this afternoon that if you didn’t come back soon, I was going to give you a call!”
“Oh, Uncle Feng, is there something on your mind?” Li Yi asked with a smile.
“Well, first off, we’ve got another batch of cattle and sheep ready for market soon, so I need your guys to come back and haul them out!”
Feng Kai continued, “And second, I wanted to talk to you about splitting the profits!”
“What money?” Li Yi asked instinctively.
“This year, the village sold over 800 head of cattle and more than 2,000 sheep. The money’s all sitting in the collective’s account. It’s such a large sum that we have to station someone to guard it every day—it’s just too unsafe. So we figured we’d better distribute it as soon as possible!” Feng Kai explained.
At that moment, Zhang Tongfu chimed in from the side, “In another two weeks, it’ll be harvest time. Everyone will be busy then, and we simply won’t have the extra manpower to watch over that money. It’s better to distribute it now!”
“So that’s what this is about. Since Uncle Feng and Uncle Zhang both say we should split it, let’s go ahead and do it!” Li Yi said.
“Alright, then let’s go back and sort it out in a bit. We’ll call everyone to the village office tonight to divide the money!” Feng Kai said with a grin.
“Alright…”
Just as they were speaking, a sudden gasp caught their attention, and everyone’s gaze was drawn back to the scene in the cattle shed.
Following the crowd’s stunned gazes, they saw that as the little calf watched the heifer’s strength wane, it actually made a shocking move—reaching in!
That’s right—he was reaching inside!
He actually forced the calf’s half-extended leg back inside, while simultaneously reaching directly into the heifer’s birth canal and fumbling around amidst the crowd’s stunned gazes.
Under normal circumstances, the young heifer certainly wouldn’t have cooperated, but by now she had no strength left and could only let the little boy do as he pleased.
No one knew exactly how the little boy managed it, but after just a short while, he pulled a tiny calf’s head out.
Once the head emerged, the young cow suddenly regained some strength and struggled to her feet.
Seeing this, the young boy grabbed the calf by its head and front hooves and began to yank and pull, forcibly dragging the calf out of the mother cow’s womb!
But after the calf hit the ground, it lay motionless, with only a faint rise and fall in its belly indicating that it was still barely alive.
Just as Li Yi was beginning to think the calf might not survive, he saw Xiaogouwa using his blood-soaked hands to dig and prod at the calf’s mouth and nose.
After a short while, the heifer’s belly began to rise and fall more vigorously, and its previously drooping head lifted slightly.
By then, the adult cow had recovered and walked over to the calf, beginning to lick its body.
A few minutes later, under the older bull’s licking, the calf actually managed to stand up, trembling slightly.
Seeing this, everyone—including Li Yi—was deeply moved.
Someone clapped their hands first, and soon the scene erupted in enthusiastic applause…
After confirming that both the adult and the calf were fine, the crowd gradually dispersed.
Li Yi had intended to exchange a few words with Xiaogouwa, but seeing that he was still busy, he simply gave a brief nod of greeting before leaving the cattle farm with his father.
After leaving the ranch, Li Yi didn’t go home; instead, he and his father headed to the old homestead to pick vegetables.
That’s right—the Li family’s vegetable garden was at the old house. The black rocky soil around the new house wasn’t suitable for growing crops, let alone vegetables.
Fortunately, there were still a few plots of private land at the old house, so his parents had set them aside for growing vegetables.
The father and son chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the old house.
It was late August, and the vegetable garden was in its prime. Whether it was cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, green beans, or even cabbages and radishes, everything was lush and thriving, heavy with fruit!
Li Yi first picked a large cucumber, rubbed the prickles off with his hand, and without washing it, bit right into it.
After eating half the cucumber, Li Yi stopped and began picking vegetables.
He picked a few large cucumbers first, then a dozen or so bright red tomatoes. Just as he was about to look for some leafy greens, his attention was drawn to several rows of crops ahead!
Melons?
“Dad, are we growing muskmelons this year?”
Li Yi’s voice was full of delight, and as he spoke, he took long strides toward the melon patch.
“Your mom knows you love these, so she planted two rows just for you. Pick a few ripe ones so Xiaoxue and Zhang can try them too!” his father replied.
“Hahaha, Mom really does spoil me!”
As he spoke, a smile spread across Li Yi’s face, though his nose tingled with emotion.
Locally known as “little melons,” they were his absolute favorite fruit—bar none.
Back when he lived in the village, Li Yi would beg his mother every year to grow some.
Every time, his mother would agonize over whether to plant them or not for quite a while, but she’d always give in and plant a few dozen.
There was no helping it—cantaloupes were water- and fertilizer-intensive and required careful tending. With that time and energy, planting a couple of rows of vegetables was far more cost-effective than growing these.
In short, until the basic needs of food and shelter were met, any fruit was merely a luxury, not a necessity.
Ultimately, it all boils down to one word: “poverty.”
Now that our family has money and our standard of living has improved, my mother is willing to set aside such a large plot of land for growing muskmelons.
So, every single one of these melon plants is brimming with a mother’s love!
In this world, only parents can forget everything else yet always remember their children’s preferences—and prepare for these moments…
After picking two or three dozen ripe melons in one go and husking a dozen or so corn cobs, Li Yi finally returned to the new house with his father and Zhang Ziqiang, feeling thoroughly satisfied.
Meanwhile, Village Party Secretary Feng Kai, accompanied by Brigade Captain Zhang Tongfu, accountant Chen Mengying, and others, arrived at the brigade headquarters…
………