Song Tan’s Chronicle - Chapter 82

After some settling in, the dogs became familiar with everyone in the family. Song Tan was worried their refusal training might be too successful, causing them not to eat anything from the family in the future. So, she had everyone feed the dogs some dog food mixed with spiritual energy under her watchful eye.

Encouraged and tempted by her, the dogs finally began to eat.

After all that, it was seven o’clock and getting dark when everyone finally sat down to eat.

The newly arrived dogs, except for King, who lay dejectedly missing his former owner, roamed freely around the yard.

Da Bao, the Doberman, was sniffing curiously around the pen where a hundred fluffy little ducklings were kept.

Si Bao, the Malinois, clung to the pillar of the utility shed, its eyes fixated on the buzzing box of bumblebees above, full of curiosity.

Er Bao, the Cane Corso, sat beside Qiao Qiao, the two sharing bites and looking like they’d sleep together that night if they could.

San Bao was nowhere to be seen, but Song Tan noticed her father’s odd expression — sure enough, he was sneaking food under the table.

San Bao, the German Shepherd, was sitting there, gently and carefully taking the piece of bone from his hand.

Seeing her cousin Zhang Yanping eating with his head down, Song Tan knew this was the perfect time to put him to work!

She waited until everyone had put down their chopsticks, then asked, “Qiao Qiao, did you take Bear Bee to gather nectar today?”

Qiao Qiao perked up instantly. He’d been waiting all day to report his work to his sister. He said loudly, “Yes!”

He gestured with his arms flapping. “Bear Bee is so fat, it can’t fly at all. I took it to the field, and it just flopped on the flowers, making them bend over.”

Poor Qiao Qiao had worked hard today. Other bees were busy buzzing around the flower fields, self-sufficient and contributing to their owner. Meanwhile, his Bear Bee needed him to hold up the flower stems to support its overly heavy body.

“Bear Bee’s wings are so tiny, it buzzes but can’t fly!”

He felt a great sense of responsibility, and now, pride. “But sister, when I touched its butt, it didn’t sting me!”

He touched his palm, remembering the swelling and pain from the last sting.

Song Tan coughed, unwilling to admit that her constant handling had accustomed the bee to it.

“Did it eat well?”

“Yes,” Qiao Qiao gestured, “It ate all day, and when we left, it had two little baskets on its legs…”

His vocabulary was limited, so after some stammering, he borrowed an idea from Wu Lan and described the bee’s behavior: “It eats and takes! It’s round and rolling.”

Song Tan couldn’t help but laugh — it wasn’t that the bee was taking more than it could eat; it was gathering pollen into little baskets on its hind legs to bring back home.

“Good job, Qiao Qiao. You did great today. Later, I’ll note your wages. If you need money, just let me know.”

Hearing this, Qiao Qiao hesitated, then looked at Song Tan and then at Zhang Yanping, making the young man confused.

“Sister, can you give me a dollar? I want to buy some bubblegum for Brother.”

Qiao Qiao meant the bubblegum from their childhood, which still cost one yuan for five pieces, with only a fifty-cent price increase over twenty years — truly a fair company.

The table fell silent for a moment, and amid everyone’s suppressed laughter, Song Tan rummaged through her bag and finally found a coin.

Zhang Yanping protested, “Brother doesn’t eat bubblegum!”

“You’re lying,” Qiao Qiao said seriously. “You worked slowly this morning because you didn’t have any.”

With that, he ran out.

After a while, he returned, asking, “Sister, can I take the dogs out?”

He had a dog tag around his neck and couldn’t wait to show off.

Song Tan thought for a moment. “Wait a bit, I’ll walk King with you.”

The convenience store was where everyone gathered to chat. Walking King around would let the villagers know their home had protection.

Qiao Qiao agreed, then went to fetch King from the doghouse.

Song Tan then asked, “Dad, how was the honey gathering today?”

“Great!” Song Sancheng beamed. “I went to the mountain to air out the black fungus, and the silver fungus is showing mycelium!”

“Later, when I checked the field, the bees were buzzing all over! From a distance, it looked scary.”

“But up close, they were all busy gathering honey, not paying any attention to me.”

This meant they’d have a good harvest.

Song Tan was pleased.

These little bees were money-makers. Once this field of flowers was done, they’d start on another.

The bees were fine for now, so she thought of the gold cherry seedlings in the truck bed and said, “Dad, can you find someone tomorrow to help my cousin plant the golden cherry trees?”

“What?”

Zhang Yanping nearly jumped up. “Digging the mountain?”

“What digging?”

Song Sancheng didn’t think it was a big deal: “Just dig some trenches along the netting and plant the seedlings. No need for extra help, I can do it with your cousin in a day.”

“No, no, no, no…”

Zhang Yanping shook his head frantically. “Uncle, please get someone to help! Look at me…”

He showed his pale hands. “I’m not cut out for this.”

But Song Tan, armed with her aunt’s earlier words as her trump card, didn’t take his protests seriously. She just asked him, “Choose between setting up posts for the netting or planting the golden cherries.”

What choice was there?

Zhang Yanping looked on the verge of tears.

“Dad, we’ll also need some bricks and cement to build more dog houses.”

Song Sancheng thought for a moment. “Your grandpa’s backyard should still have some old green bricks and roof tiles.”

“But we don’t need to hire anyone. I can do it in a couple of days.”

Song Tan looked at King’s size and persuaded him, “Let’s hire someone, build a shallow foundation and make it sturdy.”

It needed to be durable.

“Otherwise, with King’s size, building a doghouse will be like building a small house. We’ve sold six ounces of tea, six thousand yuan, Dad. We can afford it.”

At the mention of the tea, Song Sancheng quickly agreed, not wanting to delve further.

Wu Lan, however, was puzzled. “You sold the tea without sorting it first?”

Did it really sell for that much?