The sky was already dark when Liu Yifeng returned home. He parked the car in the yard and walked towards Da Hei, who was still lying motionless on the ground.
He saw that Da Hei hadn't touched the food and water in the iron bowl beside him. Liu Yifeng gently stroked its head. "I know you're sad because your owner abandoned you, but you still have to eat. Are you planning to starve yourself to death?"
Da Hei remained unresponsive to his words.
Helpless, Liu Yifeng got up and went into the living room.
"Yifeng, the dog you bought, I poured broth into its food and added half a bowl of meat. It didn't eat a bite. What do you think we should do?" Liu Chunsheng asked when he saw his son return.
Liu Yifeng replied, "Da Hei is probably not hungry enough yet. It will eat when it's hungry."
"You haven't seen a truly loyal dog. When its owner passed away, it refused to eat or drink and starved itself to death. This dog has been raised so well; it must have been very loyal to its owner. It probably won't be happy suddenly being in our home!" Liu Chunsheng sighed.
"What else can we do? If I hadn't bought it, its owner would have killed and eaten it!"
"But how can a dog understand these things? Let's see how it goes after we've had it for a while!" Liu Chunsheng felt it would be difficult to tame.
Just then, Tongtong walked out of the living room, holding a small ball in his hand. "Daddy, this is Da Bai's favorite ball. If I give it to Da Hei, will Da Hei be happy?"
He had been unhappy seeing Da Hei's constant sadness and wanted to cheer him up.
So, he went to find Da Bai's toy. This was done with Da Bai's consent; otherwise, he wouldn't have forcibly given Da Bai's toy to Da Hei.
"Then you can try playing with it with Da Hei. If Da Hei doesn't like it, I'll buy him a new toy from the pet store another day," Liu Yifeng said with a gentle smile.
Tongtong immediately took the ball and went to Da Hei's side. "Da Hei, this is Da Bai's favorite toy ball. It's giving it to you now, do you like it?"
As he spoke, he placed the ball in front of Da Hei.
Da Hei, who had been resting its head on the ground, finally lifted its head when it saw the toy ball. It opened its mouth, took the ball, placed it between its hind legs, and then rested its head on top of the ball.
Although it didn't show any overt excitement, Tongtong was happy to see that it had accepted the ball. Even Da Bai happily circled around them.
Seeing this, Liu Yifeng believed that with Tongtong's care, Da Hei would definitely come to accept its new home.
Remembering that he still needed to deliver oranges to Qiangzi, he picked up the oranges he had prepared and headed to Qiangzi's house. He figured Qiangzi should be home from work by now.
"Daddy, where are you going?" Tongtong asked, watching him leave.
"Daddy is going to deliver oranges to Uncle Qiangzi. I'll be back soon. You stay home and play with Da Hei!" Liu Yifeng waved the bag of oranges in his hand.
Tongtong nodded upon seeing the oranges. "Okay, Daddy, come back soon!"
Liu Yifeng's house and Qiangzi's house were not far apart, only a few minutes' walk.
As he arrived at Qiangzi's house, he saw Qiangzi returning on a motorcycle.
"Yifeng, why are you here?" Qiangzi got off the motorcycle, looking at Liu Yifeng with surprise.
"Finishing work so late?" Liu Yifeng asked, looking at Qiangzi.
Qiangzi took off his helmet and quickly invited Yifeng inside. "In our line of work, there's no fixed time for finishing. I'm actually finishing early today!
You coming to my place, you should have called ahead. What if I wasn't home, wouldn't that be a wasted trip?"
After speaking, he looked at his son, who was doing his homework, and urged him, "Quick, go wash an apple for Uncle Yifeng!"
"No need, I don't eat apples. You just focus on your homework!" Liu Yifeng called out to the child.
The child glanced at Qiangzi, unsure whether to go. "Since Uncle Yifeng doesn't want an apple, then go get him a cup of tea!"
"We're brothers, why be so formal? If I'm thirsty, I'll know to get water. Just sit down and finish your homework!"
After hearing Liu Yifeng's words, Qiangzi finally let his son sit down and continue his studies.
"I didn't come for anything specific, just that I grew some oranges and picked some to let you guys try!" Liu Yifeng placed the bag of oranges on the table.
Qiangzi looked at the oranges, which were bigger than his fist, and couldn't help but exclaim, "How come everything you grow lately is so big?
You never learned any cultivation techniques before, did you?"
"Just eat them when I give them to you. Why so many questions? Don't you wish me a bountiful harvest?" Liu Yifeng said, feigning displeasure.
Qiangzi quickly explained, "You're overthinking it. I'm just genuinely curious!"
"What's there to be curious about? It just means I'm naturally suited for this profession!"
"You're certainly not modest!" Qiangzi retorted with a laugh.
"Alright, I've delivered the oranges, so I'll be heading back now!" Liu Yifeng saw that there was nothing else and prepared to leave.
Qiangzi quickly said, "We brothers haven't seen each other for over half a month. Now that we've finally met, we must have a few drinks.
There are still plenty of leftovers from the Mid-Autumn Festival feast yesterday. Let's get drunk tonight!"
Liu Yifeng remembered Tongtong asking him to come back early and declined. "Next time. When you're off, we'll drink at noon.
I need to go back and spend time with my son. If I'm late, he'll be unhappy."
"I've heard of henpecked husbands, but never 'son-pecked'! After you had your son, you've been completely devoted to home. When are you going to find a good wife and mother to complete your life?" Qiangzi teased.
Liu Yifeng looked at Qiangzi's son and said, "What 'son-pecked'? After you got married, didn't your focus shift to your wife and children? How dare you talk about me!"
Qiangzi chuckled. "At least I have a wife at home. You only have one son. Haven't you found anyone else?
Honestly, with your current circumstances, you're no worse off than the richest man in our village. You can find anyone you want. In the future, you can focus on your career too. Having a wife and child around is great!"
"You think finding a wife is as simple as saying it? This kind of thing also depends on fate. Don't worry about it.
My vegetable greenhouses will be completed in about twenty days and will soon enter the planting stage. You promised to help me last time, you haven't forgotten, have you?" Liu Yifeng knew that Qiangzi was earning a good income now, enough to support his family.
But if he worked with him, he would earn even more.
Qiangzi nodded. "Before, I had an excuse to refuse. But now I'm also a shareholder in the vegetable greenhouse project, so naturally, I'll take this seriously. Don't worry, I'll definitely help you manage it!"
With Qiangzi's word, Liu Yifeng felt much more at ease. "That's more like it. It's settled then. If there's nothing else, I'll be going back. Remember to eat those oranges soon. I accidentally broke the skin when I picked them, and they'll go bad if left too long!"
"Don't worry, my family is big, we'll finish them by tomorrow!
Next time you grow any fruit, you don't need to specially deliver them to me!" Qiangzi said.
Just as Liu Yifeng was about to reply, his phone rang.
He picked it up and saw that it was Lu Fei calling. He smiled and said, "Lu Fei is calling. I bet this kid is inviting us to his wedding!"
"Then what are you waiting for? Answer it quickly!" Qiangzi urged.
After all, they were brothers who had grown up together. If their brother was getting married, he was naturally happier and more anxious than anyone else.
Liu Yifeng didn't waste any more time and immediately answered the call. "You're calling me at this hour. Has the wedding date been set? When are you getting married?"
To his surprise, he heard Qiangzi's dejected voice on the other end. "Married what? I don't think this is going to happen!"
The smile on Liu Yifeng's face instantly vanished. "What happened? Didn't you go to propose at her house? Did her parents disagree?"