I Overhear Animals' Thoughts to Feed My Family

Chapter 136: Chapter 135: The Gossipy Villagers

Zhao Wendong stiffened. He suddenly felt that everyone around him was incredibly perceptive, as if they all knew exactly what he was thinking.

”Alright.”

After a moment’s thought, Zhao Wendong nodded in agreement.

Lin Zhiyin smiled, not letting go of his arm. She held onto him as they strolled home. Along the way, they ran into a couple of villagers who stared at the pair as if they’d seen a ghost, before quickly darting into a neighbor’s house to wildly gesticulate about the juicy gossip they’d just snagged.

Meanwhile, at Zhao Wendong’s home, Song Xiaoyu was bustling about, tidying things up. Chen Yanmei wielded a feather duster, dusting here and there, seemingly unsatisfied with everything. Lying on the heated brick bed, Zhao Dashan kept smoothing his clothes, worried he might look unpresentable.

”Shitou, what are they doing?”

Little Tuanzi looked left and right with her big, adorable eyes, finally asking Shitou, who was standing to the side watching his little sister.

”My Third Uncle is bringing his wife home, so they’re getting ready to welcome her! Hee hee, Second Uncle has a wife, Third Uncle has a wife, and I’ll have a wife soon too! I’m next.”

Shitou’s eyes were filled with longing. Little Tuanzi ignored him, her eyes blinking as a worry crept into her heart. ’If Third Brother has a wife, will he not like Little Tuanzi anymore?’ As she thought this, her small hand reached into her pocket, where she had stashed a sweet candy ball.

The door creaked open, followed by the sound of Zhao Wendong’s voice.

”Mom, what kind of kung fu are you practicing? You’re kicking up so much dust in here!”

”Oh, get lost, get out of the way! Oh my, Zhiyin is here! Quick, come in and sit down.”

Chen Yanmei shoved Zhao Wendong, who was in the way, aside and pulled Lin Zhiyin into the house.

Seeing Lin Zhiyin enter, Zhao Dashan immediately struggled to sit up again.

Zhao Wendong quickly stepped forward and pressed him back down.

”Your leg is still injured. Just lie down and rest.”

Lin Zhiyin also nodded hurriedly.

”That’s right, Uncle. Please don’t trouble yourself. Recovering from your injury is the most important thing.”

Zhao Dashan was delighted. His face beaming, he nodded and lay back down, deliberately turning slightly to his side so he could face everyone.

”Oh dear, Dongzi didn’t say you were coming today, Zhiyin! The house is such a mess, please don’t mind it!”

”Not at all, Auntie. It’s much cleaner than our educated youth settlement.”

Lin Zhiyin had a beaming smile, and her response was graceful. She seemed to have a natural gift for making everyone feel as pleasant as a spring breeze. Even when chatting with many people at once, she could pay attention to each individual, ensuring no one felt left out.

”Zhiyin, how are you so beautiful? And to think they were spreading rumors, saying you looked...”

The more Chen Yanmei looked at her, the more she liked her. She couldn’t help but praise her, though she stopped halfway through her sentence.

Lin Zhiyin understood and gave an embarrassed smile.

”It’s probably because I never did much manual labor growing up, so my skin is a bit fairer. As for what they were saying, it wasn’t wrong. I never really dared to groom myself properly.”

Song Xiaoyu understood immediately and nodded in comprehension.

”Ah, yes, yes, that’s the right way to do it. A beautiful girl like you, Zhiyin, has to protect herself when she’s out on her own. I just didn’t expect our Third Brother to get so lucky, haha!”

As she spoke, everyone began to laugh. Zhao Wendong joined in with a proud grin, looking as if he’d just won the lottery.

Shitou’s eyes darted about as he stared intently at Lin Zhiyin, secretly making a vow in his heart.

’This Third Aunt is so pretty. I’m going to marry a wife as pretty as Third Aunt too.’

Little Tuanzi slowly edged over to Lin Zhiyin’s side and tugged on the corner of her clothes.

Lin Zhiyin looked at her, her eyes lighting up.

”Oh, you must be Little Tuanzi, right? You’re so adorable!”

”You know me, Sister-in-law? I’m Little Tuanzi! Sister-in-law, can you please not let Third Brother stop liking me? I’m the most obedient. I’ll give you my candy, it’s really sweet.”

As she spoke, she raised her little hand, offering up her treasured possession. Behind her amusingly childish words and actions was a heart-wrenching cautiousness.

”I won’t let your Brother San stop liking you, don’t worry! Your Brother San will always like Little Tuanzi, and I like Little Tuanzi too. From now on, how about we both like you together?”

”Okay, good! You’re so nice, Sister-in-law! You’re the bestest, Sister-in-law!”

Lin Zhiyin, amused by her cuteness, reached out to pick her up. But just then, a little ”ROWR” came from her chest, and a small, sturdy-looking furball wriggled out.

Lin Zhiyin froze. ’How could I have forgotten about it?’ She quickly reached in and lifted Zhuangzhuang completely out from her bosom.

”Wow, it’s a kitty, a kitty!”

Little Tuanzi’s eyes lit up. She jumped up and down in surprise, pointing at Zhuangzhuang and shouting happily, instantly forgetting her earlier worries. Shitou couldn’t help but come closer for a better look. On the heated brick bed, Zhao Dashan’s eyes flew wide open. ’This... this kitten doesn’t look quite right!’

”Haha, this isn’t a cat. It’s a little tiger cub!”

As soon as Lin Zhiyin finished speaking, Chen Yanmei and Song Xiaoyu, who were about to step forward and pet the ”cat,” both jumped in fright and froze in place.

”Is it really a tiger cub? Where did a tiger cub come from? At this time of year, little tigers should already be five or six months old!”

From the heated brick bed, Zhao Dashan was finally sure he hadn’t been mistaken. It really was a tiger cub! He couldn’t help but blurt out the critical question.

Zhao Wendong smiled and told his family about his trip to his second aunt’s house and the farm, and how he had also happened to hunt a man-eating tiger along the way.

”Aww, the poor little thing. It’s so cute, let’s help it.”

”Look, it’s trying to act fierce with us, haha!”

”You have to be a good little kitty, okay?”

All the females, young and old, began to pet and play with the tiger, leaving only Zhao Wendong and Zhao Dashan watching helplessly from the side. ’Women really have zero resistance to cute things, even if it’s a tiger.’

”Is your second aunt’s family doing all right?”

”Yeah, they’re doing fine. I left them some grain, and I also left them one of the rifles I was awarded by the farm to make it easier for them to hunt in the mountains.”

Zhao Dashan nodded without a word. His youngest son was capable now, and it was a good thing that he was willing to help out their relatives. A fence needs three posts, and a good man needs three helpers, after all.

Besides, Zhao Dashan had practically been raised by Zhao Yinhua. Back then, it was always the older children who looked after the younger ones, as parents were too busy to care for them. When he was little, his second sister carried him on her back every day. He was especially lazy; whenever his sister wanted to play with other children, he would refuse to let go and get down. It made Zhao Yinhua so angry that she’d pinch his bottom while crying, but she still had to continue taking care of him as he grew up.

”Son, are you in some kind of trouble?”

No one knows a son better than his father. Zhao Dashan had keenly sensed the trace of worry in Zhao Wendong’s heart.

”It’s nothing. I was just hoping to trade for some bricks to build our family a brick house, but it didn’t work out.”

”You sure dream big. Besides the official work units, what common person would dare to live in a brick house? You’d have to be a high-ranking official to live in a brick house! Are you afraid people don’t know you have money?”

”But we can’t just not live a good life when we have the chance, can we? We’re not stealing or robbing anyone. As long as we make a good life for ourselves through our own hard work, no one can say a thing!”

Zhao Dashan first nodded, then shook his head.

”Sometimes, people don’t care about reason. Just living better than others is, in itself, considered wrong. Understand?”

”Mm, don’t worry, I know. I’ll definitely keep a low profile until I’m absolutely certain of things.”

”As long as you know.”

Seeing that Zhao Dashan didn’t press the issue, Zhao Wendong breathed a sigh of relief. His father was still bedridden, so it was better not to let him and his mother know about the trouble with Fatty Li. They couldn’t help and would only worry themselves sick.

Chen Yanmei and Song Xiaoyu, who were off to the side, had overheard the conversation, and it left them with different thoughts.

Chen Yanmei couldn’t even dare to imagine living in a brick house in her lifetime. ’What kind of heavenly life would that be?’ Instead, hearing Zhao Wendong mention Zhao Yinhua’s family made her start thinking about her own maiden family. Unfortunately, they lived too far away, and she had no idea how they were doing. This year had been a bad one. Thankfully, her son was successful now, so they wouldn’t go hungry, but she had no idea what the situation was like back home.

Song Xiaoyu was worried for the same reason, but thankfully, her family didn’t live too far from Dragon King Pond. She thought about waiting until Zhao Wendong and Zhao Wenjun were less busy and then mentioning to Zhao Wenjun that she wanted to go back to her maiden home for a visit. As for what Zhao Wendong said about building a house, she was filled with longing and anticipation. She had a lot of confidence in Zhao Wendong now and felt that anything he said could possibly come true.

However, neither of them was overly concerned that their families would have nothing to eat. Dragon King Pond was surrounded by mountains, the sea, a river, and a stream, but it had little arable land. In contrast, their maiden families’ homes had relatively more farmland. As long as their harvest quotas weren’t higher than their own production team’s, they should be able to avoid starvation by being frugal.

Zhao Wendong took out a bag of bean flour, the reading glasses, and the pair of dentures from the things he had brought back.

”We’re going to visit my grandparents first. We’ll be back in a bit.”

”Okay, go on. We’ll start preparing the meal. You two haven’t eaten yet. Our family will have two meals today, too.”