San Baisui was temporarily placed in the hospital for infusion, and Ding Yinan and Huo Zhixiao returned to the hotel.
As soon as the hotel owner saw them, he told them a bad news—bad news for Ding Yinan—many crops were damaged by the heavy rain last night, and the city leaders who went to the countryside for inspection decided to extend their stays for two days.
In other words, Ding Yinan had to live in the same room as Huo Zhixiao.
Fortunately, there was no water leakage in the room, and the hotel owner helped them move the bed back to its original position.
Early the next morning, Liu Zhishu brought a contractor surnamed Li. This man was about fifty years old, and he undertook the construction and renovation of rural houses all the year round. He was the most experienced contractor in the vicinity.
Huo Zhixiao and Foreman Li chatted briefly, and found out the characteristics of the house construction in this area, and then a group of people came to the open space on the hillside.
The open space on the hillside was not large, but the slope of the hillside was gentle enough. Huo Zhixiao proposed an idea to reclaim another vacant lot, just like the terraced fields he saw on both sides of the road when he came here.
Foreman Li said that the problem was not serious, and it was much easier to clear two open spaces here than to deal with the soil from the landslide at the entrance of the village. It was only at noon that the plan was formally finalized after the geological experts who had cooperated with Jiushan Architects all the year round came to have a look.
Next, Foreman Li and his workers began to measure various data of the land, while Huo Zhixiao went to the bamboo forest on the other side of the hillside and picked up some long and short bamboo pieces.
“Foreman Li, help me check, can these bamboos be used to bear weight?”
“If you want to bear the weight, you’ll have to adjust it for a bit first.” Foreman Li took the bamboo piece in Huo Zhixiao’s hand and broke it hard. Cracks appeared immediately, “Look, this kind of air-dried bamboo piece is actually very brittle. It suits more as decoration.”
Huo Zhixiao nodded thoughtfully, and then went to the bamboo forest behind the hillside alone.
Ding Yinan on the other side had been watching the work of the workers. After all, the measurement data was the most important work in the early stage. Even if there was an error of one centimeter, it would affect the later stage of the project.
However, as the survey gradually came to an end, Ding Yinan felt relieved, because the level of the local construction team was much better than he had imagined.
He saw the common tools of the workers at his feet, and there were unwanted bamboo pieces picked up by Huo Zhixiao beside him. On a whim, he picked up the bamboo pieces and made bamboo dragonflies.
In addition to being mischievous when he was young, Ding Yinan would also make toys for his younger sister, and bamboo dragonfly was one of them.
He used a small saw to cut the bamboo into a rectangle with a suitable width, then used sandpaper to grind out the shape of the paddle, and then drilled a hole in the middle. And just when he was about to make the long handle below, Huo Zhixiao’s voice suddenly sounded above his head.
“What are you doing?”
Ding Yinan stopped what he was doing, looked up at Huo Zhixiao and said, “Bamboo Dragonfly.”
After speaking, he lowered his head and polished the bamboo handle in his hand.
“Bamboo dragonfly?” Huo Zhixiao squatted down beside Ding Yinan, “Is that the one used by Doraemon?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Glcu Tlcjc gfmjiifv sfrafgvjs’r wlrfgs, jcv reymbcrmlberis kjcafv ab gfoerf. Dea atf qgjmalmf bo yjwybb vgjubcois kjr cba j ecldef rfmgfa, lo tf ralii kjcafv ab tlv la, la kbeiv yf gfjiis ecgfjrbcjyif.
And more importantly, handicraft was Huo Zhixiao’s hobby, and Ding Yinan hadn’t seen him do handicraft for a long time. Now that Huo Zhixiao finally became interested, if he had to say something, in fact, Ding Yinan didn’t really want to disappoint him.
“You pick a piece of bamboo that is as big as me.” Ding Yinan said and gestured with his hand, “Then use a saw to cut it into a rectangle.”
Huo Zhixiao was worthy of being a handicraft enthusiast, he didn’t need Ding Yinan’s detailed guidance at all, he could almost understand everything. He was even more familiar with the use of sandpaper than Ding Yinan. After he finished assembling the paddle and the round handle, he specially adjusted the gravity balance of the paddles on both sides.
Ding Yinan glanced at the shoddy bamboo dragonfly in his hand, then at the artwork-like bamboo dragonfly in Huo Zhixiao’s hand, and realized for the first time in his life that the role of talent was so important.
When the two bamboo dragonflies tried to fly, Ding Yinan’s one fell straight to the ground as if the engine had lost power as soon as it flew out, while Huo Zhixiao’s one flew high and far, and landed very lightly.
Seeing the result, Huo Zhixiao laughed at the side, Ding Yinan couldn’t hold back his face, he picked up his bamboo dragonfly and said: “I have never studied design.”
“Understandable.” Huo Zhixiao finally put away his smile, and he handed his bamboo dragonfly to Ding Yinan, “Take it.”
Ding Yinan was a little puzzled: “Why are you giving it to me?”
“You can take it if you want.” Huo Zhixiao casually inserted the bamboo dragonfly into Ding Yinan’s shirt pocket, and then took the bamboo dragonfly from Ding Yinan’s hand.
Only then did Ding Yinan realize that Huo Zhixiao wanted to exchange handmade works with him.
Huo Zhixiao put Ding Yinan’s bamboo dragonfly into his shirt pocket, which was in the same position as the bamboo dragonfly on Ding Yinan’s chest.
That position was right next to the heart, which made Ding Yinan feel a strange feeling in his heart.
He wanted to take out the bamboo dragonfly and hold it in his hand, but it seemed a bit deliberate to do so. So after hesitating for a long time, he finally let Huo Zhixiao’s bamboo dragonfly stay in his chest pocket.
Returning to the county seat from Sanyang Village, Ding Yinan and Huo Zhixiao first went to the pet hospital to check on San Baisui.
Today, San Baisui’s spirit has improved a lot, and he still had the mind to fight with the big cats in the next den. However, it still have some cough. The doctor said that it will be observed for another night tonight, and it will be discharged tomorrow morning at the earliest.
“What do you think of this kennel?”
After returning to the hotel, Ding Yinan saw that Huo Zhixiao had been working on his mobile phone. He thought he was looking for information, but turned out to be shopping on Taobao.
“Do you really want to raise it?” Ding Yinan asked.
“En.” Huo Zhixiao responded, and then forwarded another link to Ding Yinan, “This kennel seems to be pretty good too.”
“Keeping a pet is not a trivial matter.” Ding Yinan put down the book in his hand, and persuaded Huo Zhixiao tactfully, “You thought it would be fun, but in fact it is more of a responsibility.”
“I will take good care of it.” Huo Zhixiao still looked at the phone, his tone a little careless.
“How will you take care of it?” Ding Yinan frowned slightly, feeling a little dissatisfied with Huo Zhixiao’s casual attitude, “Your work is so busy, do you have time to play with it?”
Huo Zhixiao finally raised his eyes from the phone, as if he just realized that Ding Yinan was telling him something serious. He said: “I can spare time to play with it.”
“It’s not that simple.” Ding Yinan said, “Once you start raising it, it’s your responsibility.”
Huo Zhixiao raised his eyebrows and asked, “How do you know I won’t be responsible?”
Of course Ding Yinan knew that Huo Zhixiao had so many bed partners but never had a formal boyfriend. Doesn’t this explain the problem?
But it was not easy for him to say such words, so he could only change the angle and say: “I don’t want you to add work to me.”
Ding Yinan could almost imagine that if Huo Zhixiao really raised San Baisui, then he would definitely have to take care of two ancestors, one big and one young, in the future.
Huo Zhixiao was silent for a moment, and asked: “Don’t you like San Bai Su?”
“No.” Ding Yinan said, “I just hope you think it through.”
“I have thought about it very clearly.” Huo Zhixiao said, “I will be responsible for it.”
Ding Yinan still didn’t believe Huo Zhixiao.
He did not believe that a person who had never been responsible to a bed partner was willing to be responsible to a dog.
But Huo Zhixiao had already talked about this, so he couldn’t say anything more.
This persuasion seemed to make Huo Zhixiao feel a little bored, he took the cigarette case and lighter, said “I’ll go smoke” to Ding Yinan, and then left the room.
Ding Yinan knew that he spoiled Huo Zhixiao’s interest, he looked at the book in his hand absently, and vaguely recalled the time Huo Zhixiao helped him in the bamboo forest yesterday.
That moment made Ding Yinan truly realize that Huo Zhixiao’s attitude towards him had changed. Not from speech and manner, but from details such as standing wrists.
He thought Huo Zhixiao’s change was unilateral, but thinking about it now, his attitude seems to be different from before.
——At least in the past, he would never interfere with the private decisions made by Huo Zhixiao. Huo Zhixiao wanted to keep a dog, so he did.
Ding Yinan couldn’t tell why he had this change, but just as he was reading the book in a daze, the cell phone beside his pillow vibrated suddenly.
It was a message from Huo Zhixiao telling him to go to the roof.
Ding Yinan was a little baffled, he put down his book and went to the third floor of the hotel, and found that Huo Zhixiao, who was not in the mood just now, somehow got excited again, and said to him: “Look at the sky.”
Ding Yinan looked up, and then saw the sky full of stars. After staying in the city for a long time, even looking at the stars has become a luxury.
Huo Zhixiao handed over a cigarette and asked, “Smoking?”
Ding Yinan took the cigarette and lit it with Huo Zhixiao’s lighter.
“Look over there,” Huo Zhixiao pointed to the sky and said, “That’s the Big Dipper.”
Ding Yinan still had this common sense, he exhaled a puff of smoke, and said, “I know.”
Huo Zhixiao said again: “I should have come out to take a look a few nights ago if I knew it.”
The two of them would return to the urban area tomorrow, and tonight was the last chance to see the stars.
Ding Yinan said: “You can spend a few more hours now.”
While smoking a cigarette, he emptied his mind to look at the stars in the sky, but he always felt that a gaze was always on his face. He turned his head, and met Huo Zhixiao’s eyes without any surprise.
“What are you looking at me for?” Ding Yinan asked.
“It’s nothing.” Huo Zhixiao said, “Do you think I can’t raise San Baisui?”
The current atmosphere was not as serious as before, Ding Yinan simply said “Yes”, expressing his thoughts.
“Then what if I take care of it?” Huo Zhixiao asked.
Ding Yinan didn’t think that Huo Zhixiao could take care of him well, so he said perfunctorily, “Then congratulations.”
“If I raise it well,” Huo Zhixiao smiled, “You will be its mother.”
“No.” Ding Yinan refused without hesitation, “Unless…”
He paused, and continued in a businesslike manner: “You give me a raise.”
Thanks for the update
Thank you very much!♡♡♡♡
Capitalism, babe
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
yesss ask for a mf raise 😭🙌🏼
thx for thr update
Thanks for the chapter!!
Thank you for the chapter! ❤️
Yes, get that pay rise! Ding Yinan knows he’ll end up raising the puppy 😆
Thanks for the chapter 💞
Felt like tat discussion was for raising a boyfrienf 🤣