Chapter 20 Little Black Dog

It was a cold rainy night, and the bone-piercing cold wind swept in, making people shiver.

　　Sun Caihe, the eldest daughter-in-law of the old Ye family, was busy in the kitchen with her back bent.

　　Boil porridge and eggs, heat steamed buns, stir-fry a pot of green vegetables, and a plate of leeks and eggs, and it's an evening meal for the whole family.

　　The rain was coming down hard, and it was densely packed, and the rocks made a rattling sound, as if they were about to smash through the ground.

　　She poured out the porridge that was so thin that one could see grains of rice in the pot, and kept looking outside.

　　Wu Xianglian stood at the door of the main room and saw it, and said, "What are you looking at? So why is there gold in the rain?"

　　"Mom, third brother didn't come back before we got here. Do you want to go look for him?"

　　"Don't worry about him." Wu Xianglian rolled her eyes and became angry whenever Ye Chenghe was mentioned.

　　Ever since he slapped him so hard that day, Ye Chenghe seemed to have become a different person.

　　I don't drink all day anymore. I just go out before dawn every day and don't come back until midnight. I don't know what I am busy with outside all day long.

　　After all, he was his own son, so Wu Xianglian and Old Man Ye were worried. After questioning him several times, Ye Chenghe prevaricated him, saying that he was doing business with someone.

　　Don't tell Wu Xianglian and Old Man Ye this, but tell the big yellow dog at the west end of the village. The big yellow dog doesn't believe it.

　　From now on, if Ye Chenghe is away from home all day long, Wu Xianglian and Old Man Ye simply don't care. Anyway, as long as he doesn't cause trouble, they don't care what he does outside.

　　Sun Caihe finished serving the food and carried it back and forth to the main room.

　　In the main room, Ye Xiaomei had already set up the table, set up stools and bowls and chopsticks, and huddled in the corner without any sense of presence.

　　Ye Anbai was already sitting on the small boarding board, choosing a good seat in the middle, holding her own small bowl and waiting for the meal.

　　Next to him is Ye Ansong from Dafang. He is eighteen years old this year. He was a child student who passed the entrance examination two years ago and is preparing for the college examination.

　　As the only scholar in the old Ye family and the future scholar, he was held and held in the palm of his hand. Even the little bully Ye Amber had to give way.

　　As soon as Ye Ansong sat there with a flourish, Wu Xianglian personally brought the bowl of porridge to him.

　　On the side, Old Man Ye didn't care whether others were on the table or not. He put a large piece of scrambled eggs into his bowl first.

　　"Reading consumes your brain, so eat more eggs to replenish your energy."

　　Ye Ansong looked impatient. He almost vomited because he scrambled and boiled eggs every day.

　　But in front of the two old men, he said nothing.

　　After a while, the eldest brother Ye Chenghai came out of the house, followed closely by the second son Ye Chengjiang.

　　After Sun Caihe put all the food and steamed buns on the table, the door of the west room moved, and Ye Chengjiang's daughter-in-law Zhang Juan slowly swayed out with a big belly.

She glanced at Sun Caihe who was busy running around, and a smile appeared on her face: "Oh, thank you for your hard work, sister-in-law."

　　They used to take turns cooking, but since she became pregnant, all the cooking work has been handed over to Sun Caihe.

　　"Eat yours." Sun Caihe was holding his breath and his words didn't sound pleasant.

　　The whole family sat down to eat, and no one asked or mentioned Ye Chenghe again.

　　——Hoo ho!

　　A gust of wind blew by, and there was a "clang" outside. I don't know what was blown away.

　　Wu Xianglian was too lazy to move and raised her arm to poke Sun Caihe: "Why don't you go take a look outside?"

　　Sun Caihe stood up reluctantly with the mixed-noodle bun in his hand.

　　However, before she could take a step, a wet person rushed in from outside.

　　Ye Chenghe held a broken umbrella and held a rag bundle tightly in his arms. He said excitedly: "Dad! Mom! I made a lot of money!"

　　…

　　In a lonely house under the old locust tree at the east end of the village.

　　Ye Annian lit the candlestick on the stove. The candle flame was dim, reflecting his cold white cheeks, and the pregnancy mole at the end of his eye looked a little brighter.

　　The door curtain of the west room suddenly moved, and Ding Qiu groped out with a blind stick.

　　"Brother Ye, why don't you go inside? It's cold outside."

　　"It's okay, I'm not cold." Ye Anyian moved a small wooden block and placed it next to him, then helped Ding Qiu sit down.

　　"Has Jiang Zhu never come back so late before?"

　　"When I have an emergency, I have been here many nights." Ding Qiu said, "Brother Ye, don't worry, it's raining heavily today. Maybe someone is hiding from the rain."

　　"Yeah." Ye Annian thought about it. It was raining heavily at the moment. Maybe Jiang Zhu would come back when the rain subsided.

　　Ding Qiu was very quiet, like a little adult, sitting with Ye Anyian in the main room.

　　But not long after, Fu Zai, who was playing by himself in the west room, shouted in his little voice: "Brother! Brother Qiu! Why don't you talk?"

　　"Can someone please accompany Fu Zai?"

　　"It's too quiet at home..." Xiao Tuanzi muttered.

　　Ye Anyian:...

　　He patted Ding Qiu on the shoulder: "You go in and accompany Fu Zai. I'll sit down for a while and then enter the house."

　　"Okay." Ding Qiu stood up with his blind stick, "Brother Ye, please go back to the house early to avoid the cold."

　　"Um."

Ye Anyian responded, wrapped himself in clothes and continued to sit.

　　After an unknown amount of time, the fence door outside made a soft "squeak" sound.

　　Ye Anyian was dozing off and opened his eyes instantly.

　　I don't know when the rain stopped, but one or two raindrops fell from the eaves from time to time.

　　There were rustling footsteps outside, and Jiang Zhu strode over in a green shirt wrapped in the cold air.

　　The hem of his large clothes was blown up by the night wind, bringing with it the fresh earthy smell after the rain.

　　The tip of Ye Annian's nose curled up, and a refreshing aroma of herbs mixed with the fragrance of clean earth hit his face. He shuddered slightly and suddenly woke up.

　　"You're back?"

　　He rubbed his eyes and stood up from the wooden pier. Jiang Zhu, carrying the medicine box on his back, had already crossed the threshold of the main room and was standing in front of him.

　　"Waiting for me?" Jiang Zhu held the folded oil-paper umbrella in his left hand and stretched out his right hand to hold Ye Annian's hand. "Is it cold? Why don't you go inside and stay?"

　　The two of them were very close to each other, with only one step between them, and the faint herbal fragrance on Jiang Zhu's body became stronger and stronger.

　　Ye Anyian's breath was suffocated, and his heart beat inexplicably faster.

　　"It's not cold. It's cool on a rainy day. I'll get some fresh air in the main room." He lowered his eyes and his eyes fell on Jiang Zhu's shoes that were stained with rain and mud

Jiang Zhu laughed, and his voice was as cool as a mountain spring, so refreshing: "Don't be greedy for coldness in your body. Come inside, I have something good to show you."

　　The candlelight in the west room has been extinguished, and the two children have long been asleep.

　　Ye Anian was led by Jiang Zhu, and the two of them quietly entered the east room with very light steps.

　　The candle on the Kang table in the east room was bright and the flames were dancing happily.

　　Jiang Zhu put down the medicine box and went to untie his clothes.

　　Ye Annian was stunned for a moment, and suddenly found that his chest was bulging, as if something was twisting and moving inside.

　　"What are you..." He was a little confused.

　　While he was stunned, Jiang Zhu finally untied his clothes, and the little thing in his arms finally came out.

　　It has a furry head, small ears standing pointedly, and a pair of dark round eyes looking around.

　　It's a black puppy.

　　A hint of surprise appeared in Ye Anyian's cold eyes: "Where did you hold me from?"

　　"I picked it up on the road." Jiang Zhu said as he handed the puppy to Ye Annian, "It's at the foot of Wangyue Mountain, near Ge Carpenter's house."

　　The puppy was furry and warm. Ye Anian held it in his arms and stroked the fur.

　　Seeing that one person and one dog were getting along well, Jiang Zhu turned around and went to change clothes.

　　He had just taken off his wet coat when he heard Ye An's cheerful voice behind him: "Jiang Zhu, it licked my hand!"