Chapter 28: The Four Little Riding Goats

  The next morning, the kids were still lying in bed, while their sister and mother had gotten up early to make breakfast. Their father and brother-in-law were chatting in the living room downstairs. As soon as they went downstairs, they smelled a strong fragrance.

  "Braised beef noodles, wow, I'm in luck!" exclaimed Ju An excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

  Mom happily said: "I know you love to eat, I and your sister got up at six o'clock to roll out the noodles and stew beef."

  "Mom is so biased, every time big brother and third brother come home, they get delicious food, but whenever I come home, it's always just plain vegetables and tofu," said my sister with a smile.

  "Your elder brother and younger brother only come back once or twice a year, just for a few days. You're always here, who else would eat the vegetables and tofu? And your snacks at home have decreased, aren't they all bought by your dad?" Mom said discontentedly.

  "Alright, alright, I was wrong, wasn't I? Third Brother is inviting Dad and your husband to dinner." Sister hurriedly pleaded for forgiveness.

  Shouting into the living room, Dad and brother-in-law arrived at the dining room. Mom and sister carried a large plate with several bowls of noodles floating with shiny oil flowers and bright red beef sauce.

  Stir up the noodles, blow on them, put them in your mouth, smooth and refreshing. Pick up a piece of quick-boiled beef, tender and just right, meaty aroma overflowing, with a hint of Sichuan pepper flavor. The soup broth is also rich with beef flavor, a breakfast that's like a whirlwind sweeping away the clouds.

  After finishing the meal and wiping his mouth, he praised loudly: "Mom's cooking skills are good enough to be served at a national banquet, the taste is extremely good".

  My mother heard this and laughed so hard that her eyes became a thin line, and the wrinkles on her face all smoothed out.

  After breakfast, Dad and brother-in-law followed Ju'an to see what work was available. Ju'an took them on a tour of the greenhouse and then pulled out some carrots before heading straight to the stable.

  The bean grass and snowflake have been staring at the stable, seeing Ju An excitedly hit a loud nose, gave two eaters breakfast, and pulled them out of the compartment, pulled onto the aisle, started brushing the horse, and Dad volunteered to shovel the horse dung.

  Showed it to brother-in-law and he learned it, then handed him a brush to sweep the snowflakes, while I myself focused on dealing with the bean sprouts.

  Juw An hadn't even finished cleaning half of it, but his dad had already tidied up the two small compartments. Juw An said, "Dad, you're doing great, you're almost as good as a professional cowboy!"

  "Dad, holding a shovel, smiled and said: 'When your grandfather was in the production team, he took care of livestock. I often did this when I was young. Now that I'm older, I can still clean up a whole cowshed of cow dung with ease.' He looked pleased with himself. And also looked down on my brother-in-law."

  After brushing the horse, putting on the saddle, Dad said: "Find a horse with a good temper and let me try it too."

  Both Jiu An and her brother-in-law looked at Old Dad in surprise: "You can still ride a horse? We've never heard you mention it before, don't pretend to be capable if you're not, falling off isn't fun."

  "Dad said with a smile: 'Yesterday, watching you ride, I had a sudden urge to ride again. When we were young in the commune, there were cows and horses everywhere, and every family's children knew how to ride. But after the reform and opening up, nobody raised cattle and horses anymore, they all switched to more convenient tractors. It's been decades since I last rode, so that's why I asked you to find a good-tempered one and try it out.'"

  Jū ān heard this and could only take another water bottle from the wall, ride on the bean grass out of the door, find Nan Xi to help choose a most honest horse. Jū ān only cared about the bean grass and Snowflake, didn't treat the others well, at least these two foodies were like that.

  As soon as Nancy led out a horse, wow, this color doesn't look like a horse, it's more like a cow, with black and white spots all over its body.

  Riding on a bean grass, leading a cow, walked a few steps, and arrived at the horse stable door. At this time, Dad and brother-in-law were already waiting at the door.

  Hand over the reins of the cow to Dad. Dad also said: "There are horses of this color, and domestically they are all one water color."

  "This is an American flower horse, let alone when you were a kid, even if it was introduced domestically now, I estimate it's only been a few years."

  He took out a spare saddle and cushion from the stable and handed them over to his father. His father skillfully laid down the cushion, put on the saddle and cinched it onto the horse's back. When he got to the part where he had to tighten the girth strap, he asked: "Why is there only one front strap? Where did the rear strap go?"

  Jū ān zhǐ hǎo zài gěi lǎo bà zhǎo le ge dù dài. Gǎo wán zhè xiē, lǎo bà yī cǎi mǎ dìng, jiù shàng le mǎ, jū ān yǒu diǎn dān xīn de lā zhe shuǐ lěi jiāng.

  Translation:

  Jū ān only then found a belly band for old dad. After finishing all this, old dad mounted the horse with one kick of the stirrup, and Jū ān was a bit worried as he held onto the reins.

  Dad sat on the horse and felt it: "This saddle is much more comfortable than the Yu Bao saddle when I was a kid, let go of my hand, I'll take a few steps to try it out." Ju An had no choice but to let go, but she didn't dare leave him far behind and followed the cow for several steps before realizing that Dad really knew how to ride a horse. However, his posture looked awkward, with his legs in an outward "eight" shape clamping the horse's belly. No wonder some people said riding horses could make your legs bowlegged; it seemed that was what Dad's old posture had been like.

  Watching Dad turn around again, when he came back, Dad praised: "This horse is well-trained, much smarter than the horse I rode when I was a kid." He patted the horse's neck as he spoke.

  Dad suggested running a lap, so Ju'an had no choice but to get on the horse too. Brother-in-law was pitied, and he brought out the four-wheeled carriage from the warehouse. As soon as Ju'an got on, Dad whipped the horse's buttocks with the reins and shouted "Giddy up!" The cow began to trot slowly.

  When living in peace, even a light touch of the bean grass would make it happily follow along. My brother-in-law then drove his small four-wheeled motorcycle without falling behind at all.

  After running for a while, Dou Cao always maintained a distance of more than half a horse's body length ahead of the cow until the end.

  Back by the stable, Old Man said to Ju'an, "Bean Grass, not only does it look good on the outside, but it also has a strong spirit inside, this is a fine horse."

  Jū ān zé ài hù de mō le mō dòu cǎo de bí liáng.

  Translation:

  The gentle and loving touch of the bean sprout's nose.

  When the father and son tied up their horses and walked back to the house, they found that Jerry and Emily had already arrived at some point and were riding sheep with Tongtong and Rangrang in the small enclosure in front of the yard. Today, Jerry and Emily obviously came prepared, with leather boots and gloves all ready.

  When Mr. Yu saw it, Little Jerry was holding the sheep's neck with both hands and his whole body was on the sheep's back, and the sheep was running with him. After a while, the sheep finally threw Little Jerry off.

  Xiao Jie Li climbed up with a proud smile and patted his hands, saying to Rong Rong: "Rong Rong, your turn" Although the two words "Rong Rong" sounded a bit awkward, they could be heard clearly if listened carefully.

  Ran Ran was a little scared, wanting to ride but not daring to go up. Ju An walked over and encouraged him, saying: "Ran Ran don't be afraid, look at Little Jerry being so brave, we are also little men."

  Ran Ran had just climbed onto the sheep's back, hugging its neck tightly. At this moment, Little Jerry had already clamped his arm around the sheep's neck, waiting for Ran Ran to climb up. As soon as Ran Ran was on, he let go of his grip. Just a moment later, Ran Ran's body tilted and in just a few seconds, she was thrown off by the sheep. Fortunately, the enclosure was filled with soft sand, and besides, the sheep couldn't run very fast, so nothing happened to her.

  When they finally clapped their hands and stood up, there were still excited smiles on their faces.

  Then Tengteng went, and little Tengteng was not afraid at all. He rode on the sheep's back and let Jerry let go. This time Jerry said he let go, but still followed the little sheep running. Knowing that the little guy was protecting Tengteng, he rode for a shorter time than Ranran and was thrown off. Jerry immediately went over to help Tengteng up.

  Then Little Emily was riding, and Jerry was also protecting her on the side. Emily didn't last long either, and she was thrown off soon.

  After a while, Ju An and her brother-in-law, as well as her father, returned to the corridor downstairs, pulled out several chairs and sat down to watch the little ones play.

  The four little guys took turns riding again, and at this time Little Jerry grabbed the sheep's neck and slammed it to the ground, with a few English words popping out of his mouth from time to time, guessing that he was exchanging techniques for slamming sheep with Rongrong and Tongtong.

  Regardless of whether Ruan Ruan and Tong Tong understood or not, he taught them several times with his Montana-accented English, then let Ruan Ruan go try. This time Ruan Ruan wasn't afraid, went over to grab the sheep's neck, and wrestled for half a day, making the sheep bleat loudly, but still didn't manage to knock it down.

  At this time, Little Jerry went over and pushed with all his might, and finally knocked the little sheep down. When it was Tonton's turn, Tonton and Little Emily came up together. The two little guys were clever, one pressed the neck and the other pulled the sheep's legs. Because of their small strength, it took a long time to knock the sheep down.

  "My brother-in-law sat for a while and said with deep feeling: 'Our children are now being raised too delicately.'"

  "Hey, sister-in-law, take a look at this. Kids are just playing around, how did I not notice that Tongtong is being spoiled?"

  "My brother-in-law shook his head: 'It's not that Tongtong is alone, it's just that our domestic children are all only children now, each one a precious darling. Where's the fun in that? When we were young, brothers would take care of their sisters and sisters would take care of their younger brothers. Looking at Little Jerry, I'm reminded of when we were young. Without parental pampering, it was all about siblings playing together wildly. Watching them play for a bit, I can see the quality of Little Jerry's character - he's not one to be easily swayed. He'd push a little and then run after Tongtong and her sister when they rode their bikes. It's clear that his family upbringing is excellent. I used to read in magazines about how China cultivates technical talent for America, while Americans cultivate leaders themselves. My colleagues and I would laugh at this, thinking that we too had produced world-renowned scientists like Deng Jiaxian and Qian Xuesen. But now I think, those were all from the past - over 50 or almost 100 years ago. How many scientists in China today can compare to Deng and Qian? Why is it that after so many years of education development, we're not producing as many masters as we did back when there was basically no national education?"

  "Come on, I haven't met many American kids either, and so far I've only met two, Jerry and Emily, don't you think you're generalizing a bit?"

  "My brother-in-law shook his head: 'I've been here for a while and I've only seen one, the key is that I've taught school for several years and I haven't seen a Chinese kid like Xiaojie who can help me manage students, but there are many kids who can do it'."

  "That's also having organizational skills, not bad," Ju An said.

  "My brother-in-law said dejectedly: 'It's different, it's different. Little Jerry exudes youthful vigor, while those domestic ones are all like little leaders.'"