Chapter 62: Diana's Birthday Invitation

  Looking at the lush fruit trees, I felt content and satisfied as I left the space, lay down on the bed, and thought to myself with a happy heart, "Finally, I've found a way to control these space weeds. From now on, I can grow whatever I want." Then, I thought about it some more and realized that it wouldn't be worth it to go through so much trouble just to grow a single cabbage. Would it be worth all the hassle just to eat one cabbage? After thinking about it some more, I decided to forget about it and just focus on growing fruit trees instead. Hmm, I can also plant some lotus roots in the pond. For now, that's enough. Closing my eyes as I lay in bed, I thought to myself, "Maybe tomorrow morning, I'll have apples to eat." With a heart full of hope, I drifted off to sleep.

  The next morning, Wu Song finished his work and came to the pond with a busy look. He flashed into the space, where several small cows were running around happily. A large cow lay on the grassland, quietly eating the green grass by its mouth. The branches of the apple tree planted yesterday were already full of white apple flowers with golden anthers, looking extremely beautiful. Wu Song stood under the tree for a long time to admire it before leaving the space.

  Wu Song still catches and eats cicadas everywhere as usual. Every time he follows Ju An to this side of the pond, it's basically equivalent to bringing this guy a free picnic. Whenever Wu Song sees Ju An, he always takes out a cicada to hint at Ju An to eat. It has to be said that Wu Song is a good kid, who not only likes to eat himself but also thinks of Ju An, and in this regard, he behaves better than Tongtong and Rangrang.

  Walked around the poultry house and saw two ducks starting to hatch eggs, thought about it, anyway, let them hatch, after all, the duck eggs had just been pickled not long ago, wait until they are almost eaten up and then pickle another batch. But I'm more interested in the goose's hatching eggs, this one will be a big pot of braised goose in two months, my husband loves to eat it.

  Just then, the phone in her pocket rang. She took a look and found that it was Diana calling. She answered the phone and said, "Hello, I'm An".

  "Hello, An. It's Diana. I'm having a birthday party at my place this Saturday night and I'd like to invite you. Are you available?"

  "It's still my first time being invited to a birthday party, I'll definitely attend," Ju An smiled and replied.

  "That's great, Saturday night at 6 o'clock, at my place" Diana said happily: "The last time I had Chinese food at your house, it was really enjoyable. Since my grandfather passed away, I haven't had such authentic Chinese food."

  "Ha ha, you'll have to wait until Chinese New Year in China. My parents will be back then. On that day, Ruth and Lily only ate a little bit, they didn't eat much of many dishes."

  Diana smiled and said: "They've always been eating dishes from Chinese restaurants, real Chinese food is a bit too greasy for them, they don't really like it, it's a matter of dietary habits".

  "I'm glad you love eating, I'll definitely be on time next Saturday," Ju An replied.

  Diana then laughed and said goodbye, after saying goodbye to Diana, Ju An rode on the bean grass, taking Xue Hua and Hu Tou, two dog legs, thinking of the direction of the cow group, Ju An wanted to ask Thomas or Andrew Wayne what gift to bring to the birthday party, or what to pay attention to.

  Before long, they arrived at Old Thomas's pasture where the cattle were kept. As it happened, Old Thomas was not there. Seeing Huan ride up on his horse, Hui En asked: "What's going on, boss?"

  "Nothing major, just some private matters I'd like to ask for your advice on, where's Thomas?" said Gu An, who didn't see Thomas' figure.

  "Dad has gone to see the sheep, there are some lambs being born today, Dad went to take a look." Andrew said with a smile: "If you're looking for him, I'll go call him over."

  "Never mind, I can ask both of you. I've been invited to a birthday party and I don't know what gift to bring, also are there any other things I should pay attention to?"

  Andrew smiled and said: "May I ask, is it just a normal friend or are you pursuing this girl?"

  "Just an ordinary friend, you've met her before, Diana. This time it's her birthday and she invited me, I was invited to a birthday party for the first time, so I came to ask you guys." Ju An replied.

  "If it's just an ordinary friend, then first of all, you need to get a birthday card, and then bring a small gift that doesn't have to be too expensive. If you give something very expensive, it will put pressure on your friend. For you, just giving some small things with Chinese characteristics is enough. Pay attention to packaging them nicely. Also, don't arrive too early at the agreed-upon time. If you arrive too early and catch someone preparing for a party, they'll feel awkward. So, arriving right on time or even a little late is fine."

  "Is that all?" Ju An asked.

  "Pretty much that's it, just remember don't drink and drive, parties are just for fun, nothing special, not like a high-end ball, after eating cake you can leave, of course if you want to stay longer that's okay too."

  "Thanks for the advice, Andrew and Wayne," said Yu An, "I'll go think about what to get for Diana." With that, he spurred his horse on, heading in the direction of home.

  Arrived at the house, sent away Doucao and Xuehua, brought Wusong and Huti back to the corridor downstairs, let Huti stay at the door, put Wusong outside, went upstairs herself, took out her notebook, came to the corridor downstairs, she didn't bring any Chinese characteristic small gifts from home, went up to ask Wang Fan or Wu Ming when their tour group would come next time, if they were coming soon, helped herself bring a few domestic characteristic trinkets to give to Diana.

  Opened the book, hung up the buckle, took a look, Wu Ming was just there, and casually sent a message to Wu Ming: "Cheap person, are you still here?"

  Wu Ming quickly replied: "What's up? If there's nothing going on, don't disturb me while I'm chasing girls."

  Living a stable life knows that it can't be dragged on, and being dragged will temporarily send oneself to the small black room: "When are you guys coming here? Help me bring some things over."

  "Wu Ming asked: 'What are they bringing? They'll arrive on Thursday, but I won't go this time. A little girl will lead the team, and Wang Fan can only go in a few days.'"

  "Alright, help me bring some small Chinese-style trinkets over, like nuclear-carved pendants, big A Fu's and the like, just get smaller ones, don't get anything too big, they're for gifts."

  Wu Ming curiously asked: "Who are you sending it to? It's worth your while to be so thoughtful, can't you just buy some casually?"

  "Sending Dai Na, I was invited to a birthday party and asked Andrew about it. They said it's best to bring something with Chinese characteristics, so I thought of asking you to help me bring one or two things when you come over, like a facial mask scarf or a purple sand pot, nothing too expensive, if it's too expensive, these foreigners will just waste it."

  "Wu Ming returned, 'That package is on me now, I guarantee you'll have face, my brother is now doing tourism, these small souvenirs are plentiful, this time we're also preparing to let Wang Fan bring a few gifts for the old Taylors'."

  "Also don't send anything too expensive, it's too embarrassing for foreigners. I just heard Andrew and others say that, so it's better to give a modest gift."

  "There's nothing expensive, just a few hundred yuan worth of purple sand teapots, one for each person, of course with different styles." Wu Ming replied, with a smug expression on his face.

  "Alright, I'm counting on you for the gift. Bring back a few more, different ones, just in case someone else has a birthday soon and I won't have to rack my brains again."

  "It's alright, you can rest assured, I've got your back," Wu Ming replied.

  Now that things have been settled, he sent a message: "You continue to flirt with the girls, I'm out of here. The shrimp cage in the pond should be taken out, let's eat river shrimp for lunch today."

  "Hey, last time we went there, how come you didn't eat much? You ate just a little bit and then waited for me to finish eating. Don't eat it all up! I've already discussed with Wang Fan and the others, we'll go to your place to have hot pot in winter." Wu Ming replied.

  "There are a lot of them in the river, and I alone can't finish eating them. Old Thomas and his family don't really eat crayfish either. You see how tired they get from eating just one crayfish? It's better to just stir-fry some dried shrimp for them to eat. And this National Day, Wei Dong is getting married, so I'll bring back a few copper hot pots on my way back. The bigger ones, you know. Here, apart from beef and mutton, there's plenty of wood, just pick some up from the mountain and it's enough to burn for several days. Later, the pine wood charcoal will be more than enough."

  Wu Ming said: "The matter of the copper hot pot will be handled by me and Wang Fan, when you come later, just take it away directly".

  "Since you've bought it, why don't you have it delivered to me? That way I can save on shipping later," Ju An asked.

  "Wu Ming scribbled some words: 'Damn, the air freight is so expensive! And you're talking about transporting a dozen people's hot pot, I'd have to spend at least a thousand bucks'".

  "Damn it, who told you to make such a big hot pot? A smaller one would be fine. With ten or so people, it's like a small millstone, of course, the shipping cost is expensive."

  "Let's get both sizes, anyway your kitchen is big, I think it looks a bit empty with just one, putting two hot pots will make the atmosphere lively regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter." Wu Ming replied.

  "What the hell, I've never heard of anyone putting a hot pot in their kitchen to show off" Ju An said with an angry expression.

  Wu Ming followed up with a reply: "Anyway, wherever you go, if it's not a brother then it's a foreigner. We don't say anything, foreigners understand nothing, just tell them to ward off evil spirits and they'll definitely believe it." Wu Ming then made a smug expression.

  "Alright, alright, you go ahead and flirt with the girls, don't forget to prepare my little gift. As for the hot pot, do whatever you want."