Chapter 106: The Ideal of Peaceful Living

  Three young men had no problem with their work, after all, they were from the ranch and still did it very smoothly. They loaded up on bean straw and headed back home, but unfortunately, Lu Guangyuan was still waiting at home.

  When he arrived home, he found Lu Guangyuan playing with Teddy under the corridor, while Wu Song was on the corridor above, watching Teddy play with people. As Ju An walked over, Lu Guangyuan stood up and smiled, saying: "This little bear dog is really fun, how did you raise it to be so chubby?"

  "Every day, several catties of meat go down the belly. Now I don't eat fatty meat, only lean meat and bones. Raw ones are not eaten, they must be 60% cooked, that's my favorite. And with fruits and all, it's possible to get so fat. Otherwise, when there's a chance in the future, I'll also raise one for you."

  "Good fellow, are you raising a bear or a child? Is this treatment what they call 'bear children' domestically?" Lu Guangyuan joked.

  "Little puppies are born, come and take a look. In about ten to twenty days, you can come and pick one up," said Ju An, leading Lu Guangyuan towards the granary. As they opened the door, two mother dogs stared intently at Lu Guangyuan behind Ju An, growling softly as if warning him not to approach. The little puppies had already opened their eyes and were crawling around on the dry grass near their mother, their legs still unsteady, swaying back and forth as if they couldn't stand firmly. Their small eyes shone with a faint blue light, like they were wearing beautiful contact lenses. Even Ju An, a grown man, found them adorable.

  Lu Guangyuan stood behind Ju An, not daring to bend down and touch the puppy, fearing that the mother dog would suddenly attack him. Even if Ju An said it was okay, he didn't dare to touch it, the mother dog was too fierce. He looked at them standing up: "I think those two white puppies look good, if someone comes to choose first, just leave one for me, if I come and both are here, I'll take the bigger one".

  "Suit yourself, but when the full moon comes, you'd better come, I owe two little guys a dog now, don't let them all choose white ones and take them away from me."

  "Never mind, little guy. I'm a big person, why should I fight with kids over something? It's all the same anyway. If it's gone, I'll just pick one randomly. Last time your sister-in-law came back and praised how smart the dogs here are, especially loving garlic heads. Next time let her come and choose." Lu Guangyuan said with a smile.

  Watching Lu Guangyuan also didn't dare to make a move, he put down the small dog in his hand and took him out of the door, casually closing the granary door.

  After sitting on the corridor for a while and having a cup of tea, Lu Guangyuan stood up to bid farewell. Ju An was still staying for lunch before leaving, but was also rejected, saying that his family was really too busy.

  After sending off Lu Guangyuan, I looked up at the sky and it was already almost 9 o'clock. I guessed that Jasmine would be arriving soon. Remembering that there were still clothes in the house that hadn't been hung up, I hurriedly returned to the house, picked up the laundry basket, and headed upstairs. Just as I had hung up half of the clothes in the closet, I heard Jasmine's voice coming from downstairs: "An, honey! Are you home? Does Teddy miss me? He's such a good boy. Wu Song, let's go find An together, who knows where she's run off to again. Teddy is so much better, always waiting for me at the door and being very enthusiastic."

  Jū ān chà diǎn shuāi le gè kuài, gǎn qíng wǒ duì nǐ bù rè qíng?，biàn dà shēng shuō: "Wǒ zài lóu shàng de wò shì lǐ ne, nǐ shàng lái ba, wǒ zài yī mào jiān". Shuō wán biàn jì xù zhěng lǐ shǒu lǐ de yī fu.

  A burst of chaotic footsteps, Jasmine went upstairs, followed by Teddy's silly appearance. Seeing Ju An hanging clothes, Jasmine also walked over to help Ju An hang up the clothes.

  "Hang up two pieces and said: 'Don't hang anymore, why don't you iron these clothes? Look at the wrinkles, how ugly! Go get me an iron, I need to iron this shirt, it will look better when worn.'"

  Jū ān zhǐ hǎo zhuǎn shēn cóng yī mào jiān de chōu tì lǐ ná chū yùn dòu, dào wèi shēng jiān qù jiē le diǎn shuǐ, rán hòu bǎ xiāng yī jià zǐ kāi fàng, mò lì biàn bǎ jū ān gāng gāng guà hǎo de jǐ jiàn chèn shān cóng xīn ná le xià lái, rán hòu yī jiàn yī jiàn de kāi shǐ yùn qǐlai.

  While ironing clothes, she said to Ju An: "Just now I saw that there are so many big pumpkins under the corridor, you've prepared too many pumpkins for Halloween, a few would be enough, who buys so many like you?"

  Lying comfortably on the bed, watching Jasmine ironing clothes, replied: "It's not bought, it was given by a friend, and also gave a lot of corn and other things, I'm worried about how to deal with them. By the way, have you bought pumpkins at your house? If not, take a few from here."

  Jasmine looked at Ju An and smiled, saying: "You forgot that my family runs a farm, how could we not have pumpkins? You can keep these for yourself. By the way, I have some good news and some bad news to tell you, which one do you want to hear first?"

  She smiled and lay down on the bed, asking: "I want to hear the good news first, then you can tell me the bad news". Why do Americans always like this plot? It's in movies, it's on TV shows, every time there's a good message and a bad message. I'm so tired of it, who knew it would happen in real life too!

  Jasmine smiled and said, "My agent told me that a relatively well-known director wants me to audition for a role. My agent said the director personally called him and said the character is very suitable for me. Yesterday I took a look at the script, it's really good, and it's a first supporting role with about the same amount of screen time as the female lead. It's a great opportunity for me, and I don't want to miss it."

  "Upon hearing this, Ju An said: 'Well, that's good news then. That's really good news. What about the bad news?'"

  "The bad news is that I have to go back to California in two days, so there's no time for me to stay with you. If I get the part, I might be stuck in California for a few months," Molly said with a smile.

  "Ah, this is indeed a piece of bad news."

  Jasmine put down the iron in her hand, walked over, sat on Ju An's leg, hugged Ju An's neck and said: "Hey! HONEY! I'm just going to California, if I have time, I'll come back to see you, or you can go to California to see me, right?"

  Jū ān placed both hands under Mò lì's chin, his thumbs gently sliding across her delicate face. Her skin was so smooth, with a nose that seemed chiseled and eyes that shone like deep blue pools filled with joy and anticipation. He lightly smoothed out the golden hair on her shoulders: "You think I'm just supporting you with both hands, but I was also thinking of spending Halloween together this time... now it's all ruined. And during the Halloween period, I won't be able to take time off either - new cows are coming to the ranch and I won't be able to go to California to spend the holiday with you. This damn director!" Jū ān said in frustration.

  At this moment, a humming cry was heard, and Wu An turned his head to see that Teddy was crawling onto the bed with his big butt up, while Wu Song was pushing behind him. Now Teddy is much heavier than Wu Song, no wonder Wu Song was gritting his teeth.

  A burst of crisp laughter sounded, Jasmine turned her body, and then pulled Teddy onto the bed. The lamp bear leaned against Ju An's back and slid down, rubbing twice, his head stretched under Ju An's armpit, looking at Jasmine with his small eyes open. Jasmine continued: "So this afternoon, let's go to the store and pick out Halloween costumes. We're going to celebrate Halloween this afternoon! What are you going to dress up as?"

  He grasped Jasmine's small waist and pulled her towards himself: "I haven't thought about it yet, let's go to the store and see what you like, then dress up as that. Oh, I forgot to ask you, are you preparing anything for Halloween?"

  Jasmine thought for a moment: "You've got pumpkins, and then there's candy. Maybe some kids will come by asking for candy. If you don't give them any, they might throw stinky eggs at your house. But I guess there aren't many kids around here, so just prepare a little."

  Jū ān nodded after listening. The two of them chatted for a while, and Jasmine continued to iron clothes. Jū ān took Taidi and Wusong downstairs to prepare lunch, watching the intimate couple from up close with a silly expression.

  When Jasmine finished ironing her clothes and went downstairs, Ju An had already stir-fried tomatoes and eggs and was preparing to stir-fry celery with shredded meat. This dish was a bit too much, but it included Teddy's portion, which had just been taken out of the pot. As soon as Jasmine entered the kitchen, she started eating. She wasn't used to having two dishes together for lunch, where everyone would use chopsticks to pick up food randomly. She preferred the Western-style meal habit of monopolizing a dish in front of her, where no one else could touch it except herself. Ju An laughed and said she was like the little dog in their hometown that guarded its food bowl, glaring at anyone who touched it.

  At mealtime, Jasmine ate for a while and then put several pieces of egg into Teddy's large bowl. This guy made Jasmine wear an apron, and today he stood on the dining table with his whole body to eat. Wu Song also mixed in and climbed onto a high stool, reaching the table to eat the fruit slices in front of him with both hands.

  She stroked Teddy's head and asked curiously, "By the way, An, what is your dream after all? I know mine, but I don't know yours."

  He swallowed the food in his mouth and thought for a moment before saying: "A few months ago, my dream was to have my own house, not to worry about living, and having a small car would be even more perfect."

  Jasmine smiled and said: "Then you've already achieved it, now that you have a house, your life seems to be worry-free too".

  "Living a comfortable life, I nodded and said: 'My previous ideals have been achieved, but in these days, I have new ideals. When I make money from my ranch, I will enjoy all the material comforts that I can think of in this world.'"

  Jasmine smiled and said: "Nowadays rich people are popular to go to space, do you also want to go up for a trip?"

  Shook his head: "Not going, that guy is too dangerous, spending so much money is not as good as playing with a fire-breathing fighter plane".