Her Cultivation Diary

Chapter 49: 49. Moving Bag_1

The car cruised along the smooth road, and the journey from the downtown area to the old home took just over an hour.

Qiaoqiao had long since polished off the snacks he ordered at noon, especially loving the egg tarts, red bean pies, and fried chicken wings. Now, he was engrossed in playing with his little duck toy that went quack quack as its wings flapped, beaming with joy.

As he grew older, his family began to treat him more and more like an adult, unconsciously.

But his heart had always remained at the age of five or six.

Even though his family still spoke to him using the tone one would use for children, toys, as those in the village aged and drifted away, hadn’t been in Qiaoqiao’s possession for many years.

His only happiness was watching cartoons.

If Song Tan hadn’t experienced this change, he probably would have been rooted in the mountain village for his whole life, naively watching his cartoons until his parents grew old.

Perhaps he would have gradually learned to cook simple meals, but looking at him, Song Tan couldn’t help but want to bring him even more happiness.

“Qiaoqiao, once the vegetables are sold out, I’ll take you to an amusement park in Ning City,” she said.

Their city was too small; at most, children could play with a few simple pieces of equipment in the park. But those pieces of equipment were really old, and Song Tan was still worried about them.

As a provincial capital, Ning City had well-developed infrastructure and a large amusement park with water and aerial rides, enough to keep him happy all day.

Turning his head, Qiaoqiao asked curiously, “What’s an amusement park?”

After giving it some thought, Song Tan replied, “It’s a place with lots of fun and people, where you can play for a whole day!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ƝονǤᴑ.ƈօ

Qiaoqiao grew excited, “Really? When can we go?”

Song Tan thought for a moment, “Milk Vetch can be sold for about ten more days; once it’s sold out, I’ll take you!”

The drive to Ning City would only take four hours, and now she didn’t worry about the energy it required, it would just take a day off.

Farming was so busy that there was something to do every day. But Qiaoqiao’s happiness was precious, and Song Tan was unwilling to let it slip away.

Now that Qiaoqiao often went outside, he knew much more, and at this moment, he asked, “Can we eat this then?”

He shook the little duck toy, “The box had four different ones, and I only have one.”

It was clear that captivating children involved more than just tasty treats, there were also these damned gimmicks.

Song Tan murmured helplessly, “You sure enjoyed it.”

Boys have big appetites, and as he started to help with the farming, his energy expenditure increased.

The snacks from noon were devoured without a trace.

As for Song Tan…

Since she was driving, she only had the top and bottom slices of the burger that Qiaoqiao had picked out for her. It must be said that eating outside food was still quite uncomfortable.

The deeper the Spiritual Energy, the pickier one becomes about flavors. Will she have to bring a lunchbox the next time they go out?

As they were talking, Qiaoqiao suddenly pointed to the side of the road:

“It’s moving.”

What?

Song Tan looked over and saw a large black bag in the bushes by the road, tied tightly at the top with a cord, something inside pushing against it nonstop.

She strained her ears and vaguely heard sobbing sounds. So she pulled over, “Let’s go check it out.”

Qiaoqiao hurriedly got out of the car, but after struggling with the bag for a while, he only managed to carry the whole bag back:

“Sister, I can’t untie it.”

The plastic rope was wrapped around several times and tied in a tight knot. It was not surprising that it couldn’t be undone.

Song Tan took out a pocket knife and made a cut, and even though she was mentally prepared, she couldn’t help but curse, “What the hell is this!”

Inside were three small mongrel puppies.

Two were yellow and one black; each was just a bit bigger than a palm, with fluff-covered bodies. Their eyes were black and shiny as they whimpered and crawled toward them.

Clearly, they could barely even stand.

Qiaoqiao was stunned for a moment before cheering unwittingly, “Puppy!”

But he glanced at the bag next to him and wondered, “Tied up so tightly, how did the puppy get out?”

Indeed, using a sturdy cloth bag, tied so tightly, clearly meant there was no way out for these dogs.

This was a secluded main road, with few passing vehicles and no pedestrians stopping by.

Song Tan knew that in the village, animals were not usually neutered, and sometimes when cats and dogs had litters, people would choose to dispose of them. To prevent the animals from finding their way back, they would be put in bags and thrown far away.

But generally, people did not dispose of dogs in this manner.

The three puppies in the cloth bag were still squirming, constantly nudging Qiaoqiao’s hand with their noses, making whining and whimpering sounds, probably because they were hungry.

She took a deep breath, and at that moment, her fingertips flicked, sending a stream of Spiritual Energy that invisibly scrubbed the puppies’ skin, killing any lice and insect eggs that might have been there.

After all, it looked like Qiaoqiao really didn’t want to let go, and right now, there were no insect repellents.

Then, she placed the cloth bag on Qiaoqiao’s lap, “Qiaoqiao can take these three puppies home to care for, but first you must hold them properly. Can you do that?”

Qiaoqiao quickly hugged the bag and made a firm promise:

“Qiaoqiao definitely can!”

But then he became dejected, “But Mom won’t let us keep them.”

Song Tan knew.

Wu Lan, like most people in the village, thought the same way: if you kept cats and dogs, they were needed to guard and protect the house; if they couldn’t do that, it didn’t matter much.

However, once you started caring for these cats and dogs, over time, affection would grow. Not to mention cases of dog thievery, what if the animals got injured, sick, or pregnant…?

Paying for their care was absolutely out of the question; they knew too well how hard money was to earn.

But not spending money also weighed on their conscience.

It’s just that at their age, everything seemed easy to dismiss.

But that dismissal did not imply a lack of affection.

Wu Lan’s method was: to avoid future heartache, it was simpler not to keep animals from the start.

But now…

“No problem!” Song Tan confidently assured, “Aren’t we raising pigs and also about to keep chickens and ducks? We just need the little dogs to watch over them. Just coax her well when you get home. Our Qiaoqiao is so well-behaved and so proactive with work, Mother will agree.”

Qiaoqiao blinked, not quite understanding how to coax, but then once again looked down at the whining, soft, warm, fluffy puppies on his lap, and he made up his mind—

It would definitely be possible!

Song Tan smiled, “These three puppies were found by Qiaoqiao; from now on, their care will be Qiaoqiao’s responsibility!”

Qiaoqiao was startled, “I can feed them every day!”

Song Tan shook her head, her expression serious:

“No, that won’t do. The food you give them is the household’s grain and money; you can’t just use it carelessly.”

Qiaoqiao was taken aback.

After a while, he came up with another idea, “Then Qiaoqiao will share his own meal with them.”

Song Tan thought for a moment, “It’s not completely out of the question, but they don’t eat much when they’re young. However, once they get a bit bigger, together they’ll eat as much as piglets, and Qiaoqiao only has a few bowls of rice to eat every day, right?”

Qiaoqiao counted, and then he became despondent again.

“So, I can’t afford to keep the puppies?”

Song Tan shook her head, “How about this: from now on, each time Qiaoqiao helps with work around the house, your sister will pay you a wage—helping with selling vegetables, carrying baskets, 50 yuan each time.”

“Working in the fields, 50 yuan for half a day.”

“This money will be kept in your sister’s hands. I’ll keep a record of it for Qiaoqiao, and if you want to buy something for yourself or for the puppies, you can come to me for the money.”

“But if the money runs out, and there’s no more work needed at home, you’ll have no income, and the puppies will have to go hungry.”