Pastoral Daily Life

After being arrested, Lai San and Lai Si soon gave a clear account of their actions. The brothers move around Fengcheng on a regular basis under the guise of making trips on a tricycle for money. When they meet a child who was alone and suitable, the two of them would coax the child, and if they couldn’t coax, they would use drugs. Xiao Shi was lucky. Some time ago, Lai Si had an accident with the drug and Lai San lost half of the money because of it. He was distressed and refused to let Lai Si use the drug again. Otherwise, a shot of anaesthetic would go down, and no matter how smart Xiao Shi was, it would be in vain.

With the information from Lai San and Lai Si, Fang Lei immediately separated from his local colleagues and went to arrest several human traffickers around Fengcheng on the same day, and at the same time, followed the trail and caught the buyers during the next contact. Among these people, Old Yaotou’s capture was the most gratifying. It was said that he specially transported little beggars to Zhongjing. Many of the children who fell into his hands were very miserable. In Fang Lei’s words, Old Yaotou was a scumbag.

All these things were told to Lu Lingxi by Fang Lei on the phone in the evening. As soon as Fang Lei’s colleagues arrived at noon, Lu Lingxi took Xiao Shi back to Lingshui Village. Fang Lei knew that Lu Lingxi was concerned about the aftermath of the incident and he also wanted to ask for leniency for Xiao Shi. Fang Lei had known Lu Lingxi for some time, but it was the first time he had seen him angry. He thought that Xiao Shi would be beaten up when he returned. Originally, Fang Lei felt that Xiao Shi deserved a lesson, but after he had caught all these scum and rescued nearly twenty children this afternoon, Fang Lei had to admit that Xiao Shi had done a good deed.

Fang Lei vaguely said on the phone that they should give Xiao Shi a chance and not beat him up too hard. He knew that Yu Xiaojuan was one of Lu Lingxi’s employees and that Lu Lingxi could definitely talk to Yu Xiaojuan. Lu Lingxi understood what he meant and couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t worry, Xiao Shi is fine.”

As soon as he brought Xiao Shi back to Lingshui Village in the afternoon, Xiao Shi was making a fuss about going to find his grandmother. Yu Xiaojuan listened to Lu Lingxi’s words and rolled up her sleeves, but as a result, Grandma Dong stopped her from beating him, saying that it was okay to beat him but Xiao Shi had just come back, let him settle down first and beat him in a few days. Lu Lingxi looked at Xiao Shi’s appearance and thought he would probably be forgiven in a few days. Meanwhile, Ah Huang was praised by Grandma Dong wholeheartedly because of this incident. She bought bones and built a kennel, treating Ah Huang as a great benefactor of their family. There was a lot of fuss all afternoon and it was only in the evening that Yan Yue picked up Lu Lingxi from Lingshui Village.

Lu Lingxi spoke so vividly that Fang Lei couldn’t help but smile as he imagined Xiao Shi and Ah Huang.

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“All right, then I’m relieved. After this is over I’ll try to apply for a commendation for Dahei and Ah Huang, so that they don’t work for nothing.”

The so-called commendation was a kind of a certificate, and Lu Lingxi felt that it didn’t matter whether there was one or not. But this was Fang Lei’s good intention, so he didn’t refuse.

After hanging up the phone, Lu Lingxi was still thinking about Xiao Shi. Yan Yue closed the file in his hand and smiled at Lu Lingxi: “What did Fang Lei say?”

Lu Lingxi sat down next to Yan Yue and said, somewhat distractedly, “He talked about their actions this afternoon, and about Xiao Shi.”

Speaking of Xiao Shi, Yan Yue shook his head, “Xiao Shi is really too bold this time.”

This was exactly what Lu Lingxi was most worried about. He felt that Xiao Shi was too bold, overwhelmingly so, because Xiao Shi thought he could communicate with Ah Huang. This unusual ability had given him the confidence to do things that he shouldn’t have done at his age. This wasn’t the first time. Previously, Uncle Li had mentioned that Xiao Shi had relied on Ah Huang to scare Xu San. At the time, both Lu Lingxi and Uncle Li’s education was focused on telling Xiao Shi that he couldn’t do bad things just because he had this ability at his disposal. But now, Lu Lingxi felt that what he should teach Xiao Shi more was how to properly understand this ability. Even with Ah Huang around, he wasn’t omnipotent.

Hearing Lu Lingxi’s concern, Yan Yue thought for a moment. “It wasn’t as serious as you think, Xiao Xi. It is probably because Fang Lei often goes to Xiao Shi to tell him about solving cases, and Xiao Shi subconsciously idolises the characters in Fang Lei’s stories. Boys will have this stage in their growth, worshipping and aspiring to be heroes, and when he is a little older he will understand.”

When he said this, Lu Lingxi was a little confused and more curious, “Really, Big Brother Yan, did you have this stage, too?”

Yan Yue hooked the corners of his mouth and smiled lightly, “Big Brother Yan had one too, did Xiao Xi not?”

Lu Lingxi subconsciously shook his head; halfway through the shake he thought of something and said hesitantly, “I forgot.”

Yan Yue noticed his expression; his eyes darkened, he reached out and swept Lu Lingxi into his arms, lowering his head and kissing him on the cheek, “Don’t think about it.”

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Lu Lingxi hummed in a low voice and found a comfortable position in Yan Yue’s arms, half lying on the sofa and picking up an illustrated book on flowers. He looked like he was reading a book, but his attention wasn’t focused on it at all as he kept thinking about what Yan Yue said. The longer he lived this life, the more he realised the abnormality of his previous life. This abnormality wasn’t just because he couldn’t go to school and needed to stay home all year, but… Lu Lingxi didn’t want to think about it anymore, put down the book, turned over and hugged Yan Yue’s waist, burying his head in Yan Yue’s chest.

His look of dependence satisfied Yan Yue’s heart, and he gently touched Lingxi’s back, his eyes soft like flowing water.

The two of them didn’t speak and a faint warmth surrounded them; the only sound in the room was the TV.

“The rainy season is upon us, and it is the mating season in the grasslands again!”

Lu Lingxi puffed out a laugh, the warm atmosphere from before gone. He looked up from Yan Yue’s arms and saw Dahei squatting solemnly in front of the TV, pressing the remote control to watch “Animal World”, while Xiaohei was lazily coiled on top of Dahei’s head, nibbling on the tip of his own tail for fun.

Lu Lingxi’s eyes curved and his smile grew brighter and brighter as he watched the two children of his family getting along harmoniously. Yan Yue looked down at him in fascination, wishing only that the young man would always look this happy.

The reason he went to An Jie today was to ask him to help him investigate the matter of the Lu family in Zhongjing. He didn’t go back to China often before, and he had nothing to do with the Lu family in Zhongjing, so he didn’t care about the news of the Lu family at all. But from the moment he had that suspicion, he couldn’t wait to investigate the affairs of the Lu family as soon as possible, especially Lu Guangjing’s family.

An Jie was very surprised by Yan Yue’s command but didn’t comment. The Lu family’s affairs were no secret, and many people in Zhongjing knew about them. Of course, what Yan Yue had asked for was a detailed investigation from 18 years ago, which would take some time. But from the few things that were known so far, Yan Yue could infer the growing experience of the other “Lu Lingxi”, the life he didn’t want the young man to experience at all.

Remembering the boy’s unusual attention to donglingcao, Yan Yue’s heart softened as he lowered his head and kissed the boy tenderly.

“Su Lang’s research is going very well, and they are all treasuring the pot of first-class donglingcao we sent to them. At the current rate of progress, they will soon be able to test it on mice.”

Lu Lingxi was a little surprised at how Yan Yue had suddenly brought up Su Lang’s research, but he was still quite happy to hear that they were making progress.

“Are we going to start growing it on a large scale?”

Yan Yue rubbed Lu Lingxi’s face and said softly, “There’s no rush, they have a small amount raised in the lab. We’ll plant it on a large scale after the mice test.”

Lu Lingxi smiled, “Big Brother Yan, you are investing in Dr. Su’s laboratory while working with them in the name of Tiny Garden, completely moving money from your left pocket to your right pocket, making a profit by the way.”

Yan Yue looked at Lu Lingxi deeply and smiled lightly, “What Xiao Xi said is true, Big Brother Yan’s business has been going very well since he met Xiao Xi. It seems that Xiao Xi brings prosperity to his husband.”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

When it came to cheekiness, he was definitely not a match for Yan Yue.

The corners of Yan Yue’s lips curled up, and there was a look of tenderness in his eyes. He gently cupped Lu Lingxi’s chin and lowered his head to kiss him again.

The next morning at the meal, Wang Shuxiu also asked about Xiao Shi. Lu Lingxi briefly described what had happened, and Wang Shuxiu sighed after hearing it. It was a good thing Xiao Shi was lucky, otherwise if he hadn’t been found, what Yu Xiaojuan would have felt was really unthinkable. After talking about Xiao Shi, Wang Shuxiu scolded the traffickers for a while. As a mother, Wang Shuxiu had a deep hatred for human traffickers. As she said this, she remembered something and casually poked Lu Lingxi with a finger.

“You were almost lost once when you were little too, but ended up being brought home.”

She spoke vaguely, and Lu Lingxi looked bewildered. Wang Shuxiu seemed unwilling to mention more, “Forget it, it was all in the past. If it weren’t for Xiao Shi I wouldn’t have remembered. Eat, eat.”

Lu Lingxi gave Wang Shuxiu a puzzled look and obediently lowered his head to eat.

After they finished eating, Wang Shuxiu and Lu Lingxi talked about her going on their honeymoon with Xiao Feng. They had been preparing for it before the wedding, and it was Xiao Hong’s suggestion that the two families should go together. They weren’t going far, just a few cities around the area, and by the way they wanted to help Zhou Xiaoman check up on her health.

Lu Lingxi had no problem with this. He supported Wang Shuxiu to go out and have some fun while she was young. Now that there was no financial burden on the family, it was time for Wang Shuxiu to enjoy life.

“You don’t have to worry about the small restaurant either, I’ve arranged it with Yi Hang, and Tiger will help out with anything when the time comes. Xiao Xi, you just take care of Tiny Garden.” Wang Shuxiu said as she gathered the dishes and chopsticks.

Xiao Feng very consciously rolled up his sleeves and went to wash the dishes. Lu Lingxi was a bit embarrassed and stood up to help, but Wang Shuxiu stopped him. “It’s just a few bowls, your dad can wash them.”

Lu Lingxi held back a smile and nodded. Xiao Feng glanced at Wang Shuxiu with a smile and acquiesced to the fact that he could wash the dishes.

The travel date set by the two couples was the day after tomorrow, and Xiao Hong drove to the community. One car was enough for four people; the only question was what about Xiao Baiwan? He was so big that he would occupy a whole seat and if they took him with them, the car would be a little crowded. Xiao Hong thought for a while, and simply decided not to take Xiao Baiwan with them.

“How about it? Is there any problem taking care of Xiao Baiwan?”

Lu Lingxi shook his head. He had no problem but he didn’t know if Xiao Baiwan would have a problem.