Pastoral Daily Life

s the darkness faded and the morning light broke, the city that had slept all night began to wake up. Yan Yue extinguished the cigarette in his hand and took a comfortable bath. At six o’clock, he appeared in the dining room downstairs fully dressed.

In the dining room, Yan Yue’s grandfather, Yin Yongde, was already sitting at the table. Yin Yongde was a white-haired old man, hale and hearty. Perhaps because he was getting older and sleeping less and less, he got up at five o’clock every day. He did some boxing and raised flowers, and had breakfast at six sharp.

“Ah Yue, how was your sleep?” Yin Yongde asked kindly.

The corners of Yan Yue’s mouth curved at just the right angle, “Very good.”

Yin Yongde smiled and gestured at Yan Yue to sit down beside him.

“Ah Yue, what are your plans for today? If you don’t have any plans, you can accompany me, an old man, for a walk in the morning, and in the afternoon your mother will come over and we’ll have a meal together.”

“Okay.” Yan Yue’s expression remained the same, not even the curve of his mouth changed.

Yin Yongde looked at him and felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. From the beginning to the end, Yan Yue’s smile was impeccable, but he did not see the slightest hint of joy in Yan Yue’s eyes. With a silent sigh, he said nothing and easily moved to the topic of breakfast.

The place where Yin Yongde lived was located near Fenghuang Mountain Park in Fengcheng, and he liked to go climb Fenghuang Mountain when he had nothing to do. Since they were going to climb the mountain, the shirt and pants Yan Yue was wearing would not be appropriate. After breakfast Yan Yue went back to his room to change his clothes, while Yin Yongde waited in the courtyard, bending down to look at his precious cymbidiums. The housekeeper came over and handed the phone to Yin Yongde, whispering, “It’s Young Lady.”

The young lady the butler spoke of was none other than Yan Yue’s mother and Yin Yongde’s only daughter, Yin Qinglan. Hearing that it was his daughter’s phone call, Yin Yongde picked it up.

“Why are you so early today?” Yin Yongde smiled.

“Dad.” Although Yin Qinglan was now nearly fifty years old, she still behaved like a little daughter in front of Yin Yongde, “Have you mentioned to Ah Yue about dinner together tonight?”

Hearing the eagerness in Yin Qinglan’s tone, Yin Yongde thought that his daughter was concerned about his grandson, so he felt comforted and said in a softer tone, “Yes, I did.”

“Then, what about Xiao Ya?”

Yin Yongde’s face sank, “You’re bringing Xiao Ya along?”

“Dad, Xiao Ya is also your granddaughter, you…”

Yin Yongde interrupted her words with suppressed anger, “I didn’t say that Xiao Ya was not my granddaughter. But Ah Yue is here, Xiao Ya should not be brought here. Alright, this matter is settled.”

Yin Yongde hung up the phone and sighed helplessly; when he turned his head, Yan Yue was standing behind him.

“Ah Yue?”

Yan Yue looked as if he hadn’t heard anything, his expression as usual. Yin Yongde looked at Yan Yue hesitantly, trying to say something, but in the end, under Yan Yue’s eyes that seemed to understand everything, he couldn’t say a word.

The Yin and the Yan families were a mess.

More than twenty years ago, the Yin and the Yan families joined in marriage and the Yin family’s only daughter married the Yan family’s only son. Yin Yongde had only one daughter, and all of the family’s wealth was used as a dowry. The Yin family’s company was logically merged into the Yan family, and together they formed Hopewell Group. The two families agreed that the future heir to Hopewell Group could only be the child of Yin Qinglan and Yan Shihui.

The Yin and the Yan families were very hopeful at the time, both in terms of the merger of the companies and the fact that Yin Qinglan and Yan Shihui got along very well before the marriage. No one expected that the two would find that their personalities clashed after the marriage, which led to constant conflicts. Yan Yue’s father, Yan Shihui, was a cold and hard-hearted man who was mostly focused on his career. Yan Yue’s mother, Yin Qinglan, grew up spoiled, naive and self-absorbed, and needed to be held in the palm of one’s hand. What Yan Shihui needed was a wise helper who could assist him in managing the family business, while Yin Qinglan wanted a good man who would make her the centre of his universe. With this fundamental disagreement, their relationship broke down completely. Yan Shihui was the first to cheat, and after making a scene a few times Yin Qinglan soon went off to pursue her own happiness. The two had lovers and children of their own, leaving Yan Yue as the redundant one.

After Yan Shihui cheated, the two families considered divorcing and remarrying. However, after the two companies had been merged for a few years, the assets were all mixed together and the division of property was a major problem. Yin Yongde and Yan Yue’s other grandfather had discussed how to divide the property several times, but before they could come up with a suitable plan, Yin Qinglan announced in a high-profile manner that she had found her own happiness. Since Yan Shihui could find a woman outside, she could also find a man.

Yin Yongde was very angry with Yin Qinglan’s behaviour. Originally Yan Shihui was in a disadvantageous position and the Yin family was in control of the situation, but Yin Qinglan made such a mess and as a result both of them were equally matched and neither could laugh at the other. Yin Yongde was still angry, but Yin Qinglan was his daughter whom he had spoiled since childhood, so he had no choice but to pinch his nose and accept her behaviour. After discussing the matter again, the two families agreed that Yan Shihui and Yin Qinglan would remain married to each other but live their own lives in private. As for Hopewell Group, which was shared by the two families, Yan Yue, their child, would be the sole heir.

Over the years, Yin Yongde had felt guilty towards Yan Yue. The lack of parental care during Yan Yue’s childhood was certainly due to the irresponsibility of both parents, but to some extent it was also due to the wrong decision made by him and Yan Yue’s other grandfather. Now the older Yan Yue got, the weaker his relationship with his family became. Yin Yongde saw it with his own eyes, but could do nothing about it. It was for the best, he thought with a sigh. Yan Yue was Yan Yue and Yin Ya was Yin Ya. His daughter was confused, but he was not yet confused.

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When Yan Yue accompanied Yin Yongde up to the top of Fenghuang Mountain, Lu Lingxi had just woken up.

He was so excited last night that it was almost two o’clock when he fell asleep, and in the morning he had unknowingly slept a little longer. As soon as he opened his eyes, Lu Lingxi could smell the aroma of food. He rubbed his eyes, got dressed and pushed open the door to see the figure of Wang Shuxiu busy in the kitchen. 

“Got up? Hurry up and wash your face, get ready to eat.”

Wang Shuxiu had just returned from her night shift and had bought soy milk at the entrance to the neighbourhood. She disliked the unclean oil from the fritters you could buy outside and came back to make her own pancakes.

Lu Lingxi nodded and finished washing up quickly. He was about to help set up the dishes, but after inadvertently seeing the backyard, he couldn’t close his mouth in surprise. In just one night, all the tomato seeds planted last night had actually sprouted. Green shoots sprouted out of the soil and filled the entire backyard.

Lu Lingxi put down the dishes and chopsticks and ran to the balcony, looking at everything in front of him in astonishment. He used the mental scan and the small sprouts that had yet to take shape spun in front of him.

Successful tomato planting, reward the plant heart +50

The panel prompt lit up, and Lu Lingxi could not help but feel excited as he received such a large reward for the first time. Originally he had been a little worried that his progress would be too slow to level up when he looked at the 0/1000 (Level 1) that the panel displayed, but now he was relieved.

He stayed in the backyard for a bit too long, and when Wang Shuxiu came over to call him to eat, she was stunned to see the backyard. In just one day, the backyard was completely changed. The weeds had been cleaned up, the soil had been turned over, and there was no telling what had been planted.

What had been planted? Wang Shuxiu looked at Lu Lingxi suspiciously.

Lu Lingxi also came back to his senses. He had already thought of an excuse for the appearance of these seeds, saying that they were given to him by the flower farmer he had helped at the hospital. He thought it would be fun and thought he would try to grow something.

When Lu Lingxi said this, Wang Shuxiu didn’t say anything. The seeds were not worth much anyway, so the other party was probably just using them to trick Lu Lingxi, the silly boy, as a labour force. As for Lu Lingxi’s planting, the backyard was empty and growing grass was also growing grass, as long as Lu Lingxi was happy.

“All right, all right, eat first, look how happy you are. You have all day to fiddle with it, the soy milk is getting cold.”

Wang Shuxiu finished speaking and went back to the living room, but Lu Lingxi realised a big problem. He hadn’t spoken to Wang Shuxiu about his work yet. He secretly glanced at Wang Shuxiu’s expression and sat down beside her obediently.

“Come, eat a pancake while it’s hot.”

Wang Shuxiu’s cooking was good, the pancakes  golden in colour, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, very tasty. Lu Lingxi absentmindedly took a bite, and while Wang Shuxiu seemed to be in a good mood, he whispered quickly, “Mom, I’ve found a job.”

“What?” Wang Shuxiu didn’t hear what Lu Lingxi said at first, and when she reacted, she immediately threw down her chopsticks, “What did you say, little bastard?”

Lu Lingxi bit into the pancake and blinked, looking at Wang Shuxiu with a serious expression, “I found a job, so you won’t have to work so hard in the future, Mom.”

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Wang Shuxiu’s anger was completely extinguished by Lu Lingxi’s words.

“Little bastard!” Wang Shuxiu scolded with a smile, “You know how to say something nice.”

Lu Lingxi curved his eyes, smiling, thinking that Wang Shuxiu saying that meant that she agreed; but who knew that Wang Shuxiu would slowly and methodically pick up her chopsticks and come straight to the point, “Although I’m happy to say this, but working is still not an option, you must go to school.”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

Mother and son were at a standstill when Yi Hang climbed the fence and tumbled in from the backyard.

“Lao San, when are you going to go to… Fuck, Lao San, what did you plant yesterday, this grass is growing too fast!”

Yi Hang ran in from the balcony in a fuss. He was unexpectedly dressed very simply today and his face was clean, so he looked just like an ordinary student.

As soon as Yi Hang came in, Wang Shuxiu sneered. The little bastard had just been discharged from the hospital and couldn’t remember anything, so even if he wanted to find a job, it wouldn’t have been that easy. It must have been that little bastard Yi Hang who helped him.

Yi Hang was completely unaware of the danger and smiled as he met Wang Shuxiu’s eyes. “Hello, Sister.”

Lu Lingxi: “……”

Wang Shuxiu grabbed Yi Hang’s ear, “Sister? Sister, my ass! What did I tell you to do yesterday? To take Lu Lingxi out to buy some books for his first year of senior middle school, but you actually took him to look for a job? Do you want to make trouble?”

Yi Hang: “……”

“Sister, I was wrong!” He hurriedly exclaimed.

Lu Lingxi hastily walked up to pull Wang Shuxiu away from Yi Hang and eagerly said. “It has nothing to do with Yi Hang, it’s me who insisted on looking for a job. It just so happened that there was a suitable one, so I agreed to it. I even signed the contract and said I would go to work today.”

Wang Shuxiu loosened her grip bitterly and met Lu Lingxi’s pleading eyes. There was really nothing she could do. When she thought about the time before the little bastard’s accident, although he did not listen to her, she could beat him up and scold him whenever she wanted to. But now, the little bastard’s temperament had changed. When he looked at her solemnly, she really couldn’t be harsh anymore.

When Lu Lingxi insisted, Wang Shuxiu finally had no choice but to let him go to work for a few days first to see.

When Yi Hang bit into the pancake and scowled at Lu Lingxi, Wang Shuxiu slapped him on the head, “It’s all your fault.”

Yi Hang: “……” 

He was really going to die of injustice.