The Sweet Little Fulang

 The winter the year before last was very cold, and there were very few wild vegetables in the early spring. That year the wild vegetables could be sold for four to five copper coins a catty.

    Dahui and the puppy followed them went up the mountain. It was early spring, and the puppy had grown up again. The thick coat in the winter hadn't yet faded, and he looked strong and healthy. He was running around in the mountains, he looked very energetic,q and his ears were shaking.

    Digging wild vegetables was very familiar to Lu Gu, he was not far away from the place where Shen Xuanqing collected firewood, and in a short while the bamboo basket he brought was half full.

    In a few days, the spring bamboo shoots would show up, and even if they didn't go into the deep mountain, they could still found them, and later sell them in the market. He shook off the mud from the roots of wild vegetables while thinking about earning money.

    Relying on mountains and eating from mountains, as long as they worked hard, they could earn money. Of course, it was the best if the money they earned was in their own hands, so they could feel at ease in their hearts. Unlike before, he couldn't even have a copper coin from his hard work.

    Hearing the barking of the dogs were going away, he stood up and shouted into the mountain: "Guaizi!"

    "Wow!"

    The puppy replied, and ran over after a while.

    Lu Gu picked up the bamboo basket and was about to go to Shen Xuanqing to have a look, when a thin figure gradually appeared on the hillside not far away, it was Chen Dongdong, the fulang of the He family.

    Because Chen Dongdong was timid and cowardly, he didn't speak loudly, which made Lu Gu feel easy to get along with him, so he smiled and said, "Dong ger, you also come to dig wild vegetables." 

    Chen Dongdong was wearing patched clothes. He was shorter than Lu Gu and also thin, and the mole between his eyebrows was not very red. He also got along well with Lu Gu, he pursed his lips and showed an unusual smile, shy and jerky.

    Guaizi ran over, he looked very strong, and in Chen Dongdong's eyes, he also looked vicious, so Chen Dongdong couldn't help feeling a little scared. Fortunately, Lu Gu called the puppy back, so the emotion showing in his eyes became stable.

    "Are you alone?" Lu Gu patted the puppy on the head. Although this place was not in the deep mountain, it was also far away from the foot of mountain. It was alright for the men to go to this place alone, but if it was women or Shuang'er, it was something to worry about.

    "He Zhi is behind." Chen Dongdong came over and said. When he saw the bamboo basket in Lu Gu's hand, he said, "You have dug so much."

"Yeah." Lu Gu smiled, his eyebrows and eyes were curved. He no longer worried when he heard that He Zhi followed him.

While talking, another figure appeared on the hillside, who else could it be except He Zhi.

Because he was not familiar with him, He Zhi hesitated when he saw Lu Gu. In the end he only nodded slightly, and Lu Gu also nodded back.

    "Guzi, let's go dig wild vegetables first." Chen Dongdong glanced at his husband, said goodbye and then went to the other side. Lu Gu had already dug the wild vegetables in this place before, so there were not many wild vegetables to find.

    Staying at home for the past few months, Lu Gu already knew about the He family from Wei Lanxiang.

    Not to mention Chen Dongdong, the clothes on He Zhi's body were also full of patches. It was not that they were lazy, because there was a sick old woman and a lame father in their family. They were old and easy to get sick. When they were sick, they had to buy medicine and spend money. 

     In the past few years, it seemed that their luck was not good, and there were other money-spending things that hindered them. They always spent as much as they earned, and their lives were a bit stretched, poor.

    He Zhi was usually a silent person, and he seldom spoke to others even though he was bullied, but he was honest and enthusiastic. If someone in the neighborhood had something to do, they would ask him to help out, and he rarely refused. So even if someone wanted to bully him, the neighbors would help him and scold the bully for him.

    Also even if they were so poor, he was not like some men who beat their wives or fulangs to vent their anger. Chen Dongdong lived with him in poverty, but he was never beaten up.

    There were often men in the village who beat their wives and fulangs. Chen Dongdong sometimes thought that his rare luck was to marry the right person. His natal family was also poor, so he didn't feel that his life in the He family was so bad.

    Chen Dongdong and his husband left, and Lu Gu also took the puppy to find Shen Xuanqing.

    "Er Qing?" He had just walked a long way, and now he couldn't hear the sound of chopping firewood, so he called out to the front.

    "Here." Shen Xuanqing leaned out from behind the shaded trees, and he was bending over to bundle the firewood.

    When Lu Gu walked over, he had already tied up a large bundle of firewood.

    "Do you still want to continue?" Lu Gu asked.

    "Yeah." Shen Xuanqing nodded: "Two more bundles, then pull them to the town with a cart and we can sell more."

"Then I'll go to dig wild vegetables." Lu Gu thought for a while and then said, "Isn't there still a shorter rope, I can carry it back if you chop some more later."

"Okay." Shen Xuanqing knew that he was diligent, so he could just tie a few less firewood and let him carry it back. He thought that Lu Gu could carry it for fun.

    Lu Gu saw shepherd's purse under his feet, so he squatted down to dig it, and the puppy took advantage of the opportunity to rub his legs and his back, he was really a clingy dog.

    Feeling the weight on his back, Lu Gu laughed and said, "Why are you so heavy?"

    He brought up the puppy with his own hands, and because the puppy was too smart and like a child, so his tone seemed to be coaxing a child.

    The puppy couldn't understand human words, but he knew that Lu Gu was talking to him, so he whimpered and groaned, he kept rubbing against Lu Gu more and more tightly.

    Shen Xuanqing who was next to him heard it, and then he remembered that Lu Gu called him Er Qing just now. Usually Lu Gu stayed with him all the time, and rarely called his name. That voice sounded extraordinarily waxy and soft. Obviously other people also called him Er Qing, but the same two words seemed to change the tone in Lu Gu's mouth, it was lingering and intimate.