Chapter 28: “amber”
Lin Zhao finished cooking, but Da Zai and Er Zai hadn’t returned yet.
She wasn’t in a hurry. She let the dragon-phoenix twins play in the yard, then went back inside and sat by the window.
The two well-behaved cubs could see their mother when they looked up, and they didn’t fuss, crouching on the ground playing.
Lin Zhao thought that they had run out of meat at home and only had eggs left. The dog couldn’t possibly eat the fine grains at home. If the villagers knew, they would criticize her for the rest of her life, so she still had to find a way to get some coarse grains.
How to find a way?
Of course, it had to rely on the Lucky Draw Turntable.
She would never admit that she was a little eager to draw because she hadn’t drawn for a few days.
Three draws.
Only three draws!
If she drew something good, it would be luck, but if not, she wouldn’t draw any more. Lin Zhao swore in her heart.
The first draw, her luck was okay, she drew something to eat.
【Shrimp Crisp Candy × 1 bag （50 pieces ）】
【Milk Powder × 1 bag 】
【Meat Sauce × 2 bottles 】
【Portable Mirror × 3 】
【Pork Ribs × 2 jin 】
That was it, 10 points gone.
Lin Zhao was still satisfied.
Next was the second draw.
She drew the “Summer Relief Gift Pack.”
【Green-skinned red-fleshed large watermelon × 5 】
【Mung Beans × 1 jin 】
【Green Tea × 1 can 】
【Lemons × 2 】
Still nothing the dog could eat.
Lin Zhao calculated in her heart that if she didn’t get anything she wanted in three draws, she would go to the old house to exchange for coarse grains.
Immediately after, the last draw.
“I must draw coarse grains, draw coarse grains.” Lin Zhao’s knowledge of everything beyond her era came from the original book. She didn’t know about things not mentioned in the original book, such as dog food.
After she muttered, she clicked to draw.
Her luck was not bad.
She drew the 「Dog Raising Set」.
【Deodorant × 1 bottle 】
【Internal and External Deworming Medicine for Dogs × 1 box 】
【Dog Food × 100 jin 】
Dog food, as the name implies, is food for dogs. 100 jin, that should be enough for the dog to eat for a long time, right?
She drew what she wanted, and Lin Zhao was content.
Her points became 250, but it was worth it.
Seeing that the dragon-phoenix twins weren’t paying attention, she hid all the newly drawn items in the cabinet. Fortunately, the cabinet was large, otherwise, it would have been full long ago.
Lin Zhao walked out of the room. Just then, Da Zai and Er Zai ran home.
Er Zai was holding a skinny little yellow dog, and behind them, the dog mother was secretly following from a distance.
The skinny Da Huang didn’t enter the house. It hid by the side of the Lin family’s main door, cautiously poking its head inside. It hoped its child would have a home but worried its child would be disliked.
Er Zai put down the little yellow dog and reached out to touch its neck.
Da Zai said happily, “Mom, we found Little Yellow. He and Da Huang were eating garbage at the village entrance. It seems hungry. Do we have anything at home to feed it?”
The puppy was skinny, its fur was not shiny, and its fur was dirty and tangled. Its eyes were wet and seemed intelligent. It seemed to know that Lin Zhao was the decision-maker, wagging its tail like a propeller and circling her.
Lin Zhao could almost see the fleas on its body.
“We need to give it a bath first.”
Da Zai immediately said, “Do we need to boil hot water?”
“It’s so hot, no need,” Lin Zhao said.
Er Zai squatted on the ground, playing with the dog. Hearing this, he lifted his small head and said with a smile, “Mom boils water to give us baths.”
The cubs didn’t understand sterilization and other things, so Lin Zhao could only say, “Who told you to be my good cubs? Hot water washes comfortably. It’s okay if I’m a little more troublesome.”
The two cubs were coaxed by their mother into pouting, their smiles lingering for a long time.
Mom is so good to them!
Da Zai and Er Zai didn’t let their mother lift a finger. They brought Little Yellow to the water outlet in the yard. Da Zai scooped water, and Er Zai rubbed its fur.
The puppy wasn’t afraid at all and let them do as they pleased, occasionally sticking out its small pink tongue to lick the hands of Da Zai and Er Zai, making the two little friends laugh.
The older brothers were playing, and the dragon-phoenix twins also came closer. Before they could grab it, Da Zai held their small shoulders.
“Don’t touch it. Dogs that haven’t bathed have germs, right, Mom?” he asked Lin Zhao, who was coming out of the room.
“Yes. Da Zai, take your younger brothers and sisters farther away,” Lin Zhao instructed.
Da Zai, with a solemn face, took his younger brothers and sisters to the corner.
The dragon-phoenix twins liked their older brother and stopped fussing with the water.
Lin Zhao used deodorant and deworming medicine on Little Yellow.
“Mom, what is this?” Er Zai asked blankly.
“Deodorant and deworming medicine,” Lin Zhao said.
“Where did it come from?” he asked again. However, before Lin Zhao could explain, Er Zai nodded as if he understood, “I know, you must have bought it in the county.”
As if he had caught something, his eyes sparkled, and he grinned, “So Mom likes dogs too.”
Lin Zhao: “…”
Okay, no need to find an excuse.
“Yes, I’ve wanted to raise a dog for a long time.”
Er Zai’s eyes lit up even more.
He was happy because he shared the same likes as his mother.
Lin Zhao tied up her hair, put on her patched clothes, squatted down, and applied deodorant and deworming medicine to Little Yellow. Its fur was clumped together and couldn’t be opened at all.
“It’s hard to comb a dog’s fur. Er Zai, hand me the scissors. I’ll cut off the matted fur first.”
Er Zai scampered into the room, found the scissors, and quickly ran out again.
He still squatted beside Lin Zhao.
“Mom, be gentle. Don’t cut Little Yellow’s flesh. It will hurt,” the kind child reminded her.
“…I know,” Lin Zhao replied.
After cutting off the knotted fur on Little Yellow, the puppy looked much cleaner.
Er Zai blurted out, “So ugly.”
Lin Zhao took off her old clothes and put them aside, then washed her hands with face soap.
Hearing Er Zai’s words, she glanced at him, “That’s rude. Dogs also have dignity. Besides, where is it ugly? Don’t you think it’s cute? It will be even prettier when its fur grows out. Chinese Rural Dogs are never ugly.”
Er Zai’s eyes widened. “Mmm.”
“What is a Chinese Rural Dog?”
He fell over.
You don’t know anything, why are you nodding like you understand everything?
“A Chinese Rural Dog is a breed of dog. Little Yellow and its mother are both Chinese Rural Dogs,” Lin Zhao explained patiently.
“Are you hungry? If you are, I’ll cook meatballs.”
Er Zai’s stomach rumbled a few times. “I’m hungry.”
Da Zai also said, “I’m hungry too.”
Of course, they were hungry. They hadn’t eaten anything since they got up.
“Wait here, I’ll go make it.”
Lin Zhao turned and entered the kitchen.
Er Zai was playing with Little Yellow. He thought of something, ran out of the house, and headed straight for the old house. He found Gu Mu and said, “Grandma, I want to borrow your comb.”
Gu Mu glanced at his bare head, thinking Lin Zhao needed it, and asked no further questions. “It’s on the cabinet. Go get it.”
“Okay!” Er Zai responded crisply, ran into his grandparents’ room, got the comb, and then ran back home like a gust of wind.
“Brother, shall we comb Little Yellow’s fur?” he invited Da Zai.
Da Zai: “Okay.”
The two children combed the new member of the family’s fur.
The dragon-phoenix twins wanted to participate but were sternly refused. The two little ones had to retract their restless paws and dejectedly cradled their faces as they watched.
After a while, Lin Zhao’s voice calling them to eat came from the kitchen.
“Da Zai, Er Zai, dinner is ready. Wash your hands quickly and wash them thoroughly!”
The two cubs quickly washed their hands, washing them twice and even smelling each other’s hands to ensure they smelled good.
Er Zai rushed into the kitchen, smelled the aroma of meat, and his eyes were full of tiny smiles. “Mom, it smells like meat.”
“Yes, who told you we have a gluttonous cub at home?” Lin Zhao teased him.
Er Zai knew that the gluttonous cub his mother was referring to was himself, and the smile on his lips widened. “Mom doesn’t dislike me.”
Da Zai didn’t say much and helped his mother with the food.
Lin Zhao didn’t let him move and said, “There’s soup in the bowl, be careful not to burn yourself. I’ll get the food, and you two will wash the dishes later.”
“Okay,” Da Zai replied.
There was wind in the yard today, so Lin Zhao set up the table outside early, and the family of five ate outside.
San Zai and Si Zai also had meat to eat, and the two little milk dumplings showed their tiny teeth and smiled.
In the small wooden bowls, the meatballs were broken into small pieces to ensure they wouldn’t choke.
Er Zai looked and said, “San Zai and Si Zai have some too?”
“It’s okay to eat it once in a while,” otherwise the two little ones would cry again.
In the meatball soup, there were round meatballs, mushrooms, and finely chopped spring onions, which were delicious and refreshing.
Besides the meatball soup, there was also a dish of sugar-mixed tomatoes, which were sweet and sour, and tasted great in the summer.
Da Zai and Er Zai ate without lifting their heads.
Little Yellow circled around the feet of the two older brothers, wagging its tail rapidly, and barking from time to time.
“Mom, Little Yellow doesn’t have any food,” Da Zai said.
“I forgot about him.” Lin Zhao put down her chopsticks and went inside. She estimated some dog food and placed it in front of the puppy.
The little yellow dog buried its head in the bowl and ate heartily. It was eating so fast, as if it were devouring everything.
“Mom, Little Yellow is starving,” Da Zai said with sympathy in his eyes.
He and Er Zai had been this hungry before, but ever since their mother took care of them, they had never gone hungry again and were full every day.
The child looked at Lin Zhao with adoring eyes, and the light in his eyes softened their hearts.
“Now that it’s here, it won’t go hungry again,” Lin Zhao really liked furry children, especially dogs. They were loyal and capable. Who wouldn’t like them?
“Mom, can you give Little Yellow a name?” Da Zai, while playing with the puppy, looked up at his mother and pleaded.
“I should name it? Why should I?” Lin Zhao asked with a smile.
Da Zai’s small face was serious. “Mom is the eldest in our family. Our names were given by Mom, so the new member’s name should also be given by Mom.”
Wrong.
The cubs’ nicknames were not given by her, but by Gu Mu.
Looking at her son’s bright eyes, Lin Zhao couldn’t bear to tell him the truth, and a hint of sadness welled up in her heart.
She didn’t participate in choosing their nicknames, but she definitely had to think carefully about their full names.
“Okay, Mom will name it.” Lin Zhao looked down at the dog wagging its tail vigorously. Its eyes were bright and extremely clear, like beautiful amber. She said, “Let’s call it Amber. The dog’s name is Amber.”
“It sounds nice!” Da Zai didn’t know how to write these two characters or what they meant, but he praised it nonetheless.
Er Zai asked, “Mom, what is amber?”
Lin Zhao didn’t know either.
In the original book, someone found a stone, and it was discovered to be precious amber much later. Su Yuxian privately said a lot of unpleasant things.
“When your dad gets back, ask him.”
Er Zai was very easy-going and never made things difficult for himself. If he didn’t know, he didn’t know. He didn’t delve deeper, picked up his bowl, squatted like an Asian person, and ate with the new member of the family.
Da Zai kept this in mind and planned to ask his father when he returned.
Lin Zhao remembered the dog mother and asked the two cubs, “When you went to find Little Yellow, did you see Da Huang?”
“Mom, it’s not called Little Yellow, the dog’s name is Amber,” Da Zai corrected his mother. Then he continued, “We saw Da Huang. It was Da Huang who gave Amber to us.”
Lin Zhao thought that with so much dog food, raising another big dog wouldn’t be a problem. She said, “Do you want to raise Da Huang?”
The corners of the two children’s eyes turned up slightly, as if starlight twinkled in their eyes.
“Can we?” Da Zai asked expectantly.
Er Zai also said, “I want to call Da Huang, but I’m afraid Mom thinks raising two big dogs will consume too much food.”
Lin Zhao thought to herself that if it weren’t for the mysterious Lucky Draw Turntable, she definitely wouldn’t raise them. But with this heavenly bestowed treasure, what was wrong with raising another dog? Besides, it was Da Huang.
“It does consume food, but Da Huang can guard the house and protect you. If we raise it, I can feel at ease when I go to work.”
Da Huang, the stray dog in the village, was the descendant of a hero. It was intelligent, loyal, and capable. Raising it would be a good investment.
Da Zai hugged Lin Zhao, his earlobes turning red. He left, saying, “Mom is so kind.”
He quickly ran out of the house to find Da Huang.
Er Zai, for the first time, didn’t follow his brother like a shadow. After finishing the last sip of soup, he put down his bowl and continued to comb the puppy’s fur.
Lin Zhao noticed the comb in his hand. She was sure it wasn’t hers.
“Where did your comb come from?”
It looked a bit like his grandmother’s.
Er Zai said, “Grandma’s!”
“…” Lin Zhao pinched her forehead. “You took your grandma’s comb to groom the dog!?”
You really are your grandma’s good grandson.
Er Zai’s expression was confused. “Grandma told me to take it.”
“Did you tell Grandma that you were going to groom the dog?” Lin Zhao asked.
Er Zai shook his head. “No.”
“You tell your grandma yourself.” Lin Zhao had a headache. If this were her comb, she wouldn’t use it again.
“…Okay.” Er Zai replied verbally, but he was still casually grooming the dog.
Lin Zhao felt she couldn’t bear to watch.
She was a little curious why Er Zai didn’t use her comb and asked, “Why didn’t you use my comb?”
Er Zai tilted his head, his eyes filled with confusion. “Doesn’t Mom dislike others touching her things?”
Saying that, he performed a face-changing act on the spot, smoothly transforming from confused to excited. “Can I use Mom’s things from now on?”
With your “from now on,” even with twists and turns, I wouldn’t agree.
“No!”
Er Zai didn’t cling either, maintaining a calm and indifferent demeanor.
Lin Zhao admired him.
This mentality completely surpassed many adults. He never engaged in internal conflict.
Amazing.
Three minutes later.
Da Zai returned with Da Huang.
Da Huang didn’t rush into the house. It stood at the doorway with its head lowered. Its body was dirty, it was skinny, and its fur was dull and tangled.
Amber saw it and barked a few times, then ran towards it quickly, its tail wagging like a propeller, jumping as it ran, looking very cute.
“Let’s go home,” Da Zai urged Da Huang.
Da Huang looked up at Lin Zhao and Er Zai. Seeing them wave, it brought its child inside.
“Mom, should we bathe and deworm Da Huang?” Er Zai asked enthusiastically.
“Of course.” Da Huang needed deworming and bathing even more than its child.
The worms on its body must be countless.
It was the same process.
Lin Zhao put on her old clothes, applied deodorant and deworming medicine to Da Huang, and then used scissors to cut off the tangled fur on its body.
This big dog was truly intelligent. It seemed to know that all her actions were for its own good and cooperated very well, not even growling.
“So well-behaved,” Lin Zhao genuinely liked Da Huang.
After bathing, she went back inside to prepare dog food.
Da Huang didn’t rush to eat. It nudged the bowl towards Amber with its front paw. Little Amber ate a few bites and barked twice. As if knowing it was full, the dog mother then ate heartily.
Life was hard for people in this era, and it was hard for dogs too. Since birth, it had never eaten a full meal.
