Country Maiden: Fields and Fortune

27, Helping Each Other (4 more updates)

“Is this the only puppy in the litter?” Xie Zhinuan asked.
“Yep, they say cats come in pairs and dogs come alone. Something came up at home, really had no choice but to think about selling this Dahuang dog!” The old man said, rubbing his eyes.
Xie Zhinuan looked again at the puppy in the basket on his back.
Very similar to its mother, it was also yellow, plump from eating, lying on the straw, quite endearing.
“How do you plan to sell it?”
“Miss, do you want the adult dog or the puppy?” the old man asked.
“I want the puppy!”
“For the puppy, you give twenty wen; for the adult dog, you give a hundred wen. Would it be okay to buy both?”
She didn’t really want to keep the adult dog, after all, it’s hard to tame.
But the thought of separating mother and pup seemed somewhat cruel to her.
After thinking for a moment, she took out her pouch, handed a tael of silver to the old man, “I’ll buy both. The little one I will take with me; for the big one, if it’s willing to follow me, I will keep it. If it doesn’t want to follow me, you take the dog back and take good care of it!”
A tael of silver…
The old man seemed inclined to take it, yet he shook his head, “Too much!”
“One can’t put a price on a favorite, I really like this puppy!”
The old man hesitated for a while before accepting the silver, handed the puppy to Xie Zhinuan, then petted the Dahuang dog beside him and said, “Dahuang, go on, this is your new master. This young lady is a good person, she’ll treat you well!”
The Dahuang dog whined.
Xie Zhinuan looked on and couldn’t bear it, turning around to leave; yet the Dahuang dog followed her.
Xie Zhinuan understood that this wasn’t fate.
It was merely following its master’s commands, or perhaps it couldn’t bear to part with the puppy in her arms.
She stopped and looked back at the Dahuang dog, “Dahuang, you go back, go back to your owner. I’ll take good care of your child. If we’re meant to…,” Xie Zhinuan paused, then said to the old man, “Old man, let’s set a time, one month from now, let’s meet here again so Dahuang can see its puppy. So take Dahuang back with you!”
“…”
The old man was stunned.
Dahuang stood in place, glanced at the puppy in Xie Zhinuan’s arms, then looked back at the old man. After hesitating for a moment, it ran over to the old man’s side.
Xie Zhinuan smiled and left with the puppy.
Meeting again in a month was just an excuse… Perhaps she would come to the county town to shop in a month, or perhaps she wouldn’t. Who could say for sure?
It was just the thought that life is hard, and everyone has their difficult moments. If a tael of silver could help him, that would also be a good deed.
Xie Zhinuan bought a puppy, to the surprise of Yuan Cheng’s wife. When she found out Xie Zhinuan bathed the puppy and even made it a little garment to wear, she was even more astonished.
“It has a name too?” Yuan Cheng’s wife exclaimed.
“Yes, it’s called Routuan!” Azhu said softly.
After all, she couldn’t understand why Xie Zhinuan would be so kind to a dog.
Bathing it, naming it, making it garments, even people didn’t live that comfortably.
Yuan Cheng’s wife waved her hand, signaling Azhu to leave.
She turned and started telling Yuan Cheng about it, and it was the first time he had heard of dogs being bathed and clothed. However, watching Xie Zhinuan play with the dog in the courtyard, he thought the little clothed dog was rather cute.
“Zhinuan!”
Xie Zhinuan looked up and smiled, “Uncle!”
As noon approached and guests began arriving for lunch, Xie Zhinuan placed the puppy in a bamboo basket lined with straw.
Xie Zhinuan had intended to make a doghouse, but without cotton-her coat already sewn-she planned to buy some cotton later.
She wasn’t concerned with what others thought; one’s own pets always deserved some pampering.

Chapter 29