novelSand, Wind, and Water
| ← Ch.0358 | Ch.0360 → |
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When Li Du arrived, Sophie was waiting patiently at the door.
When she saw him, she waved happily and said, "Go in now, it's trying its best to open its eyes—I didn't stay inside in case it saw me first."
As they ran inside, Li smiled and replied, "It's okay, Sophie. If it were you... Well, I really wouldn't mind if the puppy saw you first."
Sophie's thoughtfulness, gentleness, and kindness really touched him.
She stubbornly refused to enter the room. She opened the door and pushed Li Du inside.
The puppy was placed on the sofa, squirming its plump, round body all around. Its eyes were still shut and it was trying its best to sniff vigorously. It slowly turned around.
Li Du came close to it. The puppy's eyelids were shaking, seeming like they would open soon.
Ah Ow did not open its eyes until about 30 minutes later. Finally, its little eyelids slowly opened up, revealing a tiny bit of its eyeball.
Once it started opening its eyelids, it wouldn't be long until it fully opened its eyes. Ah Ow vigorously tried to blink. As it did so, its eyelids gradually opened, exposing its lovely eyes.
The puppy's eyeballs were not black, but a beautiful sky blue color. Its eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of watery mist, which made them moist and clear, like sapphires in the rain.
Li Du couldn't help puffing a sigh in exclamation, "It's so beautiful."
Ah Ow stared at Li Du intently, it's forehead slowly puckering up as it titled its little head, revealing a curious expression that was often seen in young puppies.
Li Du kissed it, went near it and said, "Come, look at me clearly. I'm your owner. You've got be an obedient kid, okay?"
He was reminded of the disobedient ocelot back at home, who was a pain in the *ss. However, this puppy was a Czech Wolfdog, a very docile animal, so he was relieved.
The Czech Wolfdog would not be as unruly as the ocelot. Ah Meow belonged in the category of wild animals while Ah Ow belonged in the category of domesticated animals.
Ah Ow's soft and wobbly short legs twitched a few times as it struggled to get close to Li. It used its little tongue and licked his face affectionately.
Li Du felt ticklish and couldn't help letting out a few small chuckles. The Czech Wolfdog's tongue felt rather coarse.
Sophie came back in, and Ah Ow struggled to get close to her. Apparently the puppy was familiar with Sophie's scent after staying with her for the past two days.
After she fed Ah Ow some goat's milk, she dipped the cotton swab into warm water and gently nudged and cleaned the puppy's butt."Ow! Ow!" Ah Ow made some sounds and started to defecate comfortably.
Li Du felt bad as he saw the lady doctor was busy taking care of the puppy. She even took leave from work to take care of Ah Ow. He decided when Ah Ow grew older, he would properly thank Sophie for this.
He held Ah Ow and played with it until night time. When Li Du left, Ah Ow struggled to get up. Its short wobbly legs wanted to climb out from its little bed.
Fortunately, Sophie came in to hold the puppy in her arms. When it smelled her familiar scent, it slowly calmed down.
However, it kept looking in the direction where Li Du was. He was quite glad—the Czech Wolfdog was a really loyal dog. Ah Ow was just a few days old and it was already attached to him, the owner.
The weather was good during the beginning of September. The sun was still brilliant.
They were getting close to autumn.
Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him, but Li Du felt that the sunlight was still as fiery, just not as scorching anymore. The temperature outdoors during the day had fallen slightly as well.
Most of the valuable items at the cabin were taken away by the treasure hunters in the old goods trade. They either took away the trash bundled with the valuable item or they bartered for it by leaving something valuable behind.
Now that Hans had fully taken over the management of the old goods site, Li had more free time. Although that meant he might earn less, a few hundred dollars difference was not important to him.
On the first day of the month, they went to Water Valley Town to attend a storage unit auction; there was a unit that had been leased by a tourist family. It contained some recliners, sunshades, and other items. Li Du won the bid for it and placed these items at their cabin.
Besides getting this unit, for a few days they had nothing to do. So when they were free, Hans, Godzilla and Big Quinn dug up a wide and shallow ditch which stretched to the edge of the woods.
They also managed to trade something for a broken high-powered pump with a treasure hunter. It managed to work again after Big Quinn repaired it.
Hans placed the pump beside the nearby well and pumped water out from the well.
Li Du couldn't understand what Hans was trying to do. He leaned on the railing and just looked on quietly.
The ditch went around the edge of the forest and then returned to the well, forming a circle.
Hans connected the pump to power. Vroom! Vroom! With the sound of the water pump, the crystal clear well water was pumped up.
The well water came bursting out from the pipes and flowed into the ditch. They had planned the ditch in a way that the height differences would allow the water to flow nicely and back again to the well.
Li Du spoke up."Bud, what are you up to?"
Hans wore a complacent smile."Just wait and see. I've got a good idea."
The next day, two dump trucks came into the site and unloaded a whole lot of fine sand.
Li Du asked, "What are you doing?"
Hans did not answer him. He just continued to work and sweat with Godzilla and Big Quinn, scooping the sand into the ditch, which sunk and formed a layer below the water.
After finishing putting a layer of fine sand onto the ditch, the rest of the fine sand was laid on the ground near the ditch.
Lastly, he placed an umbrella on the sand, and a recliner next to it. Only then did Li Du finally figured out what Hans was up to.
Hans had created a small beach on the site: there was sand, water and the wind. The barren land had been turned into a resort.
"There's a beach in my heart—anywhere can be Hawaii!" Hans proudly gave him a wink, put on his sunglasses and laid on the recliner.
"Cool!" he suddenly yelled again.
Li Du was smiling and shaking his head."The pump's giving out such thunderous sounds and you're able to relax leisurely?"
Hans answered proudly, "Just think of them as the sound of the waves."
Li Du shrugged; he pulled over another recliner, placed it under the shade of a tree, and placed both of his feet into the ditch, just like Hans.
His feet were soaked in the cold water, with the soft, fine sand below them. Li could also feel the cool breeze blowing in from the woods—he had to admit, this felt pretty good.
However, Big Quinn suddenly blurted, "I have a question. Boss, does this mean we're drinking water that our feet have soaked in?"
Indeed, recycling the water from the ditch and back to the well was a water-saving act. But, it could cause secondary pollution too. Big Quinn was right: clean water from the well had become their feet water.
Li Du was displeased. He frowned and said to Hans, "When you should normally recycle, you don't bother. So why do you bother to recycle the water now?"
Hans had no choice but to explain, "Think, bud. This is Flagstaff, we're not in Miami or anywhere near the coast. There's a shortage of underground water. If we don't recycle our water, the well be drained dry in no time."
Li Du contemplated for a while. What Hans said was right as well.
Hans continued to justify his action: "You don't have to worry about drinking polluted water. The well has natural sedimentation capabilities. If there's any dirty matter on our feet, it will sink to the bottom. At most, we avoid drawing water from the bottom of the well, right?"
Upon hearing Hans's splendid speech, Godzilla and Big Quinn also took a recliner each and rested on them. The four men, with their recliners, were lined up in a row underneath the cooling shade of the lush trees, chilling and enjoying the serenity on a hot afternoon.
Some treasure hunters came by the cabin. They were delighted and amused when they saw the sight before them, and asked, "Are there any more recliners? Let's chill together too."
Li Du replied in a lazy tone, "Of course, pals. One hundred dollars per recliner."
"What? That's so greedy of you!"
There were now more treasure hunters visiting Li Du's old goods site. More people knew about this site too. For the next two days, treasure hunters could be seen chilling on the recliners.
| ← Ch. 0358 | Ch. 0360 → |