In the short while it took to go open the door, the old man waved his hand in an attempt to cover up his mistake, and the dish still emitting black smoke in the kitchen, along with the frying pan, disappeared without a trace.
After Ox Grandpa opened the door, Su Ximu and his second brother walked into the villa together, followed closely by the spotted little dog named Dian Dian.
In the villa’s living room, another two little dogs were romping around, along with a cat sprawled on the cabinet and a rabbit hopping here and there on the carpet.
This lively scene made Su Ximu vaguely recall the times he and Third Brother had gone to Grandpa’s house to play, drawing little animals all over Grandpa’s walls.
Now, this scene felt just like all those little animals had jumped down from the walls.
In the little nest by the TV on the side, a chubby little dog was curled up as well—the little yellow dog Ox Grandpa had held in his arms last time. It had grown just a bit bigger since Su Ximu last saw it.
“The old man me is getting on in years too, my eyesight’s gone bad.” The old man squatted down, scooped up the little yellow dog, and looked once more at the youth in the living room. His eyes grew uncontrollably wet again. “You tell me, how did I fail to recognize you last time?”
Not only had he failed to recognize him, but he had nearly…
With that, the old man handed over the little yellow dog, which wagged its tail and lay perfectly still and obedient in his arms. “It’s Little Ah Huang, whelped by Big Ah Huang. It doesn’t have a name yet.”
Big Ah Huang hadn’t lived to see its true little master before growing old and dying.
But Little Ah Huang had waited. And since it was still just a puppy, it could live a long time.
Su Ximu lowered his head to gaze at the little yellow dog that Ox Grandpa could cradle in both hands. The little yellow dog was so tiny it couldn’t bark loudly yet, managing only tender little whines and yelps.
Su Ximu didn’t refuse. He reached out and took the nameless little yellow dog from Ox Grandpa’s arms, adjusting it into a more comfortable position after it let out an uncertain “yelp” at the sudden change of embrace.
Once the puppy stopped its whines and yelps, he gently stroked its back. Then he looked up, eyes sparkling brightly as he sought the old man’s opinion. “Grandpa, how about we keep calling the little yellow dog Little Ah Huang? Little Ah Huang can be its name.”
This was the promise he had made with Grandpa—once they finished moving, Grandpa would find him a little yellow dog to raise.
The old man, with his white beard and gray apron, grinned too. His voice still carried that explosive twang. “Good! That’s a fine name!”
After he spoke, the old man remembered his disastrous kitchen and empty fridge. He coughed, turned to shut the kitchen door in a cover-up attempt, and said, “The old man me will head out back to pick some garlic sprouts. Kid, you and your second brother play in the living room for a bit. Just like when you were little—touch whatever you want in Grandpa’s house.”
Su Ximu immediately replied, “Grandpa, I’ll go with you.”
The old man waved him off at once. “No need. It’s right in the back vegetable garden—a two-minute job. Xiao Mu, you stay out of it. And don’t go in the kitchen either. It’s all smoky and they’re stoking the fire. Too many people means too much draft, and the fire’ll go out easy.”
With that, he didn’t even remove his apron before turning and heading out the villa’s back door.
Su Wuzi saw this and didn’t call out the old man’s awkward spot. He had already decided to show this old man even more respect than he did Big Brother.
He turned and poked the little dog’s head, which Xiao Xi held. “There’s a small room on the home’s second floor. Perfect for this little guy.”
Su Ximu looked at Little Ah Huang too.
Fortunately, Little Ah Huang didn’t seem too shy around strangers. Otherwise, Su Ximu wouldn’t have had the heart to take it home.
“Um… it’s still too small right now, so it’ll stay with me for now. Once it grows a bit, it can have its own space. Okay with you, Second Brother?”
The pudgy little dog seemed to sense it was favored by its new master. In no time at all, it sprawled out belly-up in the warm embrace.
Su Wuzi reached out and prodded the little dog’s round tummy. Though reluctant deep down, he said okay.
Just then, Su Ximu heard crunching sounds coming from a corner of the living room.
He followed the noise and spotted two hamster cages propped against the wall.
The cages were roughly eighty by eighty centimeters, just big enough to cover two living room floor tiles.
In the first cage, atop a thick bed of wood shavings, a plump yellow-and-white little hamster gnawed intently on its chew stick, producing steady crunch-crunch sounds.
In the other cage sat a somewhat smaller silver hamster with black stripes, huffing away as it ran on its wheel.
Su Ximu figured Ox Grandpa must truly have a gift for raising little animals.
He hadn’t seen a single scrawny creature in Ox Grandpa’s house from start to finish.
While Su Ximu watched the little hamsters gnaw their chew sticks and spin their wheels, Su Wuzi turned his gaze to the kitchen.
Not two minutes later, the old man—who had supposedly gone to the back vegetable garden to pick veggies—returned through the back door, clutching a bunch of garlic sprouts.
He called out as he walked. “Xiao Mu, kept you waiting? Time to eat.”
With that, the old man yanked open the kitchen door.
Su Ximu followed, little yellow dog in arms.
The kitchen counter was laden with prepped ingredients. Just the veggie-and-meat skewers came in four or five varieties.
Seeing all the ingredients Ox Grandpa had prepared, Su Ximu couldn’t resist freeing a hand to rub his belly.
That evening’s dinner and snacks were enjoyed out on the villa’s backyard lawn. It wasn’t just Ox Old Master, Su Ximu, and Su Wuzi either. Later, Su Xuanxiao and Su Jianglou—who had washed the dishes but couldn’t wait around for anyone—joined them too.
Su Jianglou sat on the lawn, took a swig of beer, and started on the skewers. By his second bottle, he glanced around, not caring if he disturbed the neighbors, and burst into loud laughter.
Su Ximu hadn’t planned on drinking beer at first. But seeing Third Brother alternate bites of skewer with sips of beer before suddenly cracking up like that, he couldn’t resist giving it a try himself.
Su Xuanxiao glanced over at the sound of the can tab popping open but said nothing to stop it.
The kid was right there in front of them. Even if he got drunk, it was no big deal.
Su Wuzi saw this and cracked open a bottle to join him. They clinked.
Tanzhong City’s weather was still a bit warm at the moment, and the beer was ice-cold. It felt great sliding down into the belly.
The youth, who craved a bit of chill, gripped his beer bottle and accidentally drank a little too much.
His usual His rational temperament was solid, and his alcohol tolerance was decent too. Once he started feeling woozy, he simply hugged Little Ah Huang and lay down.
“Kid, drunk already?” The old man—who had been downing beer like water—saw this, fetched a blanket from the villa, and coaxed the kid on the grass over to lie on the blanketed spot instead.
Su Ximu lay there on the neat square blanket, a corner of a bedsheet draped over his belly. Woozily, he pointed at the sky and suddenly declared, “That star is my grandma!”
Su Jianglou flopped down on the blanket’s other side and peered up at the sky too. Half like he was humoring a child, half serious, he asked, “Which one? Which star?”
“That one.”
The youth locked in on the spot himself, cupped his hands to his mouth like a megaphone, and called out to “Grandma” in a slightly louder voice. “Grandma, you don’t have to worry about me anymore!”
“I’m doing great now!”
“I have Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, and Ox Grandpa.”
“Grandma, did you see?”
Su Jianglou, off to the side, squinted and hollered back even louder. “She definitely saw!”
Hearing the response, the youth smacked his lips, nodded, and figured Grandma must have seen indeed.
The next second, his eyes drifted shut, and he passed out cold.
“Xiao Xi?” Su Wuzi called softly, lifting the little dog from the youth’s arms.
“Kid’s asleep.” The old man’s voice chuckled warmly.
The next day when Su Ximu woke, he sipped at the sweet soup his second brother had brewed for him in a daze. It was supposed to cure hangovers.
But he didn’t remember getting drunk yesterday.
And he’d only had one bottle of beer. How could he have gotten drunk?
The sweet soup was delicious, though. He sat properly at the table and finished every sip earnestly.
Once done, he heard his second brother say, “Xiao Xi, the Old Man asked me to pass this on. If you want to see him in the future, try to avoid mornings.”
Su Wuzi didn’t mince words with his little brother and explained straight up. “Mornings are when the Old Man’s power is most unstable. The Beast Tamer might show up. He’s afraid of hurting you.”
Truth be told, ever since last night, the Old Man’s power had fluctuated wildly from all the emotional agitation.
Otherwise, he definitely would have kept the kid overnight.
Just like when Xiao Xi was little, when he’d wake up yanked by the leg to the neighbor’s house in his sleep.
Su Ximu set down his spoon right away. “Then will Ox Grandpa be okay?”
Su Wuzi shook his head. “No.”
The Old Man just couldn’t kill the Beast Tamer for good yet, but the Beast Tamer couldn’t really hurt him much either.
Su Ximu wasn’t the stubborn type who insisted on doing what family told him not to. Once he confirmed Ox Grandpa would be fine, he nodded and promised his second brother. “Okay. Then from now on, when I go see Ox Grandpa, I’ll try to make it afternoon.”
Su Wuzi reached over and handed him another peeled egg.
That’s when Su Jianglou seized the opening. “Xibao, morning exercise after breakfast?”
Su Ximu took a bite of the egg from his second brother and hummed in agreement. “Mm.”
He had indeed eaten a bit too much yesterday.
Wealth Avenue wasn’t small by any means, but it wasn’t huge either.
At eight in the morning, as Su Ximu jogged along the pebble path for morning exercise with Third Brother, they ran headlong into a child playing in the leisure area.
The child spotted them and waved happily at once. “Brother, Brother, you’re back? Brother, I’m right here!”
Su Ximu, greeted so enthusiastically by the little friend, stopped in his tracks. He smiled at the little girl and waved back. “Dudu.”
He introduced her to Third Brother, who was with him. She was the little girl he and Big Brother had met last time at the children’s amusement park.
The little girl bounded forward gleefully. Only then did Su Ximu notice the two older kids—about eleven or twelve—standing with Dudu, partially hidden by the leisure area’s equipment.
As Dudu ran up, the other two followed right behind.
The three kids came to a stop in front of Su Ximu. The little girl promptly introduced them to the brother she hadn’t seen in ages. “Brother, this is my brother and sister.”
“My brother’s Xiao Ming. Sister’s Qianqian.”
Then she turned to introduce Su Ximu to her own brother and sister. “This is Xiao Mu Brother. And this is Xiao Mu Brother’s brother.”
When the little girl got to Xiao Mu Brother’s brother, she eyed Su Jianglou timidly. But with the familiar Xiao Mu Brother right there, she wasn’t so scared.
Su Ximu bent down to greet the two new faces. “Xiao Ming, Qianqian, nice to meet you.”
The two kids exchanged a glance, then chorused very politely, “Hello, Xiao Mu Brother.”
They called to Xiao Mu Brother’s brother too. “Hello, Big Brother.”
Su Jianglou’s lips curved up at that. He nodded in acknowledgment.
Perhaps because of past experience, Su Ximu couldn’t help scanning the surrounding greenery upon spotting another group of kids in Wealth Avenue’s leisure area.
Seeing it all intact, he breathed a little easier and chatted with Dudu, who was still happily circling him. “Dudu, what are you and your brother and sister playing here?”
At the question, the two older kids behind Dudu went subtly rigid for an instant. Adult-like worry and helplessness flickered in their eyes before they quickly hid it.
Dudu, however, answered breezily. “We’re playing find the little brother.”
A few days back, she and Liangliang and the others had played the game Big Sister Boss and her crew played—and accidentally lost their little brother too.
So now they had to find little brother.
She figured little brother was definitely playing hide-and-seek with them.
But if they still hadn’t found little brother by the time Dad and Mom got back from their business trip, her brother and sister were definitely in for a scolding.
