After eating and drinking her fill, Xiaoguo left Zhuang Zhuang to wash the dishes and followed Qin Anming to the courtyard.

“Brother, why don’t you rest for a while? You just finished eating.”

Xiaoguo wanted to stop Qin Anming from digging the hole, but he waved his hand and ignored her. He could do it himself.

Xiaoguo wasn’t tired. She couldn’t sleep. She might as well help him with the digging.

The livestock shed will be built across from the enclosure for the chickens and ducks. In this corner, the shed gets the morning sun, and is shaded from the afternoon sun. It was well-suited for the cows and their living habits.

Xiaoguo took the shovel and went to the spot where Qin Anming had marked. She then started digging.

After digging to a depth of about half a meter, Qin Anming asked Xiaoguo to stop. It was about right.

The two of them carried one tree and placed it vertically into the pit. Xiaoguo held onto the tree while Qin Anming filled in the soil with a shovel.

When he was almost done, Xiaoguo let go and pushed at the trunk. It didn’t move at all.

After stepping on the soft soil, they began to work on the remaining pits.

With the two of them working together, the four pits were quickly done with the spruce erected. The next step was to build the beams above.

On top of the four pieces of wood, a log was set up in pairs facing each other. The logs were secured tightly with twine and the thinner pieces of wood were evenly spread out on top.

Xiaoguo thought about going to the county tomorrow. She would buy some oil paper and tiles —these could be placed on top of the shed to keep out the rain.

She would also need to buy some brick lime to build a stone trough.

After Zhuang Zhuang woke up, he led the cows outside to play.

As cows need to have an adequate amount of exercise every day, Zhuang Zhuang had to take on the duty of bringing them out everyday.

Xiaoguo washed her hands and cleaned her body. There was nothing much to do now. Thinking that it was still early, Xiaoguo turned around and went out to look for Zhuang Zhuang.

Qin Anming stayed at home and continued to work on the livestock shed.

Ben Ben and Fei Fei followed at Xiaoguo’s feet, yelping as they went along. Xiaoguo thought that they might want to go out too, so she brought the puppies along to look for Zhuang Zhuang.

Xiaoguo knew where he went with the cows. Xiaoguo didn’t dare to walk too fast with the two little ones following behind her. As they were still young, one step she made was equivalent to five or six steps of theirs.

Xiaoguo walked slowly in front leading the way, while the two puppy dogs tagged along behind, chasing after her.

Along the way, she didn’t see anyone. However, she saw Li Zhaodi walking out from the fields. As she walked, she had one hand on her waist and a hoe in her other hand. It seemed like she had just finished farming.

Xiaoguo wanted to spite her again, so she rolled her eyes and yawned. As she stretched her body, she said, “Oh my, I slept so well!”

Xiaoguo’s lazy look was a stark contrast to Li Zhaodi’s disheveled appearance.

Li Zhaodi heard and saw it.

Glaring at Xiaoguo with both eyes, she mumbled incoherently.

Xiaoguo didn’t have to hear it to know that she was scolding her again. But she wasn’t angry. Li Zhaodi didn’t utter any words and Xiaoguo had no reason to pick a fight. Anyway, she wasn’t the one who was angry.

The two puppies at Xiaoguo’s feet barked at Li Zhaodi.

Li Zhaodi took a few steps back. It was obvious that she was afraid of dogs. Xiaoguo looked at Li Zhaodi smugly and didn’t stop them—she even slowed down deliberately. Li Zhaodi was filled with hatred and fear, but she didn’t dare to move.

Having had enough fun, Xiaoguo walked on with the two puppies.

Don’t ask her why she did this. In the past, whenever Li Zhaodi caught a glimpse of Xiaoguo, she would definitely scold her for several hours. Xiaoguo didn’t really care at that time. Being bothered by flies once or twice was fine, but if it were to continue over a long period of time, it would eventually become an annoyance.

When they reached the river, Zhuang Zhuang could be seen sitting on a rock beside the river. The two cows were grazing on the grass nearby. They were eating and enjoying themselves.

Zhuang Zhuang had his head lowered and was preoccupied with the things in his hands. He did not notice Xiaoguo quietly approaching from behind.

Curious about what Zhuang Zhuang was doing, Xiaoguo quietly walked behind him and peeked over his shoulders.

He was holding a bouquet of flowers in one small hand and trying to tie it up with the other hand. He was having problems securing the vine—unable to grab either ends to make a knot using only one free hand.

Xiaoguo smiled mischievously and didn’t dare to make a sound. She reached out from behind and helped him hold down one end of the vine that was difficult to tie.

Seeing that someone was helping him hold the vine, Zhuang Zhuang said his thanks and continued to tie the flowers with a smile.

Xiaoguo was amused to see that he was almost done tying the knot, but had yet to discover her presence. She continued holding her breath to see when he would realize she was behind him.

With his back towards her, Xiaoguo could not see Zhuang Zhuang’s eyes.

Zhuang Zhuang was actually glancing behind and secretly smiling to himself. Why hasn’t his mother noticed it?

In actual fact, as soon as Xiaoguo approached him, he had already noticed her. Just as he was about to turn around, he saw Xiaoguo’s face reflected in the river in front of him.

Hence, Zhuang Zhuang sat back down and pretended not to notice Xiaoguo.

Mother and son hid it from each other until Zhuang Zhuang handed the flowers to Xiaoguo. “Mother, this is for you.”

Xiaoguo was shocked. She stared at Zhuang Zhuang in disbelief. “How do you know it’s me?”

Zhuang Zhuang chuckled and pointed at Xiaoguo’s reflection in the river.

Xiaoguo looked at where he was pointing, and saw her reflection in the river. She was still wearing a puzzled expression.

Xiaoguo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had wanted to tease Zhuang Zhuang, but he ended up teasing her instead.

“Alright, you bad boy. How dare you tease your mother. Watch how I am going to deal with you!”

Xiaoguo reached out her evil hands and reached for Zhuang Zhuang’s armpits. Zhuang Zhuang was ticklish.

Zhuang Zhuang tried to hide from Xiaoguo’s hands, but he didn’t manage to escape from her advances. Just when he wasn’t noticing, Xiaoguo got the opportunity to tickle him.

“Mother… Mother, hahahaha…”

Zhuang Zhuang did not last long under Xiaoguo’s continuous attacks. He surrendered shortly after.

Xiaoguo let Zhuang Zhuang go and brought the bouquet to her nose. The fragrance was lovely.

“Is this made specially for me?”

Zhuang Zhuang panted and nodded at Xiaoguo. “Yes, it’s for Mother. I found beautiful flowers across the river today, so I made a bouquet for you.”

Xiaoguo reached out and hugged Zhuang Zhuang. Her eyes were red,

“Thank you, Zhuang Zhuang. Mother is so grateful! Mother is so happy! I love it!”

Xiaoguo expressed her appreciation in three different forms of exclamations.

Zhuang Zhuang leaned on Xiaoguo’s shoulder and patted her like she usually did to him.

“I’m happy if Mother is happy.”

“If Zhuang Zhuang is happy, I’m happy.”

Xiaoguo rubbed the boy’s face and said.

When they returned in the evening, Qin Anming had already finished doing up the livestock shed. It looked much more refined than before she went out.

Once Xiaoguo got home, she started to prepare dinner. After their meal, Zhuang Zhuang sat at the desk and taught Qin Anming how to write. Qin Anming paid close attention to his teacher.

Xiaoguo was sitting a short distance away from them. By her side were the flowers that Zhuang Zhuang had given her today. When she got home earlier, she had arranged the flowers and placed them inside the jar.

Using the light from the desk, Xiaoguo stitched up the clothes in her hands. During this period of time, Xiaoguo had almost finished making the clothes.

She had made two outfits for herself and two for Qin Anming. The designs were similar to what she had made for Zhuang Zhuang. Xiaoguo did not know how to make anything that was more complicated.

“I’ll be done sewing by tonight. Tomorrow’s weather will be a good day for washing.”