Siheyuan: What bad intentions could a veterinarian like me have?

Chapter 15: Living in the Countryside, Going Hungry for Nine Meals in Three Days
"Give me a 2-liang steamed bun, a bowl of white porridge, and a doughnut. Here are the tickets!"

After handing over the receipt, Li Xiangdong bent down to take the breakfast handed to him from behind the window, smiled and prepared to leave.

"Hey, Xiangdong, are you back from the countryside?" The person who served breakfast glanced at him sideways, leaned forward in surprise, took out a small plate of pickles from the side, and put Li Xiangdong's plate on top of it, "I'll give you a plate of pickles!"

"Thanks, Sister Zhao!" Li Xiangdong recognized the lady sitting opposite him and nodded his head in thanks. He then waved his hand in gratitude and looked for a seat while greeting her. "I just came back from the countryside yesterday!"

Sister Zhao nodded, and after a while of busy work, she came out to clean the table. She tidied it up neatly and chatted with Li Xiangdong in a friendly manner, "Shopkeeper Xu has been talking about you so many times these days. Every time she comes to have breakfast, she has to look at your shop. She has told me so many times, and she sighed that it was a pity. I can hear that she is worried about whether your business is prosperous! Xiangdong, are you here to open the shop today?"

Sister Zhao is the second-in-command of this small restaurant. The real boss is actually the owner of the pub next door, Xu Huizhen.

This shop is located near Daqianmen, not far from Zhengyangmen. The towering gate tower of Zhengyangmen can be seen from afar.

Zhengyang Gate was the only way for officials to enter the palace in the past. Many dignitaries came and went here, so the ancestors of the Li family bought a small shop of 20 square meters at the alley diagonally opposite, taking advantage of their proximity to the water and doing business with the veterinary doctors who came and went in the surrounding area.

It is said that a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Li Xiangdong's family is very familiar with the clerks and shop owners in the surrounding shops. Especially in recent years, the city has changed a lot, and the friendship between neighbors for those who can stay is even more precious.

For example, Sister Zhao in front of him, gave him a bowl of pickles worth a few cents as soon as she was asked to do so. This was not only to take care of him as a young generation, but also to give face to the old shopkeeper Xu Huizhen.

Compared to the Red Star Courtyard, Li Xiangdong actually prefers the neighborhood relationship near Qianmen, which is a completely different kind of urban friendship.

"Well, I've been in the countryside for more than a month. When I came back, I came to see if I could do some work!" Li smiled at Dongguaner and told the truth, "I dare not leave my ancestors' shop uncultivated."

"It's good that you're back! It's good that you're back! Your sister Huizhen will be happy when she finds out!" Sister Zhao smiled with relief and quickly cleaned up a bucket of dirty dishes.

Li Xiangdong was eating fried dough sticks, drinking porridge, biting steamed buns, and talking to her, but his eyes were always observing Sister Zhao. He noticed the rough red marks on her neck and wrists, and sighed but said nothing.

After finishing breakfast, Sister Zhao had gone to the inner room to wash dishes. Li Xiangdong greeted her inside and went out. He walked straight into the alley diagonally opposite and after a few steps, he came to a small shop.

In front of the store door is a plaque with "Li Yishou" written on it. The characters are written in a vigorous and powerful handwriting. It is his father's own handwriting. The three words "Veterinary Clinic" are splashed with paint on one side of the door frame below. They can barely be recognized after being washed by rain and wind.

When I opened the door and walked into the house, the rotten smell was inhaled into my lungs along with the smoke and dust. After the shop that had not been visited for a long time was opened, strands of sunlight poured down, illuminating the inside and outside of the house.

The examination table, medicine cabinet and animal treatment table were all clearly visible. They were simple, pure and yet also made people sigh. He had not been here for nearly two months, and it seemed as if time was imprisoned here. Even the various furniture were not covered with dust.

Li Xiangdong knew that this was because someone came to clean frequently.

After putting the veterinary box on the examination table, Li Xiangdong continued to clean the house as usual and found a rag to wipe everywhere.

The water pipe at the back door was frozen, so he picked up some branches and piled them together to thaw the pipe. He noticed that the backyard of the shop next door was in a mess, and it was obvious that no one had taken care of it for a long time.

That is the shop next door owned by Xing Guazhang. I haven’t seen him for about three months since winter began.

Next door is a horse shoe shop. The owner's surname is Xing, and he specializes in trimming the hooves of donkeys and horses.

This is also an old family in the old city. Like the Li family's veterinarian, it began to decline with the changes of the times.

Shopkeeper Xing's business was worse than Li Xiangdong's. He heard that there were many donkeys in northern Shaanxi, so he guessed that Old Xing must have gone there to make a living. "You're back!"

As soon as water started to flow out of the pipe, Li Xiangdong heard a cheerful and pleasant voice of surprise from behind. He looked back, his eyes lit up, and he immediately stood up, "Sister Huizhen!"

The woman in front of me had long black hair, which was tied into two buns at the back of her head. Her two big grape-like eyes looked at me with particular spirit, which stood out particularly well on her fair and delicate face. Her thin lips seemed to be naturally painted with bright colors, and when her pearly teeth clenched together, one could not forget the corners of her lips that were always upturned.

Her bright and beautiful face always has an innocent and peaceful expression, which makes people naturally want to get close to her.

She is a few years older than Li Xiangdong, and to him she is like an older sister next door who takes care of him.

"Have you been to the countryside again during this period? How come you got tanned in the middle of winter? It's hard for you to run? You've lost weight again!" Xu Huizhen said, walking over slowly, pulling Li Xiangdong to look left and right, and her familiarity made him feel a little embarrassed.

She doesn't care how much money you make, she only cares about whether you are living well, whether you are full, and whether you have lost weight.

Compared with Qin Huairu and others, Li Xiangdong has nothing to say about his neighbor Xu Huizhen.

"No way! I can eat at my fellow villagers' homes every day! They won't treat me badly!" Li Xiangdong smiled innocently.

"You're just talking nonsense. Even if others don't know, I know! What kind of life have people in the countryside been living these past two years? They can't even make a living, let alone raise livestock! There's no work to do. I'm afraid you'll go hungry nine times out of three days, right?"

Sister Huizhen’s vision is always so sharp and shrewd.

"Hehe!" Li Xiangdong's situation was exposed and he could only smile awkwardly.

"Let's go. Sister Zhao told me you were back, so I came to see you right away! Show me my donkey!" Xu Huizhen pulled him and left.

Li Xiangdong had no choice but to follow obediently.

When they arrived at the tavern, Xu Huizhen didn't hesitate to pull him in to the backyard which was generally not accessible to others.

But she didn't let him see the donkey first. Instead, she made him sit under a flower stand where the sun shone. She brought a plate of fried cakes from the house and put it on the table. She said with a smile, "You ate all the pickles that Sister Zhao sent you. You must have not had any good food in the country! Fill your belly first, then we can talk about work!"

"..." Li Xiangdong stared at the still hot fried cakes in a daze, knowing that Xu Huizhen had fried them specially after she knew he had returned. They were very fresh and he was deeply moved.

"You little brat are eating me to death. You only eat that little in the morning. How could you be full? Eat quickly! I'm going to lead the donkey!" Xu Huizhen waved her hand, perhaps because she was afraid that he would feel embarrassed and wanted to save face, so she smiled and said something and walked away.

The dry air with cold wind swirled across his face. His handsome face felt cold, but his heart was warm. He took a bite of the fried cake. The soft and glutinous texture was full of simple friendship. He quickly finished several fried cakes.

"Ouch..."

But just when he finished eating, a scream from the donkey house made Li Xiangdong stand up suddenly.

(End of this chapter)