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墨書 Inktalez
"Don't cry!"
With a hiccup, the little guy immediately quieted down. Xu Li gave each of them a light kick on their little behinds, and they hurried to the bathroom to wash up and change clothes. Natasha knew that these two boys had definitely gotten into trouble this time.
"Grandma, I'm back!"
Xiao Lao Liu held a handful of wildflowers and, after being hugged by his grandfather into the living room, quickly handed the flowers to Natasha. "For Grandma!"
"Hahaha, my good grandson!"
After receiving the wildflowers, Natasha picked up Xiao Lao Liu Peter and showered him with kisses on his cheeks and behind: "Mwah, mwah, mwah!"
"You two little rascals almost got your father blown up; a good beating would be too light for you!"
Andrei scolded them with a light smack on their heads before walking away with his hands behind his back to the storage room across the way. He locked away all the firearms to prevent these little kids from getting their hands on them; if anything else happened, it would be disastrous.
"What about Anna and Eva?"
Not seeing his wife during dinner, Xu Li asked Zhang Ji Niang, who was eating nearby. Natasha handed Zhuo Ya a piece of Xun Yu: "They were taken by Ayesha to the market this morning; they won't be home until the afternoon."
"Just the three of them?"
Xu Li felt a bit worried. Natasha shook her head: "There's also Valery's eldest son and Popov's daughter; Aleksey is bringing some gear."
"That's good!"
He nodded and continued eating. The Far East was not safe at all; while wild beasts were fierce and bloodthirsty, humans were even more dangerous!
With Anna and Eva being such close sisters, any normal man would have thoughts about them. He couldn't feel at ease without a man around to look after them. Despite Aleksey's seemingly foolish demeanor, he wasn't even a year old when he dared to stab someone and was reliable with his gear!
"If you two keep misbehaving, I'll skin you alive and feed you to the wild wolves!"
As Xu Li prepared to head to the ranch for work in the afternoon, he didn't forget to scare the two little rascals. He was then pushed out of the wooden cabin by his father-in-law and rode off on Black Dragon to work at the ranch. The two little rascals immediately giggled and rushed to the kitchen fridge for soda as soon as Old Parent left.
"I don't want to go; I want to stay home."
"Mommy, I don't want to go to school! I don't want to!"
The brothers tried to turn around and reach out for Qi Qin's affection as Old Parent held their chubby hands. Meanwhile, Anna and Eva waved happily: "Goodbye babies! You must behave in school; Mommy will wait for you to come back and play together!"
"Wah!"
Seeing their mother say that made the brothers cry even louder as they were stuffed into the village's second public bus—a second-hand vehicle that was still relatively new—carrying their new backpacks.
As the time approached, the little kids from the other villages were crying and being stuffed into the vehicles. The older children from the village were responsible for taking care of their food and personal hygiene during the journey.
Driving was Yevgeny, accompanied by Andreev, who had brought soldiers along, and they arrived at the village at the same time as Kolechkin. His three older children were already seated in the vehicle, along with a young boy who had just entered preschool.
Also with them were a few others, including Ji Da's grandmother, who was one of the villagers responsible for overseeing the children's living arrangements in the city.
Xu Li took a cigarette from Valery and lit it, looking around to see if there were any other children missing.
Everyone was present.
Yevgeny held a list in his hand and nodded to Xu Li after checking it. He closed the car door and drove off, closely followed by a second-hand bus heading to Bratsk. This bus would take most of the village's children, from preschool to high school, to study in the city. The round trip would take about an hour, while traveling to Irkutsk took even longer. Therefore, children going to school there wouldn't return home during short breaks.
With this situation, their farm would still be short-staffed.
After sending off the crying children, Xu Li gathered the men to prepare for work. Turning around, he noticed that aside from the six on night patrol last night, Valery and his two sons were following him, along with Kolechkin and Old Ivan's son Petrov.
Andreev was driving the kids to Bratsk while Yevgeny temporarily took on the role of driver for the other bus, which further strained their already limited manpower!
"Take it easy, Makarov," Valery said as he patted Xu Li on the arm. A few of them mounted their horses and headed to the farm to work, while others had their own tasks. Some of the little kids who weren't yet in preschool were sent to Andrei's house.
Some women went to Xu Li's farm while others went to Small Farm. The elderly villagers carried small stools to work in the fields; they couldn't handle heavy labor on the farm anymore but could still manage some delicate tasks in the fields.
After a busy day, Xu Li was sitting in the yard with his father-in-law, drinking and eating. Petrov walked into the yard hesitantly and glanced at two brown bears eating apples under a tree before slowly approaching their table.
After lighting cigarettes for both of them, he awkwardly looked at Xu Li and asked, "Makarov, how much money do I still owe you?"
"What's wrong? Are you tired and want to quit?" Xu Li exhaled a puff of smoke while looking at Petrov, who quickly shook his head.
"No, no," he said with a hint of sadness. "You are really good-looking; unlike my dad and brother, their faces are all hairy and ugly. I've been coughing badly lately; I want to take him to a big hospital for a check-up. The doctor in Irkutsk said to take medicine, but after more than three months of treatment, there's been no improvement."
"Then you should definitely go see a doctor."
Xu Li stood up and went back inside his house. He quickly returned with two stacks of Rubles and placed them in front of Petrov. "You can take a bus to Bratsk and buy a ticket to Moscow. My brother-in-law is a director at a big hospital in Moscow; let him find an expert to give your uncle a thorough examination."
"That's too much!" Petrov pushed one stack back towards Xu Li and shook his head. "It's too much; I'm afraid I won't be able to pay it back."
"Just take it, why all the nonsense?" Xu Li shot him a glare, then poured some vodka into her child's juice cup, filling it to the brim before handing it to him. "Finish this quickly and head home. Bring Xiao Lina over, and we'll take her back after you return from Moscow."
"Thank you!" Petrov choked up as he picked up the glass, clinking it with Xu Li and Andreev. He nodded gratefully at them, clutching two stacks of cash as he headed home.
Sighing, Andreev remarked, "Old Ivan probably won't last much longer. That old fellow talked to me about some things not long ago."
"Every day is a blessing; it's not easy for anyone to come into this world," Xu Li said as she shared a drink with her father-in-law. They continued their earlier conversation, eating and drinking.
Andreev's concern for Old Ivan seemed a bit conservative; after returning from Moscow, Old Ivan had visibly lost weight day by day. Xu Li pulled Petrov aside to inquire further, and the result left him silent.
"Late-stage lung cancer," he finally said.
From the time Petrov borrowed money from Xu Li until Old Ivan was buried, only a month and a half had passed. A new grave mound appeared in the autumn-yellow grassland at the west end of the village.
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