Chapter Thirty-Six is very much like a person

  "Ordinary dogs don't like people touching their heads. Because dogs can't see the top of their own heads, they feel pressure when you touch them there and are likely to attack. But Da Jiang is different, he knows it's a comrade touching him, so when you stroke his head, he understands your friendly intentions and will be very happy to get close to you."

  Seeing her still skeptical, Yu Songyuan said again, "What I said is true. It likes people to touch its neck and back, when you reward it, just touch its neck, it will be very happy. Try touching it now."

  She tentatively reached out to touch its head and neck. The big dog immediately became excited, wagging its tail high and jumping around her in circles.

  Yu Songyuan said: "You're not afraid of it now, are you? It can fully understand human language, it just won't speak. Try again, let it do whatever you want."

  She said: "General, sit down." The general immediately sat down, tilting his head and looking at her mischievously.

  "General, don't hang your head!" The general immediately lifted his head high.

  She said: "General, jump!" The general immediately jumped high into the air and then sat back down.

  She said: "General, run!" The general swiftly darted out like an arrow, but soon stopped and looked back at her with his two large ears perked up, then looked around at Yu Songyan.

  Yu Songyuan said, "There's a problem with this password. It's protesting." Lin Xue looked at him in confusion, and Yu Songyuan said, "It's asking you, just let me run, but where can I run to?"

  Lin Xue suddenly enlightened and excitedly said: "Yes, yes, this is not General Dajiang's fault."

  The general had just finished speaking and ran to sit beside her, tilting his head, with eyes still mischievously looking at her, as if saying "You see, it's your fault, not mine."

  Lin Xue was delighted by it, clapping her small hands and laughing loudly, the happy nature returned to the little girl's face. Apparently, the fear of dogs finally slowly disappeared, which made Yu Songyuan feel relieved, but also a bit bitter in his heart.

  To dispel her fear of the so-called "ghost house", he told her again the legendary story of General Yu sacrificing his life to fight against the giant python, she listened with wide eyes and forgot about washing clothes, "Brother Yu, you didn't make it up, did you?"

  Yu Songyuan said: "It's true. One day I'll take you there and you'll see for yourself."

  Lin Xue began to get along with Yu Songyuan and Da Jiang, the feeling of distance slowly disappearing. After playing with Da Jiang for a while, she started sitting next to Yu Songyuan washing clothes.

  This was the first time Yu Songyuan had taken a close look at her. Before this, although they were also in close contact, there was never time to observe her, nor had he seen her entire face. He saw that the girl's complexion was sallow and thin, with an obviously inadequate diet, clearly a child from a poor family who had suffered greatly.

  But she has delicate features and smooth skin. Although her clothes are old, they are clean from head to toe. The ponytail on her head is also cute and lovely. Moreover, she is very strong-minded and has her own opinions. The more I look at her, the more she looks like a certain person, too much alike in appearance, speech, actions, and temperament.

  Yu Songyuan felt a little surprised, my goodness, this is really too amazing.

  Yu Ge, why are you staring at me? What's wrong with me?" She nervously smoothed her hair with her hand.

  Heaven, even the action of combing hair is not different by a single hair, the creator is really too wonderful. Yu Songyuan saw her ask, and had no choice but to tell the truth, "Little one, you look like someone."

  "Who?"

  "My aunt."

  "How could this be? I'm not even fifteen yet."

  After washing her own clothes, she took Yu Songyuan's basin and said: "Yu Dage, you won't even wash your clothes, and you waste soap powder. From now on, I'll wash your clothes for you, you focus on studying."

  Yu Songyuan looked at her pure and innocent eyes, knowing that her young and closed heart had already let in a ray of sunshine. He shook the water off his hands and said, "Alright then, little girl, thanks first."

  Lin Xue said discontentedly: "My name is Lin Xue, don't call me little servant girl, I hate it the most when others call me little servant girl. Just because I'm a servant girl, my master and his wife have disliked me since I was young."

  Yu Songyuan hastily said, "Alright, alright, Comrade Lin Xue, it's hard on you." He then asked her in an attempt to make conversation, "You're a formal worker at the school-run factory, don't you have your own dormitory?"

  Lin Xue's eyes turned red again, "I was a substitute for Dada to enter the factory, and there was no place in the women's dormitory. The factory asked the school affairs office, and the school affairs office pushed it off saying that only here had an empty house, letting me live here first, and then move out when I get assigned to a dorm."

  Yu Songyuan asked again: "How old are you? Why aren't you in school?"

  Lin Xue said: "I'll be 15 years old during the Spring Festival, my body is not good, so I had to retire early. My family is poor and I have two younger brothers who are still in school, so I started working instead of finishing middle school." She patted the big dog sitting next to her and said: "Actually, you don't know, I was a great student, by the second year of junior high I had already self-studied most of the high school curriculum. Don't believe me? Test me!"

  Yu Songyuan really asked a few questions for first-year high school students, and she answered them all fluently. This made Yu Songyuan feel very pleased in his heart, this was an excellent and intelligent girl, at the same time, she truly trusted him and General Ta.

  "With your learning ability being so strong, you can totally self-study and take the university entrance exam."

  "It's not that easy, it's all fate. I'm the eldest in my family, and I have to earn money to support my two younger brothers' education. But later on, I will study while working, taking courses like correspondence school or self-study exams."

  Yu Songyuan was speechless, another poor soul like himself. Lin Xue was washing clothes and saw him deep in thought, so she let him go back to the dormitory to review. Yu Songyuan walked into the room, holding Qin Hong's used ancient Chinese review materials to start reviewing.

  Lin Xue was washing clothes while playing with Da Jiang in a lively manner. It's really like a little girl's nature, just now she was scared and almost cried, but now she's playing again. After a while, Da Jiang lazily walked in and lay down at his feet to take a nap. Outside, the sound of Lin Xue going in and out, busy with her work, could be heard from time to time.

  On weekends, the school cafeteria usually doesn't provide steamed lunch for students. The morning passed quickly and it was time for lunch. Yu Songyuan took out dry and cold pancakes and stir-fried soybeans, poured hot water into his rice bowl, and prepared to eat. Da Jiang also brought over his own rice bowl, and Yu Songyuan also poured some hot water in for him.

  At this moment, Lin Xue knocked on the door and walked in with a swing of her ponytail. This was also her first time entering Yu Songyuan's room. She patted the general's head, and the general happily ran around her, even biting at her pant leg, inviting her to have lunch together. Yu Songyuan also extended an invitation, "Let's eat together?"

  Lin Xue mustered up some courage and said to him with a hint of shyness, "Yu Ge, thank you for taking care of me. I'd like to invite you out for lunch today."

  "Are you inviting me to dinner?" Yu Songyuan asked curiously.

  She said seriously and proudly: "Right, as long as you don't laugh at me."

  "It's great, someone is treating us to dinner, what a wonderful thing.I wouldn't make fun of that," said Yu Songyuan.

  He followed Lin Xue to the kitchen, where everything had been thoroughly cleaned and swept. The pots and pans were spotless, and the old doors and windows were sealed with newspaper. On the table was a large bowl of stir-fried radish, and two pots on the stove were emitting steam. Yu Songyuan lifted the lid of one pot to reveal a plain rice dish made with barley and dried yam, while the other pot contained a cabbage soup.

  Yu Songyuan gazed at her with appreciative eyes, truly a poor man's child, she will definitely be a good housekeeper in the future. It seems that he had stumbled upon good fortune, picking up a stone and suddenly finding it to be a treasure.

  Lin Xue excitedly said: "From now on, when the school doesn't serve meals, we'll eat here. There are too many treasures here! Wow, every ridge is full of big cabbages and big radishes, each one is packed tightly together, so many!"

  "Did you buy the soy sauce, salt, sauce and vinegar?" Yu Songyuan asked.

  "No, I passed by the teacher's dormitory the day before yesterday, and two teacher aunts forced them on me."

  Yu Songyuan was really hungry and didn't bother to ask questions. The three of them sat around the table, Yu Songyuan facing the girl, Da Jiang sitting sideways, looking like a happy family of three, eating with relish.

  So lavish, the general also opened his belly, finished eating in the bowl in front of him, then lifted his big head, quietly gazing at Yu Songyuan for a while and then at the girl. Meaning, "You two, can't you just not focus on yourself?" The two immediately burst out laughing and worked together to add another bowl for it.

  After finishing his meal, Yu Songyuan patted his belly and said: "Delicious, too delicious."

  Lin Xue asked nervously: "Really? Don't lie to me."

  Yu Songyuan said: "It's really delicious. However, let's divide the labor, from now on, I'll be in charge of stealing vegetables, and you can cook. You're a girl, if you get caught by the school, it won't look good."

  Lin Xue nodded happily, "That day I was passing by the teacher's dormitory when two aunts stopped me and gave me some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and a bottle of fermented bean paste. They said that every year the school's vegetable garden would produce more napa cabbage and radishes than they could eat, and by the time it got hot, they would rot and be thrown away. All the teachers' families would eat these underground vegetables, so on weekends when you didn't have anywhere to go for meals, you could quietly dig some up and cook them yourselves, just don't let the school know."

  Yu Songyuan's nose turned sour, and he felt a surge of emotions in his heart. There are still many good people in this world. He asked her again, "Do you usually eat at the school cafeteria?"

  She said: "According to the rules, I should buy food in the cafeteria, but I don't have money. Usually, I steam rice boxes with students. I brought a lot of dried radish from home, all marinated with salt by myself, it's delicious! Next time you eat, try some." With that, her face was filled with pride.

  Yu Songyuan suddenly wanted to make the girl happy, just like his sisters Yu Ya, Yu Xiaohui and Chen Jing, or his three little nieces Yu Xiaohong, Yu Xiaomei and Yu Xiaoyin. So he said: "You treat me to lunch, and I'll invite you to a bonfire barbecue in the evening, which will be an unforgettable experience for your whole life?"

  Lin Xue was immediately interested, "How about we have a bonfire and cook outdoors? We don't have anything, let's do it well here and then light the bonfire outside to eat?"

  Yu Songyuan said: "Keep it secret for now, let's act immediately, and I'll give you a big surprise later."

  With a determined look, Yu Songyuan took out the iron shovel, fishing hook, line and rod, as well as a small lunch box containing salt, seasonings, and two ladles of lard. Da Jiang was bursting with excitement, jumping up and down nonstop. Lin Xue was also infected by his enthusiasm, swinging her ponytail and playing with Da Jiang in high spirits.

  Yu Songyuan was just about to lead everyone out when she saw that Lin Xue's cotton-padded jacket was thin and her head was bare. So she went back to the dormitory, took out a wide grey woolen scarf, wrapped it around Lin Xue's head, then wound it twice around her neck, with a large section still hanging down over her chest.

  Lin Xue remained still and let him wrap around her, soon becoming a warm doll that soothed his body and heart.

  Yu Songyuan turned around in a circle, looking around, "Just one more pair of gloves and we'll be all set, unfortunately, there aren't any for now. Alright, you just put your hands in your pockets and they won't get cold." He then called out to the general who was playing happily, "General, come hunting with me!" With that, he picked up his gear and led everyone out in a grand procession.

  On the road, Lin Xue asked: "What did he call you? Little Master?"

  "Right, we've always been a pair. Let me think, what should I call you? Little milk or little aunt?"

  "You're terrible, all over the place, and sound awful."

  "Or should I call sister?"

  "No way, then you're one generation younger than me. Call me Auntie, okay? From now on, just call me Auntie." The general turned his head to take a glance and continued running ahead. It seemed like he wanted to say, "I'm not good at talking anyway, do as you please, after all, whatever you two say goes."