Disaster Apocalypse: Farming, Family, and My Hidden Secret Space

Watching this, Wang Laohan's already restless heart was moved even more.

"Hua, my old friend, your place is simply wonderful."

Just then, a robust dog dashed past him, seeming to sense his gaze, it paused to look at him for a moment before swishing its tail and running off into the distance.

"Hua Man...dog...dog," Wang Dashu was truly amazed, there were actually dogs still alive at this time.

In their village, it wasn't that nobody had kept dogs, but they couldn't survive the extreme winter; they almost all became food.

"Wang, my little brother, would it kill you to say a few more words?" Hua Laohan looked at Wang Dashu exasperatedly.

Wang Dashu froze and then came to his senses, quickly smiling at Hua Laohan "Ah...a slip of the tongue" He hastily said, with a look of embarrassment, mainly because he was just too excited.

"Alright, I know you too well, just teasing you." With that, Hua Laohan laughed.

"You old fellow, you nearly scared me to death," Wang Dashu patted his chest, seeing clearly now that the old friend was indeed joking.

He came today to ask for help. If he made someone unhappy, Wang Dashu would regret it to death.

This visit was indeed to ask for help. If Hua Man were displeased, he would surely regret it terribly.

"Why, getting more timid as you get older?" Hua Laohan lightly patted his old friend.

"That's just natural. As you get older, you naturally fear death."

Saying this, the two of them looked at each other and then burst into laughter, Wang Dashu's awkwardness dissipated with the laugh, and his whole face relaxed.

"That's more like it, you can't be tense when you come to an old friend's place," Hua Laohan chuckled.

Wang Dashu said, "It's just that your place is so wonderful, it leaves an old fellow like me at a loss."

"You..." Hua Laohan shook his head.

"But, it seems like you're doing quite well," Hua Laohan glanced at the yellow cattle upfront; although it was leaner than his own, having a cow at this time indicated a decent living condition, showing Wang Yidong's village preserved its strength quite well. At the very least, they weren't short on grain, otherwise the livestock would have been eaten up long ago.

"Far from it," Wang Laohan sighed as he looked at the vibrant Hua Village.

"Enough, be content," Hua Laohan gave him a sidelong glance.

"Haha... that's true," Wang Laohan laughed, thinking that his Wang Village was envied by surrounding villages, made him feel a lot better.

"Hello, village chief grandpa!"

"Hello, village chief grandpa!"

"Alright alright, stop dawdling, hurry and go home at this time of day, or you'll lose your backside when you get home..." Hua Laohan lightly kicked the nearest boy's backside, laughing and urging them.

"Hehe... my parents couldn't bear to do it," the boy who was kicked laughed heartily, pulled a face at the village chief grandpa, rubbed his belly, and shouted to his companions to go home.

"Rascal," Hua Laohan shook his head.

"Village chief, you have guests!"

"Yes, old man Zheng has already eaten."

"Village chief, have some..." old man Zhao stretched the bowl forward.

"Go away, I won't eat your stuff..." Hua Laohan looked at old man Zhao with disdain; this fellow, although cleaner than before, was only relatively so. See the food stains on his clothes.

All along the way, there were cheerful greetings, and even though Wang Yidong's village had a good atmosphere, it was nothing compared to Hua Village. The spirits of the people in the village were truly good; it was like a misconception that the Northern Cang Tatars had ever attacked, as there was no fright, and everything carried on as usual.

Since he came to the village, Wang Laohan felt he was constantly in envy.

Besides, Hua Village had become larger; after quite a while, they reached the old friend's doorstep.

"Old woman, open the door quickly, Dashu brother is here."

Hua Laohan was a bit excited, his voice following in haste.

Then came the excited sounds of Big Black and Gray Two, and the voice of Hua's wife answering.

In the Hua courtyard, as Hua's wife walked towards the door, she pondered who the Dashu brother, making the old man so happy, could be.

Not her fault for being clueless; earlier, when someone came to call, Hua's wife was helping her grandson's wife attend to her great-grandson. By the time she hurriedly got something ready to eat, Hua Laohan had already left.

And it had been so many years that she couldn't truly recall who Dashu brother was that the old man referred to, as this name was quite common, after all.

"Old woman..."

"Coming, coming, what's the hurry?"

It had been a long time since Wang Laohan and his sons had visited, and they were a bit apprehensive as they studied the courtyard before them. Even the courtyard walls were built of bricks and stones, making comparisons to old friends' lives impossible.

Under the old man's urging, Hua's wife opened the door and glanced at the old elder and two middle-aged men by the side of the door.

"Who is this..."

"Hello, sister-in-law, I'm... Wang Dashu, Wang Dashu from Wang Village."

Mentioning Wang Village, Hua's wife remembered, her face instantly lighting up with surprise and delight "Oh, it's Dashu brother, come in, come in," she said, quickly opening the door fully.

Hua Chengtian then moved the threshold, and Wang Yichun hurriedly helped.

"See, after all these years, I really couldn't recognize you at first, is everything alright at home?" Hua's wife made small talk while walking.

"Everything's good, thanks to you, the old lady and kids are fine."

"That's good, why didn't you come with your sister-in-law? I haven't seen her in many years. To be honest, I do miss her a bit."

The friendship between Hua's wife and her old sister in Wang Yidong's village was genuine. Seeing Wang Dashu and saying she missed him wasn't just perfunctory.

"We're a big family now; she's someone who worries enough, and can't bear to leave home."

Hua's wife nodded, indeed, mothers would feel uneasy without personally watching over things at home.

"Who are these..."

"Oh, these are my eldest and fourth sons."

Upon being pointed out by their father, Wang Yichun and Wang Yidong stood straight and greeted "Auntie."

"Good good, they've grown so robust," Hua's wife grinned happily.

Hua Chengtian also warmly led the brothers to drive the ox-cart to the backyard.

"Dashu brother, it's rare for you brothers to meet, you must have a good chat. Stay for lunch at sister-in-law's house! And you came with so much stuff, are we no longer living?" Hua's wife looked disapprovingly at the items on the table.

There were dried salted fish, home-grown vegetables, and he even brought over a dozen eggs, which was quite the generous gift.

"Nonsense, it's nothing, as long as sister-in-law doesn't dislike it, it's okay. I'm really just here to taste sister-in-law's fine cooking, hope she doesn't find me cheeky."

"You're welcome anytime, catch up with your old buddy, I'll leave you to chat," Being complimented on her cooking, who wouldn't be happy? Hua's wife chuckled and went to the kitchen, thinking about what to make for lunch.

Seeing his wife smiling so broadly, Hua Laohan secretly called Wang Dashu a flatterer. He then looked at his old buddy, rather curious about the sudden visit.

Now home, Hua Laohan no longer concealed his curiosity and immediately posed a question. He didn't believe the old fellow really came just to express friendship.

"Wang, my little brother, coming abruptly like this, did you run into any trouble?"