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Xu Li tossed aside the chicken bones, picked up a wine glass, and waved to Pushkin and Valery, saying, "I'm heading back now."
"I'll go too! I'll go too!" The mischievous Larryf dropped his fork and rushed over to grab Xu Li's baggy shorts. "I'm going to find Oleg and Nikola!"
"Hahaha, are you hoping to eat my family's watermelon and cantaloupe?"
Larryf didn't bother to deny it, nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes, I want to eat it, Uncle Makarov!"
"You should wash up first. Later, your brother will take you."
Xu Li patted Little Guy's head and walked back home. Anna and Eva were busy fighting with the kids over food, showing no signs of maternal instinct at all, which made Xu Li chuckle.
Bafra was sipping her juice in small gulps while secretly glancing behind her. Seeing no one, she felt a bit disappointed. Pouting, she drank her juice and stood up, planning to head back.
But Xu Li gently tapped her on the head. "Go home, wash up, and change into a nice dress. Don’t you smell yourself? Aren't you afraid you'll scare the boys away?"
"You're so annoying!" The little girl shyly swatted him and covered her flushed round face as she ran out of the yard.
Andrei laughed heartily. "What did Aleksey say?"
"What could he say? He just listens to Pushkin and Valery."
After sitting down, Xu Li pulled out a napkin to wipe Anna's and Eva's mouths before filling Father-in-law's glass with wine. The two of them clinked glasses. "I'm going to the greenhouse to pick some watermelon and fruit. Xiao Nianqing will be over later; we can have some."
"This kid is becoming more responsible!" Natasha watched her son-in-law disappear around the corner with a satisfied smile. Andrei took a sip of his drink. "In a few years, he’ll be the village chief of Hongqi Village. Right now, there are too few people following him around!"
"What does 'following' mean?"
Xu Weihua was busy shaking his head while munching on a large piece of roasted meat. Andrei smiled affectionately. "Following means working for food—just trying to survive. You don’t need to worry about that; your dad will provide for you perfectly."
He looked at his two grandsons with some emotion. "You boys are lucky; you won’t have to struggle for survival in the future!"
Natasha seemed to recall their difficult past and sighed deeply before taking small bites of her dinner.
Village Chief Grandpa had washed up and changed into a small brand-name outfit he usually didn’t wear. Aleksey held his brother Larryf's hand as they entered Andrei's yard. Larryf looked at the clean strawberries, cherries, and grapes on the dining table and happily ran over.
Sitting beside his brother, he picked up a big strawberry and stuffed it into his mouth. Andrei, who was smoking, waved at Aleksey. "Come sit down."
"Where’s Brother Makarov?"
He went to take a shower; you can enjoy your food.
Andrei cheerfully pushed the fruit platter towards him. The platter was beautifully arranged with slices of watermelon and cantaloupe, but the young man didn’t touch it. He wanted to wait for the girl to come so they could eat together.
Xiong Da and Xiong Er slowly emerged from the house, each with half a watermelon in their mouths. They sat under the Apple Tree, munching away, while Da Hei and Xiao Hei sniffed around but quickly lost interest.
After Xu Li finished his shower, he put on a pair of loose shorts and joined his father-in-law in the yard to eat fruit. It wasn’t until Bafra awkwardly entered the yard that he patted his two sons on the backsides, signaling them to go back inside.
The little guys each grabbed a Big Strawberry and headed into the house, while Larryf took a bunch of grapes. "Wait for me!"
Andrei didn’t want to be a third wheel, so he cheerfully got up and returned inside. It was a good thing that the younger generation in the village wanted to stay here!
"Hey you!"
"Uh-huh."
Aleksey foolishly got up to shake hands with Bafra. The two held hands without knowing how to let go, standing there in a daze for quite some time, which made Xu Li roll his eyes.
"Stop standing there like fools; sit down and eat fruit. You can chat slowly."
Xu Li stood up, planning to head out to the dirt road outside the yard. Just as he reached the door, he bumped into Andreev, who was holding Zhukov: "Is there something up?"
Andreev nodded. Zhukov, this little guy, had sharp eyes and spotted the fruit on the table. He wriggled free from his father's grip and rushed over to Xu Li's shorts, shaking them: "Uncle, uncle! I want watermelon and strawberries!"
"Go ahead; you can eat inside too."
Zhukov elongated his voice happily and dashed into the house, completely ignoring the two fools outside!
What’s going on with these two?
Andreev took the cigarette Xu Li offered and lit it up. He nodded towards the two Xiao Nianqing and said, "They’re dating."
"They’re just sitting there like idiots?"
"Why do you care?"
Xu Li walked with Andreev along the dirt road in the village: "What’s going on?"
"I have two little comrades. There are many kids at home, plus elderly people to support. They don’t have much ability; working as security won’t support their whole family. They asked me to help find out if you need anyone here."
Andreev exhaled smoke: "They were my subordinates before—honest and obedient. They got dragged down by me as their sergeant; otherwise, they’d be doing better than I am now! I fought in Grozny for the first time; they fought in the second round. If they come back alive, they’ll get medals for it because of my former superior I offended. So this is kind of my responsibility towards them."
"Anyway, I need people for my ranch too; let them come over."
Xu Li patted Andreev on the back and suggested they go check out the old houses, freeing up a couple of rooms for them to stay in.
“Thank you!”
“What are you talking about?”
The two exchanged a smile and wandered around some abandoned houses in the village, checking the wiring and plumbing before heading back to his home.
Xu Li and Andreev had strange expressions on their faces, as the two Xiao Nianqing were still sitting there, munching on some watermelon and cantaloupe.
“Useless!” Xu Li slapped Aleksey on the head and shoved a plate of fruit into his arms. “Take Bafra outside, eat some fruit, and chat. What’s with just sitting there like that?”
“Hehe.”
Aleksey grinned at Xu Li and Andreev, then followed Bafra out of the yard, probably forgetting that his little brother was still there!
“How’s your Katyusha doing lately?”
While eating watermelon, they chatted casually. Andreev spat out a watermelon seed. “Not bad. She’s graduating high school next year, but I don’t know if she’ll get into a good university.”
“As long as she’s doing well, you should keep an eye on her. Don’t let those shady guys bully her.”
“She should be fine. I rented her an apartment right below your Brother Ivan’s place.”
Xu Li nodded. “That’s good.”
He handed the watermelon rind to the approaching Xiong Da. “Over at the ranch, we’ll be starting to work on Qing Chu soon. If we have extra hands, they can help secure the Low Fence. There’s not much else to do; the ranch should expand next year.”
Andreev scratched Xiong Er’s ear. “That’s quite an investment; how long will it take to break even?”
“The more you invest, the quicker you break even. Otherwise, with just a few hundred heads, how long would it take?”
He handed over the leftover watermelon to Xiong Da. “I have channels to supply directly to Huaxia, so I’m not worried about excess Beef Cattle stockpiling. Our beef isn’t cheap; it’s worth four or five times what it is here.”
“For now, we’re still a small farm and can only do wholesale. Once our brand takes off, I’ll try raising other types of Beef Cattle and focus on quality. All of this hinges on one thing: the scale of the ranch!”
Andreev didn’t quite understand all this; he just knew that if they wanted to develop the ranch and earn more money in the future, they needed to raise more cattle and sheep. So he nodded confidently. “Don’t worry about heavy lifting; we’ll get it done quickly!”
After chatting for a while, Andreev went inside to take home Zhukov, who had eaten well and fallen asleep, while Xu Li planned to send Larryf back and eavesdrop on what the two Xiao Nianqing were talking about.
When he arrived at Pushkin’s house with Larryf in his arms, he saw the whole family enjoying watermelon and fruit. Bafra was chatting with Tamisha on the sofa while Aleksey was grinning foolishly.
He handed Larryf over to Valery without stopping and went home to rest.
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