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Chapter 41
Respect and admiration, feeling ashamed of my own shortcomings!
Jiang Tiantian truly believed that the older generation carried a deep sense of nobility, broad vision, and mission.
“Grandpa, you will definitely succeed. In the future, many Chinese medicinal herbs can actually be grown on a large scale artificially.”
Cha Jizu looked at her with gratification. “Let’s hope things turn out as you say, Tiantian.”
“Even if we don’t succeed with everything, just one success could bring extra income to Cha Family Village.”
—-
Cha Jizu glanced at the mop in front of the doghouse and curiously asked Jiang Tiantian, “How did you come up with the idea of training Mop to find matsutake mushrooms?”
“Hehehe~”
Jiang Tiantian laughed guiltily.
“I read a book before that mentioned how, in some foreign countries, pigs are used to find truffles.”
“Then I thought, since matsutake mushrooms also have a unique scent and dogs have a strong sense of smell, why not give it a try? I didn’t expect it to actually work.”
Seeing Cha Jizu deep in thought, she quickly added before he could ask her to train dogs for the entire village,
“But that’s only because our Mop is exceptionally gifted. I’ve noticed that Mop’s sense of smell is much sharper than other dogs’.”
So, not every dog could be as impressive as Mop.
Hearing this, Cha Jizu smiled knowingly, as if he had seen right through Jiang Tiantian’s thoughts.
“Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to train dogs for the village.”
“Since you’ve already proven that the method works, the villagers can just train their own dogs.”
In fact, quite a few villagers, having heard the news, had already taken their dogs up the mountain today.
But the results varied.
None of them were as good as Mop.
Naturally, some people started thinking about getting Jiang Tiantian to help train their dogs. That afternoon, someone even brought their dog over, hoping she could train it.
At that moment, Cha Jiuzhang was busy adding water, stomping clay, refining soil, flipping it over… stomping clay again, refining soil, flipping again…
Upon hearing this request, he immediately rejected it. “This has nothing to do with people, it’s all about the dog!”
Then, he bent down, picked up an ordinary rock, showed it to everyone, and let Mop sniff it. Then, he threw it far away.
“Mop, fetch it back.”
Mop had just returned from a date, his belly full, still basking in the warmth of Tiantian’s love.
Hearing the command, he unwillingly rolled his eyes at Cha Jiuzhang.
Hmph—
These foolish two-legged creatures!
Always playing such childish games.
He lazily trotted over, accurately picking out the exact stone from a pile of pebbles, and brought it back.
Seeing this, the villagers had nothing more to say.
Mop—was indeed a scoundrel, but he was undeniably smart.
Immediately, the way they looked at Mop changed.
“Mop, come play with our dog when you’re free!”
“Yeah, Mop, don’t you think our dog is pretty?”
“…”
Cha Jiuzhang: “?”
Mop: “Woof woof~”
The villagers thought—since they couldn’t take Mop, they could at least hope for Mop’s offspring!
If Mop spent more time with their dogs, wouldn’t there be little Mops running around next year?
At this moment, Mop had no idea that he had been designated as the village’s top breeding candidate…
—–
Cha Jizu continued, “I was just thinking—once matsutake season is over, I could take Mop up the mountain to search for some special medicinal herbs.”
Jiang Tiantian nodded eagerly, pointing at Mop and flattering,
“Grandpa, I think your idea is absolutely right! Since Mop is so talented, we can’t let that talent go to waste.”
“When you have time, train him with different herbs. Just like how military dogs are trained to sniff out drugs, you can train him the same way.”
This little pup had benefited so much from her, it shouldn’t be wasted.
Once matsutake season ended, it could start searching for medicinal herbs for Grandpa.
No way would she let Mop live an extravagant, idle life.
Cha Jizu’s eyes lit up as if a whole new world had opened up to him.
“Tiantian, you’re right. We can’t let Mop’s talent go to waste.”
Some diseases actually change a person’s body odor before symptoms appear.
And many precious medicinal herbs have too many counterfeits, making it hard to distinguish real from fake with the naked eye.
Maybe Mop could even be trained for this!
He turned to Mop with a kind, affectionate look. Not bad—this was indeed his family’s dog. So promising!
Cha Jiuzhang, hearing this, sympathetically glanced at Mop.
Pup, your carefree days might be coming to an end.
Mop: Feeling a malicious gaze from Dog Dad…
Caution: Something’s fishy!
—-
Jiang Tiantian suddenly remembered her bread oven.
She put down her chopsticks and rushed to the backyard. When she arrived, she saw that the bread oven had already taken shape.
On the ground beside it were piles of clay, straw-mud bricks, fine sand, empty glass bottles, and stones.
She walked around it twice, excitedly asking, “How long will it take to finish?”
Cha Jiuzhang walked over. “Once the base dries, we’ll build the inner chamber, add a thermal layer, install the chimney, and finish the exterior.”
“After all that, we need to let it dry for about ten more days, and then it should be ready to use.”
Jiang Tiantian nodded cheerfully, satisfied with the progress.
She looked around—at this moment, no one else was in the backyard.
So she leaned closer to Cha Jiuzhang and whispered, “I went to town today and already contacted a pipe supplier. They’ll be delivering samples in the next couple of days.”
“Find time to check them out.”
Cha Jiuzhang carefully studied the little woman in front of him, but his mind drifted to what Xiaoliu had told him earlier in the afternoon.
That Jiang Tiantian…
Didn’t match the woman standing before him at all.
It was like they were two completely different people.
Could it really be that the shock from their wedding night was so great that it completely changed her personality?
Cha Jiuzhang didn’t doubt Xiaoliu’s good intentions. If Xiaoliu dared to say something, it meant he had investigated thoroughly.
But at the same time, Cha Jiuzhang preferred to trust his own eyes.
He would judge Jiang Tiantian for himself.
Even if she had an unpleasant past, the past was the past—he wouldn’t hold it against her.
What he cared about was the Jiang Tiantian standing before him, the one who completely captivated his attention.
Coming back to his senses, Cha Jiuzhang patted Jiang Tiantian’s head and praised, “Tiantian, you’re really capable.”
Getting someone to specially deliver samples in such a short time was quite impressive.
“How about this—tomorrow, I’ll finish the remaining work on the bread oven, and the day after, we’ll go to town together. How does that sound?”
Jiang Tiantian nodded. “Sure!”
As long as she handed the samples to Cha Jiuzhang, the rest wasn’t her problem anymore.
Cha Jiuzhang hesitated for a moment before finally saying,
“The other day, when I sent Xiaoliu to the provincial capital, I also had him visit your family.”
“Huh?”
Jiang Tiantian frowned. “Why?”
Watching her closely, Cha Jiuzhang noticed only disgust when her family was mentioned—nothing else.
“I had him bring back everything you left there.”
“Will you be mad at me for making this decision on my own?”
Hearing this, Jiang Tiantian let out a sigh of relief.
“Oh, that? No, I won’t. It’s better to bring my things back. Otherwise, my sisters might just throw them away when they’re in a bad mood.”
And honestly, aside from some books, she really didn’t have much there.
Seeing that she truly wasn’t upset, Cha Jiuzhang finally relaxed.
“I’ve put all your things in your room. You can go take a look.”
He hadn’t opened them, but judging by the contents, aside from a sack full of books, there really wasn’t anything else.
Jiang Tiantian casually nodded. “Alright, I’ll go check.”
This was good. It would make cutting ties with that family even easier—out of sight, out of mind.
Just as she turned around, she suddenly smacked her forehead. “Wait a minute! I just remembered—I bought a gift for Mom today!”
With that, she took off like the wind, running toward the front yard.
Cha Jiuzhang frowned slightly, standing still as he fell into deep thought.
If she really changed her personality because of a major shock, then he hoped she could keep this version of herself forever.
Before meeting Xiaoliu today, he could never have imagined that Jiang Tiantian used to be a timid, self-conscious girl.
Compared to the confident, radiant woman she was now, it was like they were two completely different people.