Chapter 5: Happy and Joyful

Dog Sheng lewdly said, “Am I really that scary? Look how you’re freaking out. Why are you so timid?”

Shen Li rolled her eyes and said, “What are you doing standing at my door? Stop laughing and tell me, why are you here?”

Dog Sheng stared dumbly at Shen Li, a perverse smile on his face.

He then said, “I don’t even know how I ended up here. After leaving Dazui’s house, I just wandered aimlessly and somehow ended up here. When I saw you washing clothes in the yard, I just stood at the door and watched for a while.”

“Hah… You don’t even believe your own words, do you? You just wandered here? Look at you,” Shen Li said with irritation.

“Ha ha, so what’s wrong with me? Aside from looking ugly, having dirty clothes, and being a bit darker-skinned, everything else about me is a plus,” Dog Sheng said, grinning.

Shen Li couldn’t help but smile at his words, thinking, “Is there really such a shameless person? His face is so thick.”

Dog Sheng looked at Shen Li’s smile, and she seemed even more beautiful and charming, which nearly made him drool.

Shen Li looked up and asked, “Why are you grinning like an idiot? You’ve seen enough, now go home.”

“Heh heh… I still haven’t seen enough. Who told you to be so good-looking? You’re really too beautiful. If I could have a wife like you, I’d be willing to live twenty years less,” Dog Sheng said, grinning widely.

Shen Li, now truly annoyed, turned her face away and shouted loudly, “Go away! Stop talking nonsense! If you don’t leave, I’ll splash water on you!”

Dog Sheng, grinning cheekily, replied, “Splash me? I don’t believe you’ll actually do it. I’m standing here waiting for you to splash.”

Dog Sheng stood still at the door, waiting for Shen Li to splash him with water.

Shen Li, infuriated, shouted, “You’re such a rascal! So annoying, you’re really unbearable!”

Seeing that Shen Li was genuinely angry, Dog Sheng quickly said, “Don’t be mad, I’ll leave, alright? You’re really petty, so quick to get angry.”

“I have every right to be mad! When I see you, I just get angry and annoyed. Hurry up and leave!” Shen Li scolded.

Dog Sheng smiled, “Alright, I’m leaving! Little Li, look at me one more time.”

Li glanced up at him and saw Dog Sheng throwing her a kiss with a cheeky grin.

Shen Li, fuming, stood up from her stool, grabbed a stick, and went after Dog Sheng. He, frightened, ran away, not paying attention to what was in front of him.

Just then, Grandpa Zhang came walking by, herding a few pigs, and the two collided head-on.

Dog Sheng, running too fast, bumped into the pigs, causing them to squeal loudly. Dog Sheng fell to the ground, landing in a rather embarrassing way.

Shen Li, seeing this, stopped chasing him and squatted down, laughing heartily. She muttered to herself, “Serves you right, it’s karma. Hahaha~”

Dog Sheng groaned from the fall and slowly got up from the ground.

He shouted at Grandpa Zhang, “What are you doing, old man, walking pigs in the village? People in the city walk dogs, but you’re walking pigs! Oh, that hurts!”

Grandpa Zhang, feeling wronged, didn’t know who he had upset. He was simply walking down the road and had been obstructed.

With a frustrated look, Grandpa Zhang replied, “The pigs don’t know better, but do you? Can’t you see these pigs? If they could talk, they’d curse you to death.”

Shen Li, still laughing, said, “Grandpa Zhang, you’d better hurry and take the pigs back. Don’t argue with him. Oh my, I’m going to die laughing.”

Grandpa Zhang shot Dog Sheng a look before herding the pigs away.

Dog Sheng, clutching his chest, muttered, “If pigs could talk, they’d curse you out, you old man. Oh, it hurts so much.”

Shen Li, seeing that Dog Sheng looked like he was really hurt, felt a little guilty. After all, it was her chasing him that made him run into the pigs.

She called out, “Hey, are you alright? Do you need to go to the clinic…?”

Dog Sheng smiled and waved it off, “It’s nothing. I just bumped into a pig. It’s no big deal. You go ahead, I’ll head home.”

Dog Sheng, clutching his chest, limped home. Shen Li saw that he wasn’t seriously hurt, so she went back to the yard to continue washing clothes.

As Dog Sheng walked back, many villagers saw him and laughed, gossiping that he must’ve been up to no good, or else why would he be walking like that?

A few young men came towards Dog Sheng and saw him holding his chest, walking slowly.

They laughed, “Dog Sheng must’ve been hitting on someone’s wife again, huh? Got chased by a dog? Look at how he’s walking. Hahaha~”

Dog Sheng rolled his eyes and said, “Go away… a bunch of little brats, what do you know? Go do your thing!”

The young men laughed and walked off in another direction.

Dog Sheng kept walking, but then suddenly stopped, thinking, “I can’t go home like this. If my parents see me, they’ll scold me again.”

So Dog Sheng found a rock and sat down. He rubbed his legs and then his chest.

Sitting on the rock, he thought, “It’s almost noon. Where should I go? I can’t go to Tong Chui’s house; his mom is like a tiger! I’ll be scared to death.”

“Should I go to Dazui’s house? Heh… I’ve already been there twice this morning, do I really need to go again?”

After thinking for a while, he figured he had no other place to go but Dazui’s. There was nowhere else.

So Dog Sheng slowly stood up from the rock. After resting, he wasn’t in as much pain as before.

Looking ahead, he started walking toward Dazui’s house. He was more cautious now, making sure not to bump into anything else. That near-death experience with the pigs earlier was enough to teach him a lesson.

Dog Sheng walked slowly and carefully for a while before finally arriving at Dazui’s house. Dazui was cooking noodles!

Since Dazui’s parents had gone to visit relatives today, no one was cooking at home.

Before leaving, Dazui’s parents had left him some money on the table, not knowing that he had fallen ill.

When Dog Sheng arrived, Dazui had just gotten back from buying noodles.

Dog Sheng walked up and said, “Hey, Brother Zui, make some extra noodles, I’ll eat with you.”

Dazui turned around, seeing Dog Sheng. He was curious why Dog Sheng was here; he rarely came over.

Dazui smiled and said, “Alright, I’ll make some more.”

Dazui looked at Dog Sheng carefully and noticed he was still clutching his chest and limping.

He asked, “Dog Sheng, what happened to you? Why are you holding your chest?”

Dog Sheng sighed and replied, “Ugh, don’t ask. I had the worst luck today. After leaving your house, I just wandered around the village and somehow ended up at Xiao Li’s door.”

“I was going to leave, but when I saw Xiao Li washing clothes in the yard, I just stood at the door and talked to her for a while. Then I made a joke, and she chased me with a stick.”

“I ran, but then Grandpa Zhang was herding pigs, and I ran straight into them. That’s why I’m like this.”

Dazui laughed loudly at what Dog Sheng said, but then something seemed off…