Chapter 196

Xiao Shengzhou had to accompany his younger sister here.

Xiao Yu was his new target here, stubbornly accompanying her.

Xiao Qi didn't care about the two of them. She could now righteously say that she didn't come to the part-time job for money. It was really as Wei Cheng said, being with animals made her feel very relaxed and emptied her mind. For Xiao Qi this was a rare restful time.

Children were very much like animals, very simple.

Dealing with Xiao Bao'er was also relatively easy for Xiao Qi, but interacting with people her own age or older was not so relaxing.

She led Little Coral out to the open-air grooming stall. Little Coral looked at the damp wooden floor disdainfully. It didn't want to step on it yet.

Xiao Qi now understood this young foal very well. From just one look in its eyes she could grasp its meaning.

She went and got a pink ball and a green ball.

She put the pink ball in front of Little Coral. Sure enough, it obediently stood there and started seriously butting the ball to play.

Meanwhile, Xiao Bao'er, whom Xiao Qi had seated in a chair on the other side, got the green ball. She was also happily playing, not crying or fussing, and no longer shouting to ride the pony.

Seeing the scene of one human and one horse playing ball at the same time, the uncle and nephew both felt slightly complicated... They suddenly seemed to understand why Bao'er's mother was obsessed with signing her up for classes. Her intelligence level was the same as that pony's...

Xiao Qi prepared the scrub water. Little Coral probably liked the pomegranate-scented bath wash - she whipped up a bucket of pomegranate-scented bubbles, soaked the sponges in it, and started scrubbing Little Coral.

Little Coral whimpered contentedly, extremely comfortable. When it was happy it would lift its head and whinny shrilly a time or two. Its voice was sharp and delicate. After whinnying it would seem a bit self-conscious and shut up again.

This was a very sensitive young foal. Xiao Qi scrubbed it very carefully from head to toe, and found no rashes or anything else wrong. It was quite healthy, if a bit on the thin side. It was probably a picky eater, not finishing its feed but preferring to sneak off to a corner and nibble on grass, which lacked nutrients. After Xiao Qi finished scrubbing Little Coral and rinsing it clean, she moved on to brushing its coat.

Seeing that Xiao Bao'er had stopped playing with her ball, Xiao Qi lifted her down from the chair.

She found a small brush for her: "You can help brush Coral too."

Xiao Bao'er was thrilled. She earnestly scrubbed one of the pony's legs with the brush, then took a bow out of her little bee backpack to tie onto its leg.

Seeing that a human foal was playing with it, Little Coral barely restrained its impatience. Mainly because the human scrubbing it felt so good - whichever spot was itchy, it felt like her brush was scrubbing right there, so it couldn't be bothered to deal with the human foal. Besides, the tiny human posed no threat.

So the scene was very harmonious: Xiao Qi grooming Little Coral, Xiao Bao'er perched on a little stool seriously tying bows on its legs to make them symmetrical because she felt that was prettier. It was quite an adorable sight.

Xiao Shengzhou had been worried about his little sister - after all, horses on a farm were so big, if one kicked her it'd be no joke. When he first started working with horses he was very cautious and a little scared of them.

But Xiao Qi seemed to bathe the pony like playing a game. That Little Coral, usually too proud to let anyone touch it, the most arrogant little colt on the farm, was whimpering contentedly. Even more maddening was his stumpy-legged sister sitting there tying bows on it... He really wanted to shake that horse - What happened to your dignity? Your pride?

Glancing over, he saw his little uncle was actually using his phone to record video.

Xiao Shengzhou: "Ahem, uncle, be careful, this is the school."

Xiao Yu said matter-of-factly: "I promised my sister-in-law I would take good care of Bao'er. I'm making this video for my sister-in-law. What do you think I'm doing?"

Xiao Shenzhou: Yeah right, you only came to the farm once last semester, and that was to play with your new girlfriend. Yet this semester's just started and you've come twice already...

Xiao Yu held his phone, the focus clearly on the girl.

She interacted with the little pony so casually, smiling every now and then. Bao'er was seriously concentrated on tying bows on it like an idiot. Every so often the girl would pat the pony, then pat Bao'er, laughing very happily.

Sweetly, like candy he had eaten as a child.

He even envied that little pony now - if he were the one being scrubbed... Thinking of that scene made his body feel strange. That thought was too indecent. His hand holding the phone shook a little.

Somewhat ashamed, he awkwardly lowered his head for a moment, then quickly put his phone away and said to his nephew: "Let's go outside, it's too stuffy in the stable."

"What about my sister, you're not going to look after her?" Xiao Shengzhou asked helplessly. You brought the little devil here, you can't just leave her.

"Can you take her away now? If you try to take her she'll cry all day and night."

Xiao Shengzhou had to admit he had a point. He went up to Xiao Qi and asked her to keep an eye on the little girl while they went to the office for a bit. Xiao Qi nodded in agreement.

After finishing Little Coral's bath she left it to play with its ball, while she took Xiao Bao'er to lead Taylor out.

Taylor had a better temper, but he was tall and large with a fierce black look. Yet Xiao Bao'er wasn't scared of him at all. Very bold, while Xiao Qi held her she even reached out to pat Taylor's head, and got a snort in her face. But she just giggled gleefully.

Holding Taylor, Xiao Qi brought him over to wash. Xiao Bao'er went back to tying bows on Little Coral's other legs, feeling it had to be symmetrical to look nice.

While Xiao Qi kept an eye on her, Little Coral had just been washed and was quite docile at the moment, not rejecting the human foal, standing obediently for the bow-tying.

It took much more water to wash Taylor. But Taylor wasn't picky about bath scents - anything would do. Xiao Qi selected a lemon-scented soap that Taylor clearly enjoyed very much.

After spending some time with the horses, Xiao Qi realized animals also had their little quirks. As long as you figured those out their temperaments were actually quite good.

Taylor had an old scar on his back, probably an old injury. When scrubbing that spot he would get a little tense. The scar was probably still itchy, or for animals, injured spots carried unpleasant memories. Last time it had likely been when Xin Yue was taking photos and accidentally touched the spot, provoking Taylor's agitation and irritability.

Xiao Qi observed that although the scar was quite old it was still rather deep - the original injury must have been serious. While vigorously scrubbing him Xiao Qi was careful to avoid that area. Then she cleaned the scar separately, and found scissors to trim away the surrounding cracked skin so it wouldn't keep getting irritated.

Taylor was nervous at first when the sensitive scar was being carefully treated, especially at the sight of scissors. He even panicked briefly.

But seeing the young pony and human foal so calm nearby, he persevered and stood relatively still, just pacing anxiously a few steps. As expected, when the nice-smelling human gave him a sense of safety like a herd mate, he obediently submitted. Indeed, the formerly uncomfortable injury site now felt much more comfortable and soothed.

By the time Xiao Qi was rubbing him dry with a large towel, he had closed his eyes blissfully and was swaying lightly, looking very happy.

After finishing bathing the two horses, Xiao Qi's work for the day was done. Although it would have been easier to put the horses straight back into their stalls after washing, Xiao Qi felt they should still take them out for a walk in the sun and breeze, which would be healthier.

So leading Taylor and Little Coral, one hand holding Xiao Bao'er's, she took them on a stroll around the paddocks.

Clearly Xiao Bao'er was very well protected - before heading out, she took a folding cap out of her bag and carefully put it on to avoid getting "too dark like her brother".

Xiao Qi thought Bao'er was still quite fair-skinned and rosy - getting dark probably would make her look even more like her brother... hard to imagine that sight.

Little Bao'er strutted proudly alongside Xiao Qi, with two horses behind her - how much more arrogant could she get!

Because she was carrying a child, Xiao Qi was walking Little Seven on the grass at the edge of the runway instead of riding a horse.

As a result, as Little Chubby walked, looking at others riding horses, her little chubby legs grew tired. She didn't want to walk but was too shy to ask Xiao Qi to carry her. So she plopped down on the grass with a pout and said, "Xiao Qi, I want to ride a horse."