"Tap, tap, tap..."
With nails held between his teeth, Yang Ge carefully nailed a small plaque carved with the words "Little Yellow's home" onto the kennel door.
The bare little courtyard had been transformed. A pool of flowing water now occupied its northeastern corner, with several slender stalks of mottled bamboo growing taller than the courtyard wall beside it. The morning sunlight filtered through the bamboo, scattering patches of dappled shadows across the yard.
A moon gate had been opened in the middle of the eastern wall. Beyond it lay a small, level vegetable plot with an unobstructed view, two intersecting pebble paths running through its center and a fence enclosing its perimeter.
The northwestern corner still held the grape trellis. Beneath it stood a square stone table, with a small bamboo chair to one side. A ring of flower beds had also been built along the base of the courtyard walls around the trellis, planted with fresh little wild chrysanthemums.
He had even paved the ground with tightly fitted, smooth blue stone slabs and installed proper drainage, ensuring that rainy days would never turn the entire courtyard into a muddy mess...
After nailing up the plaque, Yang Ge put down the hammer, stood up, and stepped back twice. He tilted his head from side to side to inspect his work, then clapped his hands in satisfaction, thinking that his canine son would surely love his new home.
He turned in place to survey the courtyard, thinking that Zhao Miao would like his old home too...
Finally, he raised his head and squinted at the golden morning sun on the horizon. A smile slowly rose to his lips. "Today's a good day!"
"Brother Shan, I'm heading into town to pick up my wife. Keep an eye on the place for