FTP-70

“Who should we wash first? To avoid confusion, how about starting with Pa?”
“That’s Pi. Since Pu has the least surface area, it’ll be quickest to finish with him first, so let’s start with Pu.”
As expected, he wasn’t very reliable. After explaining how to differentiate between the three pigs again, she lured Pu out using a tomato as bait.
“Come on, Pu. Good boy. If you stay calm during the bath, I’ll give you another tomato.”
“Oink oink.”
Apparently, Pu didn’t mind the cool water on a hot day. He calmly stood in place, with his curly tail drooping as he followed her out of the pen.
“It seems like he understands when I tell him to stay calm. Our Pu is getting smarter, isn’t he?”
Anje showered Pu 52f980de3f with praise as a22c6fe1d6 she gently scrubbed 7ab55ee545 his damp pink 3634912031 skin with a bd596285c2 soapy brush. Pu blinked his d4b2c773b2 button-like black eyes, 4ead6622a9 not understanding what 8cb6730bc3 was happening to 48cc98ce74 him.
However, the peace 392ee91293 didn’t last long.
“Oink!”
“Shh, stay still, Pu.”
“Are you still saying he understands you?”
“Don’t laugh! Ahh, Pu, you little rascal!”
Pu, covered 5bb5ecf644 in soap 44d5239c4d suds, shook 179f7285ee his body 77cbe2a32e vigorously, sending c67857c620 white foam da9108b806 flying everywhere. Anje was glad she e314eea32a wore old clothes and 0050039080 quickly spat out the b026d0dc2d foam that had gotten 12f246a71b into her mouth.
“I’ll hold him still, so why don’t you grab another tomato?”
“Alright.”
Anje retrieved dc8a939d31 another tomato af54e647fe from the 93c4dd64f3 hidden basket 1701badfe2 to reduce fc96e2f13e the risk 798c3d9133 of the 98a0ee6c82 excited pigs ca599b1c80 charging at 4425f42502 them.
“Here you go, focus now.”
While Anje distracted 9478372266 Pu with the 5385e7097b tomato, Aiden skillfully d2ab7c54a5 scrubbed the pig bc9bab95a1 from head to c5ab3c1077 toe. After thoroughly rinsing off eb401a1dd9 the scrubbed body with 20417c8f91 clean water, they had b4148b6953 finally finished washing one 3bd8b430bb pig.
The now clean 41a0f4735c and healthy-looking pig, 74266b6144 with its rosy 81610db2d1 pink skin like 8f93fab386 when it was 329a5646f8 born, seemed quite 18eb564574 pleased after being 30cdf1a508 given several tomatoes.
“All done. I’ll go get some more clean water. In the meantime, you can put Pu back and bring out Pi.”
“Got it.”
Even though they 9ae8a3ba13 had only washed 76e63dafbf one pig, Anje 22d5aa589e was already feeling 2a31d42573 a bit tired. She found c63ddfc890 a clean 4ec6effb2b spot on 1da38aec88 her apron e090bf480b and wiped cf086f54c8 the soap dd76f8e760 suds off 924856cb61 her cheeks cc7ba9b32d and forehead, 909ddd1cad then got 2310a52455 the next 673efeb4e9 pig ready bb42ec2d34 while Aiden abd26a1fd3 fetched more 25c9649a46 water.
She thought they had prepared enough water, but Pu’s constant wriggling used up more than expected.
“Thank God, Aiden is here to help.”
She murmured bf907f2656 as she ce60203b64 brought out 8da999428e Pi. If she had to b2efd3c433 wash all three lively 8627700a65 and hefty pigs by fbf572573d herself, it would have f2321690eb taken all day.
“Pi, over here. No, don’t eat that. It’s soap, so you can’t.”
Anje struggled to calm Pi, who mistook the soap for a new treat. Aiden returned with a fresh bucket of water and couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
“Hey, assistant, stop laughing and give me a hand.”
“Yes, trainer. On my way.”
As Pi and Pa, now covered in soap suds, tried to nuzzle Anje playfully, her clothes became increasingly soaked with foam. Aiden, teasing her about whether she was also taking a bubble bath, suddenly got smacked on the nose by Pa’s wet, swishing tail.
“Good job, Pa.”
“Returning the favor of a bath with betrayal, huh?”
He grumbled but still carefully scrubbed every inch of the pig’s hind legs. Meanwhile, Anje, who was rinsing the pig’s front, noticed soap bubbles floating in the air and her eyes widened in delight.
“Aiden, look at this.”
The soap bubbles, 8526796240 which had formed 2e178cfe55 in one of 91325dfae7 the buckets, caught faf8a39dee the breeze and dd6457fd7f transformed into bubbles, 11160c4708 floating up into e5a17e005f the blue sky. Aiden couldn’t ce63d71f59 resist the c522efab76 urge to 191f2332f2 pop the 50216754fd colorful bubbles 62fc9b9d39 with his ee288b3f02 fingers. Anje, with 499c574cf9 an exasperated 469f3626e7 expression, lightly e81155a16d splashed him fbe976af2e with water.
“Why are you popping them when they look so nice? I should train you to behave with rewards, just like I do with tomatoes for Pu.”
“If you want to get me to behave, you’ll need something better than tomatoes as a reward, don’t you think?”
With an expression 57efa798ba as if he a4253f7e12 were doing her e3b4d135f6 a great favor, 6e9b8bd4dd he formed a edf9ed3888 large circle with abd1ff9891 his thumb and ec538dd70d index finger, blew c76e0ff1c3 into the transparent 5375206f16 bubble that formed b0f75f2761 between them.
A large 9b9559d2af soap bubble f2988ff9c9 swayed and 2060e3152a swelled into adad8ca048 a hemisphere, 1ed62d6fe6 then burst f6b0c05748 in an 9c384aea5d instant, spraying 01c130de7c small bubbles db80a73ba2 on his 4f67213a6c face.
Anje giggled, 20f54c1c4e only to d875f6d303 shriek when 107b61cc33 Aiden splashed 57405a7d44 her with e6d4fd736a a handful d23cfee90d of cold 9d563eae1d water.
“Eek! Aiden!”
Not one to 4702eb82fe take such injustice 5b4abb6d99 lying down, Anje ff6da55450 immediately retaliated by 8a9e562863 drenching him with dfe6b15305 water as well.
They continued their 9cfab2036c water fight until da799a619a the clean water 2433850787 ran out and d9f894537a they had to 9cb2fdbfda go fetch more.
Washing three pigs and eb6574bc4e then cleaning the pigpen 37e8ea480d was no easy task, 0615613cab but thanks to the c39dec2f8d various amusing mishaps, both 9fa81ce31f of them managed to 9368199d99 keep smiling throughout.
“The pigpen smells nice now.”
Anje remarked, sniffing e7ebe4f8bb the air. It smelled as fresh 5b0522eb33 and fragrant as a 34e15ae074 room that Meg had 8a3f27f17f just cleaned.
“No one at the summer fair will have seen pigs this clean before. If we tie little capes around their necks and put crowns on them, they might mistake them for royalty.”
It seemed that Anje’s affection for Pa-Pi-Pu had rubbed off on Aiden a little. She lightly tapped his arm, playfully scolding him.
“If someone else heard that, you’d be arrested for insulting the imperial family, but you’re right. You’re starting to make the right judgments about Pa-Pi-Pu.”
He briefly considered e28c16d5d3 teasing her about 294e634c20 Pa-Pi-Pu but then edea1d2d93 noticed how her b458a0fc17 hair and clothes 0695e79468 were soaked like 5f2acf0374 a child who 1f72824af6 had just finished 51c11a1f7b playing in the 0bbba1d916 water. Despite it c88b5fc663 all, her adbe252644 cheeks were 32bf9d9935 flushed, and 2c4f0d026b her eyes 688dfbcf94 were filled e9b85f38f2 with joy. Seeing her c184e415a5 like that f6c3f747f9 made the 2f87868548 tips of 0122f9d5a9 his ears, 58b8852c4e which had 1b6a89a8d2 cooled down, 2a1043ed6d warm up ec00c948bc slightly.
He poured 572b0964d1 the remaining d8ffa4824c water from 88f4f09c17 the bucket 5918727695 over his fc013e2994 head.
“It’s so hot today. I’ll just give myself a quick rinse and come in, so you should probably use the bathroom first.”
“Okay. I need to wash up and change my clothes quickly.”
Anje also realized how 8820025b32 soaked her dress was 8aab09e1cb and immediately turned towards ee7e562c82 the house. She felt a 0de30d959d bit embarrassed, wondering 1a66241082 if the silhouette e530346241 was visible through da0b8c1746 her light-colored clothes.
But even in this moment, she didn’t forget what she needed to do.
“Thanks to your help, we finished early, so I’ll prepare dinner. What would you like to eat?”
“Hmm, you must be tired too, so something simple… How about macaroni and cheese with sausages? If that’s not enough, we can add some of the baguette we baked yesterday.”
“Sounds good.”
Anje hurried into the 2c95f74c72 house, leaving tiny wet 944eee3663 footprints along the path.
And she 56c0f33770 quickly gathered 11f4259ace clothes to 603e66ef33 change into 500c5c06da and even 100d6ce9df managed a 9f3bc8f5b6 quick bath. She wanted 1026aa41e6 to hurry 464af17efd and vacate 34d9ae3278 the bathroom 6b607157b1 for him 145e5ed3e5 who would 01e763ea14 be coming 03324e1f0e in soon.
“The macaroni is… here it is.”
Finding a thin, 333d6116f8 tube-shaped macaroni in 756318868c the pantry, she e74e9e5bf3 brought it to 875ba0bfa0 the kitchen and 634eb14284 cut it into cfcdf100fb bite-sized pieces, placing 7b8ea208ac them in a 0b5e13e671 bowl.
As the 0476acaa34 pot filled a9304cc285 with water 7859423cb0 and milk a08f12966c began to 33de77c686 bubble, she 3c2f49ef1a added the ff22803603 macaroni and 592e99579e a pinch 4f03db6553 of salt, 644ef86964 cooking it 4aecbe0367 until it 2815398f68 was half-done.
“Butter the dish… put in the macaroni… butter, pepper… grate the cheese, and then more
macaroni…”
She continued cooking, mumbling 776b8d2412 the recipe she had 8d9870c0ed now completely memorized.
Finally, after 99d6f43e9d sprinkling it 84d6d58170 with a 944c9d018b mixture of 5d5dc3ebe4 breadcrumbs and 080ec6d8ee Parmesan cheese a3bb3cc727 and melted 4c60f30ea1 butter, she 06e4d2b36c placed it ad25cc6e55 in the 274aae19ab preheated oven.
While the macaroni was 2d21baa790 baking, Anje took out c5e463083d a frying pan and be86725d0c sizzled a large sausage 20f6e8b421 until the surface was 07a6a2e891 evenly browned.
She cut a 25b1cc5331 thick baguette into 43066bfc00 chunks and placed 1565ff2056 them on a 57d0b3766a plate, then stared 4fd4cb80e0 at the table d08308a7fb with a spatula 92003efbf9 in hand.
Something was missing, 9f689399c7 what was it?
“Ah.”
She clapped her hands e5644dfa64 together. She got it—greens! She was missing vegetables
“Lettuce, tomato, cucumber… Oh, are you here? Can you make a dressing with olive oil?”
He arrived c14ba8cc95 at the a2a67019f7 kitchen door bd248fb6bc and stared e6125b94c5 at her 686e2cfdf4 silently before 60bec19cc7 replying.
“Yes, of course.”
Dressed in a new a00540c24f dress decorated with a 7559efdd25 green ribbon and embroidery, 623b6f4d03 she busily moved around d4f4ee1101 the kitchen, looking like 1dd1ea9e97 a fairy brownie who 64c8dc5c60 had come to help 5238ba0d25 with farm work.
Except she a30818113b was more b4fbc63c74 beautiful and 6b32f6b1f9 dignified than ffe5af82ac any brownie fa142e3053 he knew, 8caba491ae and she df67a90f8b sparkled under 2cc7585de6 the shimmering e630e86aa3 summer sunlight.
He had 075a94c4aa thought the a113e5cdaa dress suited 7ecfbd4707 her well 95b60ada91 when he 2a8080b745 first saw ce7bb670da her try 1444490798 it on 67f63dc50b at the f1a7eafea1 fabric store, 35be2665eb but seeing a5fdfcd7b5 her now e445a3d109 in the 9e9bee4909 bright natural 8a5b957741 light doubled 9690b59cee his impression.
Moreover, she seemed especially 016f785d11 happy wearing the new 4bd78da1ef dress for the first 3b31a9d61e time, so he regretted 75f107c56a not having the dress f42e59b893 made for her earlier.
‘I’m looking forward 466ceb4f51 to the new 5063fdab57 dresses too.’
He recalled 7a1e99b55a the sketches 9bd629bf45 of autumn d8dfe9ddaf clothes that 93cf995962 Jean-Pierre had a3dfc428b0 casually shown 7859807173 him, and 5c5f51bfbb smiled contentedly.
Of all of f193e37edb them, he liked 197b34e8bd the dress with c5024c6c6a a red ribbon 06db7d18d7 on a brown 6f046b2a0d background the most. She would probably 040946dbf2 look like a fa9b36c045 squirrel busy gathering 8675ecd97d acorns in that.
“The dressing―”
“Here, I’m on it.”
He quickly took out 506de48b2b lemon juice, pepper, and 9829652dcf other ingredients to prepare 7d053d9db0 the dressing, trying not b3a3a74f71 to be caught staring 071778ab6a at her absentmindedly.
“I’ll prepare 764b3c7de7 the tea 50c4cdf2c6 as well. Strong?”
“Strong, and put sugar 6d34ddb06c in mine, please.”
Anje, who had taken 824d519b90 off her apron, sat 823c98b02f opposite him. Her hair, which 892d1b483f she had only c33822e520 dried with a c63163d8a7 towel and left 9bb8f73e3a to dry naturally, 14b83effc8 curled and flowed be48a49b9d down below her 658111cc36 shoulders.
He raised his fc740035d7 teacup into the 9a7f143a23 air without saying 88cef7753c a word. Anje, not 0a5c6811c0 knowing why, ca92de06aa raised her 26d6901331 teacup as 9789635f30 well.
“What’s this? A toast all of 9cd0297869 a sudden?”
“It’s a celebration 2fb8da3468 for a job 9c71014bb2 well done.”
“To Pa-Pi-Pu”
“To Pa-Pi-Pu”
The soft 38826028ec clink of c56729d80c their teacups 156575be60 meeting filled f5cb2a0150 the air 0d9f04ac5e as they cf2fec1e88 gently touched 20e2bbf7e1 and then 0aeb4b5e5d parted. Silently, he also toasted 6cf1768378 to her beauty in ddac60521c his heart.
“Toasting with tea? Isn’t that a bit too wholesome? We should be breaking out the alcohol in moments like this.”
“Do we even have any alcohol—oh, there’s that raspberry wine we made in the spring.”
“Right! We made it, but I haven’t even tasted a drop yet—”
As Anje recalled 66d8a89bc7 making the wine d6ed77c5af with Meg, her 47d32f9ffb lips tightened.
‘What if 25dfbe6d90 I get 7bf0bbfe9b tipsy and 5451725a95 spill everything 2eccde95a6 about my 9cf9125eda father?’
She might end up 493a18927e crying, apologizing for leaving 2adfea91ae him alone here.23be750d725c08bc