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 abb5d948a6 Pu with 86184c7b3c praise as 21013ffc50 she gently 7d86e5f4e5 scrubbed his fa6dc196ac damp pink a4ba31341c skin with c2cd78089e a soapy 4ba9bdfd2a brush. Pu blinked his button-like 9c6b76e771 black eyes, not understanding 5fa753c826 what was happening to 2b6068958d him.
However, the peace 72bb19432d 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 4f6ee5d0ba in soap f04e70e842 suds, shook cd3b318b7c his body a57d9ef384 vigorously, sending c911972925 white foam 4ad1978461 flying everywhere. Anje was glad she 87972ed764 wore old clothes and 92746bd8c6 quickly spat out the d960006882 foam that had gotten 24d9d1a966 into her mouth.
“I’ll hold him still, so why don’t you grab another tomato?”
“Alright.”
Anje retrieved another 32a81d316b tomato from the b4acda6424 hidden basket to 795ae419b4 reduce the risk 6ec4168def of the excited 3f40e4a834 pigs charging at 6eaf096825 them.
“Here you go, focus now.”
While Anje distracted Pu b44554a5a6 with the tomato, Aiden 16eb65eb7c skillfully scrubbed the pig c85366e9f1 from head to toe. After thoroughly rinsing off abdd727902 the scrubbed body with f052a1fff5 clean water, they had 6add728968 finally finished washing one 52957c903f pig.
The now clean and 886716add1 healthy-looking pig, with its 3e3abd4be8 rosy pink skin like 720e229418 when it was born, 1897f56869 seemed quite pleased after 26ce2a8c8a being 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 80d3359eff they had 7d54d56d75 only washed 5610dbeefa one pig, 003f31b157 Anje was 15fea9377c already feeling f1a0b7db93 a bit 4b385f31c0 tired. She found a b9b679ac62 clean spot on 92ab88df9d her apron and 40db072115 wiped the soap 1d150a365d suds off her d65dbe7494 cheeks and forehead, c22e036ffe then got the 827c5b89d4 next pig ready 235849f5bb while Aiden fetched 234b083d4a more 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 as she 3f2f6bb12c brought out Pi. If she had a839af9f65 to wash all 50c5df6e2b three lively and 7b41b5cab8 hefty pigs by e0159e2c5e herself, it would 83a841d74a have taken all 89b9de4105 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, 26ce201cab which had formed 10c5d77de5 in one of 01c935fcc0 the buckets, caught 4c5b2b16d4 the breeze and 5e1141abd6 transformed into bubbles, 0e5b69e7b7 floating up into 26da7baf51 the blue sky. Aiden couldn’t f5b7decf2d resist the 66ab237c97 urge to 9103f3ac84 pop the 1728d8c696 colorful bubbles 4617f199a9 with his b5fa798a6b fingers. Anje, with 6733073361 an exasperated d6ef7c249d expression, lightly a67c1df8d7 splashed him 300c6f657a 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 51b4afeddc expression as c05634e9cb if he 6e6cb1194f were doing 6458ee61d6 her a ca9e89668d great favor, fe5258a4be he formed e61374ee82 a large 9406f6df47 circle with 125061749f his thumb 4d5246bb20 and index 25ff7ecb3c finger, blew 44bee1a27c into the 9cfcc8ce68 transparent bubble ed13bba1ed that formed a5b1fc4b96 between them.
A large soap 698f42c1e7 bubble swayed and 64fea53c3b swelled into a 09aacc4e36 hemisphere, then burst c0f90ea671 in an instant, 0666fadacb spraying small bubbles 933651e522 on his face.
Anje giggled, only to b2abac7906 shriek when Aiden splashed 964b22932b her with a handful 67e3cabf2b of cold water.
“Eek! Aiden!”
Not one 580dbc4cfb to take 551aa7c94d such injustice cf57705359 lying down, 81b67873c1 Anje immediately 6f3fa45f1e retaliated by 932295643b drenching him 7ca5b88155 with water 9844c48555 as well.
They continued their water 7d68cd7426 fight until the clean 34f70c9012 water ran out and 70042fbd8b they had to go ed9f4e4a38 fetch more.
Washing three eec919ab02 pigs and 3934c39d36 then cleaning 79c1a1ccba the pigpen 3fc1dd09ef was no ffe5676c82 easy task, eef9a5f50b but thanks 1450c169ee to the c1d458079e various amusing 8a1d46c895 mishaps, both cad9c3ed24 of them 9fd4e8a286 managed to 1c7f9cc9fb keep smiling afb5344a91 throughout.
“The pigpen smells nice now.”
Anje remarked, sniffing the 2e04009a14 air. It smelled as fresh a62fd4428b and fragrant as a 508cfa3852 room that Meg had cc665c814c 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 teasing 03f36c78eb her about Pa-Pi-Pu but 5c8d8ebaa0 then noticed how her 025656710e hair and clothes were 9f8b2073b0 soaked like a child 229b2012e7 who had just finished 87c2525a07 playing in the water. Despite it all, fdde250cea her cheeks were ea897f9369 flushed, and her 53bc378b95 eyes were filled 026984b67c with joy. Seeing her like that 01d8ba0921 made the tips of 99d60ea912 his ears, which had fad21e99ad cooled down, warm up 235f0c5e28 slightly.
He poured 36b93ac35d the remaining db833dc798 water from ea38c46b67 the bucket 252d81cb3e over his 17613e0005 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 6295592141 realized how facb34eb70 soaked her 1eb2ed8215 dress was d3e30f493c and immediately d3ed85ed6a turned towards d6fbee2576 the house. She felt 9ad27e53ee a bit e683ce514c embarrassed, wondering b95a684783 if the 7e446f4f19 silhouette was 9abd040eb7 visible through 8149d29e54 her light-colored 0f97777e93 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 7302c53037 house, leaving tiny wet 22c236797c footprints along the path.
And she 6d93d9ca3d quickly gathered f04d5dce74 clothes to e6d2376fde change into c60b0742a0 and even a3ef22a84e managed a 2cb57ef8b8 quick bath. She wanted to hurry f61d80ef42 and vacate the bathroom 784e167344 for him who would d39b382d94 be coming in soon.
“The macaroni is… here it is.”
Finding a thin, 42591b9d34 tube-shaped macaroni in 492e6f81e5 the pantry, she 0935b70e3c brought it to 5b0ae0d080 the kitchen and 865af95b28 cut it into 713398b851 bite-sized pieces, placing 8ee6456560 them in a be4e9d5789 bowl.
As the pot filled 65c9a84921 with water and milk 2347606eaf began to bubble, she 09e4691f79 added the macaroni and 23d4462cc5 a pinch of salt, fbe8729821 cooking it until it 6bdad81964 was half-done.
“Butter the dish… put in the macaroni… butter, pepper… grate the cheese, and then more
macaroni…”
She continued dec2cb3077 cooking, mumbling 117fc8167a the recipe 05ba361a8e she had eda8b83dc8 now completely c7abd71af9 memorized.
Finally, after ec173f0e48 sprinkling it c1c3b40ffc with a 9c3fc58286 mixture of 9603180558 breadcrumbs and 651dec8ed7 Parmesan cheese cc74876b07 and melted 5e8d2ab58f butter, she 1656e79bfc placed it fd10137d01 in the 63b6e9bbb1 preheated oven.
While the 2511d93a38 macaroni was 2889758e91 baking, Anje ba21152f91 took out c14ef0ecb7 a frying d1d4bc735d pan and 7214499397 sizzled a bae6f4ad2e large sausage c3dd14174a until the 83a4cbd630 surface was 12b2a42dbc evenly browned.
She cut a 2600e657e0 thick baguette into c9e629e569 chunks and placed 347f93dc86 them on a 48938a5426 plate, then stared 63ef48b149 at the table 20a79c614f with a spatula 783c69ceb6 in hand.
Something was missing, 9da7105437 what was it?
“Ah.”
She clapped her hands c8b0091b17 together. She got it—greens! She was a9553ae914 missing vegetables
“Lettuce, tomato, cucumber… Oh, are you here? Can you make a dressing with olive oil?”
He arrived at a138b18e69 the kitchen door 2438e99094 and stared at 39908fd041 her silently before 483191cdf2 replying.
“Yes, of course.”
Dressed in a new 206e39c6a6 dress decorated with a ce432837f2 green ribbon and embroidery, ffacb37ee8 she busily moved around 8c2c0c120f the kitchen, looking like 16cef14e25 a fairy brownie who 129e5027fa had come to help d9c22153e6 with farm work.
Except she was more 9fef9640af beautiful and dignified than 565f2fce74 any brownie he knew, 9e100e6ff7 and she sparkled under dcce88fae1 the shimmering summer sunlight.
He had thought the b5b3e92264 dress suited her well 9b4b321c6a when he first saw 475b5def5e her try it on f55231f877 at the fabric store, 5e378849b8 but seeing her now 88517c7310 in the bright natural cefa49ba2a light doubled his impression.
Moreover, she seemed especially 24245b6f1e happy wearing the new dff478af98 dress for the first b8df215670 time, so he regretted e387f67481 not having the dress 6822d68326 made for her earlier.
‘I’m looking forward to 974f072ef1 the new dresses too.’
He recalled 2f3b2836a4 the sketches dceb5b4136 of autumn 6d7a2e9481 clothes that ad0d17c616 Jean-Pierre had 28fd3a8f63 casually shown 022a9549d4 him, and a1a8ec3768 smiled contentedly.
Of all of them, 68c45c3d1e he liked the dress 4ed2e4a6da with a red ribbon af7d51ca2b on a brown background 83351bf694 the most. She would probably look 448c4d0f10 like a squirrel busy a4cd0944a1 gathering acorns in that.
“The dressing―”
“Here, I’m on it.”
He quickly 3d5fc9fd59 took out 46f7e21aca lemon juice, 200575d503 pepper, and 2b36b76bd9 other ingredients cdcab52869 to prepare a82d98503c the dressing, ecb4bbe64b trying not f8c8b8e489 to be ef0ffcf6c1 caught staring f643a701fa at her 209732839c absentmindedly.
“I’ll prepare the tea b018d23198 as well. Strong?”
“Strong, and 66726ea130 put sugar e5df5c1f5d in mine, 8cacf9d102 please.”
Anje, who had taken 4b232763e1 off her apron, sat 09c61d2afd opposite him. Her hair, a7b86423a7 which she c582b57004 had only dad0103b2a dried with 94d731351c a towel a84ee63efd and left 57c92520c8 to dry 1f56304a32 naturally, curled df44336069 and flowed 033554c812 down below 984df60a85 her shoulders.
He raised 33bf0a25ad his teacup 3e2a421d0e into the 6e78a1781e air without 6199142976 saying a a32f3bd63e word. Anje, not knowing 8ea9cb1fea why, raised her 5fa66b4f43 teacup as well.
“What’s this? A toast all 2a94ba0f45 of a sudden?”
“It’s a 5edf4fb217 celebration for 3ea6bf395d a job ff7e8c27e0 well done.”
“To Pa-Pi-Pu”
“To Pa-Pi-Pu”
The soft aac3a9e083 clink of c55bd890d6 their teacups d04128bb57 meeting filled 037692a772 the air 8dbec95acc as they 03fc8e0d76 gently touched fabc0cc770 and then 407c0849e3 parted. Silently, he also toasted d04260d333 to her beauty in ce78e99282 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 80baad1b61 recalled making 1bf0c18ca2 the wine 45f93d2a5a with Meg, 116bbbe18a her lips ec67b4f75e tightened.
‘What if I bcadcf469a get tipsy and cb048c2f8a spill everything about 90f02de93e my father?’
She might end 1c5d5f693c up crying, apologizing aed4ed53c2 for leaving him 923fe50515 alone here.a2a6362214b55e26