The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book)- 5

 

| TBBOTOF | 5

Tang Xu fetched water and returned to the house to wipe himself off. Despite the temperature not being too high, he was covered in sweat after the trip, feeling sticky and uncomfortable.

Looking at the old and simple furnishings inside the house, he sighed again, feeling the weight of poverty. It was rare for him to muster up some ambition to strive for more. However, the thought of Liu Xiangxiang's reaction, with her demanding demeanor, made him realize that if he managed to earn some money, she would likely snatch it away from him by any means necessary.

With this realization, his aspirations for bettering his situation were quickly extinguished at the bud. He decided to let things be for now. Whenever he found someone he liked and could marry, that would be the time to work hard and live a better life.

As he stepped outside, he saw that Tang Li had already cleaned up the chicken and placed it in the kitchen. Walking over to inspect, he noticed that some feathers were not fully removed. He called out, "Li Jie, come here for a moment."

In no time, Tang Li appeared at the door of the kitchen, looking puzzled. "What's the matter?"

"Look at these small feathers that haven't been plucked," Tang Xu pointed out. Seeing Tang Li's indifferent expression, he added, "If you're careless like this again next time, I won't give you any meat to eat."

Tang Li's eyes widened in disbelief. She thought her brother was doing this on purpose.

"I've always done it like this," she protested.

Tang Xu nodded. "In the past, I would help you redo it if you didn't do well. But now, I don't want to help anymore. Instead of helping you pluck feathers, I could have prepared a dish by now."

Tang Li's eyes widened even further, clearly shocked by her brother's unexpected words.

Tang Li felt frustrated and angry. She used to rely on Tang Xu to finish tasks when she didn't do them well, but now he suddenly refused to help.

Before she could say anything, Tang Xu continued, "Redo this chicken, and make sure you pluck all the feathers clean. Otherwise, I'll make sure to serve you the parts with feathers in your bowl."

Tang Li took a deep breath, wanting to refuse but was intimidated by Tang Xu's cold gaze. She didn't dare to speak up.

She angrily carried the bowl containing the chicken, her eyes reddening with a mix of frustration and anger.

Tang Xu sighed. Every time Tang Xu quietly helped out, the initially diligent girl would become lazy, doing everything half-heartedly. While it might not be apparent now, over time, it would turn into a situation where Tang Xu had to do everything.

 If he didn't help her or didn't help her well, he would face blame and complaints. Tang Xu wasn't going to tolerate these faults. So, he pointed out her problems directly. If she could change in the future, they could live peacefully together. If not, then so be it.

It wasn't about him picking on the girl. In this era, this was just how things were. Children from poor families were forced to grow up early. At the age of fourteen or fifteen, they would marry and become mothers. At only eleven, Tang Li was already knowledgeable about many things, which was why she could silently bully others.

As Tang Xu started to light the fire and wash the pot to boil water, he heard Tang Yang making a fuss. He looked up and saw him squatting by the basin, poking at the chicken skin with dirty hands, which were covered in yellow and black grime.

"Tang Yang!" Tang Xu called out to him.

Tang Yang jumped in surprise and turned to look at him. "What?"

"Go wash your hands clean," Tang Xu said, feeling disgusted. This child seemed to have gone wild somewhere, and he was all dirty. "If you don't listen, you won't get any meat."

Tang Yang immediately threatened, "If you don't let me eat meat, I'll make Mom scold you."

"The meat I cook is my call. And with you covered in mud like that, Mom will definitely scold you first when she sees you later," Tang Xu glared at him. "Hurry up and go wash!"

Tang Yang's sturdy body trembled, and he quickly ran to fetch water to wash his hands, wearing a displeased expression.

Tang Xu felt exhausted. He disliked dealing with these half-grown rascals the most. In the past, whenever he encountered kids of this age in the village, he would avoid them.

Tang Li lifted the re-plucked chicken and showed it to Tang Xu, asking, "Brother, is this okay?"

Tang Xu took a look and nodded, "Yes, thank you."

Tang Li was surprised. Her mood improved considerably when he suddenly thanked her. She smiled and said, "Brother, let me help you with the wild vegetables."

"Sure," Tang Xu had a big heart when it came to children who acknowledged their mistakes and made amends. It didn't matter if they had a bad temper; what mattered was that they could correct themselves.

As the water in the pot boiled, Tang Xu turned to the kitchen. He planned to stew the whole chicken, then separate the meat from the bones and mix it with the vegetables. This way, one chicken could provide two meals, and the leftover bones could be boiled again to extract the last bit of flavor.

It wasn't that he was stingy, but it was rare to have a meaty meal. Being able to savor the taste was already excellent.

Once his plan was set, he didn't need to add many seasonings to the stewed chicken. Just throw in some scallions and ginger, and after the water boiled, skim off the foam, and it would be ready to serve.

Tang Li sorted out several kinds of wild vegetables into piles, and Tang Xu wiped his hands and praised her, "Well done. For the mushrooms, do you want them stir-fried or do you prefer to put them in the soup?"

Tang Li was surprised. Could she really choose?

Tang Xu saw the look in her eyes and smiled, "As a reward for helping with the work, how would you like to eat them?"

"Can I have them both?" Tang Li subconsciously swallowed her saliva.

Raising an eyebrow, Tang Xu looked at the two types of mushrooms she had brought back, "Sure, you can wash them all. Make sure to clean them thoroughly. The smaller ones might have bugs inside, so split them open and wash them."

Tang Li immediately threw away the purple-red mushrooms she was holding when she heard they had bugs. "Having bugs is too disgusting."

"Mushrooms with bugs are usually non-toxic," Tang Xu picked up a mushroom. "This kind is delicious when stewed in soup and tender and tasty when stir-fried. Don't you want to give it a try?"

Tang Li: "..."

She was somewhat tempted but also a bit repulsed. She actually quite liked eating mushrooms, but most of the mushrooms they brought back from the mountain were common white mushrooms. This small variety was the first time she had seen it.

In the past, Tang Xu had always been the one to pick mushrooms in the mountains. He knew fewer types of mushrooms and didn't dare to venture deep into the forest. He would just try his luck around the outskirts. As a result, most of the mushrooms he brought back were the common gray-white mushrooms.

Unlike Tang Xu, who knew various types of mushrooms and had the courage to explore deep into the mountains, Tang Li had less exposure to different varieties.

Tang Xu didn't say much to her. He picked up a handful of ferns and put them in a basin, along with a few other wild vegetables. Later, he would blanch them all and mix them with the chicken meat.

Recalling the few common condiments he remembered from his memory as Tang Xu, he found that besides soybean paste and salt, sugar, and vinegar, there were only scallions, ginger, and garlic. There were also some Sichuan peppercorns and star anise, but these were rarely used in rural households. 

They were mainly used for medicinal purposes from the pharmacy. There were also chili peppers, but they were seldom specially planted. Usually, they found wild chili peppers in the mountains and ate them as vegetables.

Tang Xu’s hands were busy as he calculated that when the weather got warmer, he would need to go into the mountains to find more chili pepper seedlings. He planned to bring them back and plant them in the courtyard or dry some seeds for future planting.

As a modern person who couldn't live without spicy food, he couldn't stand days without chili peppers!

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