The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book)- 28

 

| TBBOTOF | 28

Wei Dong wielded the hoe without much effort, digging through the soil in three or four strokes to uncover the buried shoots. Tang Xu's eyes sparkled with excitement as he eagerly snapped off the bamboo shoots.

The basket was quickly filled, and Wei Dong stopped his movements. "That's enough," he reminded.

Still caught up in his enthusiasm, Tang Xu didn't think that a basketful of shoots was too much. He brushed off the dirt from his hands, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and confidently declared, "It's okay, I can carry it."

Wei Dong glanced at Tang Xu's thin frame. Could he really carry it?

Tang Xu stood up straight, patting his chest. "I really can."

He attempted to lift the basket onto his shoulder, but he couldn't even lift it once. Taking a deep breath, he exerted all his strength and managed to lift it momentarily before it fell back down due to its weight.

Tang Xu's face flushed red with embarrassment, and he pursed his lips in silence.

Wei Dong cleared his throat lightly, catching sight of Tang Xu's eyes. (￣-￣|||）

"Are you trying not to laugh?"

Wei Dong shook his head. "No."

"If you want to laugh, go ahead," Tang Xu said as he took a few shoots from the basket and set them aside. He then lifted the basket to test its weight. Satisfied, he bent down to pick up the shoots and held them in his arms. With a raised eyebrow, he said to Wei Dong, "This is called distributing the load."

Wei Dong was about to offer help with carrying the basket, but seeing Tang Xu pick everything up himself, he hesitated and then simply nodded.

He picked up the bundled bamboo. "Let's go."

As they descended the mountain, Tang Xu's eyes were fixed on the various heights of grass on either side of the path. He spotted many fresh wild vegetables and, after struggling to resist the temptation, finally couldn't hold back any longer. "Wei Dong... brother."

Wei Dong turned to look at him, his expression puzzled. "?"

"There are so many fresh wild vegetables. Aren't you going to pick some?" Tang Xu had a bit of a hoarding tendency, especially when it came to seeing so many wild vegetables. His hands were itching to gather them up.

Wei Dong looked around in confusion. "What wild vegetables? You mean these grasses?"

Tang Xu widened his eyes and asked, "You're not from Heshan Village?"

"I am, but my family is from the village beyond," Wei Dong replied, still not understanding what Tang Xu meant.

Tang Xu, with one arm around the shoots in his embrace, pointed in a direction. "Over there, there are lots of wild vegetables—bracken, shepherd's purse, Chinese celery, wild carrots, and amaranth. There are also medicinal herbs among those tall grasses."

There were many other edible plants whose names Tang Xu couldn't recall, but in this vast area, there was a variety of them.

Wild vegetables grew rapidly with sufficient sunlight and water. Moreover, with most villagers busy farming lately, even those who ventured into the mountains for foraging mostly stuck to the outskirts. Very few ventured into the bamboo forest.

Following Tang Xu's direction, Wei Dong's eyes brightened as he listened to him.

"All of these are edible?" he asked.

"Some of them are not edible, but these ones are," Tang Xu said, setting down the shoots in his arms and reaching to pluck a few of the wild vegetables he had mentioned earlier. "These are all edible."

Wei Dong took them and sniffed, noticing that each had a different aroma.

Looking around, he saw many plants similar to the ones he was holding.

"I'll come back to pick some later," he said, realizing he didn't have a basket to carry them back.

"Alright," Tang Xu said. He also wanted to pick some, but if he went back now and returned, it would likely be dark. "I'll come back tomorrow."

Wei Dong glanced at Tang Xu, noticing his slightly disappointed expression. After a moment of thought, he asked, "Do you want to pick some now?"

Tang Xu nodded. "Wild vegetables grow so fast. They look fresh and tender today, but they might become old by tomorrow. Besides, if it rains, we might not be able to pick them tomorrow." Glancing around and seeing plenty of scattered bamboo branches, he exclaimed, "I'll make a basket!"

He immediately started gathering bamboo branches from the ground and began weaving them together to form a basket, his movements swift and skillful, leaving Wei Dong impressed.

"You're very skillful," Wei Dong commented as he set down the bamboo in his hand and sat beside Tang Xu. He picked up a bamboo twig and effortlessly removed the leaves with a stroke of his hand, then handed the twig over. "It takes me a long time to weave a bamboo basket."

Tang Xu's hands continued to move as he looked up and smiled at Wei Dong. "The more you weave, the easier it gets. Naturally, you become faster. When I was young, I helped my family weave baskets to earn money."

He was referring to his own childhood.

Tang Xu's father passed away early, leaving only his grandparents and mother in his memory. His grandmother was in poor health and unable to do heavy work, but she was skilled in crafts like bamboo weaving and grass weaving. She enjoyed making small items to sell at the market, earning some extra income for the family.

Thinking back to his childhood, when although the family was poor, at least his mother and grandparents were there, Tang Xu's mood became somewhat melancholic.

Wei Dong offered him a bamboo twig, but Tang Xu didn't take it, instead asking, "Are you tired?"

Tang Xu snapped out of his thoughts and forced a smile. "No, just thinking about some things." 

He looked at the basket in his arms and added two more layers. "Okay, it's big enough now. I probably won't be able to carry it if it gets any bigger."

"I'll help you carry it," Wei Dong offered.

Tang Xu handed him the basket in his hand. "I'll weave another one. You can use this one."

Wei Dong accepted without hesitation and thanked him.

The two bamboo baskets were completed in less than twenty minutes, and Tang Xu, with one basket slung over his arm, began picking wild vegetables with a crisp sound accompanying each pluck.

He was skillful and quick, and soon the basket was nearly full.

In contrast, Wei Dong had to take the time to identify which vegetables were edible before picking them.

"These wild vegetables can be blanched in water if eaten fresh. They can also be chopped and stir-fried with eggs or meat. Alternatively, you can lightly salt them and pickle them. If you don't plan to eat them immediately, you can dry them and store them for winter," Tang Xu said, noticing Wei Dong's slow pace. He went over to help him pick more vegetables and taught him how to prepare them.

"My father taught me before, but I've forgotten," Wei Dong replied. When he was young, he used to go into the mountains with his father to pick wild vegetables. However, back then, he was more interested in running around and didn't have the patience for it. Later, when he wanted to pick wild vegetables again, he couldn't remember which ones were edible and which ones weren't.

Tang Xu didn't inquire further upon hearing this. It was obvious that Wei Dong's parents were no longer around. He probably lost both his parents. 

Tang Xu glanced at him and couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He thought that Wei Dong's somewhat aloof demeanor might be due to the loss of his parents, and people in the village might have talked about him behind his back. Perhaps his cold demeanor was a defense mechanism against bullying.

As Tang Xu thought more about it, he found himself inexplicably sympathizing with Wei Dong.

Feeling uneasy under Tang Xu's gaze, Wei Dong glanced down at himself but didn't notice anything unusual.

"What are you looking at?" he asked.

Tang Xu chuckled, "Nothing, just hurry up and pick. Let's finish and head back."

They continued picking vegetables as they descended the mountain, their baskets filling up quickly.

Tang Xu glanced at his basket, then up at the backpack and bamboo shoots on the mountain, and smirked to himself.

Wei Dong placed the bamboo basket down. "I'll go get it. Wait here," he said.

With large strides, he ascended the mountain while Tang Xu sat by the roadside, picking out weeds from the basket and sorting the assorted wild vegetables.

Wei Dong returned with the bamboo and backpack. He nodded towards Tang Xu. "I'll walk you home."

"No need, your home is closer to Houcheng Village. I'll go this way," Tang Xu said, turning away from Wei Dong. "Just help me with the backpack."

Wei Dong assisted Tang Xu in putting on the backpack. "Should I let go now?" he asked.

Tang Xu nodded. "Yes."

It was heavy!

It was so heavy that Tang Xu almost toppled over under the weight.

Thankfully, Wei Dong steadied him with a hand.

Tang Xu bent his back and stood firm, taking two unsteady steps forward.

He clenched his teeth and managed to sling the bamboo basket onto his arm, barely able to speak for fear of losing strength.

He gave Wei Dong a grimacing smile before slowly, step by step, making his way home.

Watching Tang Xu's determined figure disappear on the horizon, Wei Dong's lips curled into a small smile. He then hoisted the bamboo and carried the basket of wild vegetables, turning towards his own home.

Wei Xi was feeding the chicks in the yard. A group of fluffy little chicks of various colors ran around the yard, following him as he scattered grains, creating a lively scene.

Hearing the sound of the courtyard door, Wei Xi looked up and saw his brother carrying bamboo into the house, with a basket slung over his arm.

He couldn't help but chuckle.

But before the laughter subsided, his throat started itching, and he began coughing again.

Wei Dong frowned and walked over, patting his back and holding his hand, which felt cold. "Didn't I tell you to bring the copper soup pot with you when you came out, and to wear an extra layer of clothes?"

Wei Xi smiled apologetically, his eyes reddening from coughing. "I haven't been out for long."

"Go back inside, don't catch a cold," Wei Dong said, taking the bowl of grains from his hand and placing it on the ground, where the chicks ran over to peck at it.

Wei Xi obediently went back inside, but soon came out again, wearing a thin cotton coat.

"Brother, did you pick wild vegetables?" He went to look at the bamboo basket. "But I thought you didn't know what wild vegetables looked like?"

He remembered when he was little, his family didn't have any vegetables to eat, so his brother said they could go pick wild vegetables in the mountains.

His brother went, and when he came back with the wild vegetables, he ended up getting sick from eating them. Fortunately, Wei Xi had always been resistant to the strange-smelling wild vegetables, or else with his small frame, he might have ended up being sent away.

Thinking of his brother's past ordeal, Wei Xi trembled as he looked at the basket filled with various types of wild vegetables.

Wei Dong could easily discern his brother's feelings.

The younger brother explained, "Someone taught me how to recognize them, and they said all of these are edible."

Wei Xi squatted in front of the basket, picked up a green leaf cautiously, and sniffed it carefully. He blinked, finding the smell strange but not unpleasant.

"Who taught you?" People from the neighboring village were wary of his brother, Wei Dong, and avoided him to avoid getting beaten up.

There were so many people in the village, even those from the same clan feared his brother.

Wei Dong thought of Tang Xu's smiling face and his bright eyes when he saw the wild vegetables, and his expression softened slightly. "It's Tang Xu from the neighboring village. You don't know him."

"Tang surname? There are many Tangs in the neighboring village. Which family is he from?" Wei Xi asked curiously.

His gossiping demeanor made Wei Dong furrow his brow and he reached out to pinch his brother's face, which had little flesh. "Why are you asking so many questions?"

Wei Xi shook his head and analyzed with a swaying motion, "The only ones who can go up the mountain to pick wild vegetables besides older kids are the girls and the brothers from various families. Tang Xu's name doesn't sound like a girl's name." After saying this, he exclaimed, "Is he a ger?"

Wei Dong suddenly realized that his younger brother's mind was quite quick.

Seeing him remain silent, Wei Xi became even more excited. "Brother! Are you going to marry a husband?"

Wei Dong: "..." How did we get to this topic?

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