The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book)- 15

 

| TBBOTOF | 15

The man in front of him was roughly 1.9 meters tall, wearing a coarse short shirt with the collar slightly open, revealing a hint of his full chest muscles. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing his muscular forearms, exuding a sense of strength.

Taking a closer look at the man's appearance, he had wheat-colored skin, thick black eyebrows, deep-set eyes, a high nose, and thin lips.

Tang Xu couldn't help but swallow secretly. This, this, this man was too handsome!

Similarly, the man was eyeing the skinny figure in front of him, staring for a while before furrowing his brows suddenly.

Tang Xu was confused. What does that mean? It's fine if you stare at me, but why the furrowed brows?

At this moment, the butcher spoke up, "Young man, are you buying meat?"

Tang Xu quickly sidestepped and went past the man, standing in front of the meat counter to take a look. There were several pieces of meat on the counter, with varying degrees of fat content. There were more lean cuts, and he couldn't see any lard, which meant it was likely sold out.

Pointing to a piece of pork about half a meter long and as wide as a palm, he asked, "How much for this?"

"Twelve wen per jin. These were all freshly slaughtered pigs from this morning. I, Wang Wu, never sell meat from the previous day." The middle-aged butcher, afraid that Tang Xu would find it expensive, boasted, "Take this meat home and stew it. It'll definitely be fragrant and delicious, making you salivate."

Tang Xu chuckled, "Then I'll take it all. And what about this pure lean meat?" It was a piece of tenderloin, with clear texture and a reddish color. When he pressed his finger on it, it bounced back nicely, indicating its freshness.

"You want this one too?" Wang Wu looked at him with some surprise, assessing him by his appearance. He guessed Tang Xu was a nearby farmer, planning to host a banquet with so much meat bought at once. He then said, "Since you're taking everything, I'll give you a discount. Eight wen per jin."

The man standing beside him furrowed his brows slightly but didn't say anything.

Tang Xu was speechless, neither confirming nor denying his request. His eyes scanned the meat counter, and he pointed to the three large bone sticks without any meat left on them in the corner, "I'll take those too. Can I have these three large bones for free?"

"Sure, there's no meat on these anyway. Take them if you want," Wang Wu nodded readily.

Seeing Tang Xu's eyes still wandering on the meat counter, he asked, "Anything else you want? Since you're buying a lot, I'll give you a discount."

"I'd like a pig's head, but I might not be able to carry it." His backpack at the inn already had over eight jin of wine, salt, vinegar, plus these two pieces of meat and three large bones, adding up to at least ten jin. If he added a pig's head... Forget it, he was frail and couldn't carry it.

Wang Wu chuckled and weighed the two pieces of meat. The fatty pork weighed four jin and three liang, while the lean meat weighed four jin and four liang.

He then cut a palm-sized piece of lean meat and threw it onto the scale. Turning to Tang Xu, he said, "That'll be eighty-seven wen."

Tang Xu counted out eighty-seven copper coins and handed them over, thanking him.

Wang Wu asked cheerfully, "Do you want me to wrap them in oil paper for you? Or would you prefer to carry them with a rope?"

"Wrap them in oil paper. I'll put them in my backpack," Tang Xu said, noticing Wang Wu taking out two sheets of oil paper to wrap the meat. He gestured slightly, indicating that the man standing behind him could come forward.

Only then did he realize that he had cut in line.

But judging from the man's appearance, he didn't seem like he was here to buy meat either.

Wang Wu handed the wrapped meat to Tang Xu and turned to the man standing there, teasing, "Wei Dong, what are you looking at? What's so interesting about a young lad like him?"

Wei Dong turned his face away and lowered his eyes, staring at him.

Wang Wu scratched his head, feeling uncomfortable under Wei Dong's intense gaze. He quickly said, "Um, let's continue with the accounting, shall we?"

Wei Dong grunted in response, but his mind couldn't shake off the figure that had just left the butcher's shop.

Tang Xu returned to the inn and put the meat in his backpack. Then he went to the small kitchen to check on Chef Liu. He saw that Chef Liu had already prepared a plate of new Snowy Bean Paste Dessert, but the color was slightly yellowish, indicating that the heat was too high.

Chef Liu looked a bit regretful when he saw Tang Xu come in. "The one I made tastes oilier than yours."

"The oil temperature was too high. You can try drizzling oil on top like this," he demonstrated, "It helps control the temperature better."

Chef Liu nodded, "Alright, I'll give it a try."

After several attempts, he finally succeeded, and Tang Xu smiled in satisfaction.

Finally able to go home, he didn't want to delay any longer. If he didn't leave now, he would have to travel at night, and who knows if there might be robbers on the road at this hour. He bid farewell to Chef Liu and Mr. Wu, then set off back home with his backpack.

Passing by a stall selling headbands, the lady selling them was very skilled. She made beautiful headbands by cutting and sewing various colored scraps of fabric, selling them for two wen each. Tang Xu bought five.

He also went to the candy shop and bought a block of sugar the size of a palm, which cost fifty wen. It weighed about a jin.

The sugar was white with a yellowish tinge. He pinched off a bit of crumbs and tasted it. It was quite sweet, just like the one he had at the inn.

He had just inquired at the candy shop: maltose was thirty wen per jin, made from grains, with a slightly lower sweetness hence the slightly cheaper price. Rock sugar was made from sugar beets and cost one hundred wen per jin. The most expensive was honey, made from bees, which unbelievably cost five hundred wen per jin. He reasonably suspected that there were no beekeepers around here, which explained the high price.

After leaving the town and not walking far, he saw the tea stall again. The owner was busy, and passersby were resting at the stall.

Tang Xu took a sip of water from his water flask and when he looked up, he saw the burly man he had seen at the butcher's shop earlier walking towards him.

His heart skipped a beat, feeling a bit nervous as he watched the man approach.

Wei Dong stopped in front of Tang Xu and whispered, "Let's go together."

Tang Xu looked at him in confusion, "?"

Wei Dong's face was tense, devoid of expression. "I said, let's go together."

"Uh... do we know each other?" Tang Xu asked cautiously, his memory didn't recall this man at all!

What's going on!

What should I do???

Wei Dong didn't reply, he just started walking, his strides were long and fast.

Tang Xu had no choice but to follow, mainly because there was only one road, and he had nowhere else to go.

As they passed by the tea stall, the owner recognized him at a glance and greeted him, "Going back with your brother, huh?"

Tang Xu nodded hurriedly, his steps quickening.

He stared at the man's broad shoulders, his gaze drifting down to his waist and hips, then further down to his long legs.

As they walked, his pants clung to his legs, outlining the contours of his thigh muscles.

Tang Xu unconsciously licked his dry lips, his delicate Adam's apple bobbing.

In his mind, he imagined the man's abdominal muscles hidden beneath his clothes, unable to resist swallowing hard and quickly wiping his mouth with his hand.

Stopping about two meters in front of him, Wei Dong turned around.

Tang Xu instantly stopped and stood still, maintaining a distance.

Well...

Daydreaming is fine, as long as it stays in the mind.

Previous TOC Next