The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 85

 

| TBBOTOF | 85

The atmosphere of the New Year in the village begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. On that day, people drink Laba porridge and soak Laba garlic.

When Tang Xu was uncomfortable drinkingLaba porridge. He never thought that the Laba porridge he ate that day was all sent over by Wei Zhonghong.

In the next few days, Tang Xu reached his third month of pregnancy, which was twelve weeks, his body began to recover in all aspects, and he stopped vomiting after eating. He felt energetic and started to get busy on the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month.

Early in the morning, after eating breakfast, he started to get busy making dumplings. He thought of making more and freezing them, anyway, the weather outside was very cold, and the dumplings would freeze hard in the courtyard in just two hours.

He told Wei Dong about his plan, and the two of them started to get busy.

Wei Dong couldn't make dumplings or roll out dumpling wrappers, but he could chop the meat filling. He chopped three large bowls of meat, pork, mutton, and beef. He could also help to pinch the dumpling wrappers.

"We don't necessarily have to finish wrapping them all today. How long will it take to wrap all of these?"

Wei Xi looked at the three large bowls of meat filling and suspected that his brother-in-law was planning to sell dumplings.

Tang Xu smiled at him, rolling out the wrappers with both hands. The dumpling wrappers were round and all the same size. After rolling them out, he piled them up on the side and covered them with a curtain, waiting for all of them to be stacked into a small mountain before wrapping.

"Let's wrap as much as we can. If we get tired, we can stop."

Wei Dong helped with rolling out the wrappers. Although he was slower, he could still be of some help.

Tang Xu didn't mind Wei Dong's slower pace; he was quick at squeezing and wrapping dumplings.

Wei Xi watched from the side, thinking he could learn it too. Even though his last attempt at wrapping wasn't great, after watching for a while this time, he thought he'd be fine. But he soon realized what it meant to have your eyes understand but your hands not cooperate.

Wei Xi didn't understand, and felt quite puzzled.

Wei Xi looked at the torn wrappers and exposed filling in his hands, he looked at Tang Xu with a distressed expression, "Brother-in-law, I can’t wrap them well."

"If this wrapping doesn't work well with you, try a different wrapping technique." Tang Xu demonstrated three times and gestured for Wei Xi to try.

This time Wei Xi found it quite easy to wrap. He didn't need to hold the wrapper in his hand; he just needed to place it on the table, fill it with stuffing, and then pinch the edges together with both hands.

"This way is quite fast too!" Wei Xi exclaimed happily, rubbing his itchy nose, which was now covered in flour.

He didn't notice it himself, but both Wei Dong and Tang Xu did. However, neither of them mentioned it; they just exchanged a knowing smile, silently understanding each other's intentions.

Recently, Wei Xi had been studying too much, and he seemed to be under a lot of pressure, losing some of his youthful liveliness. They both intentionally teased him from time to time, hoping to lighten his mood.

Tang Xu, originally from the north, loved eating dumplings, as did the Wei brothers. They enjoyed all kinds of food. So for lunch, they decided to just cook dumplings. They planned to wrap the remaining beef filling later.

They had placed many large curtains in the courtyard. When there wasn't enough space, they simply spread straw mats and gauze on the ground. 

After freezing them, they brushed them with water and froze them again. This method ensured that the dumplings wouldn't easily break when cooked, and they could be stored well.

After a busy half day, Tang Xu eventually started wrapping dumplings and wontons together, even making some small dumplings with thin wrappers and large fillings.

Before dinner, Tang Xu finished wrapping all the meat filling. He placed the already frozen dumplings into large pots and asked Wei Dong to carry them to the cold storage.

The dumplings were stored separately, with each type of meat filling placed in its own pot. 

When they wanted to eat a certain filling, they could simply scoop it out from the barrel and cook it.

After wrapping dumplings all day and eating two meals of them, Tang Xu felt like having rice for dinner. He wasn't in the mood to stir-fry dishes, so he simply made a pot of pork rib rice, adding potatoes and carrots.

The potatoes and carrots were soft and sticky, and the white rice absorbed the flavor of the pork broth. The meat on the pork ribs was tender and fell off the bone with a gentle shake.

After stirring, Tang Xu sprinkled some finely chopped green onions on top, adding fragrance to the dish.

"Brother-in-law, is it ready? Can we eat now?" Wei Xi held an empty large bowl in his hands, drooling as he asked Tang Xu, "Can you give me a little bit to taste first?"

Tang Xu couldn't help but laugh at his eager expression. He took the bowl from Wei Xi's hands and scooped a small portion for him. "Try it and see if it’s salty enough."

Wei Xi took a spoonful, blew on it, and tasted it. While chewing, he nodded to Tang Xu. "Delicious! It’s salty and light enough!"

Tang Xu nodded and gestured to the man behind him, who had been silently enjoying the aroma. "You two can serve yourselves however much you want. I'll take a break."

Wei Dong nodded, scooped a bowl for himself and placed it beside Tang Xu. Then, he scooped another bowl for his brother and brought it over. For himself, he switched to a smaller bowl and filled it to the brim.

As soon as Wei Xi saw this, he quickly switched to a smaller bowl as well. He emptied the rice and pork ribs from his bowl into the smaller one and scooped himself some more food, making his bowl even fuller than Wei Dong's.

Wei Dong glanced at him with disdain.

He didn't know when it had started, but he had been feeling more and more disdainful towards his own brother.

Wei Xi felt the same; he didn't know when it had started, but he was becoming increasingly impatient with his older brother.

However, despite their mutual disdain, the two brothers still cared about each other deeply. 

Their bond remained strong.

Tang Xu lazily yawned and felt a slight pain in his stomach. He patted his abdomen through his coat and said to Wei Dong, "I'll go to town tomorrow and see the doctor. I've been having occasional pains these past few days."

"Alright," Wei Dong said, holding a small bowl and a plate. "Let's eat first, and then you can rest. You've worked hard today."

After finishing his meal, Tang Xu didn't sleep. He sat at the door of the stove room and looked outside.

It was snowing, the snowflakes were quite large, falling silently, without wind.

Tang Xu stared absentmindedly, his mind empty.

After Wei Dong finished showering and didn't find Tang Xu inside, he came out to look for him.

Seeing Tang Xu sitting on a chair, wrapped in a furry cloak, lost in thought while watching the snow, he didn't call out to him. 

Instead, he walked over, pulled a small wooden stool and sat down next to him. Leaning his head back, he rested it on Tang Xu's knee.

Tang Xu raised his hand and gently stroked his hair, which had frozen stiff.

"Why don't you warm up by the fire? You might get sick like this," Tang Xu said, patting Wei Dong's face.

Wei Dong made a noncommittal sound, feeling comfortable.

Tang Xu patted his face again. "Get up and warm yourself by the fire. Your hair is frozen stiff."

"It'll thaw out once I'm inside for a bit," Wei Dong replied, rubbing his face and smiling affectionately at him. "Seriously, I'm not lying to you. It dries faster than sitting directly by the fire."

Tang Xu thought to himself that of course he knew that hair would dry faster if it froze and then thawed out by the fire. He had done the same thing when he was a child.

Oh well, if he didn't want to warm up by the fire, he wouldn't.

He looked up again at the accumulated snow on the ground. In just a short while, a layer of silver-white covered the ground.

Wei Dong raised his hand to shield Tang Xu's eyes. "Stop staring at it all the time; you'll go blind."

"It's fine. It's already dark; I'm not afraid," Tang Xu said, removing Wei Dong's hand and yawning. "Let's sleep. I'm feeling a bit tired. If the snow doesn't stop tomorrow, we'll call the herbalist to come and check."

Wei Dong nodded and pulled Tang Xu up, embracing him. "Next time, don't sit here. If the wind blows, you'll definitely get a headache."

Tang Xu nodded with a smile and agreed. They went back to sleep, and when they woke up the next day, they saw that the thick snow on the ground had already reached their ankles, and the snow was still falling from the sky.

"All right, since the snow hasn't piled up too deeply yet, let's call the herbalist," Tang Xu said, getting off the bed and putting on his shoes. 

The cotton shoes were newly made; originally, he had a pair of leather boots, but he found them uncomfortable to walk in, so he preferred the soft soles of the cotton shoes.

Wei Dong nodded, grabbed the cotton-padded coat and cloak, and wrapped Tang Xu tightly. "Don't go out yet. I'll heat up some water for you to wash up. After you're done, head straight to the stove room; breakfast will be served there."

With the cold weather, any warmth inside the house would dissipate if they kept going in and out, so they decided to have their breakfast of shredded pork noodles in the stove room. Wei Xi actually started to sweat while eating noodles by the warm stove room!

"Brother-in-law, my health is getting better and better now. Look, I'm even sweating!" Wei Xi scooted forward and showed Tang Xu the tiny beads of sweat on his forehead.

Tang Xu took a look and indeed saw them. He exclaimed happily, "That's great! Even in the cold weather, you're still sweating. It means your body's vitality is strong now. You're becoming a young man soon!"

Wei Xi nodded in satisfaction, agreeing that he was growing up!

Wei Dong, holding a bowl of noodle soup, couldn't help but chuckle at his brother's excitement. "You're getting excited over a few tiny beads of sweat? How embarrassing."

Wei Xi felt indignant and turned to look at his brother.

Shut up.

Wei Dong was wearing just a shirt, sleeves rolled up halfway because of the heat. Not to mention the tiny beads of sweat on his forehead and neck, even his arms were damp.

He sweated this much even during the summer.

Wei Xi snorted and continued eating his soup noodles.

After finishing their meal, Wei Dong hurriedly went to fetch the herbalist with the cart. He brought him over to check Tang Xu's pulse. 

The herbalist also asked about Tang Xu's recent resting situation. Learning that he hadn't been sleeping well recently and was slowly recovering, the herbalist said, "It's nothing serious. What did the old doctor in town say to you?"

"I went to see him a while ago, and Doctor Xu said it was nothing to worry about, as long as there's no bleeding or severe pain," Tang Xu replied, he actually felt quite nervous. 

After all, as a man, the fact that he could bear a child made him feel like he was mutating.

So, when his stomach occasionally hurt, he became even more anxious.

The herbalist had treated many pregnant ger in the village and encountered many situations like Tang Xu's. 

Seeing how anxious Tang Xu was, he reassured him, "There's really nothing to worry about. It's common for ger to experience discomfort like this after becoming pregnant. The more anxious you are, the more uncomfortable you'll feel. Relax, stop thinking about it all the time, and you'll feel better in a couple of days."

Tang Xu nodded and said okay.

Once the herbalist had left, Tang Xu turned to Wei Dong and said, "I want to go home and see my family."

Wei Dong nodded and went into the house to fetch thick quilts, which he spread over the cart. 

He also grabbed another thick quilt and gestured for Tang Xu to sit on the cart.

After Tang Xu settled in, Wei Dong wrapped him up tightly with the quilt, leaving only his eyes exposed.

Tang Xu craned his neck to look outside, he was in a rather awkward posture.

After finally managing to expose his entire face, he was already feeling overheated.

 "You don't have to wrap me up so tightly," he said, looking at the thick quilt wrapped around him. This quilt is too much. He never uses it when sleeping. Just covering himself with it feels suffocating and heavy. 

Wei Dong wrapped him up so tightly with it, and even wrapped a rope around himself twice to prevent himself from falling off.

Wei Dong knew Tang Xu was afraid of getting cold, but others might think he had ulterior motives.

Wei Dong glanced at him and said to Wei Xi, who was holding a bamboo basket nearby, "Don't lean on your brother-in-law."

Wei Xi blinked and sighed. "Brother, focus on driving. Don't let my brother-in-law fall off."

Tang Xu chuckled, interrupting the mutual disdain between the two brothers. "Let's go, bring the basket."

In the basket were some of the New Year goods that Wei Dong had bought earlier. Tang Xu thought since the weather wasn't too good, if the snow got too heavy on the first or second day of the New Year, he wouldn't go back to Tang Erhu's place. 

So, he decided to send the New Year gifts first.

Wei Dong agreed with his decision. After all, he would follow his husband's lead, no matter what.

After locking the courtyard gate and patting the mule's buttocks, he set off toward his father-in-law’s house!

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