The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 91

 

| TBBOTOF | 91

In theory, this meal should have been eaten in a lively atmosphere, but now, Tang Xu sighed.

He turned to look his father, his father's face was filled with anger.

Tang Erhu raised his eyes to him, touched his face, twisted his mouth, and his smile was quite ugly. "Xu Ge’er, don't listen to his nonsense. You will always be a child of the Tang family."

"Dad, I know," Tang Xu smiled and poured a bowl of hot water for Tang Erhu, placing it in front of him. "Drink less alcohol, Dad, don't be angry with Ah Rui. As children grow up, they can't always be controlled by their parents. Let him do as he pleases."

With just this sentence, regardless of whether Tang Erhu heard any other meaning, Wei Dong's movements of scooping rice paused for a moment, then he continued eating as if nothing had happened.

This son of his almost made him want to kick his own biological son out of the house.

Wei Dong set down his bowl, drank two bowls of wine with his father-in-law, and Tang Erhu, with a flushed face, went back to his room to sleep.

Tang Xu also felt tired. He quickly tidied up the table with Wei Dong and, while washing dishes in the kitchen, Tang Li came over.

"Elder brother, let me wash the dishes."

Tang Xu blocked her, waving his hand. "Don't touch them, just sit beside me." He noticed the paper in her hand and glanced at it. "Did you finish drawing?"

He gave Tang Li a piece of floral cloth, wanting her to make a waistcoat for herself.

Tang Li smiled and nodded, unfolding the paper in her hand to show him.

Tang Xu shook off the water droplets from his hand, pinched the edge of the paper, and carefully examined it. As he looked, he said, "Not bad. If you don't mind the trouble, you can gather some pleats at the hem of the skirt and align the patterns. It will definitely look more beautiful."

Tang Li didn't quite understand what he meant. Tang Xu reached out and took a cloth, folding it and pinching one side while spreading out the other. "Here, like this. If it's a long skirt, it would look clearer."

Tang Li nodded, understanding.

Big brother is so clever, she had never seen anything like this before.

Tang Xu thought for a moment, then used the cloth to demonstrate a few more styles to her, emptying his mind of all his thoughts.

"I don't know anything else," he kept his head down, playing with the cloth in his hand, unaware of how surprised Tang Li looked at him, "Don't put all the patterns on the skirt at once, just pick two kinds of patterns, too many won't necessarily look good."

Tang Li nodded in agreement, her mind full of the patterns she had just seen.

Tang Xu washed the pots and dishes, then left the kitchen after cleaning his hands.

Wei Dong split several rough wooden logs in the yard, stacking the chopped firewood neatly against the wall.

"Let's go back," Tang Xu wrapped himself in a cloak, it was getting windy and chilly.

Wei Dong replied, went to wash his hands, and came over to tie a rope around him, then put the mule cart in place.

This time, Tang Xu obediently sat on the cart, letting Wei Dong wrap him tightly in a quilt. When he saw Wei Xi also wrapped in a cloak, only showing his head, they locked eyes and both burst into laughter.

Tang Li and Tang Yang stood at the door, Tang Yang asked, "Brother, are you coming back on the second day of the lunar new year?"

He felt like something was missing if he did not spend New Year's Eve with his brother.

Tang Xu looked at the sparse snowflakes falling from the sky again, feeling helpless, "I do want to come back, but it depends on the weather. If it doesn't snow, I can come back."

Tang Yang nodded, "If brother can't come back because of the snow, I'll go see brother!"

Tang Li also said, "I'll make the skirt for next few days and show it to brother when he comes back."

Tang Xu smiled and agreed.

But whenTang Xu heard her next sentence, his smile instantly stiffened.

Tang Li: "If it looks good, I would still have quite a lot of fabric, I'll make a skirt for Brother too."

Tang Xu hastily waved his hands, firmly rejecting, "Absolutely not!"

The kind of beautiful long skirt that local gers like to wear is more like a pair of pants with a high crotch, and the pants are wide and elegant. Some were directly made into mid-length skirts, worn with a short shirt on top, which was considered a normal skirt.

The problem was, whether it was for women or ger, making a skirt would involve using some patterned fabric or brightly colored ones. Some people who couldn't afford such fancy fabrics but were skillful with their hands could embroider flowers on the skirt, making it look beautiful.

Middle-aged women usually liked to embroider flowers on plain fabric to make skirts, after all, they had to maintain their dignity, wearing overly flashy clothes might invite criticism of being too old to dress like that.

Middle-aged ger, on the other hand, preferred to wear pants. Long skirts were usually only worn on special occasions or when there were significant events in the family.

Speaking of which, Tang Xu did have a pair of pants-skirt, but it was made many years ago, during his grandfather's fiftieth birthday, when Liu Xiangxiang, under the pressure from Tang Erhu, made new clothes for the whole family. 

At that time, Tang Xu wore the pants-skirt and was so excited that he didn't take it off for several days, even slept in it.

That was also his only pair of pants-skirt.

Tang Xu wasn't very comfortable wearing skirts. Although he had accepted the fact that he could get pregnant, when it came to what clothes to wear, it was indeed a matter of personal preference. He could only accept wide-leg pants and he wasn't very keen to skirts.

Tang Xu shook his head and refused Tang Li's kindness, saying he wasn't used to wearing them and suggested she make a couple more for herself to wear frequently.

Seeing that he really didn't want it, Tang Li nodded in agreement, thinking that if she wore a beautiful skirt, those relatives who visited during the New Year would surely praise her beauty.

Despite being mature in character, she was still ultimately a girl who loved beauty.

After returning home, Tang Xu took a hot bath and went straight to bed without making dinner. 

Wei Dong and Wei Xi had a simple meal of noodles, accompanied by the tofu and mushroom sauce Tang Xu had marinated, which filled their stomachs.

After finishing a bowl of noodles, Wei Xi wiped his mouth and looked at Wei Dong, saying, "Brother, just now Ah Yang told me that his eldest brother has money, and quite a lot of it."

Wei Dong turned to look at him, "How does he know?"

"He saw it," Wei Xi shrugged, "Wasn't Tang Rui in Ah Yang's room reading? When he went to call him for dinner, he saw his eldest brother sneaking into his own room with a money pouch. I asked him how much money there was, he said he didn't see clearly, but the pouch was bulging, so there must be quite a bit."

"Brother, why do you think he has money but still asks Uncle Tang for it?" Wei Xi couldn't understand. If you had money, why ask for more? He stormed out and walked away when he got scolded. That person had too much of a temper.

"Probably saving up his own private stash," Tang Xu's voice came from behind them. As they turned, they saw Tang Xu wrapped in his cloak. 

Wei Dong asked him, "Why are you up?"

"Thirsty," Tang Xu walked to the table and poured himself a glass of water. He glanced at the noodles in the basin and then at the two bowls of pickled vegetables, "Why didn’t you fry an egg?"

"We had a heavy lunch, it's good to have something lighter for dinner," Wei Xi said, then asked him, "Brother, do you want to eat? I'll get you a bowl."

Tang Xu shook his head, "I don't want noodles, I want an egg custard."

He glanced at Wei Dong and then at Wei Xi, asking, "Do you two want some?"

Wei Xi shook his head, he was full.

Wei Dong nodded, he could eat a bowl with Tang Xu.

Tang Xu happily went to the kitchen to make egg custard. He liked having someone to eat with; it was boring to eat alone.

After they finished eating, Tang Xu and Wei Dong went back to their rooms to sleep. Just as he closed his eyes, Tang Xu heard his partner say, "Tang Rui has money."

"I know," Tang Xu yawned, "I figured as much. Anyone who runs back to his birth mother to share money with her must have some calculations in mind. But considering his expenses in the county, even if he has money, there won't be much left."

Wei Dong hugged Tang Xu tightly, tucked him in, and his fingers slipped under Tang Xu's shirt to gently caress his warm and soft belly. "Why worry about all that? Does your stomach feel uncomfortable?"

"I'm okay, nothing too serious," Tang Xu buried his face in Wei Dong's chest, nuzzling, then yawning and a tear squeezed out from the corner of his eye. "Let's sleep, I'm really tired."

Wei Dong didn't say anything more, and soon the person in his arms fell asleep.

The next three days, on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of the twelfth month, it snowed heavily without stopping. The snow on the ground was already higher than Tang Xu's knees, he estimated to be nearly half a meter deep.

Wei Dong had a lot of work to do these three days. He had to shovel snow every hour to keep the paths in the courtyard clear, or else it would be difficult to walk.

He also had to go up to the roof from time to time to shovel off the snow, afraid it might collapse under the weight.

Some houses in the village had already collapsed under the snow, and they heard noises last night.

Tang Xu made a large pot of hot noodle soup and also baked a lot of corn cakes made from fermented dough.

The corn cakes were golden and crispy, without adding a bit of sugar. It tasted pleasantly sweet when chewed.

The corn used for the cakes was harvested this year. After drying, the kernels were removed, grind three times. They didn't grind it too finely, so they could still chew on the particles inside when eating.

It was delicious.

Tang Xu sat in a chair, eating the cakes as he made them. He didn't need anything else, just ate two by himself.

By the time it was time to eat, he was almost full. He only drank half a bowl of broth from the noodle soup, not even touching the noodles.

"I'm full," Tang Xu put down his bowl and wiped his mouth, propping his chin up as he watched Wei Dong eat. "Is it delicious?"

Wei Dong nodded, "Delicious."

Wei Xi also nodded, "Brother, you rolled these noodles really thin, and the soup is so flavorful."

"I dried and ground up the small dried shrimp that Ah Yang caught before. I sprinkled some into the soup when cooking, it enhances the flavor. When the river thaws in spring, I'll go catch some more." Tang Xu smiled happily, feeling quite good.

But his good mood didn't last long, as there was a knock on the big iron gate.

Wei Dong went to open the door.

Wei Xi sniffed curiously, turning his head to look into the courtyard. "Who would run outside on such a cold day?"

Tang Xu shrugged, spreading his hands, "Who knows, it’s probably something urgent, given how urgently they knocked."

As the big iron gate was pulled open, Tang Yang, standing outside, burst into tears when he saw Wei Dong.

Wei Dong was startled, seeing that Tang Yang's cotton clothes and pants were soaked. He furrowed his brow and pulled him inside, asking, "What happened?"

"Our... our home, wuwuwu, collapsed!" Tang Yang cried loudly.

Wei Dong's body shook, turning to look behind him.

Tang Xu had faintly heard Tang Yang's crying just now. It had been a long time since his younger brother had cried, and the sound was quite nostalgic to him.

But the fact that Tang Yang had run over in this weather indicated that something was seriously wrong. Tang Xu quickly came out of the kitchen and heard Tang Yang's words.

"What happened? How did our home collapse? Where's Dad? And Ah Li and Ah Rui?" Tang Xu hurried over, pulling Tang Yang to his side, feeling his cold hand and the wet clothes covered in snow. He said urgently, "Quick, come inside and warm up."

Tang Yang cried even louder when he saw Tang Xu, calling out for his big brother repeatedly.

Tang Xu didn't even care about Tang Yang's soaking clothes. He hugged him close, comforting him, "Don't be afraid, come inside with your big brother first."

He didn't dare to take Tang Yang directly to the stove. Tang Yang was shivering from the cold, so they stripped off his clothes. Wei Xi and Wei Dong vigorously rubbed the parts of his body that had turned blue from the cold with snow, rubbing until they turned warm and red. Then they covered him with a quilt and placed him on the warm kang.

Tang Xu poured him a big bowl of ginger and brown sugar water, instructing him to hold it and drink.

After drinking it, Tang Yang's pale face gradually regained its color.

With teary eyes, he looked at Tang Xu, pouting, and hoarsely said, "Dad's leg is broken, Sister is taking care of him, and Second Elder Brother went to our grandparent's house."

Tang Xu frowned, "How did the roof collapse?"

Tang Yang pouted, angrily saying, "It was done by Second Elder Brother!"

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