The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 160

 

| TBBOTOF | 160

Li Xiu is now thirty-eight years old. Her last pregnancy took a toll on her body, and for the past two years, there hasn't been any good news. Considering that her family already has a ger who is married, one would think that as a mother, she shouldn't be pushing for more. 

However, no matter what anyone says, she is determined to have another child.

No amount of persuasion worked, so they decided to let her be.

However, the couple made an agreement: if it turns out to be a daughter, they would terminate the pregnancy.

Now, she's six months pregnant, and her belly is quite big, but she's weak.

At four months, Old Wen checked her pulse and said that the likelihood of it being a son was high.

When the elderly man mentioned this, he left some room for doubt, and he also advised Li Xiu not to be too fixated on whether it's a boy or a girl. He warned her that if things didn't turn out the way she wanted, it might be a big blow to her.

But Li Xiu didn't listen to that. She even spent five taels of silver at the temple to bring back a statue of the Goddess of Childbirth for worship, praying daily in hopes that heaven would take pity on her.

When Wu Guizhi saw her with her big belly, she was so shocked that she could have fit a boiled egg in her mouth.

It took her a while to react, and she angrily scolded Tang Sanhu, "At your age, why are you so insistent on having another child?"

"Mother, it's not me who wants it, it's her who insists." Tang Sanhu felt quite helpless. He already has a ger who is married, and his wife of his got pregnant at the same time as their son’s wife. 

Ever since the people in the village found out that his wife was pregnant again, he had been teased countless times while working in the fields. 

At first, Tang Sanhu was quite pleased, but later, he started to feel embarrassed.

"You don't want it, but how could she still get pregnant!" Wu Guizhi was furious. With Li Xiu's temperament, there's no telling how much trouble she'll cause the family with this pregnancy. 

But her useless son is probably happy to go along with it.

Wu Guizhi waved her hand dismissively, her frustration evident. "Get out, get out! Stop hanging around in front of me, just looking at you annoys me."

Tang Sanhu sighed and was about to leave, but he was called back.

"Wait a moment. Let me tell you something. There will be a lot of people coming over for dinner today, so make sure your wife behaves herself and doesn’t embarrass the Tang family." Wu Guizhi spoke sternly before dismissing him again.

Tang Sanhu turned to look at his wife, who was sitting in the pavilion, casually cracking sunflower seeds. 

After some thought, he walked over and sat down next to her.

Li Xiu was holding a handful of sunflower seeds in one hand, while with the other, she picked through the dried fruit on the table. She didn't know what kind of fruit this was made from, but the sweet and sour taste was delicious.

She had already eaten seven or eight pieces and still wasn’t tired of it. It tasted even better than what her husband bought in town.

"Why don't you ask if we can take some of this home? I've lost my appetite lately, but this helps to whet it." She nudged Tang Sanhu with her elbow and whispered to him.

Tang Sanhu frowned, glancing at the small plates on the table. The dried fruits were in various shades of reddish-brown and dark purple. He picked up a round one and sniffed it. The sweet and sour scent was accompanied by a hint of fragrance.

This one should be made from apricots, though he wasn't sure how it was prepared, but it tasted pretty good.

"If you like it, I'll buy some for you."

"Buy what? There's plenty here. What's wrong with just taking some?" Li Xiu glared at him and popped another piece of dried fruit into her mouth.

Tang Li happened to come out with a plate of freshly baked cookies and noticed Li Xiu eating so much dried fruit. She kindly reminded her, "Third Aunt, don't eat too much, or you won't have room for dinner later."

"This little stuff won’t fill me up," Li Xiu rolled her eyes at her and then reached for a cookie, biting into it with a crunch. 

She turned to look at Tang Sanhu, signaling for him to say something, but he acted like he didn't see it. 

Annoyed, she pinched his arm hard and then spoke to Tang Li herself, "Ah Li, pack some of this dried fruit for me. I'm pregnant, and nothing tastes good to me, but this is really appetizing. It makes me feel better."

Tang Li really didn't like her, mainly because Li Xiu was always eyeing their belongings every time they met. No matter how small, she always tried to grab something for herself.

Seeing Li Xiu, with her big belly, stuffing cookies into her mouth one after another, Tang Li didn't say anything and just turned around to leave. 

She went back to the kitchen and couldn't help but complain to Tang Xu, who was frying some crispy meat, "She’s so shameless. We are celebrating the kids' birthdays, and she didn't even bring gifts for them. Now she's asking me to pack some dried fruit for her to take home. She has such thick skin!"

Tang Xu was a bit surprised and turned to look at her. Since when did his sister get so sharp-tongued?

"If she wants to eat it, just pack some for her. After all, she’s pregnant, and we don't want to upset her. If we don't, she might cause a scene." Tang Xu didn't want to spoil the birthday party for his beloved kids. 

He thought it was better to avoid unnecessary trouble. Even though he wasn't overly concerned about appearances, he knew that if Li Xiu started making a fuss at the table, the older members of the family would be furious.

Tang Li huffed and reluctantly grabbed a small bowl to pack some dried fruit for her.

Tang Xu noticed and stopped her, pointing to a small jar on the shelf. "Use that to fill a jar. We don't want her saying we're stingy."

Tang Li was particularly unwilling. Her brother had carefully selected the fruit, pitted each one, cleaned and dried them to make the dried fruit. It took a lot of effort, and they didn't even take out a bowl for themselves on normal days. 

Now, she had to give Li Xiu an entire jar—she might as well make her day.

When she handed over the jar, instead of feeling grateful, Li Xiu grumbled, "Why didn't you pack more? Xu Ge’er doesn’t eat much, and this stuff doesn’t taste good if it’s stored for too long."

Tang Li felt a wave of frustration. She wanted to snatch that jar right out of Li Xiu's hands.

Seeing Tang Li’s expression change, Tang Sanhu quickly said, "Your aunt's been craving things lately, and Xu Ge'ers dried fruit is just too delicious—she can't resist eating more."

Tang Li forced a smile and couldn't help but retort, "Auntie, I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but when my brother was pregnant with twins, Old Wen said that after a certain month, you shouldn’t eat things that are too sweet or salty. It’s not good for the baby. You’ve eaten so much at once, and if you feel unwell later, don’t go blaming my brother’s food for not being clean."

After saying that, she didn’t care how dark Li Xiu’s face turned or how Tang Sanhu's expression soured. She huffed and walked away, even taking two empty plates from the table with her.

Luo Pingping came in from the backyard with some freshly picked chives and noticed Tang Li fuming. Confused, she asked, "Who upset you? Why are you so angry?"

Tang Li huffed and said, "It’s my aunt who always thinks whatever she gets isn’t enough. She just asked me for dried fruit, and after my brother told me to pack her a small jar, she complained it wasn’t enough."

Luo Pingping sighed and poked Tang Li on the forehead. "Alright, it's a happy day, so don’t keep a sour face. If your brother sees it, he’ll feel bad."

Tang Li took several deep breaths, forced a smile, and then went back into the kitchen.

Luo Pingping followed her inside.

The kitchen was filled with steam, and Tang Xu’s face was flushed from the heat. After frying a big batch of crispy meat, he grabbed a fan from the side and started fanning himself.

"Brother Xu, take a break. I’ll handle the rest," Liu Yao, wearing just a vest and shorts, looked much cooler.

Tang Xu glanced at Liu Yao’s outfit, then looked down at his own clothes, feeling a bit envious. 

He wanted to change into something cooler too, but he could only do so in private. With so many people around today, if they saw him dressed so scantily, they’d probably line up to scold him.

Life wasn’t easy, and Tang Xu sighed.

Feeling overheated, he stepped outside for some fresh air. He noticed that tables had already been set up in the courtyard, and Wei Dong was arranging chairs, bowls, and chopsticks with Tang Erhu. 

Several children were running around the yard. As Tang Xu looked around, he saw that among the younger generation, Er Bao was the fastest runner. He led the way, with girls, gers, and younger children chasing after him in a group.

Even Xiao Bao, who rarely ran, had sprinted for a short distance. But when he realized he couldn’t keep up, he stopped running, sat down on the ground, and watched the others zooming back and forth.

After sitting there for a while with no one paying attention to him, Xiao Bao pouted, stood up, dusted off his pants, and then spotted Tang Xu coming out of the kitchen.

"Daddy~~"

A soft, sweet voice called out, and Tang Xu crouched down, reaching out his arms.

Xiao Bao wobbled as he ran towards him, eventually tumbling into his embrace.

Tang Xu rubbed his chin against Xiao Bao's forehead and asked, "Why aren’t you playing with your brothers?"

Xiao Bao looked up at him, grinned, and called out, "Daddy~ eat~"

"What do you want to eat? Didn’t you just have a small cake?" Tang Xu patted his soft little belly and then felt his tiny arms. "Are you feeling hot?"

Xiao Bao didn’t understand, clinging to his collar and babbling about wanting to eat.

Wu Guizhi had just finished drinking water and came out of the house. Seeing Xiao Bao being clingy, she quickly came over to coax him. "Baobei, come play with your great-grandmother. Let your dad finish cooking, and we’ll eat soon."

Xiao Bao pouted and snuggled closer to Tang Xu, clearly not wanting to go with his great-grandmother and insisting on staying with his dad.

Tang Xu looked up and called out to Wei Xi, "Xiao Xi, can you get the pear juice candy I made? It should be frozen by now."

Wei Xi ran to the icebox, took out the pear juice popsicles Tang Xu had made, and carefully removed each one from the wooden molds. The light brown candy balls were attached to small, thin sticks.

The pear juice popsicles were cold and sweet, perfect for a small child to lick and enjoy. Xiao Bao was so delighted that he couldn't stop nodding his head.

"Kids, come and get your candy!" Wei Xi called out to the children running around.

As soon as they heard there was candy, they all rushed over.

They lined up to receive their popsicles and then sat obediently on small stools, swinging their little legs as they savored the treat.

Sweet!

Tang Xu noticed their flushed faces and sweaty foreheads from all the running and sighed. He went around wiping their faces and then poured water for them to drink.

Er Bao wasn’t a fan of drinking water, but he usually drank it when his dad offered. After finishing the water, he popped the candy back into his mouth and got up to run again.

Tang Xu quickly grabbed him, and Er Bao squirmed to break free.

"Why are you running? Finish your candy first. What if you fall and that stick pokes your throat?" Tang Xu gently pinched the stick, trying to pull the candy out.

Er Bao tightly clamped his teeth around the stick, staring wide-eyed at his dad, refusing to let go.

Tang Xu's face grew stern as he scolded, "Wei Junzhu, open your mouth!"

Frightened, Er Bao opened his mouth, and as soon as the candy was taken out, he started crying.

Tang Xu wasn’t swayed by his tears. He handed the popsicle back to Er Bao and firmly seated him on the small stool again. With his hands on his hips, Tang Xu glared at him and said, "Sit here and finish your candy, or you won’t get any cake later."

"He's still so little, he doesn't understand what you're saying. Take it easy and explain slowly," Wu Guizhi stepped in to diffuse the situation, gently wiping away non-existent tears from Er Bao's cheeks.

Er Bao sniffled, looking pitifully at his dad, but his mouth didn't stop, licking the candy several times in quick succession.

Tang Xu sighed, "Grandma, you shouldn’t spoil them. Kids are smart, and if you spoil them too much, they’ll be impossible to manage later."

"How is this spoiling? He's just a little one; you need to talk to him calmly, not shout at him." Wu Guizhi settled onto a small stool beside the kids, her eyes crinkling with affection as she looked at the row of children, each one more endearing than the last.

"Your three are the best looking," she remarked.

Tang Xu chuckled softly, "I think they’re all great, though ours are a bit mischievous." With that, he returned to the kitchen, carrying out the cold dishes he had already prepared. 

As he placed them on the table, he called out, "Everyone, take a seat. Let’s get ready to eat!"

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