The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 166

 

| TBBOTOF | 166

The mule was quite smart.

Every time it pulled the cart, as long as the children were on board, it would carefully avoid rough patches and choose smoother paths to run on.

Originally, the journey would have taken less than an hour, but now, with the kids in the cart, the mule ran more slowly, keeping a steady pace.

In the restaurant, all four tables were occupied by customers. There was hot water on the tables, and anyone who wanted to drink could serve themselves.

The mule cart deliberately took a detour to the back door, which Wei Dong had originally opened himself. 

Upon hearing the sound, Tang Li's face lit up with surprise and joy, "Elder Brother!"

"Auntie!"

"Aunt!"

"Aun!"

Tang Li bent down to embrace the three children who rushed toward her, rubbing their faces one by one.

The three little treasures, still soft and warm from just waking up, were overjoyed to see their auntie after a long time.

Strangely, although Er Bao and Xiao Bao should have been less likely to remember her, they were very affectionate towards Tang Erhu and the rest, showing warmth and enthusiasm no matter when they met.

In the front courtyard, Tang Erhu was busy with the business. He had just transferred a pot of braised rabbit into a basin when he turned around and saw the children coming in.

He quickly wiped his hands, took off his apron, and bent down with open arms to embrace the three little ones running towards him.

"Oh, I missed you all so much! Your dad finally brought you over," Tang Erhu said. Since their last visit for the birthday, he hadn’t seen the three little ones for months, and he had been so anxious that he couldn’t sleep well.

He glanced at Tang Xu and asked, "Why the sudden visit?"

Normally, Wei Dong came alone to deliver livestock, so it was rare for him to bring all four of them together.

"I missed you, Dad. I had to come and check on you," Tang Xu replied with a smile, handing the basket he was carrying to Tang Li. He reminded her, "The cured meat and smoked fish, hang them up on the beams. Don’t let them mold."

"Brother, you’re too kind! I was just telling my aunt yesterday that I wanted to eat cured meat. She said she’d buy meat and make some today. Since you’ve brought it, I won’t have to make it. I’ll just slice it and steam a plate soon."

"Then steam the fish too."

"Got it. I’ll also make some sauced pig’s knuckles. Dad bought two big pig’s hocks this morning," Tang Li said, carrying the basket towards the kitchen.

Liu Yao and Wang Cuicui, busy attending to the customers in the store, glanced over at the noise, greeted them briefly, and then went back to selling braised dishes.

Tang Xu took the opportunity to wash the hands and faces of the three children to freshen them up and gave them some goat’s milk to drink.

"Dad, take a break," Tang Xu said when he saw Tang Erhu about to add water to the braised soup pot. He reached for the ladle and continued, "You go play with the kids. I’ll take care of this."

Tang Erhu handed over the ladle, changed into a clean set of clothes, and then took the three little ones out for a stroll.

Now, with the old man’s pockets full of money, he was eager to spend it.

Xiao Bao didn’t want to walk. He looked up at Tang Erhu with outstretched arms, saying, "Hold me~"

"Hold, hold, hold, Grandpa will hold you," Tang Erhu said with a beaming smile as he picked Xiao Bao up, playfully poking his soft cheeks and tried to snuggle his face.

However, when Xiao Bao was about to lean in, he pulled away, pushing Tang Erhu’s face with his little hands, rubbing against his stubbly beard, and pouting at his reddened palms.

Tang Erhu was momentarily stunned and quickly held Xiao Bao’s little hand, blowing on it, while coaxing, "Grandpa forgot, I’ll shave soon. Don’t cry, Baobei."

Xiao Bao pouted again, touched his face one more time, and although he didn’t cry, he had a slightly pitiful look. He stared at Tang Erhu for a while, then finally broke into a smile.

Tang Erhu felt a sudden pang of emotion, his nose felt sour.

He wiped his eyes and hugged Xiao Bao, swaying him gently. "Let’s go, Grandpa will buy some yummy food."

As soon as Er Bao heard about the delicious food, he eagerly reached for Tang Erhu’s pants, saying, "I’ll go!"

"Yes, yes, yes, you all go. Hold hands with your brother," Tang Erhu said. Although he could carry both children, he was worried about them falling, especially since Er Bao was quite restless and always fidgeting when held.

The chubby boy finished drinking his goat’s milk, then looked up at his grandpa and said, "Grandpa, Xiao Bao hasn’t finished his milk yet. He should drink it before we leave."

His voice was both milky and crisp. As soon as he spoke, Xiao Bao turned his face away, refusing to look at his brother.

Wei Dong, holding Xiao Bao’s bottle, handed it over.

The chubby boy took the bottle, held it up, and said to Tang Erhu, "Grandpa, milk."

Tang Erhu turned to look at Xiao Bao, who was hiding his face on his shoulder, and asked with a smile, "Don’t you love milk? Why aren’t you drinking it?"

Xiao Bao turned away and ignored everyone.

Wei Dong sighed and gently held Xiao Bao, letting him lie on his arm. He offered the bottle, speaking softly, "Drink up, and then we’ll go play with Grandpa and buy some candy."

Xiao Bao held the ceramic bottle with both hands, puffed out his cheeks, and widened his eyes to look at his dad, trying to use his cuteness to soften his dad’s heart.

Wei Dong was indeed swayed by Xiao Bao’s cute tactics and thought it might be better to let him skip the milk, knowing he would have snacks soon.

But Tang Xu wasn’t buying it. After placing the offal into the pot and covering it with a loud clatter, he came over.

Both Wei Dong and Xiao Bao turned to look, along with Tang Erhu and the chubby boy.

Er Bao stepped forward, clinging to his dad’s leg, and said, "I want to drink!"

"You’ve already had two bowls," Tang Xu said as he approached, giving Er Bao a stern look.

He then turned to Xiao Bao and said, "Hurry up and drink it. You only had a bite of breakfast this morning, it was not even as much as our cat eats. Finish your milk and then you can go out with Grandpa. If you don’t drink, you’re not going."

Xiao Bao puffed out his cheeks and stared at his dad with his big, watery eyes, trying to look pitiful.

Tang Xu took the bottle and stuffed it directly into Xiaobao’s mouth. “Hurry up and drink.”

Tang Erhu couldn’t help but mutter, “If he doesn’t want to drink, let him be. He’s probably not hungry.”

“It's a such a small amount of milk for a child. Look at them,” Tang Xu said, pointing to the chubby boy and Er Bao. “They’re so tall because they drank a lot of milk. Xiao Bao isn’t growing because he’s not drinking enough.”

Tang Erhu: "..." Really?

Wei Dong glanced at Tang Xu helplessly, thinking he was just making things up.

Tang Xu thought to himself that he wasn’t just talking nonsense. Even though Xiao Bao might not be very tall now, his height will catch up in the future. 

He didn’t want Xiao Bao to end up only 1.7 meters tall; he needed to be at least 1.75 meters!

Xiao Bao drank his milk in small sips, glancing sideways at Tang Xu and wiggling his little feet.

The wiggling wasn’t because he was happy about drinking the milk but rather because he was signaling his two older brothers for help.

Help me out, I don’t want to drink!

The chubby boy looked at his father, then at Tang Xu, and finally at the drooling Er Bao. Despite his reluctance, he decided to help.

“Dad~” he tugged at Tang Xu’s hand, “Dad~ don’t make the little brother finish. He’s full, already.”

The chubby boy wanted to say that his little brother’s stomach was small, and a little milk was enough to fill him up. If he drank it all, he wouldn’t be able to eat later. 

However, despite his intelligence, he struggled with expressing himself clearly.

Tang Xu understood and took the milk bottle from Xiao Bao, shook it a little, and then handed it back. “Just drink half.”

Xiao Bao took a big gulp, almost choking on it.

Seeing that Xiao Bao really didn’t want to drink, Tang Xu didn’t insist further and took the bottle away.

Er Bao opened his mouth eagerly. “I want to drink!”

“Drink, drink, go ahead,” Tang Xu said, opening the cap and handing the bottle to him.

Er Bao took the bottle, drank it in three big gulps, wiped his mouth, and immediately turned to Tang Erhu. “Grandpa, let’s go!”

Tang Xu couldn’t help but laugh in anger, realizing the kids were only thinking about going out to buy things.

Tang Erhu quickly picked up Xiao Bao, who had reached out for him, and said to Tang Xu, “Alright, I’ll take them out for a walk. We won’t go too far.”

The two of them nodded. Since they were familiar with the town and the kids knew not to wander off, they weren’t worried about them getting lost.

Tang Erhu was indeed quite nervous taking all three children out at once. Once they left the courtyard, he kept his eyes firmly on the chubby boy and Er Bao, almost forgetting that he was holding Xiao Bao in his arms.

Xiao Bao, curious and looking around, spotted a vendor selling colorful dough figures and immediately tried to grab his grandpa’s hair.

Tang Erhu was holding onto the chubby boy with one hand and the chubby boy was holding Er Bao’s hand.

He was distracted by a vendor selling chicks on the side of the road, so he tightened his grip and turned to Xiao Bao, who was pointing at the dough figure stall. “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Bao pointed at the stall and said with a soft, round voice, “Want!”

Tang Erhu quickly moved closer with Xiao Bao, while the chubby boy and Er Bao followed along.

Not far away, Wei Dong turned his head to look at Tang Xu who was holding him, and asked in confusion, “Didn’t you say you were fine with this? Why are you following them?”

Tang Xu replied, “I said I was fine, but I didn’t mean I was completely comfortable. Dad is out with the three kids, and with so many people on the street, If someone takes a fancy to our children, several people will cooperate to snatch them and run away, and Dad can't catch up.”

Tang Xu had mentioned this concern to Tang Li before leaving, then pulled Wei Dong out quickly and followed secretly.

Thankfully, the children and Tang Erhu were unaware of their presence, so their cover wasn’t blown.

Tang Erhu crouched down holding Xiao Bao, with the chubby boy and Er Bao close by. The three children watched intently as the vendor kneaded and shaped the dough, creating a little black-and-yellow striped kitten with a small knife.

Xiao Bao’s eyes widened with excitement as he saw the finished product and exclaimed, “Cat!”

The chubby boy was also surprised, exclaiming, “It looks like the chubby cat!”

Er Bao pointed at the little cat and looked up at Tang Erhu, saying, “Grandpa, I want one!”

“Okay, okay, you can buy it,” Tang Erhu said, pulling out his purse. “How many copper coins for one?”

“Three wen,” the vendor said with a smile, handing over the black-and-yellow cat on a stick. Er Bao quickly took it and said with a sweet voice, “Thank you!”

The vendor looked to be about the same age as Tang Erhu but was quite slender, not the kind of burly middle-aged man one would expect from farm work.

Tang Erhu then turned to the chubby boy and asked, “What do you want?”

The chubby boy held his face in his hands and took a long time to respond.

Tang Erhu, puzzled, asked, “What’s the matter? Are you worried about Grandpa saving money?”

“No,” the chubby boy said, “I want a lot.” He began counting on his little fingers, “One for Daddy, one for Father, one for Grandpa, one for Grandma, one for Auntie, one for uncle, and one for my great-grandparents.”

After finishing, he looked up at Tang Erhu and said, “Grandpa, buy them all!”

Tang Erhu was momentarily speechless.

The vendor, watching the three children, couldn’t help but remark, “I’ve been setting up my stall here for many years, and I’ve never seen children as lovely as yours. You’re truly blessed.”

Tang Erhu grinned and said, “Well, of course, my three treasures are so charming that everyone has to compliment them.”

The chubby child poked Tang Erhu’s arm and said, “Grandpa, I want a sugar figurine.”

“Sure, just one per person,” Tang Erhu nodded.

But the vendor shook his head, "I can't make it without seeing the real person. If it doesn’t look right, it won’t be good.”

The chubby child immediately stood up and said, “I’ll go find Daddy!”

After saying that, he ran off, and Tang Erhu was momentarily taken aback.

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