The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 167

 

| TBBOTOF | 167

Wei Dong and Tang Xu were watching from a short distance away. Neither of them expected that their eldest child would suddenly turn around and run back.

Because Wei Dong was tall, the chubby boy only took three steps before spotting his father. His eyes widened in surprise, and then he got excited!

He called out and waved to the two of them.

Upon hearing his shout, Tang Erhu froze for a moment, then looked up.

He saw Wei Dong, who was standing not far away with an oddly expressionless face, and Tang Xu, who had a somewhat strange expression.

Tang Erhu looked at the two of them with a half-smile.

Tang Xu, feeling a bit awkward, scratched his nose with his finger, gave his father a grin, and then glanced at the chubby boy who had already run over and was hugging his leg.

He sighed softly.

Tang Xu looked up at Wei Dong, giving him a wink, signaling him to come up with an excuse. Being caught secretly following someone was too embarrassing.

Wei Dong, feeling helpless, bent down and picked up the chubby boy, asking him, "Why did you run?"

The chubby boy pointed towards the stall and said, "I want that grandpa to make a whole bunch of figures. He said I needed to bring them, so I went to find my father."

Tang Xu thought about it for a moment and roughly understood what was going on.

Since they were already exposed, there was no point in hiding anymore. It was better to face the situation head-on.

After all, his father would surely understand his concerns.

Tang Erhu did understand, but he was also somewhat annoyed.

He kept a stern face, clearly displeased, and glared at them.

Tang Xu, trying to appease him, put on a smile and reached out to hook his arm, acting a bit coy. "Dad, don't be mad. I was just worried that the two of them would run off and cause trouble for you!"

Tang Erhu snorted, "Weren't you secretly following us? Why didn't you hide better?"

Tang Xu patted the chubby boy's wiggling little leg. "Who knew he would suddenly run back? I didn't even have time to hide."

The chubby boy didn't care if his dad was annoyed with him. He patted his dad's shoulder, signaling to be put down, and then ran over to the stall owner, who was staring at Tang Xu in a daze, saying, "My dad and my father are here."

The stall owner snapped out of his trance and couldn't help but glance at Tang Xu again.

Then, feeling a bit embarrassed, he shook his head, "I can't make them."

Earlier, when he saw these three children, he wondered what kind of parents could produce such good-looking kids. 

Now, after seeing Tang Xu and Wei Dong, he finally understood.

And to think, all three of them were born by a ger!

My goodness, a ger who can give birth to so many children!

And judging by how young he looks, he can’t be that old!

How much good fortune must one have accumulated in their past lives to be so young, so good-looking, and so fertile!

And judging by their clothing, they don’t seem like an ordinary family either.

But then he looked at Tang Erhu again and noticed that this father didn’t really resemble the ger much.

As a craftsman, especially one who makes dough figurines by observing people’s faces, he naturally observed more carefully than the average person.

Tang Xu smiled at the stall owner and said, "Just make something simple, it doesn’t need to be an exact copy."

Wei Dong, standing nearby, didn’t say anything. He glanced around at the nearby stalls and noticed one selling sauces, which piqued his interest. 

He signaled to Tang Xu that he was going to take a look.

Tang Xu wasn’t very skilled at making sauces; after trying twice and not being satisfied with the taste, he had simply stopped making them. 

Nowadays, the sauces they used at home were made by Wei Zhonghong.

Wei Dong went over to buy some sauce. After tasting it and finding it good, he turned and asked, "Ah Xu, should we buy it all?"

Tang Xu walked over, tasted the sauce, and nodded. "This flavor is pretty good. Ma’am, can I take a look at that sauce jar behind you?"

He was cautious about buying sauces from outside; he always felt uneasy if he didn't check the jar for cleanliness.

The old lady, whose hair was already turning white but still seemed steady on her feet, quickly lifted the wooden lid covering the sauce jar after hearing his request. 

"I've been selling sauce here for many years. You can eat this with confidence; it’s clean. The families around here all use my sauce. Take a look."

She handed Tang Xu the stirring paddle and couldn’t help but glance at his face again, thinking how fresh and good-looking this young ger was.

Tang Xu bent down to inspect the jar, stirred the sauce a couple of times with the paddle, and sniffed it. The aroma was fresh without any off smells.

"I personally select each bean, and the sauce blocks are made after simmering for a whole day," the old lady explained.

Tang Xu straightened up and turned to ask Wei Dong, "Do you like it?"

"I do, it's pretty good," Wei Dong nodded, imagining how much he would enjoy some zhajiangmian (fried sauce noodles) at home.

Tang Xu decided to buy it all. The old lady was momentarily stunned and asked uncertainly, "Buy it all? How will you carry it?"

Usually, people bought just a jar at a time and came back for more when they finished it. It wasn’t common for someone to buy an entire jar at once.

Seeing that they had nothing to carry it in, the old lady looked around and suggested, "Why don't you buy the jar too?"

"Sure, I'm afraid the sauce might spoil if I transfer it," Tang Xu agreed, then patted Wei Dong's arm. "You carry the jar home, and I'll wander around with Dad."

Wei Dong responded with a hum, paid for the sauce, and carried the jar back to the shop.

Tang Xu returned to the dough figurine stall and was surprised to see that one of Wei Dong had already been made. "It's finished so quickly?"

He reached out to take it and examined it closely. The figurine had a striking resemblance to Wei Dong, with tall stature and dressed in the same outfit Wei Dong had been wearing earlier.

"Impressive."

He handed the figurine to Er Bao, who was reaching out for it, and reminded him, "You can't eat this."

Er Bao nodded and held the figurine with a big smile on his face.

Xiao Bao also had a figure in his hand—a chubby cat figurine that looked like the one his older brother had, but his was yellow and white, which was also very cute.

Tang Xu glanced around and noticed a small folding stool nearby. After asking if he could use it, he brought it over for his father to sit on while he stood by. He then asked, "Dad, do you want some of that rice cake?"

Tang Erhu turned to him, "What rice cake?"

"That one," Tang Xu pointed to a stall not far away, "I think they’re selling rice cakes."

"Do you want some?" Tang Erhu wasn’t fond of rice cakes, especially the sticky, chewy texture that he found hard to eat.

Tang Xu nodded and playfully poked the chubby boy's cheek. "Come on, let's go get some rice cakes with Dad. Let your grandpa stay here with the other two."

The chubby boy nodded obediently and held his hand, ready to go.

Er Bao and Xiao Bao were completely absorbed in their new dough figurines, so they didn't even glance over when their dad mentioned going to buy food.

Tang Xu, holding the chubby boy's hand, went across the street to the stall selling rice cakes. 

After asking about the price, he ordered three pieces.

"We'll fry them in a little oil when we get back; they'll be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside," Tang Xu said, leaning down to explain to the chubby boy. "I'll let you have a small piece."

"A big piece!" The chubby boy moved closer, trying to smell the rice cakes through the oil paper wrapping but didn’t catch much of a scent. "Is it tasty?"

"It is, but you can't have a big piece. Kids can’t digest too much of this stuff; it could make your stomach hurt," Tang Xu said, leading him down the street a bit further. They passed several food stalls selling steamed buns, dumplings, and various pickled vegetables.

"Anything else you want to eat?" Tang Xu asked as they passed a stall selling malt candy, where two wooden sticks were twirling a sticky lump of it as people ate and played with it.

The chubby boy shook his head. With so many snacks at home, the rough and less flavorful treats sold outside didn’t appeal to him much.

Tang Xu patted his head, feeling a bit amused. Having such a well-behaved son took away some of the fun of indulging him in buying treats.

The father and son returned to the dough figurine stall, where five more figurines had been made.

Tang Xu described the appearance of a few more family members who weren’t present, thinking that since they were making them anyway, they might as well make more. He added figurines for the old couple in the Tang family, his eldest uncle and aunt, and his eldest cousin.

"Why are you buying so many?" Tang Erhu asked, looking at the dozen or so figurines the children were holding, feeling a bit speechless. "These things can’t all be eaten, and if you keep them too long, the dough will dry out and crack."

“It can last over half a month, right? We'll take them with us when we go back and give them out to the family. This is Ah Song’s kindness, he didn’t forget to bring gifts while out playing. Grandpa and Grandma will definitely be delighted,” Tang Xu said with a smile.

Tang Erhu gave him a sideways glance. 

“You’re always full of ideas.”

Tang Xu chuckled. Of course, everyone had to be pleased; otherwise, someone might feel left out and feel jealous.

When they returned to the shop, Tang Li was already preparing lunch. The last pot of braised dishes had sold out, and Liu Yao and Wang Cuicui were cleaning up.

Seeing them come back, Wang Cuicui wiped the water off her hands and greeted them with a smile, “What did you buy?”

The chubby boy handed her the dough figurine he was holding. “Grandma, this is for you.”

Wang Cuicui was pleasantly surprised and took the figurine, examining it closely. It did resemble her a bit. She bent down, hugged the chubby boy, and patted him. “Thank you, sweetheart. Grandma loves it.”

Xiao Bao ran over to Tang Li and handed her his figurine. Without waiting for her to thank him, he turned and ran towards Liu Yao, who had just come out of the house, and gave him another figurine.

Liu Yao was taken aback for a moment, then squatted down to take the figurine, looking at it with a smile. “Thank you, Xiao Bao.”

Xiao Bao tilted his head to look at him before turning to run back. However, he moved too fast, lost his balance, and wobbled a bit.

Liu Yao quickly reached out to steady Xiao Bao.

Xiao Bao turned to look at him and said, "Xi Xi~" (TL: he’s trying to say thank you)

"You're welcome," Liu Yao replied with a smile, releasing his hold. 

But Xiao Bao didn’t move right away; instead, he stared at Liu Yao’s face for a long moment before finally turning and running back to Tang Li.

Tang Li caught him as he ran into her arms. Xiao Bao then raised his little hand and pointed at Liu Yao.

Tang Li looked over, puzzled, and noticed the dough figurine in Liu Yao’s hand. Then she looked at the one in her own hand, and suddenly, her face turned bright red.

Xiao Bao snuggled into her embrace and said, "Du! Kiss."

Tang Li was taken aback and looked down at him, asking, "Kiss who?"

Xiao Bao continued to point at Liu Yao.

Tang Li blushed even more, too embarrassed to look in Liu Yao's direction.

Tang Xu came over and, not understanding the situation, asked, "What’s going on?"

Tang Li, still red-faced, held up the dough figurine and explained, "The figurine... lips."

"Huh?" Tang Xu took a closer look and realized that the figurine of Tang Li had a side profile with closed eyes and puckered lips, as if ready to give a kiss.

Tang Xu then looked at the figurine in Liu Yao's hand, noticing it faced the opposite direction from Tang Li's.

"Oh wow, it’s actually like this," he said, reaching out to take both figurines and placing them together. 

The figurines’ puckered lips met perfectly, and they were both dressed in bright red clothes.

"You guys are something else. Whose idea was this?" he asked, recalling that the figurine had already been made when he returned to the stall with the chubby boy, and he hadn't noticed the details at the time.

Tang Erhu, who had brought Er Bao over, answered, "I had them made like that. The two of them are about to get married, so I thought a matching pair would be festive."

Tang Xu gave his father a thumbs up, "Dad, you’re the best."

Tang Erhu raised his hand and gave Tang Xu a playful swat on the head.

Tang Xu dodged with a smile, returned the figurines, and then playfully poked Xiao Bao's cheek. 

"How do you even know about kissing? Little rascal."

Xiao Bao looked up at him, then glanced over at Wei Dong, who was washing his hands nearby. Pouting his lips, he mimicked, "Kiss kiss."

Tang Xu: “...”  He suddenly felt ashamed!

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TL: Sorry for the late update !