The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 171

 

| TBBOTOF | 171

There was no mockery, no teasing, and certainly no hatred in his tone.

Her mind seemed to flash through many fragments—some of him calling "Mother" with hope, calling "Mother" in astonishment, calling "Mother" while crying—but not like this.

Tang Xu’s gaze swept over her face, somewhat seeing how she had turned into what she was now.

From what he knew about Liu Xiangxiang, even if she was not accepted back into the Liu family, she would definitely find someone who could provide for her and marry into that family.

No matter how he thought about it, he could never have imagined Liu Xiangxiang ending up as a beggar.

Despite the street being crowded, even though the light was dim, Tang Xu’s face was still striking enough to attract attention.

Noticing the gazes from passersby, Tang Xu turned his head, pointing to a nearby wonton stand, and asked, "Want to eat?"

Liu Xiangxiang turned to look, then back at Tang Xu, her voice hoarse and dry, with a hint of disbelief in her widened eyes, "You, you’re asking me?"

"Yes, want to eat?" Tang Xu repeated.

Liu Xiangxiang quickly gathered the broken bowl in front of her into her arms, stood up, and followed him to the wonton stand.

The old woman at the wonton stand recognized Tang Xu and greeted him warmly, "Why didn’t Dongzi come with you?"

Tang Xu smiled at the old woman and said, "He went to the county. Auntie, please give me two bowls of wontons and a steamed bun."

Liu Xiangxiang stood silently beside him, looking very awkward.

Tang Xu ignored her, pulled out a stool, and sat down.

Liu Xiangxiang couldn’t help but swallow hard as she smelled the delicious wontons and then sat down across from Tang Xu.

While cooking the wontons, the old woman glanced over several times. She recognized the beggar woman who had been loitering around this area for a while, but no one had ever shown her pity by offering her wontons.

When the two bowls of wontons were brought to the table, the old woman asked Tang Xu, "Do you want some chili?"

"No, thank you, Auntie." He handed her fifteen copper coins.

"Ten is enough."

"No, it’s fine. I’m paying for these two bowls," Tang Xu said, pointing to the bowls in front of him.

The old woman understood and waved her hand, saying, "It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll just take them back and wash them."

Tang Xu didn’t insist further and placed the coins in her hand.

Just then, someone else sat down to order wontons, and the old woman stuffed the copper coins into her apron pocket and turned to attend to them.

Tang Xu pushed both bowls of wontons toward Liu Xiangxiang and handed her the steamed bun. "Eat up."

Liu Xiangxiang grabbed the bun and took a big bite. After chewing a couple of times, she swallowed, choked a bit, then picked up a bowl of wonton soup to drink before taking another bite of the bun.

The fist-sized coarse grain bun was finished in three bites, and she continued eating the wontons.

Tang Xu sat silently beside her, waiting until she had finished. He then asked, "Are you full?"

Liu Xiangxiang wiped her mouth and burped.

She was full.

Tang Xu placed his money pouch on the table. 

Liu Xiangxiang looked at him, then at the money pouch, her eyes showing a longing for the money. 

However, she no longer dared to reach out for it like before. Instead, she looked at Tang Xu with some trepidation and asked, "Is, is this for me?"

"Yes, there are twenty taels inside," Tang Xu said, pushing the pouch toward her with a consistently cold tone. 

"My father has married a new wife, and Ah Li is engaged. I’ve opened a food stall for them, the one you went to begging at."

Liu Xiangxiang stared blankly at Tang Xu's moving lips, her mind reeling from his words.

The food stall actually belonged to Tang Xu!

"I can still call you 'Mother' and give you money to keep you from causing trouble."

Tang Xu lightly tapped his fingers on the table, issuing a very straightforward threat. "Don’t go asking Ah Li for money. I don’t want your presence to affect what’s going on now. We’re all doing well."

Liu Xiangxiang remained unmoving.

Tang Xu knew she was probably thinking about how to get more money from Ah Li.

Liu Xiangxiang opened her mouth, about to say something, but saw Tang Xu take back the money pouch from in front of her.

She reached out to grab it.

Tang Xu’s movements were quicker, pulling the pouch back to himself.

"Mother, the only reason I can speak to you so calmly is because of my upbringing. Otherwise, given our relationship, I could easily spend twenty taels hiring a group of thugs to beat you up and throw you out of the city. You’d end up injured, with no money for food or medicine, and end up slowly dying."

Liu Xiangxiang looked at him in shock.

Tang Xu smirked, showing a malicious smile, and tossed the money pouch back in front of her. Standing up, he said, "I always do what I say."

Liu Xiangxiang clutched the money pouch tightly, opened it, and saw it contained twenty taels of silver and some copper coins.

The old woman from the wonton stand came over to clean the table. Seeing the money pouch in Liu Xiangxiang’s hands, she remarked in surprise, "You’re really lucky to run into Tang Xu, such a kind-hearted person. He not only filled your belly but also gave you money. If it were someone else’s young master, you might have been kicked away just for approaching."

She glanced at the two empty bowls on the table and added, "You can take the bowls back; Tang Xu has already paid."

Liu Xiangxiang silently gathered the two bowls and her chopsticks and left.

Tang Xu returned to the shop and told Tang Erhu about the earlier events.

Tang Erhu frowned and said, "Why give her money? We should have just kicked her out."

"We can’t just watch her starve," Tang Xu said, picking up Xiao Bao who had come running towards him and placing him on his lap. 

He poked the child’s cheek and asked, "What did Grandpa buy for you just now?"

Xiao Bao pointed to the various pastries on the table and said, "Sweet~"

"Open your mouth. Let Daddy see your teeth. Eating sweets every day will ruin your teeth," Tang Xu said, trying to pry open the child's lips.

Xiao Bao quickly covered his mouth and dodged.

The chubby boy ran over, opened his mouth to show his teeth, and held his little brother in his arms. "Daddy, let’s go take a bath!"

Er Bao opened his mouth as if to show his teeth to his dad, then turned and followed his older brother.

Tang Xu gritted his teeth, thinking, those little rascals! None of them are easy to deal with.

“Dad, next time don’t give them so many sweets. None of them brush their teeth regularly. If they keep eating sweets, their teeth will definitely decay.”

Tang Erhu, drinking water, clicked his tongue and said, “It’s not like they eat sweets every day. You used to beg for candy every day when you were little.”

“They’re not like me. I only had sweets a few times when I was young, but they have them every day,” Tang Xu said with a frown, trying to persuade his father not to spoil the children so much. 

“Xiao Bao doesn’t even have all his teeth yet. If his teeth decay before he finishes growing them, it’ll look terrible. If other kids see it, they’ll make fun of him.”

In the village, children with rotten teeth aren’t necessarily caused by eating sweets; if their teeth become blackened and damaged, other children will easily point and laugh.

“Alright, alright. I can’t buy them sweets every day. I got it,” Tang Erhu said, irritated. “What about Liu Xiangxiang? Can she still do anything?”

“She can, I suppose. If she can get some money, she probably won’t cause more trouble,” Tang Xu looked at Wang Cuicui, who was taking the three kids to bathe, and lowered his voice. 

“Dad, you should mention this to Auntie. If there’s any unexpected situation, at least she won’t be caught off guard. It’d be better than her being left in the dark and then having her heart broken later.”

Tang Erhu was momentarily stunned, then nodded with a serious face. "Mm."

After putting the three children to sleep, Tang Xu couldn’t fall asleep himself. He put on the cloak that was draped over the edge of the bed and went outside.

The yard was quiet and still, with no wind. Although it was late autumn, the temperature wasn’t too low.

He sat down on a stone bench, leaned on the stone table, and looked up at the sky.

The dark blue sky was clear with no clouds, the moon was bright, and the stars were sparkling.

He exhaled a breath of warm air and faintly heard a rhythmic "clop, clop" sound coming from afar.

Tang Xu straightened up and listened carefully.

The "clop, clop" sound grew closer, and he was filled with excitement. He quickly stood up and went to the back door.

Opening the door to look outside, he saw a mule running towards him from the other end of the alley.

Tang Xu’s face lit up with a radiant smile as he waved his hand to Wei Dong, who was driving the mule.

If he weren’t afraid of disturbing the neighbors with a loud shout, he would have let out a cheer.

His man was back!

Wei Dong, dusty and weary from travel, jumped down from the cart and hugged Tang Xu without saying a word, giving him a kiss.

The stubble on Wei Dong's chin rubbed against his skin, making Tang Xu let out a soft "mm."

Wei Dong released him, cupped his face in his hands, and examined him closely, unable to resist leaning in to nip at his soft lips.

Ouch!

Tang Xu patted his shoulder, signaling him to let go.

"I missed you so much," Wei Dong said, hugging him tightly and nuzzling his neck. "How have things been these past few days?"

"Pretty good," Tang Xu replied, holding his man close, his heart finally settling back to its usual place after his worry of Wei Dong being away vanished.

After letting the mule graze, Wei Dong unloaded the items he had brought back from the county and the two of them walked hand in hand into the house.

Hearing the commotion, Tang Erhu was about to get up to check it out when Wang Cuicui stopped him.

"It must be Dongzi coming back. It’s late, and he probably hasn’t had dinner. I’ll go make some noodles for him," Wang Cuicui said, signaling Tang Erhu to let her go.

"No need," Tang Erhu said, pressing her back down. "Xu Ge’er will cook whatever he wants to eat. There’s no need for you to go. It would be pointless."

Wang Cuicui thought about it and decided to lie down and go to sleep.

Tang Erhu didn’t go to sleep. Instead, when Wang Cuicui was almost drifting off, he reached over to nudge her.

Wang Cuicui, still half-asleep, responded and reached out.

Tang Erhu quickly held her hand down. "No, no."

Wang Cuicui, puzzled, asked, "What’s wrong?"

"I need to tell you something." Tang Erhu, being somewhat blunt, didn’t know how to be indirect and simply recounted what Tang Xu had done today. 

He didn’t wait for Wang Cuicui’s response and kept talking without pause.

Wang Cuicui was so wide awake from listening that she sat up and stared at him intently.

Tang Erhu sat up and scratched his head. "I couldn’t keep this from you forever. We didn’t tell you before because we were worried you might misunderstand. Now, I’m telling you so that you don’t misunderstand."

Misunderstanding in two different ways wasn’t the same thing.

Wang Cuicui nodded and asked, "So Liu Xiangxiang really won’t cause trouble?"

Although she didn’t know Liu Xiangxiang, she had heard some gossip in the village about Tang Erhu’s separation, so she was somewhat aware of the situation.

"She wouldn’t dare. If she does come and cause trouble, I’ll beat her up," Tang Erhu said through gritted teeth.

Wang Cuicui shook her head, patting Tang Erhu’s hand gently. "Alright, alright. You can’t just beat her to death. If she does come, we’ll just teach her a lesson. But I don’t think she’ll dare to come. The last time she saw Dongzi, she ran away as fast as a mouse seeing a cat."

Tang Erhu looked at her and, seeing that she wasn’t upset, sighed with relief.

In the kitchen, Tang Xu made a big bowl of noodles and heated up two large buns for Wei Dong.

As Wei Dong ate, Tang Xu brought up Liu Xiangxiang again. 

Wei Dong listened, then said in a calm tone, "I’ll find someone to send her away tomorrow."

Tang Xu agreed, thinking that this was the best solution to avoid her causing trouble after they left. 

As long as she was sent away, he didn’t care where she went, as long as she was out of their lives.

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