The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 152

 

| TBBOTOF | 152

When they first decided to leave, they had a problem of how to manage meals for the two elderly and three young ones.

Although the two elders hadn't cooked in a long time, looking at the remaining few people, only Wei Xi can do it, he can cook!

Xu Ze and the two elders were also excited.

Wei Xi can cook, but it was always a one-pot dish.

The steamed buns were rock hard; they could be eaten by soaking in water, but otherwise, they were impossible to bite.

"What about Ze’er? Didn't he help with the cooking?" Although Xu Ze was younger, he usually helped out in the kitchen. Even if he didn't cook by himself, he should still be capable of helping out.

Tang Yang sighed, took Er Bao who had reached out to him into his arms, and said, "Ze’er is sick. He's been taking medicine for the past few days and could hardly get out of bed. He could barely take care of himself, let alone have the energy to cook for us."

Tang Xu frowned, "How did he get sick? He's always been in good health."

Wei Dong let go of the mule to wander around the yard and set up the cart. He held his elder son with one hand and carried his younger son with the other, slowly following behind them.

Tang Yang explained, "He probably kicked off his quilt while sleeping. It rained a few days after you left, and it was quite cold at night. The next day, Ze’er started coughing, and by the evening, he had a high fever. Old Master Xu was very worried and blamed himself for not noticing these things."

"At his age, it's already good that he can take care of himself. A child getting sick isn't a big deal. Is he better now?" Tang Xu asked.

"Yes, he's fine now, he just occasionally coughs a bit. Brother, please teach me how to cook. In case something like this happens again, at least I can help out," Tang Yang said, thinking that since his older sister and brother were good at cooking, he should have some talent for it too.

Tang Xu was amused by him and patted his head. "Alright, help me steam the buns later. I brought back two braised geese, and we can make some soup as well."

Tang Yang swallowed hard, eagerly agreeing. It had been half a month since they last came back, and there was a layer of dust in the house. 

Tang Xu quickly wiped it down, removed the sheet from the kang bed and threw it in a basin, then cleaned the dust off the children's small beds. "Ah Dong, you take care of the rest; I need to start cooking."

As lunchtime approached, two braised geese wouldn't be enough, so they needed to prepare some other dishes as well.

Seeing Wei Xi scooping coarse grain flour into a basin in the kitchen, Tang Xu chuckled, "What's the matter, haven't you cooked enough recently?"

Wei Xi pouted. Not only had Tang Yang lost weight, but he himself had also slimmed down a bit.

Putting the basin aside, he said, "I didn't realize how bad my cooking was."

"No worries, as long as you're not starving. Bad taste is just bad taste." Tang Xu patted his shoulder in comfort. "How long has it been since you last cooked? Almost three years, right?"

Wei Xi nodded. Since Tang Xu got married, he had rarely picked up the cooking utensils, even though he used to frequently watch and help out. Now, he spent more time on his studies and seldom visited the kitchen.

He suddenly felt a bit melancholic, Wei Xi sat down on a chair with a somber expression, resting his chin on his hands and sighing. "It seems like as I get older, I'm not as close to you all as I used to be."

Tang Xu, who was preparing the yeast water, was taken aback. "Why would you think that?"

"I remember when you and my brother first got married, I would always sit here watching you cook," Wei Xi recalled with nostalgia in his eyes. "Every time I smelled the aroma of the food, I was incredibly happy. It hasn't been that long, but our family is so different now."

In the beginning, there were only three people in the family.

Gradually, more and more people joined, but with that came the worries and troubles of adulthood.

Tang Xu slowly poured water into the basin and began to knead the dough.

"Things change all the time. Back then, you had to take medicine every day, and missing a dose would make you sick. Now you go a whole month without needing any."

"That's true. Old Master Xu checked my pulse the other day and said my health is very good now. As long as I avoid strenuous activities and take care of myself, I might not even need to take medicine in the future," Wei Xi said, his tone filled with excitement. 

The thought of no longer having to drink bitter herbal medicine made him very happy. "If it weren't for Brother-in-law marrying my brother, I don't know if I would have survived until now."

"Don't say that. Your brother has taken great care of you, and I just laid the foundation for your health to improve," Tang Xu said, glancing at him. "Help me break down the two braised geese in the basket."

Wei Xi quickly nodded, "Sure!"

He was happy to help out.

Tang Yang was in the room helping Wei Dong watch the children. Seeing his brother-in-law tidying up, he asked, "Brother-in-law, are my parents getting used to living in town?"

Wei Dong nodded, "Yes, they're doing well."

When Tang Xu was there, they changed their business hours because the restaurant needed supplies. If they opened too early, they wouldn't be able to make it in time, so they decided to rest in the morning and open at noon.

Even though they rested, they were always busy. The four of them divided the work, so it wasn't too tiring.

Tang Yang was a bit envious of their ability to earn money, but he knew he needed to focus on his studies. Even if he couldn't become an official, he needed to at least pass the child scholar exam.

Thinking about the child scholar exam made him think of his older brother again. Tang Yang sighed and muttered, "I wonder what my brother is thinking."

Wei Dong thought to himself, He probably has plans that go beyond what you can imagine and wouldn't do anything that would put him at a disadvantage.

After eating, everyone went back to their rooms to rest. Tang Xu gave the three children a bath and put them to sleep. Only then did he and Wei Dong have some time to themselves.

The rare moments of intimacy were quite enjoyable for both of them.

In the past two years, due to the growing number of people in the household, Wei Dong had stopped bringing back the prey he caught in the mountains. 

Instead, he took it directly to the town or county to sell.

Tang Xu hadn't paid much attention to Wei Dong's activities in the mountains lately, as he had been primarily focused on the three children for the past year. 

So when Wei Dong brought back two wild boars with black fur that afternoon, Tang Xu was momentarily surprised.

The piglets in the backyard pen had already been distributed. The sow had eight piglets, but one died the next day, leaving seven. Tang Xu decided to keep two for himself, while the remaining five were distributed as follows: Wei Zhonghong took one, Tang Li took one, and his aunt took the remaining three.

After Tang Li and his family moved to the town, they brought their pig along, which led to the expansion of the pig pen at home. Tang Xu didn’t want to raise more pigs because it was too exhausting, and based on his observations, the sow was pregnant again.

The wild boar that Wei Dong had captured for breeding purposes was still being bullied by the sow, but it was able to mate, so they kept it.

Now, seeing Wei Dong bring back two more wild boars, Tang Xu was overwhelmed.

"You brought back two live ones? I could have butchered them if they were dead, but where are we going to keep them?" He looked at the two tightly bound wild boars and couldn't resist kicking one of their plump rear ends, causing it to squeal.

The chubby kid curiously approached and stared at the boars for a while, then looked up and said, "They don't look as good as our Xiao Hei!"

What?

Tang Xu was bewildered. Who was Xiao Hei?

Then he remembered, oh, Xiao Hei was the breeding wild boar.

"You can tell if a pig looks good or not just by its face?" He couldn't help but retort, "What do you, a little kid, know about what looks good?"

The chubby kid immediately put his hands on his hips and declared, "I know! I look good! And Daddy looks good!"

Tang Xu was quite pleased with the compliment.

The chubby kid continued, "Xiao Hei looks good!"

Tang Xu: “...” he didn’t want to continue the conversation.

Wei Dong chuckled, pinched his son's chubby cheek, and said to Tang Xu, "I'll take them to Yong'an Town tomorrow. Someone there ordered them. They have relatives coming over who like wild boar meat and asked if I could get a couple of live ones."

Tang Xu felt relieved. "That's good. You should take them as soon as possible. We don’t have any more space to keep them."

Even though their yard was large, they already had too many animals, and it was getting crowded. There wasn’t enough room for even one more animal.

Especially the rabbits and chickens and ducks—they were breeding so fast they were almost overrun.

He was thinking of taking a batch to the town and letting Tang Li raise them in their yard. That way, they could be slaughtered and sold for meat daily, which would be cost-effective since they were all home-raised.

Wei Zhonghong often came to see Tang Xu's chickens, ducks, geese, and rabbits, and he always praised him, saying everything he raised looked great.

Wei Dong nodded, glanced at his eldest son who was looking up at him, and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Father!" The chubby kid hugged his leg and flashed a sweet, ingratiating smile. "Take me with you~~~"

Wei Dong didn't say anything and looked at Tang Xu.

Tang Xu bent down and patted the chubby kid's bottom. "Why do you want to go? Your Father is taking two wild boars. Are you going to cause trouble?"

"Let me go, let me go," the chubby kid turned and hugged Tang Xu, pleading, "Daddy is the best~~~ I'll keep Father company!"

Tang Xu's mouth twitched. He wondered where the child learned to talk like that. He was not even two years old and he was already so clever.

"Let him go, it’s better that you don’t have to watch him," Wei Dong said, peeling the little rascal off Tang Xu's leg and giving him a stern look. "Put on your outer garment."

The chubby kid ran back inside to put on his clothes, full of joy.

Tang Xu sighed and instructed Wei Dong, "Make sure he drinks some water on the way. Don’t let him keep shouting and tire his throat."

Wei Dong nodded. "Do you need me to buy anything?"

Tang Xu shook his head but still felt uneasy. He went back inside to give more instructions to the chubby kid. He filled a bamboo container with warm water and placed it in the cart, along with a small bag filled with Jiangmi bar cookies and meat jerky. "Here, if you get hungry on the way, eat this."

The chubby kid happily took the bag, then slung a small cloth pouch made by Tang Li over his shoulder and put the snacks inside. He patted it and said, "All set!"

Tang Xu pinched his cheek and said, "Listen to your Father, stay close to him, and don’t let any strangers touch or carry you. Never go with anyone else, understand?"

The chubby kid nodded vigorously and patted his chest. "Daddy, I remember!"

What good is remembering? As soon as the father and son left, Tang Xu started worrying and almost cut his hand while cooking.

"Brother, Er Bao wet his pants again!" Tang Yang’s voice called from outside the kitchen.

Tang Xu turned his head and replied, "Change him, and throw the wet ones in the basin. I’ll wash them later."

His two sons were nine months old, and with the warmer weather, Tang Xu usually dressed them in open-crotch pants, only wrapping them in diapers at night for sleeping.

They both quite liked the open-crotch pants, but Er Bao, for some reason, seemed to take after his Father in a particular way. When he peed, it sprayed out powerfully, often soaking his pants.

Xiao Bao, on the other hand, didn’t have this problem. Initially, when he didn't like the open-crotch pants, he would wet himself, but he soon learned that it was uncomfortable. Now he was very careful every time.

"We're out of pants!" Tang Yang ran in, looking distressed. "He’s already soaked two pairs just now, and I just changed him."

Tang Xu paused, his face stern. "Then let him go bare-bottomed!" He had prepared seven pairs of pants, but they weren't enough for him!

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