The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 189

 

| TBBOTOF | 189

Since the New Year was approaching soon, Tang Xu took some time to prepare the New Year's gifts and had them sent to Wei Zhonghong.

The gifts included sugar, wine, meat, and cloth. 

He didn’t worry too much about how much meat to give; he divided a quarter of a pig among them, and the rest was all spare ribs and jerky.

While he was busy, he heard some noise outside and looked out the window,

He wiped his hands and went outside, asking, "Why are you here at this hour?"

Tang Qi smiled and showed him the four large fish he was carrying. “My father went fishing and asked me to bring these over to you.”

“Uncle's skills are pretty good,” Tang Xu said, not being polite. He took the fish and put them in a basin in the kitchen. The fish had already frozen, so he planned to cook two of them later. He then asked Tang Qi, who had come with him, “How have you been lately?”

“Pretty good. I told him that I would be taking a break for the New Year, and recently more people have been buying from us.” Tang Qi glanced at the basin on the counter, which was filled with unpacked meat. “What are you doing with so much meat?”

“Ah Dong is going on a long trip after the New Year, so I’m preparing some cured meat for him to take along. It’s better to have some meat on the road. Even if he hunts, he might not always be successful, so it’s good to bring some with him.”

Wei Dong thought the same way, which is why he bought a whole pig.

“Later, you can take some of the meat with you so I won’t have to send it over separately,” Tang Xu pointed to the fresh pork that hadn’t been cured yet.

Tang Qi quickly waved his hand. “You’ve already helped me make so much money; how could I still take your meat?”

Tang Xu replied, “...Pork is not ‘my meat,’” giving him a sideways glance. “I was actually planning to send it to you.”

He hadn’t originally planned to send it, but his father had specifically mentioned it.

Although Tang Qi’s business was successful because of their help, and despite the fact that the assistance had helped him earn money, his father told him not to be too concerned about the details and to just focus on Tang Qi’s situation.

Tang Qi smiled and agreed, “Alright, I’ll take it later.”

“There are also two jars of wine. I remember you mentioned before that you quite liked it,” Tang Xu said as he washed his hands. “Go sit in the main room.”

“Okay.” Tang Qi followed him to the main room.

In the main room, there was a large cotton quilt spread on the floor, thick and soft.

The children were all sitting on it. Xiao Bao was playing with building blocks, while Er Bao was doing somersaults.

He kept flipping over and over, and after one final flip, his foot landed on the newly built block tower, causing the blocks to topple over with a crash.

Xiao Bao held a corner-shaped wooden block, ready to place it on top of his little building. But before he could, Er Bao kicked the structure over.

His eyes widened in surprise, and he looked up with a loud cry.

Tears streamed down his face; he was extremely upset.

Er Bao, with his legs propped up, lay on the quilt and stared vacantly at Xiao Bao crying. The chubby boy was startled too; he quickly rushed over, scooped Xiao Bao into his arms, and kicked Er Bao in the process.

“Don’t cry, Bao’er, don’t cry. Brother will build it up again for you!”

Er Bao, who had been kicked by his elder brother, rolled over and sat up. He then rushed over and took Xiao Bao’s hand, trying to comfort him by mimicking his brother, “Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry.”

Although they were born around the same time, Er Bao now appeared much bigger and stronger than his older brother. Just by looking, he resembled their eldest brother more.

Xiao Bao was crying sadly, with his nose, eyes, and face all red.

When Tang Xu and Tang Qi approached the door of the main room, they were startled by the loud crying from inside and hurriedly lifted the door curtain to enter.

Seeing the three children sitting on the floor, Tang Qi instinctively frowned.

Tang Xu, however, wasn’t too concerned. The floor was covered with a thick quilt, and underneath the quilt was a layer of thin straw mats, so it wasn’t cold.

“Wuwuwu~~~” Seeing Tang Xu come in, Xiao Bao pushed himself up with his hands and, sticking out his little bottom, climbed onto Tang Xu’s lap.

Tang Xu quickly squatted down to hold him and gently patted his back, comforting him, “What’s wrong? Why are you crying so sadly?”

The chubby boy pointed to the side with his little hand, saying, “Er Bao!”

Er Bao was startled and looked at Tang Xu with some fear.

Tang Xu raised an eyebrow, “What did Er Bao do?”

“He was flipping and flipping,” The chubby boy said, unable to describe the somersaults properly but gesturing with his hands. Then he kicked away a nearby block with his foot, adding, “Bao’er’s house fell over.”

Tang Xu couldn’t help but chuckle and waved at Er Bao.

Er Bao crawled over to him, kneeling neatly and looking up at him.

Tang Xu lightly patted his head and said gently, “First, you need to apologize to your brother because you accidentally knocked over the house he built.”

Er Bao looked at Tang Xu, then glanced at the scattered blocks all over the floor, and finally at Xiao Bao, who was sobbing into Tang Xu’s embrace. He reached out and took Xiao Bao’s hand, saying, “So~”

“Say, ‘I’m sorry,’” Tang Xu patiently guided him with the pronunciation.

Er Bao repeated, “Sorry~”

Xiao Bao ignored him and withdrew his hand from Er Bao’s grasp.

Er Bao looked anxiously at Tang Xu, saying, “Dad, brother is crying.”

Tang Xu looked down at Xiao Bao in his arms and said soothingly, “Er Bao apologized for what he did. You can choose to forgive him or not, but you must let him know if you don’t want to. Your house fell over, so you can either let Er Bao help you rebuild it or we can put it away if you’re done playing.”

Xiao Bao didn’t understand much, but he did understand “put away” and quickly shook his head, saying, “Play~”

Er Bao leaned forward and reached out to take Xiao Bao’s hand, saying, “Brother, so~”

“Say ‘sorry’!” The chubby boy urged, “Er Bao, say sorry!”

“Sorry~~~” Er Bao obediently repeated.

Xiao Bao looked at the scattered blocks on the floor, wiped his tears from his face with a pout, and then allowed Er Bao to take his hand. He pointed at the blocks and said, “House.”

“Okay, house. Brother will help you build the house,” The chubby boy said eagerly as he pulled both his younger brothers’ hands, “Let’s build the house together.”

With the little conflict resolved, the kids continued playing and building. 

Tang Xu glanced at the blocks in the nearby wooden bucket and reminded the chubby boy, “After you’re done playing, put everything away. Don’t leave it all over the place. Your grandfather almost fell the other day.”

“I know! Grandma said she would help me clean up,” the chubby boy replied.

“Help with what? You should do your own tasks. Why don’t you let your grandma help you play too?” Tang Xu gave him a stern look. “Do it yourself. If you clean up well, I’ll let your father make you something else tomorrow.”

“Okay!” The chubby boy nodded vigorously.

Tang Xu then turned to Tang Qi, who had been silently observing with a thoughtful expression. Laughing, Tang Xu patted his shoulder and said, “What are you thinking? Your gaze is so fixed.”

Tang Qi remembered that his younger sister, who was much younger than him, wasn’t as clever when she was little. She wasn’t as smart as these children are now.

Not to mention the chubby boy, even the twins, who weren’t even two yet, were remarkably capable. Er Bao and Xiao Bao, despite being less articulate than the chubby boy, understood most things the adults said.

Tang Qi recalled that when his younger sister was a similar age, her speech wasn’t as fluent, and their mother often got frustrated with her for not understanding things.

“Your three kids are incredibly smart,” he said sincerely.

Tang Xu nodded in agreement, “Yes, they are quite clever and perceptive.”

“Why don’t they play on the kang? The floor is so cold,” Tang Qi said, looking at Er Bao to see if he would actually help Xiao Bao build a house with blocks. 

Although he didn’t know Er Bao very well, he was aware that among the three siblings, Er Bao was the most restless.

To his surprise, he saw Er Bao obediently sitting to the side. Whatever type of block Xiao Bao handed him, he would place it accordingly.

When he wasn’t sure how to build something, he would turn to the chubby boy for guidance.

As the eldest brother, Da Bao played his role well, explaining to Er Bao how to build while quietly asking Xiao Bao if this or that was okay, being gentle and patient.

Tang Xu propped his chin on his hand, observing the children, and said, “It seems that Auntie must be busy. Normally, she would let them play on the kang, but Er Bao is too restless to stay on it. We laid down straw mats on the floor, and with the thick quilt separating them, it’s not cold. They’re dressed warmly too, so it’s safer on the ground, and Da Bao can keep an eye on both of them.”

Tang Qi nodded in agreement. It wasn’t cold; this room was warmer than his own home.

He looked around and noticed a wall made of yellow clay near the edge. Curious, he touched it and found it was warm.

“No wonder the room is warm; this wall retains heat quite well.”

“Yeah, there’s no kang on this side of the main room, so it’s colder than the main house. Ah Dong suggested building a heat-retaining wall. It makes the room much warmer. If the kids’ clothes are damp, you can hang them nearby to dry quickly,” Tang Xu said with a smile.

“You should build one when you get back. It can keep the house warmer. With young children, it’s important to make sure they don’t get cold.”

“Maybe do it after spring; it’s too late to do it now,” Tang Qi said, looking troubled as he thought about his son who cried every day. “My son cries every day, and the worst is at night. He cries so hard he loses his voice.”

Tang Xu frowned. “My kids don’t cry much. Er Bao and Xiao Bao are also okay; they cry for a bit and then calm down.”

“If your child cries every day, there must be something wrong. You should take him to see Old Wen.”

Tang Qi sighed. “My mother says crying is normal for children; it must be because he’s not full. She even scolded Li Juan, saying she doesn’t know how to care for the baby and isn’t being a good mother.”

“It might not just be that he’s not full,” Tang Xu said, shaking his head. “You should get him checked out soon. Whether the baby is full or not depends on how well your wife is producing milk. If it’s not enough, she needs to improve her diet. If you don’t take good care of the mother, how can she produce good milk for the baby?”

Tang Qi smiled wryly, not bothered by discussing it. He said, “Li Juan is reluctant to spend money on food, saying that we have enough radishes and cabbage for the adults, and she even saves eggs to sell to save money for the baby.”

Tang Xu nodded. “It’s not worth it to suffer yourself while making the child suffer. Working hard all your life to build a house for the child is no use if they’re not well.”

“I told her to eat an egg every day and to cook a chicken every five days, but she’s reluctant. My mother is also stingy; it’s always radish and cabbage stew, tofu and cabbage stew, or stir-fried and stewed pickled vegetables every day. My father couldn’t take it anymore, so he told me to slaughter a chicken.

As a result, my mother got so upset she yelled at him all morning. He had no choice but to go fishing, and luckily, he caught a lot,” Tang Qi said with a laugh, despite his frustration.

Tang Xu also found it amusing. “But you’ve earned some money, so why are you still so stingy?”

“Who knows? All the money I brought back was hidden away. I can’t even see it,” Tang Qi sighed and rubbed his face. “I’ve even lost weight.”

Tang Xu laughed heartily and patted his shoulder. “Next time, just buy some meat and take it home directly. It’s going to go bad if you leave it, so you might as well use it.”

Tang Qi nodded in agreement. “Yes, that’s true.”

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