The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 193

 

| TBBOTOF | 193

Because Wang Cuicui had taken medicine, she stayed home for the past few days and didn't come over. She wasn't feeling well. Tang Yang made dried braised duck with Tang Erhu.

Every day, after Tang Xu finished cooking, Tang Yang would bring the food over. Also, because of Wang Cuicui, Tang Xu made soups to nourish the body daily, his face full of concern.

On New Year's Eve, Liu Yao, who was helping nearby, couldn't hold back and said to him, "Brother Xu..."

Tang Xu was startled by his words, looking puzzled, "What?"

Liu Yao put down the pig intestines he was scrubbing with ash, raised his head, and looked at him, saying, "I've been at your place for several years now, and I've never seen you feeling down or unhappy. You're always so efficient with everything, never dragging your feet. Whatever you do, you always have so much energy."

Tang Xu laughed at his words, putting down the bone cleaver he was holding. On the cutting board were pieces of chopped chicken.

"There's really nothing much that could make me unhappy. Life at home is going smoothly. The old and the young in the family are all healthy, and I want you all to be happy and cheerful, to eat well and sleep well. If that's the case, of course, I have energy. Besides, how much work do we even have? You all help me with everything, so it's not like I'm overwhelmed."

Liu Yao nodded and continued cleaning the pig intestines in his hands.

"Sometimes I just don't feel like doing anything, but in the end, I can't avoid doing it, and that makes me really frustrated."

“It's normal to feel unmotivated sometimes; everyone experiences that. I do too, but I tend to adjust quickly and usually don't let others see it,” Tang Xu said, reflecting on his life over the past few years. 

It seemed he didn't have much to be upset about, especially since his husband was attentive and always able to notice when he wasn't feeling well.

Liu Yao clicked his tongue, remaining silent.

Tang Xu put the chicken pieces into a basin and turned to him, asking, “Did something happen to you?”

“Hmm... it's not really a big deal,” Liu Yao replied, tilting his head to rub his face with his shoulder.

 He placed the cleaned intestines into a clean basin and put the collected fat into a separate small bucket to ferment and use as fertilizer later.

Tang Xu looked at him curiously but didn't press further.

The two of them continued their work, washing the intestines and chicken pieces thoroughly.

Tang Xu shredded some pickled vegetables, while Liu Yao prepared the fish.

The fish were not large but small, palm-sized crucian carp. Tang Xu had specifically asked Wei Dong to catch them from the river the day before. 

They had caught two large basins of various-sized fish and kept them in a water tank, planning to use them over the next few days.

Today, they were making crispy fried fish, so Tang Xu took out all the small crucian carp.

Liu Yao was cleaning the fish with scissors, and hearing the sound of Tang Xu chopping pickled vegetables, he couldn't help but speak up.

"Recently, Ah Li doesn't want to spend time with me anymore."

Tang Xu almost cut his hand with the knife.

"Ah? You two are always together. How come she doesn't want to be with you anymore?" 

Even though they weren't living together due to not being married, they saw each other almost every day, working and eating together. They seemed quite close.

Liu Yao slumped his shoulders, dejectedly humming, "She says I'm too clingy and told me to stay away from her! Brother Xu, when can we get married~~~~"

Tang Xu couldn't help but laugh at his melodramatic tone and threw a small potato at him.

"Stop whining."

"I want to get married!!!" Liu Yao said with a pitiful look.

"It's no use wanting it. You’ll have to wait at least two more years. Tang Li is only fourteen; it’s not possible to marry her now."

Liu Yao pouted. It wasn’t that he absolutely needed to get married right away, but he really liked being close to Tang Li. 

He just wanted to be close to her. The problem was, without being married, whenever he tried to get close, Tang Li would shy away and hide.

“I don’t want kids right away, so why can’t we get married?” Liu Yao asked.

“It’s not possible. We’ll talk about it when Ah Li turns sixteen. Also, have you saved enough for building the house? Didn’t you say you wanted to build it yourself? You need to buy the land first,” Tang Xu reminded him. 

He recalled Liu Yao mentioning wanting to build a house that Tang Li would like, and they had calculated the costs together.

Liu Yao waved his hand dismissively. “We’re thinking of building something similar to the houses here. It doesn’t have to be very large, but we still need enough land for farming and raising livestock, and the house itself needs to have main rooms, side rooms, storerooms, and annexes. Buying the land, building the house, and getting everything set up will cost at least a hundred taels.”

“Don’t you have a hundred taels?” Tang Xu asked skeptically, given that both Liu Yao and Tang Li were good at saving money and didn’t spend extravagantly.

“We do have the money, but I just feel like Ah Li might not actually want to move out,” Liu Yao said, scratching his head absentmindedly and nearly poking himself with the scissors.

Tang Xu turned to him with surprise. “Why do you think that?”

“I think Ah Li really likes living with her father and aunt. She gets along well with her aunt, and if we moved out and lived separately, she wouldn’t have anyone to talk to,” Liu Yao rubbed his nose again, always feeling that his face was itchy. Tang Xu took a clean cloth from the side and handed it to him, asking him to wipe his face.

Liu Yao went to wash his hands and face, and felt much better.

“I just hugged the chubby cat. How can it be so fat!” Liu Yao exclaimed. The cat weighed at least twenty pounds.

Tang Xu shrugged. “It eats a lot and doesn’t like to move, so of course it gets fat. Fortunately, our Er Bao is strong and carries the cat around the yard every day.”

Originally, the cat would just follow Er Bao around, but for some reason, Er Bao started carrying the cat every day. 

The cat seemed to enjoy being carried and looked quite comfortable perched on his shoulder.

Changing the topic, Tang Xu put the shredded pickled vegetables into a nearby basin and asked, “Have you talked to Ah Li about whether you two want to move out or not?”

“Brother Xu, you know my situation. My parents said they won’t interfere with my decisions, whether I build a house or not, they don’t care. I’ve also sent them money over the past two years. After all, they raised me for so many years; I can’t just leave them behind,” Liu Yao said, sitting on a small stool and continuing to clean the fish.

Tang Xu responded with a thoughtful hum, listening as Liu Yao continued.

“At first, I wanted to establish my own household to prove to Ah Li that I’m capable. But after spending this year working with my family-in-laws  in the town, I feel that living together is pretty nice. There’s someone to discuss things with, and it’s more lively with everyone around. After all, the elders have more experience than us. It’s nice to be together, chatting and laughing,” Liu Yao said, starting to scale the fish.

He couldn’t imagine how exhausting it would be for the two of them to manage on their own, especially when they had children. 

Tang Xu nodded in agreement. 

“You should discuss it with Ah Li. I think she might not want to live separately either. Ah Li isn’t exactly a domineering person. If you both don’t communicate and decide something impulsively, you might regret it soon after,” Tang Xu advised. 

Liu Yao nodded and then asked, “How many dishes are you planning to make? Yesterday’s pig slaughter, you didn’t just make blood sausage—how are we cooking it?”

“I’ll steam some and stew the rest with pickled vegetables,” Tang Xu replied. When his family slaughtered pigs, they didn’t need help from the village. Wei Dong, Tang Erhu, and Liu Yao handled it themselves.

They had a large pig. After the slaughter, they distributed some fresh meat to the Tang family’s old house and Wei Zhonghong’s place. 

The rest was frozen, and they were using some today.

“Make a few more dishes; we won’t need to cook dinner later. We’ll have dumplings tonight.” Tang Xu looked at the ingredients he had already prepared and started listing off. 

“Pickled vegetable and pork bone stew, steamed blood sausage, chicken stew, fried fish, another fish stew, cured meat stir-fried with tofu puffs, cabbage stir-fried with mushrooms, fried eggplant boxes, caramelized sweet potatoes, and sweet and sour ribs,” he counted ten dishes and asked, “Is that enough?”

“...” Liu Yao’s forehead twitched. 

Was that enough? It seemed like there would be way too much food!

“I’m not making too much,” Tang Xu understood Liu Yao’s expression.

“You always say that,” Liu Yao chuckled and teased.

“Don’t you know how much your brother-in-law can eat? Plus, for New Year’s Eve dinner, it’s traditional to have leftovers. We’ll heat them up tomorrow morning. It’s called having a surplus every year, understand?” Tang Xu shot him a look. 

Even though he claimed not to make too much, he grabbed a couple of potatoes, planning to make a potato salad—tangy and spicy, perfect as a starter or to go with drinks.

“What kind of appetizer do you want with the drinks?” Tang Xu asked, slicing the potatoes and glancing around. 

His eyes landed on the bean sprouts, which he had grown from mung beans and were quite tall. “How about a bean sprout salad?”

In the winter, it’s a challenge to find fresh green vegetables. Even if stored in the icehouse, they don’t last long. 

During the New Year, aside from various pickled vegetables and dried goods, there are hardly any green leafy veggies—though radishes and cabbages are plentiful.

“Brother~” Tang Li pushed aside the curtain and walked in. Seeing Liu Yao there, she looked surprised. “When did you get here?”

Liu Yao grinned at her. “I’ve been here for a while. Why are you up so early?”

“Dad asked me to come and make breakfast. He’s hungry,” Tang Li replied.

“I’ve made it,” Tang Xu nodded toward the dishes, indicating she should serve the food. “There’s porridge and meat rolls.”

“What’s a meat roll?” Tang Li asked, puzzled. She lifted the lid of the pot and saw the bamboo mat with the long, plump roll.

“This is a meat roll?” she inquired.

“‘Meat roll’ sounds so plain. We call it ‘meat dragon,’” Tang Xu said with a smile.

Tang Li grinned and used a knife to cut the meat roll into several pieces. The aroma of the meat was inviting.

“Brother, did you get up early to chop meat?” Tang Li asked as she placed the meat roll pieces on a plate and then filled a bowl with porridge.

Tang Xu shook his head. “Your brother-in-law did the chopping last night. This is easier to make than buns. I’m in a rush to prepare lunch ingredients. You go ahead and serve the food and call them to eat.”

“Brother, aren’t you eating?” Tang Li frowned. “If you don’t eat now, you might feel unwell later.”

“I’ll eat after finishing these potato slices. Liu Yao, you go eat too, and wash your hands a few more times,” Tang Xu said with a yawn. 

He had gotten up early and was feeling a bit drowsy.

Tang Xu finished his work in the kitchen, with all the dishes prepared and arranged on the counter, ready to start cooking as soon as the stove was lit.

In the main room, the family was almost done with their meal when Tang Xu walked in as he yawned again.

“Later, we’ll blanch the ribs and the big bones. I’ll cook the rest after I take a nap. Liu Yao, you should catch up on some sleep too.” Tang Xu took a sip of thin porridge and bit into a piece of meat roll. 

He looked at Tang Erhu and asked, “Dad, how is Auntie?”

Wang Cuicui hadn’t been able to get out of bed for several days, and it had been about a week. She should be able to start walking a little by now.

“There’s nothing serious. Her appetite is pretty good, and she even looks a bit rounder,” Tang Erhu said, setting down his bowl. “You really are really good at raising everything fat.”

Tang Xu: “...” It sounds like a compliment, but somehow it feels a bit like an insult!

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