The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 223

 

| TBBOTOF | 223

Both of them were drunk for the whole day. Although they didn't have headaches when they got out of bed the next day, they still didn't look like they had much energy as they ate.

Tang Xu had made them two rounds of hangover soup, insisting the two elders drink it.

Old Wen leaned against the stacked pillows, sipping warm honey water, and after a while muttered, "Such a big fuss."

Tang Xu was quite helpless as well. They drank so much that no one could stop them.

Originally, he had only heated a small pot, meant for the two of them to share, with just about one or two ounces each. No one expected that once they started drinking, they kept going, finishing pot after pot, and ended up downing a whole small jar.

Even Wei Dong would be tipsy if he drank that much.

Luckily, the hangover soup worked well, otherwise, both of them would still be lying in bed with headaches today, let alone getting up to eat in the main room.

Zhao Ming had slept on the other side of the bed last night, keeping an eye on the elder all night, bringing water to wipe his face and even holding the chamber pot, attending to him with great care.

Now, seeing the elder lying on the bed weak and groaning, Zhao Ming couldn't help but ask, "Brother Xu, is Old Wen going to be alright?"

Tang Xu shook his head, "He’s definitely uncomfortable, but otherwise he should be fine."

Old Wen waved his hand weakly from the bed, indicating that he was fine, just too lazy to open his mouth and speak.

Tang Xu snorted, picked up the empty bowl, and said to Zhao Ming, "You keep an eye on him. If the elder feels any worse, call me right away."

"I'm a doctor myself!" Old Wen stubbornly retorted.

Tang Xu ignored him; even if he was a doctor, he should know that "a doctor cannot heal himself."

As Tang Xu walked out with the bowl in his hand, he glanced at Old Sun, who was in a similar state. He was lying on the bed, his face looking a bit pale.

In a soft voice, Tang Xu asked, "Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"

Old Fu shook his head, looking distressed as he said, "The master hasn't been drunk like this in many years. In the past... he could hold his liquor quite well."

Tang Xu didn’t bother mentioning that the alcohol he distilled was much stronger than usual. He simply said, "I'll make some more hangover soup in a while and bring it over. Drink a bit more of that, and the honey water will also help ease the discomfort. If you run out, go to the main room; I've left another bottle of honey there. Use warm water when you mix it."

Old Fu nodded in agreement, "Alright, I'll go and get it in a while."

Tang Xu then asked if Old Sun had a headache, and when he saw that Old Sun shook his head, he felt relieved.

After returning to the kitchen to clean up, he noticed his man outside with three children and Xu Ze building a snowman in the courtyard. Unable to hold back, he opened the wooden window and shouted, "There's barely any snow, what kind of snowman are you making? It's all dirty!"

There hadn't been much snowfall, just a thin layer of ice in the courtyard. But the three kids insisted on making a snowman, so Wei Dong, indulging the children, used a shovel to scoop up snow mixed with dirt together.

And so, they ended up with three muddy and lopsided snowmen that didn't look like much of anything.

Tang Xu couldn't hold back his disapproval and scolded the whole group—one adult, three kids, and Xu Ze. "All of you, go take a bath! You look like mud monkeys!"

The three children shrank their shoulders and clung to their father's legs.

Wei Dong looked down at the kids, who had gotten mud all over their once-clean clothes, then glanced at his own now-dirty clothes. He took a deep breath, bent down to pick up Xiao Bao, and nodded at the two other kids. "Let's go."

Xu Ze stood by, smiling with eyes full of amusement, and reached out his hands. "Brother-in-law, let me carry Xiao Bao. I'll take him to bathe."

Even though little boys and little gers look the same physically, he always instinctively treated them differently.

Xiao Bao had already been bathed by Xu Ze a few times, so when he saw Xu Ze reaching out, he didn’t resist and jumped right into his arms.

Tang Xu shook his head and sighed, thankful that they had recently renovated a separate bathhouse. Otherwise, with so many people needing to bathe, they’d have to take turns.

There wasn't much to do that afternoon. After coaxing the three kids to sleep, Tang Xu took Xu Ze and Liu Ge’er to the backyard to work on preparing braised duck and smoked chicken.

Wei Dong had taken Zhao Ming up the mountain, saying he wanted to chop more fruitwood. He planned to use it for smoking chicken and rabbit when they started trading goods again in the spring after the new year.

Liu Ge’er was particularly skilled at slaughtering chickens and ducks, so Tang Xu had him sit on a small stool to handle that task. Meanwhile, he and Xu Ze sat on the other side, collecting the blood and plucking feathers. Working in this assembly-line manner made the process go much faster.

Old Fu wandered over from the front yard, sniffing the air with a puzzled look on his face, wondering where that odd smell was coming from. Driven by curiosity, he headed towards the bamboo shed used for air-drying the ducks, and then he saw the mess they were making.

"Why are you slaughtering so many?" he asked, noticing the three large basins in the corner, already filled with partially plucked chickens and ducks.

Next to Tang Xu were two large burlap sacks filled with chicken and duck feathers. Once they were done, they would wash and dry the feathers, then sort them. The down feathers would be used to make clothes and quilts, while the larger feathers would be used to make feather dusters and fans, some of which could be sold.

"When Ah Dong goes on trading trips, he takes these to sell. Do you like braised duck, Old Fu?" Tang Xu looked up at him with a smile.

His features were so strikingly beautiful that no matter from which angle you looked, he was simply pleasing to the eye.

Old Fu was momentarily stunned, but he quickly regained his composure. Hearing Tang Xu's question, he shook his head, "I haven't tried it before, but if it's good enough to sell, it must taste pretty good."

Before Tang Xu could respond, Xu Ze chimed in, "It's delicious! Everything Brother Xu makes is the best!"

Liu Ge’er nodded in agreement, "Yes, the best!"

Ever since he had come to the Wei family, these were the happiest days of his life.

He had good food and warm clothes. Although the tasks he did every day were all sorts of odd tasks, he didn’t feel tired at all. He was even secretly grateful to the parents who sold him, thinking that if he had stayed in that poor household, he would never have the chance to live such a happy life where even in his dreams, he could smile.

Old Fu’s interest was piqued as he glanced at the chickens and ducks, then looked up at the many bamboo poles overhead, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Those are for drying the braised ducks. Tonight, I'll braise a couple for you to try." His hands didn’t slow down in the slightest as he spoke, quickly tossing another plucked duck into the basin.

"Brother Xu, are we going to stir-fry the duck and chicken innards?" Xu Ze asked.

Tang Xu shook his head, "We’ll braise them. It's cold now, so they can be stored and served later as appetizers."

Spicy braised duck parts and the like—just thinking about them would make anyone's mouth water.

Old Fu, not finding much he could help with, offered to do something, but Tang Xu declined and told him to rest. After all, the old elders hadn't slept well last night either.

They kept working until mid-afternoon, when Tang Xu, seeing the position of the sun, stood up and stretched his back. 

Then he said, "Alright, let's finish up what we have for today. Once we get these hung up, we can continue with the rest."

"Brother Xu, shouldn't we put up another shed? With how much we're doing now, we don’t have enough space to hang everything." They had noticed this issue last time, but since they didn't have enough people at home then, they didn't bother mentioning it.

Now with two more pairs of hands, things were different. Zhao Ming didn’t need to be mentioned, and Liu Ge’er was also proving to be very diligent. They had decided to increase the number of ducks from three hundred to five hundred, but now there wasn't enough room to hang them all.

Tang Xu also realized this problem, and once the first batch of ducks was hung up, he couldn't keep slaughtering chickens and ducks in the same shed. Otherwise, the mixed smells would ruin everything.

"When Ah Dong gets back, we'll have him set up two more sheds over there. Our backyard is almost out of space to work with." 

Even though there's still a large area of vegetable garden left, they'll need that space for planting when spring comes. They also need to leave room for the chickens, ducks, and geese to roam around the yard. With all that in mind, there really isn't much space left.

They could probably manage to put up two more bamboo sheds, but in the dead of winter, working outside slaughtering chickens and ducks would be too cold.

The brazier nearby had already burned out, and the bamboo shed was drafty, making it unbearable without some source of heat.

Tang Xu stomped his feet to warm them up and told the others to go change clothes and wash up; otherwise, they’d all end up smelling.

He went back inside to change his clothes, where the three little ones had already woken up and were playing by themselves in the room.

Tang Xu glanced at them, reminding them to be careful not to fall off the bed, then left them to their own devices.

Xu Ze and Liu Ge’er changed their clothes, with one staying inside to keep an eye on the three kids while the other helped out in the kitchen.

Tang Xu then put the feed he had prepared for the backyard livestock into a large basin, asking Liu Ge’er to cook it and feed them, while he focused on cleaning the duck and chicken innards in the kitchen, boiling them in a large pot.

When Wei Dong and Zhao Ming returned, they could see from afar that several chimneys from the house were billowing thick white smoke, a sure sign that something big was being cooked up.

Both of them were the quiet type and did not say much. If it had been someone who liked to talk, they’d surely have been exclaiming in surprise by now.

They entered the courtyard through the back gate, neatly stacking the fruitwood and dried branches they had gathered. Wei Dong turned to Zhao Ming and said, "Go change your clothes."

Zhao Ming nodded, "Okay."

Both of them were quite dirty, so Wei Dong went straight to take a bath before heading to the kitchen. "Need any help?" he asked.

Tang Xu turned to look at him, noticing his wet hair, and frowned slightly. "It's cold out, and the wind's blowing. Even if you can't dry your hair completely by the fire, at least wipe it down a bit. You're dripping wet out here—what if you catch a cold?"

Wei Dong kept a straight face, "I won’t get sick."

"Everyone gets sick," Tang Xu shot him a glare and pointed to a small stool nearby. "Sit there and dry your hair by the fire, then tie it up."

His hair was so smooth that it was actually a bit of a hassle. He always thought about cutting it shorter every time he washed it.

Wei Dong obediently sat down in front of the stove, watching the fire while drying his hair, even making small talk.

"Tonight, we’re having flatbread with braised duck, spicy stir-fried chicken innards, and duck blood soup. Tomorrow, when you have some free time, take Zhao Ming and set up two more bamboo sheds," Tang Xu said, sweeping the chopped ingredients into the large pot filled with braised chicken and duck innards.

Wei Dong gave a nod and noticed a few heads of garlic nearby. He asked, "Should I peel these?"

"Yeah, peel them. We’ve got a lot of chicken and duck innards this time; eating them all at once isn't really practical. How about once I finish preparing them, you take a trip to the town and see if my dad wants to keep some for himself or sell them? They go great as a snack with drinks."

"No need to take them over—Dad should be coming back soon," Wei Dong replied. He figured it wouldn't be long until the New Year, and knowing Tang Erhu's personality, he wouldn't stay in town until the end of the year and would definitely come back early.

Tang Xu nodded in agreement, then said, "Alright, let’s set some aside for when he gets back. Tomorrow, bring some over to Grandpa and Grandma's place. While you're there, ask them how Uncle has been lately and whether he's still gambling."

Wei Dong nodded, "Okay."

"By the way, there's something else," Tang Xu suddenly remembered and turned to look at Wei Dong. "You mentioned before that I should ask Old Sun to teach Tang Yang and Wei Xi how to read. What kind of payment should we offer him?"

He knew that offering money probably wouldn't be appreciated, and they didn't have any rare treasures in their house. Just looking at Old Sun’s demeanor, it was clear he was a person with refined tastes.

That man used to be a high-ranking official with a wealth of knowledge; he must have seen all sorts of fine things in his life.

Tang Xu was genuinely troubled, worried about not properly showing his respect to the other party.

Wei Dong thought Tang Xu was overthinking things, so he reassured him, "If he agreed to come here, he’s probably already taken some of the situation into account. Why don't you just directly ask him what he wants, and we’ll do our best to meet his request?"

In reality, he felt it didn’t need to be that complicated. Since Old Sun was already living with them, if the two kids came home from school with questions and asked him for help, would Old Sun really refuse to explain? 

If he did, then they'd simply ask him to leave and not bother being too polite about it.

But, of course, these thoughts stayed in his mind. He would never say such things in front of his spouse; otherwise, he'd surely get a good scolding.

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