The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 226

 

| TBBOTOF | 226

The chubby boy had no idea that he almost didn't make it to the New Year. Right now, he was eagerly responding to his father's call, having completely forgotten what just happened.

Not just him, even Xiao Bao couldn't resist shuffling his steps forward, itching to cut as well.

Wei Dong reached into the nearby pile of wood shavings and pulled out three small knives of roughly the same length. He had carved them himself when he had some free time, and they were already smoothed down to avoid any splinters.

The three kids' eyes lit up when they saw the small wooden knives, and they hurriedly crowded around, sticking close to Wei Dong.

Xiao Bao was quicker than his two brothers, squeezing into his father's arms, looking up at him with a sweet expression and asking, "Dad, are these for us?"

Wei Dong nodded, handing each of them a small wooden knife, "Don’t use it on people."

The three kids obediently nodded; they wouldn't use it on anyone.

With the small wooden knives in their hands, the three little rascals ran to a spot where the light was just right. Er Bao held his knife in one hand, waving it around, and if Tang Xu were to see his movements, he would probably laugh himself to death.

It looked like he was performing a ritual dance.

Zhao Ming, standing nearby, saw the three kids jumping around and playing with their little knives. He couldn't help but soften his expression, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, clearly amused by how endearing the scene was.

The children's playful noises were always so full of energy. In the front yard, Tang Xu had just come out of the main room, intending to go to the kitchen to get a large basin to scoop out the braised duck from the pot. 

Hearing their laughter, he raised an eyebrow, curious about what could make them so happy.

He decided to go and have a look.

Taking steps toward the backyard, he noticed that, since there was work to be done, they had lit four lanterns and hung them around the bamboo house, making the area brightly lit.

As soon as Tang Xu caught sight of the three kids waving their little wooden knives in the clearing under the lanterns, he was initially surprised. Then, seeing the pile of wood shavings at Wei Dong's feet, he guessed that his man must have made them for the children.

Tang Xu's expression softened, full of warmth. He walked over to Wei Dong's side, casually leaning against him, nudging his man's shoulder with his hip, and lazily asked, "When did you make those little wooden knives?"

"Just now," Wei Dong replied, naturally reaching up to pull Tang Xu into his arms, guiding him to sit right on his lap.

Tang Xu sat sideways on his man's lap, not feeling shy or awkward about it, his eyes tender as he watched the three children playing not far away. He suddenly felt a bit sentimental.

"They've grown up so much. I can still remember what they looked like when they were just born," he said softly.

"Yeah," Wei Dong replied, wrapping his arms around Tang Xu, resting his chin on Tang Xu's shoulder, his voice low and gentle. "I remember how much you struggled when you were giving birth to them."

Tang Xu elbowed him lightly in the side, but it wasn’t a hard hit.

Wei Dong shifted back slightly, but his grip around Tang Xu's waist remained steady. He let out a small laugh and gave Tang Xu a quick kiss on the ear. "I'm not lying," he said softly.

Tang Xu thought to himself, I know you're not lying, but do you really have to remember that embarrassing scene so clearly!

The three kids were already too caught up in their own wild games to pay attention to what their two parents were doing. 

They were chasing each other, their little feet pattering away, even Xiao Bao was running after his two older brothers with all his might.

"Don't run too fast, or you'll trip!" Tang Xu called out. "Er Bao, slow down a bit!"

"I’m going to scoop out the duck. You two shouldn’t stay up too late either," Tang Xu said, patting Wei Dong on the shoulder before standing up. "I spoke to Old Sun earlier—we’ll let him enjoy his freedom for another two years and start his formal education when he turns five."

Wei Dong nodded. "Alright." He rarely ever argued with Tang Xu’s decisions.

Tang Xu waved his hand and headed to the front yard to take out the braised duck from the big pot. He also needed to roast the pickled chicken; otherwise, if it soaked too long, it might become too salty.

Although it was already dark, it wasn’t that late, and there was no way Tang Xu was ready to go to bed just yet.

Meanwhile, Liu Ge’er was in the kitchen, wiping down the stovetop. He was always tidy and diligent, and ever since he stopped cooking, he made it a habit to clean up after Tang Xu cooked. 

He washed the dishes, wiped down the stovetop, and tidied up the kitchen floor. He even took down the jars and containers from the shelves each day to give them a thorough wipe before putting them back in place.

Xu Ze had previously told him that he didn’t need to clean so frequently, worrying that he might accidentally drop something while constantly moving the jars around. The shelves were filled with pickled vegetables and preserved fruits, and if one fell, it would be a waste.

After hearing Xu Ze’s advice, Liu Ge’er changed his routine from cleaning every day to every three days, and each time he did it, he was extra cautious, afraid of breaking anything.

When Tang Xu entered the kitchen to get a large basin, he saw Liu Ge’er wiping down the shelves again. 

He couldn’t hold back and said, “Liu Ge’er, it’s not windy today, so there’s not much dust. You don’t have to clean so often.” 

He wasn’t worried about the jars breaking; he was just exhausted on Liu Ge’er’s behalf from watching him lift and lower them repeatedly.

Liu Ge’er blushed slightly and put the cloth he was holding into the basin to rinse it. "I’m not really busy with anything else, so I might as well clean. It’s nice to keep things tidy," he said shyly.

Tang Xu sighed softly, suspecting that Liu Ge’er might have a bit of a cleaning obsession. "How can you say you're not busy? You come over so early every day, and since you’ve been helping out here, I haven’t had to feed the animals in the backyard at all. Just cooking up the pig feed and mixing the chicken feed is hard work. You don’t even take a break at noon. And I’m sure you washed the clothes I left in the bucket again, didn’t you? I’ve already told you that I can do my own laundry. Why do you always insist on doing everything?"

Liu Ge’er smiled sheepishly. "Back at my old home, I used to do much more work than this, and I was always hungry. But now I get to eat so well—I have three meals a day, and there’s always meat! You've even made me new clothes, not just one set but several, and my shoes are thick and warm! Brother Xu, please let me do these chores. If I don’t work, I feel like I don’t belong here."

Even though Liu Ge’er had been living with them for a while now, he still felt unsettled. 

Especially since Tang Xu never actively asked him to do any of the chores; it was always Liu Ge’er who took the initiative to help out when he noticed something needed doing. That made him feel even more uneasy, like he had to constantly prove his worth to earn his place.

Tang Xu looked at Liu Ge’er with a helpless expression, noticing that his eyes were a bit red. He quickly said, "Alright, alright, you can do whatever you want. Just remember to leave our inner garments next time; don’t wash them for us."

Liu Ge’er nodded eagerly. "I’ll remember. I’ll pick them out next time."

Tang Xu waved his hand, pointing to the large basins. "Come on, first help me scoop out the braised duck from the pot, and then we need to roast the chicken."

Liu Ge’er quickly grabbed a basin and followed him outside.

Xu Ze came out of the old house, holding an empty bowl. Seeing the two of them carrying three large basins, he realized they were going to scoop out the duck and hurried to set down his medicine bowl before coming to help.

Tang Xu turned his head to ask, “Has Old Wen had several bowls of soup already?”

“Yeah, three bowls,” Xu Ze replied, using a bamboo clamp to help Tang Xu scoop the duck from the pot. “The old man said he’d stop after one more bowl; he can’t keep drinking nourishing soup all the time.”

As people aged, they needed to drink some nourishing herbal soup from time to time. Back when Old Xu was still around, they had been consistently drinking it, and Tang Xu had even sent some herbal soup to the old Tang house a few times. 

However, he wasn’t sure if the old couple over there had been taking it regularly. Every time he asked, they said they were fine and didn’t need medicine.

"Tomorrow, ask Old Sun and Old Fu if they want to drink some too. We may not have much in our house, but we have plenty of herbs. Let’s have Old Wen check their pulses and adjust their prescriptions," Tang Xu suggested to Xu Ze.

Xu Ze nodded. "I’ll ask them first thing tomorrow morning."

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