The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 227

 

| TBBOTOF | 227

Even though Old Xu has passed away, the main thing is that the Xu family grows a wide variety of medicinal herbs, and the prices are reasonable, so they can be used directly.

Hearing a response from inside, he pushed the door open and entered.

He was washing his face with warm water.

Old Fu was standing beside him, and it seemed he had just gone out.

Xu Ze smiled at the two of them. “Old Sun, my brother asked me to ask if you want to drink the tonic together with Old Wen.”

“What tonic?” Old Sun asked, and Old Fu inquired as well.

Xu Ze patiently explained, “When my grandfather was still alive, he and Old Wen drank this tonic for several years. My grandfather said that as one ages, it’s good to drink some tonic for health. Anyway, both of them were quite energetic and rarely got sick. This time, Old Wen has taken three doses of medicine already, and there’s just one more dose left. My brother asked me to check if you also want to drink it. If you do, we can go to Old Wen to have him take your pulse and prepare the medicine, and I’ll help boil it.”

After listening, Old Fu turned to look at his master, his tone carrying a hint of concern as he asked, “Master, should we drink it too? Look at how Old Xu lived to be ninety! It must be good for your health.”

Old Sun nodded, and Xu Ze said, “Then I’ll trouble you, Ze’er.”

“It’s not a bother,” Xu Ze smiled at him, his eyes curving into crescent moons. “I’ll go over and tell Old Wen, and while he checks your pulses, I’ll get the medicine.”

Old Sun thanked him.

As Xu Ze left, Old Fu took the handkerchief from Old Sun's hand and casually said, “Xu Ge’er is really nice; he thinks of everything for the master.”

“That boy clearly has a clever mind. It’s fortunate he was born in such a rural place; if he had been born into a wealthy family…” Old Sun raised his tea cup to rinse his mouth, leaving the rest of his words unspoken.

Old Fu thought about what he had heard and seen over the years in the capital, and nodded slightly, “What the master says is true.”

In Old Wen’s room, Xu Ze went over to discuss the medicine with him. The old man nodded, happily agreeing, “I’ll check their pulses in a bit. What are we having for breakfast? Go take a look. If they’re cooking, just tell Xu Ge’er to steam some egg custard.”

Xu Ze replied, “Okay, I’ll go tell Brother Xu.”

The two of them exited, one heading to the kitchen and the other going to Old Sun’s room.

In the kitchen, Tang Xu had just placed the pot lid on. When he turned around to grab a bowl to crack some eggs, he saw Xu Ze lifting the curtain and coming in. Upon seeing him with the bowl, Xu Ze immediately broke into a smile.

“Brother, are you planning to steam egg custards?” 

Tang Xu replied with an “Mm.” 

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to eat it?” Tang Xu was holding eggs and had just cracked one open when he heard the question and turned to look at Xu Ze.

Xu Ze quickly waved his hands. “No, no! Old Wen said he wanted to eat egg custard and specifically asked me to come tell you.”

“I’ll steam more; there’s plenty for everyone. You go help the three kids get dressed. Ah Dong took Zhao Ming up the mountain.” 

Although the three children could dress themselves, their winter clothes were thick, and the outer cotton coats were a bit cumbersome. They often ended up wrinkling the clothes underneath. 

Xiao Bao had even cried a few times because he felt uncomfortable in the clothes he put on. 

He would go to Tang Xu and Wei Dong and they would help him out.

Xu Ze responded and lifted the curtain to exit, nearly bumping into Liu Ge’er, who was coming back with an empty basin.

“Be careful!” Liu Ge’er exclaimed.

Xu Ze turned to look at him, grinning widely, and asked, “Did you go feed the pigs?”

“Yeah, those pigs in the yard really know how to eat.” Each one was fatter than the last, and there was one black pig he saw with two long teeth sticking out of its mouth, which looked quite scary.

But those pigs were really fat; it was the first time he had seen such fat pigs in his life. If they were raised in their village, the villagers would surely block his door to ask how he raised them.

Having fed so many pigs, he could tell that not only were they being fed so well, but even if they were just given pigweed three times a day, they would still gain weight.

“They really can eat. Brother Xu said to slaughter two pigs before the New Year and keep some for the family while giving some away,” Xu Ze waved his hand at him. 

“I’ll go help the three kids get dressed. Brother Liu, you take care of feeding them for now, and I’ll help you in a bit.” 

In the yard, there were two pigpens, currently housing five pigs: Fatty and her wild boar husband, along with their three piglets.

He didn’t know if it was because Fatty loved to eat and sleep so much, she would wake up just to eat, but even after having several litters, her piglets had all grown as plump as Fatty.

Tang Xu estimated that Fatty weighed about five hundred pounds. That black wild boar was now three times fatter than when Wei Dong had first brought it home.

Liu Ge’er nodded and went to the kitchen to bring another basin of bean curd scraps to the yard, needing to cook two more pots of pig food; otherwise, they wouldn’t be full.

Xu Ze went to the children’s room. As soon as he entered, he saw that the chubby boy was already putting on shoes. Er Bao was dressed as well, but instead of wearing a cotton jacket, he was wearing a rabbit fur vest.

Only Xiao Bao was still struggling on the bed to put on his pants, his little face turning red as he tried hard to push his legs into the pant legs.

“Why aren’t you wearing a cotton jacket?” Xu Ze asked Er Bao, sitting down beside the bed to help Xiao Bao.

When he reached out, he discovered that Xiao Bao had kicked his little feet into the lining, completely pulling it out of the pants.

“Aiya, what a mess! Don’t kick anymore; Uncle will help you put them on.” He quickly pulled down the cotton pants and set them aside, then took another pair from the cabinet to put on Xiao Bao.

Xiao Bao had been a bit upset earlier, but now that he was wearing the pants, he stepped off the bed and walked a couple of steps, looking uncomfortable at first, but soon a smile appeared on his little face.

He leaned against Xu Ze, looking up at him with soft eyes, and thanked him, “Thank you, Uncle~~~”

“Which cotton jacket do you want to wear?” Xu Ze pointed to the several little cotton jackets hanging in the cabinet—red, yellow, green, and a pink one, four colors in total.

Xiao Bao pointed to the pink one, smiling brightly, and said, “I want to wear this one!”

Xu Ze helped him put on the cotton jacket and fixed his hair. He couldn’t help but inwardly marvel at how adorable he looked. With him growing up like this, he shouldn’t let other families see him; otherwise, he might attract the attention of those with bad intentions.

Suddenly, he felt a bit uneasy; he needed to find time to talk to his Brother Xu about this.

Tang Xu, still unaware that Xu Ze was already worried about Xiao Bao, placed a large bowl filled with egg water into the pot. He wiped his hands and went to the nearby shelf to bring down the jar of pickled spicy cabbage he had prepared earlier.

The spicy cabbage had been pickled for half a month, and the flavor was particularly strong. Tang Xu picked out a piece and tasted it—perfectly delicious.

He scooped out a bowl of it and switched to another jar, which contained pickled radishes. However, these radishes were sliced, not in sticks.

The radish sticks were too hard for the old man to chew, but the slices were crunchy and easy to eat.

“Brother!” Tang Yang ran in from outside, with droplets of water still on his forehead, clearly just having washed his face.

“Brother, you need to hurry and take a look! My brother-in-law brought back a wild buffalo!” His eyes were wide with excitement.

Tang Xu was taken aback for a moment, quickly setting down the bowl in his hand and hurrying outside.

In the yard, all the family members, alerted by the commotion, had gathered around the wild buffalo that had collapsed on the ground, all of them shouting excitedly.

Previous TOC Next