The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 229

 

| TBBOTOF | 229

Tang Xu hugged Xiao Bao and took him to the kitchen. He washed his hands and then got a small stool for him to sit on, casually patting his back.

Xiao Bao was attracted by the sweet aroma of the roasted sweet potatoes. He leaned in and blew on them a couple of times, then exclaimed, “Sweet!” 

After that, he took a bite that was noticeably bigger than the first one.

The roasted sweet potato was both sweet and sticky, and he squinted his eyes in delight.

Tang Xu was cutting vegetables and turned his head to glance at him. Seeing that he was sitting quietly and eating without causing trouble, he felt relieved.

However, just as he relaxed, he suddenly heard loud wails. 

With such a loud and piercing voice, he knew it was his second child. 

The crying came closer and closer until it was right in front of him. Tang Xu opened the window and peeked out, only to find that Er Bao had a cloth wrapped around his left hand. The originally light yellow cloth was now soaked with blood, turning a dark brown. It was clear that he had bled quite a bit.

Tang Xu frowned, put down the window, and went out to meet him. “What happened?” 

Wei Dong snorted coldly. The wailing Er Bao, upon hearing his dad’s voice, shrank back a little, looking pitifully at him. He waved his injured hand and cried, “It hurts! Woo woo woo, Dad~~~ it hurts~~~”

“How did this happen?” Tang Xu squatted down in front of him, unwrapping the cloth to take a look at the wound. It had already stopped bleeding, but there was a long gash on the palm, almost like a deep groove.

Wei Dong went into the house to grab the medicine box he usually used and packed several bottles for treating bruises and injuries.

“He insisted on using a knife to cut meat, and I couldn’t stop him. I gave him a small knife, and he cut himself the moment he touched it,” Wei Dong said, lifting Er Bao over to the washbasin. 

As the water washed over the wound, the scab that had formed began to ooze blood again.

Er Bao winced in pain, but unfortunately, his father was cold-hearted and kept him subdued.

Tang Xu didn’t interfere. He watched Wei Dong treat Er Bao’s wound and then bandage it up.

He led Er Bao to the kitchen, washed his face, and then sat the sobbing Er Bao with tear-streaked cheeks on a small stool next to Xiao Bao.

Xiao Bao still had two bites of roasted sweet potato left. Seeing his second brother with red eyes and a red nose from crying, he felt a bit sorry for him and leaned over to feed him his sweet potatoes. “Here, it’s delicious!”

Er Bao sniffled and, despite his sniffles, opened his mouth to gobble down the sweet potato, puffing out his cheeks while sniffling.

Xiao Bao took a handkerchief out of his cotton jacket pocket and shoved it right into his brother's face. “Wipe!” 

Er Bao used one hand to hold the handkerchief and blew his nose, producing quite a large mess.

Xiao Bao, feeling disgusted, scooted over a bit on the small stool and sat down obediently.

Dad is here!

Tang Xu saw their little antics but didn’t say anything. He even handed half of a roasted sweet potato to Er Bao and asked, “Does it hurt?”

Er Bao raised his bandaged hand, which was so wrapped up that you couldn't even see his fingers. Pouting, he nodded and said, “It hurts.” With a muffled sound, he lowered his head and took a bite of the sweet potato.

“If it hurts, you’ll remember it. Next time, will you dare to use a knife again?” Tang Xu kept a stern face, looking very serious.

Er Bao shook his head repeatedly. He won’t dare, he won’t dare! He won't use a knife again!

Wei Dong pulled aside the curtain and glanced at Er Bao. Seeing the two of them sitting and eating, he said sternly, “No fooling around.”

The twins obediently nodded, understanding that they needed to behave.

“Are we having braised beef later?” Wei Dong asked Tang Xu.

Tang Xu shot him a sidelong glance but didn’t respond.

Wei Dong raised an eyebrow, walked up to him, and leaned in close to whisper, “I only sharpened the tip of that small knife I gave him; the rest of it isn’t sharpened, so the wound shouldn’t be too deep.”

Tang Xu glared at him. “But it still cut him.”

“If he doesn’t learn a lesson, how will he remember? If one day he gets a hold of a big knife, it won’t just be a small cut,” Wei Dong replied nonchalantly, not seeing the danger in his actions. 

He had deliberately sharpened just the tip of that small knife to teach his two mischievous children a lesson.

Although Tang Xu agreed with Wei Dong’s approach, he was still angry.

Seeing that Tang Xu was ignoring him, Wei Dong wrapped his arms around him and kissed his cheek, coaxing him, “I’ll be more careful next time. Don’t ignore me.”

Tang Xu lightly huffed in response, “It can’t happen again next time.”

“Yeah, he won’t dare to play with knives again,” Wei Dong said casually, only to receive an elbow jab from his husband.

“Get me some belly meat; I’ll start braising it,” Tang Xu instructed.

Wei Dong nodded, releasing him and turning to leave.

Er Bao sniffled, finished the last bite of roasted sweet potato, wiped his mouth, and looked up at Tang Xu. “Dad, I want more.”

Tang Xu knew how much he could eat and wasn’t worried about him overindulging before the main meal, so he broke off another half for him.

Er Bao reflexively reached for it with his left hand, but when he lifted his hand and saw it tightly bandaged, he pouted and switched to his right hand.

“Dad, how long until I’m better?” Er Bao waved his hand at him. He shook it once, felt the pain, and put it down again.

Tang Xu understood what he meant; he wanted to know when he would recover.

With a cold huff, he lowered his gaze to Er Bao and said, “You can’t get it wet, you can’t play in the snow, and you have to apply medicine every day.”

Er Bao’s eyes widened a bit, and Xiao Bao wore a similar expression, both somewhat shocked.

Neither of them knew that being injured meant they couldn’t get it wet or play in the snow!

Tang Xu poked Er Bao’s cheek, a mischievous smile creeping onto his lips. “Now you know what pain is, and hopefully, you’ll remember this lesson.”

Er Bao pouted, and the sweet potato in his hand suddenly lost its appeal.

In the backyard, Wei Dong had finished cutting the belly meat and placed it in a bowl, asking Xu Ze to take it to the kitchen before continuing to cut and debone the meat.

“How’s Er Bao?” Old Wen, who was concerned, asked, but knowing this was parenting, he didn’t want to butt in and only asked for an update.

Wei Dong shook his head and tossed the beef leg into an empty bowl. “I only sharpened the tip of that small knife, so the cut isn’t deep. He cries hard when he gets hurt, but he’ll get used to it and stop crying.”

Old Wen looked at him helplessly. “He’s only two and a half. You should talk to him properly.”

“I talked to him, but he didn't listen.” Wei Dong didn’t elaborate further; he felt his parenting was just fine. At least for a while, Er Bao wouldn’t be touching knives.

Old Wen shook his head and didn’t say anything more. He looked down at the chubby child and asked, “Are you coming back with me, or do you want to stay and watch a bit longer?”

“I’m not going back,” the chubby child looked up at him and replied, “Great-grandpa, you go rest; I’ll watch for a while longer.”

Old Wen nodded and turned to leave.

Old Fu also helped Old Sun leave. Before leaving, Old Sun glanced at Wei Dong and the chubby child a couple of times but said nothing.

Wei Xi and Tang Xu returned to their room to read, leaving Zhao Ming and Liu Ge’er to help Wei Dong dismantle the wild buffalo.

The buffalo hide was very large, and Wei Dong had Liu Ge’er scrape off a lot of plant ash. They needed to remove the fat from the surface before proceeding to the next step. With such a big hide, it would take at least three to four months to tan properly.

Wei Dong straightened his back and looked at the big bowl of meat and bones. This wild buffalo was quite large; even though food was scarce after winter set in, it hadn’t lost weight.

However, it was clear that it was an old buffalo, as the meat fibers were quite coarse.

“Brother Dong, Brother Xu said the meat is quite tough, so it needs to be stewed longer. We won’t be able to eat it for lunch, but we can have it for dinner,” Xu Ze returned from the kitchen with a message for Tang Xu.

Wei Dong nodded and pointed to the two bowls of meat on the ground. “Take them to the kitchen and ask Ah Xu if he wants to send some to the old Tang family house.”

“Brother Xu just said to send a buffalo leg over there and also one to Aunt Wei,” Xu Ze continued to relay the message.

Wei Dong replied, “There are no legs left; it’s all been taken apart. Tell him to just send the meat directly.”

Xu Ze acknowledged and waved to Liu Ge’er. “Brother Liu, come help me carry these; I can’t move them by myself.”

Liu Ge’er nodded and stepped forward to help. Together, they lifted the large bowls and headed to the front yard.

Zhao Ming glanced up for a moment. Once they turned the corner and were out of sight, he lowered his head and continued chopping the bones.

However, when he returned his gaze, he accidentally locked eyes with Wei Dong.

For a brief moment, he panicked and quickly looked away. His axe slipped, striking the wood below with a loud thud, chopping off a piece of the board.

Wei Dong raised an eyebrow, noticing Zhao Ming’s previously steady demeanor was now replaced with a hint of panic. 

After thinking for a moment, he asked, “You’re thirteen this year?”

Zhao Ming, not understanding his intent, silently nodded.

“In another year, you’ll be able to start a family,” Wei Dong remarked with a hint of nostalgia.

Zhao Ming’s face turned bright red at Wei Dong’s words, and he lowered his head like a sulking gourd. Even though Wei Dong suddenly showed interest in talking to him, he didn’t say another word.

When Tang Xu first learned that Zhao Ming was only thirteen years old, his eyes and mouth had opened wide in shock.

The main reason was that Zhao Ming’s personality was calm and steady, and he was also tall. 

Although he had previously been skinny and lacked any substantial weight, his height and frame suggested he had the build of someone who was already mature.

Who would have thought he was just starting to mature?

Since coming to the household and eating well every day, Zhao Ming had recently started to gain weight. His face no longer had the gaunt look from before; instead, it had developed a somewhat rugged contour.

With that face, combined with his height and increasingly robust physique, one could easily mistake him for someone in their twenties.

Who would have thought that he was only thirteen!

“If you’re interested in Ze’er, just tell him. I can also let Ah Xu know,” Wei Dong suddenly said something surprising.

Zhao Ming jerked his head up, eyes wide in disbelief at what he had just heard.

“No, no, no, You don’t need to!” He waved his hands vigorously, stammering his rejection.

Wei Dong looked at him, “What’s wrong? Don’t you fancy Ze’er? Then is it Liu Ge’er you’re interested in?”

“It’s not like that! No, not at all! Brother Dong, please don’t say that.” This time, Zhao Ming shook his head even more vigorously.

Wei Dong played along and really didn’t say anything more. However, he thought about it for a moment; Zhao Ming had indeed been looking at Xu Ze, and he could guess a bit about why Zhao Ming was rejecting the idea.

After dinner, Tang Xu and Wei Dong put the remaining meat into the ice cellar and entrusted the three children to Xu Ze and Liu Ge’er while they took the mule cart to the Tang family’s old house.

On the way, Wei Dong shared his speculation, and Tang Xu, surprised, smiled lightly and pinched his face. “You didn’t notice?”

Tang Xu shook his head. 

What was there to notice? Zhao Ming rarely came near him, always maintaining a noticeable distance.

“How did you figure out he likes Ze’er? Why not Liu Ge’er?” Normally, since they were both brought back together, they should have more to talk about.

Wei Dong nodded. “It’s Ze’er. When I had Ze’er bring you meat, he looked at him with interest. Later, he kept watching him. This kid is pretty steady; I’ll be able to teach him the business in two years.”

Tang Xu waved his hand. “Let’s wait and see for now. They’re both still young; Ze’er is only ten. They can spend some time together and see how it goes.”

As they were speaking, they arrived at the Tang family’s old house.

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TL: Aw I was shipping Liu Ge’er and Zhao Ming, I guess it’s time to abandon ship lol