The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 219

 

| TBBOTOF | 219

There weren't too many changes. Liu Ge'er was indeed very capable. It seemed like he was especially afraid that the master of the house might drive him away, as he got up to start working every day before dawn, even before the rooster crowed, dealing with firewood.

Tang Xu got up at about the same time, and worked alongside him.

However, Zhao Ming didn't know how to do kitchen work, and when he was around, he almost never joined in.

It had been like this for three days straight. Tang Xu finally couldn't hold back and said, "In the future, just cook some porridge in the morning, and leave the rest to me."

Maybe it was because he eats very little when he is at home, but the meals Liu Ge'er cooked were virtually without any trace of oil.

The flatbreads were dry, hard as bricks. Even Old Wen had to soak them in hot water to be able to bite into them.

The stir-fried pickled vegetables didn't have a single bit of minced meat. Just one bowl of stir-fried pickles on the table, and Tang Xu felt full just looking at it.

Luckily, Liu Ge'er didn't cook lunch or dinner, or else the whole family would probably lose five pounds in three days.

Originally, Tang Xu hadn't intended to say anything. Since Liu Ge'er helped out during lunch and dinner, he would watch Tang Xu while he cooked and quietly mumble, “Too much oil, too much oil."

As a result, when this kid cooked breakfast, he wouldn't use even a drop of oil.

Liu Ge'er froze for a moment, then blushed and awkwardly rubbed his hands together. “I... I didn’t cook well?”

Tang Xu gave him a dry smile and, not afraid of hurting his feelings, said, “At my house, we don’t eat lavish meals every day, but we do have meat with almost every meal. The food you make doesn’t have any oil, and I’m not used to it.” 

He patted Liu Ge'er on the shoulder and comforted him, “From now on, you can learn to cook from me. Don’t be afraid to use oil.”

Liu Ge'er quickly nodded, silently telling himself to make sure to learn well!

Tang Xu then asked Liu Ge'er to go outside and cook pig feed on the outdoor stove. He placed a large amount of bean dregs cakes into a basin, along with some radishes and cabbage. “Chop everything up and cook it together. Keep the fire steady so it doesn’t burn.”

“I’ll help him,” Xu Ze ran over from outside, waving to Liu Ge'er. “Let’s go cook outside together.”

Tang Xu smiled and nodded, ruffling Xu Ze’s hair. “Has Old Wen gotten up yet?”

“He’s up. Old Wen said if possible, could we have something softer for breakfast? His teeth have been hurting from chewing on those hard flatbreads the last couple of days.”

After saying this, Xu Ze suddenly realized Liu Ge'er was still there and hurriedly added, “It’s not that your cooking isn’t good; it’s just that the old man’s getting on in years and isn’t used to it.”

Liu Ge'er blushed and lowered his head, responding with a soft “mm.”

The two of them carried two large basins to the stove in the backyard, each sitting on a small stool as they broke up the bean dregs cakes. Seeing that Liu Ge'er wasn’t speaking, Xu Ze asked, “Did you and my brother-in-law sign some kind of contract?”

Brother Liu nodded. "The human trafficker gave my contract to the master."

Xu Ze was momentarily stunned before realizing that by "master," Liu Ge'er meant Wei Dong.

Trying to suppress his discomfort, Xu Ze rubbed his face with his shoulder and said, "Don’t call him 'master.' My brother-in-law isn’t that old."

“What should I call him then?” Liu Ge'er was genuinely confused. If not "master," was he supposed to call him "brother-in-law"? 

That didn’t seem right either, considering he was a servant bought by the family.

Xu Ze tilted his head and thought for a while, his hands still busy with the bean cakes. After a good while, he said in distress, "How about you go ask Brother Xu?"

Liu Ge'er nodded, obediently put down the bean dregs cake he was holding, dusted off his hands, and went to the kitchen to find Tang Xu.

Tang Xu had just finished kneading a bowl of dough, preparing to make stuffed flatbreads.

Wei Dong wasn’t around; he was inside the house dressing the three children, while Zhao Ming had gone up the mountain to collect firewood.

Hearing movement, Tang Xu assumed it was Wei Dong and spoke without looking up, "I took some leg meat and chopped it up for stuffing."

"Sir, it's me," Liu Ge'er stood hesitantly at the door, looking at him nervously.

Every time Liu Ge'er called him "sir," Tang Xu felt thoroughly uncomfortable, like his skin was crawling and his hair standing on end.

"Don’t call me that," Tang Xu said, "Just follow Ze’er and call me Brother Xu."

The past couple of days, Xiao Bao had been coughing, so Tang Xu's mind was entirely on the child, leaving little time to talk much with Liu Ge'er.

On the few occasions when Liu Ge'er called him "sir," Tang Xu felt thoroughly uncomfortable. 

He couldn’t take it anymore and finally said, “Just call me Brother Xu. Even though my husband bought you, our household isn’t like those rich landlords who need servants waiting on them. I do the work around the house myself. When you call us 'master' and 'madam,' it feels really strange.”

Liu Ge'er nervously twisted his fingers. To be honest, he wasn’t too comfortable with calling them those titles either.

"Really, I... I can call you Brother Xu?"

"Of course you can! Why wouldn’t you? Since you and the other boy were bought by Ah Dong, you’re both now part of our family. There's no need to be so formal," Tang Xu smiled warmly at him. "You two just arrived, so it’s natural to feel a bit out of place, but you’ll get used to it over time. Everyone in my family is really kind."

Liu Ge'er nodded. "Yes, I know." 

Of course they were kind—especially so, much gentler than even his own brothers and sisters.

These past few days here had felt like living in a dream for him.

Liu Ge'er was overjoyed. He had clean, warm clothes to wear, and every day he ate better than his family did even during New Year celebrations! 

He had woken up from laughter several times while sleeping, unable to believe this was real life—it was something he wouldn't have dared to dream of.

Tang Xu nodded at him. “Go ahead. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat. Meanwhile, make sure you and the other boy feed all the livestock in the backyard.”

“Got it, Brother Xu,” Liu Ge'er smiled shyly before heading out.

Meanwhile, Wei Dong had finished dressing the three children and took them to wash up before letting them go off to play on their own. He then went to the kitchen, lifted the curtain, and asked, “Need help with anything?”

“Chop some meat for the stuffing. I’m making stuffed flatbreads now, and in the afternoon, I’ll make dough for baozi, so chop extra,” Tang Xu replied. 

The old man in the house had a particular liking for flour-based dishes, especially for the evening meal.

With so many people in the house, and all of them having hearty appetites, Tang Xu planned to make plenty. “The meat I took out might not be enough. Grab some more so we can make extra and freeze it. Then in the morning, we can just steam it when we want.”

It was cold enough that things left outside would freeze quickly, but to avoid mice getting into it, storing it in the freezer was the safest option. 

Although, oddly enough, they didn’t seem to have much of a rodent problem, possibly thanks to their cat, who, despite being rather chubby, was still an excellent hunter.

“The wheat in the storehouse has already been ground down; we’re running low on flour. After you’ve finished eating, could you grind a couple of bags?” Tang Xu was busy putting the stuffed flatbreads on the side of the pan, pressing them into place. 

He glanced at Wei Dong chopping meat and added, “For tonight, let’s make two kinds of stuffing. The old man likes the one with crispy pork bits and pickled cabbage.”

“I like it too,” Wei Dong said calmly.

“What don’t you like?” Tang Xu laughed, teasing him.

Wei Dong actually tilted his head and thought for a moment, then shook his head, “I like everything.”

“Of course you do. Let’s make some radish stuffing too,” Tang Xu said as he took the cooked stuffed flatbreads out of the pan and placed them in a bamboo basket. 

Then, he lifted the lid of the large pot next to him and stirred the thin porridge inside. Seeing how watery and bland it looked, he couldn’t help but sigh. “Yesterday, Old Wen told me that in all his years staying with us, this is the first time he’s had such watery porridge.”

“Old habits from being poor,” Wei Dong responded, thinking back to the time when he and Wei Xi were at their poorest, drinking plain water and eating hard buns. Even having two pieces of salted vegetables to go with it had been a luxury.

Tang Xu nodded, remembering how frugal Liu Xiangxiang used to be, even going so far as to skimp on the rice for morning porridge.

“Old Wen also mentioned that the elder scholar we’re expecting hasn’t arrived yet. Since there’s not much going on today, let’s tidy up a few of the rooms and clear out two spare ones.” 

The east and west wing rooms had accumulated a lot of things, but with some organizing, they could clear up some space. The plan was to have the scholar stay in the west wing next to Old Wen. 

In the back rooms, they could clean out two rooms for Zhao Ming and the old servant the scholar would be bringing with him.

“I’ll get someone to build new rooms when spring comes,” Wei Dong said. 

Although the ground wasn’t frozen too hard yet, it was still difficult to dig and build in the middle of winter, so it would be better to wait until spring.

Tang Xu nodded, “Good idea.”

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