The Beautiful Brother of the Orion’s Family (Wearing Book) - 290

 

| TBBOTOF | 290

Tang Xu didn’t need to think much to know that if he didn’t prepare dry clothes for them, they would definitely come back covered in mud and sand, making the situation even worse.

Sure enough, when he saw the clothes they had carried back and the shoes caked with mud, Tang Xu could only sigh and resign himself to the situation.

The main issue was that his family was rather straightforward and stubborn. If he appeared unreasonable, they’d only stare at him disapprovingly, leaving him fuming for no reason.

Without saying much, Tang Xu motioned with his chin for them to wash their hands, feet, and change their shoes. Meanwhile, he took the basket full of dirty clothes to the yard, soaking them in soapberry water. 

He figured it’d be easier to wash off the mud stains after dinner.

In the kitchen, Liu Ge'er was carefully taking locust flower dumplings out of the steamer and placing them onto a plate. 

The enticing aroma wafted through the air, attracting Xu Ze, who sniffed appreciatively and exclaimed in delight, “Brother Liu, you actually made locust flower dumplings!”

The locust flowers were picked from the big locust tree in the yard. Back in spring, when the buds had just formed, they had harvested them in bunches, steaming and stir-frying them for several meals.

 The rest had been blanched, squeezed into balls, and frozen.

“You all went out, so Brother Xu helped me dig through the ice cellar. We found the frozen ones and decided to use them up before they spoil. There are still quite a few wild vegetable dumplings,” Liu Ge'er said, glancing at him. “We’ll eat different vegetable dumplings over the next couple of days, paired with stewed meat.”

Xu Ze licked his lips and helped carry a bowl to the dining room. “That’s great. I love wild vegetable dumplings.”

The locust flower dumplings were fragrant, made with cornmeal mixed with a bit of white flour. 

They were soft, fragrant, and sweet—something everyone in the family, young and old, loved.

Tang Xu had also prepared two large pots of stew—one was chicken stewed with mushrooms, and the other was pork belly stewed with potatoes. In addition, he made a simple cucumber and egg drop soup.

Although it was just two dishes and a soup, the portions were generous. Since it was a family meal, there was no need to be overly formal—everything was served directly in large basins.

When the two massive basins were placed on the table with a clatter, the older gentlemen already seated couldn’t help but cast Tang Xu a different look.

“What are you trying to do?” Though they knew Tang Xu was never one for formalities, they hadn’t expected him to serve food directly in such enormous basins. 

At first glance, these basins looked about the same size as the ones used to feed the pigs in the yard.

Old Wen frowned slightly. “Take them down immediately. How is anyone supposed to serve themselves from this?”

“What’s the point of serving? Too much hassle. Just scoop it straight into your bowl,” Tang Xu replied, grinning. “One hand holding a locust flower dumpling, the other hand a spoon. I’ve stewed the meat so soft it’ll fall apart. You can’t even pick it up with chopsticks.”

As he spoke, Tang Xu ladled a big spoonful of the pork belly stew into the Old Wen’s large bowl. 

The glistening, trembling pieces of meat were bathed in a rich, soy-sauce-red broth, enticing anyone to take a bite.

For a moment, Old Wen was completely captivated by the deliciously aromatic and visually appealing stew, forgetting entirely about the oversized basin in front of him.

Old Sun and Old Wu also received bowls of food. Tang Xu moved the basin to the other side and continued serving everyone, one bowl at a time.

After finishing the pork belly, he began portioning out the chicken stew. With so many people in the family, he had stewed two whole chickens this time, and the aroma was just as enticing. If they still had sweet potato noodles at home, he would have added some into the stew without hesitation.

“I’ll make sweet potato noodles tomorrow,” Tang Xu suggested, looking at the empty pantry. 

“We can use up the old potatoes since the new ones will be ready soon.”

He set the ladle back into the basin and invited everyone to sit down and eat. Taking a locust flower dumpling, he broke it in half and gave one piece to his eldest son beside him. 

Then he turned to Wei Dong and said, “Make extra noodles this time, so we’ll have enough to enjoy during the winter for hotpot.”

Wei Dong nodded. “Sure, should we soak them or grind them?” He was asking whether they should soak the potatoes or grind them directly to extract the starch.

“Let’s grind them,” Tang Xu replied. “Soaking takes too much time and wastes more potatoes. If we grind them, at least we can cook the leftover pulp and feed it to the pigs.”

Even while talking, Tang Xu kept an eye on his eldest child next to him. Seeing that the chubby boy was nearly finished with his half of the dumpling, Tang Xu turned to him and said, “Eat slowly.”

“Dad, did you see the little fish and shrimp we caught? We even found a lot of snails!” The chubby boy took another bite of the golden dumpling, then used his spoon to scoop a piece of pork belly into his mouth, letting the rich broth soak into every bite.

Tang Xu watched as a look of pure satisfaction spread across his eldest child’s face. His eyes squinted in delight, and he chewed happily, radiating a sense of blissful contentment.

Tang Xu reached out to poke the chubby boy’s cheek and then glanced at Xiao Bao, who was sitting next to him, eating slowly. 

Seeing that Xiao Bao was taking his time, Tang Xu didn’t interfere but turned to the chubby boy and said, “I saw it. You caught quite a lot. Tonight, Dad will fry some fish for you.”

The chubby boy shook his head vigorously. “No, no! Don’t eat it—give it to the ducks!”

Xiao Bao chimed in as well, echoing, “Give it to the ducks!”

Xiao Bao didn’t really care who got the fish as long as he wasn’t hungry. At that moment, he was happily gnawing on a piece of chicken neck, completely content.

Tang Xu nodded. “Fine. Once you two finish eating, take the bucket and feed the ducks. Don’t just leave it sitting around; it’ll start to stink.”

“Dad, I’ll go right after I finish eating!” The chubby boy obediently nodded, and Xiao Bao, sitting beside him, copied his older brother and nodded as well.

Wei Dong ate quickly as usual, but since he ate a lot, he was often the one to finish off whatever was left on the table.

“Should we raise a few more roosters? Let them roam on the mountain. They don’t need much feeding, and when they’re grown, we can slaughter them for meat,” Wei Dong suggested. 

Although the family wasn’t short on meat, free-range chickens had a different texture and flavor—more fragrant and savory.

Tang Xu bit into his locust flower dumpling, scooped up a piece of potato, and popped it into his mouth. The potato was soaked in the savory broth, soft and crumbly. With just a gentle press of his tongue, it fell apart and melted in his mouth.

 After savoring a couple more pieces, he finally replied, “If we raise too many, they’ll mess with my hens. If they start going broody, they won’t lay eggs. We eat quite a lot of eggs every day, you know.”

“You collect dozens of eggs a day. If you didn’t sell them at the town market, they’d spoil in this weather,” Old Sun said, holding back a comment.

Tang Xu shrugged, scooped some soup into his bowl, blew on it, and took a sip. “In a few days, we’ll start making air-dried chicken and duck again. Once that’s done, we’ll have so many chickens and ducks, and the eggs will be fewer. I’ll need to stock up while I can.”

“Cut the nonsense. Didn’t you buy more after you slaughtered some? If it were up to me, I’d say stop hoarding so many eggs. Eating them every day gets old,” Old Wen commented, reaching for another locust flower dumpling. 

He glanced at its size and turned to Old Wu beside him. “How about we split this one?”

Old Wu nodded. “Sure, break off a small piece for me.”

Old Wen immediately broke it in half, keeping the larger half for himself and handing the smaller piece to Old Wu.

Then, glancing at the remaining large piece, he still felt it was too much. He broke it again and handed the extra piece to Old Sun. “Here, take a piece.”

Old Sun shot him an annoyed look but took it without a word. Instead of eating it, he placed it in Old Fu’s bowl.

Old Wen gave him a glance but didn’t want to argue further.

“Xu Ge’er, do you have anything to do this afternoon?” Just as they were finishing their meal, Old Wen suddenly asked.

Tang Xu was momentarily surprised before shaking his head. “What’s wrong? I need to wash clothes and tidy up the yard. Why, do you need something?”

Old Wen gave Tang Xu a mysterious look, as if signaling for him to wait until later to discuss something.

Tang Xu nodded slightly, not in a rush. He wasn’t an impatient person.

However, Old Wen called him into the room and took out a precious wooden box from the cabinet, handing it to him, Tang Xu was completely stunned.

If he remembered correctly, most of the old man’s wealth, all the gold and silver, was likely kept in that box, right?

What was going on here?

Tang Xu’s heart skipped a beat, his gaze turning anxious and uneasy as he looked at the cheerful Old Wen.

“What’s this for?” His voice trembled slightly, uncertain. He glanced from the box back to Old Wen, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Elder, you’re not... leaving, are you?”

“Where would I go?” Old Wen laughed, patting Tang Xu’s shoulder. “What are you thinking? I’m old, sure, but if one day I suddenly... well, who knows what might happen, right? In case something happens, this box is for you.” 

He pointed at the wooden box in Tang Xu’s hands. “Take it. If the time ever comes, this is for you and your family.”

Tang Xu pressed his lips together, not saying a word.

Old Wen understood that Tang Xu was too surprised, so he reassured him, “My health is fine. I’ll probably live a few more years, so don’t worry.”

“Okay.” Tang Xu replied dryly, his voice flat.

Old Wen waved him off. “Go on, go ahead. I’m going to take a nap.”

Tang Xu silently turned and left. As he reached the door, he glanced back. The old man was already spreading his bedding on the kang, and something seemed off about the way he was doing it.

He stood at the doorway for a moment, deep in thought, then, holding the box, he turned and returned to his room.

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