Chapter 49

Chapter 49

The next day, Zhao Beichuan woke up just as the sky began to lighten.

He quickly got up to heat water and tidy up the room. Soon, his father and the others would arrive, and he didn't want them to see the messy state of the house.

The water in the pot boiled, and Zhao Beichuan woke Lu Yao. "Get up."

Lu Yao turned over, feeling uncomfortable from the friction, and couldn't help but moan softly. "What time is it?"

"It's almost the hour of Yin."

Lu Yao sat up on the bed, the blanket slipping off, revealing red marks on his pale shoulders and back, as if he had been bitten by mosquitoes.

Zhao Beichuan quickly draped a cotton jacket over him. "Get up and wash your face. Father and the others will be here soon."

"Okay." Lu Yao scratched his head, put on his clothes, and got out of bed.

Breakfast was still millet porridge, with no vegetables or meat, leaving Lu Yao's mouth feeling bland.

"I'll go to town later today. The shops should be open now. I'll buy some food so that Father and the others can have lunch here."

Zhao Beichuan: "Alright, don't forget to buy bowls and chopsticks."

After breakfast, Wang Youtian arrived with a mule cart. On the cart were Lu's father, Lu Lin, Hu Chunrong, Xiaonian, and Xiaodou.

They had stayed overnight at Lu's house. Last night, they were excited, but this morning, they became anxious, especially Xiaodou, who cried for his sister-in-law while hugging her.

Lu's mother tried to comfort them for a long time but couldn't calm them down. She urged them to eat quickly and send the two children back.

The cart also carried a chicken, a sack of cabbage, a sack of radishes, a bucket, and four earthenware bowls.

Originally, Lu's mother planned to come too, but during breakfast, Lu Yun kept retching. They thought he had eaten something bad, but upon closer inspection, they noticed his pregnancy mole had become more prominent and redder.

When a guy gets pregnant, the pregnancy mole becomes brighter and sometimes larger due to hormonal changes.

Lu Yao found this quite curious and touched his own pregnancy mole on his collarbone. Last night, Zhao Beichuan seemed to have left some marks there... Could he be pregnant? The thought made him shiver.

In the morning, everyone worked together to build the livestock shed. The already small courtyard became even narrower, barely enough space for a cart.

The pigpen wasn't built yet; there wasn't enough wood, so they decided to keep the pigs in the backyard garden for now. The chicken coop was also placed in the garden, to be relocated in the spring.

Just as they finished building the gate, someone knocked on it. Lu Yao opened the door and saw a thin old man standing outside, looking into the yard with his hands behind his back.

"Can I help you?"

The old man walked straight into the yard and pointed at the livestock shed against the wall. "You need to take this down! It can't be next to my house!" It turned out to be their neighbor.

Everyone was stunned. With such a small courtyard, where else could they build the shed?

Lu Guangsheng smiled apologetically. "Old brother, our courtyard is too small. We can only build the shed here; otherwise, the mule cart won't fit."

"I don't care. Livestock make a mess, and it'll stink in the summer. How can we open our windows?"

Lu Yao hurriedly waved his hand. "Don't worry, we clean frequently, so there won't be much smell."

The old man waved his hand dismissively. "That doesn't matter. Take it down!"

"You're being unreasonable. This is our courtyard. Why do we need your permission to build a shed?"

The old man, relying on his age, started to act unruly. "Pah, it's next to my wall, so it's not allowed!"

Lu Yao wanted to argue, but Lu Guangsheng held him back. He knew from experience that neighbors shouldn't become enemies. If they offended this person, he might poison the mule when no one was around.

"Old brother, please don't get angry. Let me explain." Lu Guangsheng approached the old man and tried to establish a connection. "From your accent, you're from Xishan Village, right?"

The old man grunted. "Yes, from Xishan Village. So what?"

"My aunt lives in Xishan Village. Do you know Liu Mao?"

The old man thought for a moment. "I know him. He's my cousin."

"Oh, what a coincidence! Liu Mao is my maternal uncle!"

The old man paused and looked closely at Lu Guangsheng. "Are you Liu Hua's son?"

"That's right! By blood, you're my uncle. Lu Yao, call him Uncle!"

Lu Yao called out, "Uncle!"

The old man reluctantly acknowledged him, stroking his beard with an awkward smile.

"Kids these days don't know better. Don't mind him. Our courtyard is too small, so we had to build the shed here."

The old man nodded, no longer insisting. "This alleyway is indeed narrow, unlike the spacious courtyards in our village."

"Exactly! If our house hadn't burned down, the kids wouldn't have had to rent here in town."

"What? Your house burned down?" The old man's interest was piqued.

Lu Guangshuan gestured for Lu Yao to bring two wooden stools. They sat down in the courtyard and began chatting.

"This all started with my son-in-law. This kid has had a hard life. His parents died when he was twelve or thirteen, and he raised his siblings alone..."

Lu Guangsheng mixed truth with fiction, recounting how they earned money and were envied by villagers who burned down their house. The story left Liu Lao deeply moved.

In the end, the old man wiped away tears. "It's been tough for you, boy. From now on, no one will dare bully you!"

The issue with the livestock shed was resolved, and Lu Yao secretly gave his father a thumbs-up.

Lu Guangsheng winked at him. Such a minor issue was easily handled!

*

As noon approached, Lu Yao took a willow basket and went to the street. He saw that the salt shop and grain shop were open, so he bought two dou of gray flour, a catty of salt, and a catty of sugar.

Passing by the wine shop, he bought two jars of yellow wine—one for his family and another for Uncle Liu next door, since they shared a wall.

With the eggs given by Tian's Second Sister-in-Law and the chicken and vegetables brought by his mother, Lu Yao planned to cook a pot of iron pan noodles with stewed chicken for lunch.

When he returned home, the courtyard was nearly cleaned up. Lu Yao started a fire to prepare the meal.

Hu Chunrong helped clean the chicken, while Lu Yao kneaded the dough. He heated the pot and stir-fried the chicken pieces until the fat rendered, then added broth.

All their seasonings had burned, so he could only add a little salt. He washed a radish, cut it into thumb-sized pieces, and added it along with the noodles when the chicken was almost cooked. After fifteen minutes of boiling, the dish was ready.

Without a table, everyone gathered around the pot to eat. There weren't enough chopsticks, so they used broken branches instead. Despite the crowded space, the meal was delicious.

In the afternoon, Lu Yao told everyone to go back. His second brother needed to make tofu, and Lu Yun was pregnant, so they couldn't keep them busy here.

Wang Youtian was eager to return home to see his husband and didn't bother with pleasantries, quickly driving the mule cart away with the Lu family.

After seeing off his family, the sound of a peddler happened to be heard on the street. Lu Yao hurriedly called out, "Peddler, come over here! I want to buy something!"

The small peddler, carrying two wooden boxes, ran over. "What would you like to buy, sir?"

Everything in the house that was small and scattered had been burned up; everything needed to be replaced.

"Bring me two oil lamps with cotton wicks, one peachwood comb, one sewing basket, a pack of needles and various colored threads, a box of sheep fat ointment for face care, a broom for sweeping, and a brush for scrubbing pots—each one."

Hearing this, the peddler's face lit up with joy as he hurriedly rummaged through his boxes to find what Lu Yao wanted.

"How much is it in total?"

The peddler replied, "A pair of oil lamps is twenty cash, the comb is five cash, the sewing kit is ten cash, the basket is seven cash, the sheep fat ointment is fifteen cash, the broom is six cash, and the brush is three cash. All together, it's sixty-six cash."

Lu Yao noticed a pair of red silk flowers in his box. "Include those silk flowers too. I'll give you seventy-five cash in total."

"Sure thing!" The peddler took out the silk flowers and handed them to Lu Yao.

Lu Yao counted out the money and handed it to him, then carried the pile of items back home.

Xiaonian and Xiaodou were cleaning up the garbage in the yard. Seeing their sister-in-law with so many things, they hurried over to help. Xiaonian immediately spotted the red silk flowers in her arms.

"Sister-in-law, did you buy silk flowers for me again?"

Lu Yao handed her the silk flowers. "They're exactly the same as before."

"Thank you, Sister-in-law!" Xiaonian held the silk flowers, tears of joy welling up. She had never dared to mention it before, fearing she might upset her eldest brother and sister-in-law.

Their house had burned down, and everything was gone. A pair of silk flowers wasn't a big deal, she told herself, but she still felt sad. She hadn't expected her sister-in-law to remember!

Lu Yao patted her head. "Go put them on and see how they look. Xiaodou, help your sister-in-law take the sewing basket inside and put it away."

"Okay!" The child was delighted to do such tasks, feeling important, and carried the sewing basket into the house and placed it in the chest of drawers.

Zhao Beichuan had chopped wood halfway through. It was getting late, so he decided to finish the rest tomorrow.

After tidying up at home, they still needed to clean the shop. Lu Yao planned to reopen for business on the sixth day, and the shop was still empty. He wanted to prepare everything in the next few days.

In the evening, Lu Yao found a clean piece of wood and used charcoal from the bottom of the pot to draw.

After finishing his bath, Zhao Beichuan, still damp, came over. "What are you drawing?"

"I'm thinking about renovating the shop, setting up two counters here. Passersby will stop and inquire when they see them."

"Mm-hmm."

"We also need to make new tofu molds since the old ones were burned."

Zhao Beichuan leaned over him, smelling the nape of his neck. "Alright, whatever you say."

Lu Yao glanced at the two children who hadn't fallen asleep yet and quickly elbowed the person behind him. "Stop it."

Zhao Beichuan remained silent, slipping his hand under the quilt to sneakily caress him. Lu Yao bit his lip, his face turning red, and his hand shook so much he couldn't hold the charcoal anymore.

Why hadn't he noticed how repressed he was before!

Thinking back to when they first met, he had been so cold and distant. Tsk, tsk, he was completely different now.

Lu Yao retaliated by reaching under the quilt and pinching him through his pants.

"Ouch—" Zhao Beichuan's eyes darkened slightly, blowing out the oil lamp. "Stop drawing and go to sleep."

Lu Yao chuckled, slipping out of his clothes and into the quilt, only to be pulled into Zhao Beichuan's embrace.

Zhao Beichuan fumbled to undo his belt, causing sudden pain that almost made him cry out. Lu Yao quickly covered his mouth.

Intimate whispers and touches left him wanting to cry but unable to, fearing the children might hear. He could only bite Zhao Beichuan's arm hard.

As their breathing gradually steadied, Lu Yao pushed him away, drenched in sweat.