Zhu Cuilan left in a hurry. Such a big thing had to be discussed with Zhao He. If the head of the family thought it was feasible, they would have to ask Zhao Fangyu's opinion before finding a matchmaker to propose marriage.

Yang Donghu couldn't get enough of looking at the new chicks he had gotten. When Zhao Luochuan came back from outside, he was still squatting beside the bamboo basket watching the chicks eat.

"Where did you get the straw?"

Yang Donghu didn't even raise his head when he heard the words, his eyes still fixed on the little chicken: "Aunt took me to Aunt Zhao's house up ahead to ask for it, and she also bought a lot of wheat bran."

Zhao Luochuan stretched his head to take a look and saw that the chicks were eating happily.

He rubbed the top of Yang Donghu's head and said dissatisfiedly: "The little chicken is full, isn't it time to feed me, the big one?"

Yang Donghu hadn't noticed the time, and only realized after hearing what he said that it was getting dark. Thinking that Zhao Luochuan had been busy all day and must be hungry, he quickly stood up and asked, "What do you want to eat? I'll make it."

When he stood up, he found that Zhao Luochuan's trouser legs were stained with mud. He handed him a towel and asked, "Where have you been? Why are there so much mud on your legs?"

Zhao Luochuan took the handkerchief and patted the mud off his trouser legs. He leaned forward and said, "Uncle Zhao, who keeps a fish pond in the village, caught a lot of fish before the New Year. He wants to plant a circle of lotus flowers around the fish pond, so I went to help him."

The fish caught in Uncle Zhao's fish pond before the Chinese New Year did not grow well. They were small and not fat. After he put a new batch of fish fry in, he consulted an expert in fish farming. The expert said that planting lotus flowers would be good for fish, and that they should be planted sparsely. Putting some crab fry or loach fry in the pond would be beneficial to the growth of fish.

Uncle Zhao didn't dare to delay, so he bought the lotus seedlings and asked several strong men in the village to help.

"There's hot water on the stove, freshly boiled. I'll get you a basin of water so you can wash." Yang Donghu said as he walked towards the kitchen.

Zhao Luochuan took the kettle from his hand and said, "I'll do it, you cook."

There were still a lot of vegetarian meatballs left at home from frying New Year's goods. Yang Donghu went to the vegetable garden and picked a small basket of tender vegetable tips to make meatball soup.

The vegetarian meatballs are fried in oil. Pour the vegetable tips and meatballs into the pot together, and add a handful of chopped sweet potato vermicelli. There is no need to add too many seasonings, just simple salt and chicken powder. Drink a bowl at night when the temperature is low, and you will feel warm all over.

It was already dark after dinner, but Yang Donghu still put the bamboo basket into the kitchen. He looked at the stove and saw that there was no open flame. He left a few pieces of red-hot charcoal to prevent the temperature in the kitchen from being too cold.

In the east room, Zhao Luochuan brought a small wooden bucket and poured it into it water for foot washing. He used his hand to check the temperature, and when it was almost ready, he called Yang Donghu to come over and soak his feet.

Yang Donghu was in poor health, and his hands and feet would feel cold every night when he went to bed under the quilt. Zhao Luochuan would warm him with his body. Later, he heard that soaking feet could cure physical weakness, and he should soak his feet for a quarter of an hour every day until his body started to sweat slightly.

It has been soaking for several days, and today is the same as before. Zhao Luochuan made a cup of warm honey water and asked Yang Donghu to drink it while soaking.

Soaking your feet will make you feel relaxed all over, and Yang Donghu also enjoyed it. In the rising hot air, the two of them chatted about family matters.

"My aunt said she wanted to ask someone to go to An Jin's house to ask, but she always felt that Brother Fang Yu was a little behind in age, and she was unsure."

"Auntie is worried too much. Brother Fang Yu is in his prime and has skills, so there's no doubt he won't be found. It's just that he was scared by the matchmakers the last two times, so he's worried too much."

The bucket was not big, and the two of them were squeezed in, so Zhao Luochuan sat next to Yang Donghu on the bed, staring at the white and tender little feet in the bucket.

Zhao Fangyu's marriage was not only a thorn in Zhu Cuilan's heart, but Zhao Luochuan also had a deep affection for him and wanted him to settle down early so that he could put his mind at ease.

Zhao Fangyu and Zhao Luochuan grew up together and have a deep relationship, closer than brothers.

Zhao Fangyu is only one year older than Zhao Luochuan. When they were young, they had to compete with each other to get exactly the same things. If there was any difference, they would fight.

When Zhao Luochuan was a child, he was not as strong as Zhao Fangyu and was much shorter than him. Whenever they had a dispute, Zhao Fangyu would always pin him to the ground and beat him. Zhao Luochuan would cry when he couldn't win, and Zhao Fangyu would threaten him that he would be beaten if he continued to cry. Later, Zhao Luochuan learned to be smarter and did not say a word when he was beaten. Instead, he turned around and went to complain to Zhu Cuilan.

The two of them have been fighting since they were young. Later, when Zhao Luochuan had the ability to fight back, he fought even more fiercely. Although he was still beaten more often, there were always one or two times when he had the upper hand.

The adults of both families were also very troubled. They quarreled and scolded each other, but it was of no use. Later, Zhu Cuilan gave birth to Zhao Fangchu, and Zhao Fangyu became even more proud. He said, "I have a sweet and soft little baby at home, why don't you have one?"

Zhao Luochuan had a strong desire to win, so he didn't want to suffer this loss. He went back to ask his mother for a younger brother or sister. His mother was already in poor health at this time, and she smiled and said that Fang Chu was his younger brother.

His mother's original intention was to let Zhao Luochuan take on the responsibility of being an older brother so that he could protect those weaker than himself in the future. However, Zhao Luochuan misunderstood and went to Zhu Cuilan's house happily to take the baby home. If an adult had not stopped him, Zhao Luochuan would have been beaten by Zhao Hai from day to night.

Later, Zhao Luochuan's mother passed away. He was very concerned about his reputation and would hide and cry when he was bullied by the villagers. Zhao Fangyu seemed to have grown up all of a sudden and would beat anyone who bullied Zhao Luochuan.

Zhao Luochuan always remembered that Zhao Fangyu had a fight with some kids and got bruised, but he still smiled and said, "From now on, my mother is your mother, and you are my real brother."

"I think so too. Aunt Lan Zhen is a good person. It would be a good idea to become her in-laws."

The water for foot soaking had become cold. Yang Donghu pulled his feet out, wiped them with a dry towel, and was about to put on his shoes and pour water.

Zhao Luochuan pushed Yang Donghu to sit on the bed and picked up the bucket first: "It's very cold outside. You just soaked your feet, and you'll catch a cold again if you go out."

It's not good for two people to be too polite in their lives. Yang Donghu sat back on the bed. The room wasn't cold, so he didn't put his feet back in the quilt immediately. Zhao Luochuan had said that after soaking the feet, you can massage them while they're still warm, and then put them back in the quilt when the temperature drops. This will make sleeping more comfortable.

Yang Donghu's feet turned light pink under the warm water and were still steaming. He reached out and pressed them himself. He didn't know how to massage and didn't know how, so it felt like it was no use.

Zhao Luochuan poured in some water, sat on the bed skillfully, and put his hands on Yang Donghu's calves.

Zhao Luochuan said that he was good at massage. From the first day of foot soaking, he forced Yang Donghu to massage his legs. Yang Donghu didn't know whether what he said was true or not, but Zhao Luochuan's massage was more comfortable than his own.

The first two times, Yang Donghu felt embarrassed and itchy, and his legs were shivering everywhere. But after Zhao Luochuan rubbed him half-coaxingly and half-forcefully a few times, he got used to it.

Zhao Luochuan felt a surge of desire as he touched the smooth skin with his hands, but he didn't do anything in the end. If he made Yang Donghu embarrassed and angry, he might not even want to soak his feet.