Chapter 122
Looking at Lu Xiaobai's red little hand, He Qin gently grasped it in his arms and rubbed it, and asked in a gentle voice: "Does it hurt?"
Lu Xiaobai nodded: "It hurts."
Hearing He Qin's gentle voice, Lu Xiaobai curled his lips instantly, and his voice became aggrieved: "It hurts."
He had never done this kind of work before.
From the novelty of the pictures at the beginning, to feeling sorry for Lingyi and the others so much that he joined them in peeling them, to now having red and swollen hands, this experience was particularly painful for him.
He Qin had told him not to peel it before, but Lu Xiaobai insisted on peeling it. So he thought he could just sit and peel it, which was not particularly tiring. But by then his hands would hurt, so he naturally stopped peeling.
But unexpectedly, Lu Xiaobai persisted for a long time, even after lunch, and did not cry out in pain for almost half an hour.
It was not until He Yu cried out in pain that he took the opportunity to say that he was in pain too.
He Qin felt distressed and whispered, "If it hurts, don't peel it, okay? I'll take you in to drink soup, and I'll crush walnuts for you and make you some popcorn."
In fact, no matter what He Qin says now, Lu Xiaobai will agree.
Because he had been sitting for almost an hour, his whole body felt uncomfortable, not to mention that his hands were swollen from peeling corn.
So, the moment he heard about eating popcorn, his beautiful eyes immediately lit up, his voice became cheerful, and he grabbed He Qin and said, "Okay, I want to eat popcorn."
Popcorn is a household snack in modern times, and it even transcends the differences between the north and the south.
"Then let's go."
After He Qin finished speaking, he stood up and pulled Lu Xiaobai to the kitchen.
Ling Yi and the others remained silent. Only He Yu was unhappy. With a sad face, he said, "Why do I feel so uncomfortable seeing my brother and his wife together?"
Zero Two nodded, "I'm not feeling well either. I also want a soft and delicate little brother to pamper me like this. I will never make him do any work."
Hearing this, Ling Si turned his head to look at Ling Er, sneered and said, "With your status, it's best not to harm me, lest you go out to fight and die on the border one day, leaving others as orphans and widows to be bullied."
Ling Er frowned, "Hey, can't you just think of me for a bit and curse me to death every day."
Ling Si ignored him, and He Yu sighed and whispered, "If I had a little brother, I wouldn't want him to do the work either, but I don't have one!"
Before, he disliked the young man for being troublesome, and disliked the palace maid who was only interested in his status, so he did not want her. He even secretly drove her away, just to meet someone who loved the eldest brother like the eldest princess's wife, whether it was a woman or a boy.
Because the eldest emperor gave up the throne, others would definitely not be willing to follow him, but the eldest emperor's wife was different. She followed the eldest emperor to suffer and work together, and never had any complaints.
But now, looking at Lu Xiaobai's delicate and soft appearance, He Yu actually felt that such a soft boy was also good. At least he knew how to trick others into doing the work so that her husband could practice calligraphy well.
He Yu was envious but also a little speechless.
Because he was the one who was tricked into doing the job...
As soon as Lu Xiaobai followed He Qin to the kitchen, he was pressed to sit at the table: "Your belly is getting bigger and bigger, so don't sit on a stool that is too low. Wait here for me. I'll go light a fire."
Lu Xiaobai's hands hurt, and he didn't feel like starting a fire, so he nodded and said, "Yes, but I want to eat walnuts first."
He Qin nodded, took out some walnuts from the cupboard, crushed them and placed them in front of Lu Xiaobai, then went to the stove to light a fire.
Lu Xiaobai was eating walnuts when he suddenly remembered that they didn't seem to have brought in corn, so he stood up and asked, "He Qin, if we want to make popcorn, do we need corn kernels?"
He Qin also remembered, but he was making a fire and it was not convenient for him to leave, so he nodded and said, "Yes, take the gourd ladle to Lingyi and the others to dig a ladle of corn."
Lu Xiaobai immediately took the largest gourd ladle and ran into the yard.
He Yu was lazy while peeling the corn. He held the corn in his hand without peeling it.
Suddenly, he saw Lu Xiaobai running out happily, and thought that he had joined them and was peeling corn with them.
Lu Xiaobai stood in front of He Yu at the edge and handed him the gourd ladle behind him: "Come, fill it with corn for me."
Although his belly was not so big that he couldn't bend over, he always felt that having a big lump on his belly was scary. He didn't dare to bend over directly. Unless necessary, he would ask others to do it.
He Yu was stunned for a moment, then took the ladle, scooped a full ladle and handed it to him, then looked at him and turned and ran away.
He Yu closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then turned his head to look at the large area of unpeeled corn cobs behind him, wishing he could faint immediately.
Lu Xiaobai brought the corn back. He Qin had already lit the fire. He rinsed the corn with clean water, then took it out and put it in the pot, stirring it continuously with a spatula.
It was the first time that Lu Xiaobai saw popcorn being fried like this, and he stood aside and watched curiously.
Soon the aroma of corn wafted from the pot, and soon one corn popped, followed by the second, the third...
As more and more popcorn appeared, Lu Xiaobai shouted happily, "It really can make popcorn!"
Although this was not quite what he had imagined, and not as big as the popcorn he saw in the modern world, it was not small either. Moreover, it was very fragrant even without sugar, with a rich corn aroma, which he really liked.
Soon, the pot was full of popcorn. He Qin took a bowl and served him a bowl, then served another bowl to everyone to share, and wrapped the rest with the prepared oil paper.
The purpose of wrapping it is to prevent the popcorn from coming into contact with moist air. If it does, it will lose its crispness and taste bad.
"It's delicious, try it."
Lu Xiaobai stood in front of the stove with a bowl in his hand, eating while watching He Qin make popcorn, and occasionally feeding some to He Qin.
He Qin had wrapped five or six oil-paper packets, and there was still some left in the pot. Lu Xiaobai quickly reached out and said, "Stop wrapping them. One bowl is not enough for me."
Although the popcorn fills a bowl, the portion is pitifully small. Even if you eat it all, you still won’t feel full.
He Qin nodded: "Well, you eat first."
Then he put the packaged popcorn into the cabinet and arranged it one by one.
Lu Xiaobai took a few bowls and placed them in the basin. He happily carried the basin to the shed and said, "The popcorn is ready. Come take a break and have some popcorn."
Lu Xiaobai put down the basin as he spoke. Although all the people here were grown men and many men did not like snacks, but harvesting corn was so tiring now, he estimated that no one would choose not to eat it, because after all, this was the result of their labor and it was necessary to inspect it.
Sure enough, when he brought the popcorn over, the others were stunned for a moment. Ling Er and Shisan immediately put down the corn in their hands and ran over: "Master, give me a bowl. I'm so tired from peeling it. I must eat this to make up for it."
Hearing Thirteen's words, Zero Two nodded in agreement: "Yes, it needs to be made up."
Lu Xiaobai sat down with his bowl, stuffed a few popcorns into his little mouth, puffed out his cheeks and ate while saying, "It's good to eat, you guys help yourself, I don't have time to serve."
He wants to eat too, his little mouth is so busy.
After hearing this, the others wanted to take a break, so they put down their corn and went to eat popcorn.
Even Ling San, who usually doesn't like to join in the fun, joined the group eating snacks.
He Yu was the only one holding the bowl, looking at the popcorn inside and saying, "I never thought that one day I would end up like this, ah..."
In the past, He Yu thought he was a prince, and everything he ate tasted bland. Even during famines, he was very picky about food. He would not tolerate delicacies from land and sea, but at least he would eat what he liked.
But I didn't expect that after arriving in the countryside, a bowl of popcorn could make me so excited...
After He Qin put away the oil paper bag, he came out and came to Lu Xiaobai with a bowl of water and asked, "Would you like some water?"
"drink."
Lu Xiaobai looked at the bowl that was passed to his mouth, lowered his head and took a sip, then looked up and said to He Qin: "Come, let's eat together."
After hearing what Lu Xiaobai said, Ling Yi and the others were stunned in their eating of popcorn, and suddenly they felt that the food in their hands was not tasty anymore.
The sun was very strong these days, and the corn was peeled and dried at the same time. In half a month, all the corn was dried and stored in the granary.
Everyone has been exhausted in the past half month, and everyone has become stupid.
One morning after finishing his work, Ling San sat on the roof, looking at the rice fields in the distance. Thinking that the rice would be harvested soon, he said in a miserable voice, "It's far less satisfying than killing someone."
The few people in the room immediately agreed.
Lu Xiaobai is still lying in bed sleeping. His belly has been getting bigger and bigger recently. When the weather is hot and he pulls up his clothes to expose his belly, he can occasionally see a small fist or a small footprint on his belly.
This is a normal phenomenon, but Lu Xiaobai was extremely scared, fearing that the little guy in his stomach would kick his belly open and cause it to explode.
Every time the little guy moved, his face would immediately turn pale.
And now, He Qin sat in front of the bed, gently lifted the clothes on Lu Xiaobai's belly, put his big hands on the belly and gently stroked it. After a while, the little fist hit He Qin's hand.
He Qin curled the corners of his mouth, lowered his head and kissed his bulging belly. At this moment, Lu Xiaobai opened his eyes, raised his head slightly and asked, "What are you doing?"
He Qin stood up, helped Lu Xiaobai sit up, and then said, "Kiss our little baby."
Lu Xiaobai's face instantly turned red, and after a while, she pouted again and asked unhappily, "You're so happy that he hasn't been born yet, and you even kissed him. If he's born, will you only love him and not me?"
He Qin was very surprised to hear Lu Xiaobai's words, but for some reason, he was very happy in his heart. He suppressed a smile and said, "How could it be? He is him and you are you. I will love and care for both of them. However, he will always have his own way to go in the future, and he will also have his own people to love. He will eventually leave us. But you are different. You have to accompany me for the rest of my life. This is something no one can replace. So... do you understand the difference?"
After hearing this, Lu Xiaobai slowly nodded and said, "I understand."
No one can replace his position in He Qin's heart, not even a child.
He lowered his head and smiled, and was about to throw himself into He Qin's arms, but when he thought about how inconvenient it would be because of his big belly, he raised his hand and acted coquettishly towards him: "Husband, come and hug me."
He Qin quickly hugged the man in his arms, gently pinched his waist and said, "Don't bother me in broad daylight."
Lu Xiaobai turned his head away, pouted and said dissatisfiedly: "I didn't recruit you, I just asked you to hug me."
He Qin had no choice but to take a deep breath and help Rang put on his shoes and prepare to go have breakfast.
The people outside the door heard every word of what was said. He Yu said helplessly, "Bah, how disgusting!"
When did his serious brother become so gentle and affectionate, and say so many words of love at once?
He Yu was speechless, but didn't dare to say it out loud.
Instead, he went back to his room and started packing. Now that the corn was harvested and packed, he had to leave. He had to go back to the imperial city. He didn't want to stay in this damn place anymore.
He Yu had forgotten that he had promised not to leave for three months. Before even a month had passed, he wanted to run away.
He was thinking of packing up his things first, and as soon as He Qin came out, he would go and resign.
But he never expected that when he packed up his things and ran to the kitchen to find He Qin to resign, He Qin smiled and said, "You promised to leave in three months. Besides, the cotton is ripe. Have a good rest today. We will start picking cotton tomorrow."
He Yu: ...
Lu Xiaobai was eating noodles happily.
He Yu stood at the kitchen door in a daze, his hand holding the bundle trembling slightly.
When Ling Er and Shisan, who were practicing sword skills outside the door, heard the news, their swords almost flew out. Even after they steadied themselves, they just stood there in a daze, their sword hands trembling slightly...
Lu Xiaobai's belly grew bigger, and his small chest also grew a little bigger, which meant that he needed more nutrition, so his food intake naturally increased.
After eating two bowls of noodles, seeing He Yu's face full of despair, he thought for a moment and said, "Don't be sad. The cotton is used to make new clothes. When the cotton is ready, we will make you a new set of clothes."
He Yu: ...
He is a prince, does he look like someone who needs clothes to wear?
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