Chapter 82 What's wrong with my brother?
The three men dismounted at the city gate.
Amid the crisp sound of horse hooves, there are also sparse camel bells and the accented conversations of local people.
The wind and sand were blowing in from outside the city. Xingxing's face had been carefully covered with a thick layer of cloth by her brother, but she still couldn't avoid squinting because of the wind that contained fine sand.
This is a desolate city.
Walking in on horseback, what we saw were dilapidated and collapsed houses, people wearing very little and with fierce looks in their eyes, and "weapons" in everyone's hands and on their backs.
Xingxing's first impression of the people in this city was completely different from that of the people in Kyoto and other places.
The people here have a very peculiar temperament.
Like a bunch of tough thorny bushes, in order to survive, they can choose not to bloom beautiful flowers, and replace soft and harmless leaves with fine and sharp thorns. All their roots are firmly rooted in the ground, and very few sufferings can truly destroy or bury them, whether it is wind, sand or sun.
A very special kind of vitality, full of sharp tenacity.
However, all this toughness and sharpness turned into a gentle and intimate smile when he saw Wei Jinan leading the horse.
They called Wei Jinan "Little General Wei". They asked who the child next to Wei Jinan was, expressed their sympathy for his long journey, and some even stuffed steaming hot cakes into his arms.
Wei Jinan also changed his arrogance and pride in Kyoto. He rejected these good intentions with a stern face and walked straight to the general's mansion in Zhenyang Pass with Xingxing and Xiaowu.
The general's mansion was also dilapidated.
Even the weeds in the crack of the door had no motivation to grow. They lay limp and tilted, with the tips of their leaves turning yellow from lack of water.
"This is where my father and I are staying temporarily." Wei Jinan tied up the horse and said to the two kids, "But we are busy with military affairs and have hardly come back to stay for a few days, so we don't have anyone to clean the house for a long time. I will buy the courtyard next door later, and you will live next to the general's mansion. You have to cover your face all day to resist the wind and sand here, so just be careful and no one will discover your identities."
Even if the emperor sent people to keep an eye on this dilapidated general's mansion and the Wei father and son in the military camp, it would not matter. No one was allowed to leave the military camp without being summoned, and no one could come and go easily in Zhenyang Pass. Everyone coming and going would be recorded in a book, which would prevent mistakes to the greatest extent.
Afterwards, Wei Jinan told the two children in detail some daily details of life in Zhenyang Pass, and reminded them that water is rare here and they must not waste it.
Xiaowu took everything he said seriously to heart.
When Wei Jinan felt that he had settled them and was ready to leave at night, Xiao Wu hesitated for a moment, but still asked: "Can I go to the military camp with you?"
Facing Wei Jinan's inquiring gaze, Xiaowu held his brother's hand, took a deep breath, and said seriously: "I am naturally very strong. I want to join the military camp, practice martial arts and kill the enemy, so that I can be able to resist the enemy and make military achievements in the future."
"Boy, you are only eight years old."
Wei Jinan stared at Xiaowu's dark eyes and said matter-of-factly, "Do you know that at your age and height, you will only be trampled into pieces by the galloping horses on the battlefield?"
He held the rough whip in his hand, tapped Xiaowu's tender shoulder, and sneered: "Don't be too ambitious. Wait until you can climb onto the horse's back by yourself before talking about this."
Feeling the force and weight of the whip falling on his shoulder, Xiaowu frowned and said nothing.
He was actually very clear that he was indeed a little impatient.
But... everything he had seen and heard along the way, those tragedies that he was powerless to prevent or change, and the lives that were lost after being alive, all kept appearing in front of his eyes and in his mind.
He wanted to do something, even if he couldn't change it immediately, he wanted to do something instead of waiting helplessly for growth.
But Wei Jinan easily suppressed all his impetuous emotions with just one sentence and the whip in his hand.
"I'll find you a martial arts master. You can practice with him first. When you become really good at martial arts, even if you don't want to join the army, I will still recruit you."
Wei Jinan made a promise, which gave the anxious Xiaowu some peace of mind.
Xiaowu, whose shoulder was pressed by the whip, immediately stopped talking.
Immediately afterwards, Wei Jinan looked at Xingxing who had been quietly acting as a tool.
This is his younger brother.
My dearest one, my blood relative, is my uncle’s only remaining cub in this world.
The relevant words flashed through my mind quickly, and my emotions also rose, so I asked without thinking: "Xingxing, do you want to go to the military camp with me?"
The stars looked up blankly.
The ball is confused and glowing.
Xiaowu hid his younger brother behind him as if he was guarding against a thief, staring at Wei Jinan with his eyes clearly visible in black and white.
Wei Jinan: “…”
Well, as the saying goes, "birds of a feather flock together." After spending too long with a little fool and a little idiot, his brain seems to have become a little stupid as well.
Shaking his head with amusement, Wei Jinan pulled his younger brother out from behind Xiaowu, rubbed the top of the kid's head with his palm, squatted on the ground and said to him: "Be good and take medicine to take care of your body. When the military camp is on break in a few days, I will bring your uncle back to see you. When I have time in the future, your brother will take you to the desert to play horse racing. If you miss me, tell Uncle Li and he can help send a message to the military camp. And..."
Uncle Li was a soldier who had survived the battlefield. He had a broken arm and a lame leg. Wei Jinan gave him money and hired him to come here to take care of the two children. He also hired a cook. This was why Xiaowu dared to leave Xingxing and said that he was going to the military camp.
After giving detailed instructions again and again, the young man, who always prided himself on being free and easy, looked at the bright moon in the sky and was stunned for a moment when he walked out of the dilapidated courtyard. He probably didn't expect that there would be such a nagging day for him.
But there's nothing I can do about it, because I have such a well-behaved and silly brother.
My younger brother is in poor health and has to take medicine every day.
Even adults would find a mouthful of medicine too bitter to stomach, but Xingxing was only three years old. All the way from Kyoto to the border, Wei Jinan watched him take medicine every time, but he never showed any reluctance.
He never complained about the bitterness and even shared the candied fruits he used to reduce the taste with his two brothers.
Xingxing only ate a few of the candied fruits in the bag, and the rest were almost all divided up by Wei Jinan and Xiaowu.
It’s not that they don’t feel sorry for their younger brother, but that he is too cunning.
They always find the right opportunity to give them candied fruits. If they don't eat them, the children who never complain about the bitterness of taking medicine will immediately have red eyes and look at them with pouty mouths and tears in their eyes.
Who can bear this...
"Dad, let me tell you, Xingxing is good in every way, except for one thing!" The boy, who came up to his father and chattered as soon as he returned to the military camp, was so happy when he talked about his younger brother that he almost wanted to put him in his pocket. Now he would directly hold him out to show off to his father.
Wei Fengyan couldn't bear to see his son jumping around like an immature boy, but he was really curious about what his brother's son was like, so he could only frown and force Wei Jinan to stand at attention and not stop talking.
"Tell me, what's wrong with your brother?" He wanted to hear what this kid could say.
Wei Jinan coughed lightly and managed to be more serious, but his tone was still vague, "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just... too well-behaved."
Before his father could express his doubt, he quickly continued, "She's very obedient and clingy, anyway... just like my sister, Dad, do you understand? My sister was very clingy when she was little, she would cry if she didn't agree with anything, and she was in poor health all year round... Xingxing is similar, but she doesn't really cry when she cries, and she doesn't need to be coaxed, hugged, or have sweet water or cakes to drink when she takes medicine like my sister does."
Wei Jinan tried to compare his sister when she was little and Xingxing now. Finally, his tone faded a little bit and he said softly, "Xingxing is so well behaved. If he was born in our family, he would definitely be raised to be as cute and delicate as his sister. He would not be like this now. When he drinks medicine, he does not even frown, as if he cannot taste the bitterness at all."
He remembered that he was surprised when he first saw Xingxing drinking medicine. Later, when Xiaowu was washing the medicine bowl for Xingxing, he said in a nonchalant tone: "Medicine is very expensive. When we were beggars, we envied others for drinking a sip of clean water, let alone a bowl of steaming hot medicine. No matter how bitter this medicine is, it is not as bitter as the days when we were hungry and kneeling in the snow to kowtow to others to beg for half a piece of wheat cake."
Xiaowu said that taking medicine is something only rich people would do.
So every time Xingxing finished drinking the bottom of the bowl of medicine, Xiaowu would habitually pour it into his own mouth, and only wash it after he had finished it.
Wei Jinan tried to stop him, saying that medicine is three-quarters poison, but Xiaowu didn't listen. He knew that it was a very expensive tonic, so even if the family had money, he couldn't bear to throw it away.
"Dad, grandma is right. Our family owes Xingxing too much." Wei Jinan said in a deep tone.
If Xingxing had not been born in their Wei family, he would not have been lost accidentally, would not have become a little beggar, and would not have had to bear the crisis of the Wei family after being recognized. At a young age, he was forced to live in a frontier battlefield from the prosperous and stable Kyoto, where his life was in danger at any time and his future was even more uncertain.
Wei Fengyan listened quietly. After his son had told him in detail about his experiences and thoughts along the way, as well as the placement of the two children in Zhenyang Pass, he raised his hand and patted his son's still tender shoulders, saying in a deep voice: "It's better to do more than think too much."
It's too late to talk about regret, guilt and self-blame. Wei Fengyan has eaten decades more than Wei Jinan, so he naturally knows that the present and the future are far more important than the past.
"That child is only three years old. As long as our Wei family survives and as long as there are still people in our Wei family who are alive and breathing, we will never let anyone harm him."
"Even if my Wei family encounters a disaster one day, as long as he is at the border, we can arrange a way out for him and will never let the disaster involve him."
This is real protection, not just two casual words spoken from the mouth.
Hearing his father's words, Wei Jinan regained his spirits. He took a deep breath, picked up his weapon, and walked out, saying, "It's up to you, but I've already told Xingxing that you have to go back in person to visit him in two days. Now that he's here, you, as his uncle, should give him a gift, right?"
Wei Jinan was not afraid that his father would dislike Xingxing, but he was afraid that he would like him too much, just like he was hypocritical at home.
To him, he is a rebellious son who never lives up to his expectations.
To my sister, I treat her like my precious daughter whom I hold in my hands and am afraid of breaking.
Xingxing is not his sister, but Wei Jinan is as double-standard as his father. He thinks Xingxing is the best star in the world.
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