Xia Jingxing picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of fragrant braised meat, and savored it: "I really love alcohol. You're a true friend."
The wine in town wasn't particularly rare, but their status made it inappropriate for them to go to town.
Gao Shujing didn't like alcohol; for him, baijiu was more of a condiment.
Of course, he would occasionally bring some wine to the people in the cowshed, but it was always hidden away by the elders. Xia Jingxing rarely drank wine throughout the year.
Therefore, wine was indeed a rare commodity for Xia Jingxing.
Wei Han took out wine and poured a bowl for each of them.
Xia Jingxing picked up his wine and took a sip, then ate a bite of braised meat. He thought that there was a reason why some people liked to drink. A sip of wine and a bite of meat—even the gods wouldn't trade this kind of life for it.
Xia Jingxing: "Eating braised meat with wine is really satisfying; the more you eat, the more you want to eat."
Wei Hanjie: "This braised meat was made by Duolu and his younger brothers. Little Duole was pressing water on the side. I wanted to help him press it, but the little brat refused, saying that he should do his own thing and not help me."
"Heh, it's so small, even the hand pump is taller than it, and the little guy talks a lot of nonsense."
Xia Jingxing enjoyed his meat and wine while listening to his new brother praising his nephew in various ways.
Xia Jingxing shook his head and replied in a moment, "You don't understand. Children have to be taught from a young age. Ru Jia is the most experienced in teaching children. Just look at how capable Duofu and the others are now."
Wei Han followed up with praise: "Yes, Yu Zhiqing really knows how to raise children. Duofu is very good at repairing things; Duoxi has only been in elementary school for two years, but he does housework better and more efficiently than I do; Duoji is good at washing vegetables."
Xia Jingxing was so happy that his eyebrows relaxed, thinking that this new brother was knowledgeable.
Xia Jingxing nodded matter-of-factly: "They are all good kids; Duoshou is also very capable. He has inherited Rujia's true teachings and his medical skills are top-notch. He will definitely become a medical master as powerful as Rujia in the future."
Thinking about how Duoshou had modified his own medicine, Wei Han felt a pang of heartache and said, "Yes, Duoshou's medical skills are indeed amazing."
Hearing this, Xia Jingxing felt something was wrong. Duoshou was so good, why didn't his new brother say more praise for him?
Xia Jingxing: "You don't really like longevity?"
Wei Han said with a bitter face, "It's not that I don't like it, it's that I have a psychological trauma about Duoshou."
Xia Jingxing pressed on curiously, "What psychological trauma? What did Duoshou do to you?"
After being pressed for answers several times, Wei Han realized he could no longer hide the truth and had no choice but to confess his shameful secret.
Wei Hanjie: "You know I was injured before the Lunar New Year. Yu Zhiqing took care of me a few days ago, with Duoshou assisting."
"Not long after, Yu Zhiqing suggested that Duoshou be solely responsible for my health. I found Duoshou to be steady and skilled in medicine, so I agreed."
Xia Jingxing: "What's wrong? Is it because Duoshou's skills aren't up to par and he's making you suffer?"
“I have to say something to you about this. How old is he? He’s not even nine years old yet. If he does something wrong, just tell him. You can’t hold a grudge against a child.”
Duoshou needs test subjects to grow. With Rujia around, even if Duoshou really makes a mistake, Rujia can save him. How can his new brother be so insensible?
Fortunately, it was nighttime, and the dim light made it impossible to see Xia Jingxing's disgusted expression. However, Wei Hanjie was also speechless by his words. Was he such a petty person?
Wei Han corrected, "It's not what you think. Duo Shou's medical skills are fine. It's just that I couldn't do anything at the time, so Captain Li sent his son, Li Guodong, to help me cook."
"The meat he cooked was particularly awful; it was so tough you couldn't even bite into it, and it tasted fishy. I gently advised him not to cook meat and to cook vegetables instead; but Li Guodong wouldn't listen, saying he wanted to listen to Captain Li and give me more nourishment, so he cooked meat every day."
“I thought I would suffer a lot if things continued like this, so I wanted to let Duoshou understand my situation and ask him to put in a good word for me. So I invited him to eat a bite of the meat that Li Guodong had made.”
"Duoshou was so shocked that he ran out and vomited on the spot. When he came back, he changed my medicine. The new medicine he made was extremely bitter, but it melted in my mouth."
"I can't even drink some water to wash the pill down my throat before it dissolves. If I don't eat anything else, the bitter taste will just stay in my mouth."
Hearing this, Xia Jingxing chuckled: "You deserve it. You know what Duoshou usually eats. How did you have the courage to give Duoshou meat that you can't even eat? How long has Duoshou been messing with you?"
Wei Hanjie held up one finger: "I took that medicine for a whole week, three meals a day; and that wasn't enough, Duoshou also had Li Guodong prepare more meat for me at every meal and told him to keep an eye on me while I ate it."
“I suffered more in that week than I had in the previous ten years combined; ever since then, I can’t help but tremble whenever I see Duo Shou, for fear that I might have done something wrong and offended him again.”
After eating Li Guodong's meat, he didn't dare to eat meat for half a month and ate vegetarian food every day.
Only when he was almost fully recovered and asked Dorje to teach him cooking did he start eating meat again.
Xia Jingxing offered a carefree reassurance: "Don't worry, Duoshou is a good person and doesn't easily drug people."
Wei Hanjie retorted, "Your definition of 'good' for this person is a bit too broad."
Xia Jingxing and Wei Han both went home separately. Xia Jingfan sniffed his younger brother all over. Anyone who saw this scene could guess where Duolu's dog-like nose came from.
Xia Jingfan: "You ate hot pot and braised meat today. I'll leave the braised meat aside, but where did you eat the hot pot?"
Xia Jingxing usually brings home some roasted meat when he goes into the mountains for a treat. Today, not only did he not bring any roasted meat, but he also smells strongly of cooking pots and pans. Something's definitely wrong.
Xia Jingxing tried to evade the question: "There wasn't a pot, I just ate something..."
Before he could finish speaking, his older brother's gaze changed. The way he looked at Xia Jingxing now was the same as how Duolu had made a mistake and how Duoshou had looked at him, as if he could see right through him and understand all his thoughts.
Xia Jingxing, whose personality was similar to Duolu's, unconsciously spoke the truth.
This has stirred up a hornet's nest.
If they had known that the Xia family had always kept a low profile here, avoiding contact with outsiders whenever possible, they would never have imagined that Xia Jingxing would secretly contact Wei Hanjie. Wasn't that just courting death?
Xia Jingxing lived for over twenty years, and apart from the one or two weeks when the Xia family had their accident, he basically didn't suffer much.
Even after being demoted to Shangfen Brigade, with the support of Yu Rujia and others, he still lived a much more comfortable life than the three bigwigs of Shangfen Brigade.
After learning martial arts, he often went up the mountain to enjoy a feast.
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