Chapter 84 Chapter 84 Xiaobao's Knot
Huo Xing did not go out to make money this year, so before winter, he spent most of his time in the mountains. He sold some of the prey he hunted, cooked some of it himself, and salted the leftovers and hung them with bacon and sausages. With more people in his family, he cooked more.
Fu Lingzhi also came back today. It was Fu Lingyou who sent him back. He brought back a lot of supplements and some clothes for the two old people, all from Fu Lingyou.
Miao Ying looked at the things in the yard. In just a few months, their house was almost filled with the gifts sent by Fu Lingyou. Miao Ying whispered to Huo Xing, "Doesn't he look like the kind of unmarried man who sends gifts to other people's homes every day?"
Huo Xing opened his eyes wide and looked at Miao Ying: "Ah? But they are brothers."
Miao Ying patted his face: "He's not my biological child."
Huo Xing was still frozen in place. This incident seemed to have given him quite a shock, causing him to not even dare to look at Fu Lingzhi while having dinner that night.
In the evening, Miao Ying was curious about Fu Lingzhi's recent affairs, so she packed up her bedding and went to sleep with Fu Lingzhi. Huo Xing was still marveling at the improper relationship between Fu Lingzhi and Fu Lingyou, and had not yet realized that he would have to stay alone in the empty room tonight. Looking at Miao Ying who left without looking back with the bedding in his arms, Huo Xing sighed.
Everyone has a gossipy mind. When they woke up the next morning, both of them had dark circles under their eyes, and it was obvious that they had been talking until late at night. Seeing them like this, Li Hongying sent them back to their rooms to go back to sleep. After all, there was nothing to do in winter, so they might as well make up for the sleep.
Huo Xing has been very busy recently. In winter, the villagers are willing to tidy up their houses, repair the beams, and fix the windows. In the past, they had to find someone outside to do the repairs, but this year, with Huo Xing here, they all asked him to come to their houses. Huo Xing is busy from morning to night.
At night, Li Hongying and her grandmother distributed the new clothes they had made this year to the family members, including Fu Lingzhi. The old lady's needlework was very good, and even the smallest thread ends were well hidden.
Miao Ying touched the new clothes and said, "Mom, let's not make clothes next year. Let's buy ready-made clothes. It's bad for your eyes to sew too much."
"It's only going to last a few years," Li Hongying smiled. "I already feel like I'm seeing double."
Miao Ying quickly leaned over to look her in the eye, a little nervous: "Then don't do needlework anymore."
"Then you have to make more clothes for your children. You can't make them yourself, and the ones you buy outside are not good either."
Miao Ying's heart seemed to be gripped by something. Li Hongying saw it and quickly changed the subject.
After entering the twelfth lunar month, time passed very quickly like the wind. They had just finished cooking Laba porridge on Laba Day, and it was about to enter the Little New Year. Before the Little New Year were the birthdays of the two children. This year, Huo Xiaobao turned seven and Xiaolin turned ten, which were integer birthdays. Miao Ying prepared a table full of delicious dishes.
Miao Ying felt a little regretful that he couldn't bake a cake, otherwise he would have made a cake for them to try. What a pity.
On the 21st, the grandmother boiled red eggs for the two children and asked them to squat by a small bridge to eat before going home. The dishes on the table were all the ones they liked, made by Miao Ying, including braised pork, twice-cooked pork, and radish meatballs and bone soup.
Miao Ying didn't buy any birthday gifts. He just gave each of them twenty coins and told them to wait for the peddler to come and buy whatever they wanted. Fu Lingzhi prepared everything, including the four treasures of the study for Huo Xiaobao and a silver bracelet and a hairband for Xiaolin.
Fu Lingzhi helped Xiaolin tie up his hair with a headband: "Little brother, you should dress up well."
Miao Ying also realized that Xiaolin was a little boy after all, and they had to save up a dowry for Xiaolin from now on. This was what they had promised their master.
Everyone enjoyed the dinner very happily. Huo Xiaobao, who felt that he had grown up, helped Miao Ying to clear the table. The others had their own things to do, so Miao Ying taught Huo Xiaobao how to wash dishes in the kitchen.
Huo Xiaobao did not reject it and followed Miao Ying's example to wash dishes with him. Miao Ying had actually always wanted to have a good chat with him, but he had thought he was still young before, and then he had other things to do, so he had put it off until now.
After they washed the dishes, Huo Xiaobao wanted to talk to Xiaolin for a while, but Miao Ying told him to soak his feet first. Huo Xiaobao didn't understand why but still listened to Miao Ying. The two of them each had a basin and sat in a row to soak their feet.
Huo Xiaobao looked at his feet and then at Miao Ying's feet. He knew that his feet had one less toe compared to others, but he always thought it was not a big deal because it did not affect his life at all.
"Xiaobao, do you know why the Master gave you the name Linchuan?"
Huo Xiaobao nodded. "I know. The Master wants me to be open-minded and not be burdened by worldly matters."
Miao Ying smiled and asked: "What are you studying for now?"
Huo Xiaobao raised his head and said, "Of course it's to get the top scorer in the imperial examination and give you a better life."
Miao Ying raised his hand and touched his head: "In fact, there is more to studying than just becoming the top scholar. I asked you to study in the beginning because I wanted you to learn the truth."
"But I want to be the top scholar." Huo Xiaobao's eyes sparkled. "Grandma, Mom, and Big Brother have all worked so hard. I want to do something too."
Miao Ying's smile turned bitter: "Xiaobao, brother wants to tell you something."
Huo Xiaobao looked at him with his eyes wide open: "What?"
"With the condition of your foot, you can't take the top spot in the imperial examination."
Huo Xiaobao stood there in a daze: "W-what?"
"That's the law of the court." Miao Ying thought it would be better to tell the truth than to try to hide it. A short pain is worse than a long one. "Those with disabilities will not be allowed to take the imperial examinations."
Seeing Huo Xiaobao's eyes redden, Miao Ying sat down next to him and said, "From the very beginning, we sent you to school so that you could learn to read and understand things. Whether you can pass the imperial examination or not is not important to us."
Huo Xiaobao's tears fell heavily: "But, but... I also want to do something for my family."
Miao Ying held him gently and said, "Xiaobao, you don't have to take the imperial examination to learn to read and write. Look at Uncle Qin Qiang, he studied and worked as an accountant in a restaurant. Look at Master Ning, he is a young man, he studied and can also teach. Look at me, I also studied for a few days, and I can do a lot of things. So, you don't have to take the imperial examination to learn to read and write."
Huo Xiaobao buried his head in Miao Ying's body, and his tears wet Miao Ying's clothes. Xiaolin heard the noise outside and ran out, only to see Huo Xiaobao hugging Miao Ying and crying.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Xiao Lin stood in front of them, not quite sure what was going on.
Miao Ying did not hide it from him and told him everything.
Xiao Lin knew how hard Huo Xiaobao had tried, and was afraid that he wouldn't be able to accept this for a while, so he leaned over and said, "Don't be sad, Xiaobao."
Huo Xiaobao felt that holding Miao Ying was a bit tiring, so he turned around and hugged Xiao Lin again, and started crying again.
Miao Ying knew that the sooner he told him about this, the better. Otherwise, when he grew up, the idea of taking the top spot in the imperial examination would be deeply rooted in his mind, and it would be a bigger blow to him if he knew about it later. It would be better to know it from a young age so that he would have more time to accept it.
The next day, when Miao Ying woke up, he did not hear Huo Xiaobao reading. He kicked Huo Xing. Huo Xing understood, got dressed and went to ask his grandmother. His grandmother said that Xiaobao was still crying when he fell asleep last night. It was obvious that it was a big blow to him.
It was a rare day for Huo Xiaobao to slack off, and no one urged him to get up. When he got up, everyone in the family had gone out, and only Xiaolin was with him.
He sat next to Xiaolin, his eyes somewhat dull, watching Xiaolin skillfully carving out one pattern after another. Huo Xiaobao felt that he was now the most useless person in the family. As he thought about it, his eyes turned red again.
Xiaolin put down the carving knife in his hand and turned to look at him: "Xiaobao."
"Brother Mu, why do you think so?" Huo Xiaobao wiped his eyes. "It's just a missing toe, it doesn't affect anything. Why can't it be allowed?"
Xiaolin actually didn’t quite understand, but he always felt that adults had their own reasons, although sometimes these reasons were not reasons at all. In short, the adult world was very complicated.
"Just like what Brother Xiaoying said." Xiaomu picked up the carving knife again. "After you study, you can do a lot of things, such as writing letters home, doing accounting, and many more."
Huo Xiaobao was dejected, probably stuck in a rut and unable to think straight for a while. Xiaolin patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's okay, Xiaobao. When we grow up, I can do a lot of carpentry work, and you've read a lot of books. We can support our family together."
Huo Xiaobao curled his lips and said, "But you're going to get married in the future."
"I won't get married." Xiaolin shook her head. "I will never leave home."
"You're lying," Huo Xiaobao said. "I heard it all the other day. Brother is already saving up some dowry for you."
Xiao Lin didn't quite understand why they had to get married when they grew up, but that was probably a long way off. He looked at Huo Xiaobao and said, "Look, we're the same. You can't get the top spot, but I can't stay married."
Huo Xiaobao didn't want this kind of balance, but he didn't know what to do, so he could only sit next to Xiaolin and sigh.
Miao Ying came back after being out for the whole morning, but he didn't find Huo Xiaobao in the yard. He went to the tool room and found Huo Xiaobao asleep with his head resting on Xiaolin's legs. Xiaolin was holding a carving knife in his hand. When he saw Miao Ying, he smiled at him.
Miao Ying did not wake up Huo Xiaobao, but went back to the room to get a piece of clothes and covered Huo Xiaobao with it. He also smiled at Xiaolin.
The winter sun is not warm, but when it shines on people, it gives them a layer of warm yellow light.
Miao Ying looked at the two children sitting together and felt extremely peaceful in his heart.
During the Little New Year, Fu Lingyou came to the house and brought a lot of New Year's goods, which made the grandmother and Li Hongying feel unworthy. They refused to accept the precious medicinal herbs and fabrics. In the end, they only kept some snacks that the children liked and did not take any other valuable things.
Fu Lingyou stayed at home for dinner that day, which made Miao Ying very busy. It was the first time for him to entertain guests, and there were only some simple meals at home. The most interesting thing was the rapeseed oil.
Miao Ying prepared five dishes and one soup, which was the highest standard of hospitality their family could offer. I believe the eldest young master could understand it.
As expected, Fu Lingyou was not dissatisfied and was very easy-going. He even chatted with Huo Xiaobao for a while. Miao Ying didn't know what they talked about, but he could clearly see that Huo Xiaobao was a little happier.
After dinner, Fu Lingyou took Fu Lingzhi away, saying that he would not bring him back during the New Year.
Miao Ying stood at the door to see them off. He didn't know why he felt a little sad, like the sadness of an old father who has married off his daughter. He pouted. Huo Xing stood beside him, not quite understanding: "What's wrong?"
Miao Ying shook his head: "It's okay."
The Chinese New Year was coming soon. This was the third year that Miao Ying had spent in this world. The first year was spent in a hurry, but in the second year they had built a new house and the family's life became better.
The plan for next year is to set up a small stall, do some business, and send Huo Xiaobao to Yunshan Academy.
This year's New Year was no different from the previous ones. If there was any difference, it was that Fu Lingzhi was not here. They felt like something was missing.
After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, the whole family soaked their feet and finally went back to their rooms. They didn't plan to set up a stall tomorrow. Miao Ying and Huo Xing stayed up very late, which was a disguised way of staying up late.
At midnight, the sound of firecrackers rang out one after another. Miao Ying held Huo Xing's face and felt a little hot sweat. He leaned close to Huo Xing's ear and whispered something. Huo Xing froze for a moment, and then his movements became bigger.
Miao Ying vaguely saw a streak of white in the sky. Between opening and closing his eyes, the weather outside the window had changed from the coldest winter to the hot summer.
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