Interestingly, Pei Han came in afterward.
As soon as he returned, he couldn't help but laugh and said to Min Yueqing, "This time, all the officers and soldiers of the patrol office know that our little Wei is not afraid of the cold. In this kind of weather, it actually went straight to the stream to bathe, which scared the soldiers on the stream so much that they dared not move and all stood there watching little Wei bathe."
Min Yueqing was drying Xiao Wei with a large cloth when she heard this. She smiled and ruffled Xiao Wei's big head twice with the cloth. "Naughty! Next time, go wash in a place further away. Don't scare people, okay?"
Xiao Wei stared at Min Yueqing with his big, innocent eyes, looking incredibly cute. He even nuzzled Min Yueqing's hand with his freshly dried head.
Pei Han sat down next to Min Yueqing, who turned to ask, "Have you eaten?"
"I ate. I was discussing matters with Wu Dazhuang and the others, so I ate with them."
Min Yueqing nodded, then pointed to the mat and gestured for Xiao Wei to lie down.
As expected, Xiao Wei obediently lay down on the mat. Min Yueqing positioned it on its back and wiped the water off its belly.
Although tigers aren't afraid of the cold, it was still nighttime, and Min Yueqing was worried about it sleeping all wet, so she wiped its entire body dry.
That night, Xiao Wei was the most excited of all, as it was the first time it had the privilege of sleeping with the whole family. It was a pity it was so afraid of the heat, otherwise it would have immediately crawled into Min Yueqing's bed.
Pei Ji lay half-lying on Min Yueqing's body, and when he turned his head, he could see Min Yueqing's big black and white head next to the pillow, which he found very novel.
Seeing Xiao Wei lying alone outside the blanket, Pei Ji asked Min Yueqing with some concern, "Mother, doesn't Xiao Wei need to be covered with a blanket?"
Min Yueqing laughed and said, "No need, tigers are very resistant to the cold. Even if they sleep in the snow and ice, they don't feel cold. Look at Xiao Wei, he still takes cold showers in winter, doesn't he?"
Pei Ji thought about it and realized it was true. After all, Xiao Wei had just come back all wet and didn't seem to feel cold.
"Yes, Wei is really amazing!" Pei Ji exclaimed with admiration.
When Pei Ji turned her gaze to Xiao Wei again, she quickly found a new topic, "Mother, Xiao Wei's eyes are especially bright at night, brighter than an oil lamp."
Pei Han, who had been resting with his eyes closed, looked at Pei Ji and smiled when he heard this, saying, "It's not just tigers whose eyes are bright at night; cats and dogs are the same. You should pay attention to them in the future."
Pei Ji hadn't noticed this before, and he immediately asked Min Yueqing for confirmation, "Mother, is that really true?"
Min Yueqing kept everyone in suspense, saying, "There are quite a few families that keep cats and dogs. You'll find out if you observe carefully next time."
Pei Ji assumed that Min Yueqing was unaware of this, and a sense of responsibility suddenly arose in his small chest. He whispered in Min Yueqing's ear, "Okay, Mother, I'll tell you when I see it."
A smile involuntarily appeared on Min Yueqing's lips. "Alright, then this task is yours."
Pei Han looked at his wife and children with a smile as well.
Despite the freezing cold of winter, Min Yueqing felt warm all night long.
The reason is simple: she had a large hand warmer on her left side, the high-end, constant-temperature kind; and a small hand warmer on her right side. This hand warmer, though small, was a close-fitting type, nestled in her arms, soft and warm.
Pei Ji also felt very warm, because Min Yueqing had been holding him on his left all night, and Pei Han on his right was helping to keep him from the cold.
In the days that followed, the group had to get up early every day to continue their journey.
At first, things were relatively peaceful. After leaving Sanping County, scouts would occasionally spot traces of bandits. Whenever this happened, the soldiers would be extremely excited, because they would gain something for every bandit gang they wiped out.
On their luckiest occasion, they not only seized a considerable amount of valuables but also some alcohol. The soldiers were thrilled, as they rarely had any to drink.
Since there wasn't much wine, it was only enough to fill the bottom of each person's bowl. Pei Han distributed all the captured wine that very night, and the soldiers were all overjoyed.
The soldiers were all native to the southwest and were quite familiar with the conditions in these mountains. Therefore, they traveled along relatively safe mountain paths, effectively avoiding areas with heavy miasma.
Before they knew it, it was Min Yueqing's birthday. Early in the morning, Pei Han took out the jade hairpin that he had carved himself.
Pei Han said to Min Yueqing with great sincerity, "Madam, today is your birthday, but we have been traveling all day. I'm sorry you had to go through all this trouble. This jade hairpin is a small token of my apology. I will give you the rest when we get to Maocheng. I wish you peace and happiness every year and no worries every day."
Min Yueqing smiled and accepted the jade hairpin.
Pei Ji leaned over to look, and upon seeing it, his face lit up with delight. "Mother, the hairpin has Xiao Wei on it!"
A smile unconsciously welled up in Min Yueqing's eyes. Wasn't the hairpin carved with a mini version of Wei?
Although the design is small, it is both lifelike and expressive. It would be impossible for someone who is not very familiar with Wei to carve it so vividly.
Min Yueqing smiled and asked Pei Han, "Did you carve it yourself?"
This was a rhetorical question, but Pei Han nodded helplessly nonetheless.
Pei Ji immediately cheered, "Wow, Daddy is so amazing! Not only can he draw Xiao Wei, but he can also carve Xiao Wei out of jade."
As she spoke, Pei Ji threw herself into Pei Han's arms, hugged his arm, and asked, "Father, carving things with jade is so interesting, can you teach me?"
Pei Han looked at his son, who was looking at him expectantly, and chuckled, "Of course, I'll teach you when I have some free time."
Min Yueqing was quite fond of the jade hairpin. She carefully examined the jade tiger carving on the hairpin and compared it with the little tiger lying beside her legs. The more she looked at it, the more she felt that it looked very similar.
Pei Han was delighted to see that Min Yueqing liked the birthday gift he had given her. He pulled Pei Ji to Min Yueqing's side and suggested with a smile, "Madam, shall I help you put it on?"
Min Yueqing readily agreed and handed the jade hairpin to Pei Han.
Pei Han carefully removed the lotus hairpin that Min Yueqing was wearing, then inserted the new jade hairpin into it, and carefully adjusted its position.
Min Yueqing asked with a smile, "How was it?"
Pei Han immediately praised, "It's beautiful."
Pei Ji chimed in, "Mother looks so beautiful wearing this jade hairpin!"
Min Yueqing patted Pei Ji's little head with satisfaction, thinking to herself: As expected of my little darling, he has such good taste at such a young age!
Just then, A-Zhu walked in carrying a bowl of longevity noodles.
Min Yueqing asked in confusion, "Didn't we run out of flour?"
A-Zhu replied with a smile, "This was specially sent by the old man to buy it when we passed through a small town a few days ago."
Min Yueqing smiled and glanced at Pei Han, then asked Azhu, "Did you only make one bowl?"
"I made a huge pot! Everyone had noodles this morning! Miss, please eat it while it's hot. We'll bring in the master's and young master's portions right away."
A moment later, each person had a bowl of noodle soup topped with a poached egg, and the family sat together happily slurping their noodles.
After finishing a hot breakfast, the group continued their journey.
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