The next morning, Zhao Moyan and Chen Chong left their room at the same time, both looking at each other without speaking. Chen Chong went hunting in the mountains as usual, while Zhao Moyan went to practice swordsmanship in the bamboo forest. Tangyuan and Xiaoju also woke up and, seeing that Tianyu was still asleep, quietly got dressed without disturbing her. The two ran to the yard and fed all the animals. Li Yong woke up and started yelling about where everyone was, but Tangyuan shushed him, telling him to be quiet and not wake his mother.
When Tian Yu woke up, she saw the sun and it was probably around eight or nine o'clock. She went to the yard, where Chen Chong was chopping wood. Seeing her, he said it was still early and she could sleep a little longer. Li Yong squatted opposite Chen Chong, watching his every move. When he saw Tian Yu, he still called her "Sister-in-law." Tian Yu rolled her eyes, not wanting to talk to him. She turned to go to the living room and saw Zhao Moyan engrossed in a book he'd found somewhere. Tian Yu sighed and turned to go to the kitchen. Luckily, Tangyuan and Xiaoju came running with Maorong, asking when they could eat. They were so hungry! Tian Yu remembered that everyone hadn't eaten much last night, so they must be hungry now. Looking at the three useless people outside, Tian Yu shook her head and took Tangyuan and Xiaoju to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
She cooked a pot of rice porridge, heated up the leftover steamed buns, boiled a few salted duck eggs, and then took some vegetables she bought yesterday, washed and chopped them, and stewed them with the eggs to make an egg custard. She also added some pickled garlic sprouts. After washing the two children's hands and sitting them down to eat, Tian Yu called Chen Chong to sit down and eat as well. Li Yong, however, didn't stand on ceremony and washed his hands and sat down opposite Chen Chong to eat, still staring intently at Chen Chong. Chen Chong ignored him and ate his own food, picking up dishes from the table for Tangyuan and Xiaoju. Tian Yu nudged Li Yong, telling him to go call Zhao Moyan, but Li Yong readily said, "Tangyuan, go call your dad to eat."
Tangyuan looked at Tianyu with a puzzled expression, clearly not yet used to having a father who had suddenly appeared. He slowly got up to call Zhao Moyan, but Tianyu angrily said to Li Yong, "I told you to call him, why are you calling Tangyuan?" He held Tangyuan down and told him to continue eating, so Li Yong shouted at the top of his lungs, "Big brother, sister-in-law is calling you to come eat."
Tian Yu felt she was about to be killed by Li Yong, so she looked at Chen Chong and smiled, saying, "Never mind him, let's eat." As she spoke, she put some vegetables on Chen Chong's plate for Tangyuan and Xiaoju, and handed them steamed buns. Li Yong also reached out for some, but Tian Yu rolled her eyes and told him to take it himself. He didn't stand on ceremony, muttering complaints under his breath, and kept stuffing food into his mouth. Zhao Moyan calmly sat down opposite Tian Yu, watched as everyone picked up their bowls of rice and ate a few elegant bites, then put down his chopsticks and left.
After everyone finished eating, Tangyuan and Chen Chong went to practice archery, with Xiaoju and Maorong following behind to watch. Tianyu was clearing away the dishes when she saw the half-eaten bowl of rice porridge left in Zhao Moyan's bowl and muttered, "What a waste! Don't you know that wasting food is a shameful thing to do!"
Li Yong didn't stand on ceremony and picked up the bowl, pouring the contents into his own bowl, saying, "It's alright, if my brother doesn't eat it, I will. It won't be a waste. My brother is used to eating little in the morning, so he definitely can't finish this bowl."
"Habit? Does being a habit mean you can waste food?"
"Don't worry, I've never wasted a single thing," Li Yong said with a smile as he finished the rest of the food on the table. Wiping his mouth, he asked Tian Yu, "Sister-in-law, what are we having for lunch?"
"Aren't you leaving?" Tian Yu thought they should have gone back today, since they were all generals and must have things to take care of in the camp.
"My older brother didn't say, so he probably won't leave. After all, he just found out he had a son, so he should stay for a couple more days."
After washing the dishes, Tian Yu thought about how there were two more mouths to feed, and that she was going to host a banquet the day after tomorrow. She had bought some food, but hadn't prepared it yet. The land on the mountain hadn't been watered, and Tian Yu was worried it would dry out in the hot weather. She looked at Li Yong, her eyes darting around, and thought that she could eat, but she couldn't let him eat and stay for free. She would repay him with her physical labor. Then she asked, "Do you know how to catch fish?"
"Catching fish? Of course I can. When we're on the march or fighting, we don't have much to eat, so we make do with whatever we can find. I'm really good at catching fish."
"That's good. I'll have Tangyuan take you to the river in the village later. Catch a lot of fish, make sure they're alive, and we'll have fish for lunch."
“Alright, I’ll take care of it. I’ll go alone. What will he do?” Li Yong asked, pointing to Chen Chong outside.
“He has other things to do, so you don’t need to worry about him. Just take good care of Tangyuan and Xiaoju.”
“Okay, it’s getting late then, how about we go now?” Li Yong said excitedly.
Tian Yu asked Tangyuan and Xiaoju to take Li Yong to the pond where they had caught fish last time. She gave them buckets and baskets, and the three of them set off. Mao Rong, excited, had already disappeared from sight. Turning back, she discussed with Chen Chong about finding an oxcart in the village to water the plants first. Chen Chong went ahead to borrow the oxcart. Tian Yu thought for a moment, then went to the living room and said to Zhao Moyan, who was still reading, "Tangyuan and Li Yong went to the river to catch fish. Chen Chong and I are going to the mountain to water the plants too. Someone should be delivering furniture later, so why don't you stay home and wait?"
Zhao Moyan didn't put down his book; he just looked up at Tian Yu. Tian Yu, flustered by his gaze, thought he didn't want to help and changed her words, saying, "If... if you don't want to, then... never mind."
"You stay here, I'll go water the plants."
"ah?"
"I'll go water the plants; you stay home and wait."
"Okay," she said, though she felt uneasy, she reluctantly agreed. Seeing that the book he was holding looked familiar, she walked over and picked it up. Sure enough, it was a collection of ancient poems she had written for Tangyuan. Looking up at Zhao Moyan, she asked:
How did this book end up with you?
"I saw Tangyuan reading a book this morning, so I asked him for it."
Tian Yu's handwriting was poor, and it was mostly written in the style of modern men. She was puzzled that Zhao Moyan could understand it, and had spent the whole morning looking at it.
"Can you understand it?"
"Not bad. Did you write this?"
"Yes, no, I wrote the words, but I didn't write the poem."
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