allonlinenovel Chapter 156 His ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke.
Chapter 156 His ancestral graves are emitting auspicious smoke.
The boy turned half his face away awkwardly.
His face was dirty, and Lin Xiaotang couldn't make out his expression, but it wasn't hard to guess that he was frowning like a trapped beast.
She used a handkerchief to wipe the dirt and blood off his face, wetting the handkerchief several times. She also wiped his hands and treated the uninjured parts of his neck and arms.
A basin of clear hot water turned black in the blink of an eye.
Lin Xiaotang saw a fair and handsome face of a young man. His eyes were like morning stars, and his gaze was deep. He seemed to have not completely let his guard down. Despite his injuries and disheveled appearance, he could not hide his extraordinary temperament.
Lin Xiaotang stared blankly for a moment, but quickly recovered and hurriedly carried a basin of water out of the yard, poured it under the tree roots that had already grown green leaves, and then mixed another basin of water to wipe him clean again before she was done.
After finishing her work, the medicine simmering on the fire was almost ready. Her mother went into the kitchen to check on her, and upon smelling the medicine, she couldn't help but run to the yard and gag against the wall. Lin Xiaotang anxiously chased after her, but her mother waved her hand to indicate that she was alright, which put her at ease.
After the fire was extinguished, she poured out a bowl of strong medicine to let it cool before helping the boy drink it.
Perhaps it was because the boy saw the girl, who was a few years younger than him, taking good care of him that he gradually lowered his guard, his body became less tense, and he lost his previous stubbornness.
Remembering that the contract of sale mentioned Xiao Jiu, Lin Xiaotang casually asked, "Your name is Xiao Jiu, right?"
The boy remained silent, neither confirming nor denying.
Lin Xiaotang thought for a moment and said, "Now that we've bought you, we'll definitely be spending every day together from now on. We can't just keep ignoring you by your name. If you don't say anything, then I'll just call you Xiao Jiu."
Xiaojiu?
Why does she feel that this name is a little strange?
Xiao Jiu, Xiao Jiu... Uncle?
Calling him that name is just letting him take advantage of her family for no reason, isn't it?
No, no, we can't call him Xiao Jiu. Buying him back and not treating him like a servant would be an auspicious act.
Before she could come up with a new name to replace his old one, the boy suddenly spoke up.
"Call me Ninth Brother!"
His voice was a little hoarse; it was unclear whether it was from not speaking for too long or from thirst due to not drinking water for too long.
Lin Xiaotang rolled her eyes as she listened to his serious, arrogant boasting.
"You might as well just call me Sister Tang."
After saying that, she turned and left the kitchen, leaving the boy with a somewhat bewildered look in his eyes, staring straight at the kitchen door frame through the light.
Yes, he has nothing now and has been reduced to a servant who is sold and sold by slave traders. What kind of Ninth Brother is he?
He's just Xiao Jiu now!
Xiao Jiu lay straight, gazing at the neatly arranged blue-tiled roof supported by rows of wooden planks.
Actually, as soon as he was sold to Granny Chen, he guessed that he would eventually be bought by someone else. However, he really did not expect that when he was beaten so badly that he could not get up, this father and daughter would not buy him, who was half dead and would have to spend money on medicine, instead of buying a yard full of healthy animals.
The father and daughter brought him back, arranged a place for him to rest, wiped his face and washed his hands, and even brewed and fed him medicine. Although it was a young girl taking care of him, she took exceptionally good care of him.
This family hired him as a servant, and before he had done any work, he was already being taken care of. He didn't even know who the master and servant were.
Thinking of this, a barely perceptible smile flashed across his expressionless face.
Lin Xiaotang went to the small vegetable garden in the yard and picked some scallions and greens. She took out the pork that she hadn't finished cutting yesterday and made two simple dishes, one meat dish and one vegetable dish. The dishes were few but the portions were generous. She also cooked a few bowls of rice.
She was busy with her own things and didn't even glance at Xiao Jiu lying on the ground. Instead, Xiao Jiu, taking advantage of her inattention, squinted and secretly glanced at her twice.
After the rice was cooked and served, Lin Qingchuan was still busy cleaning the raw pig's trotters that had just had their hair singed. Liu took out her sewing basket and tidied up a bunch of cotton thread.
"Dad, Mom, dinner's ready."
As she spoke, she carried the food and placed it on the wooden table in the yard.
"Hey, here we come."
The couple put down what they were doing, led their youngest daughter to wash her hands, and then sat down at the dinner table.
Lin Qingchuan looked up and asked, "Did you serve him a portion?"
Lin Xiaotang suddenly realized that her father was talking about the one lying in the kitchen. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, he won't go hungry. Oh, by the way, the name written on his indenture is Xiao Jiu. From now on, Mom and Dad will call him Jiu'er, just like you call me and Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu will call him Ninth Brother."
The couple nodded, not caring about the name. After all, they hadn't been literate for over twenty years. It wasn't until they started selling braised pig's trotters that Lin Qingchuan seriously began to learn the characters for "Yunlai Restaurant," "Wanhe Restaurant," "Qinghe Town," and "Dushui County." He was also slowly learning the characters on some shop signs, but his vocabulary was still severely lacking. He never thought of buying the person back to change their name.
In the village, people are given names by their elders or parents, and they just pick whatever sounds good. There's even a saying that giving someone a humble name makes it easier for them to raise their child.
Liu smiled and said, "Yes, Jiu'er is a good name, it's auspicious."
Xiaoyu, who was standing to the side, did not know what it meant to buy someone. She thought that her father had bought her an older brother, so she smiled sweetly and said, "Oh, my sister and I have an older brother now."
Lin Xiaotang burst out laughing, finding Xiaoyu adorably silly.
She took a bowl of rice from the kitchen, picked up some vegetables with chopsticks, poured some broth over them, and then carried it back to the kitchen, placing it on the clean floor next to the boy.
"I'll feed you after I finish eating. You'll hurt your wound if you eat by yourself."
After saying that, she went to the yard to eat with her parents and sister, but she obviously ate faster than before. She wasn't naively kind, and she wouldn't put him first in everything just because he was injured, until he had done something for the family. Otherwise, she would spoil him.
After she quickly finished eating and returned to the kitchen, Xiao Jiu lay quietly on the mattress without moving, her eyes expressionless. When she walked to his side and looked down at him, he finally opened his eyes.
Lin Xiaotang helped him sit up with force, and he trembled because the wound must have been aggravated.
She said with some helplessness, "This is my home, not Granny Chen's place. If it hurts, just cry out. It's not shameful. My father and I won't whip you."
Despite the pain from his wound, Xiao Jiu was sweating profusely. He slowly exhaled, stiffly picked up the bowl, and began to eat with his chopsticks.
It was as if personally picking up this bowl of rice was his last vestige of dignity.
Xiao Jiu ate politely, and because he had several bloody whip marks on his arms, his movements were slow, so it took him three times longer than Lin Xiaotang to finish this bowl of rice.
After Xiao Jiu finished eating, Lin Xiaotang cleared away the dishes, washed the pots and pans, tidied up the kitchen, and went out into the yard. Her father had already fetched water and quickly cleaned the raw pig's trotters. They only needed to be rinsed twice more.
Lin Qingchuan looked up and saw it was his eldest daughter. He thought for a moment and then said, "Tang'er, we originally planned to buy a servant to take your father and me to the county to deliver braised pig's trotters. Your father would go back to the village to watch over the turmeric in the fields with your Uncle Shuisheng. But if we buy an injured Xiao Jiu, his wounds won't heal, so he can't accompany you on such a long journey. The turmeric in the fields is growing bigger every day, and your Uncle Shuisheng might not be able to keep an eye on it by himself. How about I prepare a few big pots, put the pig's trotters in them, and you can braise them for two nights. I'll have your mother keep an eye on the time, and I'll go back to the village to watch the fields with your Uncle Shuisheng. We'll be back before dawn."