Lu Gu didn’t linger, not wanting to delay the harvest. Upon returning home, the first thing he did was check on the children. These days, the weather wasn’t cold during the day, so little Lingjun was covered with a thin blanket. Even so, his cheeks were still flushed from sleep.
Compared to a month ago, little Lingjun had clearly grown, at least a bit heavier to hold, and not as fragile. The child often slept indoors and rarely saw the sun, leaving him fair, soft, and clean. The faint red mark between his brows made him even more beautiful. Everyone who saw him praised his delicate, lovely looks, let alone Lu Gu and Shen Xuanqing, who doted on him as if he were the most precious treasure.
Lu Gu tiptoed out and closed the door quietly. In the yard, Wei Lanxiang was holding the newly awakened Zhao’er to help him relieve himself.
Zhao’er had just woken up, his eyes still dazed as he rubbed them with chubby little hands. It wasn’t until Lu Gu teased him that he finally laughed.
After playing for a bit, Zhao’er finally urinated. Wei Lanxiang exclaimed, "Goodness, such a long stream! This one’s definitely going to be a troublemaker who gets spanked in the future."
Lu Gu didn’t quite see the connection between urinating far and getting spanked. He pondered it briefly but couldn’t figure it out. Just as he was about to ask, he heard little Lingjun crying in the room and hurried inside.
The harvested rice was spread out in the wide courtyard of the main house to dry. Under the sun, the golden grains brought smiles to everyone’s faces. They wouldn’t have to worry about winter this year.
Early in the morning, Shen Yaoqing and the others flattened the rice piles that had been rolled up the night before. Shen Xuanqing and Lu Gu loaded rabbits and eight chickens and ducks onto the mule cart to deliver to the brothel and Yang Xian’s tavern in Jixing Town.
Now that they had a mule cart, not only did it spare them the exhaustion of traveling on foot, but the mule’s speed also meant they could return in just half a day.
Shen Xuanqing hadn’t gone hunting in the mountains for over two months. At first, he wanted to stay home for Lu Gu’s childbirth, and later, farm work kept him busy. Fortunately, money wasn’t an issue now - selling rabbits earned enough for daily expenses, so he wasn’t in a hurry. Besides, from spring until now, over half a year, he had already earned nearly two hundred taels of silver.
Among the difficult-to-hunt beasts, sika deer were the most valuable. His skills had grown sharper, and hunting was no challenge, every trip into the mountains yielded results, though the value of the prey varied. Sometimes luck wasn’t on his side, so even if he tracked game, if other animals or birds startled the cautious prey, or if terrain, grass, or trees got in the way, the hunt would fail.
On days when he didn’t catch anything valuable, he’d at least shoot a few mountain birds or rabbits to sell for dozens or even a hundred copper coins.
Once, while delivering rabbits to the brothel, Luo Biao even helped him land a side job. A bird-loving patron wanted to buy a pair of blue-headed, colorful-tailed mountain birds, male and female. The price was decent, five taels for a pair.
Compared to the thirty or forty taels from selling deer, five taels might not seem like much, but for commoners, very few earned five taels a month. Shen Xuanqing, who often roamed the mountains, had a rough idea of where to find such birds. That time, he ventured deep into the mountains but had bad luck. While tracking a mountain antelope, he stumbled upon wolf tracks. Even the dogs grew restless. Being cautious by nature, he knew confronting wild beasts in the mountains was extremely dangerous, especially against a large pack. So he retreated with the dogs and set up bird nets on another mountain instead. After a few days, he actually managed to catch a pair of blue-headed mountain birds.
With ample grain at home and only a few hands to work, they wouldn’t need to buy more land for the next few years. The money they had could be saved, stored in a large pouch at the bottom of a chest filled with silver ingots of various sizes. Every glance at it brought a deep sense of security and satisfaction.
"Should I not save lunch for you?" Lu Gu secured the chicken coop door and stood by the mule cart, watching Shen Xuanqing arrange the cages. Whenever he went to Jixing Town, if it was noon, his master and shimu would insist on him staying for a meal.
This time, Shen Xuanqing also had to deliver a bag of dried wild tea to Old Man Yang. He replied, "Mm, no need. You all go ahead and eat."
Once everything was ready, he climbed onto the cart and smiled. "I’m off."
"Mm." Lu Gu’s eyes curved with a smile. After the cart had gone, he hurried back to the old house. When he left, Lingjun had still been asleep, with Shen Yan watching him. He guessed the child would be awake by now.
Sure enough, as soon as he returned, he heard Shen Yan coaxing the child in the room. Since Lingjun was usually held by him, Shen Yan hadn’t managed to calm him down yet, he was still crying.
"Brother Guzi." Shen Yan sighed in relief when he entered.
Lu Gu took the child, patting and soothing him until he quieted down.
Shen Yan had already prepared a milk fruit outside and handed it to him, saying, "If you hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have known what to do."
"I came back as soon as your second brother left." Lu Gu smiled and sat by the bed to feed the child. Little Lingjun’s big, dark eyes blinked, his tiny hands pawing before his soft little palm rested on Lu Gu’s hand holding the milk fruit—clearly, he already knew what his food was.
After finishing one milk fruit, he even smiled at Lu Gu.
Their little shuang'er had smiled before, but Lu Gu still couldn’t help himself, his heart bloomed with joy like tiny flowers unfurling. Little Lingjun’s smile was truly beautiful.
"How can there be such a pretty baby?" he murmured to Lingjun, unable to contain his delight, his eyes brimming with happiness. Setting aside the empty milk fruit, he picked up Lingjun and couldn’t resist kissing his soft, milky cheek - fragrant, fair, and tender.
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