Chapter 185
The baby Lingjun was squirming in his swaddling clothes. Lu Gu held him, rocking and patting gently, but his eyes remained fixed on the figure gradually approaching from the distance.
"Let's go back." Shen Xuanqing had been up in the mountains for half a month. Seeing his fulang and son, his eyes brimmed with joy. The mountain path was slippery, so he had been using a long wooden stick for support. Even now that he was downhill, he hadn’t discarded it—instead, he tossed it onto the firewood pile in the yard, where it could at least be burned later.
Lu Gu followed closely behind with a sweet smile on his face.
Shen Xuanqing set down the bamboo basket from his back and hung his longbow on the woodshed wall. When he turned around, he saw Lu Gu carrying the child into the woodshed after him. His smile widened. If not for the filth covering him, he would have embraced his fulang without hesitation.
He went to the kitchen to scoop water for washing his hands and asked with a laugh, "Mother and the others aren’t home?"
"They went over there. They’ll be back soon." Lu Gu, holding the child, couldn’t help much and could only watch from the side. Shen Xuanqing casually poured water for the dogs to drink, they had been running all the way back.
Guaizi, Da Hui, and Da Hei buried their heads in the water, lapping eagerly, their tails wagging a few times. After half a month of hard work in the mountains, they were just as exhausted. Once done drinking, they found a dry spot to lie down, panting and resting, their bellies rising and falling.
"Feed them after they’ve rested." Shen Xuanqing scooped water to wash his face as he spoke.
"Mm, I know." Lu Gu nodded, then noticed his dirty clothes and said, "It’s late today. Tomorrow we’ll heat water so you can have a proper wash."
Late autumn wasn't like summer. After noon, the warmth would fade, and by afternoon, it would be too cold to heat water for a bath or wash hair. Their family was fortunate, they had gathered enough firewood. In winter, when the weather was milder at noon, they could shut the doors and windows tightly, light a brazier, and manage a bath. This was only because they were young. Wei Lanxiang, being older, didn't dare bathe too often. Catching a cold was no small matter, medicine cost money, and if the cold worsened into a severe illness, it could even be life-threatening. Country folk would rather stay dirty than take the risk. After all, if no one bathed, no one could judge another.
Shen Xuanqing was strong and sturdy. During this trip, he had stayed in a rundown thatched hut in the mountains. Sometimes, after hunting, he was too exhausted to heat water and simply wiped himself down with cold water. Naturally, he was happy to have a hot bath at home. After washing his face, he went to the room to change his outer robe, with Lu Gu still following him.
Back in the room, Lu Gu sat by the bed and lifted a corner of the swaddling cloth covering little Lingjun’s face. The child, who had been squirming and fussing from dislike of being covered, immediately brightened up, breaking into a smile.
Hearing his little shuang'er's babbling, Shen Xuanqing’s eyes crinkled with delight. He took Lingjun into his arms, but as soon as the little one left Lu Gu’s embrace, his smile faded, leaving only a blank expression, his big black eyes wide open.
"Did you miss your father?" Shen Xuanqing didn’t mind, cheerfully voicing his own longing. The child had only been two months old when he left for the mountains, and he had often missed him during his time away. The child had only been two months old when he left for the mountains, and he had often thought about him during his time away. That morning, before coming down, he had even shaved off his stubble by the river, so now he felt no hesitation - he kissed little Lingjun's cheeks several times.
The baby was so young and had been apart from him for half a month, so he was even a bit unfamiliar with his own father. After being kissed, his mouth puckered up, signaling an impending cry.
A crying child was a big deal - not just shedding tears, but risking harm from excessive wailing. Worse still, it would be embarrassing for a father to make his son cry the moment he returned. Seeing the warning signs, Shen Xuanqing quickly handed him back to Lu Gu.
Lu Gu cradled little Lingjun, soothing him with a few pats. After a couple of whimpers, the child smacked his lips and stopped crying, his mood shifting swiftly.
Shen Xuanqing sat beside them, laughing. "Really, giving me no face at all."
"He’ll warm up to you in a couple of days." Lu Gu smiled faintly.
"This time, I didn’t get many fox furs, only eight good-quality red fox furs and six of average condition. They should sell for a little over a hundred taels." Shen Xuanqing sat on the edge of the bed to rest his feet while chatting with Lu Gu.
This year, he hadn’t managed to hunt any rare silver or white foxes. Luck couldn’t be good every year.
"That’s still good." Lu Gu remained smiling. Though it was less than previous years, a hundred taels was nothing to scoff at. Hunting was no easy task, and this was plenty.
"There’s been a lot of rain this year, and the weather doesn’t look promising. I’m thinking of not going up the mountain again, what we have now is enough." As he spoke, Shen Xuanqing reached out to play with Lingjun, grinning broadly when the little one tightly gripped his finger.
He had his own selfish reasons. With Lu Gu and the child at home, and being a new father, he had missed them terribly during his solitary days in the mountains. Now that they had enough money and the family was earning income from raising rabbits, he decided against another trip. In winter, he could still hunt in the foothills for some extra provisions.
Whatever Shen Xuanqing said, Lu Gu always trusted him. Besides, with the cold weather and treacherous mountain paths, Shen Xuanqing had been eating and sleeping poorly alone in the wilds. Naturally, Lu Gu wouldn’t object.
"Mm, rest at home for a while." He handed the child back to Shen Xuanqing and asked, "What would you like to eat? I’ll make it."
Shen Xuanqing adjusted his hold on little Lingjun and looked up. "Are there any eggs left? I haven't had anything greasy in days, fry a couple of eggs for me."
Lu Gu immediately understood he’d mostly been eating boiled wild vegetables in the mountains and nodded with a smile. "Alright. Brother Daqing bought pork yesterday. I’ll stir-fry some with autumn vegetables and make you two dishes."
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