Chapter 216
After the meal, Luo Biao left. The horse team still had a few busy days ahead, and he said once this busy period was over, he would come back with his bedding.
Lu Gu cleared the bowls and chopsticks while Shen Xuanqing held their child nearby.
"When he comes, don’t hesitate to let him handle the rough work," Shen Xuanqing said, playing with their little shuang'er before adding, "I only thought of this idea today when I saw him, so I didn’t have time to discuss it with you beforehand."
"It’s just an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks. With him here, if we ever want to go home, there’ll be someone to watch the shop. Otherwise, if we only go back for a few days, hiring a helper wouldn’t be worth it."
Hearing this, Lu Gu nodded. That made sense.
During the meal, he had been surprised when Shen Xuanqing brought it up, but with Luo Biao present, he hadn’t felt comfortable asking. Besides, he had always trusted Shen Xuanqing, and Luo Biao had helped their family before. Letting him stay for a while was no trouble—just as Shen Xuanqing said, it was only an extra mouth to feed.
Still, it was so sudden. Before he could even process it, there was an extra person in the house, which left him feeling conflicted and barely speaking.
Seeing Lu Gu’s expression ease, Shen Xuanqing smiled and said, "But it’s him, after all. He knows how to handle things properly and won’t cause us trouble. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have let him stay."
Lu Gu thought back. They had known Luo Biao for a long time now. Though his appearance and voice were rough, he had always been polite and kind to everyone in their family, sometimes even overly courteous—more so than most men. He smiled slightly. "That’s true."
Shen Xuanqing was good at reading moods. Seeing that Lu Gu was no longer silent, he relaxed and said with a smile, "This time, I didn’t think it through properly. Next time, I’ll discuss it with you first."
Lu Gu hadn’t expected this consideration. From what he had seen, most families were run by the men, some even ruling with absolute authority—unless they were the type who feared their wives.
Hearing Shen Xuanqing say this made him happy. Even if he couldn’t make major decisions at home, consulting him first showed that he was valued.
Within two days, Luo Biao arrived with his bedding and moved into the cleaned-up west wing room.
Having received this kindness, how could he not be diligent? Fetching water, chopping firewood—these went without saying. He tidied the vegetable garden in the front yard, swept the backyard with a large broom, and even shoveled manure and fed the mules without needing guidance.
The rabbits, chickens, and ducks brought from their hometown had been sold after being raised in the backyard for a while. There wasn’t much manure, but they piled it up to fertilize the vegetable garden. Previously, Shen Xuanqing had been the one to fertilize the front and back yards, and the vegetables had grown well.
After autumn, Lu Gu planted some bok choy in both the front and back yards. He also traded rabbits with Granny Liu next door for some root vegetable seeds, planting about three rows of them.
Root vegetables (根菜) were a novelty in recent years, said to have been introduced from a foreign land. They were cold-resistant and could grow in winter. The edible part was the root buried in the soil—when dug up, the purple skin was peeled off, and the green flesh inside could be stir-fried, crisp and refreshing.
With few vegetables available in winter, having something fresh to eat was a rarity.
The morning was cold. Though it hadn’t snowed, the north wind was blowing. After waking up, Lu Gu stayed in the room with Lingjun, leaning against folded quilts and pillows as he braided colored cords. He avoided needlework because he was afraid of accidentally poking the child.
A brazier on the floor warmed the room slightly. A tangpozi had been filled with hot water and placed under a small quilt on the bed. Lu Gu stretched his legs and covered his feet.
Lingjun sat on the bed. Because of the cold, Lu Gu had dressed him in new shoes—since they hadn’t touched the ground, they weren’t dirty.
At over a year old, children imitated adults. As Lu Gu braided the cords, Lingjun copied him, leaning against the quilts and playing with two colored cords in his hands.
The door wasn’t fully closed, left slightly ajar. Since the wind outside was strong, Lu Gu had propped a stone behind the door to keep it from blowing open.
After finishing the braid, he touched Lingjun's hands and found them cold, so he pulled the small quilt and tangpozi closer, placing it near the child’s legs and covering him with the quilt.
Earlier, he had tried sharing the quilt with Lingjun, but the child had squirmed and crawled around restlessly, so he ended up covering himself instead.
"Sit properly and don’t move around. I’m going out to dig up root vegetables for our lunch, understand?" As he spoke, he adjusted Lingjun's tiger-head hat.
"Mm."
Lingjun, busy with the colored cords, gave a small, milky-voiced reply. When he saw the finished braid beside him, he reached out and grabbed it.
Lu Gu smiled and didn’t stop him. If it got tangled, he could always make another one later.
He got out of bed, put on his shoes, and took a small hoe to dig up root vegetables in the yard. They had grown well and were ready to eat. When he pulled them out, they were bigger than his fist, so two would be enough for a large bowl of food.
Lingjun was well-behaved. Once, he had fallen off the bed and gotten hurt, so now he only crawled and played on the inner side, never going near the edge.
Hearing no cries or fuss from the child, Lu Gu felt reassured. He scooped hot water from the clay pot to wash the vegetables.
While cutting the vegetables, he suddenly heard knocking at the back door. Shen Yaoqing was calling him from the back alley.
Today, Guaizi had gone out with Shen Xuanqing and Luo Biao, so he wasn’t home. Lu Gu put down the knife and hurried to the back, pausing to listen for any sounds from the room—Lingjun wasn’t crying or making noise, probably still playing by himself.
"Brother," he called out before reaching the door.
"It’s me," Shen Yaoqing answered from behind the door.
When the back door opened, Shen Yaoqing led the mule cart inside, smiling. "It’s freezing today."
"I’ll pour some tea to warm you up," Lu Gu said as he walked ahead, stopping by the room to pick up Lingjun. He didn’t like leaving the child alone for too long.
Shen Yaoqing unhitched the mule and fed it some hay before coming in from the backyard.
Lu Gu poured a cup of hot tea and brought warm water for washing hands. "Brother, what brings you here today?"
"I’ve had some free time lately, so I gathered a cartload of firewood from the mountains. Since firewood sells for more in Jixing Town, I came straight here instead of stopping in Fenggu Town." Shen Yaoqing drank a few cups of tea before feeling better. He smiled and added, "With the cold weather, firewood sells well. I hadn’t even gone down two streets before it was all gone."
During the winter lull, he busied himself cutting firewood, digging for winter bamboo shoots, and sometimes taking Dahui and the other dogs to hunt rabbits in the mountains. They either ate the game themselves or sold it along with the firewood in town—either way, it earned them some copper coins. Sitting idle at home with no income wasn’t an option.
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