My Fulang is a Delicate Flower Chapter 64 Part 3

This was the first time Ji Taoyu had met such a blunt and earnest young man. He nearly laughed but forced himself to hold it in.  

He said, "Not only am I good-looking, but my medical skills are decent too. I can support myself, you wouldn’t need to spend much silver to keep me."  

At these words, Huo Shou’s hands, resting on his knees, suddenly clenched.  

"Then… then are you saying you’re interested?"  

"Oh, no, not at all."  

Ji Taoyu circled in front of Huo Shou and shrugged. "I’m already married."  

The light in Huo Shou’s eyes dimmed instantly, and the corner of his mouth twitched.  

"What’s that look for? If, as you say, any man would be moved, then of course I’d be in high demand. Naturally, I’d be married off early."  

Huo Shou pursed his lips, shifted his legs, and turned his head away. "Then why’d you say all that to me?"  

"Just defending myself. I’m not that hard to keep."  

Huo Shou’s mood rose and fell like a mountain range—one moment soaring to the clouds, the next plunging into a valley.  

He asked, "If you’re married, why are you still here?"  

Ji Taoyu replied, "To earn money for my family, of course. I’m a physician. Traveling with a merchant caravan pays better."  

"You’re quite the diligent homemaker. But if I were your husband, I'd go hungry myself before letting you trail after merchant caravan like this."  

Huo Shou scoffed at such a man and asked, "So where is this husband of yours, then?"  

Ji Taoyu raised a finger and pointed. "There—standing right over there."  

Huo Shou looked up and instantly paled.  

He saw Huo Shu standing to the side, his face cold as if he’d stepped out of the underworld. Who knew how long he'd been standing there listening?

Huo Shou's face burned with shame. If the earth could swallow him whole right now, he'd welcome it. "B-Big Brother."  

Huo Shu didn’t respond. He stepped over a log and asked Ji Taoyu, "Hungry?"  

Ji Taoyu’s eyes lit up. "I want to eat that—"  

"No meat."  

Ji Taoyu pouted, swallowing back his craving for roasted lamb tripe.  

"Then just anything, I guess."  

Huo Shu turned to fetch food.  

Huo Shou stared after him until his figure disappeared outside the tent, then reluctantly looked away.  

When he turned back and saw Ji Taoyu, dejected and listless, his brow furrowed.  

"You… you’re really married to my brother?"  

"Does it look fake?"  

Ji Taoyu raised an eyebrow. "So you should call me sister-in-law."  

Huo Shou fell silent. "My brother won’t even give you meat. I won’t call you that."  

"Exactly, your brother won’t even give me meat. So cruel."  

No sooner had he spoken than an apricot was stuffed into his mouth.  

Ji Taoyu lifted his eyes and reached to take it, but Huo Shu only let him take one bite before pulling it back.  

"What’s this? No meat, and now only one bite of apricot?!"  

Ji Taoyu narrowed his eyes, puffing up in anger. "See? Because you won’t give me meat, some people refuse to call me eldest sister-in-law!"  

Huo Shu glanced at Huo Shou beside them.  

He pinched Ji Taoyu’s cheek. "Your hands are covered in ointment. I’ll hold it for you."  

Huo Shou squirmed uncomfortably. How could this ger tattle right in front of him?  

His voice wavered, nearly tearful. "Big Brother, I didn’t—"  

Huo Shu took one look at his pitiful expression and tossed him an apricot, then placed two meat pies on the log beside him.  

Huo Shou fumbled to catch the apricot. Seeing the pies by his leg, his eyes reddened, and his nose stung.  

"This stitching is fine, must’ve been made by Wenliang’s mother before he left."  

Huo Shu fed Ji Taoyu the apricot with one hand while picking up the discarded clothes with the other.  

"Don’t waste his parents’ effort. Return these to Wenliang."  

Ji Taoyu frowned. "I cut his clothes up like this. If we send them back, what will he wear?"  

"I still have two sets of mine."  

Ji Taoyu's eyes sparkled with sudden understanding as he gave Huo Shu's hand a sharp pinch: This man's stubbornness like iron.  

He realized now why Huo Shu had been silent earlier - he'd wanted to offer his own clothes all along. Ji Taoyu had misunderstood, thinking Huo Shu wouldn't approve, which was why he'd asked Wenliang for his spare set instead.

"Fine. Wenliang’s shorter than A-Shou. His clothes would be too small. Yours should fit better."  

Suddenly, Huo Shou burst into loud sobs and lunged at Huo Shu, startling Ji Taoyu.  

But Huo Shu seemed to have expected it—he kicked Huo Shou back.  

"All you do is cry. Useless as ever, even at your age."  

Huo Shou wiped his eyes with the apricot still in hand. "I—I’m just happy to see you, Big Brother."  

"I never thought I’d see you again here."  

"Guess you were hoping I’d died."  

"No! With Mom and Dad gone, you’re my only family left. Even if I never saw you again, I’d pray every day you were alive."  

Huo Shu’s gaze flickered. He said nothing, watching as Ji Taoyu finished treating the wound before pulling him close.  

Huo Shu tightened his arm around Ji Taoyu's slender waist, fixing Huo Shou with a pointed look. 

Huo Shou glanced at the ger nestled against his brother’s shoulder and averted his eyes. He was sure this ger was younger than him.  

But his brother’s meaning was clear. Though it felt awkward, he obediently muttered, "Eldest Sister-in-law."  

Ji Taoyu’s eyebrows shot up, his lips curling. "Oh? Who was it that said they wouldn’t call me eldest sister-in-law if their brother didn’t give me meat? How quickly people change."  

Huo Shou watched Ji Taoyu’s smug expression and scratched his hand, his face sour: And here I was feeling bad for him, not even getting meat. At this rate, he shouldn’t get apricots either.

"Eat and rest. We leave at dawn."  

Huo Shu cut off their bickering and lifted Ji Taoyu into his arms.  

Huo Shou stood as they entered the tent, then suddenly remembered. "Brother, the clothes—"  

"Find them in the tent yourself."  

Huo Shou immediately brightened, clutching his pies as he hurried off to find his lodging for the night.