MLH | Chapter 34
“I went to find Liuliu.”
“Oh!” Fang Zichen picked up the kite and pulled Zhao Ge’er, “Let’s go fly a kite.”
Zhao Ge’er looked at the lard board on the cutting board and hesitated a little, “I won’t go then! I still have to fry lard later.”
His hesitation proved that he wanted to go.
When Fang Zichen came back, Guai Zai clung to him, and Zhao Ge’er was no exception, but he was an adult after all, with a sense of shame, and he couldn’t be like Guai Zai, only following Fang Zichen with his eyes.
It was still early, around four o’clock. Fang Zichen took a bag of dried fruit and pulled him out, saying that playing was more important, and they could do the rest when they got back.
Making money was not easy, and a kite cost sixteen wen. There was nobody in the village who would spend silver on something that couldn’t fill the stomach.
Because of the last time he had asked Auntie Liu for help, Zhao Ge’er went back before leaving and cut a jin of pork to bring along.
This slab of pork belly was a good buy, and one jin cost at least thirteen wen.
Zhao Ge’er had taken so much on his own decision, and on the way he felt a little uneasy. But thinking of Fang Zichen’s character, he wasn’t quite so afraid anymore, though he still explained, “Last time Auntie Liu helped us make clothes. Before, there was nothing at home, and you bought meat. I, I thought we should send something over.”
“Oh!” Fang Zichen fiddled with the kite in his hands, not even lifting his head, “You decide for yourself. Anyway, you make the decisions at home, and some of that social etiquette stuff I don’t really understand either, but Auntie Liu helped us, so sending something is not too much. It’s just reciprocating courtesy, right!”
Zhao Ge’er smiled.
He thought of the time more than a month ago when he had first started living together with Fang Zichen. Because he had stayed in the Ma family for more than ten years, he had picked up some habits, and at first he hadn’t dared to move the things at home around carelessly.
Fang Zichen had noticed, and with a look of not caring at all and being very unruly, he said, “At home, you can do whatever you want. As long as you don’t climb over my head and run wild pissing around, you can even tear the house down. It’s not ours anyway.”
Guai Zai and Liuliu were playing in Auntie Liu’s courtyard. When they saw Fang Zichen, they immediately abandoned their little friends and ran over.
“Father~”
He was not even as tall as Fang Zichen’s lower leg. Fang Zichen crouched down and pulled over his hand to check it, “Does it still hurt?”
Auntie Liu and Zhou Ge’er heard the noise and came out from the house. Fang Zichen followed Zhao Ge’er and politely greeted them,
“Auntie Liu, hello. Zhou Ge’er, hello.”
Auntie Liu smiled, “Come in and sit. I’ll pour you a bowl of water.”
Fang Zichen had just drunk water at home and wasn’t thirsty, so he shook his head and refused.
Zhao Ge’er chatted with them for a few sentences, then handed over the meat. Auntie Liu didn’t accept it,
“Take it back quickly. It was only a few pieces of clothing, what’s it worth? Take it back, take it back.”
Zhao Ge’er didn’t draw his hand back, “Auntie Liu, please just take it. Otherwise, if I have something to ask of you later, I won’t dare come looking for you again.”
Auntie Liu really didn’t want to accept it.
That big a piece, at least ten-odd wen. Zhao Ge’er’s family wasn’t well-off either, and besides, Zhou Ge’er had come back yesterday and said the goods at the dock had all been moved, that the young man from Fang had no work anymore.
Zhao Ge’er knew her concerns, so he told her about Fang Zichen finding work again.
Auntie Liu and Zhou Ge’er were stunned when they heard it.
They were not unfamiliar with Zuixiao Tower, the biggest restaurant in Fuan Town. It was magnificent inside, and the people coming and going to eat there were all wealthy families, each and every one of them dressed in fine clothes. When they went to town to sell vegetables or buy things, they sometimes passed the entrance, and they didn’t even dare look inside, afraid of offending some noble person.
To be a bookkeeper in there made three taels of silver a month. How much face would that be if people heard about it!
This was like being a senior executive in a foreign company. Auntie Liu and Zhou Ge’er’s eyes toward Fang Zichen changed in an instant.
Goodness.
This person wasn’t just good at fighting, so he even had this kind of ability!
The village chief kept his mouth shut, so in the village they only knew that Fang Zichen had come from overseas, and nothing else. Auntie Liu pulled Zhao Ge’er into the house and excitedly asked, “Your man can read?”
If he couldn’t read, how could he be a bookkeeper.
Fang Zichen had previously told Zhao Ge’er that he had studied for fourteen years, could speak bird language and duck language, and was very impressive.
Zhao Ge’er nodded.
Apart from the village chief, there wasn’t a single literate person in all of Xiaohe Village. Of course, to say the village chief could read was a bit of a stretch, but compared with them, who didn’t recognize a single big character, knowing two or three characters already counted as promising, or he wouldn’t have been able to become the village chief back then.
In this day and age, scholars had high status. No matter whether they were xiucai or juren, anyone who could read was looked up to and respected by others.
Outside, Fang Zichen had already explained the kite from every angle, but Zhao Ge’er still hadn’t come out.
Liuliu was so excited he couldn’t hold back anymore, and ran inside in a gust, “Uncle Zhao, let’s go fly a kite!”
There was a small stream over by the east end of the village. Fang Zichen had previously gone there with Zhao Ge’er and Guai Zai to pick water celery. By the stream there was a wide open patch, just right for playing there.
Zhou Ge’er joined them too. The kite flew very high into the wind. It was shaped like a swallow, very big, like a tyrant roaming the sky and surveying its territory.
Fang Zichen was like a king among children. He held the string and ran in front, while Guai Zai and Liuliu ran after him in back.
They had never played like this before. Fang Zichen taught them and took turns letting them fly it once each. They were so excited they could hardly stand it.
Zhao Ge’er took out some of the dried fruit he had brought and shared it with Zhou Ge’er.
His eyes were burning as he stared at Fang Zichen, his features full of smiles. Zhou Ge’er couldn’t help teasing him, “Your soul has returned, huh. You can’t even look enough at him at home, and out here you’re still staring like crazy.”
“······” Zhao Ge’er’s face suddenly heated up, “What nonsense.”
Guai Zai and Liuliu kept laughing, running until they were covered in sweat.
Kites were a rare sight in the village, and quite a few children and women were drawn over to watch from afar.
Ma Wen carried firewood on his shoulder. His gaze landed on Zhao Ge’er, and some unreadable light flashed in his eyes.
Zhao Ge’er was becoming more and more dazzling.
The group had more or less played themselves wild.
Later on, Fang Zichen even pulled Zhao Ge’er and Zhou Ge’er over to play with them. It wasn’t really anything in particular, just like idiots running after the kite.
Although Zhou Ge’er had married, he should also have avoided suspicion with Fang Zichen, but Fang Zichen, with the idea that “my wife’s buddies are my own buddies,” still forcibly dragged him over.
After running for the whole afternoon, Zhao Ge’er was thinking about his lard board. Halfway through youshi, he pulled Fang Zichen and Guai Zai back.
Guai Zai had run until his clothes were soaked through, the little tuft of hair on top of his head had gone crooked, and his face was red like a monkey’s backside. Holding Fang Zichen’s hand, he looked up and said, “Father, come play again next time~”
Fang Zichen answered, “Not tired?”
Guai Zai smiled, “Not tired, fun.”
After returning home, Zhao Ge’er rested for a bit, then went into the kitchen to get busy.
The lard board was cut into chunks, and it didn’t need to be very small. A fist-sized piece was enough. The pot was newly bought and big enough. After the fat had been fried for a while, the fragrance drifted out.
Back when Fang Zichen had been someone who never lifted a hand to spring water, the oil his family’s servants used for cooking had all been imported oil. How could he have ever smelled this kind of fragrance? Right now, together with Guai Zai, he looked as if he had inhaled something extraordinary, his face intoxicated and a little light-headed.
Guai Zai really couldn’t hold back. He swallowed hard and looked into the pot, “Daddy, so fragrant.”
After Fang Zichen smelled it for a while, his stomach went wrong. His intestines twisted and churned, one after another. At noon he had eaten a bowl of wontons in town, and he was probably having a problem from that.
He set down the firewood, told Zhao Ge’er, and said for him to keep an eye on it himself, then rushed out the door.
Guai Zai blinked his big eyes, and after reacting, ran out after him.
While he was in the middle of taking care of the five grains’ cycle, there was a rustling sound outside the latrine.
Fang Zichen looked through the crack, and saw Guai Zai squatting outside with his back to him, a tiny little lump.
“······”
“Guai Zai? What are you doing outside?” Like he was guarding a convicted labor prisoner serving a heavy sentence.
Guai Zai stood up and turned around, “Bringing Father a wooden stick~”
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