Pregnant Salted Fish Chapter 20

TL: Hua

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The morning air in the countryside was exceptionally fresh. Xu Yanqing had gone to bed early last night, and when he woke up the next day, he could still see wisps of smoke rising from other houses.

Xu Xianzhi was practicing martial arts in the courtyard. Mu Yu and Qi Chen were busy in the kitchen. After looking around, he realized he was the last one to wake up.

He sauntered into the kitchen, where the cook was preparing food. Mu Yu and Qi Chen were helping out. One had served his young master closely since childhood, and the other was raised pampered at home. Neither had personally cooked over a stove; thus, their faces showed curiosity about the earthen stove.

“Young Master is up.” Seeing Xu Yanqing at the doorway, Mu Yu pulled over a stool for Xu Yanqing to sit on. Then, he pulled out a dark, lumpy object from under the stove, tapped off some loose ash against the wall, and served it in a bowl to Xu Yanqing. “A sweet potato Auntie Li put under the stove while cooking. It’s just ready to eat now.”

In his previous life, Xu Yanqing had also eaten roasted sweet potatoes, but all the ones he had seen were roasted in an oven. This was the first time he had seen such a simple cooking method.

He took the bowl, then used chopsticks to peel off the slightly charred skin of the sweet potato, revealing the sweet, soft, reddish flesh inside. The heat was just right, with appealing golden honey oozing out, and a sweet, enticing aroma wafted towards him.

The aroma made Xu Yanqing’s stomach rumble. He took the wooden spoon Mu Yu handed him and began to eat with gusto.

“What are you all secretly eating in the kitchen?” Xu Xianzhi walked in, sweating, and saw his younger brother sitting obediently in front of the stove, holding a bowl and eating with great relish.

Xu Yanqing took a wooden stick and poked around under the stove. Indeed, he pulled out a sweet potato with a charred crust. He gestured with his eyes for Xu Xianzhi to take it himself. “Brother, try it. It tastes very good.”

So, when the village chief came looking for Xu Xianzhi, he saw a house full of people gathered around the stove eating roasted sweet potatoes. He couldn’t help but laugh, “How is it? Our local sweet potatoes are delicious, aren’t they!”

“Mmm-hmm, Uncle Yuan’s sweet potatoes are soft, sweet, and fragrant. When my brother returns to the capital, he can bring some back for our mother and father. Father hasn’t been back for many years because of his leg injury, so he’s probably been craving this!” Xu Yanqing’s eyes curved into crescent moons as he smiled.

Xu Yuan, a burly farmer, was delighted to see the young master’s lively expression. “It’s not something valuable. After you run out of them at home, just send someone to your auntie’s to ask for more. Eat as much as you want; Uncle Yuan won’t shortchange your father.”

“Then your nephew thanks Uncle Yuan and Auntie.” Xu Yanqing particularly liked Xu Yuan’s simple and honest nature. Although he usually disliked having too many social interactions with others, even the salted fish couldn’t resist such a warm-hearted man!

Xu Yuan came to call Xu Xianzhi about the ancestral worship, so Xu Xianzhi quickly finished his breakfast and left with Xu Yuan.

After breakfast, Xu Yanqing lay in the small courtyard, sunning himself like a proper dried fish. Qi Chen seemed to think he and Xu Yanqing had formed an alliance as comrades, so he unceremoniously brought a pile of storybooks over.

This immediately energized Xu Yanqing. He abandoned his sunbathing and waved at Mu Yu, telling him to bring all his stash.

The two exchanged books, sitting together, reading storybooks, and chatting idly. Xu Yanqing found those stories of talented scholars and beautiful ladies quite boring, so he laughed, “Rules are meant to be broken. These literati are not bold enough!”

“Tell me about it!” Qi Chen recalled the pain of searching for books in a bookstore and couldn’t help smacking his lips: “All those talented men and beautiful women make me want to vomit. They are all a bunch of poor scholars who want to get something by giving nothing in return.”

Qi Chen didn’t mean to look down on scholars from humble backgrounds. The main reason was that in most of those “talented scholars and beautiful ladies” storybooks, the pampered young ladies would be infatuated with poor scholars who had nothing but book knowledge, and they would be so distraught over such an inexperienced man that they would even break ties with their loving parents and then “devotedly” decide to elope with the scholar.

Qi Chen honestly admitted he didn’t understand, truly didn’t understand.

Xu Yanqing nodded repeatedly in strong agreement. “Although many noble ladies in the capital are raised in pampered households, Daliang has an open culture, and the Emperor is also a discerning and enlightened individual. So, these noble ladies are educated from a young age. How could they be deceived by a scholar’s few sweet words?”

“Hehe, instead, stories like these generals and widows, or hunters and young masters are more interesting to read.” Qi Chen smiled with a smug expression. Anyway, everything in the storybooks was fake, so if they wanted excitement, let it come even more intensely.

“This story about the doctor and the carpenter is also very good. Young Doctor Qi, you have good taste too!” Xu Yanqing’s eyes were truly opened now, and he couldn’t help but look down on Mu Yu’s ability to find books.

Mu Yu felt wronged, but he didn’t say anything.

Qi Chen laughed until his stomach hurt. “It’s not Mu Yu’s fault. The main thing is that these books require special channels. When we return to the capital, I’ll take Young Master to find some books.”

…

The late spring wind carried a hint of early summer’s sultriness, silently sweeping into the palace, making the drapes inside flutter back and forth.

Wen Jing walked steadily into the palace and bowed to Yin Yanjun at the desk. “Your Majesty, the carriages are all ready outside.”

Yin Yanjun nodded faintly. “Then let’s depart!”

An emperor’s outing should normally be grand, but this time, Yin Yanjun was traveling south to observe the lives of the common people, so it was naturally inappropriate to make a big show of it.

Yin Yuancheng followed beside Yin Yanjun. He had shed his luxurious robes and, like Wen Jing, changed into a Taoist robe. Standing beside Yin Yanjun, he looked like a young Taoist attendant serving a Taoist master, though his age couldn’t be considered young.

Entrusting all matters in the capital to the Grand Secretary and Prince Huai, Yin Yanjun departed swiftly and cleanly.

Riding on horseback, their group passed by the Marquis Wu’an’s residence. Yin Yuancheng inadvertently glanced at the plaque and whispered, “The two young masters of the Marquis Wu’an’s residence supposedly went back to their hometown for ancestral worship these past few days. Yuanshuang has been complaining of boredom all day. I wonder since when her relationship with Young Master Xu of the Marquis Wu’an’s residence became so harmonious?”

As an elder brother, he was slightly troubled. Yin Yuancheng was worried that his sister, who had almost stumbled with Su Hanfeng not long ago, would now fall headfirst into the big pit that was Xu Yanqing. Yet, his sister had always been headstrong and would never listen to him.

Yin Yanjun’s gaze inadvertently swept past the main gate of the Marquis Wu’an’s residence, then he lowered his eyes, which seemed to have a slight rippling flash in them. He ignored Yin Yuancheng’s quiet complaints, simply flicked the reins lightly, and let his horse continue forward.

…

Xu Yanqing rested in the courtyard for several days, and the fatigue from riding in the carriage finally dissipated completely. Mu Yu recently developed a great interest in cooking. Besides serving his young master, he would run to the kitchen to secretly learn cooking from Auntie Li.

Xu Xianzhi had been busy with ancestral worship matters these past few days. By the time he returned each day, Xu Yanqing had already gone to bed. Today, however, he returned very early, followed by a chubby little kid.

“This is Uncle Yuan’s child. Today is the formal ancestral worship day. Auntie and Cousin-in-law have gone to cook for everyone. Ah Ning had no one to watch him at home.” Xu Xianzhi pulled the chubby child, who was hiding behind him, and pushed him in front of Xu Yanqing. “Come, say ‘Little Uncle’!”

“Little Uncle!” The chubby little kid, probably around four or five years old, hiding behind Xu Xianzhi, was a bit shy. However, that pair of bright, round eyes fell on Xu Yanqing, clearly interested in this little uncle.

“Alright, Brother, go busy yourself!” Xu Yanqing glanced at the little fellow peeking out from behind Xu Xianzhi. “Mu Yu is here; watching a little kid is no problem for him.”

Xu Xianzhi was indeed very busy at the moment, so he said a few words, pushed the child in front of Xu Yanqing, and then turned and left.

Xu Yanqing sat on the chair, holding a scroll, seemingly reading, but his peripheral vision was fixed on the chubby child.

At first, the little chubby child was a bit reserved, but seeing that Xu Yanqing was only focused on reading and ignored him, he pattered over and climbed into the chair next to Xu Yanqing.

That had originally been Qi Chen’s spot, but Qi Chen, on a whim today, had gone to the mountains to gather herbs, thus vacating the seat for the chubby child.

In his previous life, due to his mother’s strict control, Xu Yanqing had a somewhat cold personality and neither liked nor disliked children.

Even now, with his salted fish nature, he was too lazy to meddle, so as long as the chubby child didn’t cry or make a fuss, he let the chubby child play by himself.

However, at this moment, the chubby child clearly didn’t want to play alone. Instead, all his attention was on Xu Yanqing, this unfamiliar little uncle.

Feeling a little annoyed by the chubby child’s stare, Xu Yanqing suddenly turned his head and said curtly, “What are you looking at, chubby child?”

The chubby child sniffled, a bit unhappy. “My name is Ah Ning, not chubby child.”

“But you are a chubby child,” Xu Yanqing put down the storybook in his hand and poked the child’s chubby cheek.

The little child quickly raised his hand and poked Xu Yanqing’s face too. “If Ah Ning is a little chubby child, then Little Uncle is a big chubby child.” His and Little Uncle’s faces were both chubby. Grandma said this wasn’t fat; it was called being blessed, so Little Uncle was also a very blessed person.

“Alright!” Xu Yanqing waved his hand indifferently. “Then why do you keep staring at me, Ah Ning? Be careful; if I get annoyed, I might pick you up and give you a beating.”

Ah Ning smiled cheerfully, staring at Xu Yanqing’s arm, and said very honestly, “Little Uncle’s arm is very thin. You definitely can’t pick Ah Ning up.”

Why did this child only speak the truth? Xu Yanqing was a bit troubled; he had said he wasn’t good with children. So he called out to Mu Yu.

Mu Yu, who was in the kitchen making egg pancakes, ran out. “What’s wrong, Young Master?”

“Don’t worry about your cooking for now. Go play with this chubby child… Ugh, play with Ah Ning for a while.” Xu Yanqing leaned languidly back into the chair behind him and picked up his storybook to continue reading.

“Where… where did this child come from?!” Mu Yu’s eyes widened in surprise.

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