Father Huo sat down by the stove to add fuel to the fire, "Erdan, that lazybones, still not up?"
"Tell him to sleep a little longer. He's been exhausted these past few days. I'll go wake him up when the food is ready." Gu Fengyan rinsed the shepherd's purse in boiling water, then rinsed it with cold water before adding the various seasonings.
“He’s not tired at all. It’s you who’s been worrying about everything. It’s a pity that this old man can’t help much… I’m so grateful for your understanding.” Father Huo sighed.
In the six months since Gu Fengyan married into the family, their living conditions have improved many times over. Their own foolish son is useless, and they themselves are as fragile as paper... If it weren't for Brother Yan, they wouldn't have all of this.
Although Uncle Huo doesn't go out much, Heqing Village is a small place, and some things will reach his ears even if he doesn't pay attention.
These words were nothing more than praising Gu Fengyan's abilities and Huo Duan's incompetence, saying the two were unworthy of each other. He believed in Gu Fengyan, but as he got older, he had more concerns.
Gu Fengyan mixed the vegetables and put them on a plate. Hearing that something was wrong with Huo Adie's tone and seeing his worried face, he immediately understood.
"Father, don't say these things..." Gu Fengyan didn't say much. The only thing that could put his father at ease was to make him believe that he truly liked Huo Duan.
After thinking for a moment, he said, "The food will be ready soon. I'll fry a few more eggs and then go wake up Brother Duan."
After frying the eggs, he divided them into three portions and skillfully separated the egg whites and yolks into two bowls.
Father Huo looked puzzled, "Yan'er doesn't eat egg yolks?"
Gu Fengyan smiled and said, "It wasn't me. It's because Brother Duan doesn't eat egg whites, so I separated them for him. I'll eat the egg whites and he'll eat the yolks... Okay, I'll go call him to get up and eat."
Gu Fengyan went out.
Looking at the two neatly divided portions of fried eggs in the kitchen, Father Huo felt inexplicably at ease.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Gu Fengyan entered the bedroom, Huo Duan was still fast asleep. It was around eight or nine in the morning, not too late. Gu Fengyan didn't want to wake him, but breakfast was rice porridge, which should be eaten while it was hot.
"Ahem... Mr. Huo, the sun's already high in the sky, get up!" He whispered as he approached the bed and leaned close to Huo Duan's ear.
Outside the window, Uncle Huo let the chickens and ducks out to peck at the small insects in the soil in the yard, chirping incessantly.
Huo Duan frowned uncomfortably, but didn't open his eyes.
Normally, he would have gotten up long before Gu Fengyan, but today is strange...
Gu Fengyan didn't pay much attention. He knelt down on the bed and pushed open the window—the noise of chickens and ducks outside and the cool morning breeze rushed in all at once.
"Mr. Huo, your dad just scolded you for being a lazy bum... You can't even sleep as well as a chicken." He pulled Huo Duan's blanket down a bit, coaxing him with a smile.
The noise around Huo Duan finally made him open his eyes a crack, staring groggily at Gu Fengyan. "It's you, Young Master Gu... What time is it?"
Gu Fengyan was both amused and exasperated... Who else could it be but him? Was this person still half asleep?
"Around eight or nine o'clock. Dinner's ready, I'll come and call you. Get up, wash your face, and eat," he said, getting out of bed and tossing his clothes to Huo Duan. "I reckon someone will be coming to sell medicinal herbs this afternoon, so we'll have to keep busy."
Huo Duan sat up, rubbing the back of his head, which felt heavy. His whole body ached. "Well, we don't have a scale at home. I'll go to Brother Dashan's house to borrow one later. You should go and ask Jiang Xuerui to come and help you... The aunties and sisters-in-law in the village are all capable women. It's good to have someone to look after you."
"Are you feeling unwell? Don't tell me you took a shower last night and then went out in the night wind and caught a cold." Gu Fengyan saw that he looked listless and reached out to check his temperature on his forehead.
His temperature was normal, except that his face was a little red.
When Huo Duan heard that he was still bothered by the mention of last night, he didn't bring up his own discomfort.
Gu Fengyan, a frail young man, was fine, but I, who am strong and healthy, fell ill. It would be a laughing stock if word got out.
"Tsk... Don't touch me like that. I'm perfectly fine. I'll get dressed now. You go ahead." He looked at Gu Fengyan, his voice muffled.
"He's really stubborn..." Gu Fengyan wanted to laugh, thinking that he would boil some ginger and scallion water for him to drink later.
"Tch... You want money to touch me? Or should I let you touch me back?" he said, rolling up his sleeves and stretching his arm out in front of Huo Duan.
Huo Duan was amused by him and lowered his eyes to laugh, his eyes filled with the snow-white skin of Gu Fengyan's arm... like jade.
He grabbed Gu Fengyan's wrist by the arm and pulled his sleeve back, saying, "You're just being cheeky... I'm really fine, I'll be right out."
It's not good for the two of them to stay indoors so early in the morning.
Seeing that he smiled, Gu Fengyan walked out, saying, "Alright, I'll go set the table."
After he left, Huo Duan felt extremely uncomfortable. He stayed in bed for a while before getting dressed and going out.
...
At the dinner table, Gu Fengyan arranged the day's tasks while eating.
While Huo's father stayed home looking after the chicks and ducks, Huo Duan went to borrow the scales and asked Jiang Xuerui for help, while also preparing the tools.
After the meal, just as Huo Duan was about to leave, Gu Fengyan hurriedly brought out a bowl of scallion and ginger water from the kitchen. "Mr. Huo, this is good for colds. Drink it while it's hot."
Huo Duan pinched his nose. He usually picks out the scallions, ginger, and garlic from his meals, but now he's being asked to drink scallion and ginger water... He'd rather die of illness.
"That won't be necessary..." he said, looking troubled.
Huo's father, who had taken on the task of washing the dishes, was coming out of the kitchen when he saw the boy's refusal. His face immediately darkened. "Yan'er kindly cooked for you, what kind of behavior is this, pushing it back and forth like this!"
Gu Fengyan laughed as he listened, but he also knew that Huo Duan disliked scallions and ginger... He could only think of another way.
"Father, it's alright. Duan-ge doesn't like it, so I won't force him. I'll go to Rui-ge's house later and ask for some loquat syrup." He was about to throw away the bowl.
Hearing their conversation, Huo Duan suddenly realized, "Hey, wait a minute, did you cook this?"
“Otherwise what? I just saw you weren’t feeling well, so I cooked you a bowl,” he said in a low voice. “I forgot that Mr. Huo hates scallions and ginger. It was my fault.”
Upon hearing this, Huo Duan immediately perked up, snatched the bowl away, and said, "No, I'll drink it. It's such a waste to pour it away."
This was a heartfelt gift personally prepared by Gu Fengyan; how could it be thrown away so easily?
Gu Fengyan felt a pang of heartache as he watched him gulp down the water without blinking. She took a bowl of water and told him to rinse his mouth. "You'll feel better after drinking it. Stay home and help me today. Don't go out to work, or you'll get even sicker."
Huo Duan felt a burning sensation in his throat, which made him feel uncomfortable, but he still smiled and said, "I remember."
In the afternoon, Huo Duan borrowed a scale and returned. Unfortunately, Jiang Xuerui and Shen Zhuo had gone to the county, so only Gu Fengyan and Huo Duan set up a table in the yard, put down their writing brushes and ink, and waited for someone to come and sell medicinal herbs so they could keep accounts.
Huo Duan drank the bowl of scallion and ginger water in the morning, and listened to Gu Fengyan and did not get out of bed. He took a stool and sat at the table with his head drooping.
Fortunately, the weather was nice today, with only a little sunshine; otherwise, he might have fallen ill and been bedridden by tomorrow.
"Didn't the ginger and scallion water work? Mr. Huo, why don't you go and rest?" Gu Fengyan asked worriedly.
How could the medicine for dispelling cold that Gu Fengyan personally brewed be ineffective? It must be my own problem.
Huo Duanqiang cheered and laughed, "What are you worried about? I'm much better now after taking that medicine. No one can help you, and you can't handle so many people."
Gu Fengyan was about to say something when Huo Duan quickly said, "Someone's here. Get ready to get busy. I'll decide for myself."
Gu Fengyan thought he was trying to shut him up, but when he looked up, he saw that someone had indeed come.
The courtyard gate was open, and Zhang's sister-in-law and several other women walked in chatting and laughing, carrying baskets and hampers full of medicinal herbs of many kinds.
"Yan-ge'er, we brought the medicinal herbs. Where should we put them?" Zhang A-sao asked with a smile.
Only after being reminded did Gu Fengyan realize that he had been so focused on Huo Duan's illness that he had forgotten to bring some tools to hold the medicinal herbs.
Fortunately, Huo Duan reacted quickly and took out several large bamboo baskets that his father had woven from the house and placed them on the ground.
Gu Fengyan hurriedly picked up the scale and said, "Sister-in-law, let Duan Ge and I weigh the bamboo baskets before pouring them in, then we can weigh them together."
The scale was a traditional steelyard balance, which Gu Fengyan wasn't very good at using, so Huo Duan had to hang the basket on it and teach him how to count the points.
After fiddling with it for a while, the two weighed out that the medicinal herbs brought by the group totaled more than fifty catties. Gu Fengyan took the scale over and told the group to take a good look, "Gentlemen, please take a good look."
Aunt Zhang said nonchalantly, "We trust Brother Yan to do things. Just give us the price you want."
"Don't worry about me, sister-in-law. Duan and I certainly won't lie to you." Gu Fengyan smiled and wrote down the names of several people and the weight of medicinal herbs on the paper in front of him.
Huo Duan took money out of a drawer in the house and distributed it to everyone, "Sister Zhang, twenty-five coins; Aunt Li, twenty coins; Sister Zhao, thirty coins..."
As he read, Gu Fengyan recorded the information in the ledger... The villagers were overjoyed to receive the money. Their husbands only earned a few dozen coins a day working in the county, yet they earned as much as a man in a single day.
I need to be more assertive when I speak at home from now on.
"Please keep this, ladies. Just bring it over next time you need it," Huo Duanqiang said with a smile.
The men, overjoyed with the money, headed out of the courtyard, eager to tell their husbands about it when they got home, and then plan to go to the county to buy themselves two boxes of fine rouge and some treats for the children...
Aunt Zhang took the money but didn't leave. "Erdan, do you sound sick? Have you taken your medicine?"
"Cough cough... Thank you for your concern, sister-in-law. I'm fine, I'll be alright after a good night's sleep." Huo Duan put the medicinal herbs into the basket and tried to drag it under the eaves.
"I'll do it." Gu Fengyan took the work from him and said to Zhang A's wife with a worried look on his face, "He caught a cold last night. I made him some scallion and ginger water this morning, but it didn't help. I'm worried about him."
Upon hearing this, Sister Zhang quickly put down her basket and said seriously, "This won't do... How about this, I'll help Yan Ge'er, and Er Dan can go and rest. We'll invite Doctor Liang to come and take a look tonight."
Huo Duan wanted to refuse, but Gu Fengyan quickly said, "Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you, sister-in-law? Otherwise, you could ask your father for help."
Aunt Zhang has already started taking over Huo Duan's job of collecting medicinal herbs, saying, "Uncle Huo isn't feeling well, and I don't have much to do at home, so I'll help you."
The two of them talked back and forth, and Huo Duan hesitated to speak, unable to get a word in edgewise.
"Then I'll trouble you, Sister-in-law. I'll tell Brother Duan to go and rest." Gu Fengyan hurriedly pulled Huo Duan into the house. "Mr. Huo, you go and rest. Sister-in-law Zhang will help me."
Huo Duan didn't want to sleep alone in the room, so he asked Gu Fengyan to keep busy outside, trying to make a move.
"Be good." Gu Fengyan suddenly grabbed his hand, her voice so gentle it could melt your heart.
Huo Duan's head was buzzing, just like King Zhou being bewitched by Daji. "If you're too busy, call me, did you hear me?"
"Okay..." When they reached the bedside, Gu Fengyan told him to lie down, then thought for a moment and added, "I don't need to take your clothes off for you, do I?"
Huo Duanzhen thought about it seriously for a moment, but his mind was a complete mess, and the words that came out of his mouth were, "Take it off for me."
Realizing what he had said, Huo Duan's face flushed red.
"No...that's not what I meant. You go ahead with your work, I can manage on my own," he quickly explained.
Gu Fengyan looked at him for a while and smiled maliciously, "It's just taking off your clothes, what is President Huo thinking about now... Is your mind full of dirty thoughts all day long? This won't do."
Huo Duan was speechless and could only say dryly, "Don't talk nonsense."
"It's no big deal, don't be embarrassed..." Gu Fengyan unbuttoned his clothes, "I'm very experienced at helping people take off and put on their clothes."
Huo Duan was completely weak, almost like he was drunk. He stretched out his arms and let Gu Fengyan do as he pleased. But upon hearing this, he suddenly sobered up, "Who else have you undressed?"
Gu Fengyan casually replied, "My precious baby."
"Your precious baby?! Who is it?" Huo Duan's blood froze.
To be honest, he had never asked Gu Fengyan about his past, and he didn't even know that he had a "treasure".
It's all about taking off clothes, so it's probably her girlfriend or something...